Bread That Doesn't Taste Bad

Homemade multigrain bread with homemade peach preserves (Texas-grown, of course!).

"So, where did you find a recipe for healthy bread that doesn't taste bad?" Ah, just another glowing review from my husband to make my morning!

But truly, this was a special loaf of bread. It was (it's all gone now) fluffy and soft on the inside with a warm, nutty flavor and just enough tooth in the crust to make for perfect slicing. It toasted up great and made for a tasty sandwich bread that held together impressively well. All my previous multigrain attempts fell into piles of crumbs upon first slice, or didn't rise enough to qualify as sandwich worthy.

Admittedly, baking is not my strong suit, and I know exactly why. It's because baking is a science, and you can't just haphazardly substitute ingredients as if they were herbs, spices, or protein sources. Bread recipes are crafted because of the way a specific type of flour interacts with a specific kind of yeast; timing is important, patience is important, and following the rules is important. All things I struggle with.

Oh yes, baking bread is a great metaphor for my life that's not lost on me.

But I may have had a breakthrough this week, with my very first edible and healthy made-from-scratch loaf of bread. I didn't even use the bread maker (which was gifted to me by my husband a few Christmases ago, as a sort of polite way of telling me I needed help in the homemade bread department and would I please stop making him eat those dense whole wheat bricks that kept coming out of the oven).

Though I can't tell you how much discipline it took me to wait for the dough to rise; it involved forcing myself to watch some bad TV and I got up many times to see if it was rising faster than the recipe anticipated. Patience, patience.

Thanks to Cook's Illustrated, Pinterest, and one night at home alone with a pantry full of all the right ingredients, I had on my hands the perfect recipe for a good loaf of bread.

Here's where I found the recipe, which is from the always-wonderful Cook's Illustrated. But true to form, I made three very minor alterations to the recipe that did not seem to have an adverse effect on the outcome:

• Instead of whole wheat flour, I used whole grain spelt flour (personally I just like the flavor better). 
• Instead of 7-grain cereal, I used 5-grain cereal (which was readily available in the bulk bins). 
• And since I only have one loaf pan, I cut the recipe in half. 

A few more things I learned:

• Check the doneness with an instant-read thermometer. Turns out 200 F is juuuuust right! 
• Let the bread cool on the counter, uncovered, overnight. This helps the loaf develop a crunchy crust, cool completely, and remain soft on the inside. The next morning I was able to easily slice perfect pieces for toast. 
• It took the two of us about two days to go through one loaf of bread; breakfast two days, and lunch for me two days. It remained soft and delicious until the last crumb.
• If you're not going to eat this bread within two days, let it cool and then wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap and one layer of foil. It can then be frozen, for up to a month.

Overall, this was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to make another loaf. Not to mention, I'm working on the nutritional aspect of this bread; I hope to find out that it's significantly lower in sodium than its grocery-store counterparts (which come in at around 140 mg of sodium per slice!). 

Do you have a favorite bread recipe? Are you as impatient as me?

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Cookies for a Sunday Afternoon

Let's say you've spent your Sunday having coffee with your favorite person and doing little chores around the house. Laundry, a couple of errands, maybe some grocery shopping. And let's go ahead and say it's a cool, cloudy day that's threatening to bless the thirsty earth with rain (maybe).

It's a lazy day, a lovely day. Your husband puts up a game in the front yard consisting of a deck screw, some twine, and a metal ring. The neighbors stop by to watch you swing the ring on a string toward the screw in the tree. It looks simple, but you soon find that the goal of landing the ring on the screw is so elusive that you'll do a happy dance should you make it happen.

Your friends and neighbors stop by to play this new game, a favorite drinking game that you've decided to call Single Ladies (as in, "If you like it then you better put a ring on it.). Your dog sits out in the front yard, too, entranced. Everyone is so very happy. This is the kind of day that demands chocolate chip cookies. So you make them.

And when you do, you make these. Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies sprinkled with flaky sea salt. You eat them straight out of the oven, and they're huge—because you've used your ice cream scoop to measure them out on the baking sheet—and you and everyone else who has one is in love. You pour a glass of milk and settle in. Just one more cookie never hurt anyone.

This recipe comes from Kim Boyce's book Good to the Grain, which I just ordered on Amazon. I found this recipe available online over at Food In Jars, where you can read it too.

