Anyone who knows me could tell you I have a serious love/hate relationship with bread.  Carbohydrates in general get a bad rap these days, with every variety of low-carb diet screaming at you from the headlines.  I’ve tried and even succeeded at many of them, but when the cravings hit it is never candy or cake on my mind.  Simple bread has always been the object of my obsession.  Rustic homemade bread, fresh out of the oven, at most dipped in a little olive oil.  There have been times on this long road to a healthy weight that I would have wrestled an alligator for a roll!  I ease my guilt by reminding myself that this is no ordinary, white flour, high-fructose corn syrup laden, flabby white bread.  THIS is bread of ancient simplicity.  Flour, yeast, water, and salt.  I take my time with it and enjoy the task.  I occasionally dress it up in different ways, sometimes boule style-sometimes loaves, sometimes with herbs.  I love the way the smell fills a house, and makes even our little condo feel lived in.  No matter what I accomplish professionally, nothing gives me a feeling of accomplishment like feeding the family with homemade bread.  In some way it makes me feel connected to history, to the women who went before me that mixed the same ingredients for the same purpose.  In tents and castles, in huts and cabins, Home is where the bread is.   

If you are new to bread making I highly recommend the book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg.  Their recipes are simple and versatile (and delicious), and will likely become your go-to recipe as it has mine.   I’ve used the basic recipe for everything for bread bowls for soup to bagels to beignets.  Happy baking!

 by Lisa at Fresh Eggs Daily 

 

We don't eat a lot of chicken at our house. Since we started raising our own flock, eating one of them is out of the question. I don't care if you name an animal or not, you're still interacting with it every day, feeding it,caring for it and much as I would LOVE to be able to raise meat birds and animals, it just isn't in me. I applaud those who do because you know the animals are humanely treated until the very end and you are eating meat that has been raised naturally without antibiotics, hormones or chemicals.  I'm sure it tastes better than anything you could buy, just as our fresh eggs do.  Maybe one day...but for now, chicken isn't on the menu very often.

But this pot pie is just SO darn good that my husband requests one a couple times a year. So I trudge to the grocery store and usually buy one of those pre-cooked rotisserie chickens  to minimize my handling of the whole bird that reminds me of our 'girls'!

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can also omit the chicken all together and make a wonderful Vegetable Pot Pie - just add a few more vegetables to what is called for below.  

One of the other things I really love about this recipe is the herbed crust. I mix some fresh or dried parsley and thyme in to the dough as I'm making it. Not only is it pretty but it adds another layer of flavor to your finished pie.

Here's my recipe. It's easy and really hits the spot on a cold winter evening. It's also a great way to use up leftover vegetables. Feel free to substitute what you have available or vegetables you prefer.

Chicken Pot Pie with Herbed Crust

Crust:2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch of fresh or dried parsley and thyme
2 sticks cold butter
1/2 cup ice water

Combine flour, salt, herbs and 2 sticks butter in food processor. Slowly add ice water until dough holds together. Flatten into two discs between plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour.

Pie:1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups water
Shredded rottiserrie or roasted chicken
2 sliced carrots, cooked until soft
1 medium potato, diced and cooked until soft
1/2 chopped onion, cooked until soft
1/2 cup green beans (fresh, frozen or canned)
1/2 cup peas (fresh, frozen or canned)
1/2 cup corn (fresh, frozen or canned)
Parsley, thyme, salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in saucepan then slowly whisk in flour. Add milk and water and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme.

Roll out bottom crust and generously fill with chicken and vegetables. Pour liquid over top and cover with top crust. Vent crust, brush with milk and bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

  

 

Join me on Facebook at Fresh Eggs Daily and my BLOG for more tips, tricks and advice to raising naturally healthy chickens, as well as recipes, DIY and craft projects.

  

With all the baking that went on here this holiday season, we rapidly used up our supply of store bought extracts.  While store bought extracts are convenient, the imitations extracts are filled with chemicals and taste just a bit artificial, and the real extracts often cost upward of 10 dollars.  With just a little planning and patience, you can make your own extracts at home with just some basic ingredients.

