Black Bean Soup

Per request of one of my friends, I wanted to pass on my black bean soup recipe. This is our favorite winter-warm-up soup :) It fills the belly and is very “clean” according to my husband – it is his official anti-junk food meal, often requested after we’ve been away from home and eating out. Like all good soups, the ingredient quantities are very approximate and turn out differently every time, but it makes a consistently good dinner! It's cheap, too, and you can't beat that!

Black Bean Soup
About 1lb dried black beans, soaked and cooked or 3 cans black beans
2 onions, finely chopped
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 can tomato/pepper blend (ie Ro-tel)
4c chicken broth, veggie broth, or bean broth from cooking the beans
4c water
2c corn
Cumin
Black Pepper
Salt
Cayenne Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes

Cook beans if using dried. If using bean broth, reserve 4c. Set aside.
Sweat onions in a generous drizzle of olive oil until soft. Mince or slice garlic and add to onions; cook until they just begin to take on color. Add broth, water, tomato blend, and cooked beans; bring to simmer.
Spice to taste:

• Be careful with the salt, especially if you use packaged broth or bullion cubes


• A couple cracks of black pepper go a long way


• Be generous with the cumin – this is where most of the flavor comes from


• Feel free to leave out the red pepper flakes, they’re spicy!


• Cayenne pepper adds a great flavor, but it doesn’t take much. This is an undertone in the flavor.

Give everything at least 20min on the simmer to help the flavors blend together. Add corn and warm just before serving.
When we make this at home, we add in a little bit of whatever leftover cooked meat is around – usually shredded chicken – but its awesome vegetarian as well. Also, try blending some or all of the soup; it is nice pureed too. Serve with corn bread or cornmeal dumplings:

Cornmeal Dumplings
½ c all purpose flour
½ c cornmeal
½ c shredded cheddar cheese
1tsp baking powder
1 egg
2tbsp oil
2tbsp milk

Stir dry ingredients well. Combine wet ingredients then add to the dry. Stir to combine. The dough will be somewhat dry. Drop by heaping tablespoon (I use a melon baller) into simmering soup. Cover pot and cook for 10-12min.

"I can't think of a name awesome enough for this" Banana Cake

Bananas. Cream cheese. Dark chocolate. Peanuts. Oh yes... words can barely describe how awesoem this cake is. Like many concoctions coming out of my kitchen, this one started with something that needed used about to go bad, in this case a whole mess of bananas (like, 8. I sent Shaune grocery shopping the week before). After baking 2 big loaves of banana bread, I still had bananas to use up and wasn't feeling inspired. I flipped open my trusty Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and ran from there.

The cake is a straight BHG recipe, but I "decorated" it myself.

Banana Layer Cake

• 2c All-purpose flour


• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder


• 3/4 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 c shortening


• 1 1/2 c sugar


• 1tsp vanilla


• 2 eggs


• 1c mashed bananas (2-3)


• 1/2 c buttermilk or sour milk (I NEVER have buttermilk... I just sour with some lemon juice)

Stir together dry ingredients. Cream shortening with sugar and vanilla, then add eggs one at a time. Stir together bananas and buttermilk. Alternate adding flour mixture and banana mixture to the shortening mixture beating on low speed after each addition. Pour into 2 prepared 9" cake pans. Bake at 350* for about 30min or until tester comes out clean.

Here's where it turns awesome:

Split one cooled layer (mine had actually been frozen for several days; makes splitting easier). Fill with purchased or prepared cream cheese frosting (I bought it because it was easier). For the top, prepare dark chocolate ganache:

• Heat 1c heavy whipping cream to just boiling. Remove from heat.


• Put 1 1/2 (ish, I never measure) dark chocolate chips or chunks in a heat-safe bowl. I like my pyrex mixing bowls. You can also use bittersweet, but dark is my favorite :)


• Pour cream over chocolate and let set for a while as the chocolate melts.


• Ganache will initially be very running, but it will thicken as it cools. Stir occasionally until thick enough to pour without just soaking the cake. Pour over cake up to the edges, allowing some to artistically drip off the sides (lol, just have fun). Honestly, I should have let my ganache set a little longer but hey! We were hungry

After pourin ganache, sprinkle cake top with lightly salted peanuts. Now, the salted bit it important: it adds the PERFECT contrast to the ridiculous amount of sweet going on in the rest of the cake. You need the salted nuts. Just trust me.

