Sourdough Bread

I have decided to try my hand at bread making. Today I made sourdough bread for the second time. The first time I did it in one big loaf, I wasn't patient enough and I took it out too early.  It was a bit doughy.  My second try was a success. The loafs look beautiful and they taste good too.

There is so much to learn about bread making, The more I research the better my bread turns out.  For example I read that a consistent over is very important, so is knowing the true temperature of your oven.  So I went out and purchased a thermometer that goes in your over.  Guess what I found out...

• Once the pre-heat timer beeps My oven needs ~10 more minutes to heatup.
• My oven runs cold

I also read that placing a baking stone on the bottom of your over durring bread baking will help to keep a more cosistant heat in your oven, so thats what I did.

The last thing I altered for this recipe was to put a glass bowl filled with ice in the oven while it pre-heats so that the humidity is higher once I put the bread in, this creates the thicker crust that is characteristic of sourdough bread.

I am currently using a liquid starter but I plan on switching to Old dough starter after doing a bit more research, but for now I am making m families bread, instead of buying it, and we love it.

Here is a picture of the starter that is sitting on my counter.

Making bread is therapeutic for me I love to take the time every couple of days to make the bread my family will eat.  I can do it in stages which works well for my life as a mom.  

More bread creations to come, but for now HAPPY EATING!!!

Marshmallows

I made homemade marshmallows, and they were a hit! I took them to each family get together we had during the holidays. I think it will be a family tradition, no more store bought marshmallows for me. These babies could even be roasted in a campfire. The recipes fairly easy and they tasted just like the ones you buy at the store, you can make gourmet marshmallows by adding different flavorings.  I have used vanilla which makes the marshmallows we are accustomed to.  I have also used almond, they were both very delicious.

Here is the Recipe: Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)
Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.
In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)
In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out (learning from my mess of a first round). Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.
Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.
They can keep in the fridge for about a week

Recipe is from www.smittenkitchen.com

HAPPY EATING!!!

Chili and Cornbread

One of  my New Years resolutions is to make healthy delicious meals for my family.  I don't want it to take me all day, but I do want to do a lot of it myself.
Tonight I made chili and cornbread.  I get most of my recipes from allrecipes.com. We really liked the chili which I did in the slow cooker, recipe to follow.  However the cornbread tasted of baking soda and salt, (you don't want the recipe).
We had enough chili for diner tonight, lunch tomorrow, I also put enough in the freezer for another dinner later in the month.

                                                                        Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the next nine ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours. Garnish individual servings with cheese if desired.

HAPPY EATING!!!