Ruhbarb Cheese Pie and Lemon Curd Tartlets

I've been on a baking spree lately. A few days ago, I decided it was time to use up some frozen rhubarb in my freezer. I bought the rhubarb for the "Springtime Cheese Pie" recipe from Pillsbury's 17th Annual Bake-Off (1966). If you try this recipe, you certainly won't regret it. Man, I really need to buy a house up in the northern states, so I can plant a garden, and grow rhubarb for free every year; this rhubarb and cream cheese pie is too tasty to pass up.
Today, I was feeling a little blue, and the rhubarb pie was almost gone, so I decided to cheer myself up again with one of my favorite activities - baking! :-D I had made this pastry two days ago, and it was all ready and waiting to be rolled out, so I took it out of the refrigerator, and broke off small pieces of it to fill these 3-inch tart pans. Then, I made "English Lemon Curd" from Volume 10 of The Family Creative Workshop (1975). I improvised a double boiler using a 3-quart saucepan, and a heavy aluminum souffle pan. That worked like a charm! I was thrilled when my two jars of lemon curd sealed unintentionally, even though I didn't buy new vacuum lids. This is so much fun!

Five Grain Bread

Here s my own recipe for Five Grain Bread. I whipped up a batch this morning, and I'm all done by 12:30. I started out with 2 cups warm water, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, and enough whole wheat flour to make a thick batter. Then, I let it sit while I cooked a 1/2 cup of whole millet. While the millet was cooling, I added to the batter: 2 Tablespoons wheat bran, 1/2 cup barley flour, and 1/2 cup spelt flour. When the millet was cool, I added it to the batter as well, along with: 1 egg, 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast, 1 Tablespoon corn oil, 2 Tablespoons raw honey, and 1 teaspoon salt. I stirred this together, and then added enough whole wheat flour to make a soft dough, kneading and adding more flour until it was only slightly sticky to the touch. (It's best not to add too much flour to whole grain breads; they only get too heavy for the yeast to work.) I put the dough into a clean, oiled bowl, and let it rise for one hour. It nearly lifted the plate off the bowl! Then, I formed the dough into loaves, and put them in two greased pans. When they had risen, I baked the loaves at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, and then lowered the oven temperature to 375, and baked them for 30 minutes. I check to see if the loaves are done by removing them from the pans, and tapping he bottoms to see if they sound hollow. If they sound hollow, they're done. There you have the recipe. I'm going to go eat warm-from-the-oven bread. Enjoy!

Golden Pumpkin Twists II

Here is the result of my second Golden Pumpkin Twist attempt. I used poppy seeds on half, and sesame seeds on the other half this time. Mmmmmmm!

Golden Pumpkin Twists

I know what you're thinking: Melanie has just moved to a new apartment, and come down with a nasty cold, so she hasn't had time to start any bread baking escapades. Actually, the kitchen is my favorite room in the house, so it was the first room I put together; and what's a little bronchitis to a dedicated break baker? I love my new apartment so much, I could have kittens, as my brother would say, and I've already baked two batches of break in my new, cozy kitchen. I made Rosemary Raisin Bread, which I only got one piece of before it disappeared at a friend's house, and then I made my favorite Banana Bread recipe - my Grandma's. I ask you, what good is a cold if you can't gain a pound or so on your Grandma's rich Banana Bread recipe?
Today, I decided to try my hand at my Mom's Golden Pumpkin Twist recipe again, just to get the baked pumpkin out of the freezer - or some of it anyway. I followed the recipe up though heating the milk and the butter on the stove. Okay, so I didn't melt the 1/2 cup butter before I put in the cup of milk. Then, I added about a cup and a half of whole wheat flour, and 1/2 teaspoon of yeast to make an extra thick sponge. Sure, technically a sponge wouldn't have any oils in it, but who said I was playing by the rules? I only wanted to soften the wheat anyway. I can't wait to see how it turns out after my meeting with my dissertation adviser this morning. :-)