Babka

Although a traditional Polish Easter bread, Mom always used to bake this bread for us around Christmas-time. Some of my favorite Christmas memories are of eating toasted Babka on Christmas morning. It was a bit of a daunting task, but once I had one batch done the rest seemed easy and fun. The entire apartment smelled delicious the entire day. Lots of butter, cream, golden raisins, lemon rind and a pinch of this and that went into each loaf. Aurora says "baka" and enjoyed helping me as well.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pecan Muffins

Yum Yum Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pecan Muffins.

1 cup canned or fresh pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup canola or veg oil
2 Teaspoons ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour OR unbleached white flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon each: baking soda, cinnamon, salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnut – optional
3 teaspoons raw sugar – optional

Homemade Bread

Mmmmm...the smell of baking bread is one of my favorites. It always makes me smile. That warm, cozy feeling is so friendly and welcoming. The smell of baking bread seems to waft freely throughout the house giving it a very down-to-earth, back to basics feel. I have never been able to bake bread, but my last few attempts have turned out better than any previous ones. I'm not sure what I'm doing differently...but the few times I've been able to make bread and have it turn out well have been while we were living in an apartment. Just after we got married, we lived in a little 1-bed apartment in Perrysburg. I made babka for Christmas that winter and it turned out beautifully. Every bread making attempt after that was in our house in Kansas. A home built in the late 1890s, aesthetically very beautiful and rich with history - however, the old windows and seams were drafty and not baker-friendly. Now that we are in our cozy little apartment here in Toledo, my bread making has once again been successful. I don't want to live in this apartment forever just to be able to bake good bread, but I'll keep practicing and improving while we're here! :)

Fall Dinner

Pork chops, roasted butternut squash and homemade applesauce. I decided to make a fall favorite for dinner tonight. After seasoning with salt and pepper, I seared two pork chops then finished cooking them on medium heat in a frying pan. I also cut up a butternut squash and onions and roasted them at 375 for about 45 minutes. The final dish was homemade applesauce, apples courtesy of Macqueen's Orchard. Aurora, Jeff and I went to pick apples a few weekends ago and I couldn't believe how many we ended up bringing home. I made two batches of applesauce and froze them. It defrosted really well and was delicious.

Boo-tiful Halloween Cookies!

Aurora and I had a fun time making these cookies. They definitely aren't professionally decorated, but we enjoyed trying. I used a rich roll cookie recipe from the Joy of Cooking. I made the dough in the food processor and then chilled it in the fridge overnight. It was a little sticky, so I added lots of flour while rolling.

Blueberries!!

Again, a little late. Aurora, Mom, Dad, Sarah and I headed out to blueberry hill to harvest the mini-blueberry farm...we lucked out and could eat as many as we picked. The blueberries went into pancakes, muffins, crisp and many other recipes!

Summer Cooking - a little late :)

Grilling in Grand Marais...can it get any better? Beautiful chicken and grilled caesar salad on the grill!