Outdoor Entertaining

Living in northwest Wisconsin means you spend a lot of time outside.  We don't have many big cities nearby, but we have plenty of woods, water, and nature to enjoy.  Two weekends ago, I went geocaching with some girl friends and we had way more fun than any of expected.  This week we got together for a campfire and to try out some new marshmallow roasting sticks.

Since we got together after work, I wanted to make something quick and tasty for supper.  So, we roasted some veggies in the coals.  I had gotten everything cut up in the morning, so when my friends arrived, I was able to just lay everything out on a tray and let people assemble their packets.  I used precooked sausages, but you can use hamburger or hotdogs or whatever you like.  I also precooked my potatoes because I wanted to be sure they would be done in time.  I also used julienne carrots, shredded cabbage, onions, parsley, basil, and chives.  But, you could add mushrooms, cauliflower and whatever other veggies you desire.  You simple pile your selection on to a sheet of aluminum foil, add a little butter, salt, pepper, whatever you like.  Then tightly wrap it up and bury it in your campfire.

We only roasted ours for about fifteen minutes and as you can see, it was cooked through.  Size of packets and fire temp will definitely affect your cooking time, you also need to be sure your meat is cooked if you use something like raw hamburger.  There's something about cooking your food over a fire that makes it extra tasty!  I'm hoping to get a couple more campfires in before the snow falls.

For dessert, smores, of course!  But, I wanted to fancy it up a little, so I decided to go beyond just Hershey bars and grams.  I also had mini Mounds bars, Rolos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Brownie Brittle and gluten free crackers.  It was fun trying different combinations and I ate way too many marshmallows.  Tripworthy sent me a box of their roasting sticks to try.  They're telescoping, so they fold up small and have a handy little carrying case.  My first impression was that they didn't feel super sturdy, but I was wrong, they held up great to a night of roasting and the handles are nice and smooth.  While you can buy stronger sticks, they don't fold up and these worked perfectly.  If you do a lot of camping away from home, these are worth a look due to their travel friendliness.

So, what's your favorite thing to roast over your campfire?  Let me know in the comments below.

I received these roasting sticks from Tripworthy in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Summer Salads

Summer is salad season.  And I firmly believe salad counts as a meal.  I pack it for lunch on the regular.  But, leaf salad gets a little boring and creamy pasta salads are tasty but they aren't exactly on the nutritional up and up.  So, I'm always on the look out for more healthy choices that still taste delish.  Here are three I've been eating this summer.

Kale Blueberry Salad

Kale Salad with Blueberries from Natasha's Kitchen.  I've never been a big lover of kale.  But this recipe makes it so flavorful,and softened it up just enough that it converted me.  The blueberries and dried cranberries give it a hint of sweet, the slivered almonds and carrots- a little crunch, and the apple cider vinaigrette pulls it all together.  Note, her original recipe doesn't call for almonds, but like I said, I think they add a little extra crunch.  Just, add them at the end with the blueberries and onion.  And you have to make sure you let it sit a couple hours so the flavors meld.

Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad is one I've been making for years.  It's easy to make.  Traditionally Caprese is made with Roma tomatoes but I like to cut up a pint of cherry tomatoes, toss in some basil leaves, and take a cup of mozzarella pearls or a mozzarella ball and cut it into chunks, then toss with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil and add a little fresh sea salt.  You can eat it right then and there, or it'll keep nice in the fridge for a day or two, but to be honest, I don't think I've ever had any last that long.

Artichoke Rice Salad

This Artichoke Rice Salad may not look like much but it's pretty tasty.  I made mine with red rice.  And I use whatever color pepper  I have on hand.  The recipe says let it sit for three hours.  But I think it's better if you let it sit overnight and really give the flavors a chance to develop.  And don't skip on the fresh parsley.  It really does add to the salad. 

 So there you have it, my three salad champions of the summer.  Got a recipe to share?  Put the link in the comments.  

Big Bowls Hearty Vegetarian Meals Class Review

I love Craftsy.  I've talked about it here and here and here and probably even some other times.  I just made Babka (using the recipe and techniques I learned in the artisan bread making class a few years ago) for Easter brunch this Sunday.  The other day I was checking out my Craftsy profile and realized I've enrolled in thirteen different classes!  But I've only taken two all the way through.  So, I decided I should go back and finish some of the other ones!

I focused my attention on Big Bowls Hearty Vegetarian Meals because this class was a little out of my comfort zone, but not beyond my skills.  When I signed up for the class, I was in a bit of a food rut and looking for some new ideas.  This class definitely supplied them.  It was six different lessons- each featuring a whole grain topped with unique veggies and proteins along with homemade sauces or seasoning mixes.  In this class you learn how to cook farro, wild rice, beans and rice, bulgar, black rice, and quinoa.