You can let this cool a little longer for the ganache to become more shell like, but who has the patience for that? Just be warned... this is rich. I've never had a banana-ier cake, and I think it's because the shortening is essentially flavorless. Butter would add another flavor layer, and I honestly think I like this plain.

BONUS IDEA: One of my layers broke while I removed it from the pan. I crumbled it the rest of the way, then stirred in my left over icing to make a sticky mess. Scoop it out by tablespoon or so and cover with leftover ganache. Instant simple bonbons! I forgot to roll them in peanuts... guess I'll have to make it again!

Lime Dimes

I bet you were starting to wonder if I had a chance to be creative now that Gracie’s here. Well… so was I. Honestly, the most creative thought I have some days is, “Wow, let me figure out how the paci ended up THERE!” Wonder no more! Baby Girl took a nap this afternoon so Mommy decided to meet her sweet tooth and citrus obsession, plus a burst of creativity, in one fell swoop. This is a combination of a couple recipes. I mixed the Lemon Crinkle Cookie and Martha Stewart’s Lime Melt-a-ways, with an extra dose of limeyness for entertainment sake.

If you could capture bliss in a small round circle, this cookie would be it. Frighteningly wonderful. It’s like a mini bite of heaven.

And, as every fancy cookie deserves a fun name, these are called Lime Dimes. Why? Because I'm the mother of an infant and everything in my house rhymes. That, and the cookies are best tiny for 2 reasons: So you can completely enjoy the melty lime flavor, and so you can eat more of them... oh yes :)

Lime Dimes
• 1 stick butter
• 1 c granulated sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• Zest of 1 lime
• About 2 tbsp lime juice (very limey flavor! Original called for 1 tbsp, feel free to decrease)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 ¾ - 2 c flour
• Powdered sugar to dust

Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg, zest, and lime juice, blend until smooth. Add dry ingredients just until mixed. You want the dough to be stiff enough to shape – start with 1 ¾ c and determine if you need more. When it doubt, err towards too soft because it will firm up in the freezer. Shape dough into 2 logs on parchment or freezer paper. You want a log with a 1” to 1 ½” diameter. Roll in the paper and freeze until firm.

To bake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Unwrap a log and slice it into ¼” rounds. Place on a cold baking sheet. Dust with powdered sugar (I put it in my tea strainer). Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until no longer shiny but NOT BROWN (just starting to brown on the bottom, but you can't see that while its cooking). Once out of the oven, dust with sugar again for that extra sweetness. Let cool on tray for about 2 minutes, then move to a cooling rack lined with another sheet of parchment paper – otherwise, the cookies will collapse through the rack. Restrain yourself as long as you can, or eat immediately.

I honestly can’t tell you how many cookies this makes… maybe 5dz? We ate them too quickly to count!

Snowpocolapse Soup

When outside looks like this:


Leaving behind this:



And this:


What's a girl to do but make something warm and comforting like this?

Black bean soup in whole wheat bread bowls. yummm.... Perfect for a cold night of getting snowed in. The bread bowls are no-knead bread taken from this recipe here (with some alterations). I've been making up batches of this about every 2-3 days. We don't eat a whole lot of bread here, unless this is lying around. The recipe is kind of small so if you're feeding more than a handful of people, double it.

The black bean soup is a family favorite. My mom found it, my sister perfected it, and I make it all the time :) It's spicy -- really! -- so be careful! Add extra corn or cheese to cool it down. Cheddar or Mexican Blend is wonderful.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Cooking spray
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
45 oz. canned black beans, undrained (=3 15 oz. cans) (I use a randomly approximate amount of beans cooked from dry, plus enough of the cooking liquid to just cover)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
14 ½ oz fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth (or 2 cubes bullion with 14oz water)
10 oz canned tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)
11 oz can yellow corn, drained

Coat bottom of a large stockpot with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft but not brown, about five minutes.

Place one can of beans in blender; add sautéed onion mixture, red pepper flakes, and cumin. Cover and blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture back into stockpot.

Place second can of beans and broth in blender and puree until smooth; add to stockpot.

