Old Fashion Bread
July 31, 2008
Old Fashion Bread
by: Andrew Krause
This is a bread for bread lovers, it’s a bread similar to what people had made in the old fashion brick oven that was found in most peoples back yard many years ago.
It is a firm bread but with great taste and texture, it is especially good when served hot right from the oven with butter and jam. This recipe makes six loaves but you can break it down to two loaves just by dividing by three.
4 ˝ pounds all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
˝ pound sugar
1 ounce dry yeast
6 cups warm water
In a stainless steel bowl place your yeast and 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 cup warm water and let the yeast work, when the yeast starts to rise you know that it is ok to use and that your bread is going to rise properly.
In a 10 quart mixing bowl place your flour, salt, sugar, oil, yeast you had started and 5 cups warm water. Mix on low speed using a dough hook on your mixer until well blended, then mix on second speed for about four minutes, at this time you should have a nice well textured dough, if the dough seems too dry to you just add a little more water and mix for about one more minute.
Barbera Wine
July 30, 2008
Barbera is a wine grape variety from Monferrato in Piemonte, Italy. Babera produces an intense red wine with deep color, low tannins and high acid and is used in California to provide “backbone” for so-called “jug wines”.
Century-old Barbera vines still exist in many regional vineyards and allow production of long-aging, robust red wines with intense fruit and enhanced tannic content. In Italy the best known varietals made from it is Barbera d’Asti, made in Asti, and Barbera d’Alba, made in Alba, which can produce a high quality wine with some ageing potential.
Probably one of the most underrated grapes in the world, Barbera can be used to make an incredible range of styles, ranging from young and spritzy to powerful and intense wines that need extended cellaring. It is a deep ruby color, full bodied, with low levels of tannins balanced by higher levels of acidity.
Barbera, the ultimate Italian summer red is also known as the perfect pizza wine for many. Barbera’s tooth jarring acidity, high alcohol, low tannin and lush fruit, make Barbera an ideal food wine that will stand up against anything you throw on the barbeque.
6 Steps to Beating Childhood Obesity
July 29, 2008
These days kids would rather spend time on the computer than go outside and kick a ball around or ride their bikes. And with all the junk food advertisements aimed at children by the media, us parents definitely have our jobs cut out for us.
The bottom line is our lifestyles have changed. We don’t walk as much as we used to. We eat pre-packaged or fast foods instead of home cooked meals. And what exercise can compete with video games?
Times have definitely changed but that doesn’t mean we have to completely give up. It’s just a matter of putting some simple measures into place.
Here are some easy tips to ensure your kids develop a life-long healthy lifestyle.
1. Limit your kids television, computer and video games time. This may not be easy at first, but be persistent. Suggest an activity they can do, or better yet go outside with them and join in. Children learn through example, so if you’re all set to go for a bike ride they may just want to join you.
Cheesecake A Most Wonderful Desert
July 28, 2008
Cheesecake A Most Wonderful Desert
by: Andrew Krause
Cheesecake is probably the most wonderful desert for just any occasion, they are so thick, rich and creamy and most enjoyed by everyone, children alike.
The flavors that there are to choose from are sometimes staggering and trying to pick a favorite can be mind boggling, how can anyone just pick one as their favorite?
You can add so many different toppings to them, and you can make a cheesecake from almost any kind of cheese such as Cream cheese, Cottage cheese, Farmers cheese, Ricotta cheese and probably a few more I’m sure.
Cheesecake can be made almost anytime and then frozen or even kept in your refrigerator for a few days and then served at your party.
Some cheesecakes are made to be sweet and then some are made to be not so sweet depending on your taste and the type and grade of the cheese that you are using.
The best way to serve a cheesecake is at room temperature, this way you can enjoy the full flavor of the cake.
About The Author
Cheesecake
July 28, 2008
Cheesecake
by: Andrew Krause
Cheesecake, do you think that cheesecake is hard to make, well if you do then you are wrong, cheesecake is one of the easiest deserts to make as far as I am concerned, it is even easier and less messy than making cookies.
Just go to Yahoo or MSN and type in the search box Free Gourmet Cheesecake Recipes and click search and you will find my site and many recipes for cheesecake such as Chocolate Cheesecake, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake, Individual Vanilla Cheesecake with Lemon Curd, Bailey’s Marbled Cheesecake and these are just a few we also have many recipes in our classic food section, pastry in our baked goods section, and there is also an area on Wedding Cakes.
The wedding cakes that you find there are cakes that I have done and have had time to take photos of.
Do you need something fast for dinner tonight? You know that a lot of quick and easy dishes are made in crock pots, you can start them in the morning and have them ready when you come home from work, crock pot lasagna or ” Golambki” Another Old Time Polish Recipes, and these are just the beginning.
