Husband To The Rescue

My husband figured it all out for me. I guess having almost 4,000 photos will slow a program down, or just jam it up.

Anyways, very quickly now picture #1 is the bucket I bought at Dicks Restaurant Supply for the sole purpose of making artisan bread. I've warmed my water, added yeast, sea salt and flour.

Picture#2 is the air pocketed, wet dough after being in the fridge overnight. Almost time to "cloak" my dough!

Picture #3 is the beef and chipolte burrito stuff I made. This is raw and ready to start cooking. There was a mix of cut up roast, chipolte peppers in adobe sauce, garlic, cumin, salt, tomatoes, onion and oregano. It was good, but again, spicy. I had to make something different for my little miss. This can be served with sour cream, pico de gallo or salsa, and shredded cheese.

Picture #4 is the finished product...yummy and ready to eat.

Picture #5 is my artisan bread dough. It's been cloaked and is resting on my pizza peel covered heavily with cornmeal. The cornmeal got everywhere but it made the transfer from pizza peel to breadstone in the oven sooo easy.

Picture #6 is the finished bread. I made a small loaf to see what it would come out like. It's really good and I'm tickled pink that I have about 4 loaves of this dough in the fridge and ready whenever I say so! This recipe kicks ass! Thanks Laura for taking the time to type the whole thing up!

Irate

I am upset. I have made some very yummy things in the past 2 days and took pictures to share, and I put my chip into the computer and for some reason the pictures I took only show up on my camera with the chip in it, but wont transfer onto the computer. GRRRR!

I made Artisan bread, really yummy, but spicy beef and chipolte burritos. The meat was perfect and it was done in the crockpot. I cup up some of the leftover meat and threw it with some scrambled eggs this morning. The more I talk about this the more I get mad, I took soo many pictures too. Anyways, I left a spotless kitchen so that the sweet birds have a clean kitchen to bake my sweets in.

Well, we were suppose to go to dinner last night. The weather invited us to dinner at home instead. Other people on the road should just stay home and give me the road all to myself. We got about 2 inches of hail on top of the inch of snow so it's making for an interesting driving experience. Very slushy.

So I thawed some hamburger and pulled something out of thin air. Dont know what to call it, hamburger pie? I made a normal crust, put it in a pie dish. Sauteed red onions, browned the hamburger added some herbs. Cracked a bunch of eggs, mixed that with Bisquick mix and grated some pepperjack cheese. All of this went into pie dish, and then I covered it with dough. Baked it and ate it. I served with green veggies.

I was happy with the mix. I was happy with my crust. I just think maybe it was too much crust. Maybe next time just do a single crust and not a double, also if I did just the bottom crust, it could bake for maybe 6 minutes less.

I ventured out yesturday and braved the idiot drivers trying to drive their dinky little cars up and down steep hills, to the restaurant supply store to get my big plastic, lidded container so that I can make artisan bread. I think I may start that today.

Did I?

Last night for dinner, I made shrimp creole. It was a new recipe to me or so I thought. As I tasted it, my tongue reminded me that I've made this before. I thought about it all night and wondered how I could make such a rookie mistake. I came up with the conclusion that I made it without a recipe before and although the taste was almost the same, there was a slight difference. Anyways, it was still good.

I sauteed some red onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic in some butter. Added diced tomatoes and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Then added a mix of corn starch and water, parsley, salt, paprika and a bit of chili powder, and then the shrimp. I served that over Jasmin rice.

I went down to Gretchens, my favorite kitchen store. I recieved some spending money for Christmas so I bought some more spice jars. I didn't realize I had so many spices in bags and baby food jars, so 3 more should do the trick. I think over time I will buy a few more here and there and really round out the "collection". I also bought a nice, large, airtight glass jar to hold my cornmeal. I was tired of looking at the ugly box and am annoyed with it never closing properly.

