Garlic Herb & Cheesy Breadsticks

With Winter finally deciding to kick it into gear and temperatures dropping below zero, I am more than happy to be inside baking. Here is what we made to go with our dinner tonight.

Garlic Herb & Cheesy Breadsticks Garlic Herb & Cheesy Breadsticks 1 Cup Milk                                                                           Oven Temp: 400  1/4 Cup Sugar                                                                     Bake time: 20 Minutes 1 Tablespoon Salt 1 Tablespoon Dried Italian Herb Seasoning 1/4 teaspoon Dried Garlic Powder 1 teaspoon of Finely Diced Garlic  1/2 Cup Water  4 1/2 teaspoons of Yeast (2 Pkgs.) 1/4 lb. Shredded Cheddar Cheese 4 1/2- 5 Cups of Flour  In a saucepan gently warm milk just until bubbles form around the edges of pan. dissolve sugar and salt in warmed milk and set aside to until it is luke warm. add in Seasoning and garlic  add luke warm water to milk mixture in a mixing bowl. add Yeast to water mixture and wait  aprox. 5-10 minutes. Yeast will sponge and proof. add grated cheese and add Flour one cup at a time until dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. Knead dough for 10 minutes. place dough in a slightly oiled bowl and cover and let rise in a warm and cozy spot for aprox. 2 hrs or dough has doubled. Punch dough down, divide and shape into breadsticks, place on baking sheet, cover and let rest 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes ( I bake mine for 10 minutes and then rotate and bake 10 more minutes.  Every oven is different so keep an eye on them Printer Friendly Recipe Click Here

Old Fashioned Cast Iron Apple Pie

 This week, I happened to get a great deal on a bag of Granny Smith apples. Nothing beats the twang of biting into a nice, crispy,  green, granny!

Unfortunately a majority of the apples in the bag had good size bruises. The bruised apples never seem to get eaten as fast....hmmm!

It was a no brainer to make them into a pie for my guys.

 The cast iron really does add a special flavor to the pie that you just don't get with other pie pans.

Warm apple pie, fresh out of the oven, on a cold winter day....sure didn't last long around here!

Sweetest little pie bird

Winter Garden & Pumpkin Bread

Enduring the dismal days and frigid elements of winter , I look out across my garden that is quietly sleeping under an unusually thin layer of snow. Knowing that my hard working garden surely needs the rest, I  long of playing in the dirt, running my hands through the soft, sweet earth while mindlessly doing simple daily garden chores that soothe and ease my soul.



While my garden gently tucks it's head under the covers and gently sleeps the cold days away, I find solace in my other humble domestic duties and take to the kitchen to create instead.

Grown in the garden this past Summer, this Jarrahdale Pumpkin has been an excellent winter keeper. It's time to make some pumpkin bread.

 This pumpkin has a tough skin and reminds me of cutting a butternut squash. Seeds removed and cut into chunks to be oven roasted.

After roasting and cooled enough to handle and remove the skins, the chunks are mashed in my Kitchenaide mixer. This one pumpkin yielded 10 cups of slightly sweet and smooth  pureed pumpkin.

 Measured out into freezer bags for future recipes in 2 Cup measurements.

The Pumpkin bread turned out amazing. I used this recipe from my  Better Homes Cook book. Not a fan of clove, I omitted that, the nuts and raisins. With the first batch I  added  1 tsp. of vanilla extract. and the second batch 1 tsp. of Watkins caramel extract... The caramel extract won hands down...It seemed to enhance the pumpkin flavor. We will be adding that from now on.

The chickens happily enjoyed the pumpkin remains... 



Corbin Cakes

So who doesn't love a guy who can bake?  Corbin is a great Baker and cupcakes are his specialty!

These were ooooh so yummy!

Start to finish....he made them himself :-)

Cast Iron cooking

I have collected a couple of pieces of cast iron cookware over the years.

One of my favorite pieces has to be the cast iron griddle I found last summer at a garage sale.

We have used it to bake in the oven for Homemade Pizza and Biscuits...

 and  as it's intended use as a griddle on the burners to make Sunday Morning French Toast.

