I have been getting no where fast.

Lots of stuff is going on- but nothing is happening.

I’m frustrated.

In my life that means make and bake some bread.

It is satisfying.

It works.

We end up with bread.

So today was a marathon bread day.

I made sourdough rye, old country rye and peasant bread.

And I mixed them all together and made a braided loaf,

and a marbled loaf…………………………………

and a couple of plain sourdough rye loaves.

Sourdough Rye is my favorite sourdough bread.

You add the deep flavor of blackstrap molasses the tangy sourdough and the slightly sharp rye and caraway seed flavors and you have a masterpiece!

Here’s the recipe-

1 cup sourdough starter

1 1/2 cups bread flour

3 cups rye flour

2 tsp salt

1/4 cup molasses

2 TBS butter,melted

1 cup very warm water

2 TBS yeast

Add yeast to water and proof for about 3 minutes ( you may add 1/2 tsp sugar to get everything moving faster).  Mix together flours and salt in large bowl.  Make a well in the center of the flour and put the starter, butter, molasses and proofed yeast together and mix the flour into the center, drawing it down from the sides.

You may need a little more warm water or a little more bread flour depending on the way your dough starts to set up together- if it looks dry and like there is too much flour- add water.  If it looks too sticky and the flour is all incorporated – add flour.  The dough should be tacky to the touch, but not sticky. 

Flour your counter and dump dough onto flat surface.  Knead for at least 10 minutes and then put dough- gathered together into a ball- into an oiled bowl and cover.  Allow to raise for about an hour and a half and then shape into desired loaf.

To braid -roll three different doughs to the same length and thickness and attach at one end then braid them together and pinch at the other end.

To make a swirl or marble loaf-

Roll out three different doughs and layer them on top of each other and then roll them tightly together, pinch ends and put into a loaf pan and let raise for about 45 minutes, then bake in 375 degree oven until brown , about 40 minutes.

First of all- I made it here all on my own.  I have a problem with sleep deprivation and it causes me to fall asleep while in a car.  EVEN if I’m driving.

I haven’t  driven for more than a half an hour without having real problems staying awake for about 10 years now.  But I am pushing the limits and forcing myself to go further and further and on the way back from Chincoteague, I managed to drive almost 3 1/2 hours.  Of course, Cynthia was sitting next to me and helping me to stay awake. 

I came to Columbus by myself.

I sang and prayed and  ate pretzels and drank coffee!

So, I’m praising the Lord for this victory!

Luke is in Chicago until Wednesday, so I get to be dinner and nightime caregiver, while Willow is teaching ESL  classes.

Aidan has a cold, cough, runny nose and a slight fever.  He is not feeling well at all.  And yet he is such a trooper.  I went with them to the doctor and he was so cooperative- breathing deeply and holding real still for the examination.

He is really talking!  Counting and naming items, people and toys. 

He has a hard time saying Gramma- so I had him call me Heidi.

EVERYONE calls me Heidi (except my boys who call me Mom.)

I’ve never been the Aunt-type or the Mrs. Fodor type-  and Heidi is real easy for little ones to say.

Anyway, as I said he is pretty miserable.  And he isn’t eating very well- food just doesn’t really appeal to him.  Except for apples, cheese, sweet potatoes, and bread.

AND- these healthy peanut butter balls his mother makes him.

So that was supper.  Here are a few shots of him devouring these balls- which by the way- he asks for by name.  Pea-buttah-baws!

Here’s the recipe.

1 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup oatmeal

2 TBS. honey

2 TBS>  coconut

2 TBS. ground flax

Mix together and roll into little balls

Refrigerate until set.

YUMM!

I have a friend who lost her sense of smell.

HORRORS!

I need all of my senses- I would miss each one to a different degree if I no longer had it.  But it is like the olfactory is just a minor sense that we can live happily without, in many people’s opinion.

Not mine!

When my son, Luke, was little he would say, ” Mom, you smell real good”, and I knew he wasn’t talking about my perfume.  I DO have a good sense of smell.

I can smell when bread and cookies are done. 

I can smell the separate ingredients in a cooked dish.

I can also smell snow and rain and delicate scents that linger in the air around certain flowers. 

And I can smell the roses!

Yesterday was a sensory delight for a dedicated smeller like me.