Stir third can of beans (do not puree first), tomatoes w/ green chilies, and corn into stockpot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Yields about 6 servings.

OPTIONAL (and time saving): Instead of blending stuff before cooking, use an immersion / Stick Blender once you've added everything but the corn. It was the best $10 kitchen tool I ever bought for things like smooth soup and sauces. I use it enough that it's earned a place in my kitchen right next to the stove instead of in some obscure cabinet throughout the house (like the ice cream maker).

Hot Pepper Jelly

What's a girl to do when the jalapano bushes are overwhelming me, and the tomatoes are just starting to hint at red? Salsa isn't an option until the tomatoes come in... there's already several jars of peppers put up... every square inch of the freezer is dedicated to something else...

Hot. Pepper. Jelly.

I saw this recipe in one of my cookbooks and went "ew." I saw it again in a different cookbook at the library and became curious. THEN I saw it on the back of the pectin box when I went to the store. With an abundance of peppers and a good sense of humor, I decided to try it. What's the harm?


It's WONDERFUL stuff, so you know. And attractive to boot. We've already eaten an entire jar (half-pint) with crackers and cream cheese. I fully intend on making more soon for my Christmas baskets.

Here's the recipe:

• 6 jalapanos, chopped. Remove seeds if heat is a problem. I removed about 1/2, left about 1/2.
• 1 cup white vinegar. The recipe called for CIDER vinegar but I didn't have any, and didn't miss it either.
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 packet liquid fruit pectin

Put the peppers in the blender with 1/2 c vinegar. Blend until smooth. You can see in the picture that I left mine kinda chunky for visuals -- do as you please.

Pour the pepper mixture into a pot and add the rest of the vinegar. Add the sugar. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. At this point, I added a few drops of green food coloring to brighten the color. The peppers make it a kinda pea-soup green and I wanted gemstones!

After 10 minutes, remove from heat. Stir in pectin. Return to heat and boil hard 1min. Fill and seal jars -- 1/4 in headspace, 10 min processing in a hot water canner. Makes about 3 cups of jelly.

Yum.

Bruchetta Pizza

This is probably the best treat I've ever eaten. I couldn't help sharing it with you!

My first ripe tomatoes have been coming in this week in any real numbers -- I pull in 2-3 a day (there's more coming, I have no doubt). I've been doing what I can to be creative with them -- there's not really enough for a good tomato sauce, and just throwing them into things seems a little haphazard. I came across a recipe for bruchetta: an Italian appetizer of bread toasted in olive oil topped with chopped tomatoes and basil, a bit of feta cheese and a drizzle of olive oil (plus salt and pepper). I had a bit of the topping left over and was trying to figure out what to do with it.

Well, Shaune beat me to the topping (using it as a filling for omlettes), but I came up with an idea: Why not use it on a pizza? And it was fabulous... you could taste the lovely fresh tomatoes, but it wasn't "just" tomato. Oh my... we ate the whole thing! I wish I had gotten a good picture, but alas, you'll have to try it yourself :)

Bruchetta Pizza

1. Prepare your favorite pizza dough. Prebake it in the oven for about 15 minutes so it's nearly done
2. While that's cooking, coarsely chop 2 tomatoes. If you have it, chop fresh basil. I used dried because I failed to plant any this year :(. Gently stir together tomatoes and basil, plus a few tablespoons of feta cheese -- just enough for contrast. Drizzle with olive oil and crack on some fresh ground pepper. Taste it -- if you need to, add a bit of salt. Sea salt is best. Set bowl in fridge until pizza crust is ready
3. Totally optional (but adds extra nutrients): thinly slice a small zuccini into "coins"
4. Once crust is baked, you get to build your pizza! Drizzle crust with olive oil (I like to take a paper towel and "paint" it all over). Sprinkle a bit of mozzarella cheese. Scatter the zuccini, if you're using it. Top with the tomato mix and a bit more cheese if you'd like -- I made it fairly not-cheesy, but whatever it takes to make your husband/kids eat it!
5. Bake for just a few minutes -- 8-10 -- just so all the flavors meld, things warm up, and the cheese thinks about melting. Slice and enjoy!

We're pizza fanatics here, eating it bare-minimum once a week. Pizza night is never known for its health value -- until now! Round out the meal with a salad, or add some cooked beans or chicken to the pizza itself. Yummm...

