Wishes Everyone...

Bread Matters...well of course it does!

You will never believe what has happened to me...little old me. It was a normal day in my house and everything was going the way it usually does. Boys being boys...me being me...Mike being Mike and then I checked my email. Someone from Andrews McMeel Publishing contacted me to review a cookbook they have out. I thought this was some kind of joke because let me be honest I am not a writer. So the first thing I did was of course check out their website to see if the book existed...yes it did...ok so maybe this isn't a joke. I actually recognized some of the other books they have on there which was exciting. (I mean I usually look at amazon for book stuff and really never on the publisher's website.)

I am sorry this has taken me so long to write up my review because I have had it for about a month. All of us in this house got hit with a cold...yup every one of us got this cold and was sort of out of commission for about a week. Then the normal busy days came and went which made it hard to have time to sit down and write this up. So get ready here comes the review:

My Review: I know they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover (or photos) but I do sometimes. When it comes to cookbooks I think it is a must in some ways. As much as I love food I love looking at food. I also think that when a cookbook has pictures of the finish product it just makes it that much easier to want to make that recipe. A pet peeve of mine is when a cookbook as NO pictures in it. That being said this cookbook has some really nice photos in it and I get a warm and fuzzy feeling from them...if only I could take pictures like them!

The next thing I enjoyed in this book was that the author put some example time tables in it. It just gives you an idea on how long it will take you to complete a recipe. I have tried to make some recipes to only realize that I actually don't have enough time to do them in. I know I probably could do that on my own and figure out how much time it takes to complete but it is just so much easier when it is done for you.

You all know I am a big fan of King Arthur Flour (who are actually on the supply list in the back of this book) they always say it is better to use a scale when baking. It is just more accurate then volume measuring. I have a scale and I prefer that method now. The awesome thing in this book is that you are given 3 different measuring methods...cups, pounds/ounces (Imperial) and grams (Metric) for each recipe. Another thing you can figure out on your own but just easier when someone does it for you.

Another nice thing about this book it has a chapter on gluten-free baking. From some of the blogs I have looked at it seems that can be a hard thing to find for the average person. I have not tried this section out and probably won't just because of the ingredients needed.

If you like sour dough bread making this book has at least one chapter on it and seems to be a theme in the book. I do want to try making a sour dough starter but not right now. I just don't feel comfortable with one in my refrigerator (or counter top) especially with an almost 4 year old who seems to live in it. Also to me right now it is just another thing I would have to take care of when I already have too much of that.

That all being said is this a book I would have purchased on my own...maybe. Don't get me wrong it is a very nice book and a great reference book. To me it is just not a cookbook in the what I think a traditional cookbook is...it does have recipes but about half of the book does not. It is perfect for someone who wants to get started baking bread at home or just wants to know more about baking bread. You don't get a look at your first real recipe until after about 140+ pages. I am glad I have this book to look back at when I have questions about the bread I am making.

Monkeying Around Bread

I really never need an excuse to bake some bread. So when one of the at home suggested activities for Jacob this week was bake some bread with your child...how can I say no to that! I am willing to do whatever it takes to help Jacob learn. Since I bake bread at home a lot I wanted to make something that would be fun to do with Jacob.

First I looked at my list of things I want to make and did not really see anything on it that would be "fun" to make with Jacob. It did not take me long to figure out what would be both fun and easy enough to make with Jacob...Monkey Bread. I could not believe that this was not on my list I have been wanting to do that for a while now.

So I went to the website I trust most with bread recipes when I don't have one in mind (King Arthur Flour) and found one right away.

Monkeying Around Bread
King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Dough
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions
1) Make the topping: Blend the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, or shake them together in a small lidded container. Set aside.
2) Place water, vegetable oil, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl and stir well.
3) Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring to blend.
4) Add the second cup of flour, stirring to make a cohesive dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes; this gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
5) Knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — till it's soft and smooth.
6) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and let the dough rise for 30 to 60 minutes, till it's doubled in size.
7) Gently deflate the dough, and place it on a clean, lightly greased work surface; a silicone mat works well here. Divide it into pieces about 1 1/2" in diameter; you'll make 16 to 18 pieces.
8) Lightly grease an 8" round cake pan. Dip each piece in water, then roll it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.
9) Place the pieces in a single layer in the prepared pan. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar over the top.
10) Cover the pan, and let the bread rise for 30 to 60 minutes, till it's visibly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
11) Uncover the pan, and bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, till it's golden brown and feels set.
12) Remove from the oven, and immediately turn the pan over onto a cooling rack. Lift the pan off the bread, and scrape any leftover topping in the pan onto the bread.13) Pull the bread apart to serve.
Serve warm, or at room temperature.



Review: I remember making monkey bread when I was in middle school and even though this was a different recipe the taste was just like I remembered (well even better then I remember). Making the dough was really simple and did not take much time. I was busy doing stuff so the waiting in between each step seemed to go by fast. The only thing I might do different is make the individual pieces smaller...so instead of 16-18 I might try 20-22 and see how that size is for each piece. This is a keeper and I really want to try a savory type next because the dough isn't sweet and would work well. I think everyone would be amazed when you put that on the table at the next family meal.

My New Tea Toy.

It is official I have a child in school (well pre-school) and with that comes the obligation of fundraisers. I know I have to pace myself because this was only the first one and I am sure there will be many more. I approached this as I do my souvenir shopping when I am on vacation. (Those who know me know I love my gift shops!) Find something that you haven't seen before or you can't get around home.

Since this was the old wrapping paper/chocolate one I didn't really see much that fit this criteria. Then I turned the page to the handful of gifts they had and saw what I wanted. A silicon strawberry tea infuser which in the catalog was RED and the one I got is YELLOW (anyone ever seen a yellow strawberry?). I love drinking tea and with the winter weather coming I am going to be doing that a lot more often. Also it fit my criteria of I have never seen this before in any store around my house...SOLD!