I made the traditional style beans and rice and was really impressed with the tips provided and step by step instructions.  I also made the farro recipe which was topped with a savory mushroom ragout.  It was super tasty and it was fun to use a new type of mushroom.  The black rice with Mediterranean peppers was good, but not a favorite.  I guess I'm just not that big of a fan of cooked peppers and tomatoes.  The wild rice bowl involves marinating and baking tofu, which I'm interested in trying.  I've never been a big fan of tofu, but think a marinade might help.

The recipes are very clean, with very little canned ingredients and a wide variety of spices.  It really gave me a lot of ideas for trying new vegetables and incorporating more whole grains in my diet.  If you're new to vegetarian eating, or just trying to eat cleaner, this class may be just the thing you need.  The instructor, Martha Rose Shulman really walks you through every step of the way, provides lots of tips for getting the most flavor out your veggies and how to cook them.


If you're interested in learning more, just click the link to be taken to the class page.  You can take the class at your own pace, and your access never expires, so even after you're done, you can always go back and review if you want to see something again.  There's also a super handy printout that includes all the recipes.

Note: All links are affiliate links, which means if you click on them, and then decide to purchase the class, I receive a small commission.  However, all thoughts are my own.  I paid for this class myself, and would not recommend anything I did not feel confident in.

Things I Learned When I Gave Up... Coffee, Cheese, Bacon, Chocolate, Bread, and Alcohol for 3 Weeks

So, one of my goals for January was to complete my 21 Day Purification Diet.  Which meant no dairy (except butter), no bread or pasta, no caffeine, no alcohol, no chocolate, no sugar unless it was in fruit, and only a little meat.  Basically it was all fruits, veggies, water, and lentils for the first ten days, and then for days eleven to twenty-one, I could have a little lean meat with my fruits, veggies, and lentils.

I did this because I was the heaviest I've ever been.  I have headaches, I was having heartburn, and sometimes I'd have gallbladder pains- not acute, but like bloating and feeling like I was a Macy's Thanksgiving day balloon after eating.  So, I wanted to just kind of give myself a reset, and what better time to start than the first of a new year.  Here's what I learned (and how I felt).

1. Giving up caffeine is hard.  I started weaning myself off between Christmas and New Year's.  Which was not fun.  I love coffee.  A lot.  I had a day of numbing headache, but I lived.



2. The first three days were the worst.  I felt like crap.  I was hungry all the time.  My back ached for no apparent reason. I felt hot, but didn't have a fever.  It almost felt like I was getting the flu.  But then I just woke up on day four and felt better. I was really glad I had taken the first few days of the New Year off so I didn't have to feel so doggy and try to work because I just laid around the house and watched t.v. and read and napped.

3. I stocked up on fruits and veggies, and thought I'd be good to go.  But, I missed bread- sooo much.  I never realized how much bread I ate. I had dreams about going to Subway, and getting a sub, just because bread sounded so good.  I ate a lot of lentil soup, and all I could think of is how good it'd be with a hunk of crusty bread.

4.  I snack way more than I realize.  A lot of times, I get hungry, and then it's like my blood sugar bottoms out and I start getting sweaty, and shaky, and hangry, and I wolf down something not healthy.  I'm sure this is part of my problem with losing weight.  But, when I was eating a diet of less refined carbs, my blood sugars stayed level, and even if I got hungry, I didn't get hangry or shaky.

5.  Having to be around foods you can't have while others are enjoying them totally sucks.  They ordered pizza at work one day.  And it smelled soooo good.  I had packed a salad and I will admit, I felt a little dejected eating it while everyone else had pizza.

6.  But, once I realized I was actually losing weight, I felt pretty stoked.   I had done this diet once like ten years ago, and while everyone I did it with lost weight, I did not.  It was very disappointing.  So, I went into thinking that even if I didn't lose a pound, it'd be good for my body and mind to stay away from junk for a while and try to get some good habits established.  So watching the number on the scale go down was exhilarating!

7.  And that made me want to exercise.  Because when I was done with the diet, I wanted to keep the weight off, and maybe even continue losing some. Of course, this was in the middle of a -20 degree cold snap, so walking outside did not sound appealing.  So, it was "Hello treadmill and Spotify" time.  Treadmills aren't my favorite, but it's a doable option and gets me off my butt.

8.  By the last couple days, I was sick of veggies.  I should have kept track of how many pounds of produce I consumed, but I know I was stopping at the store every  couple days to get more.  I was already planning what I would eat for my first meal off the cleanse.  (Homemade tacos!)  I don't even want to think about eating anymore broccoli or cauliflower for a while.  This red lentil soup recipe was a lifesaver!  I think I made it twice in the last three days.  It was super good, filling, and healthy.  I will definitely be making it again.

9.  Day 22 rolled around, and I was so excited to wake up and have coffee!  I swear I got the shivers, just tasting it.  And it smelled SO good!  But I was good and only had one cup.