Happy baking, friends!

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Have Your Cornbread and Eat it Too

Texas never can make up her mighty mind. One minute, we're all frolicking around at kite festivals in shorts and flip-flops. The next, rain rolls in and the temperature drops 18 degrees in one hour, and we suddenly regretting wearing sandals to work today.

But the cold weather that blew in last week enticed me to the kitchen, where I had white beans soaking, a head of home-grown cabbage waiting for its debut, and a clean cast iron skillet beckoning from the countertop. Big night. Biiiiiig night.

I did what any sensible 20-something hipster would do: I threw on my PJs, texted the Hubcap our low-key dinner plans, and started making a meal steeped in my German heritage: Boiled cabbage and onions, white beans, and cornbread.

Healthy cornbread. With flaxseed.

I'll wait for a moment while you consider clicking on that ad over there instead of reading the rest of this post.

Let me tell you something: This cornbread will surprise you. It looks like a dry boring puck in the oven and it lacks the lovely golden color one normally associates with cornbread. But it's made in a cast-iron skillet, it's nutty, it's packed with ancient grains, and despite its aptitude for health, it is quite delicious.

So this cornbread is awesome because it's unconventional.

This recipe is based on Whole Foods' Flax and Pumpkin Seed Cornbread. I took the liberty of un-veganizing it, omitting the pumpkin seeds, and swapping the whole wheat for spelt. Here's how I did it, and if you want to ease in to the "healthy cornbread world," I'd say this is the way to do it.

Cornbread with Flaxseed and Spelt
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 3/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup stone ground corn meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup nonfat or 1% milk
1/4 cup canola oil
4 teaspoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a cast iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flaxseeds through salt). In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (egg through oil). Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mixture, and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean. The bread will just pull away from the sides of the skillet.

Serve warm, with butter if you must. Go ahead and put some honey on it, too, would ya?

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a proper breakfast

One morning in January, when I had the day off and Ryan didn't, and I couldn't fall back asleep and the kitchen was begging to be dirtied and I just couldn't keep my hands off a new recipe, I made scones. 

And we haven't been quite the same since. You see, I never knew what having a scone really meant. The only time I'd ever, in my life, had a real honest-to-goodness scone was at my friend Ellen's house. She, being one of my highly cultured friends, made homemade scones with whipped cream (and having never eaten an honest scone before, I had to ask what the white fluffy stuff was) and strawberry jam, and Earl Grey tea with cream and lumps of sugar. 

So when I stepped out into the scone-making world, a bar had already been set; and I had to clear the bar, because no way was I going to disappoint myself, or the bf for that matter. That's when I reached for both Bittman's book and the Joy of Cooking: this is what I'd call scone research. 

What makes a scone a scone, you ask, and not a biscuit? Two words: heavy cream. Also known as sweet glorious nectar of the gods, don't you agree? Yes, my friends, heavy cream gives scones their decadent yet simple, lightweight yet filling, country-biscuit yet hi-falutin-pastry-like feel. 

The recipe I used went a little something like this (adapted from How to Cook Everything): 

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

2 tbls sugar

5 tbls cold butter

3 eggs

3/4 cup cream

• Heat oven to 450. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, reserving 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Cut the butter into bits and either pulse it in the food processor (easier) or rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips (messier and more fun). Make sure all the butter is thoroughly blended in before you move on. 

• Beat 2 of the eggs with the cream in a large bowl. With a few swift strokes, combine them with the flour mixture. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead only 10 times. The dough should stick a little to your hands. 

• Press the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle and cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter (I used a glass tumbler). Put the rounds on an ungreased baking sheet. Gently reshape the leftover dough and cut again. Beat the remaining egg with 1 tbls water and brush the top of each scone; sprinkle each with a little of the remaining sugar. 

• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the scones are light golden brown. 

• Serve with fresh whipped cream and local berries. Over and over again. The next weekend, Ryan's parents were coming into town and spending the night with us. I asked Ryan if I should make scones for them. "Are they going to be exactly like the ones you made last week?" he asked. Apparently I'd set my own scone bar. Thankfully, when I made them for his parents, they were just as good as the week before. Here's hoping that they'll be just as good from here on out.

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sweetness overkill: cake balls!