First, I had a friend come over to make potpourri.

She had some flowers she was drying from her son’s wedding and wanted to make a couple of bags of potpourri to share with her new daughter in law and her mother.  And I have much potpourri paraphernalia!

MUCH potpourri paraphernalia!

So we mixed and smelled and added and stirred and sniffed until she was happy.

I made a couple of lavender wands while I was waiting so I had already had a fragrance fix before she got here.

And then I made some chocolate and spice cookies to have with tea on the porch.

Spicy gingerbread with dark chocolate centers,  YUM!

And then I made dinner-

Orzo with cinnamon brown butter and parsley 

Makes 8 servings

Perfect for a fall dinner

1
#
orzo

1/2
stick
unsalted butter

2
Tbl
olive oil

1/4
tsp
cinnamon

1/4
tsp
freshly ground black pepper

3/4
cup
fresh flat leaf parsley – chopped

METHOD:

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, drain and set aside.
2. While orzo cooks melt butter in small skillet and then simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes until golden brown and nutty.
3. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil, cinnamon, and pepper.
4. Add drained orzo to skillet, scraping bottom to mix in any small brown bits.
5. Add parsley and toss to combine.
6. Season with salt and serve.

This smells as good as it tastes.  And it tastes real good!

And then I made brownies.

I have made many pans of brownies over the years.  I have a recipe that makes enough brownies for a crowd that my mother used to make All the time.

I have a recipe for Raspberry truffle brownies that is elegant and rich and deadly.

I have a recipe from a friend that is titled – “best ever brownies”

And they are all good.

So I’m making a huge confession and endorsement when I tell you that my favorite new way of making brownies is……………………………………………………….

a mix from Ghirardelli.  These are quick easy and delicious.  Deep dark and smooth with a cakey exterior and a dense fudgey interior that satisfies the chocolate urge like only a good brownie can.

I don’t usually talk about brand name products.  But these are absolutely worth a try.

So- have you smelled anything good lately?

I just finished washing half of the dishes and while I’m waiting for them to air dry so I can put them away and finish the other half, I thought I’d come and post a recipe.

I’m not sure if I’ve given you this recipe before.  Even if I have, I can’t find it and so it might be lost in my in-between blog archives.  And this is such a great soup- comforting and smooth with just a little heat and lots of vegetables.I’m going to repost it because I think you should HAVE this recipe!

You can start off by making your own stock with a whole chicken, 3 slices of fresh ginger root, 1 stem of lemon grass, 2 large ribs of celery, 2 large carrots and a large onion- sautee the chicken in 2 TBS of olive oil, add veggies and 6 cups of water, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook down until chicken is done, and veggies are soft.  Then discard the veggies and tear the meat off of the bones.  Put broth in the refrigerator and cool.  When the fat congeals at the top of the pan, throw it away ( the fat, not the stock ) and add a couple of chicken bullion cubes for a richer flavor. 

Now you need to dice or chop up some more vegetables. 

To make this soup look as good as it tastes, cut your vegetables in an uniform size and slice them on a slant.  Chop, slice and dice up the same vegetables you discarded and in the same amounts. 

Add a potato sliced thin and small.  As you can see, I totally cheated and used a Thai Coconut Curry culinary broth.  This works well too and you can forget about making your own stock.

Either way, at this point you need to cutup 2 chicken breasts (if cooked- don’t add them until your vegetables are sauteed.)  if raw, sautee them in 3TBS of olive oil and season with about 1 1/2 tsps of curry powder.  Add vegetables and sautee all together for about 15 minutes.  Add broth and simmer another 30 minutes.

Chop up a small can of bamboo shoots, and partially cook some medium sized noodles to add to your soup.

And then let the whole thing simmer for another 30-45 minutes.

  Now add the Lite Coconut Milk and simmer for at lest 10 minutes more. 

You can add the juice of 1/2 lemon if you like it a little more sour.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve with a good crusty bread and a green salad.

I really cannot tell you how very good this soup is – you have to taste it for yourself.   My d-i-l Willow first made it for me when they were still in college- and I’ve been making it ever since.  Try it-  you are going to love it!

I was so busy having fun yesterday, that I forgot to take pictures.

And I really wanted to take pictures!

