Onion-Herb Bread

I'm really getting this bread baking thing down! With this one recipe, at least. haha.
Thanks again to Mary Gubser, author of "Mary's Bread Basket and Soup Kettle" circa 1970 something. Helpful tips, easy to read recipes, confidence building all around!

One tip she stresses is that no bread recipe can possible call for the exact amount of flour you'll need. All flours absorb different amounts of liquid, so you'll just have to get a 'feel' for how dough is supposed to stretch, etc and when you're done adding flour. I added about a cup less than she recommended, and i'm pretty sure it was behaving properly.

Two things i did differently that helped my success:

• I have a new meat thermometer that is, gasp ACCURATE. Plus it comes with a handy booklet that recommended adding water a temp of 100 or so degrees to activate the yeast. This is much 'warmer' than the warm water i've been adding to my previous bread attempts.
• I canned some chicken stock in the morning, and used the empty (save the inch of warm water) but still warm and humid pressure canner to do my incubating. That was some happy, rising dough!

Onion and Herb Bread, Adapted from Mary Gubser

• 1 package active dry yeast (I believe that's 2 1/2 T)
• 1 1/4 Cup warm water - I used half whey/ half water
• 1 tsp powdered chicken stock - I used no sodium stock
• 1/4 Cup hot water - i used all whey (note: i think whey acts different than water, producing a denser bread perhaps? Next time, i will use all water and see if it makes a flavor/texture change)
• 1 1/2 T sugar
• 1/4 Cup oil
• Several T fresh, chopped herbs. I used rosemary, oregano, dried basil, sage
• 1 multiplying onion with greens, chopped. Could use chives or scallions.
• 1/4 t salt
• 4-5 Cups flour - I used about 3.5 cups, a mixture of all purpose and bread flour

Combine yeast with warm water and dissolve. In small bowl, blend powdered chicken stock and hot water. Add the sugar, dissolved stock, and oil to the yeast. Beat in 1.5 cups flour until smooth. Stir in herbs and onions and gradually add in enough flour to make a workable dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead about 10 minutes until smooth and satiny. Round into a ball and place in a warm, greased bowl. Cover loosely in plastic wrap and a towel and set in a warm, protected spot to double - about 1 hour.
Punch down, knead on floured surface about 3 minutes, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Shape into a greased loaf pan and let rise to the tops of the pan, about 40 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes until over 190 degrees inside.

Makes a great egg salad sandwich!

Egg and Tomato Salads - Bounties of Summer

Today is the last official day of my venture in kid friendly, low heat recipes (thank goodness!) but i will have one more recipe next week that is sure to please most kids, and my desire to avoid processed foods. One of our few food vices are Morningstar Farms' 'chicken' nuggets. They're vegetarian and taste just like chicken, without the grease, nasty animal parts, or other questionable textures of real chicken nuggets - but clearly they're highly processed. So, next week i'll be trying my hand at homemade nuggets using ground turkey. One day we'll have our own poultry and goats to grind up into nuggets and sausage, but baby steps, baby steps: my first try will be with store bought ground turkey.

Anyhoo, today i've got two recipes, both utilizing my Summer's bounty. This is the time of year i long for all Winter! The time of year where i can walk into my yard, suffer a million mosquito bites, and enjoy a fresh dinner comprising solely of homegrown veg and herb. Since it's never quite the same, thrown together based on what is ripe, i don't usually post the recipe - but last night's dinner was just so yummy and beautiful i thought i'd post it. All the veggies can be interchanged to some degree, but what's better than freshly picked homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers??? I can't think of anything.