The one thing Gretchens didn't have is the large plastic bowl with a lid that I am on the hunt for to hold dough. They only had glass and stainless steel. I may venture into Dicks restaurant supply store today and see if he has what I'm looking for. I would hate to have to go to a big box. I think we are going out to dinner tonight so I'm not planning on doing a dinner, but do have a roast thawing for my dinner tomorrow.

P.S. my new electric knife sharpener is AWESOME!!!

A Day Without

I didn't cook at all today. Not even breakfast. We ate out for dinner. I realize I've taken a lot of breaks as far as cooking for the family and tomorrow I plan to nip that in the bud.

I've put myself back into planning and preparing mode. I have some hopefully tasty dishes coming up like shrimp creole, beefy and chipolte burritos (done with the crock pot) and fish tacos. I'm excited, all three of these are new recipes I've never used before so it will be interesting.

I also got some awesome kitchen toys for Christmas. My husband got me the coolest electric knife sharpener. I splurged on a super nice set of knives 4 years ago and they haven't been sharpened since...how could I, I know, it's aweful. I also got to shop for some of my gifts so I picked out a nice bread stone, a pizza peel and a few other things like new stainless measuring spoons...I've been using the same ol' ugly, crappy plastic ones for almost 10 years and they are beyond done. I also got to throw out the baby food jars that were holding a bunch of my spices, I found the coolest little holders at Gretchens. It will be so much more fun pulling spices from the cupboard now.

Anyways, the point of all that was to say that because I now have the bread stone and pizza peel, I can start making artisan bread. I've been waiting for what seems like FOREVER to do this. I also understand it's crucial to have those 2 things. I have some shopping money still so I am going to buy a large, rounded plastic container with a lid that I can keep in the fridge to store the bread in.

All this will help me get back into my normal groove and out of my lazy funk. I feel like that lazy bird Mazy! Can you tell I'm a mom yet, I'm using Dr. Seuss characters to describe my moods. I also think that my relationship with sourdough is improving...we are moving from the counseling stage and may start courting again. Maybe.

Hammy Schmammy And A Truffle Or Two

My apologies, I've been so busy lately that I haven't written in a few days. On top of that, I didn't get many pictures in, but I'll sure tell you about what I made!

I made apple pie and pumpkin pie. We are eating the pumpkin, which I made for Christmas dessert. The apple pie went to my brother. He claims it's the best pie ever and that the crust was "superb" and therefor he was even eating the crust. I call that success. I also made fudge that I was going to take to my parents house for Christmas Eve, it was a bit soft and I didnt really feel like taking it. We are slowly eating it. Believe it or not I'm on chocolate overload.

I also made rum truffles. I gave those out to my parents, sister, Marks gramma and neighbors. I learned during that process that it's best NOT to double or triple a recipe when dealing with chocolate. The chocolate that I had done that was for the dipping of the truffle before being sprinkled with walnuts and chilled again, hardened very fast. I had to melt down more chocolate just to finish the dipping process. I threw away a lot of chocolate that day. But hey, what's home cooking without a bit of imperfection, and I thought they still tasted great, some of them just were a bit out of shape that all.

I woke up Christmas morning, and we were already on a very late schedule. My husband now works night, and I mean late nights. He worked Christmas Eve night until 6am Christmas morning. So the plan was to let him sleep as usual and then do presents, so I had all morning to enjoy my coffee and make chocolates! It was kinda peaceful taking the morning as I did, because when Mark got up and we started opening presents, it was chaos, good chaos, but still...chaos. My kids made out like bandits this year! I couldn't even keep track of who was doing what and my camera got lost in all the mess so I got very few pictures. Sad, but there's always next year right?

Christmas breakfast was excellant! The night before I put together a strada. It has to sit for no less than 10 hours so it's not something you do the same day. Anyways there was cut up english muffins, bacon, broccoli, swiss cheese, sour cream, eggs, pepper, oregano, and some milk. So all I had to do Christmas morning was heat the oven, toss it in a let it bake for 1 hour. Which is how long it took to do presents so it was perfectly timed. We all loved it. I'll definitly do that again next Christmas.