We read books and made scones (singin’ hinnies, actually)

and played with clay, and made stone soup and bread and played with Aiden and visited with Allyson, and colored maps and coloring books and made magnets-

ALL of which could have been great picture opportunities- and I have nary a picture to share. (Nary is such a neat word, albeit not often used- kind of like albeit and whilst- let’s use these wonderful old words more often folks, or we will lose them!)  Any way, whilst I was having such a great time- my camera was sitting very quietly in my purse.  So I DONT have any pictures.

I do, however, have a wonderful recipe for Stone soup/bisque. 

We have all heard the community sharing and inspiring tale of “Stone Soup”-

A wanderer comes into town, and commences to make a soup with only a stone for a base- he does so with such faith and flourish that all the village gets involved in the making of said soup – offering up their bits and pieces of veggies and meats and spices and by the end of the tale they have a wonderful stew and enough to feed the entire group.

This is a great way to get children involved in making and contributing and EATING a vegetable based soup!   The kids I was working playing with yesterday do NOT like vegetables.  It has been an area that we go back and forth with each time I show up. 

Them:      “Aunt Heidi, I don’t like _____________(fill in the blank with anything in the vegetable family)”.

Me:      ” That’s fine.  Why don’t you try just a bite of ____________(fill in the blank with the vegetable of the day that I have garnished or filled with peanut butter or provided a dip to go along ).”

So, they were suspicious of the whole Stone Soup gig, right from the beginning.

I had found a wonderful soup stone earlier this summer (and inadvertently been carrying this stone in my purse for months!)- so I scrubbed it up and put it into the pot, first thing.  This is the most important part of the recipe. 

Stone soup/Bisque

Start off with a likely stone.  It needs to look potworthy.  A shiny smooth stone will not work, here.  Brown and palm-sized with just a hint of darker coloration- it needs to look a little like a potato.

Add about 3 TBS olive oil and set temperature at med low (3) to start the sautee.

Add 1/2 cup onion- very finely diced

and 1/2 cup celery- again- Very Finely Diced- the idea is not to have any stand out veggies- the stone is the main character in this soup!

Sautee until onions are translucent and celery is stewed.

Now add- whatever you can get your kids to offer.  We opened the fridge to see what  they had to share with my poor little stone.

(I suggest that you do a lot of the slicing and dicing beforehand and employ some magical slight of hand to get it into the pot.  Unless your kids LIKE vegetables, the more they work with them, the more they will object to them being added to something they are expected to eat.  Keep their attention upon the STONE part of the soup!)

We added corn off the cob (give the cob an extra scrape to get all the “creamy” parts into the soup)

and ham, diced small.

Let all of these simmer gently for about 10 minutes, get all the children to stir it about and remark upon the aroma and the sizzle of the soup- paying particular attention to the hard working stone in the midst of all those very small other ingredients.

Now add, 1 can of chicken broth

1 cup of water

3 medium size potatoes, peeled and cubed small.

This part is fun- because the kids can put the potatoes in by the handful, making some good splashes.  The broth and water aren’t hot at this point and so they won’t burn their hands.  Don’t let them cover up your stone- it needs to remain the focal point visually as well as in the final outcome of this soup.

Put a lid on the pot, turn the heat down slightly and let the entire pot simmer for at least an hour.

By this time, the aroma of the cooking soup is all around the house, the stone is making little drumming noises letting you know it is at work, and the kids are off doing their own things.

So  you can mash up the potatoes, add salt and pepper to taste, and add

1 can of evaporated milk.

The milk makes this into a magical brew.

Simmer for another 30 minutes-

At this point I thought it was a little liquidy- so I went into the fridge and grabbed out the leftover macaroni and cheese and added it to the pot.

Now- THAT was magic.

Because everything melded together “in the most delightful way”!

I left the stone behind.  Kristen said she is putting it into the pantry for future use.

They all at least tried the soup. 

Which is a small victory on the road to healthy eating –

and a joy for every storyteller’s heart.

I was sharing a bowl of soup and crackers with Jordan when he decided that his snack mix would go better than the crackers.  I started making this mix up when Meredith was here last, and Jordan asked me to keep making it.

It is really easy.

You go to a bulk foods store and buy Rye bagel chips, garlic bagel chips, and plain bagel chips, alphabet pretzels, sesame sticks, and flax seed corn chips.