10.  I lost eleven pounds, and I am fitting into clothes that didn't fit before, so I'm hoping if I stay on a healthier path with my food choices, and keep exercising, I'll keep it off and lose some more.  I always felt like I was accepting of how I looked before, but I gotta admit, it does feel good to lose weight.  I noticed my posture is improved, my skin is clearer, I haven't had any headaches since I got over the caffeine withdrawal ones, and I do feel pretty good.  So, even though I was a little apprehensive when I started and skeptical of any sort of diet, it turned out to be a success.  And, I still haven't had chips or chocolate!  Or gone to Subway for the dreamed about sub bread.  I'm sure I will sometime, but I haven't even been craving them, which is crazy!

Veggie and Grain Fritters

Eating more veggies is always a great way to eat healthier.  Today, I'm going to share a recipe that's easy to customize and make your own, using your favorites grains and veggies, or whatever you have on hand.

 

You can make these with any grain- rice, quinoa, barley, farro, whatever you like.  And you can also use whatever veggies or cheese you like.  I've made them with sweet potatoes, zucchini, or regular potatoes.  If you don't like cheese, you can leave it out, but I think a little Parmesan, feta, or white cheddar add to the flavor.  Here's what I used for this batch:

Veggie and Grain Fritters

2 cups cooked rice

1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli

1/2 cup grated carrots

3 green onions

2 eggs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Until everything is combined.

Form into patties, much as you would cheeseburgers.  Lay on a flat plate or cookie sheet.   I usually end up with about a dozen patties.  Then pop them in the fridge for anywhere from half an hour to overnight.  This gives the patties a chance to firm up a little.

When ready, melt a little butter or oil in a pan and pan fry each patty over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, then flip and fry for approximately another 3 minutes. When patties are done, you can serve them on their own or with a dip of your choice.  I like them with  feta dill dressing best, but you could use ranch or a little Greek yogurt if you prefer.

Everyday Detox by Megan Gilmore

I've never been a fan of diets. Anything that makes you cut out whole food groups never seemed sustainable or enjoyable to me. But that doesn't mean I don't think about what I eat.  This summer I read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and Eat. Nourish. Glow. by Amelia Freer and both advocated a simpler way of eating.  Summed up, it's this: eat real food!  Crazy, I know!  Basically, you buy food that is food, not food that is made up of twenty other ingredients, half of which you cannot pronounce.  This is often called "clean eating".

So, when I found "Everyday Detox" I thought it looked like it'd be right up my alley.  It's by Megan Gilmore who runs Detoxinista.com (which is a great place to find even more recipes and information).   She's a certified nutritionist consultant and a reformed lover of junk food. 

Her book lays out a method of eating that promotes better digestions by focusing on eating certain food categories at each meal along with non-starchy vegetables.  It's not a vegan diet, meats and dairy are allowed but not mandatory.  You aren't feeling deprived because you can eat a wide variety of foods, just not all in the same meal.  She also lays out a seven day meal plan that includes a grocery shopping list that I thought was nice.  I may even try it in the future.

But the thing I thought was cool about this book was all the recipes!  Eat. Nourish. Glow. has some recipes, but is more diet advice.  This book is just the opposite. Mostly recipes with just some straight forward advice.

 So, how are the recipes?  Well, I tried two so far.  One was for broccoli cheese soup.  It was alright, but I'm a Wisconsin girl, and even thought there's some chevre in this soup, I prefer mine creamier and cheesier. The other recipe I tried was the cauliflower fried "rice", which makes a huge batch of yumminess.  It has lots of veggies and even some scrambled eggs added in.  It was flavorful and comforting and I think I'd definitely make it again! (Although maybe only a half a batch.)

My Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

There's lots of other recipes I plan on trying too, like the double chocolate brownies, lentil chili, and the cauliflower flatbread pizza pictured on the cover.

Basically, if you're trying to cut processed foods out of your diet, or you enjoyed Eat. Nourish. Glow. then you would enjoy this book.  Or, if you're just interested in learning more about clean eating, you should check this book out.  Megan also includes recipes for making your own salad dressings, frostings, gravies, sauces and nut milks.  It's a great resource book with a wide variety of recipes.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Eating Your Vegetables

So, we're in the new year, and everyone is still trying to eat healthy and exercise more,myself included.  I think I eat fairly healthy, not a lot of overly processed foods, but I do love cream cheese, salad dressings, mayo, coffee drinks, ice cream etc.

The other night, I was getting ready for bed, and I caught my reflection in the mirror and for a split second, I had this horrifying thought.  Want to know what it was?  Oh my gosh!  My belly is so big!  What if I'm pregnant and just don't know it! Like seriously, I suddenly felt a rush of sympathy for those ladies on "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant".  Turns out I just had a major case of the bloats.  Major!  I woke up the next day and by the time I got around to showering and getting dressed, I no longer felt/ looked like I could be four months pregnant, but it really made me think that I need to be more careful about what I'm eating. 


