I’ll restrain myself, and give only a few examples of an idea that has been stirring in my head. Restraint — are you ready — can be fun. A good thing, too, given that restraint is one of the ways we can fix all manner and scale of problems, from overblown American wines to the biggie – repairing our planet.
Starting at that end of the spectrum, my first positive thoughts about restraint came from one of my usual inspirations, Kentucky’s farming writer Wendell Berry. In a May, 2008 article in Harper’s, Mr. Berry defined the absence of limits as hell itself.
Smaller calls for restraint caught my attention this week. Two different wine writers called on American wine makers to work against the nasty trend of increasingly sugary, alcoholic wines. The New York Times writer Eric Asimov used words like “finesse,” “lightness,” and “vitality” to describe a small movement in California toward lighter bodied Pinot Noirs.
Dave Macintyre in the Washington Post [access may require free subscription] sharply criticized syrupy American syrahs, calling them “monsters,” and brought up that “f” word again: “Winemakers need to stop deadening our palates with excessive alcohol and learn to leave the finesse in the wine.”
I am itching to give more examples, but I will leave you some space to think about restraint, if you wish. I’ll be curious to know what pops up.
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Hi Rona. Love your website. I’m a friend of Deb Hall whom I believe you met last week. Question. I’d like to make your parents’ rolls for a luncheon on Friday. I’ve made the cinnamon version with great success. Can you help me to shape the non-cinnamon version? The only bread baking I’ve done are the above rolls for brkfst. (Unless you count the pizza dough Deb tricked me into making.) My confidence is wobbling. Thank you! We at Kentucky Select Properties are enjoying your website! Catherine Davidson
I recommend Mrs. Moore’s rolls for dinner rolls if you don’t plan to make making cinnamon rolls or doughnuts with part of the dough. Mrs. Moore’s rolls are more tender, and even easier to make, but too fragile for the other uses. After Mrs. Moore’s rolls chill overnight, roll out the needed portion of dough. Use a cookie cutter or glass to stamp out large circles, around 3 or more inches across. Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness, more or less. Thinner dough at this stage makes smaller rolls eventually. Dip the dough disc in melted butter and fold in half so you have a half moon shape. Pinch the center edge very lightly to help the roll stay folded as it rise. That’s the Parkerhouse shape, and very good for tucking things inside once the rolls are baked. The rolls will more than double their original size during their two hour rise.