Then you mix them all  together

in a big container,

and close the lid.

You can also play around with the pretzels and spell out your name and then photograph it.

This is really good stuff- I just made this container on Friday and already it is showing lots of space at the top.

Whoever  first said “easy as pie” was a liar.

And all of us who have repeated it over the years are just as bad.

Pie Ain’t Easy!!!

       Sometimes, the pie fairy hovers over your shoulders and all goes quite well.

Most of the time, the fickle little guy is hurrying off somewhere else and your pie dough falls apart, or is too tacky you add too much flour and it becomes doughy.

However, I have finally found some small success in making pies and I’d like to pass it on.

First of all- if a recipe says knead gently, THROW it away!

I bake bread,  you cannot knead gently.  And you cannot knead pastry AT ALL!

EVER!!!!!
In fact , don’t even use a spoon, use a fork.

Second, always use ice cold water.  As in –put ice cubes in your water.

Third- ask around for a recipe that is almost fool proof.

(Not that there is such a thing, but some recipes are better harder to mess up than others.)

Fourth- use pastry flour if you can find it.  It’s a softer flour and allows for a much flakier crust.

And lastly- pray.  I do not say this lightly.  I have been baking professionally, off and on for the last 30 years. and I very rarely bake anything that I don’t pray over.  (My niece’s son is just learning this verse- I Thessalonians 5:17- only he learned it – pray without seasick- LOL!)  But if you are praying without ceasing I find it easier to pray over whatever you are doing.  For me it has been a preponderance of baking.  So I think you SHOULD pray when you bake- don’t question- just do it!

Here are two recipes that are almost foolproof.   One is from a MS cookbook that Allyson always makes, and it contains lots of butter.

Double crust pie dough

2 1/2 cups flour    

1 cup butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup ice cold water

Cut butter into flour and salt mixture with a pastry blender, until the butter is in very small pieces and incorporated with flour.  Add ice water and mix gently with fork.  Push together into 2 disks and refrigerate after wrapping in plastic wrap.

Don’t worry if you don’t pick up all the flour.  DO NOT knead it to pick up the rest of the flour. 

The next recipe I got from a lady at church many years ago.

Funny thing- I forgot about it until I read the same recipe here in reference to church ladies!   But then I looked it up and use it when I’m making pot pies or quiche- I like it better with heavier ingredients.

Pie Crust- vinegar recipe

4 cups flour

1 3/4  cup shortening

1 TBS sugar

2 tsp salt

1 TBS vinegar

1 egg

1/2 cup ice cold water

Basically, you just do the same stuff you did for the first  recipe, except you add the egg and vinegar to the water and then  mix gently with fork.

( If you went to the link, you will have noticed by now that she says to knead it a little-  don’t listen to her- this is MY recipe from a lady at church, and you shouldn’t knead it.  Not even a little.)

After you have refrigerated it for about an hour.  Take out one piece and flour your surface like a blizzard.  Then rub flour all over your pin and roll the dough to the outside.  Never roll inwards- it is really confusing and will give your pie wrinkles.

Next make sure the dough is about 2 inches larger all around than your pie plate.  Then fold the dough- gently into fourths- and place it into the plate and unfold it to fit. If it tears, you can piece it back together-

PRAY that it doesn’t tear!

Crimp around the edges and fill.

I had some frozen quiche filling,

so I added egg and half and half and swiss cheese and made a quiche with the vinegar pie dough.

Here is a neat trick I just figured out with foil to keep the edges from getting too brown.  I had been making a crust guard with foil- fitting strips around the edges and slightly crimping them to keep the foil from falling off.

BUT, if you use just a square of foil-

torn slightly in the center-

and keep tearing the foil-

from the center outwards, it is a lot easier and works just fine!

You already knew that, didn’t you?

Here is the quiche and a pumpkin pie I made with the butter dough.

So- that’s my story about pie dough and the many trials and failures I’ve had.

And that, my friends, is the truth.

And it wasn’t easy either.

I have had a bad tomato year.

For some reason, the container plantings of tomatoes I planted just didn’t do well.

But Allyson had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes.

She has the best location right between her driveway and sidewalk.

