GRANDMA’S FRENCH ONION SOUP

VANILLA PUDDING

SUPER EASY VEGAN SALAD

PEACH MUFFINS

GRANDMA’S FRENCH DRESSING

GRANDMA’S HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

LIGHTSIDE

BACK TO COOKING SCHOOL

FOOD INFORMATION

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

GRANDMA’S FRENCH ONION SOUP3 tablespoons………………….(45 ml)…………………………butter2 cups………………………………………(500 ml)………………………thin sliced onion4 ½ cups…………………………………(1125 ml)……………………bouillonSalt and pepper to tasteWorcestershire sauce to taste2 teaspoons……………………….(10 ml)…………………………sugarFrench breadParmesan cheese or other finely grated cheeseheat butter, add onions, simmer about 10 minutes or until soft and lightly brown. Add bouillon, bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes.Season to taste with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add sugar.Pour soup into individual soup dishes.  On top of each, float a sliceOf sautéed French bread and sprinkle with grated cheese.  Put in oven350 F, (175 C), until cheese is melted.YIELD: 6 servings.TIME: 60 minutes.VANILLA PUDDING1 cup, 2 tbsp. …………………………….(280 ml)……………………pudding mix2 cups………………………………………………………(500 ml)……………………water2 tablespoons……………………………………(30 ml)………………………butter or margarine1-teaspoon……………………………………………(5 ml)…………………………vanillaCombine pudding mix and water in saucepan.  Bring to boil, turnStove down and boil gently for 2-3 minutes.  Stir constantly.  Remove from heat, add margarine and vanilla. Stir.  Let stand for 15 minutes, stir again and chill.YIELD: 4 servings.

Super Easy Vegan Pasta Salad

2 cups whole wheat pasta, cooked & cooled

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cucumber, chopped

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Mix together the sugar, ketchup, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Pour the dressing over the pasta and veggies, and stir well.

Peach Muffins

1 ¾ cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

4 teaspoons oil

2 eggs, beaten lightly

¾ cup peeled peaches

Bake at 400 F., 15-20 minutes.

GRANDMA’S FRENCH DRESSING1 teaspoon …………(5 ml)…………sugar2 teaspoons………..(10 ml)………..salt½ teaspoon………..(2.5 ml)…………pepper½ teaspoon ……….(2.5 ml)…………paprika1 ½  cup……………(375 ml)……….salad oil½ cup………………(125 ml)……….vinegar1 clove of garlic (if desired)Put sugar, salt, pepper and paprika in jar.  Add oil, vinegar andgarlic.  Shake well.  When dressing is thoroughly blended, pourover salad.YIELD:  approximately 2 cups (500 ml)CALORIES: 92 per tablespoon (15 ml)TIME: 10 minutes.GRANDMA’S HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE1 egg yolk½ teaspoon …………(2.5 ml) …………salt½ teaspoon…………(2.5 ml)………….dry mustard¼ teaspoon …………(1.25 ml)…………paprikadash cayenne2 tablespoons ……..(30 ml)……………vinegar1 cup ……………….(250 ml)…………..salad oilPut egg yolk and seasoning in bowl and mix well.  Add 1 tablespoon(15.ml) vinegar and beat well.  Gradually beat in oil until ¼ cup of mixture is used.  Then add 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) at a time.  As mixture thickens add remaining vinegar.  If oil is added to quickly, mayonnaise will curdle.  To fix this add 1 more egg yolk and continue.Store mayonnaise in covered jar and refrigerate.YIELD: approximately 1 ¼ cup (310 ml).CALORIES: 104 per tablespoon (15 ml).Time: 15 minutes

LIGHTSIDE

A Sure Cure

An older lady came out screaming after being told by the young Doctor she was pregnant.  The head doctor of the clinic stopped her and asked her what the problem was. She tells him and he gets her to settle down in a chair, and then rushes over to the young doctor that she came from.

“What’s the matter with you, telling a 80 year old lady she is pregnant” he asks the young Doctor.

The Doctor kept writing the prescription he was filling out, and without looking up at his superior, asked, “Does she still have the hiccups?”