Matcha Crepe
July 27, 2008
Matcha Crepe
by: John Newman
Serves 6
Ingredients
Crępes
1 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg, beaten
13/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
Olive oil spray for coating crępe pan
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Garnish: 12 fresh figs, cut into wedges
6 mint sprigs
Matcha-Cream Filling
1 pint heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 scant tablespoon matcha or green-tea powder
Instructions
Crępes
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl, and make a well in the center. Put egg, milk, olive oil, and vanilla in the well. Using a wooden spoon, gradually combine the dry and wet ingredients. Pour mixture into a blender, and liquefy. Let batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat a nonstick crępe pan over medium-high heat. Spray pan with olive oil. Ladle 1/3 cup batter onto the center of the pan, lift the pan from the heat, and quickly swirl the batter to evenly coat the pan. Return to heat, and when small bubbles begin to form and the edges begin to brown and lift slightly, flip the crępe over using a wood blade or heatproof rubber spatula. After 1 minute, remove the crępe, setting it face down on a plate. Repeat, stacking finished crępes and separating them with wax paper. Set aside to cool. Makes approximately 10 crępes; can be made ahead.
The World of Cornbread
July 26, 2008
We’re partial to cornbread. We like its rustic texture and chewy goodness. We like its versatility-it works for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It complements eggs in the morning, a hearty soup for lunch, or a dinner meal such as pork chops or chicken. Cornbread always reminds us of the South and some of the best is the result of wonderful Southern cooking.
There’s a wonderful world of cornbread to explore. The cornbreads that we have made the most are balanced with equal parts flour and cornmeal to make a lighter bread with a couple eggs to give it structure and hold it together. But cornbread doesn’t have to follow this traditional formula. We often make cornbread that has no flour and is so rich in eggs it’s approaching a soufflé. (Because it has no flour, it is a great choice for those who are gluten intolerant.) One of our favorite cornbreads is on the other end of the spectrum-made in a yeast bread with whole kernel corn.
Cornbread makes a wonderful vehicle for a variety of additions. Try adding ham, bacon bits, or even cheese to your cornbread. One of our favorite additions is drained, whole kernel corn as mentioned previously. Vegetables such as green peppers, onions, or celery work well in cornbread.
Whats So Great About Slow Cooking Anyway?
July 25, 2008
As I walked through the grocery store aisles a few weeks ago, I noticed the increase in prepackaged slow cooker meals. I’ve been using my slow cooker and reaping the rewards for years, so it was no real surprise to me when others started proclaiming the benefits of cooking with a crock pot. Why did it take the rest of the country so long to catch up? With this increase in popularity, I’ve recently been asked by a few ‘newbies’ ‘What’s so great about slow cooking anyway?’
That’s an easy question to answer even if all you’ve ever done is make chicken stew with your slow cooker. It’s just so dang simple and the food tastes better when cooked slowly and evenly in a crock pot.
I’m a work at home mom. I operate a Family Child Care and also have a busy online business, both of which keep me going all day long. That on top of my daughter’s activities and the in and out nature of my husband’s business, we’re usually searching for time to sit down and eat, especially eating together as a family. There’s where the slow cooker comes in handy. I have tons of slow cooker recipes, and can find just about anything to cook that my kids and picky husband will like to eat.
Mock Duck Has Come to Us
July 24, 2008
Mock Duck Has Come to Us
by: Susan Love
My favorite meal is meatloaf because whenever my mother made meatloaf my father would pull out of a drawer a cardboard cut out of a duck’s head and a pair of wings. To the delight of the hungry children - we were 4 - he would announce, “Children, your mother has made us mock duck. Mock duck has come to us” and grin at my mother. I thought that mock was a special type of duck that only my family knew about and that may be my mother caught in the ravine behind the house. It was sort of like Santa Claus, you just wanted to believe.
PS I never actually had real duck until I grew up. I’m not sure that this isn’t better
Mock Duck
1 lb lean ground beef
˝ lb ground pork sausage
˝ lb mild ground chirozo sausage
2 eggs
˝ clove of pressed garlic
1 small minced onion
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
˝ tsp Worchestershire Sauce
Grilling Hamburgers and Sittin’ on an Old Ice Cream Freezer
July 23, 2008
Grilling Hamburgers and Sittin’ on an Old Ice Cream Freezer
by: Steve Melton
Hamburgers, one of my earliest backyard grilling memories. Our Family would get together, usually on the weekends, and have a hamburger and ice cream supper as we say here in Texas. I can fondly remember sitting on top of the old ice cream freezer while my Dad, Uncles and Granddad took turns at spinning the old hand crank attached to the water soaked wooden ice bucket.
Today, the hoodless grill would resemble a throw away variety you would take to the beach, but then we were in tall cotton and in for some delicious eating. The ice cream would be flavored most of the time with a can of crushed pineapple. Or, just maybe, someone would have given us some fresh ripe peaches to mash and toss into the vanilla ice cream mixture.
Cooking out then was a real big treat for the entire family, always with a lot of laughter, running and playing.
Grilling the hamburgers soon became my responsibility, even though I was only about 10 years old at the time. Carefully building the charcoal fire in that old grill we had was a test of my better Boy Scout skills. Once the charcoal was covered in a fine white ash the grilling could begin.