I honestly hadn't planned a big special dinner for Christmas. We were so excited that we didn't have to go anywhere why would I want to make a huge dinner. I ended up doing a ham anyway, thanks mom! It was good, there wasn't much work to it really.

This morning for breakfast I toasted english muffins, made over easy eggs, took out some swiss cheese and fried up some left over ham. I placed the toasted muffin in the pan, placed ham and then cheese on it and let it melt just a bit, then put the egg over it. Like a twist to eggs benedict. It was awesome! I'm honestly thinking of doing that again tomorrow. I did get a picture of that, and the apple pie.

Out Of The Devils Den And Into The Heavens Spice Cupboard

I feel lately that I need to cook healthier because of all the yummy treats that have either made their way into the house, or suddenly "appeared" by my own hand. I've been a bad bad girl lately.

Today I baked gingersnaps. I absolutly love these cookies. I did run into 1 small problem when I started taking out my ingredients. I realized I was out of shortening! I just ran out the other day and its on my grocery list. I knew today was the only day I would have time to do these so I improvised. I know there are a few different substitutions including but not limited to, applesauce, margarine and vegetable oil. I went for vegetable oil. See why I've been so bad, I should have gone with applesauce but really worried about the outcome of that.

It was good, couldn't tell the difference at all. It's amazing what you find when having to sub something. So now I've got birthday cake, luckily only 1 big piece left, about 4 dozen cookies and this awesome plate of homemade treats that my neighbor, whom I've never even spoken to, brought over. I know that that household is no longer full of the serious drama that it once held which is why I just let them be. Maybe time to catch a name or two. What to take them? Rum filled truffles?

Dinner was good. I made vodka cream sauce, mixed with angel hair pasta and tossed with smoked salmon that my husband smoked a while back. I always appreciate his abilities with fish and other meats. I was on a serious time crunch today, it almost felt like my day spun right by me and I'm amazed I'm not passed out from exhaustion. I don't plan on doing too much tomorrow as far as cooking, but Thursday is my big baking day. That will be interesting.

Maybe I'll do truffles tomorrow instead of Thursday so that I can grocery shop then. ??

Chili

I didn't take a picture of tonights dinner, sorry! I did make chili, with white beans this time which is the first time ever using them in anything. It was good, I was pleasantly surprised. I also made cornbread. I had originally planned on making the honey cornbread so I could use my new honey, but couldn't find the recipe...I'm scratching my head at this one, don't know where I could have misplaced it. So I made another recipe that's always good as well.

I also got out the last of my molasses. I wasn't sure if I had the 1/4 cup that I needed to make cookies with so I poured what would come out right away and then let the bottle sit upside down for a while and I ended up getting exactly 1/4 cup, not a hair less or more. Sweet! Now tomorrow I can make red and green ginger cookies. I also have the ingredients ready to make all those truffles, 6 batches to be exact. Not to mention pumpkin pie, apple pie and fudge. I do have to buy 6 large, fresh apples for my pie and a pie dish to make it in, one that my brother can keep. I don't really want to bake it in one of those tin things, yuck, and I need all my pie dishes.

I feel a smoked salmon craving coming on...

Let There Be Sugar..Oh And Dinner I Suppose

Had Mia's birthday party today. Here's my picture of the finished cake. Devils Food with deep purple cream cheese frosting. It's a much darker purple in person.

Dinner was sort of an afterthought. I quickly sauteed green bell peppers and red onions for just a short time, added sliced kielbasa and black beans. Served that over peppered Jasmin rice. It was really healthy for the most part. I'm too tired to write about food now. Goodnight!

Into The Devils Belly

Cake. I love making cake. I've done better with either Devils Food cake or German Chocolate cake. Tomorrow is my daughters birthday party, but her birthday isn't really until Tuesday. I can't believe she's going to be 3! WOW!