So, they are in the way- and she is happy to share them with anyone willing to pick them (like me!).

I have used them in salads, and in just plain eating.  I put them in tomato tarts and marinated them.  And yet,I still have more cherry tomatoes.

I have also refined my cherry tomato handling methods.

First- only pick the ones that haven’t split yet.  Ripe, but not split.

Second- use as soon as possible.

Third- check often for the ones that have split after picking.

Fourth- use them first.

Fifth- peel off the skins before you cook them.

AND

Sixth- chop tomatoes coarsely and discard seeds.

Perhaps you already knew all of these methods.  I have had much better success in using these in recipes since I learned them.

Here is an original recipe for Braised Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes Italian.

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2  cups cherry tomatoes

1 cut up chicken, fat removed

1/2 cup Italian dressing

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

3/4 cup chicken broth or water

2 TBS olive oil

1 lb. egg noodles or pasta, cooked

Method:

Marinate chicken pieces in Italian dressing- at least 2 hours in fridge.

Using large pot, heat on medium , drizzle with olive oil.  And sautee chicken until browned, turn over and brown other side.

Add onions to chicken and stir to keep from burning.  When onions turn translucent, add garlic and sautee for another 5 minutes or so.

Add water or broth, turn heat to medium low and braise for about 20 minutes, then add cherry tomatoes and cover.  Continue to braise for another 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Make sure you follow the above cherry tomato handling methods-

you don’t want the skins to become little strings in the sauce and the seeds

will burn to the bottom of the pan.

It is really, really delicious- even Frank remarked on it several times last night.

And it used up a fair amount of cherry tomatoes, as well!

Today was one of those days when I just couldn’t stop baking.

I started off with making pie crust.  When I get my camera I am going to do a pie tutorial.  I have had so many people tell me they have problems with crust.  I used to have LOTS of crust problems.  So many that I never made pies.

Robin and I would make our specialties,  hers were cakes and pies.   Mine were bread and cookies.  But  now I have no one to make pies for me, so I’ve worked on different crusts and techniques until, I too, can now use that colloquial expression- “It’s as easy as pie”!

Anyway, today I made cherry pie.  I bought sour cherries earlier in the season and froze them for a more convenient time- Today!

And while I was getting the butter out of the fridge for the crust, I saw that my sourdough starter was in need of a fresh dose of flour and water.  So I made sourdough french bread.

While waiting for it to raise, I figured I should make Jordan and Frank some brownies for their lunch bag desserts and so I made a batch of Best Ever Brownies.

In between all the oven activity, I made clam chowder.  I made clam chowder while we were in Chincoteague from fresh clams and it was delicious.  But when I told Jordan about it, he was just sad. Because he didn’t get any.  So I made clam chowder out of canned clams and juice- and it is delicious, too.  Just not quite as clammy.  It is Ohio clam chowder- heavy on the corn and potatoes!

Here’s the recipe for the chowder.

1 large can of clam juice (15oz)

2 small cans of minced clams (5 1/2-7 oz each)

1 large onion-diced

1 medium carrot-diced

2 ribs of celery-diced

3 slices of bacon- chopped

5 medium potatoes- cubed small, boiled

(reserve the water you boiled them in to add to

the soup base.  You may use up to 2 cups, depending

on how thick you like your chowder.)

2 ears of corn on the cob- boiled

1 cup half and half

about 1 1/2 to 2 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Sautee bacon until it is browned- not crisp- add onion, celery,  and carrot and sautee until onions are lightly browned and vegetables are soft.  Add clam juice and clams and  bring to a light bubble.  Not a boil- just a ripple – then add potatoes and water and cut the corn off the cob into your pot.  Scrape the cobs with the flat side of the knife to get the creamed part of the corn into your chowder.  Simmer for about 1 hour until all the flavors get real chummy.  At this point, mash the potatoes slightly with a masher.  The soup will get thicker and you don’t have to add any flour.

Now add the half and half and salt and pepper.  Keep at an even heat- DO NOT BOIL- or the cream will curdle.    Serve with oyster crackers, garnish top of soup with chopped Italian parsley. 

Here’s a picture of my beautiful daughter in law in the cute apron they had at the house we rented in Chincoteague.  I love this apron on her.  Does anyone have a pattern for a scalloped hem apron like this one?