More May Day preparations

Our May Day feast featured this beautiful loaf of bread, shaped into a braided ring, and made into a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich.

Here's how it came to be:

This was a last minute idea, so we used our bread machine to help expedite matters. We mixed up a batch of dinner roll dough using white whole wheat flour and a recipe that came with our machine.

Then it was time to test out Toucie's skills!

She did her part perfectly. It was me who was challenged when it came time to join the ends to form the ring.

See the messy bit there on the right? Sigh....

Baked it, cooled it, sliced it, spread it with cream cheese, covered it with cucumbers and stacked it all up!

Easy, festive and just right!

December Baking....Solstice Bread

This is our long-loved "sun bread" recipe, reserved for the Winter and Summer Solstices, but we often make extra batches to give as gifts around this time of year. It is originally from the wonderful book (pg. 199), Circle Round, which many of you may recognize :)

Ingredients:

1 packet yeast
1/4c warm water
pinch of sugar
1/2c butter - softened
1/2c brown sugar
1 c  milk (room temperature)
3 eggs (room temperature)
1 TBS grated orange zest
pinch of salt
4 1/2 - 5 1/2 c flour

1) Whisk the pinch of sugar and the yeast into the 1/4 cup of warm water and set it aside to "proof" (foam up and prove that it is frisky!)
2) Cream butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.
3) Add eggs and mix again. Then add milk, zest, yeast mixture and salt and mix again.
4) Add 3 cups of the flour, one at a time, blending in each one.
5) At this point the dough is probably getting too thick for the mixer, so begin adding the remainder of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon (then mixing with your hands) after each addition.

6) Turn the slightly sticky dough out onto a floured surface and begin kneading, adding flour if necessary. Knead until the dough becomes silky, elastic, and smooth under your hands.
5) Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set in a cozy place to rise until doubled.
6) Punch dough down and shape into desired shape (at Solstice we make a large flat disc using all the dough, then use scissors to nip the edges of the disc into sunray shapes...for gift giving, we divide the dough into 3 pieces and make 3 round loaves...sometimes we roll the dough into long ropes and coil them up to make 3 spiral shaped loaves). Lay your loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet and allow to rise again, covered with the damp cloth, for 30 or 45 minutes.

7) In a 350 degree oven (pre-heated, of course!), bake for 30 - 45 minutes, depending on whether you have small loaves or one big one. Allow to cool to room temperature before wrapping for gift-giving. Makes great toast, so make sure to save a loaf for yourself !

November Baking....Doughnuts

So, let me come clean right way...this is actually deep fat frying, not baking at all, but we made the doughnuts on baking day...and, um, they are made from dough. I'm sure my logic is obvious and totally justified :)

Recently, during one of Toucie's visits to the hospital for a chemotherapy treatment, she saw a glossy photo on a magazine cover ...of homemade doughnuts. I flipped through the pages, scribbled down the recipe, and the very next day we were in the kitchen with our pot full of bubbling oil. After all, doughnuts are traditionally an autumn treat, and we are almost out of autumn!

(thanks for the pretty pictures, Mado!)

Here is the recipe we used from Better Homes and Gardens magazine (September 2010):

Ingredients

3 -1/2  cups  all-purpose flour

1  Tbsp.  baking powder

1  tsp.  ground cinnamon

3/4  tsp.  salt

1/2  tsp.  ground nutmeg

1/3  cup  milk

1/2  cup  butter, melted

4    eggs, beaten

2/3  cup  sugar

Vegetable oil for deep-fat frying

Cinnamon-Sugar or sifted powdered sugar

 

Directions

1. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; set aside. In another bowl combine milk and melted butter. In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, and sugar; beat with electric mixer until thick (about 5 minutes). Add milk mixture; stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Add flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cover dough; chill at least 2 hours (dough will remain slightly sticky).

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch round cutter. Use a 1-1/4-inch cutter to cut the hole for the doughnut. (You can also use a standard doughnut cutter.)

3. Fry 2 or 3 doughnuts at a time in deep hot fat (375 degrees F) for 2 to 2-1/2 minutes or until brown, turning halfway through cooking with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and doughnut holes. Makes about 15 doughnuts and doughnut holes

4. Shake warm doughnuts in a bag with Cinnamon-Sugar or powdered sugar. Serve warm (or reheat each doughnut 8 to 10 seconds in microwave on high).

