Who Needs Toys?

When Things Go Right in the Kitchen

Don't you just LOVE those days?? Today I tried 4 new recipes- and they ALL ROCKED!!

First, another bread attempt. This time another friend's recipe. I was pleased with the results, but due to a lack of yeast, I had to change the amounts, so I look forward to trying it again. We ate nearly the whole loaf for lunch.

Second, DESSERT! There is a potluck at church tomorrow so I had to get baking. Even though I bought everything at the grocery store yesterday to make a no-bake cheesecake, I didn't feel like making it. Out comes my trusty Canadian Lutheran Ladies Cookbook. I made up Raspberry Dream Bars... With a Twist! It called for a cup of walnuts but I substituted chocolate chips. So good!! I don't think they would be near as dreamy without the chocolate.

Third, what to make for supper? We bought a package of local, organic pork chops to try. We haven't had pork chops in forever, because it is hard to get tasty ones. Anyways, I used the internet to find a recipe this time. Made a few changes because I didn't have the right ingredients, but how can you go wrong with soya sauce, sugar, ketchup and lemon juice? They were delicious. Can't wait to try the marinade on the barbecue.

Fourth, I really really want to succeed at making home-fries. I have a friend who makes amazing ones, but mine are always terrible. But sometimes I just can't give up... Turns out I hadn't tried my Betty Crocker recipe, and she is usually reliable. Anyways, they were amazing! I just love it when a recipe turns out perfect without any tweaking!

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Raspberry Dream Bars - Deanna Version
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Ingredients:

BASE
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4  cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1/2 cup raspberry jam, maybe a little more


TOPPING
1/8 cup butter
2 egg, separated
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix dry base ingredients in large bowl. Cut in butter. Beat egg with milk then add to bowl. Press dough greased 9x13 and bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

2. Spread with Jam.

3. For Topping, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg yolks. Add salt and vanilla. Add chocolate chips. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Spread over jam layer and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
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Bread-Tastic

Before Christmas, I replaced my breadmachine with a stand mixer. Since I never used my breadmachine to actually bake the bread in, it made more sense to me to have a kitchen appliance that did more than just knead bread. Well, I have had SO MUCH trouble trying to get my recipe to work out. I remember that it took me quite awhile to get that recipe right, and now I am back at square one. It won't rise, if it does it sinks, too much flour, too much water... dead yeast?? I don't know. Anyways,  a friend gave me a recipe that works for her, so I thought I would try it out. I was so excited... the yeast bubbled... it rose in the bowl.... I divided it into two regular loaf pans, two small round communion loaves, and a half dozen mini buns with the rest... they rose in the oven for an hour... I pulled them out to preheat the oven, they didn't collapse... I told Jeff my life was amazing... they baked, looked delicious, and then disaster struck:

That's right, I tried to shake it out of the pan and it broke in half! What does this mean? For the record, the other one came out in one piece, but Jacob saw me picking and eating at the broken one so when I wasn't watching he picked chunks off the good loaf to eat.... But WAIT! The disaster isn't over yet. But I have to backtrack again. While the bread was baking I was making soft fajita shells. I did burn one really well, I was busy being excited about my bread rising, so my house was full of smoke already. Anyways, I had put the buns on a wooden cutting board to cool. I looked over and wondered "Why are my buns smoking?" and went back to dealing with my stupid bread. I looked over again and wondered "That is so weird, why are my buns still smoking?" Back to the stupid bread... "Why does it smell like campfire in here???" That's when I realized I had put the wooden cutting board right on top of the just vacated burner. I seriously looked at those smoking buns 3 times before I realized it was the cutting board smoking and not the buns. I was right on time too, because the charred cutting board was just starting to spark.  

In conclusion, I don't know if this was an epic failure or not, because we got one good loaf of bread out of it, but it came pretty close. 

Indian Chapati Bread (Tortillas)
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I triple this recipe and actually prefer it with all white flour, but I use the brown anyways.
Serving Size: 8

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup hot water or as needed

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the olive oil and enough water to make a soft dough that is elastic but not sticky. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth. Divide into 8 parts, or less if you want bigger breads. Roll each piece into a ball.  Let rest for a few minutes.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the balls of dough until very thin like a tortilla. When the pan starts smoking, put a chapati on it. Cook until the underside has brown spots, and top starts to puff up, less than 30 seconds, then flip and cook on the other side. Continue with remaining dough.

It's Raining in the Kitchen!

And the living room... and the basement... That sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. We just made rainmakers today! I wish I had pictures of the boys helping, but I couldn't find the camera and I couldn't leave them alone because they each had a hammer and a pile of nails. HERE is where I found how to make one. Basically we hammered a whole whack-load of various sized nails into a poster-mailing-tube and dumped a bag of dried pinto beans in. Random nails because that is what I had and pinto beans because they were the cheapest at the grocery store. Well, when we finished testing it out, it was so cool, but it was too heavy for Daniel. Well, being me, I grabbed an empty diaper liner roll (the same size as a toilet paper roll, but way thicker) and pounded a bunch of little nails in it and filled it with rice. Fun, right? We sang some Disney songs and rocked it out with our new rainmakers. After the boys went to bed I did this:

I hope they love them even more when they wake up tomorrow!