Making Honey Whole Wheat Bread

At some point, in my life, I heard or read a quote that went something like this...

"Making bread, by hand, is the sign of a civilized society."

I don't know where or when I read/heard this, 

but for some reason this concept

 has always stayed with me, making a deep impression.

And this weekend, Magda & I made a loaf of honey whole wheat bread.  

We make pizza dough, by hand, actually quite often, 

but there is something about making a loaf of whole wheat bread that feels quite serious.

Its a commitment....a commitment of time, of patience...of energy.  

I think its a wonderful lesson for children and 

I have been wanting to make a loaf with Magda for a long time.

So, this was the weekend...we gathered our ingredients.

And this is what we did...

We let the yeast get foamy in 110 degree water 

for 10 minutes and added honey.

We mixed together the flours: 

whole wheat and bread flour and added salt. 

Making a well in the center of the dry ingredients, 

we carefully added the yeast mixture and stirred until combined.

Got hands ready for kneading by getting them covered with flour.

Floured our work surface.

And kneaded dough, by hand, about 10-15 minutes.

Until our elastic ball formed.

We let our dough rise, covered and in a warm spot, until doubled in size--about 1 1/2 hours.

We then returned the dough to a lightly floured surface, and punched it down.  

Flattening the dough into an oval, we rolled it up lengthwise. 

Placed the roll, seam-side down, into a prepared pan.  

Covered and place the loaf in a warm place, 

and let rise again until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.

We then cut a slit down center of loaf and 

brushed top with a bit of cream mixed with an egg yolk..

Baked in 400 degree oven for 50 minutes. Let it cool slightly.

Removed from pan, sliced...

Added a little butter...

and enjoyed!!

complete recipe from here.

It is very important to me that my kids learn--not only how to make good food, 

but to truly appreciate and respect what they eat.

And it's true: 

making good bread is an art form...

but its really not that hard (or expensive!) and

 if you've ever consider making a loaf but felt intimidated, 

just try it...

You might be surprised at how well it turns out and how civilized you will feel!

: )

Happy New Year Cocktails!

This summer I got into making cocktails (See here and here).  

For Christmas our good friends/neighbors got us this great gift--

The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan.

PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) is a cool bar on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, NYC
that to get to--you have to walk thru a secret telephone booth door
inside a store that sells hot dogs (Crif Dogs)...
kind of like a modern speakeasy but it's NOT illegal;

 they just did it that way to get around not having to obtain an additional liquor license.
(Crif Dogs already had a liquor license...its complicated...)

ANYWAY...

lets just say the PDT Cocktail Book is like the PhD to the child's play of my past efforts.

As I flipped thru the pages, not only had I not heard of half the ingredients, 

I couldn't pronounce them either.   And there were a LOT of egg whites...

But I was not daunted.  I selected three recipes.  

And then I was off to the liquor store...at 3pm on New Year's Eve day...

not the best time to look for obscure liquor 

when 300 people are in line trying to buy champagne...

but somehow I managed.

We invited M&L--who gave us the book and 

C&E--who have bar tending/cocktail drinking experience 

over for a pre-New Year's Eve party cocktail...

The three recipes I chose, oddly enough represented the past, the present & the future.

For the present, we made The Tuxedo 

(not that any of us were wearing a Tuxedo for New Year's Eve, 

but just to be fun and festive...)

Parts gin and fancy cherry liqueur with a dash of orange bitter.  

Did not necessarily blow our socks off, 

but cherry and gin is actually really nice together 

and it was all together drinkable!

For the past, we made Champs Elysees

in honor or C&E who spent their 10th anniversary in Paris in 2011...

This one was described (and I paraphrase)

 going 100 miles an hour with your hair blowing straight back and strong wind in your face...

This drink, just to note, was my personal favorite and had 

Cognac, Green Chartreuse--which isn't cheap! lemon juice and bitters

For the future, we made...

in honor of my husband 

who was going to do a detox diet starting January 1, 2012...