One of my favorite winter dishes is roasted veggies.  It's easy, it's a great way to use up produce, and you throw it in the oven and just go about your life, while they roast.  I remembered that Influenster had sent me a free bottle of McCormick Gourmet's new Thyme seasoning in my Frosty Vox Box.  So I sliced up some baby red potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower, drizzled it with olive oil and then sprinkled it with thyme and a little sea salt.

Veggies Ready for the Oven

They cooked about 45 minutes (or until your potatoes are done) at 400 degrees, and when I pulled them out of the oven they smelled heavenly.  They tasted even better!  If you are trying to find a way to get more veggies in your diet, this is a great one because you can use a ton of different veggies, you can use whatever herbs you like, and they taste great warmed up the next day too!

After Roasting

(Don't mind my sad pictures.  I took them on my cell phone, at night, with only nasty fluorescent lighting.  But trust me, they're so good.)

Homemade Italian Pasta- Thoughts on Lesson 3

I'm still working on my Craftsy Handmade Italian Pasta lessons.  So I figured it's time for an update.  Lesson three was about hand cutting your noodles at different sizes for different reasons.  The lesson goes over making bow tie pasta and a garganelli which is kind of tube shape with ridges on the outside.

I focused on the much simpler pappardelle, angel hair, and maltagliati.  The pappardelle is super wide.  Angel hair of course if very thin.  When hand cutting pasta, you fold your pasta into a loose tube and simply cut.  I don't think I my pasta was dry enough because it was very smooshy when I cut it.  Well smooshy isn't the right word, but my knife did not go through it super easily and it kind of crushed my layers together.  Maybe I need to sharpen my blades.  This also made it hard to cut angel hair thin enough, but I managed to hack my way through it.  And it still tasted super when I cooked it.

Maltagliati is a laid back cut used for soups.  Basically, you roll your pasta into a loose tube, and just cut a small triangle off the corners, then cut off the triangle tip off, and repeat until your pasta is all cut.  Once again, drier pasta or sharper blades (or both) would have made it easier, but I managed.  I haven't made a soup that needs noodles yet, but I have a ziploc bag of little pasta triangles all ready to go once I do.

Interested in learning how to make pasta for yourself?  Or interested in learning to make Italian soups, Mexican street food, or French pastries?  Craftsy has a class for that!  Check out their online cooking classes for yourself.  They're always adding new courses.

 

 

Homemade Italian Pasta- Thoughts on Lesson 2

Lesson two of Craftsy's Homemade Italian Pasta class is all about rolling and cutting your pasta. There really is a method to it all. But first, I had to mix up some dough according to the directions in lesson one. All you need for dough is flour and room temperature eggs.

After making a "bowl" out of my flour and cracking my eggs inside the indentation, you just have to mix the two together.

It kind of looks like a weird birds nest.

So you mix this into a dough, let it rest (much as you have to let bread dough rest before you can form it into loaves).  Then you cut it the same amount of pieces as eggs used.  So mine was cut into three relatively equal sized pieces.  You flatten these out, and then comes the fun part- using the pasta machine! I got mine at a garage sale for $3, and it sounds a little rickety, but it did the job fine.

You're not supposed to stop in the middle of pressing your dough,
so pardon the poor photo quality.  I was trying to hurry.

It was interesting to learn that there's a whole method to how you roll your dough, and you slowly adjust the thickness down, going piece by piece, until you've gone through almost all the settings.

Finally, once all the dough is rolled, you cut your three pieces in half (no need for yard long noodles) and lay it on dishtowels to dry out a little, flipping it about half way through to dry both sides.

Noodles in a pre-noodle state.

Then, it was finally time to run the dough through the pasta machine and cut it!  You then fold it in little nests of sorts and set it aside to dry.

Nests of noodles.

I'm really enjoying pasta making.  There's something about cooking food from scratch that is so cathartic.  I love it!  It's the same way I felt about making bread.  I really like how it's so hand intensive.  You spend minutes rolling or kneading dough, and there's this whole process involved, doing things just so, to get a quality finished product.  It just feels so tranquil.

 Note: All links are affiliate links, but all thoughts are my own.  This post is not sponsored by Craftsy and is just my own thoughts on the class.

Homemade Italian Pasta- Thoughts on Lesson 1

So, I told you all last week that I finally broke down and bought Craftsy's Homemade Italian Pasta class, and I couldn't wait to dive right in.  I watched the first lesson Saturday morning while I drank coffee in my pjs.  (Part of the allure of Craftsy: If I want to learn to make fettuccine in my PJs with bedhead, it's totally okay.)