BACK TO COOKING SCHOOL.TENDER CUTS of meat can be cooked by dry heat, as in broiling, pan-broiling, or roasting.TOUGH CUTS can only be made tender by moist heat, as in pot-roasting and Stewing.Our main object is to prevent shrinkage in so far as possible, and produce a tender, juicy, tasty product. In roasting, searing does little to help keep in juices, less shrinkage results at a lower temperature for a longer time (300 F). Searing however makes the meat look attractive and the outside layers taste better.An uncovered pan with a rack in the bottom gives the best results in roasting.  Cooking time varies with preference.For rare meat, 16 minutes per pound.For medium meat, 22 minutes per pound.For well done meat, 30 minutes per pound.Add salt during or after cooking, not before.  The salt flavour does not penetrate more then 1 inch. If the meat does not reach the desired colour during roasting, increase the heat to (500 F) for a few minutes before removing from the pan.Methods of searing is subjecting the meat to a high temperature until it is nicely browned.By Browning in an uncovered pan in a hot oven (450 F-500F).By Browning in hot fat in a frying pan on the surface burner.By Adding boiling water and cooking at boiling temperature until the outside of the meat has lost its red colour.Reasons For Cooking MeatTo develop flavour.To soften the connective tissue when present in large quantity.To kill any living organisms that may be present

FOOD INFORMATION.

How safe is our food supply?

Increasingly, the corporations that supply us with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients. As a result, not just red meat and poultry, is now a potential carrier of pathogens, government and industry officials concede. As the drive to keep food costs down intensifies, most corporations do not even know who is supplying their ingredients, let alone if those suppliers are screening the items for microbes and other potential dangers.

For information on receiving recalls by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit: www.  inspection.gc.ca

Don’t just guess to tell when meat, poultry and seafood are done.  Instead, use a food thermometer to make sure foods have reached at least the following internal temperatures:

Steaks: 145 degrees F (medium rare)

Ground beef: 160 degrees F

Chicken breasts: 165 degrees F

Whole poultry: 165 degrees F

Pork: 160 degrees F

Fish: 145 degrees F

Officials of Ottawa Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency remind home canners and consumers that home canning and bottling of seafood is popular in Canada, but food safety awareness should be the priority when home canning or when buying home canned products from vendors.

To keep home canned food safe, the Canadian health agencies advise canners remember to:

Use a pressure canner and strictly follow the manufacturer’s instructions for low-acid food canning or bottling. Recipe ingredients, amounts, or jar sizes should not be changed because these can affect times/pressures needed and could result in bacteria remains in the food.

Clean and keep sanitizing hands, all work surfaces, food, utensils, and equipment during all stages of the canning process.

Use home canned product within one year. Once the container has been opened, refrigerate leftovers immediately.

Never eat canned foods if the closure or seal has been broken, or if the container is swollen or leaking. If in doubt, throw it out.

The Memorial Day weekend is coming up. It marks the unofficial start of summer. Many will celebrate with a cook out or picnic, two things that can lead to food borne illnesses.

Food safety experts say hand washing and cooking food thoroughly can help prevent those illnesses.

Never use the same plate to carry both raw and cooked food.

And that burger-flipping spatula? Same principal applies: Don’t use the same one to drop the burgers on the grill and then retrieve them once cooked.

Most people believe that when meat turns brown, it’s done.  In fact, one out of four burgers turn brown before it reaches 160 degrees.  Use a cooking thermometer.

IF IT’S STEAK, MAKE SURE IT’S WELL SEARED

Cooking steak is not the same as cooking ground beef. Bacteria like to congregate on the surface and edges of steak. So be sure to sear it to kill toxins.

BAR MIXES

If you have teenagers, or in fact any adult, impress on them the risks of driving while intoxicated. Statistics demonstrate drunk drivers cause many fatal road accidents.

It should be known that like any other drug, addiction is a potential hazard.  Excess of alcohol will affect organs such as the brain, heart, and liver.

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINK

LEMONADE FRUIT

2 teaspoons bar sugar

Juice of one lemon

1 ounce raspberry syrup

Stir together in a 12 –ounce chimney glass.  Fill glass with shaved ice.  Fill glass with water.  Stir.  Decorate with an orange slice, lemon slice, and a cherry.  Serve with straws.