Please know that yes, I giggled the entire time I made, and wrote about, these cake balls, because sometimes I get stuck in eighth grade all over again (and so do you). I emailed this to my parents before blogging, and my mom suggested calling them "Red Velvet Truffles;" my dad suggested "Cake Spheres" or "Earth-like Cakes." I like both suggestions very much, but to humor my inner 13-year-old, I will call them BALLS. Sorry 'rents. Love ya both. My friend suggested calling them "Red Velvet Cajones" and getting it over with. Still laughing from that.

The stars aligned this week when Valentine’s day recipes, my friend Nicki’s birthday, and an urge to bake a new recipe collided into the perfect circumstance for: Chocolate Covered Red Velvet Cake Balls.

Yes. You read that correctly. In the last week or so, I’d been seeing more and more recipes for these pop up. Nicki happens to love red velvet cupcakes, and I (until last night) had never made red velvet cake before. Opportunity, don’t you think?

I scoured the web for the best red velvet recipe. The idea of using a box mix was in the back of my mind; but then I saw that the cost for one box (not including all the pantry staples needed for it) was almost $7. Not to mention, the box was full of preservatives, partially hydrogenated oils, and even the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. Nicki’s worth the $7, for sure, but why give her chemical-laden sweets when I could whip it up from scratch? (Ok, ok—there’s Red No. 5 in my recipe...but c'mon.) This is the Sustainable Diet blog, after all. So Nicki’s recipe was treated with unbleached organic flour, organic butter, local farm-fresh eggs, and even all-natural organic cocoa. Mmmm. I finally settled on this recipe, which was adapted from the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. Of course, I FURTHER adapted it by leaving out, either by accident or by purposefully omitting, the orange zest. Though I think next time I’ll include the zest, because the flavor would likely compliment the icing AND the chocolate.

For the icing, I followed the Joy of Cooking’s “fastest method” for cream cheese frosting. Into the food processor went:

• 8 oz. Neufchatel (some sense of "healthy")
  
• 6 Tbls. unsalted butter, cubed
  
• 2 tsp. Mexican vanilla
  
• Approx. 2-3 cups confectioner’s sugar
  

This took literally 30 seconds to come together into a beautiful, rich, creamy frosting. Then came the fun part. After the cakes cooled, I cut them into chunks and, lacking another large mixing bowl, tossed them into my stock pot. I busted out the potato masher, spatula’d in the frosting, and went to town mashing. Once the icing was incorporated, I shaped the cake balls, making about 30-40 two-biters, and stuck ‘em in the freezer. I like to call these the naked balls. Teehee! You know you giggled. They look a little like meatballs, don't they?I prepped my chocolate-covering area with a brown paper bag and parchment (having learned something from my caramel incident). The spheres, after freezing for about 30 minutes, were nicely set and were very easy to dip in chocolate. I found that using two forks is the BEST way to do this--no special equipment needed. Two-thirds of my batch went into dark chocolate chips, and the other third were dipped in white chocolate chips. I drizzled them with the remaining chocolate, and... Voila! Chocolate-covered red velvet cake balls!! Are you blushing? Stop it! My mom's right--they do look like truffles... This took about 3 hours from start to finish, and dirtied literally an entire dishwasher full of dishes, and then some. Something I’d maybe do next time on a Sunday, and not after having a couple of beers at my cousin Callie's birthday party. :)But they were well worth the effort, albeit I’m only able to eat one in a sitting. Talk about sweet overkill. Mmmmm.... The best part? Thinking I’d been so original in my planning, another colleague had brought Nicki the SAME THING for her b-day. The same morning. Unveiling her chocolate-covered delights only moments before I had.

Apparently we run in the same blog circles. :)

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Sneaky, sneaky!

To make up for tricking Ryan the other day, I decided to try some different cookies. Lately I’ve been on a baking kick, trying to hone my skills in the oven. I’ve also fallen hard for organic rolled oats; they’re healthy, hearty, and tasty to boot. They can be dressed up to the nines, or cooked simply. (And just you wait for the delish banana muffin recipe coming down the pike.)

But let me preface this by telling you that only a couple of days before I made these cookies, we’d given Ryan’s sister, Lynsy, the Deceptively Delicious (and highly controversial) book for her b-day. We thought it’d be perfect for her young picky eater, but I really liked some of the ideas and thought I could incorporate more veggies into my baking.

