Let's Break Bread...

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.  Luke 22: 17-20

So, one day while I was working at the hospital, a nurse named Liz shared with me that she knows a great and super easy no-knead bread recipe.  Of course, I jumped on the opportunity and have been making this bread ever since.  John and I are members of our local church, Portico (http://www.porticocville.org/), and the thought popped into my head one day to serve by providing the bread for communion.  So Liz, thanks!  You probably don't even know how many people your recipe has impacted!

- 7 cups King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour
- 1 tbs coarse kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tbs instant yeast
- 2 tsp sugar or honey
- 3 cups warm water

Thoroughly combine all dry ingredients in a large glass bowl.  Add water and mix into dry ingredients with rubber spatula until a rough dough forms - you can also use your hands, but this stuff gets sticky!  Turn dough out on to floured surface and knead a little until the dough becomes smooth and not sticky - this should only take a few minutes (I know, this recipe's not completely no-knead).  It's ok to add a little flour or more water as needed to make the dough the right consistency.  Put the dough ball back into the mixing bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in the counter until the dough has tripled in size, about 2-4 hours.

At this point, its up to you.  You can either place the bowl with the risen dough in the refrigerator to use later, or you can proceed to forming the loafs and bake the dough right after the first rise.  If you decide to place the risen dough in the fridge, it lasts for up to a week, and as it ages, it becomes more like sourdough - yum!

So, when you are ready to make some bread, you can use whatever amount of dough you want (just place the remaining amount in the fridge for later...the entire recipe makes 2 very large loafs).  Take the dough ball and form into whatever shape you desire.  I have made just large loafs, or I recently braided some loafs - turned out very pretty!  Place the dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and let rise again covered with more plastic wrap or a towel, for about 1 to 2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 450.  Right before baking, slash the top of the loaf if you want to.  Bake for around 30 minutes, but this will depend on the side of the loaf you are baking.  When the dough is finished baking, it will sound hollow when tapped, and the loaf will have a beautiful darkened brown color. 


I really hope you enjoy this recipe and can bless those around you with some wonderfully smelling, homemade bread.  God bless.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

In my family, the holidays mean big family dinners, tons of food.....and an upset stomach the next day from indulging so much. But I have to say, Thanksgiving and Christmas wouldn't be the same without the homemade pumpkin cheesecake - and my goodness I love pumpkin cheesecake! So, I hope my family's tradition can live on in your family too through this recipe.

Crust
- 1 box of vanilla wafers, crumbled to bread crumb consistency
- 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), melted
- 1/8 cup of sugar

 

For the crust, preheat your oven to 350. Combine crust ingredients and press into 10” springform pan. Put in oven and watch for around 10 minutes, just until the edges start getting a little bit of color and you smell the spices. Take out and reduce temperature to 325 while you prepare the filling.

Filling
- 4 8oz bricks of cream cheese
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tbs maple syrup
- 3 tbs brandy (I use Christian Brothers Brandy - pretty cheap)
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup cooked canned pumpkin (just pumpkin, no pumpkin mix or pie filling)



Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy and light - this may take a few minutes. Add maple syrup, brandy, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend well, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Lastly, add heavy cream and pumpkin. Mix well - there shouldn't be any clumps and don't worry, because you cant over mix the filling.

Pour filling into prepared crust and bake for 45 minutes (at 325). Turn oven off and DON’T OPEN DOOR FOR 1 HR!!! Take out - center may be slightly jiggl-ee, but it will set fine with refrigeration. Edges should only be a little darkened, and don't sweat it if your cake cracked - it happens to the best of us and will be covered with the topping. Turn oven up to 375 for the topping.

Topping
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbs maple syrup
- 1 tbs brandy
- 1/2 cup whole raw almonds, sauted in butter

For the topping, blend the sour cream and all other topping ingredients except almonds. Spread over cake evenly. Put in oven and cook for only 10 minutes. Top shouldn’t look baked or solidified (it hardens up a bit when it cools). Set the cheesecake on the counter and let it come to room temperature itself. Decorate the top with the sauted almonds and then chill for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Hope you enjoy this family recipe and experience the joy of spending the holidays with loved ones.

