Bread Day

 Good morning,

The house smells wonderful today.  

These two loaves are just out of the oven.  They're made with brown sugar and sour cream.  

Oh, so good!

Sorry I can't sent you some through the Internet....

Lois

Note:  My bread recipes, etc., are here on this blog.  Scroll through the Bread posts to find recipes, tips, and tricks.

Thanksgiving Dinner!

 Good morning,

To accommodate all the family schedules, we celebrated Thanksgiving Dinner on Wednesday this year.  Catherine grilled the turkey outside and our friend Bill carved the turkey. 

 Of course, the Lab Testers were doing their jobs!  That pup in the center is Penny, Bill's dog.  She fits right in, doesn't she!

 Catherine made so many wonderful dishes that I didn't get images of all of them.  Above are twice baked sweet potatoes. Ohhh, so good!

Dressing!  Ah, yes, dressing!

I made the dinner rolls.  This year I used heavy cream (since we had it available for other recipes) in place of the sour cream I generally use to make smooth, rich bread.  Yum!

This is my plate.  Not very neat, but it sure was good!  There is green bean casserole on the plate as well as turnips and carrots that didn't get in the other images.  Of course, the cranberry sauce I made the day before.

Thanks to our friend Erica, we had yummy pumpkin pie!

Catherine did the biggest job making this dinner.  But everyone else helped, too.  Thank you to everyone!

Love you all,

Lois

Yummy Lunch on Home Made Bread

 Good morning,

There is nothing like home made bread.  It makes the house smell so wonderful while baking, and eating it, especially while still warm out of the oven, is fantastic.

The bread was still so warm and soft, it was hard to cut.  This corned beef and cheese with mustard sandwich was fabulous.

 If you're interested, I've published many bread recipes here.  

Yum!

Lois

Gravlax Comfort Food

 Good morning,

It was time for comfort food once again so we had Norwegian Gravlax.  

Kjell prepared the gravlax (salmon), I made the bread, and Catherine prepared the sauce and scrambled eggs.  For those who haven't seen these recipes before, they can be found on my blog here.

Enjoy!

Lois

A Family Joint Venture - Gravlax Dinner

 Good morning,

We all contributed to a gravlax dinner that turned out wonderfully.

On the left above you see the gravlax, prepared by Kjell.  Catherine prepared the scrambled eggs on the right and

the gravlax sauce.

And, I made the home made bread.  

We enjoyed our Norwegian gravlax.  If you're interested in the gravlax and sauce recipes, I've published them earlier here on this blog.

Enjoy!

Lois

Joint Venture Gravlax Brunch

 Good morning,

We enjoyed gravlax for brunch yesterday.

This meal was a joint effort with Kjell (the gravlax - raw salmon cured with cognac, sugar, and salt), scrambled eggs and sauce made by Catherine, all served on fresh home made oat bread made by me.

I've published the gravlax  and sauce recipes earlier on this blog here.

 There are many recipes for my bread that can be found the "Bread Making" link in the right column of this blog.

Enjoy!

:),

Lois

Reuben Sans Bread from Mama Evensen's Test Kitchen

 Good morning,

Mama Evensen's test kitchen came up with another winner this week.  Sometimes we just have to wing it!

Both Kjell and I are working on taking off a few pounds so I devised a way for us to have our Reubens anyway.  Well, sort of....

Above is a little sour kraut in a small casserole dish.  I made two of these.

I added a layer of deli sliced corned beef...

I added cheese (couldn't find swiss in the house so used provolone) and popped it into the oven for 20 minutes on 300 F.

...couldn't find any french or thousand island dressing in the house so whipped up some of my own...

When the casserole came out of the oven I added two tablespoons of my special sauce dressing and set it in a cool dish so that we could hold them on our laps and eat them in our recliners.  Retirement is good - we can eat wherever and whenever we want.  ;)

So there!  It was great and a real winner.  We both agreed we'll have this again.

What fun recipes are you devising at your home?

Lois

Another Winner Breakfast Bread

 Good morning,

Here in "Mama Evensen's Test Kitchen" I've been making (way too much for our waistlines) yeast breakfast breads.  See the long list of bread recipes I've published on this blog here.