So, back to the evening when I made these cookies....

I’d again confessed that I felt like making oatmeal cookies. So when Ryan caught me in the kitchen grating carrots, he shook his finger at me. “You know, you can’t sneak vegetables into food for me like you could on a little kid. I’m not gonna fall for it.” I wasn’t trying to be sneaky, I assured him, I was just trying to make miniature, oatmeal cookie versions of one of my favorite desserts: carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Once I was given the blessing to proceed with my vegetable-infiltrated cookie baking, all was well. I whipped up a simple recipe and these flew off the cooling rack just as soon as I could ice them. We ate ‘em all, and didn’t share with anybody. Sorry friends. :) I’ll make you another batch.

Oatmeal Carrot Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cookies (I halved this recipe just for me & the man, but have included the full-size recipe here):

3/4 c. butter
1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. rolled oats
1 c. shredded carrots

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds, just until softened. Add half of the flour, all of the brown sugar and granulated sugar, egg, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and vanilla; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat or stir in remaining flour. Stir in oats and carrots

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until done enough for you. Cool, then top with cream cheese frosting. Makes 4 dozen large cookies.

For the cream cheese frosting: (adapted from allrecipes.com)
8 oz neufatchel cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

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finally, something just for fin

My sweet Fin-Bear. I know she only wants to help, what with her incessant nudging, pressing her sweet heart-shaped nose into my thigh while I chop, flip, saute, or mix; what else could she possibly be thinking? Certainly she's never thinking only of herself. "Mom, are those steaks for me? Since I've been such a good girl and only chased one big buck today?" "Moooommmmmmm, you're cutting up that carrot just for me, right?" Yes, my dear, sweet Fin. I love her. But more and more, my cooking episodes are peppered with only sometimes-patient exclamations: "Get outta the kitchen, babe. Out, out. OUT!" So after reading this recipe for gourmet dog biscuits on a new favorite blog of mine, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do something nice for Finley. Because you know that even after the trouble she manages to get in (did I mention the buck???), she certainly deserves more than just store-bought, regardless of how organic her current treats are...they're not homemade. And boy, did Fin know what was going on. Not just because I kept saying, "I'm making you something, Fin! Aren't you excited?", but also because I had to prop the oven open with a wooden spoon. And let me tell you something: this is NOT a posed pic. She snuck her sweet little self into the kitchen to take a peek. I was actually worried that the rigged oven door would snap shut on her. Catastrophe averted.Perhaps the funniest part of this whole afternoon was that earlier in the day, I'd mentioned to Ryan that I wanted to make oatmeal cookies. While I was making a mess of the kitchen, Ryan was napping. He woke up, waltzed in, and grabbed a cookie off the counter. He tilted his head one way, then the other, eyeing the suspiciously flat, dry pastry with its flecks of green. "Are these cookies or dog biscuits?" I took a bite of one. "Try them," I urged. He was reluctant. I suppose I would have been, too, if I'd been hoping for decadent oatmeal cookies and gotten... a dog biscuit.

But Fin? She loved 'em. And so did her best friend Bella. 

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Mmmmpanadas (kind of)

I've been trying all sorts of new things lately. Surely you'll be caught up soon, but the Reader's Digest version goes like this: homemade stock, homemade granola bars, homemade pasta, orange beef stir-fry...

So I'm definitely taking more risks in the kitchen, which sometimes ends in an "OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO GOOD" and sometimes with "Eh, um, yeah--this is good." And sometimes it involves watching your boyfriend get up from the table and make himself a deli plate. :)

A few weeks ago, very shortly after receiving How to Cook Everything for Christmas, I decided to try and make empanadas. There was soyrizo in the fridge that needed using, as well as a pint of fresh blueberries, so I thought I'd make savory and sweet versions. Let the fun begin.The dough was easy enough to make, though I think it was a little on the dry side. I'm still learning how to get dough perfect. But as for filling, the soyrizo was delish with cheese, and the blueberries got stewed together with sugar and cinnamon and... mmmm. These little pies were baked, not fried, so they weren't quite as mouth-watering and delicate as the authentic ones I've had the pleasure of devouring.

