Bread Machine Bagels

I have made a lot of breads before, but never tried bagels. My girls are bread lovers, and bagels are a favorite morning food at our house. So I found an easy recipe and gave it a try. An apology to the original author of this recipe, because I do not know where I found it. I scribbled it on a piece of paper without writing the source. 

So, here it goes. Get ready for quick. Get ready for easy. Get ready for delicious!

Bread Machine Bagels

1 c. warm water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 c. flour
1 envelope yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

3 qt. boiling water
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten

Put first 5 ingredients in bread machine and choose dough cycle. 

 

When finished, turn out on lightly floured surface.
Divide dough into 9 pieces. Flatten and poke holes in the center. Cover bagels and let rest for 10 minutes.



Bring water to a boil and dissolve sugar.
Sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Boil each bagel for 1 minute. 

 

Arrange bagels on cookie sheet.
Glaze the tops with egg white.



Bake for 20-25 minutes.

That is it! Simple. Enjoy! 

 
 

Beyond a Cake Mix

I love it that Matthew loves new recipes as much as I do. 

I love that he sees beyond white or chocolate cake.

I love that when I ask him what kind of cake he wants for his birthday, he wants to browse through my cookbooks! 

I love that he knows that cake goes beyond a boxed mix!

So, this year it was White Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting -- straight from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. You know, the red-and-white checkered cookbook that includes recipes that stand the test of time. Recipes that have been filtered through the test kitchen at BH&G.

Gotta tell you -- this cake was delicious. The cake was super-moist, and you can't go wrong when you smother cream-cheese frosting all over it, right???

So, here's the recipe, in case you want to go beyond a cake mix for your next special occasion! 

White Chocolate Cake

4 eggs, separated

1-3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 ounces white baking bar, chopped

3/4 c. half-and-half, light cream or milk, divided

1/3 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 egg yolks

 

In a bowl, allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch round baking pans; set aside.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the white baking bar with 1/4 c. half-and-half over very low heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat; stir till bar is completely melted and smooth. Stir in remaining half-and-half; cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until combined. Add the dry mixture and the white baking bar alternately, beathing on low to medium speed after each addition just till combined.

Thoroughly wash the beaters. Beat egg whites with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Spread batter into prepared pans. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool on wire cooling racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat together two 3-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup butter, softened; and 2 tsp. vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups of additional sifted powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency. Cover and store cake in refrigerator!

A New Way to Cook Hash Browns

Who doesn't love hash brown potatoes? I love them, but I don't love to fry them in grease. So how do you cook perfect hash browns without the grease? Get out your waffle iron, of course!

These really are good! And quick! And -- bonus -- no splattering grease! Simply heat up your waffle iron, spray with a little cooking spray and pile on the hash browns. A few minutes is all you need, until they start to brown. Then dump them in a bowl and serve them up!

You have to love that!!!

The Great Snow Ice Cream Taste Test

When snow falls, it is time to enjoy a cold treat from the freezer, right? Well, in our house, ice cream is a treat enjoyed year-round.

So, when we had our (hopefully) last snow of the season we gathered a few gallons of clean snow and made snow ice cream. There are several recipes floating around and we thought it would be fun to have a taste test.

Here is recipe 1, which created the ice cream on the left.

1 gallon snow  
1 cup white sugar  
1 tablespoon vanilla extract  
2 cups milk

Recipe 2 was used in the ice cream on the right of this photo.

1 gallon snow
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

We tasted. Once, twice, three times to make sure we made an educated decision on this ever-important matter. And the results:

Emily and Megan liked recipe 1 best (because it reminds them of Grandma's homemade ice cream).

Matthew and I preferred recipe 2. 

Eli ate it all, offering no biases. Apparently he is an equal-opportunity ice cream devour-er!

Ham and Egg Cupcakes

Ok, I've told you that I love breakfast foods. I have another great and simple recipe for you!

A few months ago a sermon spoke to me. It addressed respecting God, and a simple way that we show respect to God -- by showing up for church on time. 