Tea Punch 3 cups brewed strong black tea 1 quart orange juice 1 cup lime or lemon juice 2 cups raspberry syrup 1 cup crushed pineapple Bar sugar to taste 2 quarts club soda Pour all ingredients except soda over a large block of ice in a punch bowl. Stir well. Let it chill. At serving time, add chilled soda.

Choco-chip cookies are a much-loved treat and making them is really something that you should take the time to learn. These cookies are either crunchy, soft or etc.

Making these soft choco-chip cookies might seem a very hard challenge but I assure you it isn’t. Just take note of a couple of steps in making your cookie batter.

Normally an easy & good choco-chip cookie recipe would be the standard ones placed at the back portion of those choco chip packages. For your dough, just be sure to thoroughly mix the butter and sugars using your electric hand-held/ordinary mixer until dough is quite fluffy. Watch out for lumps of sugar & butter then be sure that they are already gone before adding in your vanilla and eggs.

These first few steps are crucial to getting those soft cookies. Don’t beat your batter together with eggs otherwise they might not become airy & fluffly. Just incorporate all ingredients until they are mixed together. Be careful not to overbeat your dough.

Next, into another bowl, combine salt, baking soda & flour together then mix them using your spoon then sift afterwards. If recipe requires flour (sifted) then be sure to sift your flour. After sifting, you stat adding in flour mix to your wet recipe ingredients until everything is incorporated well & add your choco chips.

Place your dough inside the refrigerator for around 2 hrs or better if overnight. When baking, preheat yor oven first before actual baking process. Roll out dough in 2-inch round shapes then place them 2-inches away from each other on your greased baking/cookie sheet. Be sure your sheet isn’t warm when you arrange your cookies onto it. You could even place it inside your fridge prior to baking.

Then, bake your cookies as per directions until they appear light golden and browned. But make sure cookies aren’t darkly browned or they might be crunchy and a bit hard. Be careful when cooking so you will get those lovely soft cookies and not the hard & crunchy ones. Take note of the steps above and for sure you will get those soft chewy cookies.

Enjoy!

I haven’t always made bread. It is a comparatively recent development. Making jam was the first breakthrough into self-sufficiency, then came the day when our local supplier of rye bread, who made a loaf that (miracle of miracles), all the children would eat, decided to switch recipes and use caraway in it…instant rejection by the whole family.

We’d stopped the wheat bread to try and help my son’s allergies and found it helped most of us, so apart from the occasional indulgence of fluffy white bread, I wanted to stay off it. There was no alternative; I would have to take the leap into bread making. The main reason that I’d resisted was that it seemed to take so long. First the mixing and kneading, then the rising, then knocking down and forming loaves, a second rising and finally the baking. Who could keep track of all that in the chaotic life of a three-child family?

So eventually I take the plunge, turn to my friend Nigel (Slater, not namedropping but he and Nigella (Lawson) are ever-present in my kitchen, in book format of course) and find a foolproof recipe for a white loaf, simpler to start off with white I think. Well the first try produced a reasonable, if huge, loaf, and though my son still remembers that it was a bit doughy in the middle. Second try, I got two pretty perfect loaves and I was on a roll.

Now to find a recipe for rye bread. It seems that 100% rye is usually made by the sour dough method and I couldn’t see my family going for that, so settle for a half and half rye/whole-wheat recipe… triumph. Ok, my son the food connoisseur complained it was a bit too sweet, so next time round I reduced the amount of honey, but this recipe has been our staple diet ever since, and I am now truly ensconced in my kitchen, looking at the view, every other day, while I Endeavour to keep the supply level with the ever increasing demand.