I may just use it as a cookie sheet too ;-)

Blackberry Scones

Blackberry Scones.....Oh, so yummy! I have been making scones for my family for some time, and they...Love them! Usually, I just make regular scones...but today I decided to add Blackberries to change things up a bit.

Blackberry Scones

oven temp 400º

Makes 8 scones

Prep time 20 minutes

cook time 10 minutes

ready in 30 minutes

(Dry Phase)

1 3/4 C. all purpose Flour

3 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1/4 C. Sugar

1/8 tsp. Salt

1/2 C. Butter

(Wet Phase)

1/2 C. Milk

1/4 C. Sour Cream

Fresh, Frozen or canned Blackberries

( I used Wilderness brand Blackberry pie filling because that is what we had in the Pantry)

(Egg wash)

1 egg

1 Tb. Milk

(Glazing)

1 tsp. Clear Vanilla

1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

1 TB. Milk

Sift first 5 dry ingredients into a bowl and cut in butter until well blended and set aside.

In a  small bowl or measuring cup whisk together sour cream and Milk. Pour wet mixture all at once over dry mixture and gently mix.

I use my kitchen aide mixer.

Do not over mix!

I used about 1/4 C. Canned Blackberry Pie filling  and gently folded into dough mixture.

Place dough mixture onto floured surface and pat into  a wheel shape the size of  a dinner plate. Cut into 8 even slices like a pizza. place onto baking sheet.

 Whisk egg and milk and brush tops of scones. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before placing in the oven.

Place scones in preheated oven until tops are golden brown. The scones only take 10 minutes in my oven. 

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Brush tops with powdered sugar Glaze. 

Serve warm and enjoy!

Buttermilk Pie ???

Today I posted on my face book that I had a buttermilk pie in the oven. I ended up with a couple of responses with...What the heck is Buttermilk Pie?

Funny ;-)

Well, to be honest this was my first time making it...and before today, my first time eating it! I got the idea from a very old cook book that goes with my old Home Comfort Cook stove.

It sounded very old-fashioned and interesting. It's a snow day, so why not make it today.



I do not normally have buttermilk in the house and the last time I even remember drinking it, I was probably around 5 years old. My Grandpa Baker let me have a sip of his and I could have sworn he was crazy for drinking sour milk...I wasn't impressed...to say the least!

Turns out the pie has sort of a custard type texture, it is sweet and tastes nothing like Buttermilk.

Here is the recipe I used...

Buttermilk Pie Recipe
1 unbaked Pie crust in a 9" pie plate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbs. Flour
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla



Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place unbaked pie crust in 9-inch pie plate.



Line pastry with a layer of foil. Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 4 to 6 minutes more or until crust is lightly browned; cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.



In saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in sugars and flour. Remove from heat; set aside.



In mixing bowl beat eggs with electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Gradually whisk buttermilk mixture into butter mixture until smooth. Pour into prebaked crust.



Place pie on oven rack; carefully tent whole pie with foil that was used to line the pie shell.



Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until center is set when gently shaken.



Cool on wire rack for 1 hour.



Cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Makes 8 servings.



The consensus is in... My Family LOVES Buttermilk Pie!

Happy Baking Day!


:-)

Seeing Stars

A great day to be practicing my domestic goddess capabilities, I decided to give this recipe a whirl.

Our house is stocked with fine ground whole wheat flour (Yes, 50 lbs. of it) so I had to work with what we had on hand.

I also used homemade triple berry jam instead of the raspberry ...It didn't seem to matter, because they were divine!

Impossible to eat just one ;-) The guys made short work of them in a FLASH!

Sourdough Bread Starter

I have been wanting to start a batch of sourdough starter for sometime.

Today seemed just as good as any to start!

I looked through the pages of my cookbooks and decided to just go for it.

I love making bread but the commitment of keeping the starter alive and remembering to keep it fed once a week has kept me from just doing it. My boys really love the big round loaves of garlic sourdough bread. All the more reason for me to give it a whirl!

Does anyone out there have a successful sourdough starter going? I would love to hear from you!

Here is to hoping I can keep my starter going and that my family may enjoy the goodness of fresh sourdough bread at least once a week.

Wish me luck!