Anyways I started her cake tonight, I also did the frosting but haven't put the color into it yet. I don't have the motivation to put it all together tonight so I will do that first thing in the morning. I got to finally use the cream cheese frosting recipe that took me 2 whole years to perfect. It was always either too sweet or not sweet enough. I will take a picture of it all put together tomorrow.

Tonights dinner was a roast, in the crock pot. I started by browning all sides for about 5 minutes while at the same time rubbing it with pepper, thyme, and parsley. I then laid it on a bed of garlic followed by about 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and a bit of water. Although it should only have cooked for 3-4 hours, that 3-4 hours made it a bit dry. Lucky me I had a pack of turkey gravy that I keep for extreme emergency...like today because that helped cover up the dryness a bit. It was still good and I did taste the flavors coming through. I candied some carrots and made mashed potatoes.

I was originally going to add some pizazz into the pots, but when I realized the only way to save dinner was a stupid pack of gravy that I had to add some spice to, I figured just make simple mashed potatoes and drizzle with gravy. All in all, it was a good dinner. My husband very gently reminded me about the cool meat thermometer we have and that I should start utilizing it more...he's right. Sometimes I think he knows me better than I do.

Give Me Pie!

Sorry haven't written in 2 days. Been busy trying to get Christmas finished, plus we have a much different Wednesday and Thursday schedule now, so dinner on those days are no longer at a set time nor do I plan a whole lot of excitement.

Tonight I made chicken pot pie. Picture #1 of course is half my dough rolled into the baking dish. Picture #2 is my mix starting to thicken before I added the chicken and veggies. Picture #2 is a finished and boiling hot product. Gooey, hot, yummy and it sticks to your ribs!

So the other day I made those Rum truffles...I can't get them out of my mind! I do have to do a lot of baking for Christmas Eve at my mom and dads house. This will include fudge, that is if I can get it to set right, about 75 truffles, and I owe my brother an apple pie in exchange for music. Not to mention cookies for Santa...like he OR his elf need anymore sweets...but I'll take em'!

That will be a day to crank the music, throw on an apron and bake bake bake away. Of all the things I have to do that day, the pie naturally will take the longest. It always seems so time consuming to peel, core and slice apples but I know my brother will much appreciate the time that I put into my pie.

Also for Christmas day, I plan to use the last of my real pumpkin that has already been roasted, smashed, stood up (he he he he) , packaged and thrown in the freezer. That will be our dessert. Still not sure what will be for dinner.

Christmas breakfast is still a work in progress. I'm still deciding if I want to make a strada or if I want to do a crockpot breakfast. Either way, they both have to be prepared the night before so the most I will have to do Christmas morning is either throw the strada in the over, or turn the crockpot off and eat! I'm leaning towards a strada.

I'm still sort of annoyed with the whole sourdough situation so I haven't yet had the patience to make another starter. I did however, get a new jar of honey from my bee man. Best honey I've ever tasted in my entire life! There's even grits in this jar, I just about died when I tried it. So maybe Monday I'll make chili so I can make my honey cornbread with this honey, I think it's fireweed. Worth every penny!

Tomorrow I will be doing a roast. I have it thawing in the fridge overnight. Not sure what recipe I will be using yet.

Yumm, Yumm & Yumm With PepperJack Cheese & Triscuts

Ok so my pics are a bit out of order. Picture #1 is pasta primavera with shrimp. Turned out good, I've made this before but with chicken. Today I made chocolate truffles. Yum! They were actually kinda easy, just a bit time consuming, I spent a lot of time standing in the fridge mixing my filling so that it would thicken.

Picture #2 is showing that I changed the recipe to make it my own. Instead of using heavy cream, which I am just NOT a big fan of, I used an "emergency substitute" of flour, milk and butter. I also changed it by adding a spoonful of regular whip cream while it was in the fridge. I honestly couldn't be happier with the way the filling came out...I also added a bit of rum. I didn't cook the rum so you really did taste just the perfect hint of the rum. It was perfect!