Any way, finally to the recipe:

500g rye flour

450g whole-wheat flour plus more for kneading

50g plain flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 10g sachet of instant yeast

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons oil

670 ml milk

125 ml water

Warm the milk to lukewarm. Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and put in the yeast, then honey, then oil, pour on the warmed milk and water and mix. When it gets doughy turn out on to a well floured surface (it will be extremely sticky) and knead for 10 minutes. You will need to keep adding flour as you knead. It is better for it to be too sticky than too dry – you can always add more flour, but too dry will make a dry, hard loaf. After 10 minutes, put it back into the bowl with a plastic bag over it and leave in a warmish place for two hours or so. Then knock down, firmly pressing out the air, but not over kneading, then form into two or three loaves on a baking sheet, cover again and leave to rise for another hour. Then bake for 30 minutes at 190C until they sound hollow when you tap on the bottom of the loaf. Cool on a wire rack

So how do I keep track of the bread making, in between school runs, mealtimes and the rest? Well I don’t always. There are times when I optimistically start the bread off, leave it to rise and four hours later remember about it, knock it down, forget to switch on the oven so it has had an extra day or so in rising time by the time it gets cooked. It does seem to be very forgiving though – whatever you do to it, you do generally get bread out at the end, it may not always be the perfect loaf, but then variety is the spice of life after all. There was one time it hadn’t quite finished cooking by the time I had to do the school run, so I asked my husband to take it out in ten minutes….. By the time I got back we had a very useful weapon against intruders. We didn’t eat that one…I think it was ryvita for lunch…!

Choco-chip cookies are a much-loved treat and making them is really something that you should take the time to learn. These cookies are either crunchy, soft or etc.

Making these soft choco-chip cookies might seem a very hard challenge but I assure you it isn’t. Just take note of a couple of steps in making your cookie batter.

Normally an easy & good choco-chip cookie recipe would be the standard ones placed at the back portion of those choco chip packages. For your dough, just be sure to thoroughly mix the butter and sugars using your electric hand-held/ordinary mixer until dough is quite fluffy. Watch out for lumps of sugar & butter then be sure that they are already gone before adding in your vanilla and eggs.

These first few steps are crucial to getting those soft cookies. Don’t beat your batter together with eggs otherwise they might not become airy & fluffly. Just incorporate all ingredients until they are mixed together. Be careful not to overbeat your dough.

Next, into another bowl, combine salt, baking soda & flour together then mix them using your spoon then sift afterwards. If recipe requires flour (sifted) then be sure to sift your flour. After sifting, you stat adding in flour mix to your wet recipe ingredients until everything is incorporated well & add your choco chips.

Place your dough inside the refrigerator for around 2 hrs or better if overnight. When baking, preheat yor oven first before actual baking process. Roll out dough in 2-inch round shapes then place them 2-inches away from each other on your greased baking/cookie sheet. Be sure your sheet isn’t warm when you arrange your cookies onto it. You could even place it inside your fridge prior to baking.

Then, bake your cookies as per directions until they appear light golden and browned. But make sure cookies aren’t darkly browned or they might be crunchy and a bit hard. Be careful when cooking so you will get those lovely soft cookies and not the hard & crunchy ones. Take note of the steps above and for sure you will get those soft chewy cookies.

Enjoy!

1.If you want to make light yet crunchy cookies, you need to combine the ingredients using an automatic mixer. However, when you want thicker cookies you need to mix your dough manually. Remember not to over beat or mix or beat the mixture or dough because it can result to hard and thick cookies.

2.When the cookie recipe needs butter by all means put this ingredient in. But if in case you don’t have butter, margarine and shortening are acceptable replacements.

3.Usually cookies that are made using shortening are thick while cookies which use margarine and butter are flat but they are flavorful and tastier. When you want to create thick and flavorful cookies then use 50 percent light margarine/ butter and 50 percent of shortening.

4.In order not to overcook the cookie mixture, try to find and use a pan that does not stick and reduce your oven temp. by around 25 deg.

5.If you use the regular baking tray for the cookies, place a ply of parchment sheet first before baking. The parchment sheet is going to prevent cookies from sticking to the tray which makes cleaning easier.

6.If you intend to bake several trays of tasty cookies, see to it that you use a minimum of two or more baking trays to prevent dough from spreading. You need to keep in mind that placing your dough or cookie mixture onto hot surfaces can result to flat and unappealing cookies.

7.When you are ready to bake, see to it that you put the cookies within the center of your oven to allow equal heat distribution. A common practice in preparing cookies is providing 2-inch allowance on every side of your baking tray from the surface of your oven.