 
Six reasons you should make your own extract:

1. They're cheaper
2. They taste better
3. They are better for you
4. It's a fun ongoing project going on right in your kitchen
5. They can be used as gifts
6. You can control the intensity

Making Extracts

To make your own extracts you need a jar, a solvent, and some item to use as flavoring.  If you wish you can sterilize the jar before use, but so far I have had success simply using extra clean jars.  For a solvent, you need some kind of alcohol, preferably vodka.  It is important that there is water and alcohol in the solvent to extract more flavor, so stick with vodka since using an alcohol that is too high proof won't get to those water soluble flavors.  You can flavor your extracts with a variety of things.  Choose extracts that you often use in your own baking such as vanilla, lemon, almond, or peppermint. 

Making Vanilla Extract

You can buy vanilla beans over the internet, or at specialty food stores.  Use approximately 2 seeds for every pint of vodka. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, or chop it up to increase the flavor.  Put the the seeds in your jar with 70-90 proof vodka and put the jar somewhere you won't forget about it.

Shake the bottle every few days/weeks.  Your extract should be done in 2-3 months.  The longer you allow it to sit, the stronger the flavor.  Once you are happy with it, you can strain it to remove the vanilla beans and store the extract in a dark place.  Don't throw those beans out, most beans can be used twice!

Making Peppermint Extract

Cut up 1/2 cup of tightly packed peppermint leaves.  Place them in a jar and pour in about 1 cup of vodka.  Make sure the leaves are completely covered.  Every several days shake the jar.  Your extract should be done in about 1 month, and you can strain it and store it in a cool, dark place.

Making Lemon Extract

Zest 2 large lemons and add it to a jar with 1 cup vodka and 2 teaspoons of sugar.  You can use a lesser strength vodka for this recipe (40%).  Shake the extract daily for a month, and strain it.  Store in a dark and cool space.

Making Almond Extract

Combine 12 cut up raw almonds with 1 pint of vodka in a jar.  Shake the jar every few days for about 2 months.  When the extract reaches the desired intensity, strain it and store it in a cool dark spot.

Join my in my adventure here.

 Can Food Be a Hobby? 

Hobby:   A pastime, diversion, leisure pursuit, or something you do for relaxation.  Now I don’t know about you but when my family was growing food was not a hobby, it was a necessity.  Breakfast might be cereal or toaster something before the kids ran for the bus.  Eggs, bacon and the rest were more likely to happen on a Saturday or Sunday.  By early evening dinner became a blur of casseroles, pasta dishes and boiled vegetables.  That was not relaxation therefore that was not a hobby.
 

 

Since the children are grown I can now take the time to enjoy food, not just eating food, but trying new recipes and learning the whys and wherefores of why we cook certain ways. I can collect flour sifters, cookie cutters or cookbooks I’ll never use. Now I do have a hobby –Food (and pretty much everything that goes with it.)

 

There’s so much to learn. 

My sinking Angel:
 

Growing up I never gave it a second thought, but recently I became interested in angel food cake.  Why did my mother always cool it upside down, hanging from a Coke bottle?  The internet is wonderful, it didn’t take long for me to discover that angel food cake is really closer to a meringue than a cake and cooling it upside down keeps it from collapsing back onto itself.  That’s the theory, but when I tried to make this light as air cake part of it still collapsed.

 

Why?  I’m guessing I left an air pocket when I filled the pan or my oven does not heat evenly.  Since I’m fairly certain Betty Crocker puts out a good mix it’s most likely something I have done.  I know, a good hobbyist (cook) would start from scratch but any recipe that begins “separate 12 eggs” is NOT my type of recipe.  It’s way to rainy to bake an angel food cake today.  I’ll post an update in a later blog about the success of my next attempt at the perfect angel food cake.

Beware Teenager in the Kitchen: 

Even an experienced teenage cook needs to be monitored in the kitchen.  It seemed so simple.  All the granddaughter wanted was to make a key lime pie.  I have made those since I was probably 8 years old, back in the days when you had to crush the graham crackers and mix the butter and sugar for the pie crust.  Now with the readymade crusts there are only two ingredients for a great key lime pie.  Two, that’s all.  How could she go wrong?  She’s a flighty teenager, that’s how.

 

The Recipe and the Mistake: 

Here’s the recipe:  take 1 can sweetened condensed milk, mix with 1/3 cup key lime juice (or lime or lemon juice), pour into crust and chill.  Apparently what she heard was blah blah blah 3 blah blah.  She’s a girl so she creatively added red food coloring to make a pink pie but that wasn’t the problem, it was the ¾ cup of lime juice that was the problem.   “What’s the diff?”  I suggested she not consider chemistry as a major. Even the dog that will eat anything wouldn’t touch that pie.