I made the loaf pictured above with my sour cream egg bread, then after the second rise I flattened the dough, added walnuts and white chocolate chips, then rolled it before placing it in a bread pan.

 After baking, I cooled it on a rack, then prepared cognac/powdered sugar (with three drops of vanilla) frosting and spread it on the top.  That cognac frosting is just spectacular.

The plastic top of the container I used happened to smash the top of the frosting so it's not as pretty as it was when just made, but it sure did taste good!

I think I will need to start getting creative with salads instead - soon!  ;)

Enjoy,

Lois

First Rise

 Good morning,

This is the beautiful first rise on my last batch of bread.  It's in the oven with just the light on to provide enough warmth for the yeast to do its thing.

As soon as I took the picture, I took it out, beat it up again (kneaded it) and put it into pans for a second rise.  As soon as that occurred, it was ready to bake.

If interested, there are many bread recipes with pictures of all steps here on my blog.  Be sure to scan through them by clicking "older posts" at the bottom of each page.

Yum!

:),

Lois

Pretty As A Picture Bread

 Good morning,

It was bread day again yesterday.  The loaves were so pretty when they came out of the oven that I just had to take a picture.

 This one is Sour Cream Egg Bread.  I look at what I have in the fridge to make bread and that's what I use.  I did write down many of my recipes that you'll find under the "bread recipes" link in the right hand column of this blog.

Yum!

Lois

A Lovely Father's Day Weekend

Good morning,

We had a lovely Father's Day weekend.  Kjell was reminded all weekend of the great Dad that he is.  

Saturday night we had a lovely steak dinner prepared by Catherine with that yummy cake in the first picture for dessert.  That cake is a white cake filled with vanilla cheesecake mousse.  Oh, yes, it was good!

Sunday had gravlax for brunch.  We all had a hand in preparation of this meal:  Kjell made the gravlax, I made the bread, and Catherine made the scrambled eggs and gravlax sauce.  The gravlax and sauce recipes are here. 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend with the important men in your life, too.

All the best,
Lois

It's Party Time for the Sour Dough Yeastie Beasties!

Good morning,

Start the music!  It's party time for the Sour Dough Yeastie Beasties!

This is my current jar of sour dough that I just fed and am watching the yeastie beastie party in the jar.  When fed they get all excited, bubble, and dance around.  It smells wonderful.

If you're interested, my full recipe and directions for making sourdough is here:

I have more than 80 posts about bread making and recipes on this blog.  They are sorted for you here if you would like to see them.  Be sure to click "next posts" at the bottom of each page to see them all.

Here a couple of tease pictures from my many bread recipes:  ;)





























Enjoy!

Lois

More Bread

Good morning,

I'm on a bread "kick" again.  It just smells so good baking and tastes so good eating.  ;)

This batch was made with sour cream and onion dip.  Oh, goodness, it is GOOD!

I make these up as I go after looking into the fridge to see what is available that day.  If you look in the right column of my blog, you'll see quite a few posts tagged "bread making."  Scroll through those if you are interested in some of my recipes. 

All the best,
Lois

Fresh Bread Today

Good morning,

There is nothing like the aroma of bread baking.

This is another fresh bread day here.

It was such a hit last time, this is another batch of brown sugar and sour cream bread.

My bread recipes are here on the blog if you'd like to take a look.  Here's the bread making tab.  Help yourself!  Be sure to click "read more posts" at the bottom of each page.  The recipes are scattered through this section going back through 80 or more posts.

Enjoy,
Lois

Blueberry Bread Pudding

Good morning,

A couple of days ago My Honey asked me to make bread pudding.  I reminded him we are both watching the calories and he made some sort of a snorty sound that definitely meant he didn't care.  ;)

So, it was off to the kitchen to make bread pudding.  Of course, we always have plenty of bread.  I didn't find the recipe I used often many years ago so I searched the Internet, found several interesting recipes to get the quantities of milk and eggs to bread, then went wild with the rest.

The image above is the result.

It was (yes, past tense, it's gone) SO good I will definitely make it again soon.  This batch was with blueberries, but I have plans to make it with apples and walnuts, bananas, chocolate....  Ah, yes, the possibilities are endless.

Here's how it looked going into the oven. 

