Valentine's Day Baking



Today I had fun baking edible Valentine's for everyone rather than giving cards or candy.  I made stoneware heart mold sugar cookies decorated with an egg yolk stain.   I've been wanting to try my stoneware cookie molds that we've had for several years and somehow never gotten around to using.  Today I made the time and it sure was an enjoyable way to spend a Valentine's day afternoon.

I only had whole wheat flour on hand and didn't have any vanilla, so I had to make do.  The cookies still turned out tasty, they would probably be better with half unbleached white flour and some vanilla, but they still had a nice flavor.  I put a light coat of oil on the molds and then sprinkled them with flour to help release the dough.  Then with an already slightly rolled out dough, I pressed it in and rolled it with a rolling pin, so the back is flat.  Trim the sides and remove gently by tapping to release and pulling it off.   It comes off easily if the dough is cold enough, you can then paint or leave plain, and place on a greased cookie sheet and bake.  The color I used to paint with is made with 2 egg yolks, a half a teaspoon of water and a few drops of food color.  Cookie molds add so much detail to cookies, they are like artwork.  Next I want to try making chocolate in the molds, and you can use stoneware molds for casting paper as well, I've done it and they turn out beautiful.




While my cookie dough was chilling for 2 hours, I decided I wanted to make something that would use up lots of eggs and milk.  Yesterday I got 14 eggs from the chicken coop and I've been getting a dozen or more everyday.  I found cream puffs filled with chocolate pudding used 8 eggs!  The pudding had 4 yolks and almost 3 cups of milk, and the baked cream puffs used 4 eggs.  When the kids came home from school they each got to have a home made chocolate cream puff and Valentine cookie, what a surprise!.  I made them with whole wheat flour too, and they turned out delicious.  I love to bake for special occasions and the people in my life, this is some of the good things in life to me.  Happy Valentine's Day! 

Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb, also called "the pie plant"  holds the special honor of being the first fruit to ripen in the garden for pie making.  It  does well in the Pacific Northwest, with our wet and mild climate.  My rhubarb plants will produce big, beautiful, bright red stalks all summer long and into the fall.   If I keep them well watered, they'll continue to produce, that's the real secret to keeping your rhubarb going, is water, and sun for nice red stalks.  I've grown rhubarb every year for many years, and have given or traded starts every year too. 

Rhubarb pie is easy to make, just like all fruit pies.  Master and memorize the crust recipe, then all you have to do is cut up and measure fruit and sweetener and bake. 

To make rhubarb pie;

Cut up your rhubarb into 1 inch pieces, the mixture should consist of approx;
4 cups rhubarb
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1/4 c flour
I usually err on the side of less sweetener, but rhubarb definitely needs some sweetener. You could also use honey if you  have it, use about half the amount.  Let the fruit meld with the sugar while you're making the pie crust.  I usually make about 12-16 cups of cut up rhubarb and eyeball the amount I'll need.  You want your fruit mounding a little in the pie plate, not a lot mind you, or you'll have juice spill over the sides.  It's always a good idea to put a cookie sheet under a fruit pie too, just for catching spills in the oven.

Pastry for Crust:
2 cups flour (I make mine with whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold butter
6 to 7 tablespoons cold water
I use a small cuisinart to make my pastry, it is so easy and turns out good every time.  I then make a ball of the dough put it into a plastic bag, flatten it a little with my hand and refrigerate for 10 minutes, after it's chilled, flour your surface, roll it out and place it in the pie plate, fill with fruit and bake in a 375 to 400 degree oven.  Cover the side crusts with foil for the first approx 50 minutes, then remove and bake an additional 30 minutes, check regularly the last 15 to 20 minutes, pull it out when the crust is golden brown.

I like to make a little extra dough, just to make sure I have a nice full crust, and if I have any left over I let the kids make tarts or butter and cinnamon sugar baked treats.  Because my pie plate is a double size, I double the recipe.

my husband took this picture of me heading into the house with an armload of rhubarb for pie making, actually I stopped outside before going in, and cut off the big beautiful leaves.  Wishing I was set up and had time to make some concrete leaves.  That's a project I do later in the year when weeding, digging and planting the seeds are over, usually around late Aug/early Sept.  This time of year rhubarb is for pies, jams and sauces.  For some reason I have found that when I freeze rhubarb I rarely use it.  I will use the rhubarb jam regularly throughout the year on yogurt, toast, and muffins.  So this year my plan is to make lots of rhubarb jam, and not freeze any.  I also gave some rhubarb to my Mom, and she made a strawberry-rhubarb pie for a family get together, and it was delicious.

sourdough french bread

All you really need for great tasting bread is flour, water and salt.  Sourdough starter is made out of flour and water and captures the wild yeast, it gives rise and flavor to the best breads in the world.  The bread I'm making is getting better and better with all the practise I've been getting.  I think my favorite everyday bread so far is sourdough french bread, the added flavor of the sourdough brings out tangy notes, and makes all the difference in a bland bread or a flavorful one.  To make french bread crust taste authentic, brush cold water on just before putting in the oven, also add a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack for the first 10 minutes, then remove.  When the loaves come out of the oven brush them again with cold water.  This is what gives a good french bread crust the texture we all love.

I actually love kneading bread, and pour spirit, soul and song into my loaves as I knead them, I believe this makes all the difference in the heart and soul of good home-made bread... the love it's made with.

