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

November activity...homemade bread and pretty packaging

this month we will be learning how to make bread and rolls without using a bread machine or even a kitchen-aid!!! get ready to put in some major elbow grease....

...THEN, we will get ideas of how to wrap our freshly baked breads.....or whatever treats you have planned to give out during the holidays...in pretty papers and ribbons and other items you probably already have lying around the house.

I love Caroline's tips for pretty wrapping. {those are her picture above} you can find them all HERE
my favorite is to Layer  LAYER LAYER!!!


*if you are in the mood to bake and have a favorite quick bread recipe {pumpkin, zucchini, etc.} bring a loaf to share, along with copies of the recipe for everyone to take home

Tuesday, November 16th at 6:30

Calling all my Sista's!!

we need your HELP!!

we have lots of ideas of things we would like to do next year....

but we wanna make sure we have something for everyone!

our goal is to have FuN, build FriENDshIPs,  be InSPIrEd, and SpiRITuaLLy UPliFTeD and "learn the skills to fulfill our responsibilities of womanhood and motherhood in the Lord's plan" . {sister Beck}

we want to do things that you would want to bring your nonmember or less active friends to as well.

so please take a minute and answer our poll on the sidebar!

also, if you have a talent, or hobby or a passion or knowledge on any sort of topic, and would be willing to share with us, please leave a comment below so we can make good use of you!

It could be anything from gardening, how to run a marathon, camping, writing, to how to keep your drawers organized and clutter free! 

we would love to learn from your OCD!!

think about what you love to TalK about or DO in your busy lives. I know we all have something to offer!

*thank you for taking the time to read through my long winded plea to the very end

A blog for us "mama's"

just wanted to quickly share a blog that i am loving at the moment.
it's nice to read a long and know that you're not alone in doing the little tedious things that are so important in raising up our children to have a solid testimony of Jesus Christ.
i don't even know if i'm making sense at the moment. I am sooo exhausted! what a busy HALLOWEENEY week we have had!
anyway CHECK IT OUT HERE.

The craft night was LOADS of fun! thank you to all who came and hung out and brought the delicous food and treats!
i will be seeing you tonight at the Medieval Trunk or Treat.
dressed as someone from the year 2010.

Pre-made Mixes {UPDATE}

the flavor of mixes you will get in your 5 pack are:

chili
            garlic
                      Cajun
                                Indian
                                             & Caribbean spice   
           Any of these mixes could be used to make a dip mix, salad dressing, meat entree or be a shaker for a salad to spice it up, they can also be added to bread right before baking.                                    

make your own cd slipcover

i just remembered this idea on sunday, but forgot to share it with you guys...
so i guess you'll have to do it on your own if you're interested.
A super cute and easy way to present your story on cd. you could even glue it into the favorite book you present with it.

All you need is:

scrapbook paper {get a sturdy kind}

tape

scissors

First cut your paper 5 inches wide and 10 inches long
on one end, cut a little half circle.
just like you see below.

then, all you gotta do is fold it in half.
tape it up on the sides
and wrap it up with some simple twine or ribbon.

such a cinch and festive too!

No one has to know....

that we're cheapskates fantastically frugal when it comes to Christmas gifts.
Come hang out with the girls and learn some tricks from the world of handmade.
                         Tuesday, October 19th at 6:30 pm.

we will make pretty things such as these darlings that sell on etsy anywhere from $6 to $14 a pair!
the price you pay? $3!!

we also have the cutest fabric rosettes that are perfect for hair accessories, pins, and can even be used to add a feminine touch to a necklace or bracelet.
For this we're counting on you fabric hoarders in the ward to donate your scraps.
we're gonna be putting our rosettes on little hair clips that can easily be attached to a headband, or cardigan, or even a bag. i think i may even throw in some bobby pins too...because these are just too cute

just $2 for these little babies!! for 2 bucks you get two clips and up to 4 rosettes!!

We also have stencil art. This craft is addicting...so come prepared. This project will be $2 for TWO small projects (i.e. onesies) or ONE big one (bag or big stencil on a shirt).

print out whatever object or pattern you'd like to stencil if you have something particular in mind...remember to keep it simple, because you'll be cutting it out with an exacto knife. 

for the two below, i googled "cat eye glasses" and "outline of california" and printed off my favorite image.  you can also do letters and numbers in funky fonts too, and don't even need the internet for that!

i will bring my stencils for anyone to use too.

There's also spice mixes 5 for $5. you can mix em up. a great guy gift. nice and easy

(below is  just an example...not quite sure yet how the packaging will look for ours)

record yourself reading a favorite childrens book for the grandkids, or neices and nephews, or even your own kids as a keepsake for them. this will be 75 cents for a disc, or if you have your own blank cd, bring it, and it's FREE.

{don't forget a favorite book}

also, if anyone is interested, there will be someone to teach us how to make little baby hats. the yarn will be provided...all you need are hands.

This is gonna be a really fun night...i'm super excited...and did i mention there'll be food?! always a plus, right!  so even if you're not interested in making anything...come to snack and chat with us anyways.   hope to see you all there!!

                                                                           

                                                                             {pictures taken from etsy OR the internet if not my own}