THE MASTER CLEANSE!!

This one DEFINITELY BLEW OUR SOCKS OFF!

It is Apple Brandy, lemon juice, maple syrup and jalapeno slices!!

At the liquor store, I definitely had to improvise, 

because they didn't have a lot of the brands/types of items the book listed.

The biggest swap was this one:  

The recipe called for Apple Brandy...the store had Apple JACK...

The diference: Brandy--more expensive; more intense apple flavor.  

My solution: to add a .5 ounce natural, unfiltered apple cider to boost the apple flavor.  

I think it was a good fix.

You start by adding several ice cubes to your glass to get it nice and cold.

I invested in a good bar jigger by OXO with clearly marked ounce lines;

You pour in all the ingredients and give a good shake....

Then, garnish with two slices of jalapeno...

On New Year's Eve, the Master Cleanse was the first recipe we tried...

I was really nervous as I passed the freshly-made creation to 

a very brave --and very good sport--C...who, 

(as we waited with bated breath...)

declared upon tasting...IT WAS DELICIOUS!!  

Oh! I was so relieved!! So we made another round and another...

It was just the right blend of sweet and tart and the little bit of heat that 

the jalapeno slices give it, is just perfect...all the flavors balances beautifully 

and it really was a taste sensation that I HIGHLY recommend...

Hooray!! 

Happy New Year, Everyone!!  

Hope 2012 a great year filled with lots of

good times with family and friends...

A Very Happy New Year to You & Yours!

Wishing your family a healthy and happy 2012!

Thank you for checking in on us this past year...

Its been great fun and I hope you have enjoyed our time together.

Lots of love,

Quentin

One Week To GO!

And the frenzy was in full force this weekend at our house....

It was a cookie-baking, card-signing, candle-making marathon and I can proudly say-- 

I made it to the finish line!  

(but barely!  : )

The highlight of the weekend:

(besides awesome cocktail party at neighbor's house...
complete with awesome baby-sitter at our house!)

was how wonderfully a couple things turned out...

First, I have to tell you--if you have never made meringues...

RUN OUT RIGHT NOW AND WHIP UP SOME EGG WHITES...

I promise you: it is the easiest thing in the world to make and you will amaze everyone with how elegant and lovely they are...same goes if you have never even had one--YOU MUST TRY ONE-- SOON!  

They are wonderfully delicious (AND! only like 25 calories a pop!)

I have always been totally intimidated by them, 

so--of course, when I saw the cover recipe in Bon Appetit, 

I had no choice: I had to try them.

Peppermint Meringues

Bon Appétit  | December 2011

by Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 12 drops red food coloring

Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt on medium-high speed until white and foamy, about 1 minute. With mixer running, gradually add sugar in 3 additions, beating for 2 minutes between each addition. Beat until firm peaks form, about 2 minutes longer. Add powdered sugar and peppermint extract; beat to blend, about 1 minute.

Dot coloring over surface of meringue; do not stir (the coloring will form swirls when piped). Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" tip. (alternatively, spoon into a plastic freezer bag, then cut 1/2" off 1 corner.) Twist top; pipe 1" rounds onto prepared sheet, spacing 1" apart.

Bake meringues until dry, about 2 1/2 hours. Let cool completely, about 1 hour (meringues will crisp as they cool). DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature between sheets of parchment or waxed paper.

Next up:  Soy Wax Candles

For gifts this year, I made candles from soy wax...it was simple, fun and easy...and considering how expensive candles can be, I will definitely be making more.  

I bought a big bag of soy wax chips from Brambleberry and added a block of color...

once it all melted down, and it was off the heat--I added the essential oils: 

Cranberry Fig to the red and Siberian Pine to the green.

I poured them in water glasses I bought from Ikea.

Totally lovely and (I think...) a nice gift!