Sourdough has it's particulars, like not using metal, stainless steel is said to be fine, but I still use only wooden spoons, and ceramic bowls for all my sourdough.  I also store it in glass quart jars, and keep everything very clean and sanitary with hot water.  You learn to be clean and sanitary when making all ferments, like sauerkraut, kimchee, kombucha, yogurt, and sourdough.  All vessels and spoons should be washed and rinsed in hot water before use.  Most ferments like warmth to get going, and then you can slow down the growth with cool refrigerator temperatures.

In my bread making adventures, I've learned how valuable quick breads like cornbread, muffins, biscuits, scones, and coffee cake can be, they fill the need for bread in a hurry.  You can even use sourdough to make all of these quick breads using the sourdough's natural leavening action, rather than the usual baking soda and baking powder.  All you need for sourdough to work with quick breads is a half hour rise time.  So while it takes an extra half hour, the final quick bread has a much better flavor.

Bread making is something of a ritual, it doesn't take a lot of time, just steps that need to be followed.  The first rule with sourdough is to get a sponge going the night before, then it likes warmth, 85 degrees to rise the dough is very important.  I was rising the bread by the fire, but had to fiddle with the fire so much to keep it at an even temperature, so now I let it rise in the oven, and just warm it lightly every half hour.  I keep the door closed, and check on it frequently.  I do this because we heat solely with a wood stove, so temperatures on my kitchen counters have been too cold for sourdough, and the woodstove is fickle.  I still love the woodstove though, and use it for rising bread, rolls, and setting the sourdough by it at night.

I haven't let my sourdough starter go in to the refrigerator for weeks now, I simply use it almost everyday.  Yesterday morning we had the most delicious sourdough waffles, melt in your mouth, made with eggs still warm from the hens, separated and whipped the egg whites effortlessly because of the freshness. 

Sometimes sourdough bread is variable in the results for different people because of  chlorine in water, iodine in salt, sourdough breads should be made with sea salt, or another non iodized salt, you need the freshest flour.  If sourdough starter is not going strong enough, the dough will not rise, if the temperature is too cold, bread will not rise, and on and on.  It can be finicky, but when you learn the idiosyncrasies of sourdough, and what it needs to be  happy, and you use is regularly.  You will be sold, and never look back.

Did you know sourdough is made from the wild yeasts in the air, made from your environment, from the very air you breath, and the environment of your home?  I believe it makes a biodynamic bread, that is one of the best suited carbohydrate foods to feed our bodies.   Especially with grains milled right before use, I have a grain mill that is manual, and I need to use it more than I do.  The ultimate in healthy bread, is using just  milled grains, I may look into an electric mill to use while we have power, and the manual as a back up.
My favorite sourdough french bread recipe to be coming soon.


Sourdough Golden Honey Bread

A wholesome and delicious everyday bread.

Before you can make this recipe you will need a sourdough starter.  If you still need to make a starter click here to find out how. starter

Put the starter in a bowl, add two cups warm water, and two cups whole wheat flour.  Let stand overnight in a warm place.  Take away one cup of the dough and put it back in the sourdough pot.  To the remainder of the dough add:

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup wild honey

Scald the milk and melt the butter and honey in it.  Cool to lukewarm.  Mix the sugar, salt, and soda.  Blend together the basic dough, the milk mixture, and two cups of flour.  Sprinkle the sugar, salt, and soda mixture on top of the dough and stir gently.  Set dough in a warm place, covered with a cloth, for 30 minutes.  Sift in the remaining two cups of flour until the dough is too stiff to stir with a spoon. 

Turn out on a floured board and start to knead, adding enough wheat flour to keep the dough smooth and firm.  Knead until light and satiny.  Divide in half, either pace in greased bread pan or into round cakes.  Grease the top and set in a warm spot.  Let it double in bulk.

Bake in a moderate 325 degree oven until it sounds hollow when thumped on top, about one hour.  Remove from the oven and turn out to cool.  Butter the top crust.

Artisan Bread

A loaf of Artisan bread I just pulled out of the oven, I made 2 loaves today the first one is already gone.  I have enough dough left to make bread for the next week. This is the easiest no knead bread recipe.   You can make fresh homemade bread everyday and fill your home with the smells of a bakery.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx?page=2

Peanut Butter Cookies

At least once a week I make cookies,  if I get to vote usually I make peanut butter, Tessa likes oatmeal raisin, Kaley likes chocolate chip, Jason and Jarin like all of them.   so last night after we got the tree set up in the stand  I made another batch of  peanut butter cookies.  This is what was left after everyone ate their fill after supper.

Here's the best PB Cookie recipe I've been regularly making them for years.


Peanut Butter Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour ( I usually do half whole wheat)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1 cup sugar ( I usually do half or 3/4)
1 cup extra crunchy peanut butter (any kind)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs. (sometimes if I don't have any peanuts I just add more peanut butter)

Oven 350 degrees. 
1.  Sift flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.
2.  In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy.  Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.  Beat in peanut butter, then egg's, one at a time, then vanilla.  Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture.  Add ground peanuts stir gently until just incorporated.
3.  With 2 tablespoons dough at a time roll into large balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment covered cookie sheet (If I don't have parchment, I just grease a cookie sheet), press dough with back of dinner fork dipped in cold water to make criss cross design.  Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges, 10-12 minutes.

yum, enjoy!