What a Great Hobby: 

As hobbies go I think I have found a winner.  I can explore history, spend weekends at yard sales looking for hidden treasures, taste new ingredients, and oh yes perhaps cook a few things too.

 

  

As someone that enjoys cooking and baking, I am always searching for ways to improve the quality of the food and the cost of the preparation. With skyrocketing food costs, seasonings and spices are increasingly priced at a premium.

One way that I have found to reduce costs is to make my own vanilla extract. Of course, my daughter would patiently explain that it wasn't really an extract since I don't actually squeeze vanilla juice out of the beans. Instead it is a tincture...blah, blah, blah. I'm sure she's right. Well, whatever you want to call it, I find that I am now free to use as much of the resulting liquid in any recipe that I want, yielding a far richer flavor. Baked goods made with homemade vanilla are never bland. This is so simple, that I usually only make up a batch once per year. Today happens to be that day!

The steps are simple:

1.) Order vanilla beans. (I find my beans on Ebay)

2.) Make lengthwise slits in the beans

3.) Fill a pint-sized canning jar with either vodka or rum

4.) Add 4 or 5 slitted vanilla beans to each jar

5.) Place jar in a dark place for 3 months to allow the vanilla to
flavor the liquor

6.) Once a week or so, give the jar a little shake

7.) Once the vanilla is aged to perfection, you can pour it from the canning jar into an easy to pour bottle. We like to reuse glass maple syrup bottles for this purpose. Do not store the vanilla in a plastic container, as it could cause the chemicals in the plastic to leach into the liquid and alter the flavor.

8.) Add to any recipe that calls for vanilla extract & enjoy!

  

They say that you can surmise a lot about someone by the things that they discard in their trash. Our trash collector will probably think we threw a wild party based upon the empty liquor bottles in the recycling bin. I'll be expecting the faithful readers at GRIT to vouch for my character and explain that the only wild thing around here is this groundhog in the backyard!

  

I spotted this little joker yesterday. Why didn't someone tell me that it was Groundhog Day? I hope this isn't a bad omen for the 2012 garden. 

 

I've always been the type of person to read books with rural settings and watch old-fashioned television shows. You know the ones I mean...They were always set way back in the days and would feature Paw hitching up the wagon to go fetch Doc when someone was injured. Though the shows rarely featured anyone that looked like me, I always imagined myself living back in those times. Of course back then, the gender roles were pretty well defined and there wasn't much leeway in them. Rather than being the one going into town to fetch the Doc, I'd have likely been the one sweating over an open fire to make dinner out of whatever varmint Paw had managed to snare.

As an adult I embarked on a more self-sufficient lifestyle, trying my best to recreate some of those moments for my family. Making bread was one of those key elements that I desperately wanted to bring into our home. I mean how hard could it really be? Breadmaking has been going on since the beginning of recorded time, right? On tv, the woman of the house would start the breadmaking at the crack of dawn. It had to be easy because she likely hadn't had any coffee and was probably dozing as her hands found a familiar rhythmic kneading pattern in the dough. The family would gather around the dinner table at the end of a long, hard day of eking out a living and they'd break bread, often sharing the meal with a neighbor or a passerby.

I've found that even after more than 10 years of making bread, both by hand and with a bread machine, things still go awry. Most of my bread failures fall into two sports categories: bread that resembles a football in both size and texture & yeasty dinner rolls that resemble hockey pucks. There was that one unfortunate incident where the bread... Oh never mind...That story is just too embarrassing to share! Needless to say, I have become quite proficient at both making and breaking bread.

Over the years, I've determined that the secret to making good bread is to find one recipe and tweak it until you get it right. If you use a different recipe each time, you'll never learn what it takes to correct bad bread. There are only a few ingredients in a basic bread recipe: flour, water, yeast, oil, salt and a bit of sugar or honey.

The first bread that you'll want to experiment with is a basic white bread. Don't get caught up in the old white bread is inferior to wheat bread debate just yet. Instead, entertain the notion that any home baked white bread loaf will be infinitely superior to the plastic bagged version in your local supermarket. As a bonus it won't contain any of the ingredients that only a top chemist can pronounce. Bread making skills are honed on white bread and are perfected on wheat bread because it can be a bit tricky to make a finely grained loaf of wheat bread that doesn't damage your teeth when you bite it.

