More than caseroles and soups....we're talking POWERFUL NURTURING

Do we fully comprehend the importance of sitting around a table together as a family and eating a good homecooked meal?  For some, this may seem a bit old fashioned or something of the past. I certainly hope not!
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, family mealtimes are important because:

1. When you regularly eat with your children, your meals are more likely to be healthy and balanced.
2. Compared to teens that have frequent family dinners, those who rarely have family dinners are three and a half times more likely to abuse prescription drugs or an illegal drug other than marijuana.
3. Girls who have five or more meals a week with their families are one-third less likely to develop unhealthy eating habits, which can range from skipping meals to abuse of diet pills to full-fledged anorexia.
4. Parental influence and involvement is an important tool in preventing substance abuse.  Regularly sitting down for a meal with your children is one way to connect with them and be involved with what is happening in their lives.

these are just a few of the many benefits and blessings that come from preparing and planning a family meal.

On February 15th at 6.30pm we will...

talk about the importance of gathering as a family to eat

how it can be easy and stress free by planning ahead {tips on recipes, freezer meals}

and IDEAS on how to make it something FUN the whole family will look forward to.

Inspiration for Februrary's enrichment can be found HERE.
a talk given by Julie B. Beck



made me laugh

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party........You will NOT wanna miss out!

This coming TUESDAY, December 7th at 6:30

we will snack and chat, drink and mingle and VOTE on our favorite festive sweaters (there are prizes for the winners)

7:30ish is when we will start the white elephant game..

it's a traditional white elephant...so you can either go buy something nice to bring, or wrap up something from home that you don't want. it's always fun to have a surprising mix of things!

We can't wait!!

Focaccia bread

Diana Lott shared this and we were all drooling over it

Focaccia: Basic dough for Flatbreads or Loaves

from: No Need To Knead by Suzanne Dunaway

2 cups lukewarm water (85 to 95°F)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups unbleached flour

2 to 3 teaspoons salt

2 to 3 teaspoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (*I used dried)

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Measure the water into a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until dissolved. Stir in 2 cups of flour and the salt and stir briskly until smooth, about 2 minutes. With a strong wooden spoon or one of those rare mixing spoons with a big hole in the middle, stir in the remaining 2 cups of flour for about 2 minutes longer, just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and the flour is incorporated. The dough will be fairly wet and tacky (sticky), but when it pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a loose ball, you will know the dough has been stirred sufficiently. If it seems to sticky, stir in an additional ¼ to ½ cup of flour.

Same day method:  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 30 to 40 minutes. Proceed with the shaping instructions.  ( *I coat the plastic wrap with a little olive oil so it doesn’t stick to the dough.)

Overnight method: cover the bowl and let it refrigerate overnight. The dough will rise in the refrigerator and acquire flavor from the slower yeast action. Remove the dough 2 hours before shaping and let stand, covered, in a warm place. The dough will rise for a second time.  Proceed with the shaping instructions.

To shape into loaves: Preheat the oven to 500°F. Oil your pan. Pour the dough in to a large pan or divide it equally between two small pans by loosening the dough with a spatula and the carefully scraping it from the sides of the bowl, keeping the dough as inflated as possible. If you are using two pans, cut the dough off at the edge of the bowl with the spatula as it falls into each pan. The shape that the dough takes as it falls into the pan is fine. Brush the tops of the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt and set aside for about 15 to 20 minutes to rise until doubled.

To bake loaves: place the bread in the preheated oven and reduce the temperature to 400 °F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when you tapped with your finger. Remove loaf from pan a nd cool on a rack. (* I didn’t preheat the oven to 500°. I believe I set the oven at 425° and baked it for 20 minutes. Your oven may vary!)

Herbed Oil for Dipping Bread

Yield: ½ cup

Prep time: 0:05

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ - ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients, except oil, on a deep plate or bowl.
            (* we use about 1/2 tsp. of the herb mix per bowl/plate of oil for dipping)

Pour olive oil over.

Note: Serve with fresh-baked bread for dipping.

(*We also like to add a splash of balsamic vinegar onto the spices and olive oil mixture, delicious!)

Chef Maki's bread and roll recipe

EZ Bread (oven preheat to 175 degrees)

MIX in large bowl:

3 cups wheat flour [11 cups]

1 ½ -2 TBS SAF instant yeast [5 TBS]

1 ½ tsp salt [5 tsp]

ADD and stir thoroughly:

2 ½ cups warm water [9 cups]

3 TBS oil [1/2 cup]

3 TBS honey [1/2 cup]

ADD a little at a time up to:

3 cups white flour [11 cups]                                         

[Fast instructions: Knead 10 – 20 minutes.  Let rise with plastic wrap covering until doubled.  Shape into loaves, place in warm oven 10 minutes.  Turn to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.]

When you can’t stir it anymore, turn dough out onto floured counter.  Add flour as needed while you knead.  Dough should be slightly moist, smooth and elastic when ready (about 10 – 20 minutes of kneading, depending on if you do a large or a small batch of dough).

Place dough back in bowl to rise.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise until double (about 45 minutes).

Punch dough down.  Form into loaves (2 loaves for small batch, 8 for large batch) and place in buttered and floured baking pans.  Put in an oven that has been preheated to about 175 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cover any pans that can’t fit in oven on one shelf with non-fuzzy kitchen towel. 

