Since becoming a mother, I’ve wanted to make Rice Krispies Treats.  It was something I remember my mother doing (vaguely - more of a smell memory of the butter and marshmallows melting).  For whatever reason, I just never got around to it (you know, in almost seven years).  Well, I finally did it!

And I will never do it again.  :)

Fresh bread with butter and preserves

My blog updates have been becoming less and less as the boys are home with me for the summer and despite the 105 degree weather, we’ve been playing, playing, and more playing. In fact, we’ve just come in from playing in the sprinkler and eating popsicles.  Now, we’re all cuddled up and I’m thoroughly enjoying my fresh, clean, watermelon smelling boys (thank you, Suave, for that!).  The budget has been going wonderfully, but I’ve realized after putting a halt to our credit card use how much we’ve been relying on them.  I’ve been watching and listening to Dave Ramsey everyday and while I haven’t really learned anything new, it’s good inspiration slash motivation to become completely debt free.

On a totally random note, Casey, aka Shoulder Cat, has now been renamed Scrufflebutticus by The Man.  Scruffle butt i cus.  Freakin’ hilarious.  Even more hilarious is that it totally fits the little bad attitude dude and it seems to really irritate him when we call him that.  And it’s so dang cute when he’s ignoring us idiot humans giggling and laughing at him… *best coochie-coo voice*

Anyway, back to the bread.  We started our morning off today with a fresh loaf of bread.  Absolutely to die for tasty - so much better than anything you’d buy at the store, even the artisan breads because, well, they’re not hot from the oven, typically. You don’t think making bread is something you can do? Well, it is, and it’s super easy. This is my “quick bread” because I don’t typically do an autolyse or use a preferment.  Professional bread bakers out there will probably cringe at my primitive method here.

American “Italian” Bread (it’s really just like a softer, denser French bread)
3 cups water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 scant tablespoon instant yeast (there are tons of yeasts out there, instant has proven winner in taste tests by Cooks Illustrated)
1 tablespoon salt
7 cups all-purpose flour

In a nutshell, we’re going to knead, rise, knead (lightly), rise, form, rise, and bake. Key to note - less is more as in, less handling after that first kneading equals more and better flavor in your end result.

Mix all of the ingredients together in your stand mixer using the dough hook or spiral. Since we’re using instant yeast (as opposed to active or others), we don’t need to worry about soaking and activating the yeast - just toss it all into your mixer. After all of the flour has been incorporated, up the speed to medium-low (3 or 4) and knead like this for about 15 minutes. At this stage, you really can’t knead it too much, so don’t sweat it if you go a little further. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can do this by hand and get a decent arm workout (bring all ingredients together in a bowl, stir until combined, and knead like crazy until satiny smooth and elastic).

After kneading is done, form into a ball with your hands and place in an oiled bowl. Turn dough ball to coat in oil, cover top of bowl with a towel and let rise until doubled - about an hour. Don’t let it go beyond doubled or you’ll wind up with an odd tasting bread.

Turn dough out onto your counter and gently smoosh flat (don’t be scared of it, but just be aware that less is more). Fold in thirds like a letter and smoosh flat. Turn, fold in thirds, and smoosh flat.  (This is essentially what “punching down the dough” is - but better handling equals better bread)  Form into a ball again and let rise oiled and covered for another hour.

After that, preheat oven to 450, making sure to place an empty pan in the bottom or in a location underneath where your dough will bake (this is for water to create steam), and cut dough into two large loaves or three medium loaves, gently smoosh each portion of dough out flat and roll to make a log shape. If you start to get dried out, mist lightly with water. Pinch the seam shut on bottom and on the ends (tuck your ends under and pinch, too!).

Sprinkle a baking sheet or parchment paper with cornmeal and place your logs of dough on it. If you want sandwich bread, you can form loaves and place the loaf, with seams pinched, into a loaf pan. Let it rise one last time, remembering to lightly oil and cover your dough (spray oil is really handy here). Your oven needs to be well preheated. Not barely preheated, WELL preheated. If you have baking stones, put them in the oven before you preheat. Even a cast iron skillet in the bottom of the oven will help. You want to keep as consistent a temperature as possible. Mist the tops of the loaves with water just before they’re ready to go in and pop them into the oven quickly. Pour about a cup of water into that empty pan (or cast iron skillet!) under your loaves to create steam and shut the door. Let bake until golden brown on top and the internal temperature reaches 190. I like to make three long “French” loaves, and they usually take about 35 minutes to bake.

It’s all really easy, as long as you’ve got in your mind what you’re supposed to do next. Because it takes a while to rise, a kitchen timer is your friend so you can go about your day at home. Remember, knead, rise, knead, rise, form, rise and bake. Last night I made this is a big hurry and omitted the middle knead and rise - it turned out really good, this way, too! Once you’ve accomplished your first loaf, it’s all you’ll want to do!