Here is my favorite white bread recipe to make two loaves:

2 packages of active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups of lukewarm water
1/2 cup of slightly warmed milk
2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of salt
1/3 cup of cooking oil
7 1/4 cups of sifted flour 

Dissolve yeast in the water. Add sugar, milk, oil and salt. Stir mixture
gently. Add about half of the flour to make a batter. Continue to stir to
ensure that the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout. Gradually
add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Dough should not be so
sticky that it sticks to the sides of the bowl. If after adding the
remaining flour, you find that the dough is still sticky, you may add up to
an additional 1/4 cup of flour. Extra flour should only be added in small
increments and not all at once.

While still in the bowl, cover the dough with a towel or lid and allow it
to rest for 20 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Start
kneading,  after about 5 minutes it will become smooth. (Do not over
knead...This will make for a tougher bread texture.)Divide dough into two
equal portions and form each into a loaf. Place into two greased 9x5 inch
loaf pans. Let dough rise again until it has doubled in size. This can take
anywhere from an hour to an hour & a half. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and
bake for 30-35 minutes. When properly baked, bread will sound hollow when
you tap on it. Remove the loaves from the pans and allow them to cool.

To keep the crust soft, you can massage the entire loaf with a little butter. Some people may balk at this, citing the additional calories that are added. However, kneading bread is really good exercise for the arms, so those calories were likely burned and you'll have well-toned arms to show for your efforts! In this society where things are often done at the touch of a button, we sometimes forget that those pioneer women of the past got their exercise through a hardscrabble lifestyle and not a treadmill. If only we owned a butter churn, I could give up the gym membership and still have arms to rival those of First Lady Michelle Obama ...

I love to make cookies for the family, but due to the average age of my kids (2 years old), I tend to make them during naps or after bedtime, just so I can get it done and not have to deal with a litany of eager "helpers." Helpers though they wish, the kids really can't do much with exact measurements and a heavy duty mixer at play.

Then I found this recipe, which several other bloggers have written about. I did a little digging and I believe that the originator of this glorious recipe is King Arthur Flour. All I know is that the cookies are amazing, kid-friendly and a crowd pleaser. While probably not intended to be Yuletide cookies, I don't see why they need to be left out in the cold. I have deemed them Christmas worthy, especially given the name of the cookie. I give you:

Fresh from the oven, too pretty to resist!

From the start, these cookies have a lot going for them. To begin with, there is a heaping amount of cocoa involved and since we don't skimp on cocoa in this house (only high quality, raw varieties), the outcome is always outstanding.

Secondly, there is perfect blend of peanut butter. I know within my own sphere of influence that peanut butter is a hot/cold item and some people can't stand it in anything but their sandwich while others can only take it if the spread is blended in well enough. I have taste tested these cookies on a couple people from both sides of the table and 100% went back for more cookies!

Finally, and the main reason I am reprinting this recipe at all, is the kid friendly nature of these little morsels. There are a lot of hands-on steps to these cookies and most of them require just that: your hands. A bit of rolling and forming and flattening and sugaring. With a couple of eager palms, you can work out an assembly line in no time, with everyone enjoying their task and reaping the rewards as they work. (See below!)
 

Ethan shows that even a 2 year old boy can focus on this recipe...and the sugar.

Admittedly, the whole process takes about an hour from ingredient list to oven, which may turn some of you off. But if you have a desire to spend some quality time with the kids and sneak some baking skills in to boot, this recipe is for you!

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I'm sure whole wheat would be great too)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened baking cocoa or raw cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for dredging)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• [optional] three tablespoons milk (if the dough seems too dry or crumbly; I recommend this step)

Peanut butter filling

• 3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth, your choice
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Elly makes her peanut balls on her own tray.

Counting and ordering.

Bonding and learning.

To shape the cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough (a lump about the size of a walnut), roll it into a ball and place it on an extra cookie sheet. Make an indentation in the center with your finger or a spoon and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation.  

Chocolate dough balls squished and peanut balls set in place.

Sugared balls, waiting for the last steps. Definitely not 2" between these yet.

Ball of goodness, just getting better...