Cinnamon-Sugar: Stir together 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon.

November Baking....Pumpkin Muffins

Even though Halloween is tucked away until the earth turns 'round once more, pumpkins are still featuring large around here! We are still making Pumpkin Pies...they don't last long around here. And a few days ago, we cut a pumpkin in half and used one part to make Pumpkin Soup...the other half, we baked and saved for Pumpkin Muffins - one of our very favorite things to eat!

Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 of a pumpkin, baked and scooped from its shell ( about 2 cups)
1/3 c coconut oil (or melted butter)
2 eggs
1/3 c applesauce
2/3 c raw sugar

1 1/2 c white wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cinnamon

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.
-Stir first 5 ingredients together in a bowl, mixing well and making sure the pumpkin is beaten quite smooth.
-In a separate bowl, blend the last 8 ingredients together.
-Add wet ingredients to dry ones and very gently mix...just enough to bring the ingredients together.
-Spoon into prepared muffin tin and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
-Makes 1 dozen

These are also good with a handful of pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, chopped pecans, etc) thrown in with the dry ingredients...a sneaky dose of protein to go with all that secret vitamin A :)

November Baking....Favorite Cornbread

I tend to gravitate towards themes in our kindergarten "lessons". Since our circletime revolves around the themes of autumn wind, grinding corn, and millers...baking cornbread seemed the natural thing to follow. Some of the fall harvest festivals around our area include old-fashioned, steam-driven corn mill demonstrations. What a thrill to take home cornmeal that was ground before your very own eyes and then turn it into bread!

This is our family's go-to recipe - its adapted from Jeanne Lemlin's book, Vegetarian Pleasures:

Cornbread

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cups flour (we use white whole wheat)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup honey
3 Tbs. melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 if using a glass pan)
-Grease an 8" or 9" iron skillet or an 8x8 baking pan
-In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients
-In a smaller bowl, thoroughly mix together the wet ingredients
-Add wet ingredients to dry ones and stir just until blended
-Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
-Serve immediately (6-8 servings)

Halloween Baking...Pumpkin Pie

Toucie and Daddy went to a pumpkin farm recently. They went on a hayride, puzzled their way through a corn maze, saw an emu (and an emu egg!), picked a pumpkin, and took not one single picture for mama.

The pumpkin that Toucie brought home was adorable and small. She marched it right into the kitchen and announced that she wanted to carve it into a jack-o-lantern, then bake it into a pie. I am happy to assist such decisiveness!

Let's pick up here...post-jackolantern and pre-pie. We cut the pumpkin in half and baked it at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until it was soft.

Toucie scooped the cooled pumpkin out of its shell and into a measuring cup...we were going for 2 cups of pumpkin.

Ingredients:

2 c  cooked pumpkin
2 eggs
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 c raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt

(preheat oven to 425)

She mixed all the ingredients in a bowl and beat well. Then into the pie crust it went. Our pumpkin was not a special "sugar pumpkin" or "pie pumpkin"...it was a run-of-the-mill jackolantern type, so the flesh was not the rich, orange color that we normally associate with a perfect pumpkin pie. (We didn't care!)

The pie goes into a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then we turned the temperature down to 350 for another 40 minutes of baking time.

The MOST delicious pumpkin pie we've ever had. No kidding.
I think it lasted about 11 hours :)

October baking....creme scones

Oh so delicious....I can't say enough about these simple-but-rich scones. Our recipe is a variation of one from the Joy of Baking site, here. This is a recipe that deserves to be framed and hung permanently in the kitchen. Naya and Sodie have called from college requesting it.  I love the way it showcases our lovely, farm-fresh, raw cream. It is absolutely a keeper.

Ingredients:
2 c unbleached flour
1/4 c demerera sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
5 or 6 TBS cold butter
1/2 c heavy cream
1 egg
1tsp vanilla

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (or a fork) until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal or sand.
In a separate small bowl, blend together egg, cream, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients all at once to dry ingredients. Blend VERY gently just until mixture hangs together.

Turn this crumbly "dough" out onto a work surface and pat it into a rough square. Cut into 16 triangles. (See...this gets filed under math...fractions, geometry....)

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 375 for about 16-17 minutes.
Enjoy plain or with jam...they are a great accompaniment to tea. Also, they make an excellent base for strawberry shortcake! Yum!

Michaelmas baking....Dragon Bread!

