Sourdough Bread for Every Kitchen

This recipe was actually published in a Church cookbook about 6 years ago, is incredibly easy, does NOT require weeks of nasty goo fermenting in your refrigerator, or lots of upkeep. The bread itself is light, and is sweet, not like a traditional "San Francisco Sourdough" tangy bread. I hope that you feel encouraged to do this, as it takes no special skills, and that your family loves it as much as my hubby does!

STARTER:
3/4 C white sugar
3 TBSP potato flakes (I buy the store brand because they are CHEAP!)
1 package yeast (or equivalent from a jar. DO NOT use "rapid" or "fast" yeast)
1 C hot water (it should be almost steaming).

Mix ingredients in the order listed in a glass jar, or plastic container that can be loosely covered in your refrigerator. *IF YOU WANT TO MAKE BREAD RIGHT AWAY - Let starter sit on your counter, loosely covered for 45 minutes. Feed starter, and make dough.*

STARTER FOOD:
Same as above, minus the yeast. Every 3 - 5 days (you can go as long as 8 days without starting over), take the starter out, let it come to room temperature, and feed it. If you choose to make bread, leave it out, and make the dough. If you are not ready for more, take 1 C of starter out, throw it away, cover the starter, and put it back into the refrigerator.

DOUGH:
6 C flour
1/3 C Sugar
1 TBSP Salt
1/2 C Oil
1 C Starter
1 - 2 C Hot Water.

Stir dry ingredients together (I put them in my Kitchen-Aid). Add oil, then starter and let mix. Slowly add water until dough is not quite sticky. Cover bowl with saran wrap, set in a warm place and let it rise until doubled. Once dough is doubled, you have several options...

1 - punch dough down on lightly floured surface.
2 - separate into 2 equal portions, place into greased bread pan, cover and let rise as long as you can possibly wait. I let it rise anywhere from 6 - 10 hours depending on temperature in and out of the house, and how quickly the dough responds to the heat. I will sometimes put it into the oven, and turn on my oven light to speed things up.
3 - once risen to your desired height, bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
4 - Remove from oven, and let sit in bread pans for 5 - 10 minutes, remove, and let cool completely before trying to cut it.

OPTIONS -
you can roll the dough out, sprinkle it with cinnamon (no need to add sugar to this one), roll tightly into loaf shape and put seam-side down into greased pan to make cinnamon bread. You can also add raisins if you want. I personally don't like loose raisins in my bread, but I'm weird that way...

you can also make this into a sweet roll by making balls of the dough, and letting rise. You can make cinnamon rolls as well, by rolling the dough out thinner than for the bread, sprinkling cinnamon, rolling up, and cutting into slices.

I like the bread the best either plain or cinnamon, sliced and toasted with some butter...you can eat it plain, with entrees, or even as a dessert.

I hope you enjoy this, and please feel free to leave posts if you have questions on this one.

Crockpots, Slow Cookers - those wonderful inventions from Heaven!

To go along with Grace...did you know that you can also keep your stuffing and mashed potatoes in your crockpot???? They will be nice and toasty warm, not dried out, and are the yummiest way to do them especially for large group meals! I discovered this at Thanksgiving time with my Moms' Group at Church! I'd have never thought of it...but it works amazingly well!

I also will make a "casserole" in my crockpot...especially when using already cooked meat for said casserole...just dump all the cooked ingredients (best for noodle or potato dishes like good ol' tuna noodle casserole) into your crockpot, and set it to Low, and let it "cook" the rest of the day until you're ready to eat!

I've also made soups galore in there...simply dump all the ingredients into the crockpot, and turn it to high til it boils, and then turn it to low to simmer the rest of the day/overnight, whatever...fantastic for taking meals to potluck dinners, or when providing meals to folks that have just had surgery or whatever.

Meatloaf

Did you know that you can cook a meatloaf in the crockpot? I'd heard this years ago, but never tried it. Since yesterday was a crazy day, I put the meatloaf in the crockpot, on low, at noon and by seven at dinner, it was perfect! I made mashed potatoes in the morning to warm up. So, all I did was warm up the potatoes and veggies and it was all ready! Easy, breezy!

Shrimp Scampi

Last night, I was in a bind for something to cook. I had a two-pound bag of frozen, de-veined shrimp in my freezer, but wasn't in the mood for plain ole boiled shrimp. So I pulled out my trusty Joy of Cooking and found just the thing. Scampi!

1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Heat the olive oil and garlic over low heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is browned. Do it slowly, it should take about 10 minutes.

Raise the heat to medium/medium high and add:

One and an half to Two pounds peeled and de-veined shrimp
1/4 cup chopped parsley*

*I used dried parsley flakes and just sprinkled liberally

Cook through, stirring occasionally. This takes about 5 minutes or so. They're done when they are totally pink.

Toss with fresh lemon juice and salt/pepper to taste.

Server over plain pasta or rice.

Yummy and healthy for the new year!

Grandma M&M's Cranberry Salad

1 bag fresh cranberries (you can also use fresh frozen berries)
1 Small box raspberry jell-o
1 Cup sugar
2 apples peeled, cored, and diced (I like to use Honeycrisp. They contrast beautifully with the tart cranberries)
1 C. chopped walnuts (optional...Grandma always makes one with and one without nuts)

Put cranberries in the food processor & chop until fine. Stir sugar into cranberries & let dissolve. Prepare jell-o according to package directions less 1/2 cup of water. Combine all ingredients & pour into 8x11 glass dish. Refrigerate until set, preferably over night.

Semi-Sweet Sugar Balls

Here are the chocolate balls I promised on my Traditions post several weeks ago now...sorry for the delay!

These were always made by my Nana, who lived in NY. We always loved it when she came out for the holidays, and it was made even more special by her incredible commitment to teaching my siblings and I all about our Italian heritage...making the best ever dishes that she grew up eating for special occasions and specific holidays...If I can weasel the recipe out of Daddy, I'll post the Meat Pie for Easter...mmmmmmm, that makes my mouth water thinking about it!!!

Prep to Serve: At least 24 hours ( read on to see why )
Serves: As Many as you decide you can part with...I don't share these so well...

Ingredients:
12 oz SEMI-SWEET chocolate chips
3 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1/2 C Orange Juice
2 1/2 C Crushed Vanilla Wafers
1/2 C Confectioner's Sugar
1 C finely chopped nuts (Optional We never add the nuts because we just don't like nuts in our food...unless it is baklava)

Directions:

Melt chocolate over low heat (I use my double boiler so it doesn't burn). Remover from heat, add corn syrup and orange juice. Combine Vanilla wafer crumbs, sugar and nuts. Add to chocolate mixture, and mix well. Chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Form mixture into 1 inch balls, and roll in more confectioner's sugar. Layer in a tin, or plastic container with wax or parchment paper between layers. Cover tightly and ripen in fridge for at least 24 hours. The longer they sit, the better they taste, but don't forget you made them!!!

Quick Fudge (should be called the BEST EVER!!!!)

Prep to Serve: 24 hours for best results
Serves: as many as you want to share it with!



Ingredients

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can Eagle Brand SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:
Melt chips in milk over low heat. (I use my double boiler for best, creamy results)
Remove from heat, add salt and vanilla. BLEND WELL.
Spread into a buttered 9 inch square pan (I buy the disposable foil ones each year). Cover with plastic wrap or foil, and chill until firm (about 3 - 4 hours, give or take). Cut into SMALL pieces. (We're talking no bigger than 1/2 inch squares people...)