Empanadas, from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more
1/2 cup masa harina, fine cornmeal or more all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening or vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk

1. Mix the flour, masa harina, baking powder, and salt together in the food processor and process for about 5 seconds. With the machine running, add the 1/2 cup shortening and process for 10 seconds. Then, with the machine running, add about 1/2 cup cold water, just enough for the dough to form a ball. Don't add more water than necessary; the dough should be fairly dry. Knead by hand until smooth, just a minute or so.

2. Divide into 12 pieces, roll into balls, and wrap in plastic or cover with a damp towel and let rest for at elast 20 minutes. (You can refrigerate the dough overnight; be sure to let it come to room temperature before proceeding.) On a well-floured surface, rolle ach piece into a 6-inch circle, adding flour as necessary.

3. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Place a couple of tablespoons of the filling in the center of each circle of dough, followed by a sprinkling of cheese if desired, then fold each circle over. I seal the seam with a few drops of water and press with the tines of a fork to close. Put on an ungreased baking sheet and brush lightly with milk. Bake until the dough is golden brown and hot, and about 20 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

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The Quest for the Perfect Loaf of Whole Wheat

I'm a fan of whole grains. I really, truly am. And so it makes sense that after a couple of successful white loaves from the bread machine, I should be able to whip up some super-healthy whole wheat bread. Right?

Wrong.

It started with not a complete failure... I used some white flour and some stone-ground whole wheat. But what emerged was far too dense. And there was another hiccup: I wasn’t around to remove the paddle at the right time, so it baked right into the loaf.
Back to the density: this has been the problem with my handmade loaves in the past. Not enough yeasty action. In fact, when this wheat loaf came out of the bread maker, Ryan said, “It looks like what you used to make before I gave you the bread machine.”

It wasn’t a total waste; I cut thin slices, toasted them, and spread on some local chevre and delicious chutney. A beautiful afternoon snack!


Before getting too discouraged, I did the tiniest bit of research and looked at three different grocery stores to find the finest-ground wheat flour around. To think, the two specialty stores (Central Market and ‘Ho Foods) didn’t point me in any kind of direction. But at my neighborhood HEB, I found Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat flour in a five-pound bag.

They claimed to be the “best” for wheat breads, and so I gave my recipe another try. Same recipe, same size, just different flour. However, this loaf was still dense and incredibly dry. So I did MORE research and read about the vital-ness of vital wheat gluten (aka gluten, aka wheat gluten, aka vital wheat gluten flour, which was available in the bulk section at both Whole Foods and Central Market, though it took some asking around to make SURE that it was what I was looking for!)

You see, let me bust out a little bread science for you fine folks. Gluten is actually a part of some grass-related grains including wheat, rye, and barley (in the endosperm, if you remember from junior high science class what that part is). Thanks Wikipedia. “Legend attributes the discovery of gluten to Buddhist monks in 7th century China who sought meat-like ingredients for use in their vegetarian diet. With easily available wheat flour and water they made a dough which they submerged in cold water and kneaded. The water dissolved the starchy components of the dough and left behind an insoluble, gummy mass, 70% to 80% of which was gluten.”

Long story short, gluten makes breads chewier and fluffier. And I'm still not sure why. So, loaf three began... I followed the recipe on the back of Bob's flour bag (which called for gluten, and molasses) to make the next loaf. Girls' night was about to start, so I had to get everything in the machine and fly out the door. Before I left, I noticed how much higher the dough was, and decided to go ahead and remove the paddle because I didn't want it to bake in again.

In the meantime, I go out to meet my friends and Ryan gets home. Sweetheart that he is, he cleans the kitchen. And then when he hears the machine start beeping, he runs into the kitchen to remove the paddle, oblivious to the fact that I've already done so.

I'm totally going to give him major props for this attempt. He took the uncooked dough out, searched for the paddle, puzzled as to where it could have gone, and then realized I'd already taken it out. He dropped the dough back in and let the machine work.

So when I get home and ask, "Oooh, how's the bread?", he has a rather suspicious look on his face and says, "I dunno--how IS the bread?" At that point, I bolt into the kitchen to uncover this monster of a loaf that looks like it's been grabbed by a bear.

The good news? It's much chewier and less dense than before, and the flavor is fantastic! SO we'll stick with that whole wheat recipe for now, and hopefully keep improving upon it. For now, here you go...