Picture #3 is my first round of chocolate being melted before I put it in the fridge

Picture #4 is my chocolate nice n' thickened, rolled and ready to be dipped.

Picture #5 is a white drizzle I made with powdered sugar and milk. Lucky for me I only did this on a few, I didn't care for it so much so won't be doing it again. The finely chopped walnuts were perfect.

Picture #6 is a finished product. They have to stay cold so they are now in a container in the fridge.

Picture #7 are the eggs that I made my husband for breakfast.

What a good day!

A Good Day In The Kitchen

My pictures are backwards. I started the day by doing something that's been on my list for about a month. Crackers. Simple and easy and there are sooo many different things that you can do to them. Since it was my first attempt, I kept it basic and added a bit of shredded cheese. They were good, I would make them again. My only complaint was that you are suppose to roll them out on the baking sheet, and since my rolling pin is apparently too big, I had a hard time getting them as thin as I wanted. It only took my sister a few simple words to give me the perfect solution to this problem..use a cup. Genius! I can imagine these would be good with parmesan cheese, or pepper or some herb. Endless possibilities, endless!

Then I was really in the mood to continue my day of baking so I made pumpkin bread. I did use the canned pumpkin because I am saving my real sugar pumpkin for my Christmas day pie, and that's already prepped and ready to go and in the freezer, which might I add, freezes and thaws good and bakes just as well as it does fresh out of the fridge. This will be the last time I use canned pumpkin. So anyways, I made 3 loafs of bread, I threw 2 in the freezer to save for later and we are enjoying 1 now. I've frozen this bread before, and as long as you put it in the freezer for at least an hour wrapped in plastic, THEN foodsavor it, it wont lose it's shape and when it thaws it will still be nice and fluff.

For dinner, I again went healthy. I cooked 2 chicken breasts in oil and water, sprinked some paprika on them, let em' cook about 5 minutes, then put some tomato sauce that has spice in it - Del Fuerte; Salsa De Tomate. I found it in the store and it looked different and interesting. It's not really spicy hot but gives just the right amount of kick and good flavor so I am happy to have pulled something out of thin air and have it succeed. I will probably always keep one of these in my cupboard.

So I placed the cut up chicken on a warmed tortilla, added black beans, lettuce, fresh tomato, sliced cheddar cheese and a bit of sour cream. It was light, tasty and not full of a whole bunch of fat. It would definitly go good with fresh cilantro, too bad I didn't have that. Maybe next time.

My First Ever Gumbo

So I've had this recipe on my list for what seems like forever! It calls for okra as the main veg, but I had the worst time trying to find it. So I gave up on the okra and thought, replace a green for a green. So instead I used a bit of broccoli and green beans.

Anyways, it was cooked in the crockpot, about 3 1/2 hrs on high. I had to stir a roux for 20 minutes straight to get a nice tarnished penny look, then mix it with water in the crock, add cut up chicken and sweet sausage, red onion, bell peppers, salt n' pepper, chili powder, minced garlic and celery. It called to be served over white rice. I always seem to gravitate towards dishes with rice.

So my husband liked it, it had his meat and veggies but at the same time seemed light and healthy. I would make this again for sure. If I ever see okra in the stores, I'll try it the way it's really suppose to be made. I will be putting this in my box for sure.

My only disappointment, it didn't look much like the picture. Lucky it tasted good though!

Turkey Soup

So I made turkey soup today. My husband suggested it and he was totally right, it was a good night for a pot of soup. It's been pretty rainy and we are "bracing" for a huge rain storm, so what better to have than hot soup. It was good, the turkey leg I threw in made for a different flavor. It was yummy!

It's amazing how busy we have all been lately. A few times, I forgot to do my blog..my bad!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Well, my husband, whom I mentioned before is really good with meat, roasted us a turkey today! It was delish!! I definitly have some packaging to do. I plan to foodsavor a lot of it and freeze it and keep taking it out every so often.