The instructor is Giuliano Hazan.  He is the son of Marcella Hazan, who brought Italian cooking to mainstream America.  Giuliano is a friendly guy who gives lots of tips and the camera zooms in on his hands often so you can see how he kneads the dough and he himself breaks down his technique step by step.

The first lesson jumps right in  to mixing an egg dough and takes you all the way to a finished dough (stopping just before the rolling out and cutting step), and then shows the whole process again making the egg dough with some spinach.  I like that they jump right in.  I loved the bread making class, but there was so may supplies you needed that I think the whole first lesson was going over yeast, bread pans, scrappers and such.  Pasta making seems to require less equipment.

At the end of the lesson they also go over storing you your cut pasta, and guess what!  Once it's dry it can store for months.  I think that's great, because I don't think homemade pasta is something you want to make everytime you want spaghetti, but if you can make a big batch and use it for three or four times before you have to make more, that sounds much more manageable.

I'm looking forward to lesson two: rolling and cutting the dough.  The class teaches you four different noodles, farfalle, and stuffed pastas  and it seems to move along at a good clip.  So hopefully I'll  have some pasta to show after lesson two.

 Note: All links are affiliate links, but all thoughts are my own.  This post is not sponsored by Craftsy and is just my own thoughts on the class.

Brown Bagging It

Do you pack a lunch?  The cafeteria at the hospital only serves lunch so if I work second shift, I have to pack a lunch or try to run out on my half hour break, so I usually pack it.  I actually pack a lunch a lot of times when I work day shift too, just because it's cheaper and better tasting.

Sometimes I take leftovers, sometimes I make a salad or bring homemade soup to heat up; once in a while it's cheese and crusty bread with a little pasta salad, and occasionally it's just good old fashioned PB&J.  Abe's Market recently passed on this info-graphic to it's affiliates about the cost of using throw away lunch products. 

Now, since I'm the only one packing a lunch in my house, my savings would only be about $145, but still, that's $145 I'm throwing away each year. I use a lot of plastic bags, and like individual sized packages of string cheese, chocolate almond milk, and bottled water.  But even more disconcerting is the amount of trash that is being produced by this throw away mindset.

I have made some changes recently to try and be better.  My husband bought a better water purification system for the kitchen (city water is the worst- yuck), and I'm trying to get away from buying bottled water.  I've been getting in the habit of making jello or pudding at home and pouring it in my own containers that are reusable and have lids.  I've also been thinking about getting some of those cloth sandwich and snack bags.  I have this picture in my head of crusty, smelly fabric bags, but I'm sure they're not that bad.

Abe's has a lot of choices in eco friendly lunch wares too.  Like these:

Blue Water Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Box Kit

Oval Eco Stainless Steel Food Container Lunchbox Set 2 Pack

Food Storage Container Apple Green 8 Oz 3 Pack

So do you pack a lunch either for you or your kiddos?  If so, what tips can you give to pack a greener lunch.  Also, got any tips to keep lunch from becoming boring?  I'm always looking for new things to try for work lunches.

And if you're thinking of ordering anything from Abe's, they're offering free shipping for the next few days, so be sure to take advantage of that.  No coupon code needed.

Note: This is a sponsored post from Abe's Market.  All links are affiliate links.  But I only choose companies that I would use myself.  I've ordered from Abe's several times and have always been happy with the quality and service I receive.

Goodbye Bread, Hello Classic Croissants

Even though I'm done with Craftsy's Artisan Bread Making class, that doesn't mean I'm done making bread.  In fact, I made a loaf of sandwich bread yesterday.  But, since I'm done with all the lessons, I'm ready to move on to the next challenge.

I chose Classic Croissants at Home because I like a challenge, and the savory croissants with spinach and cheese sounded delicious!  I won't be sharing lesson by lesson recaps because this class is less about making different kinds of croissants and more about the technique used to make them.

Hard at work with class print outs and coffee.

I've done the first couple lessons and so far I've learned a few things.

1. Croissants take a ton of butter!  Like 20 ounces.  That's five sticks of butter!  I live in the Dairy State where we use butter like it's going out of style but that's still a lot!
2. Butter is what makes croissants so light and flaky.
3. You have to make a butter block to make croissants.
4. You wrap your dough around the butter block to make a "laminated dough".

 I haven't even tried any techniques yet, just watching and letting it all soak in.  But hopefully in a month or two I'll have it down pat.

If you like croissants (or butter) and think you want to learn how to make your own, check out Craftsy's Classic Croissants class.  The teacher is great and it's always fun learning something new.

Oh!  And I almost forgot!  We have a winner from the  Artisan Bread Making Class Giveaway.  Congratulations to Debra P.  Craftsy will be contacting you to hook you up!

Note:  Craftsy is an affiliate but all thoughts are my own.  All links are affiliate links.

Artisan Bread Making and a Craftsy Giveaway!