Lemon-Lime Squares

A rendition of the classic lemon square, these bars have just enough lime in them to really bring new life to an old favorite.  These squares have a thick shortbread crust that is just firm enough to hold the creamy filling and just sweet enough to offset the tartness of the citrus. 

Crust
-1 cup butter, at room temperature
-½ cup granulated sugar
-¼ cup confectioners sugar
-2 cups flour
-1/8 teaspoon kosher salt


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, combine all ingredients until just mixed (dough will get tougher the more you mix it so try to handle it as little as possible -  it’s ok if there are chunks of butter the size of peas).  Use the wrappers for the sticks of butter to grease a 9x13 pan.  Press crumbly dough into the pan to form the shortbread crust.

 
Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Filling
-6 extra-large eggs
-3 cups granulated sugar
-¼ cup lemon juice
-¾ cup lime juice
-1 cup flour
-confectioners sugar, for dusting

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon and lime juice, and flour until no lumps remain. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set and a slightly darkened "crust" has formed on the surface. Let cool to room temperature (this is important or the confectioners sugar will melt into a globby mess!) - expedite the process by placing in the fridge or freezer.

Once cooled, dust with confectioners sugar. Pucker up and enjoy!

Hummingbird Cake

So this is a great recipe I got from one of my favorite cook books.  After a few tweaks, I found this cake to be very similar to carrot cake - just without the carrot!  The combination of nuts, banana, and pineapple blends beautifully with the thick cream cheese frosting.  Hope you enjoy!

Cake

- 2 ¼ cup flour

- 1 ¼ cup sugar

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 cup vegetable oil, plus some to grease pans with

- 3 eggs

- 1 cup chopped pecans, plus some to decorate

- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

- 4 oz canned crushed pineapple, plus 4 tbsp juice from the can

Frosting

- 1 package/brick cream cheese

- 4 tbsp butter

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 3 ½ cups confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use some oil to lightly grease two 9-inch layer cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper. 

 

Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda into a large bowl.  Add eggs, oil, pecans, mashed bananas, pineapple, and pineapple juice.  Mix just till combined. 

Divide batter into both pans.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm to touch and golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temp (you can put them in the fridge or freezer on a rack if you are in a rush).

To make the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth.  Add confectioner’s sugar and beat until creamy and spreadable.  If the frosting is too firm, add milk by tbsp until desired consistency is obtained.

Frost the cooled cakes with the cream cheese frosting, spreading more chopped pecans over top to decorate.

Enjoy!

Apple Crumble Bars

Here's a twist on a traditional concept for those of you who love apple pie, but want to shake it up a bit.  By cooking the apples on the stove prior to baking, they take on a very nice caramel flavor. 


Dough
-1 cup butter (2 sticks)
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-3 cup flour

-For dough, combine all dough ingredients until it has a crumbly texture, divide dough in two and press half of it into a greased 9x13 pan (or whatever you have around that size) and set the other half aside. 

Filling
-9ish apples, pink lady or granny smith work well
-1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
-1 cup brown sugar
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tbs cinnamon (or however much you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel, core and cut apples into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.  Combine apples slices with other filling ingredients in a pot over medium heat on the stove (may seem like a lot of apples at first, but they reduce down quite a bit).  On medium heat, mix apples and sauce until some of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce becomes caramel-ly (although still somewhat liquid-y) and apples cook through, about 20 minutes.
 


Pour apple mixture into prepared pan with the pressed dough and spread evenly.  Take remaining dough and spread over the apples (if you take hand-fulls of the dough and squeeze it in your hand, you can form larger "chucks" to place on the apples...just a suggestion for a more crumbly top).  Bake for about 40 minutes until it's bubbling throughout and has turned golden brown on top.

Serve with  some vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!