 And lastly, for today:

Home-made Chocolate-Caramel Christmas Bark

With roasted almonds and sea salt....

Dark chocolate gets melted and poured onto parchment paper.

Then, once set, milk chocolate does the same...I drizzle the butterscotch over the milk chocolate and

sprinkle with about a cup of roasted almonds and a dash of sea salt.  

I press in the almonds so they stay put...

 It gets broken up into bite-sized pieces and it pretty much never stays around long...

But it makes a great gift, too.

there is something I just cannot refuse about the salty-sweet combo.

just totally love it...

Did I mention the meringues are only 25 calories each??

: )

Ideas for a Home-Made Holiday Mantle

 Christmas is in full-swing at our house.

We got our tree this weekend--so all the boxes of decorations came out too...We were busy!

During the last two weeks, I've also been busy collecting ideas on how to 

decorate our mantle this holiday season...

(or, really, I should say I've been ripping off  the gorgeous propping and photo shoots I have seen in the million of catalogs we seem to get this time of year...)

It started with the Garnett Hill catalog...I fell in love with their (out of stock and kind of pricey) felt tree trio...check them out here.  As soon as I saw them,  a) I LOVED them and b) I knew I could make them...but then I thought...hmmm, I bet someone else out there has made them too.  

And sure enough:  check out the directions I found from Sew Homegrown here.  

I did use the paper mache cones that you can buy at Michael's...Very inexpensive and easy to work with.

Here is an overview of the mantle so far....

Oh! These little cuties are so, so sweet and I want to make a million more...I made these 2 years ago and if you love all things tiny like I do...make a couple...they were not that hard at all.

Directions here.  From Martha...

The houses are paper mache that I bought thru Hobby Lobby's website.  

I think for the three of them (small, med & large) the set was $10.  I painted 

and sprinkled glitter on them...I want to cover the windows and door with tissue

paper, so I can put a battery operated candle in them so they glow, 

but probably won't get around to that anytime soon....

The snow globe was fun to make...Got the idea here.

The topiary needs some fine tuning, i.e. smaller berries...but this was

easy to make.  I got a moss ball at the craft store, put a stick in it and then put

it in a little pot I add, using some floral oasis foam to keep it put.  

I covered the foam with moss.

The little critters are ornaments that I got on sale at Macy's.

It still kind of a work in progress, but my thinking was part village, part forrest with woodland creatures, part whimsey, and part mercury glass...I love mercury glass!!  I need to invest in some good pieces; these here are just cheap knock offs...but for now they do ok....

The Holidays Are Here!

The holidays are here and YIPEE!! I love them so much...I am especially excited because for some odd reason this year, I am WAY ahead of my usual scramble-at-the-last-minute schedule.   Christmas cards ordered: check!  Christmas gifts shopping for cousins and friends: check!  Home-made Christmas gifts for teachers and friends figured out, supplies ordered and ready to roll: triple-check!  

All by December 5...not bad!  

What makes things even nicer is pulling out the holiday crafts I have made in years past...

that are already done!  

Like my LOVELY ADVENT CALENDAR...

that I made for the kids last year.

If you google "home-made advent calendars" (and click images) 

there is gaggle of interesting and fun ideas out there...I looked at  ALOT OF THEM--everything from Land of Nod to the craft blogs...

And in the end, the one I ended up making was one that I designed myself because I wasn't seeing anything that suited me exactly right.  I have one place to put it and that is on the back of the front

door, so it had to be long and skinny...I loved the color scheme of:

Red, Hot Pint, Dark Green, Medium Green and like a lime Green

At Christmas time, Trader Joe's sell chocolate coins (from money around the world)

and the make a perfect little treat for each pocket.

This year, the kids put four in each pocket--just so Greg and I can grab a bite

of chocolate as we are headed out the door....

Did I mention how much I LOVE the holidays...

Here are some shots of the outside of the house.

Josie, The Christmas Dog...all she needs is red bow!