Joyful Abode

I wrote before about my incompetence with yeast… and the fact that my only successes had been in a bread machine. Then I sort of broke the cycle with this Italian bread. I followed the Joy of Cooking’s instructions step by step, and yielded something yummy.

Well, guess what I did today… I flew… all on my own. I made honey wheat bread from scratch WITHOUT using a bread machine. And it’s beautiful.

We already ate some of the rolls (topped with honey butter. YUM!) and I have to say the texture is delightful. I did a good job.

Want to know how I did it? Of course I’ll share.

I basically used the same recipe as my usual sandwich bread, but I doubled it. And didn’t touch the bread machine.

1. Proof 4 teaspoons of active dry yeast in 2 cups of 110 degree (Fahrenheit) water with a bunch of honey. This means mix all of that together and wait 10 minutes or so, until it’s frothy.
2. Dump it in the mixing bowl.
3. Add 4 cups of bread flour and 2 cups of wheat flour.
4. Add half a cup of veggie oil.
5. Spoon in 2 teaspoons or so of salt.
6. Stir/knead until smooth. If you want, you can use the dough hook of your mixer to do this.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place until roughly doubled in size. I did mine for a bit over an hour, I think.
8. Punch down the dough (this releases some CO2 and relaxes the gluten) and shape into whatever bread you want. (I did one loaf in a sprayed loaf pan, some buns, and some bread sticks).
9. Let rise again, about an hour or until about doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
10. If you want, you can make cuts in the top of your bread… though it’s not necessary.
11. Bake until it’s done. This will vary depending on what size/shape bread you made. My smaller breads were finished in about half an hour. The loaf took about 40 minutes.
12. Remember to let your loafs cool COMPLETELY before slicing.

I think it would be a lot of fun to dry different additions… maybe adding sunflower seeds to the dough, sprinkling the top of the loaf with raw oats, or topping hamburger buns with sesame seeds. I bet it would also make a great breakfast bread if during the shaping stage, you rolled it up with some cinnamon/sugar/butter inside in a nice swirl.

What do you think?

Bread machines are GREAT but I like that this made a normal-shaped loaf… I was able to get a lot more slices out of it than usual (which also means smaller sandwiches so I might be able to actually eat a whole one… I’ve taken to just eating turkey lunchmeat plain because I never feel hungry enough for a sandwich as huge as our bread usually is. ha!) .

I’m not swearing off the bread machine of course, because honestly… what beats dumping in ingredients and walking away, then coming back later on to freshly-baked bread? But it’s nice to know that my yeast curse seems to have been lifted, and that now other shapes of bread are actually in my menu of options, provided I have a bit of time and patience for it.

We just got home from our SC trip, and had a pile of mail! We actually had the post office hold it while we were gone, but deliver it yesterday so we’d have it when we came home. It was so much stuff they actually left it for us in a postal service crate thingy.

In the mail were most of my new military card designs back from the printer! So of COURSE I had to package them so they’re ready to go out… There are two more I’ll have to call about and make sure they got my order, but other than that, I have:

• US Marine Pilot Wings Cards
• US Navy Aviator Wings Cards
• US Naval Flight Officer Wings Cards
• T-45 All-Purpose Cards
• Naval Officer’s Crest Cards
• US Marine Eagle Globe and Anchor Cards
• VT-7 Eagles Squadron Patch Cards

Stacks and stacks of them… It’s very exciting. I need to buy more storage boxes for all of this stationery! I have so many other things I want to have designed, ordered, and packaged before my next open house in March! (Military and non-military stuff)

Also, 2009 is gonna be all about the illustration for Joyful Abode (the shop, not the blog… don’t worry, all those domestic posts and recipes will still be here!)  so… I’ve moved everything else into a “discontinued” section in the shop, and very soon you’ll need to watch for some serious price slashing. Also, if you’re on my newsletter mailing list (sign up on the right sidebar of the blog) you’ll also be getting some coupons very soon!