Yesturday he started his brine. He cooked that on the stove for a bit and then let the turkey sit in that brine throughout the night. He put the bird in the oven around 1pm. We also tried a new style of gravy. We used the drippings of course, I added a bit of pepper and thyme, some roux and we even put some wine in there. It was a very nice, dark and rich gravy. I'll be packaging that too so we can enjoy it later as well.

My husband was excited to use the new meat thermometer. It's one of those ones that has the cord and now I'm excited because it doubles as a candy thermometer. Maybe they all do, but hey that's a bonus to me! Anyways I was the one that had the pleasure of going down to Gretchens, my all time favorite kitchen and cooking supply store. It's a great local place, they're very honest and it's been around for a long time, about 30 years I suspect. They also don't sell cheap crap, everything in there is a good quality. Godda love Gretchens!

Food? What Food?

It seems that as soon as I started this blog, I've had more busy days then ever where I haven't been able to spend a lot of time on dinner ideas. I promise I will be getting back into the groove soon. Todays excuse - we got our Christmas tree and I made up a quick chicken served with cream cheese mashed potatoes and veggies. Completly thoughtless...I know.

Just An Aray Of Things

Picture #1 - last nights dinner of brown sugar meatloaf, pepperjack pasta, spinach and homemade bread. It was delish!

Picture #2 - A messy kitchen is a family well fed.

Picture #3 - I made enchiladas the other night and kept forgetting to post a picture, and I forgot to take one before we dug into them. My husband loves it when I make these. I don't do them often but sure enjoy rolling them. This time I made them with ground beef mixed with potatoe. They're also good with shredded chicken.

I made fudge again last night. Although my first attempt couldn't have come out better, my second attempt was... interesting. As far as taste and color n' such, it was good. But although when I tested the firmness of it, it felt hard enough to cut. By that time it had been in the fridge ALL day. So I took it out to cut it up into pieces, didn't go so well. For some reason, it was firm on top and way too soft on the bottom. So refusing to toss it because like I said, it tasted good, I spooned it into a container. I have no problem spooning it til its gone.

Weird. I'm still recovering from my disappointment in my sourdough bread, that we are still eating. So I haven't had the heart to get another starter going. I have my jar and everything I need, just waiting for myself I suppose.

I've also been looking into making truffles. I can't believe how easy it is! I always assumed it would be hard, and take forever. No different than spending time to make an apple pie. I do need to buy some liquor, probably Kahlua to mix with the candy as flavor. Then I'm set! Can't wait

Speaking of apple pie, I owe my brother an apple pie in exchange for music. He recently burned me this CD. Closterkeller, Scarlet, it's an older album but I LOVE it!

The Anatomy & Science of Yeast Breads

Long sigh...sourdough schmourdough. Why so complicated? Yeast, that's why!

I did a ton of research today on making sourdough from scratch, starter too. There is so much out there I'm not sure where to begin. My research answered a question I've been asking myself for a long while now, but never had the time to look up, how were they making bread 100 years ago? They couldn't go to the store and buy little jars or packets of yeast, so what did they do? Now I know.

They made it. They "woke up" yeast that is naturally present in flour. Only back in those days, they were grinding their own wheat berries and such to make their flour to start their bread. What women! And I thought I was baking bread from scratch! I've learned that buying yeast and adding it to your starter, is apparently "cheating" and "taboo" in the world of sourdough breadmaking. Excuse me!!

So as I walk through the valley in the shadow of bread, I shall fear no yeast and all I say is..bring it on baby...bring it on! One day, it won't have nothin' on me!

I will perfect you.

A Tribute To My Parents

Dear Parents,

I can't thank you enough for teaching me the value of a home cooked meal. You guys never fed us kids shit, and I've never realized that more than I do today.

Thank You!

A Busy Day In The Kitchen

Unfortunatly, I didn't take a picture of the breakfast that I made. I made a scramble at my husbands request. It had potatoes, breakfast sausage, red bell peppers, eggs, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, salt n' pepper and parsley. It was delish!

