The Smell of Fresh Bread from the Oven--November 18, 2013

     As Roy came in the front door from taking Guayo for a walk, his first words were "I smell bread!  I smelled it before I ever hit the driveway."
     It was true. I had just pulled two loaves out of the oven and the aroma was wafting through the house and down the street. I first caught it when I was outside hanging clothes and went back over to the basket to get more towels. It was sitting near the back door, and the scent was pouring out.

It's a double edged sword for someone who cannot eat wheat...the smell is so delicious it makes you dream of a big slice of crusty hot bread slathered with butter, and then it becomes a complete disappointment when you remember you can't have it. You know, Lactaid has been invented for people with dairy intolerance, why hasn't something been invented for gluten/wheat allergies????
      But even though I can't eat it, Roy loves fresh bread, and it's so much cheaper to make then to buy good bread. Plus you know exactly what's in it when you buy your  flours from the local organic market, Honeyman's, and use pure local honey and maple syrup for sweetener, and add some extra wholesomeness by adding flax seed meal, thus increasing the Omega 3 content and giving it a rich nutty flavor. No preservatives, no transfats, no processed sugar or other ingredients....a trip back to a gentler more delicious time.
     But there was another surprise awaiting him. I had made

some Pumpkin Butter from pumpkin I'd canned from the garden last fall. 
     So here's my recipe for Nana's Whole Wheat Bread. Enjoy them both;  together or put the Pumpkin Butter in empanadas, on muffins, on pancakes, or even on your finger.

NANA'S WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

4 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup flax meal
1 1/2 T. active dry yeast
2 c. warm water
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 t. salt
2 eggs (well beaten)

In a large 4 c. measuring cup, put the warm water. Stir in the yeast and honey. Let sit to proof--if it foams up it's good.  

In a large bowl, mix white and wheat flours together. 

Pour yeast mixture into stand mixer bowl. Add eggs, 3 cups flour, and oil. Mix well. Turn off mixer and add flax meal and 2 more cups flour, and mix well. Add rest of flour as needed until a stiff dough is formed.  

Grease a large bowl. Scrape dough from mixer bowl into greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put into refrigerator over night, or sit on counter until raised to double the volume. 

Punch down dough in bowl, and knead in bowl for a few minutes, adding more flour if necessary, but do not make the dough too dry or stiff. Divide in half and form into two loaves. Put each loaf in a greased loaf pan. Brush top with milk.

Put pans in 425 degree oven, spraying bottom of oven liberally with water and then close the door.  In 15 minutes open the door and spray again with water. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until until golden brown. 

Put on rack to cool for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans, brush tops with butter, and continue cooling on rack until room temperature. (Or better yet, cut off one end, slather it with butter and enjoy it for me!) Once cool, put in plastic bags and refrigerate. 

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN BUTTER

1 qt canned pumpkin chunks (my home canned     
     pumpkin is NOT pureed as too difficult to get the 
     core temperature high enough when canning, so is 
     canned in chunks with water with a pinch of salt 
     and a squeeze of lemon added). 
1/4 c. honey
3/4 c. maple syrup (can be adjusted if you want it 
    sweeter or less sweet, but wait until it has cooked 
     down to taste)
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. lemon juice (fresh squeezed)

Put all ingredients into a sauce pan or slow cooker.  Cook until pumpkin is very soft, then use a potato masher to mash as smooth as possible. Put into blender and blender until completely smooth (let cool before doing this). Put back into pan and cook on low heat until deep in color and has a glossy consistency.  Cool and store in jar with tight lid in the refrigerator.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere--November 3, 2013

Well, Halloween is over, and while I want to keep some of the pumpkins for Thanksgiving decorations and such, I have a vast amount of them this year. I don't carve my pumpkins because I hate wasting them, so I just decorate with them, then figure out what yummy things to make with them.

This year I decided on soup. At least with the portion that wasn't used in making the Roasted Pumpkin Bites from the Kaileena & Bree Bye Bye Party.  So looked at several recipes I had and some in cook books and some on line, and decided to adapt the Spiced Pumpkin Soup receipt from Soup Bowl, a great cookbook with only soups in it. 

Serve with a little salad and absolutely some warm crusty bread (although I had to forego that pleasure due to the gluten, I did make some gluten free croutons from gluten free bread and put them in it and that was pretty darn good!) for a delicious and warming fall meal.

SPICY PUMPKN SOUP

Serves 4

2 T olive oil               

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 T fresh ginger, finely chopped

½ t. Tajin (find in Hispanic markets or  in Hispanc foods section) or cayenne pepper, or paprika

1 bay leaf

4 c. cooked diced pumpkin

2 ½ c. chicken stock (for vegetarian, use vegetable stock)    

1 large pinch lavender pepper

2 T. butter (may be omitted or Olive Oil used in place)

Salt & pepper to taste

½ c. milk, half n half, or cream

¼ c. toasted pumpkin seeds

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and stir for about 4 minutes until softened. Add Tajin, bay leaf, pumpkin, lavender papper, broth and cook an additional 5 minutes stirring so it doesn’t burn.  Add butter and stir in until melted.  Remove from heat and let cool. 

Once cool, pour into food processor and process until completely smooth.  Put back into pan, add milk, salt and pepper (taste to adjust) and bring back to heat. Turn off burner. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of cream or ½ and ½ to top, along with a sprinkle of Tajin or paprika.