My view…

And to the right…

I made these scones for a goodbye brunch for some of the girls in Meridian a while ago. They were flavorful without being too strong, soft without being too chewy, but also not crumbly. Very good!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold butter
• 2/3 cup chopped dates
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup milk
• cinnamon sugar (make your own  blend… I like it pretty heavy on the cinnamon)

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
   
3. Cut in butter until the mixture looks like small wet crumbs.
   
4. Stir in dates.
   
5. Combine eggs and milk; stir into crumb mixture just until blended.
6. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, gently knead dough until it’s smooth. Add more flour if it’s too sticky.
7. Pat into a 9-in. x 6-in. rectangle. Using a floured knife, cut into six 3-in. squares; cut each square diagonally in half.
8. Place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the tops of the scones. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.
   
9. Remove from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Yummmmm.

We arrived in South Carolina to visit our families on Thursday night.

Since then, it’s been relaxing for us, but VERY exciting for Zora. First she got to go on an 8-hour car trip, smelling all sorts of interesting smells on the way. Then, she met my dad and step-mom and went to bed in a new place. The next morning, she got to go in the car AGAIN and meet the guy’s family’s dog, Arwen. They got to play together while the guy and I went to our old high school to visit our teachers, something we try to do about once a year.

(This is Arwen and my lovely sister-in-law, Lorien)

Arwen’s an old lady at 11 years old… but they still had fun playing fetch together and showing off tricks for treats.

Today, we went to visit my grandmother, and Zora got to meet TWO MORE DOGS. Baxter was really intrigued about this dog who had to be on a leash the whole time… but Patience couldn’t really care less about the too-energetic puppy trying to say hello. When we came back to my dad’s house, Zora also got to meet one of my older sisters and her guy.

This is Baxter and my step-mother.

Baxter:

Patience:

Zora chillin’ on my grandma’s porch:

Tomorrow,  my oldest sister and her family are arriving in town, so that will be another exciting day! I can’t wait to see my niece and nephew, of course… and my little sister should get in tomorrow evening. Woo hoo!

Where are you right now? Home? Home away from home? “Hometown”? Who are you spending your time with? Any exciting holiday plans?

There’s not much time now for a “real” post, so I’ll just taunt you with these photos…

This is one of our favorite casseroles (not that I make casseroles much at all). It has tons of flavor, good texture (mmm… steamed-just-right broccoli).

The recipe is here at this post.

So, tomorrow we’re going to pack up and go to South Carolina to visit our families for the holidays (or we might leave Friday… not sure).  This will be Zora’s first 8-hour car trip (that we know of), so that’ll be really interesting. And everyone will get to meet Zora! WOO! We have our presents all wrapped, but nothing else is packed yet.

Are you traveling for the holidays? Where are you going?

Or, how I got this…

…from this:

And all I have to say is OH, YUM! I don’t know if I ever tried a snickerdoodle before the MOPS craft show. But the chaplain’s kids had a booth selling crocheted things and baked goods, and Topher bought some snickerdoodles from them. Oh my goodness, were they GOOD!

I don’t know what recipe they used, but here’s the one I went with.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (though I really put in more)
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Mix of cinnamon and sugar for rolling the cookies in

1. Preheat the to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Cream together butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
   
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
   
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet stuff and mix until combined.
6. Shape dough into balls. I scooped out a spoonful, then dropped it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and rolled it around.
7. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets. I don’t know what it is, but they stuck to my baking sheet in one batch, but in the other, they didn’t… so you might want to spray or use parchment paper to be sure. Though I don’t know why they’d stick with all that butter and shortening!
8. Bake 8 minutes. They’ll be really soft, still. Let them cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet, then remove them with a spatula and cool them on racks. They’ll firm up a little when they get cool, but they’ll still be delightfully chewy.

Everything in Kristina’s shop is now 25% off… SUPER prices on amazingly crafted children’s clothing. If you aren’t sure about it, just take a peek at testimonials from her buyers. She even offers a gift wrap and drop-shipping service (she’ll include a note from you, remove all price tags, and send it to the recipient), so it’s not too late to send a little something to your favorite girl for Christmas, even if she lives far away from you!

“Beautiful dress! You do such nice work, the pictures did not do it justice. My daughter is so jazzed about it and can’t wait to wear it. Thank you for such a beautiful creation.
Great turn around time, beautiful work, fast shipping, wonderful communication. Fantastic seller! Will definitely shop in the future with MaddieandMe.”

“Beautiful set, very responsive seller, great communication, always wonderful quality, thank you!”

 

“Another beauty, a great versatile dress. Comfortable, wearable and pretty all in one, color choices are a perfect combo. Great packaging. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Beautifully made dress. The attention to detail is wonderful. Immediate shipment, wonderful packaging, great seller to work with.”