It  was about nine months ago that I started this blog, and a few months after that I signed up to be an affiliate for Craftsy.  They let me enroll in a class for free and I signed up for Artisan Bread Making because it was a skill I wasn't very proficient at but wanted to improve.  I learned so much!  Not just recipes but also the mechanics behind bread making.

And, now here's a little recap on the final two lessons.  First up- marble rye.  This lesson was fun because you make two different rye doughs (one is a dark rye because you add molasses to it.  The instructor, Peter Reinhardt, shows various ways to roll out you dough- a bulls eye, braids, spirals, etc.  I chose to just combine my pieces into a loaf.  I didn't remember to take any pictures of my dough prior to baking, but here's some cross sections of the finished product.

Cross section of Marble Rye.

They turned out well, but I'm not a big rye fan.  Once in a blue moon I like a nice Reuben, but usually I prefer a ciabatta or just plain white.

The last lesson was on making Babka which is a Eastern European coffee cake type dough.  The recipe used in the class is for a yeasty dough you make the night before, then you roll it out, spread your filling on it and then roll like a jelly roll, cut it in half long ways, twist the two halves together, bake, then drizzle with a powdered sugar glaze.  Here's a little collage to help you out with the process.

The lesson print out gives instructions for a chocolate filling and a walnut filling. I tried the chocolate filling first, but made it after I had gotten home from working a day shift and I kind of fell asleep while it was in the oven and awoke to it looking like this:

Burnt Babka :(

But all it all, it was okay.   I mean I wasn't happy to waste all the ingredients in the first one, but it helped me to make my second one better.  I made the second with a kind of candied walnut filling and then drizzled it with the glaze.  It was so good!  I think it'd be an excellent holiday treat for Easter morning (or Christmas morning).  And it really doesn't take to long to go from rolling it out to popping it in the oven.
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The Giveaway!
And finally.... since I have completed all lessons and feel much more proficient in bread making, I want to give one lucky reader the same opportunity!  Craftsy is giving away a free enrollment into the Artisan Bread Making Class!  Want to win?  Of course you do!  It's open world wide.  To enter, just click this link!  If you're already a Craftsy member, it will tell you you're entered, if you're not you will have to create an account, but it's totally free.  No credit card numbers or address required.  Giveaway is open until April 1.

Craftsy will notify winner via email.

Note- All links in this post are affiliate links.

Artisan Bread Making Lesson 8- Sandwich Bread and Rolls

Craftsy calls this lesson "Enriched Breads", but it's really just a fancy way of saying sandwich bread and rolls. This bread rises faster than all the breads in previous lessons because it takes more yeast than previous breads.  It also has more ingredients than previous breads.  Previous recipes in this class call for bread, flour, salt, yeast, and water.  This recipe calls for all of that and also oil, salt, and milk instead of water.

Ingredients for sandwich bread

Enriched bread is denser than ciabatta and other lean doughs.  The dough feels heavier.  It also is less sticky than the previous doughs.  The dough is a little tacky feeling when it comes out of your mixing bowl.  The print outs that go with the lesson describe it as feeling like the back of a post it note.  I'd say that's pretty acurate.

Dough after mixing- set to rise.

After it rises, you transfer it to a loaf pan and after letting it rise a second time, you bake it.  Easy peasey.  All the previous bread lessons take time.  They're not complicated, but if you want to bake bread you have to plan ahead.  Ciabatta has to rise overnight.  So you need to start early in the morning and then bake it in the evening, or pop it in the refrigerator and forget about it until the next day.  Sandwich bread is much less time intensive.  Once it rises for second time, you just brush it with an egg wash and then stick it in the oven.

Brushing with egg wash.  Photo courtesy of Christy Janeczko Photogpray.

When the bread has an internal temp of 200 degrees, it's done.

Finished bread.  Photo courtesy of Chrsity Janeczko Photography.

So what do you do with the finished product?  This bread makes excellent PB&Js and toasts up superbly.

Finished bread.

This bread also makes the greatest grilled cheese sandwiches!  I like to slice up an apple super thin and then layer it between two slices of bread with some cheddar cheese.  Yum!  Seriously, try it, you'll be hooked.

This lesson also details different types of rolls you can make with this dough, but I've only tried a couple so far.  I've just been hooked on the sandwiches!

If you want to learn more about bread making, I really recommend Craftsy's Artisan Bread Class.  I started out with zero bread making skills, and have now become pretty proficient with it.  This class does a great job of not only explaining of how to do it, but why you do it that way.

 

 All links in this post are affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own.

Craftsy's "Complete Knife Skills" Free Class Review

You guys already know I love Craftsy, right?  Well a few days ago, I got an email from Craftsy telling me about their new class, Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott.  I love to cook and I would consider myself a better than average cook, but prepping my veggies is something that I always feel like I'm not doing right.  Onions make my eyes burn and I never get even sized pieces.  I beat my poor parsley to death.  And don't even get me started on how I peel garlic.