Thai Chicken

I've been holding this post back, in the hopes of taking a picture of this tasty treat. Lo and behold, we ate it again for lunch today, and AGAIN it all disappeared long before any thoughts of the camera crossed my mind. You'll have to take my word on it -- it looks just as yummy as it sounds :)

The best thing about Thai Chicken is it is ridiculously, 8pm and haven't eaten yet, easy. 4 ingregients. Think you can handle that?

• Chicken
• Peanuts, unsalted (Aldi sells them with the red lid. Blue lids are salty)
• Jalapano, diced. Start with 1, build up from there if you like the flavor. I used 3 today
• Soy Sauce

I precook a whole chicken early in the week and portion it out, so all I have to do is thaw a package. 5 minute meal. My dear friend Amanda, who shared this recipe with me, uses raw boneless, skinless chicken. If so, chop it up into bite-sized pieces and saute it in a little oil first.

Once your chicken is cooked or thawed, throw in the diced jalapanos. Cook until bright green, only a minute or so. Throw in the peanuts. You may want to crush them a bit; I do sometimes and don't other times. Cook for a minute or so. Pour over enough soy sauce to make everything brown and wet looking. It'll only take a few tablespoons, but I never measure so I can't tell you for sure how much to use. Start with a little -- you can always add more, but you can't take any away!

We serve this layered into a bowl. The bottom layer is plain white rice. The middle layer is a veggie -- the best is the tiny frozen green beans, lightly steamed, from Aldi. I was out of those today so I used peas. I've also used steamed asparagus, chopped small. Scoop some chicken on the top, grab the chopsticks, and enjoy!

I love easy meals that taste like a million bucks :)

Summer Eats

I've never been good at menu planning. I've tried -- I've read books and blogs, all excitedly touting the benefits to your health and your poketbook. I make a beautiful menu that doesn't look so beautiful by Tuesday's Lentil Casserole. I'm giving up for the summer. There's no point -- and with a lovely garden outside, there's no need!

My summer cooking routine is simple:

1. Choose protein. There's a wide variety of frozen, cooked beans and meats ready to go, as well as some quick-cook meats like ground turkey. Set selected protein on counter to sort of head towards thawing.
2. Choose starch. We love rice here and go through the 25lb bag from Sam's every 3 months of so. I set rice or brown rice up in the rice cooker (yay single button cooking!) or a pot on the stove for noodles. If I'm really lazy we just eat bread.
3. Visit the garden and pick whatever's ripe. Lately there's been nothing but squash, but today I found my first red tomato and two lovely jalapanos -- Mexican-ish it is! I can't wait for the green beans!
4. Chop veggies, stir fry or something with the protein, grab a can of sauce if desired (I've always got spaghetti sauce and italian salad dressing ready to go) or spice if you'd rather.
5. Serve the veggie mix over the protein and GO!

One caveat -- I almost always know what should be ripe in the garden, so I do think ahead a tiny bit with the protein. Like, I knew the tomato was ready today... only one, and none others even close, so it would have to be eaten alone.

Today's Garden Simple Meal

1. Black Beans (precooked and frozen in a meal size package. Never canned -- too salty)
2. Brown rice (rice cooker love. This and my crock pot are the only two appliances I couldn't live without)
3. Tomato, 2 jalapanos from the garden, plus a couple cloves of garlic from the store

Put the rice on to cook even before going to the garden. Cook the peppers and garlic, chopped, in olive oil til fragrant. While cooking, chop tomato and toss in when ready. Stir until tomato starts to break down. Break frozen chunks of black beans into the pot, stir til thawed. Hit with a little water, little salt and pepper, then let simmer. This kinda made its own gravy... yum. Put in a generous helping of rice (more for the boy, he's always hungry!) and top with the beans. It was literally heaven in a bowl.

We've lately also had squash with tomato sauce and noodles, zuccini and spinach soup, Thai chicken (theres a recipe I've got to share!), and all sorts of salads. Garden dinners are never boring and never preplanned, so we can eat what we want each evening. And, I'm pretty sure we've doubled our veggie diet! I love summer :)

Sprouted Lentil Soup

There's something alive in my kitchen. I grew them myself. And boy... do they taste good!