Baking Dragon Bread might be my favorite Michaelmas activity. We tell a story of St. Michael subduing the dragon and we use the bread ingredients as story props...it is like an edible puppet show! The inspiration for our story comes from the book All Year Round . If all the ingredients are measured and assembled in advance, the telling of the tale goes very smoothly as the dough takes form in the hands.

The story outline (again, this is adapted from All Year Round) begins with a small and prosperous land with lovely hills, valleys, forests,  mountains and happy, hard-working people (sculpt this landscape in the big bowl of flour making a valley in the center).

Then one day a dragon came, foaming and writhing, to lay waste to the land and left it barren (pour the yeasty warm milk in the "valley" and begin stirring to "lay waste" to the landscape)

Darkness came along with freezing ice (throw the salt and sugar down onto the "land") and the people, once happy and so full of light, became unable to work or even smile. (stir and stir to mix the dough).

The angel Michael looked down one day and saw this dark and dismal land and his heart was full of compassion for the people. With one hand he reached for a handful of stars and scattered them on the earth below. (add golden raisins)
 

With the other hand he took gold from the sun and sent it down upon the land as well. (add egg yolk)

The people were warmed by the stars and the sun and they began to work (mix dough with hands).

The farmers ploughed the land again and sowed their seeds (add sunflower seeds, continue mixing) and soon the crops began to grow.

Michael came to the people and told them to be brave and  work hard, to harvest their grain when it was ripe, and to grind it into flour. He told them to knead the flour into dough and bake it into bread, then to share that bread with all...for "each slice that is cut in friendship will warm your hearts and each piece that is eaten will give strength and power to overcome the dragon"  (knead)

The people did as Michael told them and, because of their hard-work and bravery,were blessed with prosperity once again. They sang a blessing as they shared their bread. (knead!)

The blessing we use is:

Earth who gives to us this food,
Sun who makes it ripe and good,
Dear Sun, dear Earth, by you we live -
Many thanks to you we give.
Thank you

Toucie made Michael with her half of the dough...

...I made the Dragon with my bit of dough.

We thought the results were great :)

Yummy, too...Dragon tail, anyone?

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Ingredients:

6 c flour (we used white whole wheat)
2 c warm milk
1 tsp. raw sugar
5 tsp. dry yeast
1/4 c melted butter
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 c raw sugar
1/2 c golden raisins (or more! you could use dried apricots or even cheddar cheese for a savory bread)
1 egg yolk
1/4 c sunflower seeds (or more! also, you can use pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, or sesame)

-Measure the flour into a big mixing bowl. Set this aside.
-Dissolve the teaspoon of sugar and the yeast into the warm milk. When it is frothy, stir the butter in as well. Set this aside.
-Place the sugar and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
-Place the raisins, egg yolk and seeds each in their own small bowl. Set these aside.

-Arrange all the small bowls near the big mixing bowl of flour, light a candle and begin the story.
-At the end of the story, the dough is ready for its first rising...cover it with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour.
-Punch it down, shape it (on a baking sheet) and leave it to rise again (about 30 minutes)
-Bake at 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes to an hour depending on how you divided up the dough (several small loaves or one huge one?) Bread is done when you tap the underside and hear a hollow sound.

Michael defeats the Dragon (yikes! Waldorf action figures??!!)

Early Autumn Baking.....crackers

Crunchy Crackers

In a bowl mix:
1 1/2 c white whole wheat flour (you can also substitute semolina flour for half the flour)
1/2 tsp sea salt

In a measuring cup mix:
scant 1/4 c olive oil
scant 1/2 c warm water

-Blend wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Knead for about 5 minutes (dough will be just barely workable...a tiny bit tacky) and form into a ball.
-Divide into 6 equal pieces. Rub each with olive oil, form into a small ball, and allow to rest 40 minutes (covered with clean cloth)

-Preheat oven to 450 degrees
-Roll each dough piece thin (about 1/8 inch ) and cut into desired cracker shapes

-Lay crackers on floured baking sheet...you can pull the dough out a bit thinner as you transfer them to the pan.

-Poke the crackers with a fork to keep them from puffing up (you could also add toppings here, like parmesan or sesame seeds or cracked pepper)
-Bake for about 10 minutes or so...until golden. (We were able to fit 2 balls-worth of crackers on a baking sheet, so we had to bake in 3 batches.)

-You can enjoy them while they are warm, but they'll be crisper when they are cool. Allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.