Ethan woke up from his nap and jumped right in with the ball rolling.

He and Elly rolled nearly all the balls for me. Look how serious they are!

Flattened and fresh from the oven.

And shiny-eyed Liam just got to mill about our feet. Sorry, Baby Fatz! You can't try these for another month!

Get them while they're hot, hot off the press that is – more than 100 easy bread recipes that'll have you baking everything from artisan no-knead breads to bagels and sweet rolls to sourdough buns in no time. GRIT's Guide To Homemade Bread, the second title to be released in the recently launched Country Skills book series, is loaded with  easy and healthy homemade bread recipes and it looks positively delicious. Whether baking bread is your passion or you are just thinking about embarking on a bread-baking adventure, the Guide To Homemade Bread has you covered. We've included information on how to convert easy traditional bread recipes for use in bread machines and a few plans for creating easy-to-build, wood-fired, backyard bread ovens too.

 

Here at GRIT we love good breads of all kinds and so this project was a labor of love for the entire team. It didn't hurt that we got plenty of samples as we tested the recipes. We also had fun working with some excellent and affordable food stylists, photographers and bakers in the process. With a little coaxing, My Partner In Culinary Crime convinced me to carefully measure out the ingredients for my whole-wheat and cornmeal pizza crust, which I documented just for the book – this easy crust recipe will have you rejecting cardboard-crusted parlor pizza in no time. We really enjoy bringing you print products that makes sense and that make your lives more interesting and self sufficient. When it comes to the Guide To Homemade Bread, I speak for the whole team when I say that the project makes us proud.

 

The Guide To Homemade Bread also includes recipes for cornbread, soft pretzels, no-fail hamburger buns, breakfast breads, quick breads and all kinds of toppings for all kinds of breads. Plus you will find all kinds of expert advice and encouraging tips to make your bread-baking experiences successful and thoroughly enjoyable. Look for GRIT's Guide To Homemade Bread at a newsstand near you, or better yet, order yours right here and bring even more great aromas and wonderful food to your table this season.

I have longed for years to master the art of making bread. Like gardening it has eluded me for quite some time. I have tried numerous times to no avail. It has always seemed to make me so nervous, how to get the yeast to “bloom,” what is luke-warm water anyways, how and for how long to knead the dough, has it really doubled in size??? The questions would send my nerves into a tizzy and that is why I think I just couldn’t do it – or so I thought! I have found a recipe that has given me the courage to try again, and at last SUCCESS!

I followed the direction to a tee, using exact measurements and preciously timing my every move. I watched in amazement as my dough rose perfectly, filling the pans that held it. When the final timer signaled that the bread had completed its baking time, I cautiously opened the oven door and what to my wondering eyes should appear but two loves of perfect bread. Had I really accomplished this feat, had “I” really conquered this thing they call bread making? Indeed I had.

I had to make sure that this was not just a fluke thing, that I could actually do it again. So began the process and timing again, and the end result matched my previous success, and I have to say it was the best bread I have tasted.

I think the reason it was so tasty is because I had finally made bread that both my parents are masters at making. My mother can whip up loaves of bread without a recipe, only by look and feel. She has spent many, many nights trying to teach me. The bread was okay, but nothing like hers. I can vividly remember my father mixing up bread in a huge yellow earthenware bowl that had a blue stripe around it with the biggest wooden spoon I have ever seen. He always made the process look effortless, which it is not, it takes some strength to stir that last cup of flour in and then the kneading process is a whole new set of muscles. The smell would reach us kids all the way out in the fields and it always stopped us in our tracks. We knew what was in store for dinner and we could not wait.

So on this journey I have begun, I can now cross Bread Making off of the list. I am by no means a master, but I can most certainly put a warm loaf of bread on our dinner table. I will share the recipe because it is just too good to keep to myself!

Sixty Minute Bread

2 cups of luke-warm water
4 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 Tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 - 51/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place water, sugar and yeast together in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir oil and salt into yeast mixture. Add flour by 1/2 cup full until the dough forms a ball. Turn out on a floured board and knead for 5 minutes. (I actually do this in my stand mixer.) Divide the dough in half and place into greased loaf pans, set aside to rise for 30-40 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes, let cool, and then ENJOY!!

I hope everyone who tries this recipe has the same success I have had, because there is nothing like a piece of homemade bread.