I've been reading lately about the health benefits of bean sprouts. Aparently, if you sprout a bean, it gets even healthier than the humble bean originally started out as. Vitamins A, B, and C continue to improve until you actually eat the sprouts because they're alive. They also have high levels of iron and calcium. And, they retain the protien from the original bean! It's like heaven in a little plant.

These are sprouted lentils. It was easy to do; you can follow one of the many sites that have good directions. I was shocked at how easy these grew. It was just a handful out of the $1 bag I picked up a shop n save months ago. I was even more shocked when I tasted one: once they sprout, they get a kind of heat to them. Kind of like spice, but deeper. I can't hardly find words for it. You'll have to trust me on it being amazing, at least until you try it yourself. I got so excited I think we ate these a few days early; you can take them up to the firm bean sprouts like you see in Asian stir frys. This was 3 days after soaking the lentils.

Then I started cooking. My hubby, who was previously a little afraid of my jar of green sitting in the corner of the kitchen, bravely took a small first bite of this soup. Then he scarfed all of his down, turned to me and asked if there was any more (there wasn't), and asked me if I'd be finishing my bowl (I sure was!). I've put the recipe below for if you decide to be brave!

It looks a little boring, but that's just because you haven't tried it!

Sprouted Lentil Soup

• 1 cup rice
• 1/2 onion
• about 1 tbsp butter
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup or more sprouted lentils
• approx. 2 cups water or broth
• Salt, pepper, and oregano to taste

At least half an hour before you want to eat, start 1 cup white or brown rice in your rice cooker or a pot on the stove. I prefer brown rice because it was a little chewy and gave a nice texture contrast.

Saute 1/2 of one onion in a little bit of butter. Add 1 to 2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped into big pieces (the smaller the pieces, the bigger the flavor). Once the onions are lovely translucent, add 1 cup or even more sprouted lentils. Saute these around for just a minute or so, then add about 2 cups water or broth (I threw in a chicken bullion cube). Add a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and oregano (adjust for your preference). Let simmer for ~15 to 20 minutes. Pour into blender and blend until smooth (or use your immersion blender if you're lucky enough to have one... that's so at the top of my Christmas list). Ladle into a bowl with a generous scoop of your rice and garnish with a few whole sprouts to look pretty.

Do let me know if you try sprouts, or if you already cook with them! I'd love to hear more ideas to experiment with!

Cranberry Muffins

I posted in my last Multitude Monday about the cranberry muffins I made the other night. There was a great sale on citrus fruit the last time I went shopping, so I stocked up on oranges. There were so many, I wanted to find a way to use them up other than just eating them. I also had 3 bags of cranberries in my freezer left over from a wonderful sale at Christmas time. So, I decided to experiment, and made these yummy, tasty muffins! I started with the basic muffin mix from my regular cook book, then added on to make it mine.



Cranberry-Orange Muffins

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour


• 1/2 cup sugar (or a little more... these were very tangy)


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/4 tsp salt


• A generous sprinkle of ground flax seed (optional; I add this to almost everything)


• 1 beaten egg


• 3/4 cup milk


• 1/4 cup cooking oil


• The juice of one navel orange


• The pulp from one navel orange, in small chunks


• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of roughly chopped fresh/frozen cranberries (adjust according to what you have or prefer)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make sure to stir well to get well mixed. Combine all the wet ingredients (egg, milk, oil, orange juice). Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in the fruit. Bake in a 400* oven for at LEAST 20 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. These have more moisture than the basic muffin mix so expect them to take 5-10 minutes longer than your regular muffins.

I think this recipe would also be wonderful with some chopped walnuts or pecans in it... but I didn't have any when I was mixing!

Please let me know if you try these, how they turn out. I'm especially interested to hear if you modify them to fit your own tastes! I love hearing ideas to incorporate into my own kitchen.

Mexican Pizza

Shaune and I have been eating vegetarian for Lent this year. It seems to be a popular idea for 2010! We've been eating tons of just beans and rice, but that gets a little boring. Last night I REALLY wanted pizza. And Shaune REALLY wanted Mexican food. So, we struck up a bargain and met half-way.

I wanted to get a picture of this because it looked so fresh and yummy, but we were too hungry to photograph first and there weren't any left-overs. You'll have to trust me that it looked as excellent as it tasted.

