lovely weekend....

Baked a batch of Blueberry Lemon muffins...from my own lovingly perfected recipe. I am kind of picky about muffins... like them rustic looking and with great flavour, so I worked for quite a while 2 years ago to get this one just so..... we love these.










The next day I baked again... this time my little batch of two loaves.... 1/2 whole wheat bread. ..(half and half white and whole wheat flours) I might give a try to a full whole wheat soon, just to see what it turns out like. It may be a bit too dense..but no harm in experimenting. Oh, and talking of experimenting.... just reading my new books about bread baking makes me want to try a different loaf each and every day! I wish I could figure out a way to eat all of that and still stay the same size.... hmmm... a challenge!













I also ate chocolates seeing as it was Easter. Russian chocolates from a friend in Puschino.... mmmmm .....

Tomorrow, back on the treadmill...but.... more baking I think.....cuz I am out of biscotti.... for dipping......... with tea.

OH MY!!!

WOW!! Honestly, I just can't believe it..... this is something huge.

Lewis .... of Table Bread... (who is now in transition whilst moving to Italy) .... sent me these beautiful books in a Pay It Forward that began on a baking blog! Talk about surprised! I wanted to play along and agreed to send a little gift to 3 others... and, of course, had no idea that he was going to be sending me something as amazing as this! Thank you so much Lewis! What a generous soul you are.

Well, now I have absolutely no excuse to be intimidated by any bread in the world. These books are perfect. Lots of great photos... info second to none.... and all I want to do is get busy baking!


















..mmmmm what could be better.... wine, cheese and home made breads!











Festive and fruited breads.... will I have time for something for Easter?..... ooooh, sure hope so!




































I was just wondering the other day about some of these!!

Well, .....whatever else I had planned for today...forget it.

Right now, a cup of tea, some biscotti for "dipping" and a relaxing look through my new books is next on my menu! Thanks again Lewis... tell your wife to look the other way, cuz I am blowing you a big kiss!

Cinny buns....

So, ....I just tried baking my own bread a few weeks ago and have made several batches. The first few loaves didn't last long! But... now...I am over having to eat 4 or 5 slices a day. Well, almost over it.... .... some days it is more difficult than others. But, at least now I do put one loaf in the freezer right away.... and do try to show a little restraint. It ain't easy ya know! Home made bread!!

Anyway, so then I decided to make it worse for myself...and try cinnamon buns next. Why do all the recipes have to make so many? You have to be absolutely ruthless and freeze half the minute they are cool...or give them away to somebody; quick! However,... I do have to say that my first batch looked better than they tasted. I thought they seemed a bit on the dry side even while mixing the dough...but.... baked and iced them anyway...and by the way they disappeared? ...well, they were still okay... not great, but okay. I won't bother posting the actual recipe I used.... yet.... I want to test it again..or try one of the others that I have since downloaded. The ratio of liquid to dry ingredients is a bit different on the one I used... even though it was from my Kitchen Aid mixer book...as was the great bread recipe I used...... but who knows?.....
There could be a misprint...I may have added a bit much flour right off the bat...(we are at elevation here; close to 3500 ft)...and sometimes it changes things...so I will test it a few more times.... then post the recipe that works the best and tastes great.

I wanted to show you what they looked like even if they weren't perfect... because they sure did look great.










This is what I was eating while waiting for the dough to "proof".... read what Wik has to say if you are interested.. {{ Proofing is the general term for allowing a bread to rise while at room temperature after it has been shaped }}.. but there is more... lots of info if you click on proof above.










A quick, simple and nutritious "brekky" ...(on home made bread too! lol)
Smear a tiny bit of butter in a bowl... pour in some egg whites (( I use Simply Egg Whites from Naturegg, because I am trying to cut down cholesterol)) ... then just nuke the bowl for 2 mins. uncovered, while making toast...turn out onto toast and sprinkle with pepper... pretty tasty and very quick. Becel on my toast, cuz I am really trying with the cholesterol part... ..but a teeensy bit of butter in the bowl for a little bit more flavour. The only butter in my day..... well, unless I eat a cinnamon bun.... but I sure don't eat those every day!










The house smelled amazing and they looked wonderful...... !!

Blogger was resisting all efforts...

Well, wouldn't you know it? Here I was all set to publish a post on this blog...finally...and blogger was asleep at the wheel tonight... so I will wait til I can get the pics on. I made some pretty nice looking cinnamon buns today. They were okay for my first go at them...but not as soft and puffy as The Cinnabon...nope. I need to try again. I will either have a bunch of frozen or have to start giving them away...cuz I don't dare start eating these on a regular basis...yikes... plenty of butter, eggs, sugar..... all the good stuff! Okay...all the baddies. Why does it have to be that way?