While the bread pudding was in the oven, I made the vanilla sauce with light brown sugar, thus the light brown color.  It was wonderful, too!  *sigh*

OK, we can't afford to eat so many calories very often, but this sure was good!

:),
Lois

Two Large Loaves

Good morning,

I make fresh bread almost every day or two and make enough for four small or two large loaves.  This time I made two large loaves.  Our daughter likes to have the full size loaves for sandwiches.  My Honey and I like it no matter what size and shape it is.  ;)

 This batch is another oat and whole wheat.  It seems to be pretty popular here right now.

Lois

FYI:  Bread recipes are linked in the right side bar.

Home Made Cauliflower Soup and Home Made Bread

Good morning,

One of our favorite meals is home made soup and home made bread.  The house smells wonderful during preparation and eating it is fabulous.  It is comfort food for us. 

I make up most of my recipes as I go along.  Here's how I made this one:

Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:
4 cans chicken broth
2 heads cauliflower, steamed until soft
5 large carrots skinned and steamed until soft
4 pieces of celery, diced
1 or 2 onions - diced
4 T butter
1 T garlic
1 t nutmeg
1 t pepper
1 8 oz. package cream cheese - cubed
4 strips bacon, fried and cut in fork size pieces
2 or 3 chives chopped
shredded sharp cheddar cheese to taste

Brown the onions and celery in the butter and set aside.

Using a hand potato masher, mash the carrots and cauliflower into small pieces. I like the small pieces of the vegetables to give bursts of flavor.  Alternatively, if you like a smooth soup, puree them in a food processor.

Combine chicken broth, browned and steamed vegetables in crock pot.  Add garlic, nutmeg, pepper, bacon, and creamed cheese.

Set crock pot on high for 3 hours.  Serve with chives and shredded cheese.

And, don't forget the fresh bread!

This batch is whole wheat and oat bread.  Check out the right side bar for my bread recipes.

Yum!

Lois

Challah

Good morning,

For My Honey's birthday dinner I made challah bread.  Above it is on the cooling rack on the dining room table.

In the image above the bread had already risen the first time, then kneaded, then braided, then finished the second rise....

I beat one egg and brushed it on the dough before baking.

This is how it looked when I took it out of the oven, before turning it out to the cooling rack (first image.)

I create my own recipes and adjust as necessary for temperature, time of year, and the mood of the dough.  My recipe for this one is:

2 eggs (plus one to brush on dough just before baking)
4 T butter, softened
2 t salt
4 T granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup warm water
5 cups unbleached, sifted flour
4 t bakers yeast

Knead all ingredients, allow to rise until dough doubles (usually 30-40 minutes in an oven with just the light turned on, no heat), punch down, divide into three pieces and work into strips.  Braid the strips and place in large greased oval pan, allow to rise until doubles again, paint with beaten egg, bake 50 minutes at 350 F.

 Enjoy!

 Lois

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Today's Bread

Good morning,

Here's the bread of the day.  This batch is whole wheat with cottage cheese.  I have quite a few of my bread recipes here on my blog.  Click on the image above to see my bread recipes.

I've been asked about the wall tile design in our kitchen.  When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago we selected the fruit basket theme.  These are hand made tiles from a company in Indiana. We're so glad we made the decision to include this artwork.

All the best,
Lois

Chili Night

Good morning,

Last night we had an old standby meal which is especially good when it is cold outside.

This is chili with beans, onions, and cheese served on spaghetti as my Mom used to make. 

I chopped onions...

...boiled spaghetti...

...browned hamburger with onions, drained off the grease, added tomato sauce, beans, chili powder, and, the (not so) secret ingredient, a half teaspoon of cinnamon. 

 We added some shredded cheese and enjoyed a tasty meal.

 I also made a batch of bread.  Above is the the bread as it looked when I put it in the oven (with no heat, just the light on) for the first rise...

 ...then into bread pans for the second rise, then baking.

The funny part is that I took it out and we ate some before I took pictures of the finished product so I'm afraid you're left to your imagination for how that looked.  Oh, wait, I have plenty of pictures of bread.  

 

 Here's one now. ;)

If you're interested, my bread recipes are here.

Enjoy!

What's your favorite cold weather meal?

Lois