Recipes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello sweet ladies,

Sorry it took so long to tell what  I made for our guests. LIFE happens here! I took a large basket (wish I would have taken a pic) and laid a piece of homespun fabric in the inside. I filled  the basket with hotdogs, buns, macaroni salad, chips, condiments, stuff for smores and homemade Challah Bread with fresh tomato salsa and pesto to spread on the top. I used mason jars to put the different things in to make it look......country! I used the new cookbook I showed you a while back called 200 Fast & Easy Artisan Breads No-Knead, One Bowl by Judith Fertig to make the bread. Go Here if you would like to buy it.......it is worth it! I have been wanting to try it out and so I thought with our guests coming it  gave me a good excuse! It was easy and wonderful. Now the only problem was I was thinking of making Ciabatta bread....I was going through the cookbook and I was in to much of a hurry.........looked at the picture of the Challah Bread and made it instead.  It tasted so good it didn't matter that it was a little sweet. Becky and Tracy loved it! So did we! 

Challah Dough

I made mine a little different then the recipe. Here is my version.

6 1/2 c. unbleached flour

2 tbsp. instant yeast

1 cup honey

1 1/2 tbsp. fine sea salt

2 3/4 c. hot water

1/4 c. olive oil

2 farm fresh eggs

Measure flour and put into a large bowl. 

Mix the yeast and salt into the flour. Use a large measuring cup combine hot water, honey and the oil. Add to the mixture the beaten eggs. Pour mixture into flour and stir until it is moist. The recipe said to beat 40 strokes. Dough will be a lumpy sticky mass.

Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp for 2 hours. It has a sponge-like appearance. 

The thing I loved about this recipe is you can use it all that day or split it and keep it up to 3 days in the fridge before baking. 

I poured half the dough onto a well floured counter. Mixed the flour in slowly..... until the dough wasn't sticky. 

Then I placed the round dough on to a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Let it rise again. I baked it after an hour of rising at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until it is done. 

I sliced the bread and again into diagonal pieces. Toasted it in the oven on both sides. I placed the bread into a bowl. I had chopped tomatoes, onions, 1/2 tea garlic powder, sea salt........poured in a little olive oil and a 1/2 tsp. of vinegar. Spooned it into a small mason jar. Made up some basil pesto and put it in another mason jar. Placed it in the basket........they loved it!!!!!!!! 

It was so so good and would make it again.......it worked even thought it wasn't what I thought. 

Well I am running out of time tonight.........sad. I had been given some pears today that really needed to be used today. I was talking to my sister about her apple butter and if I could use the pears instead. I looked up a recipe on the internet and found one on Hey What's for Dinner Mom? It cooks for 48 hours in a crock pot. After it is cooked I will can it. Hope it works. It will make a nice CHRISTmas gift for my kids......love to make homemade jam and jellies every year. 

One more pic........this little fluff hatched today! It is sooooo tiny and pure sweetness! Thought you would like to see!

Praying for all that are in storms way. Just know if you read this......we won't quit praying that the Lord will minister to your needs! 

Hugs, 

Linda