From blah to yum!

I'm having one of those *feel sorry for myself* days (more like the entire last week) although I really have nothing to feel sorry for myself over. Life just hasn't been as pretty and organized as I think it should be lately and I've started to get a little anxious. Time to put on my "big girl panties" and get over it, right? Wish it was that simple. I've dealt with anxiety most of my life, and although it isn't too serious, it still sucks. One thing that I've found that has helped me tremendously is experimenting in the kitchen. Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day making some delicious bread recipes. Here is a personal favorite, copied & pasted, courtesy of RecipeZaar.com's Ridgely:

The Ultimate Breadsticks

Makes 32 huge breadsticks

Ingredients
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3 cups lukewarm water, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup oil
8 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 1/2 t. garlic salt may be added depending on variation used)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup of water with sugar.

2. Let stand 5 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients except the butter.

4. Stir into dough and knead until smooth and elastic and slightly sticky (I use a
heavy- duty mixer).

5. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour.

6. Punch down. Divide dough in half.

7. Roll one half dough out into a 12 x 18 inch rectangle on a floured surface.

8. Brush with melted butter.

9. Cut dough in half vertically, and then cut horizontally into 8 strips (16 bread sticks from one half of dough).

10. Repeat this same step with other half of dough. You should have 32 bread sticks all together.

11. Now at this point you can do the following variations:.

12. Cheesy Bread Sticks: Press buttered side down of breadstick in freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Twist bread stick multiple times and lay out on parchment lined cookie sheets. (I do about 8 to a pan-parchment necessary so the cheese won’t stick to the pan). Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until double in bulk and then bake. After baking, brush with remaining melted garlic butter.

13. Garlic Butter Bread Sticks: Twist bread sticks that have already been spread with garlic butter mixture. Place on greased baking sheet and let rise 30 minutes. After baking, brush again with melted garlic butter.

14. Herb & Cheese Breadsticks: Use plain melted butter to spread on dough, then sprinkle bread sticks with Parmesan cheese and Salad Supreme. Place on sprayed baking sheets and let rise 30 minutes before baking. Brush again with remaining melted butter after baking.

15. Pizza Breadsticks: Let buttered bread sticks rise on parchment lined baking sheets 30 minutes. Spread with pizza sauce and place pepperoni on top. The last 5 minutes of baking add shredded cheese.

16. Cinnamon Sugar Breadsticks: Dip bread sticks in 1 stick melted of butter (skip the brush with melted butter step). Roll in a mixture of 2 cups brown sugar and about 1 Tbsp cinnamon (might need more sugar mixture depending on how much you use). Twist and let rise on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake.

17. *Spray pans or use parchment paper and cover lightly while rising.

18. **Let bread sticks rise 30 minutes before baking.

19. ***Note all bread sticks will be cooked 15 to 18 minutes at 350° or until lightly browned.


Trust me folks, these are absolutely delicious & oh.so.simple! I don't own a stand mixer, unfortunately, but have no trouble making this dough by hand. It is a dream to work with & very forgiving! For a little flair, I like making a simple cheese sauce to dip them in. Here is my recipe for that:

(2) cans Campbell's cheese soup
(1) full can (use one of the empty Campbell's cans) of milk
salt to taste (I prefer Kosher)

Mix all ingredients and heat over medium heat until well combined and warm.

Hope you enjoy!