8.Be patient in baking your dough or cookies. Bake or put each baking tray inside your oven one at a time. When you put 2 baking pans simultaneously, the cookies or you dough mixture might not be properly baked. Some might be overcooked while some can be half-baked.

9.When placing the scoops of dough onto the baking tray, allow a minimum of one to 2-inch space between each cookie as well as at the sides of your baking tray. This provides equal distribution of heat which results to even baking of your great tasting cookies.

10.If you worry about making equal sizes of your dough or cookies, you may use a scoop just like the one you use in scooping your ice cream to measure the mixture or dough. Using an ice cream scooper allows cookies to have equal sizes. These tips are recommended by experienced bakers so they are proven useful in preparing and baking perfectly yummy cookies. Have fun!

Baking or making cookies is easy to do but when you want to achieve better tasting cookies you need to follow these simple tips and tricks that have been tried and tested to achieve yummier results.

1.If you want to make light yet crunchy cookies, you need to combine the ingredients using an automatic mixer. However, when you want thicker cookies you need to mix your dough manually. Remember not to over beat or mix or beat the mixture or dough because it can result to hard and thick cookies.

2.When the cookie recipe needs butter by all means put this ingredient in. But if in case you don’t have butter, margarine and shortening are acceptable replacements.

3.Usually cookies that are made using shortening are thick while cookies which use margarine and butter are flat but they are flavorful and tastier. When you want to create thick and flavorful cookies then use 50 percent light margarine/ butter and 50 percent of shortening.

4.In order not to overcook the cookie mixture, try to find and use a pan that does not stick and reduce your oven temp. by around 25 deg..

5.If you use the regular baking tray for the cookies, place a ply of parchment sheet first before baking. The parchment sheet is going to prevent cookies from sticking to the tray which makes cleaning easier.

6.If you intend to bake several trays of tasty cookies, see to it that you use a minimum of two or more baking trays to prevent dough from spreading. You need to keep in mind that placing your dough or cookie mixture onto hot surfaces can result to flat and unappealing cookies.

7.When you are ready to bake, see to it that you put the cookies within the center of your oven to allow equal heat distribution. A common practice in preparing cookies is providing 2-inch allowance on every side of your baking tray from the surface of your oven.

8.Be patient in baking your dough or cookies. Bake or put each baking tray inside your oven one at a time. When you put 2 baking pans simultaneously, the cookies or you dough mixture might not be properly baked. Some might be overcooked while some can be half-baked.

9.When placing the scoops of dough onto the baking tray, allow a minimum of one to 2-inch space between each cookie as well as at the sides of your baking tray. This provides equal distribution of heat which results to even baking of your great tasting cookies.

10.If you worry about making equal sizes of your dough or cookies, you may use a scoop just like the one you use in scooping your ice cream to measure the mixture or dough. Using an ice cream scooper allows cookies to have equal sizes.

These tips are recommended by experienced bakers so they are proven useful in preparing and baking perfectly yummy cookies. Have fun!

The cookie history was traced during the seventh Century in Persia. But during the 1800′s, cookie recipes started to get published on cook books. However, the name used was small or tiny cakes. The name cookies actually came from this Dutch term: koekje/koekie which denotes small or tiny cakes.

During the first part of 1900s until today, recipes for making cookies vary in flavors and styles. These little bites of sweetness are usual goodies baked inside one’s kitchen, and it is assessed that 50% of the entire homemade cookies were choco-chips.

However, there are numerous tasty cookie flavors which have not yet been tested or baked at homes. Cookie recipes on cook books are categorized according to their manner of preparation and cooking. The five cookie recipe categories are as follow:

1. Drop Cookies: This is one of the usual categories of home-baked and yummy cookies. It is prepared and baked by pressing and dropping the dough or cookie mixture from your spoon down to the parchment or wax paper. This type is actually easy to bake. You just combine all the ingredients, scoop, drop and cook. The famous examples are peanut spread , choc-chip cookies and oatmeal cookies.