Mexican Pizza

Prepare your favorite pizza crust recipe. Once it's stretched to fit the pan, prebake it for 10min give or take.

Start layering on the Mexican goodness:

• Refried beans come first
• Salsa to take the place of regular sauce
• Cheddar or mexican blend cheese
• Diced onions and already-cooked black beans

Since everything is already cooked, stick it in a 350 oven for just a few minutes to finish toasting the crust and make the cheese a gooey mess. While it cooks, thinly slice up some lettuce. Sprinke this over the top once you pull it out of the oven.

This meal is CHEAP, too. We used half of an $0.80-ish can of refried beans for one pizza; if you have more people to feed, make a second. Everything else we keep in the fridge. The black beans had been cooking (from dried) most of the day since I had planned to serve them with rice for dinner. I can imagine this pizza being the center piece of a themed meal -- time to plan a fiesta!

Green & White Pizza

I wanted to share with you a special treat that my husband and I enjoy with our dear friends on a regular basis. I got this recipe from Amanda (thank you, dear!) and haven't even tweaked it! We each have our own favorite crust recipe though, so mine tastes a tiny bit different.

This pizza is a bit more expensive than what I typically spend, but it is SO worth it!



Green and White Pizza

• Your favorite crust recipe, preferably one with olive oil


• corn meal to dust the pan


• one packet Korr's basil pesto mix


• a good handful of shredded spinach


• feta cheese


• mozzarella cheese


• 1/2 to 1 can of chicken (depending on how much you want)

Dust the pan with cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking. Stretch the crust to the pan. It should be fairly thick. Know that it will rise a good bit -- these toppings don't weigh it down the same way that lots of cheese and meat does. Cook up the sauce according to packaged directions, then coat the crust. Cover the pesto with the shredded spinach. I like to use LOTS! It's my favorite veggie.

Once you have your "green" layers, you have to add your white: just a few crumbles of feta around the pizza and a sprinkle of mozzarella. I don't use much since they're both such flavorful cheeses. Then, I crumble the canned chicken over the top and stick it in the oven for about 25 minutes at 375. You can adjust that to however your family likes it -- other than the crust, everything is already cooked or doesn't need to be.

This twist on pizza is SOOO good! I'd cook it more often if feta wasn't so expensive. But I'm not aware of an equally fabulous alternative, so I wait until it goes on sale. Aldi often has it for right about $2 for 4oz, not bad at all in the world of cheese.

*****

Do your families have a favorite pizza recipe? I'd love to hear about it! We're always trying something new. Some weeks it feels like pizza is a food group in our home!

Our Daily Bread

One of the hardest adjustments I’ve had to being married is only cooking for two people. At home, I would cook for 5 – myself, my parents, my brother and sister. In college, I would cook for a bare minimum of 3, but we had so many friends in and out of our apartment that left-overs never lasted more than a couple hours. If I didn’t feel up to cooking, someone else would step in, and if they didn’t, the local pizza place offered $5 pizzas ready when you walked in to pick it up. No planning was required.

Well, life isn’t like that anymore. I’ve had to adjust to cooking for two; one of whom (myself) has never liked left-overs and refuses to eat them if it can be avoided. Shaune’s a good sport and usually takes last night’s dinner for lunch to the office, but we still seem to have more food than we can handle. I’ve tried halving recipes or freezing some for later, various things that all seem to work at least sometimes. But one of the things I’ve practically given up on is fresh, hot, wonderful, homemade bread.

Until now!

Last weekend I was perusing my various cookbooks for ideas and came across one for “Refrigerator Bread.” It is dough that you can mix up and leave in the fridge until you need it. In fact, it has to rise for at least 24 hours. So, I made up a batch on Sunday, then packed it into four separate containers. Each has enough dough for 6-8 rolls. Monday night I pulled out the first container – we had friends coming over for dinner and hot rolls were on the menu. Although the dough was very sticky, they turned out PERFECT! I gave one of the packs to our friends who came over. We cooked up some tonight to use as hamburger buns. We’ve got one left for fresh bread later in the week.

I think I’ve finally come up with a system for our small, bread-loving family. I can have fresh bread in less than an hour – ½ to rise, ½ to cook. I can satisfy my carb-tooth whenever I want. I think I’ll be making a batch of dough most weekends from here on out!