Okay, I know I’m supposed to be writing about chicken stock but I just can’t muster it when I’m in a baking mood!  I’m not one for cleaning the kitchen just so I can dirty it up again, but these cookies are an exception to that rule.  Even if it’s already bedtime.  Sooo good.  Also, since I really don’t like making cookies (it’s the making and handling of the dough - I’m just not into it), I love to stick cookie dough into a plastic tub to keep in the fridge (or freezer if making way in advance) to be scooped out for single servings.  Makes things super easy.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Macadamia Nuts
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks (I like Bakers)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cream together butter and sugar and add vanilla and eggs.  In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Add to creamed mix gradually.  Once incorporated, add chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts.  A teaspoon size amount of dough should bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Adjust cooking time to your cookie size.

This is one I got from Allrecipes.com.  Super tasty after it’s been chillin’ in the fridge for a while.  In the initial mixing stages, you may feel like it needs more mayo, but don’t add any extra until everything’s coated.  You’ll probably find it’s just right.  ;)

“Holiday” Chicken Salad
4 cups of that chicken meat you picked from the Double Roast Chicken we just made
1 cup mayo
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped celery (this was about 2 large stalks for me)
2 green onions
1/2 cup minced bell pepper (I don’t add this - I like my bell peppers cooked)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon seasoning salt (I just used regular ol’ salt)
black pepper to taste

Mix it all together and chill for at least one hour.  Lovely on a croissant and/or with sliced grapes added to the mix.

Oops…I didn’t have enough dried cranberries!  I made up for it, though… (really, the cranberries do make all the difference, though)

Caponata is the veggie dish for meat lovers and vegetable haters.

I was raised a strong carnivore and the very few “vegetarian dishes” I’d tried lacked in substance.  They were either bland, had an odd texture (and I’m not picky about texture), or were so overwhelmingly horrible in so many categories that I was turned off of vegetable main dishes for the better part of my life.  Sure, I’d eat a veggie side, but without meat, I never felt quite satiated.  Blah.  

Caponata is my first foray out into the “vegetarian” realm and I have to share it with you.  It’s phenomenally substantial and filling.  A meat eater would never even realize that there wasn’t any meat in the meal, the various squash are so filling.  It’s also fun and easy to throw together.  It’s a rustic dish, so nobody’s going to be looking at your chopping skills (or lack thereof).  Just cut everything into roughly 1 inch pieces, toss into a big ol’ dutch oven or casserole dish, mix, cover and bake for an hour.  It’s a throw it in the oven and forget about it dish.  Set your timer and leave it.  No babysitting.  Garnishing it with some romano and fresh basil or rosemary dresses it up a bit and guarantees some ooh and ahhs.

Before you read the recipe and begin to feel overwhelmed by the ingredients, you need to know that this isn’t a set recipe.  It changes every time I make it.  Sometimes it only includes what I have in the house.  Sometimes, if I feel up to it, I go hog wild in the produce section and try a bunch of new things.  This is just a medley of hearty squash, tomatoes, olive oil, some herbs, and whatever else you’re in the mood for.

Caponata

• 1 (14.5-ounce) can of diced tomatoes (just dump the whole thing in, juice and all)
• 2 opo squash, cut into 1 inch rounds (if available, if not, substitute any other similar squash, but really, this is my favorite)
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 summer squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 large Japanese eggplant, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 red onions, peeled and cut into quarters
• 2 big handfuls of fingerling potatoes or 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 head of garlic, cloves broken up and peeled
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or red wine
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon herbs de provence

Chop it all up, add oil and seasoning, and toss to coat well.  Cover and bake at 400F for  an hour.  I usually don’t even preheat the oven.  When done, remove cover and broil to brown slightly.  If more browning is required, brown, stir and brown again.  Or brown with some fresh parmesan sprinkled on top.  Garnish with fresh basil and/or rosemary sprigs.

I use zucchini, summer squash, japanese eggplant, purple eggplant, opo squash (my new favorite)…whatever I can find.  Also try olives, pine nuts, capers, and anchovies for a more “true” caponata.  This dish is so versatile.  If the produce section is missing something, add something else.  I typically make a large pot of this because we love leftovers and if blended with some cream, this makes a phenomenal hot or cold soup.  If you find that you’ve made too much mixture, just throw it in another container or Ziplock baggie and freeze for later use.  If you do this and find that the seasonings need tweaking, it’s easy to defrost and season accordingly the next time around.

The texture of the squash is a wonderfully close substitute for meat and the flavor, well, it just can’t be beat.  I’ve also used this as a “everything but the kitchen sink” veggie roast to clean out the produce that’s about to go bad.  And hey, even my six year olds eat it.  And ask for seconds.