Golden Pumpkin Twists

There's nothing more fun than sharing recipes with those you love. My Mom gave me this recipe a few years ago, and I finally got around to trying it today, namely because I have a nasty cold, and I couldn't stand to study anymore. Hot pumpkin rolls sounded a lot more intriguing than the Christianization of Iceland in 1000 A.D. I even almost followed the recipe. I cut down on the sugar by half, the yeast by a teaspoon, and used mostly whole wheat flour. They still turned out really puffy and light. The recipe says to sprinkle them either with poppy seeds or sesame seeds. I didn't have any poppy seeds, so I sprinkled some with sesame seeds, and the rest with cinnamon sugar. I have yet to taste the sesame ones, but the hint of cinnamon on the others is delicious! Now, I'm going back to my hot water bottle, and my tea. Good night!

Baked Goods

I just filled out a store survey, which included the question: Where do you buy your breads and baked goods? I don't buy breads and baked goods; I bake them. Purchasing baked goods would spoil the fun of making them myself. I buy various grains and flours at a food co-op, which is as close as I come to buying bread. I recently counted 10 different grains/flours in my kitchen that I use to bake my favorite bread recipes: whole wheat flour, unbleached white flour, millet, cornmeal, oatmeal, etc. Then, there are the extras I like to add, like sesame seeds, herbs, and nuts. I found it surprising that there's a whole category of food stuffs that I don't buy at the grocery store. Now, that I come to think of it, sometimes I don't even buy the grain there! My Dad grinds dried sweet corn from our fields that I turn into naturally sweet Johnny Cake. He also grinds whole kernel wheat. I can't always get out to the farm though to acquire the grains I need for bread. That's why I'm grateful I can get them in bulk from my local food co-op. Happy baking!

Herb Bread

This morning, having put the kettle on to boil for coffee, I kneaded the rest of the ingredients into the Herb Bread.
1 1/2 tsp. yeast,
1 cup unbleached white flour
4 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 eggs
4 Tbsp, butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
Enough whole wheat flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
I kneaded this for several minutes, and then covered it up in an oiled bowl to let it rise while I worked on my Latin homework. Since it had been in the fridge all night, the dough was rather cold, so I knew it would take at least two to three hours to rise. It had risen emphatically when I came downstairs again, so I punched it down, and shaped it into loaves, putting them into greased loaf pans. I let them rise again, at room temperature, as before, and came back about an hour later to bake them. I baked them at 400 degrees F. for 10 minutes, and then turned the heat down to 375, and baked the loaves for another 25 minutes. To test to see if your loaves are done , remove a loaf from the pan, and tap the bottom of the loaf with your fingers. If it sounds hollow, it's done.
This recipe makes twice the batch that the original Better Homes & Gardens recipe did, and I also used half the yeast that they did. If you want to try using more yeast, be my guest.

Sponge for Herb Bread

What a long day! I worked all morning and long into the afternoon on my Huckleberry Finn paper. It's quite an interesting topic. I learned that Mark Twain's (aka Samuel Clemens) views toward black Americans changed as he matured. Having grown up in a household in which slaves were a mark of refinement, Clemens used to find it acceptable. As he grew older, however, he came to view slavery, as well as bigotry against black Americans as reprehensible and unacceptable in himself as well as in others.
After getting to page nine on my paper, my study group decided it was time to call it a day, partly because it was getting awfully loud at the coffee shop, partly because we'd been there for several hours. I went to do my recycling, and work out. An evening bout with Latin had me so tired, I decided it was time for some bread baking... something really delicious, so I started one of my favorite breads: Herb Bread from Mom's old Better Homes & Gardens Encyclopedia of Cooking. As usual, I changed the recipe considerably, but the herbs are still the same, so I give them credit for this delicious bread.
Sponge:
1/2 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
Enough whole wheat flour to make a sponge the thickness of pea soup
After dissolving the yeast in the liquids, stir in whole wheat flour with a wire whisk until you have a not-too-thick batter, about the thickness of pea soup. Stir thoroughly, and cover with a plate or plastic wrap. To give the yeast time to work, leave it on the counter for an hour before putting it in the fridge overnight.
Overnight, the liquids soften the whole wheat, so that the dough rises better, and so that you get a finer crumb. Bread made from a sponge makes a really nice, fine-textured loaf.

Sour Cream Waffles

This reminds me of evenings when I was growing up, when Mom would bake waffles in her big waffle iron. She always set the table with a jar of peaches she had canned, sweetened whipped cream, and a jar of the maple syrup that Dad made every other year from our maple grove. She always made sure the waffles were done until they were just crispy on the outside.
I was so hungry when I came home from my Latin class today, that I decided to use up a cup of sour cream that was going begging in my fridge, by baking a batch of waffles. I topped a waffle with yogurt, strawberries, and chopped walnuts. It was delicious!