Ouch. It is true, but I have a long list of excuses to explain why our family has had trouble warming a pew before the opening worship song. A few of them are actually valid excuses too! But I decided that we were going to work harder to show our respect to God by showing up for worship on time (and other places too!). Seems like a simple thing to do . . . until Sunday morning hits!

I also had read a book that emphasizes the importance of a peaceful Sabbath. I realized that Sundays were not peaceful and relaxing for me. Often it became the day that I catch up from a busy week -- housework, laundry, lesson plans. But I wanted that to change also.

So, our family has gone through some changes this year when it comes to Sunday. And, after making some changes, I find that Sunday mornings are not rushed and stressful. They are very calm and relaxing, and we are not rushing through the church doors.

All of the changes were simple, and logical. They require a little planning on Saturday, but sooooo worth it!

One of the small changes is that I have breakfast ready to bake Saturday night. I look for simple recipes that don't require much of my attention Sunday morning so that my time and attention can be getting everyone dressed. Makes sense. 

This is one of those recipes that works for us. 5 ingredients. 30 minutes. Actually, I mix it all up the night before and keep it in a covered mixing bowl in the refrigerator until morning. Then, all I have to do is ladle the eggs into muffin pans while the oven is preheating. Soooooo easy! Pop these in the oven and then off to dress the little man and put on my make-up! Stress-free!

The great thing about this recipe is that I can see so many possibilities for different flavors. Anything you would throw in an omelet can be thrown in these egg cupcakes! 

Check out the recipe at http://www.galonamission.com/ham-egg-cupcakes-breakfast/

Give it a try! It just might get you out the door a few minutes early!

International Adventures in the Kitchen

We use a great resource to study history. We use Story of the World, and are on the third book learning about the assassination attempt of King James I of England. 

Interesting story there.

A plot to explode the entire Parliament and King James I, was uncovered. Guy Fawkes was one of the men involved in the plot, and it is still remembered in England in a celebration called Guy Fawkes' Day. One of the traditional cakes eaten at one of these celebrations is parkin.

Off to the kitchen we go to try out a new recipe! I can't say this recipe was a huge success in our house for one reason. The recipe calls for ground ginger, but we were out of ginger so I substituted with cardamom. I LOVE cardamom, but apparently I am the only one in our house who does. As a result, I have eaten a lot of parkin in the last week!!!!

Here is the recipe as found in our Story of the World Activity Book.

Parkin 

(a traditional cake from the north of England)

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup oats

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup honey

 
Soak oats in milk for 30 minutes. Mix together flour, baking powder, ginger and sugar in a large bowl. Melt margarine or butter in the microwave and add molasses and honey. Add oats and milk to molasses mixture. Add the oats-molasses mixture to the dry ingredients.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, or until parkin pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Have Biscuits? Add Gravy!

Breakfast. I love breakfast foods. All of it. Probably a little too much.

When Matthew and I were first married, I got up early every Saturday and Sunday morning to make him a hot breakfast before he was out the door to work. I thought I was the ideal wife, right? After, oh, probably six months, he gently let me know that I didn't have to make him breakfast anymore. He actually prefers cereal for breakfast. :)

That didn't bother me at all. I wasn't disappointed to sleep a little longer. But I still wanted to eat breakfast foods, or what we traditionally consider breakfast foods. So we started having breakfast for supper, or "brupper" as my friend Jenni calls it!

Anyway, let's talk gravy. Growing up I thought gravy came in a jar, or was in a little packet and you add milk and heat. Come to find out, it is very inexpensive and simple to make! Here is favorite sausage gravy recipe. This is a super-quick and tasty gravy that is good on top of biscuits and scrambled eggs, or anything else you want to top!

Milk Sausage Gravy

sausage

1/2 c. flour

2 c. milk

Cook sausage. Add flour. Stir in milk. Cook until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper.

Does it get ANY easier than that????? Now, all you need is to bake some biscuits and scramble eggs and you are all set for brupper!

Knead . . . braid . . . bake!

