April Showers Bring May Flowers?!

Late yesterday afternoon we started to get a bit of snow. I took this photo of our vehicles in the driveway before I went to bed because I was sure the snow would all be melted by the morning :)

taken through a window screen

Ol' Man Winter isn't done with us yet. It snowed all night, and we woke up to a beautiful spring morning! My poor van got about eight inches of drifted snow on it. There's a reason we're called The Great White North here in Canada ;)

The driveway needed to be cleared. The poor robins I saw out there were unable to find worms in the soft ground. I saw one sad little thing trying to gobble down a frozen worm he found on the driveway. Robins migrate south in winter, and they've had a few snowfalls to contend with this spring.

After I cleared the driveway and steps, I threw some birdseed and some chunks of apple out for the birds on the driveway. I've seen robins eat apples before that I had tossed out for the squirrels, and soon the spring birds (grackles, robins, starlings) were enjoying the apples as soon as I stepped back inside.

At least it won't last too long this late in the year ... or will it? A nice polar vortex has brought the cold temperatures back to us and with it the snow. Ugh!

Yesterday I made it all cozy inside with the oven on and some more fresh homemade bread! I had to use up the last two yeast packets I had left over from the Hot Cross Buns. I think I'm on a roll now (ha! no pun intended!). My husband made a beef stew in the crock pot and I just wanted to add a little something to the meal. These were as delicious as they look! Rosemary Crescent Rolls (recipe below).

Rosemary Crescent Rolls

* see note at bottom of recipe before you begin

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 envelopes (8 g each or 2 tbsp) quick-rise instant yeast

1 tsp salt

3/4 milk

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup butter or magerine

1 egg

Glaze

1 egg

1 tbsp water

1 tsp dried rosemary

Reserve 1 cup flour. Mix remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt in large bowl.

Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (125 F / 50 C). Stir warm liquid into dry ingredients. Beat in egg. Mix in enough reserved flour to make a soft dough that does not stick to bowl.

Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about six minutes.

Cover with greased wax paper and a tea towel; let rest 10 minutes in a warm spot.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half into 16-inch circle. With sharp knife, cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up each wedge tightly from wide end. Place rolls, points down, on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents.

Cover with greased wax paper and a tea towel. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size; about 30 minutes.

Glaze:  Beat egg and water, mix in dried rosemary. Brush on rolls. 

Bake in 375 F oven about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from sheets to wire rack to cool.

*NOTE: Be sure to work in a warm kitchen when making bread. All your ingredients should be room temperature. I had trouble previously with the bread not rising enough, and I think it was because I didn't have the egg at room temperature when I mixed it into the bread dough. I had it at room temperature the next time, and the bread rose perfectly. Also, it was a cold day in my house, so I put the oven on for a couple of minutes just enough to warm it up a bit (about 75 F), and then turned it off. I put the dough in the oven to rise. It worked well this way.

Joining Judith at Lavender Cottage for ...

Thanks for hosting Judith :)