Gathering info on the internet – Lake Superior – the largest in area Fresh Water lake on the planet is completely frozen https://www.facebook.com/therock957 Retrieved February 8, 2014.
Lake Superior Frozen Over
Here’s the Facebook posting by my dear friends who are living in -50 degree weather in Duluth, Minnesota. This started me on the search for the Truth (Which is out there, somewhere.) Retrieved February 8, 2014
CORRECTION****Screech!!!!! Stop the presses.
Lake Superior nearly completely frozen over
Here is that NOAA image on 2/4/14 @ 16:46 GMT Retrieved February 8, 2014.
Seriously, folks. Reports are circulating about this: http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=1004475#.UvcHGyhiF3t Retrieved February 8,2014.
Posted: 02.07.2014 at 11:32 AM
“The latest analysis of Lake Superior ice coverage is out and it’s almost completely frozen over! That’s according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
According to the analysis, which was released early Friday morning, average ice coverage remains at 92.4 percent.” Retrieved February 8, 2014.
Update from last night’s local news: All the Great Lakes are frozen over. February 10, 2014.
Anyhoo, It’s mother earth having a little fun with us puny apes, if you ask me. When living in sub zero temperatures, what’s the best thing to do? Eat, of course. What are you craving? Carbs, you say? What would be better than homemade English Muffins slathered in some really great jam with a big pot of your favorite tea? Nothing. Store bought are okay, but take a look at these tempting morsels that were put together by a friend of mine.
Here is the story behind Stotties – better known as English muffins to Americans, from an excellent cook. The original recipe, on which this post is based, comes from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley” on Pages 149-151 and 242-244.
Mr. Scott says: “I ran out of Barowsky’s Organic English Muffins last week. So I ended up buying Thomas’s and thereby gained renewed appreciation of how bad they are. And I got my Kitchen Aid mixer back, in order to make some. I understand they are really called stotties, a Gaelic word meaning bounce. When you turn them over, if they are light enough, they might bounce. English muffins come from folks who didn’t have an oven.”
Stottie or English Muffin Recipe from Glenn Scott
The Ingredients
1. Make the sponge.
3/4 Tsp yeast, 5g
130g of water @ 68 deg
50g stone ground whole wheat flour
100g unbleached flour
The Method
Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Cover and leave to ferment at room temperature (around 65-70˚) for 12 to 18 hours.
2. Make the dough. Add to the sponge:
350g all purpose flour
100g whole wheat flour
1 Tsp salt
270g water (about 9 1/2 fluid ounces)
1 Tbsp olive oil or butter
Mix thoroughly, knead, and let rise about an hour @ 81 degrees
Dust your hands and work surface with a little flour and divide the dough, which should be pretty sticky, into eight pieces. Let it rest for 5 minutes while you heat an iron griddle.
Stotties or English Muffins Rising G. Scott
Dust your hands and the work surface with rice flour or semolina and roll each piece until it’s about 3″ in diameter. Bake 5-7 minutes on each side.
Stotties on the Gridle G. Scott
NOTES: Next time I make Stotties, here’s what I’m gonna’ do:
“Make the dough a little stickier. Instead of letting the dough rise for an hour in the bowl and then dividing it. I’ll divide it into ten pieces (instead of eight), coat them with rice flour, and roll each piece pretty flat. Then let them rise on the board. My oven has a proofing function. So I can put the board in there.
I bet they’ll come out a lot lighter that way.
Finished Stotties or English Muffins G. Scott
Now that I know I can do it, it’s time to experiment
So. There you have it: the dough rounds, baking on the griddle, and the finished product. It really wasn’t that much work, although lengthy in terms of process. It’s good to know I can bake without an oven. But then I knew that anyway. When the kids were little, I would bake baking powder biscuits on a charcoal grill (While camping) by making a tent with aluminum foil.” – Mr. Scott
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