I did remember to take a picture of the coffee cake muffins that I made. I've honestly never made muffins from scratch until this morning, just never really got into it, until now! They were good, they weren't overly sweet like I thought they would be, so really they were perfect. My husband also liked that they didn't taste like a spoon full of sugar. I'll definitly be making these again.

I have these blueberry bushes, 5 to be exact, that produce a ton of blueberries. The first year we harvested them, I think I made at least 10 pies with them and we ate a lot of them as just snacks. This year was the same BUT we froze a bunch. I measured out 3 pies worth and froze them in individual foodsavor bags. I'm getting in the mood to do something with them...blueberry muffins??

Tonight I made my lasagna, really it's my mothers lasagna, she gave me the recipe a long time ago. It takes a bit to put it all together, mainly because the sauce alone takes 45 minutes. I use 4 cheeses with mine, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan and cheddar cheese. I don't make it often but my husband sure loves it. It went good with the bread that I spent 4 days on.

Speaking of the bread, there was nothing sourdough about it and I am a bit disappointed. The bread IS good, but it tasted more like an egg bread than anything else. I feel like I wasted my time. It just gives me the drive to find a different recipe. I did notice that there are many different forms of sourdough starters out there. But I think it bumms me out more that I spent so much time and had so much anticipation with it, to smell the sourdough while it was baking made my mouth water...and for not a simple hint of sourdough taste. This is a recipe I will be blacking out for sure. I've done it before and I'll do it again.

A Finished Product, 4 Days In The Making

Ahhh, finally! This is the longest I've ever spent on something that will go right into my mouth. 4 days ago, I made sourdough starter. I cradled it, sang to it and nursed it. Not literally but I may as well have! Finally I was able to complete the bread. Picture #1 shows it sitting after adding some flour, it had to rest for 8 hours. Picture #2 shows it rising after I added the rest of the igredients, this took almost 2 hours. Picture #3 shows two loafs ready to be baked. I had to keep brushing them with cold water while baking. Picture #4 of course is the finished and ready to eat product.

After I let these cool for over an hour I just had to taste it. The end slice was nice and slightly crisp on the outside and the inside was just as it should be which meant my kneading was good. I've learned you don't want large air holes, or even small ones. You want them right in between. My final say on spending 4 days to make bread? It was really good BUT didn't really taste of sourdough. I'm hoping that it was because I took a very small slice from the edge, maybe as I dig deeper into the loaf, I'll get that sour that I'm looking for. It sure smelled like sourdough while it was baking and the starter was very strong.

It's football Sunday and I will be watching football all day, but will make my lasagna to go with this bread for dinner. I'll post a picture.

Pepperjack and Sourdough

Good Morning! I always find that the first sip of coffee is just a sip of heaven, I love it. Yesturday for breakfast I made a meatless scramble with a ton of pepperjack cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Served with toast and topped with my homemade grape jam. I have a huge grape vine in the backyard.

I forgot to take a picture of dinner. I made chicken cacciatore but served it over jasmin rice. I was happy with it. We are still enjoying small bites of fudge, I think I ended up with close to 3 pounds it seems. I've been thinking about Christmas cookies. I want to make molasses cookies, which we've done before but I want to smother them in red and green sugar. Simple but those are one of my favorites so I'm always out to make them.

And about my sourdough starter, its going good so far. It's been in the glass jar in the fridge now for 1 1/2 days and there is now a clear liquid on top so I guess its ready to be used. I plan to make my lasagna, which takes about 1 1/2 hours, to go with my fresh baked sourdough. Once I use my starter by adding a couple ingredients, it has to sit at room temp for 8 hours. I wont have time to make it for dinner tonight, I would have had to start it around 5:30am to have it had sat, risen and baked in time for dinner around 6pm. Even then I feel I would be cuttin' it close. So I will do the bread today which will make two round loafs and save it for tomorrow.

I'm feeling my husbands need for red meat today so I will be cooking something very hearty tonight. Haven't yet looked at my list so I'm not sure what it will be.