Homemade Yeast Bread in an Hour

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Homemade Yeast Bread in an Hour

With a bread hook mixer this recipe speeds along. Prep time, 15 minutes and bake for 45. Amazing! The secret is this baking pot. No, I’m not advertising. It just is. 

Add this to your baking essentials if you’re into homemade yeast bread in no time. I haven’t shopped other brands but bet they’re out there. If you are home bound this can be ordered on line with Amazon too. (burgundy or charcoal) Need ingredients? You can’t go wrong with King Arthur.

Get ingredients and pot ready. Recipe coming next!

Boston Cookies

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Boston Cookies

 

Look like oatmeal cookies but no! Are you looking for a cookie recipe with few ingredients? Something you can bake when the cupboards are bare! I love this Fannie Farmer knockoff for its simplicity. The taste is snickerdoodlish with packed goodness of raisins and nuts. Change it up with dried cranberries or chocolate chips if you prefer.

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Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

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Date Nut Pinwheels

Grandmother Rose baked these in the fall and winter months. They’re great any time! Chewy and fruity.

Grandma always become distracted when baking these. She was a multitasker. Cookies would then over brown … fruit oozing through the pinwheel on the bottom would burn. Be careful not to do this or these cookies will be a bitter disappointment, literally.

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Turkey and Dressing

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Turkey and Stuffing Made Easy

Turkey and Dressing

Thanksgiving dinner Turkey and Stuffing has been on my menu for decades. Over time I’ve tried many different roasting methods and stuffing recipes. The meal has always turned out well but most compliments come with these following recipes. First, buy the best turkey … quality does make a difference. Fresh is preferred. It need not be processed with injections or other treatments … prefer it not be, actually. Using the popup, if present, to check doneness is up to you but I suggest a meat thermometer for true accuracy. What is the biggest complaint about roasted turkey? The breast meat is too dry. This is why I love Martha Stewart’s butter/wine roasting method. I cut the corners a bit but the result is moist and tender. As for the stuffing, I’ve often made my own bread cubes using whatever bread I might have saved in the freezer over several months … you know, the crust no one wants, end pieces, leftover corn bread … always quality breads, no crackers. (When my mother-in-law, an admitted poor cook, made her turkey stuffing with saltines … I don’t know what I expected, yes I do! … but it turned out well. I’m still amazed to this day but then I was very hungry and appreciative. We did a lot of fasting that trip.)

When my daughter became a vegetarian (progressed to vegan) I knew I had to find a different dressing recipe, one cooked separately from the turkey that maintained a great taste. I tried Rachel Ray’s Cranberry Pecan Dressing recipe … converting it to vegetarian and later to vegan. It worked beautifully baked separately, and stuffed loosely into the turkey cavities as well. There are some short cuts I take today when preparing Thanksgiving I wouldn’t have taken years ago. I will never give up homemade pie crusts … these often take a pie from good to amazingly delicious. So, what have I given up? Making the bread cubes. I now find myself buying William Sonoma’s … Even pre-seasoned. Yep, WS brand does make a difference.

Now, let’s jump into these recipes. Great recipes for the beginner as well as experienced!

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Pecan Pumpkin Layer Pie

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Pecan Pumpkin Layer Pie

The years go by and my Thanksgiving guest list gets a bit smaller. My children have settled in with their growing families, and have pretty much taken over the joyous task of putting together Thanksgiving Dinner. But I like to have a small dinner of my own even if on a different day. The four homemade pies I used to make are no longer necessary. In fact, two is too many. I got this idea of a single pecan pumpkin pie. I looked for recipes … my idea was apparently not unique. My improvement … no pre-made crust (crust, to me, adds incredible taste) … never short-cut the pumpkin filling to a paste as I noticed in most recipes. I have simply combined my favorite fillings for these two pies (1/2 recipe each) and baked in two steps. Slather the cooled pie with whipped cream and you have a delicious two pie taste.

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Pumpkin Recipes

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Pumpkin Recipes

 

It’s Pumpkin Season!

 

Braised Short Ribs     Cheesecake     Quick Bread     Pasta Sauce     Cupcakes

No Bake Pie                                                                              Pound Cake

French Toast                                Panettone                                     Sandies

Creamy Soup                                                                    Deep Dish Dessert

Mini Pumpkins         Popcorn Balls         Torte            Spice Cake          Cookies

 

Sourdough Focaccia

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Sourdough Focaccia

Family often sends me recipes to try and this is one. Just the idea of sourdough without the mess of a sourdough starter is a major plus. I had to try this. Although, I must say I found the Platinum Instant Sourdough Yeast a bit pricey and not too available. Was it worth it? Actually, the answer is an easy YES. The flavor is amazing. Use your favorite infused olive oil and dot the top with tomatoes, rosemary or whatever. This recipe was found in Bake From Scratch. The magazine does have a website if you wish to check it out. I did make one major change to the recipe, no mixer. The dough is sticky but can be handled easily with a handheld dough hook and a little kneading. Just made sense to me. Enjoy!

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Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake

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Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake

Yep, I’m old school. Please, no waste! It’s hard for me to discard ingredients as they approach the expiration date. Buttermilk is an ingredient I use frequently but sometimes not fast enough to avoid the dreaded use by date. If you know about buttermilk you know you can go beyond that use by date a bit without consequences. But then the pressure is on. Not to worry, buttermilk does freeze. If you’re like me you’ve got quite a bit going on in your freezer. I just prefer to bake a cake. Buttermilk just adds the most incredible moistness to a cake. With a little over two cups of buttermilk to use I was on the prowl. And here’s what I found. It is amazing!

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National Chocolate Chip Day

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National Chocolate Chip Day

Now, chocolate chip cookies, I’m a connoisseur! I’ve been baking these since I was 10 or so and I’m … well, let’s not get into details. These are my favorites, Old Fashioned Chocolate Chips, probably because I had eaten them as a kid over and over again. But I must say my children and grandchildren feel the same even if I have to change up the recipe to accommodate those that like certain nuts or without nuts or even without chocolate chips.

Enjoy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. All these recipes whip up in minutes!

Quick Mix Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Chocolate Chip Cranberry

Chocolate Chocolate Chip

Almond Chocolate Chip

 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

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Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

When you have a love affair with food like I do it’s not unusual to gain a few unwanted pounds. Yep, I’m cutting back but that doesn’t mean I go without chocolate, or a sweet treat made with butter. You might already know oatmeal not only provides great nutritional value but suppresses your appetite. I’ve made so many delicious oatmeal recipes but was looking for something new for breakfast. (Yes, I eat oatmeal bars and cookies for breakfast.) Muffins are good and I came upon a recipe by Epicurious. I liked the butter and buttermilk ingredients, and knew this was going to be a rich tasting muffin. But I wanted chocolate! I made some changes and call this a version of the original recipe. Thank you Epicurious.

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