So WHY is everything 25% off right now?

Kristina writes,
“I started Maddie & ME locally and off line in August of 2007.  Sales were good and people seemed to like my one of a kind way of doing things here in the area. I originally started with the idea of making items for child and mother in coordinating styles and fabrics.  Then I realized that was NOT feasible since it would be near impossible to guess what size the mother and what size the daughter might possibly be.  So then I opened the etsy site trying to keep with the idea of one of a kind.  Maddie & ME just celebrated our first year on etsy Dec. 10, 2008.  Its been a wild and wonderful year and through the process I’ve learned a lot.

“I’ve decided to clean out my shop and revamp it.  The reason for this is because what I seem to come across is almost every item I make I hear “Love it, but can you make it in ___ size?”  This means that my one of a kind items, though useful in our small town where shopping is limited is NOT the way to go on etsy.  What I plan to do is to offer several (I’m thinking 7) different styles and with those styles fabric selections.  Instead of getting small quantities of fabric and making one of a kind items I plan to order larger quantities of fabric and make items to order.  The quality and attention to detail will remain the same.  The availability for custom sizing will also remain a constant in my shop as will custom orders for the hard to fit child.

“I also feel that by making these changes I will be able to devote more time to my family and duties as a mother and wife (in addition to employee to my own mother and business owner).   I just feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels making all these items that everyone seems to want in a different size so I am emptying out my shop of ALL stock items and am selling at 25% off and also willing to take trade from other sellers.”

 Every Sunday, my dad used to make a yummy homemade breakfast for all of us, and we’d gather in the kitchen for some nice family time. It was awesome, and man… that guy can make some breakfast! Sometimes it was waffles or french toast, but probably the most frequent (and my favorite) was chocolate chip pancakes (with lil’ smokies breakfast sausages…mmm). This isn’t his recipe, but it’s durned good.

First, dump 3 cups of flour into a bowl.

And add 6 Tablespoons of sugar.

Then throw in 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 Tablespoons of baking powder.

Mix mix mix.

In a measuring cup, mix 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup canola oil (or other veggie oil). Beat in 3 eggs, then combine with the dry ingredients.

You can pour slowly and dramatically if you want.

Stir it up and decide if it’s battery enough (haha battery) for you. It wasn’t.

Add milk until it’s the right texture for you. Some people like thicker pancakes and other people like thinner ones, but this is a pretty good middle…

Once your pan is heated over medium heat, spoon in some pancakes.

And when they get nice and puffy and have bubbles rising to the top like this…

It’s time to flip them!

I made a couple sets of plain ones for hubs, who likes to drizzle syrup on his.

Well… is this still called drizzling?

Eh, I think it’s more like glopping. He likes to glop the syrup on his!

I don’t like anything on mine, unless it’s that spray whipped cream from a can like my dad used to do for us sometimes. But I like mine with CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN THEM.

I’ve found that if I mix the chips into the batter, they all sink to the bottom, and I get weird varying amounts of chips in each pancake, so I just sprinkle them on after spooning the batter into the pan.

Help yourself!

Why thank you. I think I will!

The perfect breakfast for a lazy weekend morning.

Here’s the recipe, in case you don’t want to print out the whole thing.

Puffy pancakes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 6 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1+ cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add milk if needed. Cook in a pan over medium heat  (or on a griddle if you’re fancy like that). Enjoy!

I saw this recipe several years ago on one of those fat-guy-learning-to-exercise-and-eat-right shows… I don’t remember what show it was. But my mouth was watering as they were making this so-simple meal, and the next day I got some taco shells so I could do it too. Not only is it low-fat and full of flavor, but it’s super-easy and quick to make, too!

Start with some ground turkey, and brown it in a pan.

Then dig out your ground cinnamon and cumin.

And sprinkle liberally. WAY more liberally than you’d think… I added some more after I took this photo.
Also, stick your taco shells in the oven (per their instructions) to get warm and crispy.

Stir it up and finish cooking the meat. By now your kitchen will smell amazing.

Serve with salsa and taco shells.

Just spoon some turkey and salsa into the shell and serve with steamed broccoli (like they did on the show… it’s really the perfect addition to this meal). Mmmmm…