2. Cookie Bars, Squares/Pan Cookies: These are probably the simplest and the easiest cookie recipe. You surely can make it without dropping a sweat. The cookie mixture is placed inside a container or mold and then sliced in small sizes right after cooking. Brownies fall in this category even if it’s a batter cookie and it has many variations.

3. No-Bake Cookies: This category does not need any oven. It is one of the best ways to familiarize children to baking. Among the known samples of this type are krispies, coconut-date balls, peanut spread/butter squares/bars and rum rounds or balls.

4. Shaped Cookies: This cookie category is usually designed and molded by hands. Shortbreads and spritz cookies are samples of shaped cookies.

5. Ice Box/Refrigerator Cookies: This cookie is done by freezing or chilling the batter/cookie mixture before cutting and cooking/baking them. Some books classify this as the slice-and-bake cookies. Just keep small logs of your desired cookie mixtures inside the freezer or fridge, and then cut prior to baking and best eaten fresh out from your oven. This is good especially when you suddenly have cookie cravings.

Everybody in your family or even your friends will appreciate your effort regardless of the category that you would like to bake. Baking your own homemade cookies will always an extra special treat.

It’s the perfect bread to partner with soups such as chili, cioppino and clam chowder, as well as most seafood dishes. But the thing is, you could make your individual version of sourdough bread right inside your very own kitchen. It’s not as hard as it sounds. You’ll only need two ingredients, flour & water. Unbleached bread flour is recommended for starting bakers but you also try using flours made of whole-wheat & rye. You could also use organically grown flour if you want.

You’ll also be needing a clear glass jar big enough to hold in all the mixture. Here are the directions to creating your very own sourdough starter:

First Day: Cleanse jar thoroughly. Put 1 c of your choice flour & 1 c of water into your jar then stir the mixture. Use a plastic or wooden spoon for this. Don’t attempt using your metal spoon. Find any damp clean towel then use this to cover your jar. Store jar in any warm place. Ideal temperature is somewhere around 70 – 80 deg. Fahrenheit.

Second Day: All you need to do is to take care that your jar is still securely in its place. Bubbles may appear inside your jar, but don’t worry about this.

Third Day: Open your jar & observe that there might be a bit of a sour smell. Don’t be alarmed. This is normal. Now throw away 1/2 of your mixture. Add 1/2 c of lukewarm water and 1/2 c of the flour to your mixture then stir it well. Next, cover your container again then return it to its original location.

Fourth to Seventh Day: Do the third step in Days 4 to 7. Throw away 1/2 of your mixture and add fresh water and flour to your jar again.

By the seventh day, the container should be already filled with bubbles. The expansion in its volume indicates that your starter can now be used. You could now use this mixture for baking your very own sourdough bread, or store it for future use

To get you started, you need the following materials:

One big bowl that can fit 32 cups of mixture

One big airtight container w/ seal

Two pieces of freezer/Ziploc bags, in big gallon sizes

Food dehydrator

Food processor/blender

You’ll also need spices to create your very own crumbs.

Be sure to stock up on the following:

Garlic powder/salt

Basil Green onions (dried), chopped

Oregano Black pepper

Parsley Seasoned salt Dill Rosemary

You could actually add any spice you want. Some really good flavors you could make include lemon-sage crumbs, Parmesan-Oregano crumbs, Almond and Garam Masala crumbs and Coconut-Lime crumbs. Use your freezer/Ziploc bags to keep all the bread leftovers you can get. Fill them up and put them inside your refrigerator. After getting 2 bags full of leftover bread, then you can proceed to producing your crumbs. Take the bags out from the refrigerator and let them thaw in room temp. for about 2 hrs.

Then open the bags & put your leftovers inside the food dehydrator. Slice the big pcs. into small ones so you’ll not have trouble fitting them inside the dehydrator. Set unit at low temperature and let bread pieces become dry completely (6 to 8 hrs). To avoid waiting, you can do this step the night prior so that next morning after waking up the crumbs will already be dehydrated completely. Take the bread from out of the dehydrator then put them inside the food processor.