Summer Salad

• Freshly picked homegrown tomatoes. I used Porter Improved and Japanese Black Trifele (which tastes a lot like Cherokee Purple, very rich and meaty, but is way more productive. Always pick at blush or with green shoulders, and eat with green shoulders or they taste almost rotten)
• 1 freshly picked lemon cucumber. Could use 2, i only had one ready.
• Nice bunch of lemon basil
• Pinch garlic chives
• 1 small  red onion
• Several cloves of  garlic
• Salt and Pepper
• Cayenne and Chilly powders - could use fresh or dried peppers
• 1 cob fresh corn, boiled lightly, kernels removed
• Splash balsalmic
• Very light drizzle olive oil
• Optional chunks of homemade cheese, or feta or mozz

Simply chop all the ingredients - finely or chunky depending how you like it. Add vinegar and olive oil and seasonings and stir it up. I served mine with some pieces of sausage - mostly for the husband. I just can't get enough of dinner stirred up from Summer sunshine!!
This is similar to salsa, so if your kiddos like salsa you could chop all of these ingredients finely and serve as such, or just add cucumbers to all your favorite salsa recipes.

Egg Salad Plus

• 4 boiled eggs, chopped and mushed
• 1 very small onion finely chopped - may omit for kid friendly version
• Pinch of garlic chives, scallion, or one clove garlic - may omit most of the raw veg for kid friendliness
• Fresh Genovese basil, about 3 leaves finely chopped
• Dash cayenne
• 3 strips turkey bacon cooked and chopped fine
• Smoked paprika - hot or sweet, good pinch
• Spoon full of homemade mayo (which tastes very mustardy)
• Two spoons of mustard - dijon or brown
• Note: you don't need much mayo or mustard and can omit the mayo completely and just spread mayo on the sandwich bread for mayo likers
• Salt and Pepper
• Sundried tomatoes would also be really good

Cook the bacon to desired blackness. I added half the onions in with the bacon to absorb the bacony goodness and cook a little which both softens and mellows the onions. In the future, i may do this with all the onions as the raw onions add an in congruent crunch and a little too much zesty-heat. Mush all together and mix in bacon. That's about it! Will keep a few days so you can double the recipe to have more on hand in the fridge. We're going out of town this weekend, so this batch is for travel lunches or snacks on crackers. I love how brightly colored my egg salad is - gotta love those Summery hens - prolific layers! I'll miss those fresh eggs when they stop laying as much later in the season.

So, off we go to celebrate our first anniversary as a wedded couple! It's been a wonderful year so far, and i look forward to many more in the future. It is so wonderful to spend ones life with ones best friend: especially when he loves my cooking as much as he does! Have a great weekend, everyone. I'll be back to posting on Tuesday.

A Great Holiday Party Was Had By All!

Food, drinks, adult egg hunts, Christmas lights, sparklers, burnt fingers, broken chairs, and a floor begging to be vacuumed the next day: all sure signs an excellent party was had!

The Easter Bread was a little tricky to 'beat' as i only have a little hand held cake beater (which got quite heated up and smokey, the poor little thing) but the rising worked, the cooking time worked despite my inability to do math (was supposed to be 12 portions, turned out as 9), and was enjoyed by those who tasted it.

My floral arrangements of herbs and flowers from my garden spruced the house up nicely and are still bringing me much joy the day after, despite more than a few dishes to clean up.

The egg salad was a big hit with homemade mayo, fresh onions and chives from the garden, and fresh eggs of course. Even egg salad dislikers liked it. And everyone got to feel a little fancy eating my cucumber sandwiches with fresh chives and dill. All my friends brought delicious snacks as well, i think i'm still full - but uh oh there are some leftovers in the fridge: day of snacking two!

Our friend Craig found the Golden Egg and won a full dozen fresh, organic eggs from our ladies. The rest of our guests brought home freshly dyed boiled eggs.


The mayor of CrazyTown even showed up (new easter suit + bunny ears + glass of wine + lap-hen = me at my best) to partake in the festivities.

Spring is a wonderful time: cool evening breezes, a scant mosquito population, fresh grass for the chooks to chew on, spring veggies arriving on dinner plates. Time spent with friends enjoying all these things together, plus some adult beverages and Easter candy, is to be treasured and enjoyed.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday with friends or family, or simply enjoyed this wonderful season in a nice hammok or camping chair.

Did you have an Easter party or gathering? What was your favorite recipe?

All in all it was a great day from beginning to end.