Strawberry tea infuser with lid.

Action shot

Another action shot

Review: I now need to go and buy more loose tea so I can use my new tea infuser more. The tea I made was...wait for it...strawberry sencha tea. I just realized that I made a strawberry tea in my strawberry infuser which was totally not on purpose...it was the first loose tea I found in the cabinet. I have used those metal infusers before which always seem to leave a lot of tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. This one really did not leave much behind but I will hold my final approval in that department for when I have tried a few more teas. Overall I am happy with this purchase and I think I did good.

Happy Birthday to Me...oh and Heidi.

Today is my birthday and I plan to eat chocolate cake all day long...and look like Jacob after he eats a donut!

Lady and Sons' Chicken in Wine Sauce

I am always looking for new recipes to make for dinner. I like variety and get bored of making the same thing over and over again. One day a couple of weeks ago I found a recipe on the food networks website. Of course every time I thought I had all the ingredients I realized I was missing one. So finally this week I had all the stuff I needed to make it.

Lady and Sons' Chicken in Wine Sauce
Paula Deen (Food Network)

4 large skinless boneless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for casserole
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces (about 8 slices) Swiss cheese
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup herb-flavored stuffing mix, crushed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the chicken to a shallow buttered casserole and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Layer the cheese slices on top.

In a medium bowl, add the soup and the wine, season with salt and pepper and pour over the cheese. Sprinkle stuffing mix on top and drizzle with melted butter.* Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Review: I knew making a Paula Deen recipe wasn't going to be healthy for you but it tasted SO good. This is a great recipe to make during the week because the prep to table time goes really fast. You just layer everything in the pan put it in the oven and you are done. I just heated up some veggies and had leftover rice. Mike liked it a lot and thought it was a lot more work then it really was to make it. I think the Swiss cheese really does add a nice flavor to the dish. This recipe is defiantly a keeper...we ate it so fast that I did not have time to take a picture of the finished dish.

Monster Toast

The other day Jacob came home from school with a "recipe" for Monster Toast. I thought it was a cute idea so we made some to go with our lunch. I was able to find the print out he got online. I have to get a paint brush that we can use with food. Then I will post some pictures of our creations. I was thinking of doing something with this for Halloween dinner but not sure what yet.

This recipe is taken from the book Kinder-Krunchies, Healthy Snack Recipes for Children by Karen S. Jenkins. This book is distributed exclusively by Discovery Toys.

Print Out and Have Fun!

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

This month's theme for Bridget at 350's Flavor of the Month challenge was Pumpkin. I have a great pumpkin bread recipe, but decided to search for something different. For some reason I had raviolis on my brain. I think it's because while we were making wine (we decided to make Pinot Noir) the group at California Wine Works let us read a review regarding a Pinot Noir that was made at CWW. The person went on saying how great it was and that he was enjoying it while eating some mushroom raviolis. My mouth started watering, what could be better than wine and raviolis. So I started looking and came across a recipe for pumpkin raviolis. Perfect!! The funny thing was when I told Mike that I was going to make raviolis, he was like you remember what happened the last time. (He's referring to the time I tried making raviolis from scratch, dough and filling. To make a long and painful story short, we ended up going out for dinner that night). But I told him this recipe calls for wonton wrappers...so no dough making for me.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
30 round wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cooking Spray
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Spoon pumpkin onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels, and spread to 1/2 inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl, stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper and nutmeg.

Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel), spoon 1-2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of wrapper. Brush edges with water and fold in half, pressing edges firmly. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers and pumpkin mixture.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a simmer. Add half of ravioli to pan and cook 4 minutes or until done. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon, lightly coat with cooking spray and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining ravioli.

Combine milk and flour in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Gently stir in Gorgonzola.

Place ravioli on a plate or in a bowl and pour some sauce on top; sprinkle with walnuts.

Enjoy!

My Review: This recipe was really easy to make and I'm definitely going to make it again. Mike even asked for seconds. Too bad I didn't have any left to give him. Oh and we did have wine with them...not a Pinot Noir, but a wine called 7 Deadly Zins. So Good!!!

I have a problem...and it involves bread

My local supermarket sells their day old bread for at least half price. I think you know you have a problem when you bring home a bag full of this bread. I just go over there every time to see if they have anything good. Well this past time they had a lot of good stuff. Also they had this big round loaf of pumpernickel that just look too good to pass up...my name is Michelle and I love day old bread.

The picture has nothing to do with day old bread but the other day it was so warm here that a ton of lady bugs came out. This was a great shot I got of one of them...

Ham & Potato Soup in a Bread Bowl: Part 2

OK so I completed the bread bowl for this mean it was time to figure out what soup I was going to make to fill them. I just knew it has to be thick and creamy like clam chowder but I did not want to make clam chowder. So I did what I always do when I am looking for a recipe...I searched the Internet to see what I could find. The Ham & Potato soup is the number 1 soup on allrecipes.com with over 2500+ review. How can you go wrong making a recipe that has been reviewed that many times.


Ham & Potato Soup
allrecipes.com

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Review: I now know why this had some many reviews because it is a very easy and very good soup. The best part is that it doesn't take that much time to make and will be great to make with leftover holiday ham. Mike really liked this soup and I think enjoyed eating out of a bread bowl. When I mentioned to him I was making the bread bowls this was the kind of soup he hoped I would make. The one is defiantly a keeper and since I used the milk I had I don't think it is as bad if you used whole milk or heavy cream. One thing I liked about the soup is that it really stayed hot and warmed your insides right up. A perfect soup for those cold winter nights that are coming our way!