Emily is a bread-lover. If I buy a loaf of french bread at the grocery store, she has half of it eaten before we get home. She has been known to eat bread as a meal. If there is bread on the table -- it doesn't matter what shape or form -- she is eating it!

She actually asked me if she could make a braided loaf of bread for supper tonight. Ummm, of course you can take over one of my kitchen tasks!

So, here she is! Measuring, sifting, mixing, kneading, rolling, and braiding! It was almost all her from start to finish. 

Emily was amazed at how much it rose. Beautiful, aren't they? 

In case you were looking for an easy bread recipe -- easy enough for an 11-year-old -- here you go!

Braided Bread

2- 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 

5-1/2 cups bread flour, divided

2 pkgs quick-rise yeast

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp salt

2-1/2 cups water

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup honey

4 eggs

cornmeal

2 tsp water

In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, 2-1/2 cups bread flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Heat water, butter and honey to 120 to 130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients and beat on medium speed. Separate one egg, refrigerating the egg white. Add the yolk and remaining eggs to dough mixture. Beat until smooth. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat dough. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Sprinkle cornmeal on baking sheet.

Divide dough in half. Divide each half into 3 sections, forming into ropes and braid. Pinch ends together and tuck underneath. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Beat cold water and reserved egg white. Brush on the braids. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Andes Mint Cookies

Ok, this is a cookie that you will fall in love with for a few reasons. 

Number 1: They are truly delicious, and will disappear quickly. Make sure to have a jug of milk in the fridge to complement these sweeties!

Number 2: They are super easy to make! With only four ingredients, they throw together quickly!

I found the recipe at sixsistersstuff.com, and made a modification that I'll share with you.

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 pkg. Andes mints

Mix cake, oil and eggs together. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-9 minutes. Do not cook longer than 9 minutes!!

Take cookies out of oven and place an unwrapped Andes mint on top of each hot cookie. In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted. Smooth out each mint like frosting.

So, my modification: We made half of the cookies with Andes mints. But Matthew isn't a huge fan of the mint flavor, so I melted a Hershey's kiss on top of half of the cookies. It worked just as well.

Raspberry Thumbprints

I want to share with you one of our favorite cookie recipes. We usually make it around Christmas, just because they are so pretty. The cookies are similar to shortbread, and you could experiment with different flavors of jam.

One thing I love about these cookies is that the kids LOVE to help put thumbprint "wells" in the cookies and help fill them before baking. It is always fun to have help in the kitchen.

After these cookies have cooled I drizzle the icing over them, but I didn't get a photo of the finished cookies. Most likely, they found their way to some hungry bellies before I got the camera out!!

Fast. Simple. Delicious. My kind of recipe!

This recipe is very similar to this favorite recipe: 

http://butlersnapshots.blogspot.com/2011/01/raspberry-ribbons.html

So here's the recipe!

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (or flavor or your choice)

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
3/4 tsp almond extract
1 tsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in 1/2 tsp almond extract. Mix in flour. Roll dough into 1-1/2 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb, and fill hole with jam.

Bake for 14 to 18 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack.

Mix together remaining ingredients and drizzle over cookies.

Cocoa on a Spoon

We drink hot cocoa at our house. 

We like dry hot cocoa packets. We like to make a big Rubbermaid tub of dry hot cocoa. We like cocoa with marshmallows. We like cocoa with candy canes. We like cocoa with whipped topping. We like cocoa made with milk and real milk chocolate. We like cocoa in the morning, after playing outside in the cold, and in the evening as a bedtime snack.

I saw this idea for hot cocoa on wooden spoons and just had to try them. They are cute and so easy to make! I found the wooden spoons on Amazon and stamped them to label each spoon. I wrapped them in cellophane bags and gave them as gifts.

My favorite were the cinnamon and peppermint, but the possibilities are endless!With a stash of these in the cupboard, we are ready to ride out the cold days!

Check out the link below for step-by-step directions, and enjoy a mug or two with your favorite someone.

 http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2014/12/hot-cocoa-stick/