This class consists of four lessons and starts right out with what kind of knives you need.  I expected to be told that I need a dozen different knives and that I had to invest in top of the line cutlery.  Not so, Brendan recommends four different types of knives, and if you don't cook a lot of meat, you can get away with three- the chef knife, the paring knife, and a serrated utility knife.  The rest of the class is spent perfecting how to use these three knives.  He recommends buying investing in good quality knives, but doesn't come off as snobby or make you feel that it would be impossible to do what he does.

The second lesson is about four main cuts, the low cut, high cut, horizontal cut, and pull cut.  He goes into how to cut plateaus, juliennes, and dice your produce.  He goes in how to cut onions, garlic, shallots, carrots, and celery.  The third lesson takes what he's shown so far and works it into peppers, pineapples, herbs, butternut squash, and other odd sized veggies.  The fourth lesson is all about caring for your blades by honing or sharpening them.  He teaches the difference and when to use each one.

The class is great because Brendan never talks down to the class, he shows the wrong way and explains why it's wrong, then shows the correct method, and explains why it's better to how you've probably been doing it.  I picked up a ton of tips and am anxious to try them out next time I make soup or stir fry.

Best of all, this class is FREE!  I'll admit, when I saw it was a free class, I wasn't expecting a whole lot.  But Craftsy and the instructor puts just as much time and effort into it as the paid classes.  The camera work is good, you can really see what he's doing and Brendan is insightful and funny.  You'd think a class about knives would be pretty dull (no pun intended), but it really is interesting and broken down into doable pieces.

So, if you're interested in learning how to improve your knife work, click the link and check it out.  As with all Craftsy classes, you can watch at your own pace and rewatch as much as you want. 

  
Note, all links are affiliate links, but the review is 100% my own opinion.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

 Snow will be coming any day now, there's been plenty of frost, and it's wicked cold when I leave work each night, so that means it's time to start soup making again.  It seems like in the summer, I eat a lot of salads and not much soup and then in the fall and winter it's the opposite- all sorts of yummy soups and not much salad.  I suppose it makes sense because when it's 90 degrees out, who wants to eat anything hot.  But, when it's below zero and the wind is howling, soup is delicious.

Anyhow, so I have my go to cream of brocolli soup recipe thanks to an old post from The Little Girl's Guide to Sugar and Spice but I have never really found a cream of cauliflower soup recipe that I love.  So, I thought about what kinds of things I love in soup, and just gave it a whirl. 

This is what I learned.  You don't have to precook your cauliflower, or roast it in the oven to make good soup.  Evaporated milk makes your soup super rich and creamy.  Skipping the emulsion blender gives you nice chunks of carrots and cauliflower in your final product, which I like.  Making my own recipe up isn't nearly as scarey as I thought it'd be.

Here's my recipe

Creamy Cauliflower Soup
3 tablespoons butter
2 stalks celery
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons flour
2 carrots
1 head of cauliflower
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste
cheddar cheese, optional

Set a large kettle on your stove and melt butter over low heat.  While the butter is melting, finely chop your celery and garlic.  Add to butter, and saute until celery and garlic are tender, add chopped carrots and flour.  Stir until all are evenly coated.  Add 2 cups chicken broth, and 1 cup of water.  Stir in finely chopped cauliflower.  Put lid on kettle and cook over medium heat until cauliflower is cooked.  About 15 minutes.  Add can of evaporated milk and cook until starts to bubble.  Salt and pepper to taste.  May sprinkle with cheddar cheese if desired.

Being from Wisconsin, I of course add cheddar cheese and lots of it!  It's also great with homemade bread to dip in it.  (Toast or English muffins work in a pinch.)  I used ciabatta I learned to make while taking Craftsy's Artisan Bread Making class. They're even offering 25% off all their food classes in November.  And if funds are a little tight or you're not sure you'll like Craftsy (which I'm sure you will, but whatever) you can take the Perfect Pizza at Home class for FREE, which is taught by Peter Reinhart, who also teaches the bread class.  Just go sign up.  No credit card info needed, no commitment, no pressure.

 Finally, Craftsy is hosting a recipe contest.  I'm entering my creamy cauliflower soup.  If you want to enter, go to the recipe submission page and submit yours.  The winners will receive a free Craftsy food class and have their recipe featured on Craftsy.

So there you have it.  Make good food and win a prize!  What recipe would you share?

Five Must Haves for Bread Making

So, you want to make your own bread, but don't want to run out and invest a bunch of money on something you're not sure you will love.  I totally understand.  Here's my list of what you must have for successful bread making.  You can totally build up from their with specialty pans, stones, and cloths, but this will get you started and make you great bread.