Best-Yet Whole Wheat Flour Recipe, thankfully and only slightly adapted from Bob's Red Mill label)
For a 1.5-pound loaf...
1 cup Water 80-90 degrees
2-1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1-1/4 Tbsp Milk Powder (Non-Fat Dry or essence of buttermilk, which is what I used)
1 tsp Salt
1-1/2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1-1/4 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten
2 tsp Molasses
2 tsp Yeast, Active Dry

Dump these ingredients in the bread machine in that order. We like light crust. Good luck!

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New Year's Resolutions

For Christmas, the kitchen gifts were lavished upon me. Between Ryan, my parents, Ryan's parents and his aunt, I made out like a serious kitchen bandit. At this rate, there will be nothing on my hypothetical wedding registry. ;) There were the books...

And the KitchenAid pasta attachments...
Then there were the Give It A Rest spoons made from organic bamboo...
And of course, the bread machine.
There were also a handful of vintage cake stands. That adds up to 7,500 new recipes and techniques, at least 10 new tools, a great deal of time- and energy-saving tactics, and even enough flair to show it all off to guests.

This means I have a lot of work to do. We even got a 25% off coupon from Greenling (since we haven't ordered in months), so I put in our order and next week we'll get a shipment of fresh local goodies. Let the cooking begin!

Tomorrow I'm going to try soyrizo, cheese, and green chile empanadas with my famous salsa. And soon I'd like to make cinnamon raisin swirl bread. With just shy of 10K recipes to try, time's a wastin.

Ryan is preoccupied with bicycle maintenance (I just heard an "uhoh" followed by a not-so-healthy-sounding gear spin from the makeshift bike shop in our living room) so that leaves me with plenty of time to try my hand at new things in our kitchen. And yes, we're "organized" enough that I was able to get everything to fit in our cabinets and still managed to make the kitchen look LESS cluttered. Hi-five.

All this to say...this year I plan on cooking a LOT, keeping the kitchen clean, and blogging all about it. So, readers, hold me to it! If you catch me not blogging, I'll bake you a loaf of bread. :)

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Full Moon Rising

Well, hell must have frozen over, because I got an "oh, wow" moment with a loaf of bread--thanks to the most relaxing Christmas gift ever from Ryan: a super-snazzy Cuisinart bread machine. Swoon.

I literally dumped the ingredients in and set the machine to do the work. And look what happened.

Now, some of you purists will scoff at this lazy bread-making tactic. I'll admit, I was skeptical at first. Well, that and I wanted to prove that I could make the perfect loaf without modern technology. Homemade caramels I can do. Bechamel I can do. Aioli I can do. But bread?

Well, folks, I couldn't. And now I can. So where does that leave me? Loving my bread machine, that's where! I am going to try a cinnamon swirl loaf with some organic raisins tomorrow. We also discovered the bulk bins at Central Market, where you can score 4 pounds of organic bread flour for less than 2 bones. Seriously, can it get any cheaper? I made a loaf of fresh bread, completely organic and all-natural, for about $1. And that means we're saving tons of dough (pun most definitely intended) and getting no yucky preservatives, additives, or high fructose corn syrup. Everyone wins. (Writer's remark: I'm on my second glass of vino for the night, and the word "wins" came out as "wines" on my first type. But since I'm not totally sloshed, I was able to edit that for your reading enjoyment. Just sayin.)

So, here's to a year of bread...from the magical machine that's going to live on our countertops.

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Blueberry Hill...

Well, friends, it's been a while. Way too long of a while. And for that, I apologize. So to make it up to you... I come bearing beautiful photos of what turned out to be delicious muffins. Honestly, though, I made these so long ago that I've forgotten what recipe I used! I do know that I used a little whole wheat flour, and the blueberries were fresh and local, hand-picked from an East Texas farm. I made a giant batch of these puppies, complete with sugary streusel topping, and gave some to my sweet Nan.



And with that, another promise that I'll be updating again soon. Ryan and I stopped getting Greenling deliveries for a little while, but we may be signing back up (since I saw local apples on their website, it's hard to resist). We've been experimenting with a lot of new recipes, and have even started a weekly soup tradition! So as these nights begin to cool off, look for some delicious heart- and home-warming recipes to come your way.

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