Grandma's Christmas Bread

Nothing says it's Christmas time like Grandma's Christmas Bread! This year we may have been a little last minute; may or may not have finished baking the bread late Christmas Eve. But don't fret my little Christmas elves, it was made just in time for the enjoyment of all on Christmas morning! Waichey's delicious Babka also made an appearance on Christmas morning, along with eggnog, orange juice, plenty of coffee, and of course the teddy bear Christmas plates and the Christmas mugs.

So you may ask yourself: what is this recipe that brings joy to all on Christmas morning and puts that twinkle in Saint Nick's eye (or is that because Mommy was kissing Santa Claus?) Well either way, I will let you in on the little secret:

Christmas Bread 1992
(Remix created by: Mommio and Sarah)
Makes: 2 large braids

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water

10-10 1/2 cups flour (separated)
3 tbsp of instant yeast
4 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp mace
3 tsp anise seed

1/2 box of golden raisins
1 small package of candied lemon peels (optional)
Green and red candied cherries (for decoration)

Directions:
1. Put milk in the microwave and heat til it boils (scalded)
2. Combine heated milk, sugar, salt, butter, and water in a large bowl
3. Add eggs and beat with an electric mixer
4. In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of flour with the yeast, lemon peel, mace, and anise seed
5. Add the small bowl mixture to the milk mixture in the large bowl
6. Beat with the electric mixer until blended
7. Add 5 cups of flour slowly while blending with electric mixer
8. Add the raisins and candied lemon peel
9. Stir in the last 4-4 1/2 cups of flour with a wooden spoon. Add the flour until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and is no longer "sticky"
10. Cover the dough with a towel, and let rest for 10 minutes
11. Divide the dough into two parts, recover one half
12. Knead the other half for 15-20 minutes on a lightly floured surface
13. Put kneaded dough in a greased bowl, cover, and place in a warm place. Let rise until doubled (about 1.5-2 hours)
14. Repeat steps 12 and 13 for the other half of the dough
15. Punch the dough down and divide each half into 3 equal parts
16. Roll each part into 12-15 inch strands
17. Braid loosely, starting at the center and tucking the ends under to seal.
18. Place both braids (consisting of 3 strands each) on a greased cookie sheet to rise until doubled (about 1 hour)
19. Bake in oven at 325 for 25-30 minutes (when you tap the top of the braid it should thump, or sound hollow)
20. Decorate with the candied cherries


The result should look something like this (okay perhaps minus the bowl of lemons):

Enjoy this delicious recipe, and remember starting at 4 pm on Christmas Eve is plenty of time to finish in time for Christmas Day!

Happy New Year 2011

2010 was an exciting year for us, very busy and chock full of new experiences with Aurora. We spent New Years in Grand Marais and enjoyed our visit immensely. My contribution to the New Year's Eve party was an olive oil cake. It turned out delicious, although it wasn't cooked in the correct pan and therefore the presentation wasn't quite what I was hoping. Regardless, it was delicious. Jeff searched for the pine cone decorations in the freezing rain and came back with 4 beautiful ones (although very sticky). The recipe follows:

1 tbsp. butter
3 cups plus 2 tbsp. flour
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1⁄4 tsp. lemon zest
3⁄4 cup quality extra-virgin olive oil
2⁄3 cup milk
3 tbsp. Grand Marnier or other sweet citrus-flavored
liqueur (I used lemon juice)
1 tbsp. baking powder

Bake at 325 F for 40 minutes.

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.