Colossal Philly Cheesesteak

My boyfriend made this colossal sandwich from the new Whole Wheat Bread recipe I tried. It is topped with thinly sliced deli roast beef, provolone cheese, and pizza sauce. He put the open-faced sandwich under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese, and then turned on the oven to get it all good and hot. He then topped it with sauteed onions and red peppers. It was delicious!
Obviously, this is one gargantuan sandwich. We cut off slices of it for lunch. It was really filling, and there's still at least half of it left!
We were inspired to try this recipe by the sandwich episode of The Frugal Gourmet. We made a few minor changes, such as using homemade bread, deli roast beef, and sauteed red peppers, but we feel sure that Jeff Smith would have appreciated our culinary creativity. ;-)
Happy munching!

Bread in the In-Between

Okay, I made bread today, but I don't have a photo of it. I tried a new "Whole Wheat Bread" recipe from the Bread Winners cookbook by Mel London. I haven't even tasted it yet!
Here's the story: I started a sponge two days ago - on Sunday evening. I was going to add more to it on Monday morning, but overslept, and ended up having to leave it until evening. Needless to say, the sponge didn't look very happy to be left alone all that time. Anyway, I was exhausted after a long day at school yesterday, but it was relaxing to pour the rest of the ingredients into the sponge mixture, and stir it up: 2 Tbsp. honey, 1/4 cup millet, 1 tsp. salt, 1 Tbsp. oil, and a mixture of white and whole wheat flour. I wanted to make a lighter loaf this time for a special recipe I want to try for a broiled steak and provolone sandwich, with sauteed onions on top. Therefore, I used some white flour. The dough was taking it's time about rising in the bowl last night, so I put it back in the fridge with a plate over it, and took it over to my boyfriend's house in the morning. I asked him to put it on a greased cookie sheet, and let it rise. Four hours later, when I came back from school for a pause before my last class, it was ready to bake. It smelled really good, baking in the oven, while I typed my linguistics paper on Verner's Law.
I've decided, it's much nicer to have bread baking in the oven while you're doing your homework than just doing the homework without the aroma of baking bread, and the anticipation of tasting a nice, fresh-from-the-oven loaf of bread, (even though I haven't tasted this one yet).

Bread baking pans

Here is my small collection of bread baking pans. I bake all my breads in these pans, unless I'm baking a free-form loaf on a cookie sheet. The stainless-steel pans are from an antique shop, owned by the former milk man, who used to bring milk to my parents every day on his rounds. I bought a beautiful, antique kerosene lamp from him. When I saw these stainless-steel pans, I said I wanted them, too. He said, "Those come with the lamp!" Since then, I have made many loaves of bread in these trusty pans. The little can is just an emptied and washed fruit or vegetable tin that I use mainly for quick breads, but it also comes in handy for that odd bit of extra dough. The fluted pan is for rich brioche. It makes a decorous loaf of bread. The piece of green pottery is made by a couple in Albert Lea, Minnesota. They fire these bread-baking bowls at a really high temperature, so that they'll be safe for bread baking. It makes a lovely, crusty loaf of bread. The enameled pan in front is the pan my mother used to keep on the counter full of coupons and recipe clippings. This pan, too, makes a nice, crusty loaf.

Split-Top Cracked Wheat Bread

I had some whole wheat kernels to use up when I started this batch, so I put them in my spice grinder, and whirled away. The recipe calls for 31/2 cups water, 2 tsp. yeast,1/2 cup cracked wheat, 1/2 cup raw oatmeal, 1/2 cup wheat germ, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 Tbsp. oil, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, and 2 tsp yeast. I threw in 1 cup unbleached white flour just to help it rise, since it has a lot of grains in it. The rest is whole wheat flour. After making the sponge, and letting it rest, I kept kneading it, and adding whole wheat, until I had a soft, still-sticky dough. Then, I oiled my big bread bowl, and placed the dough in it to rise, flipping it once to oil the whole surface of the dough. I covered it with a plate, and let it rise for two hours. Then, I shaped it into three shapes, as you see from the photo, let it rise again, and let it bake for 45 minutes. The small one took less time.
I enjoy my set of bread baking pans. The large round loaf is made with a pottery bowl that was made just for bread. It makes a beautiful loaf with a nice crust all over. The oblong loaf is made with an antique, enameled pan that my mother had sitting on the counter for years with recipes and coupons in it. It used to have a wooden serving tray with it, but that disappeared several years back. This pan, too, makes a nice crust. The small, round loaf is made using an empty tin of some long-forgotten vegetable of fruit. I keep the largish tin around for leftover pieces of dough, or to make quick breads for gifts.