My youngest is in Melbourne these days on a study abroad program. I love hearing about her cooking and shopping adventures. She texted me that she was going to make Irish soda bread yesterday because she had buttermilk leftover from making this Ranch dressing. Coincidentally I had just made that Ranch dressing the other night…
Breads
Bread is expensive! So making bread is a great way to save money. There are two basic kinds of breads: yeast breads and quick breads.
Yeast Breads
Yeast breads scare some people but don't let them scare you. Typically, you will mix together the dry ingredients, including the yeast, then add the wet ingredients. Yeast and cold don't get along so you want your liquids to be lukewarm. You may or may not knead the bread before setting it somewhere warm to rise. If it's a cold day, turn your oven on low for 1 minute, then turn it off and let the bread rise in oven that's now slightly warm.
Quick Breads
Quick breads use baking soda and/or baking powder to accomplish the rise. They don't need to be kneaded and they are ready to pop in the oven as soon as you mix up the ingredients.
Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
We bought a large pack of fresh blueberries the other day. My daughter loves them plain, in pancakes, with yogurt, etc. I may end up freezing some in the next couple of days but I took the opportunity to make some blueberry muffins. I started with a recipe in Joy of Cooking, and combined the…
Bread Crumbs: How to Make Your Own
The other day we had two families over for dinner. As part of the feast, we had bought a couple of baguettes to serve up with spinach dip. We didn’t eat them all up of course. I ate a few slices toasted with sliced tomatoes for breakfast the next day but baguettes go stale fast! …
Cornbread Baked in an Iron Skillet
We all love cornbread but I don’t seem to make it often somehow. However, I barbecued ribs for Memorial Day and you just have to have cornbread with ribs I think! I tried Mark Bittman’s recipe for Cornbread Baked in an Iron Skillet, which had a heavier corn meal to flour recipe than my old…
Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits
My girls got to go to Florida recently, to help celebrate their grandparents’ 60th anniversary. They went to a Red Lobster restaurant while there and loved the Cheddar Biscuits, among other things. We used to go now and then when they were little but don’t have one nearby anymore. My eldest asked if I…