Blend or chop the bread pieces. Make sure that all bread pieces turn into very fine crumbs before turning off your food processor. Now add the herbs and spices to the processor. You can add 1 tbsp of each for just the right amount of seasoning. Cover food processor again and blend the mixture. Mix these for about 30 seconds. After that, store the fine crumbs inside an airtight container and keep them where it is cool and dry. Use these homemade crumbs as coatings for chicken, fish, meatballs and meatloaf.

Ingredients:

1 package of active dry yeast

2.5 – 3 c of flour (all-purpose)

1/4 c of water (warm)

1 tsp of salt

1/2 c of milk; warmed

2 tbsps of sugar

1/4 c of butter-flavored Shortening (Crisco brand)

1 egg

How to Cook:

1. Combine water and yeast inside a big bowl. Add in 1.5 c of flour, milk, salt, sugar, shortening and egg to this mixture. Beat using your electric mixer at low settings for about 3 mins. Stir in remainder of your flour for a softer dough.

2. Get a board and sprinkle it with enough flour. Put your dough on it and knead for about five minutes. Make sure that dough becomes smooth & elastic enough. While kneading your dough, continue adding flour onto your board from time to time so that it will make your kneading easier. Shape your dough into 1 big ball and put it inside a greased glass bowl. Turn your dough over and cover it using any clean towel. Let dough double in its size (1 hr.).

3. Take your dough from the bowl, punch it down then form in any shape you like. If you’re planning to prepare dinner rolls, then don’t knead your dough. If you’re just making your basic bread loaf: Shape your dough accordingly and place inside a greased loaf pan measuring 9X5X3. Cover the pan & let dough double in its size. Bake inside your oven at about 375 deg. F until it becomes light brown (30-45 mins).

This produces one loaf. If you’re making herbed cheese bread: On top of your ingredients for basic bread dough, you need to add one to two teaspoons of dill weed or basil (dried) & 1.5 cup of grated cheese (Cheddar). Mix these ingredients into your dough, knead & shape to a circular shape. Next, place dough inside a 1-qt. round, well-greased casserole deep dish. Then, turn your dough over and make an X mark at the very middle of your dough’s top portion using your knife. Cover dough then allow it to rise just until it doubles its size.

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees and bake the dough for 40 – 45 mins. If you’re making dinner rolls: Slice dough equally into 20 pieces then knead into small balls. Next, place dough pieces inside a greased 13X9X2 loaf pan and cover using any clean towel. When your dough is already double its size, bake inside your preheated oven, at around 400 deg. F. Put Crisco on top of your rolls before placing it inside the oven. Keep rolls inside your oven so as to keep them warm for about 7-10 mins before serving

Let me tell you that there is nothing like smelling the succulent aroma of good bread you actually baked yourself. Admittedly, it takes lots of practice before you’d be able to produce the perfect loaf of bread. On your first few baking ventures, you will end up with loaves so hard that you can’t eat them anymore. Trial & error is something that you would need to go through when trying to create your very own homemade bread. Also, you must also learn baking the traditional way, even if your kitchen is stocked with all the modern tools that you would need.

For instance, you should learn kneading your dough with your hands and not rely on electric mixers every time. If you really want to get into baking, you should know some basic stuff, like flour and yeast. There are lots of these flour types available in today’s market, but the very best one that you should use still is your basic bread flour. Its high gluten content produces great results when it comes to taste and texture. Use bread flour on your first few attempts when you’re baking. When you’re already getting the hang of it, that’s when you’re ready to experiment using other types of flour during baking, you could use whole-wheat flour for healthier variety of breads. Yeast is really a very fickle baking ingredient.

This organism likes sugar and warmed water. Water that is very cold or very hot will end up killing your yeast. So in order to control yeast, you’ll need to put in salt into your baking mixture. Without salt, your yeast will get out of control then eat up everything. Starters are very important for novice bakers. This is especially true if you want to make good sourdough breads. The taste and texture of sourdough bread relies heavily on yeast quality. This is why sourdough bread in San Francisco tastes better than those made in other places. The reason behind it is that the natural yeast present in San Francisco’s air is really ideal for making sourdough. Weather also plays a considerable part in producing quality bread. It basically dictates the amount of flour that you’ll need. Dry weather means that you should use lesser amounts of flour and humid conditions require additional flour