I wanted to share the recipe if anyone’s interested:

• 3/4 c hot water
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tbsp salt (I used much less without any ill effects)
• 1/4 c shortening (I used margarine)

Combine so sugar and shortening can melt. Let cool til lukewarm then add:

• 1 c warm water
• 2 packs Active Dry Yeast (I buy yeast by the pound and used about 1 tbsp)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 5 1/4 c flour, give or take

Beat until smooth. Dough remains soft and sticky. Place into greased bowl and cover with waxed paper/plastic wrap/lid. Store in refrigerator until doubled, or until needed up to 1 week. To bake, shape as desired. Allow to rise until doubled and bake at 375 until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Makes about 32 rolls.

Homemade Cake

This may sound lame to many of you who've been homemakers for a lot longer than I have... but last night I made my first cake that didn't come out of a box! I even made the icing. I just had to share. I don't think I'll ever go back to boxed, this was so easy and tasted so good.

The recipe came out of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook from 1955. I had all the ingredients on hand, which is part of why this recipe won out over other options. The cake is a basic recipe. The icing is butter cream flavored with creme de menthe candy oil I had in the pantry from Christmas treats. The mint leaves decorating it are from my very own, rapidly spreading spearmint bush.

Simplicity 1-Egg Cake

• 1 1/4 c flour
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c shortening (next time I think I'll use butter for more flavor)
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg

Heat oven to 375. Grease a 8" cake pan. Sift together all dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add mild and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Crack in egg and beat at least 2 minutes. Turn into pan and bake 25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Butter Cream Frosting

• 1/3 c butter, margarine, or shortening
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 c milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla -- I replaced this with a few drops of mint to taste

Cream ingredients until fluffy. Spread and serve.

PS I posted about my new skirt, but it is out of order since I started drafting it Friday. See below 2 posts!

Channelling my innner Italian grandmother...

or rather, my crabby (but lovable!) father-in-law who spent the better part of the 1980's living in Italy at the behest of the American military. Last weekend when we visited he taught me how to make noodles.





I've been making bread, bagels, pizza, and lots of other things at home for quite a while now, but NOODLES? I've always just bought them, $1 a lb, at the grocery store. No one really has enough time to make NOODLES, do they?! Well, my husband apparently has a soft spot for homemade noodles. Eating his dad's this weekend renewed that desire. Since tonight on the menu is Stroganoff, and I happen to be out of egg noodles and not particularly keen on going to the grocery store, he asked (begged...) me to use his dad's recipe and make them myself.





So I did.

They're so yummy and fresh! They still have real flavor in them, not dehydrated, shipped, sat on a store shelf for a while collecting dust flavor. They're also chewier than I'm used to, but they're so excellent I could definitely get used to it. And, from start to pot-ready only took about 15 minutes. Definitely within my time window of willingness. I think I've just added something new to my cooking repertoire!

Candy Creations

Yesterday I mentioned the Christmas party that my husband and I are throwing this evening. I'm very excited about this because we've only been married since August. We've had people stop in to visit, but haven't had an "event" yet. So I've been in a tizzy all week getting ready. I wanted to show off these adorable candies that we made this morning. The recipe is from the American Girl winter ideas book. When I was student teaching this semester, one of the girls brought it in and showed me this special treat. I finally got an opportunity to try it out:

Basically, the recipe makes a white sugar "play-doh" that you can shape and flavor however you want. These little snow men are cinnamon flavored (with pink scarves) and spearmint flavored (green scarves). The recipe is as follows:

1tbsp soft butter
1tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp candy oil flavoring
1/2 tsp salt
1c powdered sugar
Sprinkles to decorate
Food Coloring

Knead ingredients together and have fun! I colored with regular drop colors, but my mom the candy maker assures me that gel colors would work better. If the dough gets too try, add just a tiny bit of water but be careful! 1 drop goes a long way. Water also helps the little pieces stick onto the base shape.

This project was kind of a mess but it was so much fun! I think this would be great with kids -- especially if you don't mind crazy shapes and half of it getting eaten along the way. My husband and I couldn't stop laughing because the mint ones looked so much like round, white ducks instead of snowmen (before we reshaped them).

Good luck, and Merry Christmas!