Turn the oven to 350 degrees and bake until golden.  The first batch could take about 45-50 minutes since the oven needs to heat up.  Consecutive batches, if doing a large batch, should take 30-40 minutes. 

Cool bread on wire rack. Place a kitchen towel over bread.  Eat right away, or store in plastic bread sack or very large zippy bag once the bread has almost cooled.  If the bread is still a tiny bit warm when you put it in the bag, it keeps it’s moisture well and doesn’t develop a hard crust.

*The measurements on the right side of the ingredients are for making a very large batch (8 loaves).  The bread freezes very well.  You can make braided loaves, round loaves, rolls, etc. from this dough if desired.

*You can vary the ratio of white to wheat flour in this recipe greatly.  You can do 100% whole wheat, but I recommend using at least a cup of white flour to finish out your kneading since it makes it easier to work with. 

*Also try experimenting with other grains to make a multigrain bread—amaranth, millet, rice, quinoa, barley, rye, etc.

*When forming bread into loaves, smooth dough down and toward the underside of the loaf until it is free of bubbles, lumps and bumps.

*Freeze some loaves for later after they have cooled down.

*Try some of these ideas for fun:

Braid a loaf

Make a braided wreath or heart

Do a round loaf in a pie tin

Bake bread in a #10 can

Use 4 strands woven over/under to make a fisherman’s braid

Decorate a braided loaf with raisins, whisked egg & pearl sugar (from IKEA)

Make cinnamon rolls

Roll 3 small balls, dip in melted butter, place in muffin tin for cloverleaf rolls

Make regular dinner rolls

As you form a loaf, roll dough in butter & sesame seeds

Make extra large rolls for burger buns or subs or sandwiches

Look up more ideas online

Chef Maki’s Rolls (oven preheat to 175 degrees)

½ cup butter

2 cups milk

1 cup warm water

3 beaten eggs

1/2 cup sugar or ¼ cup honey

1 ½ -2 TBS SAF instant yeast

2 tsp salt

4 cups wheat flour (can vary ratio of wheat to white)

4-5 cups white flour

Melt butter in pot over medium heat.  Add butter, heat until warm.  (Stick finger in, should be warm, not hot, not cold.)  Add the beaten eggs, mix well.  Add warm water and honey or sugar, mix well.

In large bowl, mix 4 cups of the wheat flour, salt and yeast.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients.  Stir thoroughly.  Keep adding flour 1 cup at a time until you can’t stir it anymore.

Turn dough out onto floured counter.  Add flour as needed while you knead.  Dough should be slightly moist, smooth and elastic when ready (about 10 minutes of kneading).

Place dough back in bowl to rise.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise until double (about 45 minutes).

Punch dough down.  Form into rolls and place on buttered cookie sheet Put in an oven that has been preheated to about 175 degrees.  Turn the oven to 375 degrees and bake until golden.  The first batch could take about 20 minutes since the oven needs to heat up.  Consecutive batches should take 12-15 minutes. 

This recipe should be enough for two large cookie sheets of rolls or two large loaves of bread. While one cookie sheet is in the oven, cover the other with a non-fuzzy kitchen towel.

If the rolls won’t be eaten right away, cover them with plastic wrap while still a tiny bit warm.

Cranberry-Orange Nut Bread

Cynthia McClure brought this beautiful bread last night cut up in little squares. so good and perfect for the holiday season!

yield: 1 standard-size loaf, or 2 small loaves

Ingredients:

o   2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

o   1/2 teaspoon each: salt, baking powder, baking soda

o   1 cup white sugar

o   1 egg

o   2 tablespoons butter, melted

o   1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

o   2 tablespoons hot water

o   1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

o   1 cup fresh cranberries

o   COOK'S NOTE: I cut each cranberry into fourths then measure them.

o   Zest of one orange (fresh is best)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325˚F.  Grease loaf pan(s) and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar.

Add the next four ingredients all at once; mix by-hand just until ingredients are combined.

Fold in the nuts, cranberries, and zest.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan(s).

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cake-tester inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.

Cool in pan 5 minutes then remove loaf to a cooling rack.  Allow to cool completely.

Slice the bread into an equal number of slices.  Spread half the slices with Orange-Marmalade Cream Cheese and top with the remaining slices to create "sandwiches."

Using a sharp knife, cut each "sandwich" in half.  Transfer to a serving plate.

Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

Orange-Marmalade Cream Cheese Spread

Whip together 8 oz. softened cream cheese and 3 - 4 tablespoons orange-marmalade.  Use immediately.  Refrigerate any leftover.  

breadmaking is the bom biggity

The bread making/pretty presentation RS meeting tonight was great!

Thanks to all that came and brought bread to share and for those of you who brought your mouths

to eat up all those carbs! good stuff

Marika did an awesome job demonstrating the bread making process and letting us get in there and try it out for ourselves. we all came out learning something new.

Jenn, the queen of crafts gave us great ideas of how we can present our baked goods in pretty packaging. 

now we know how to doll up a brown paper lunch bag!

i wish i would've brought my camera to share with those of you that couldn't make it out tonight.

below are the links to the labels you can print off at home and how-to's 

{just click on each one}

wax paper flower

Thanksgiving snack mix and printable

"Give Thanks" printable