1. Instant Yeast
This has been one of the easiest things I've done to improve my success with bread making.  Instant yeast rises much faster than regular or even rapid rise yeast.  Plus, I've also learned my lesson with trying to force dough to rise in a warm oven or by other artificial means.  Instant yeast will rise even if you put your dough in the refrigerator.  It's easy to work with and I can't imagine making bread without it.


2.Olive Oil
The method of bread making in Craftsy's Artisan Breadmaking class uses olive oil when your dough is too sticky to handle, instead of the traditional flour method.  So you'll need olive oil on hand.  You don't have to buy the most expensive oil you can find, but don't try to use a regular cooking oil like canola.  I use Pompeian, and you can find it online or probably at your local grocery store.


3. Parchment Paper
Similar to wax paper, but not waxy, this paper is a life saver to keep rising doughs from sticking to things and to bake on.  IT makes keeping your baking sheets a breeze and helps your breads to brown evenly.  You can find it in your grocery store or any craft store that sells cake baking supplies.


4. Baking sheets
Well, you have to have something to bake your dough on,  if you have cookie sheets, those will work fine.  If you really get into your baking, there's all sorts of stones and dishes you can bake in for cool shaped loaves, but these are a must.  Surprisingly, I haven't used a loaf pan yet for this class, but I always bake on a baking sheet.


5. Kitchen Scale
I almost left this one off, but I think it really makes a difference.  For this class, you weigh your ingredients by the ounce.  The reason being, is that one cup of flour can a different amount, based on how much or little you pack your cup, how humid it is, and just the texture of your flour.  But flour will weigh the same no matter if you sift it first, if it's humid out, or whatever extenuating circumstances there may be.  So, I use my postage scale, and set a bowl on it, turn it on (so that it zeros the scale even though the bowl has weight) and then add my flour, salt, and water.  I do not weigh my yeast.  You can find them relatively cheap, so I really think their worth the investment.


So there's some ideas to get you started on what you need to begin bread making.   There's other things that would be fun to have, but are definitely not essential.  Just check out all the things that fall under "bread making supplies" on Amazon on there's tons of pans, couches, stones, knives.  It's enough to make a girl lightheaded with the possibilities.

Note all links are affiliate links.

Artisan Bread Making Lesson 6 & 7: Part 2

Are you guys sick of reading about bread making yet?  I hope not.  Trust me, if the internet had a way to transport smells, you would be drooling just as much as I am.  So last week, I said I was going to make focaccia this week since I didn't have enough dough last week.  I made this in the evening, so excuse the washed out pictures.

Here's the dealio, you start the bread dough same as ciabatta.  It's a slightly stickier dough than country style bread, so you use more oil to make it manageable.  So, I mixed up the dough, and did the stretch and folds, handling it on a well oiled counter top.  Then, I took my bench blade and divided it as evenly as I could.

Look at all that oily goodness.

Then you can bake it in pretty much whatever you like.  I don't have a jelly roll pan.  I have some baking sheets that have lipped edges, but according to Peter Reinhart, the class instructor, the bread should rise to 2.5 to 3 inches.  So, I decided to bake them in my 9 inch round cake pans.  I cut circles out of parchment paper to line my pans and spilled  little oil in each pain to prevent sticking.

I think I should be investing in olive oil as much as I've been using lately.

Then I just covered them each with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge until I was ready to bake (it needs to sit for at least eight hours).  They sat in the refrigerator about twenty four hours.  When I pulled them out the fridge, I smushed the dough out as much as I could.  It resisted a little but was fairly easy to work with.

Now, just waiting for it to warm up.

While, I waited for the dough to warm up, I mixed up my herbed oil.  The class printout comes with a recipe so I kind of followed that.  It has basil, parsley, paprika, rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, thyme, salt, and pepper.  So, I mixed that up, but you can make yours with whatever you like.  Then I pushed the bread to the edges of the pan and then brushed with the herbed oil.

More olive oil!

So, then you just let it rise on the counter for a couple hours. I think mine sat out about two and half hours before I through it in a 450 degree oven for about twenty minutes.  And this is what it comes out looking like.

Notice the unintentional beauty mark at the 2 o'clock spot?

So how'd it taste?  Not like any focaccia I've had before.  I'm used to cutting focaccia with a pizza cutter, basically pizza crust with herbs and oils.  This is more like a traditional bread.  I think it'd be super tasty sliced in half through the middle to make two big circles and then fill with sandwich fixings for a big party sandwich.  It was good tasting.  I liked the herb flavor.  And, all that oil made it have a crispy outside with a super soft inside.  Next time I may try to cut down some of the oil, just to make it a little healthier.  To boil it down, it was good, but I liked the ciabatta better.

And of course, if you want to try your hand at artisan bread baking, I can't recommend my affiliate, Craftsy's, Artisan Bread Making Class enough.  Check it out.