Showing posts with label Homemade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homemade. Show all posts

Sunday, February 5

bread baking

Lately, I've been determined to eat really good bread. You might be thinking, duh, aren't we all? Yes, we all should be eating good bread but most likely your not. Have you checked whats in your all natural loaf recently? Things like Monoglycerides- huh?, Datem- what's that?, Calcium Propionate- hmm? None of my recipes call for that stuff so that's way I've been baking my own bread. I will admit, it's totally time consuming and you definitely got to plan around it. But oh my gosh, is it delicious and worth it! If you don't have time to do it yourself, please try to avoid breads with too many ingredients and ingredients you cant say. 
Here are a few of the beauties I've been baking! All of the recipes use yeast, flour (white or whole wheat), sugar or honey, butter or oil, water and/or milk, salt and maybe eggs- those I can trust! Aren't they pretty?!









40/60 Bread- Whole Wheat and White Flour Rolls...




 ..and Loaf





Honey Cornmeal






Winter Oatmeal








Challah 

Thursday, June 23

Chocolate Truffles




My beauties!
Homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate, Hazelnut Cream and Cinnamon Orange Truffles... to die for.

Thursday, June 9

Strawberry Balsamic Thyme Jam


My oldest sister is an excellent and adventurous canner! She'll make delicious and in my opinion flawless jams, juices pickles and preserves in her kitchen while my three adorable nieces run all over the house. I call that talent!

Yesterday we made two batches of Strawberry Balsamic Thyme Jam (here's the recipe). Sounds funky but trust me, its amazing! It has much more depth than ordinary strawberry jam. Hints of lemony thyme and the little presence balsamic vinegar make it a gourmet flavor combination. 

I simply enjoyed it with whole wheat toast and goat cheese... yum!



Wednesday, June 1

Cake Decorating Final






I baked a layered Chocolate Cake frosted with American Butter cream and filled with Mixed Berry Jam. The mushrooms on top are made out of fondant and the mushrooms around the cake are made of royal icing.

Saturday, March 19

Homemade Pot Pies


Homemade pot pies totally hit the spot when it's been raining outside all day. And it's extremely satisfying knowing all your hard work paid off when you break through the crust and taste how amazing it is! It was really easy to adapt the recipe to my liking; making a homemade savory crust and taking out the expected shredded chicken. The recipe was definitely time consuming, but totally worth it.

Herbed Parmesan Pie Crust
  • 12 oz. all purpose flour
  • 6 oz. butter, slightly room temperature
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons fresh or dried herbs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 oz. cold water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
Sift the flour and mix in the cheese and herbs. Cut in the butter until no lumps remain. Beat the egg yolk with the water and salt. Then add the water to the flour mixture. Gently mix with a spatula until the water is absorbed evenly. Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment or foil and press it evenly to create 1/4" thick. Then refrigerate until needed.

 Pot Pie Filing (adapted from the Food Network: Emeril Live)
  •  5 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup diced onions
  • 1/2 cup diagonally sliced celery
  • 2 cups roughly chopped cremini mushroom
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups diced potatoes, blanched in boiling salted water
  • 1/2 bouillon cube, plus 3 cups water
  • 2 1/2 cups frozen vegetable medley of carrots, peas, corn and green beans
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of salt and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 to 4 minutes to make a blond roux. Stir in the bouillon cube and water then bring the liquid up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the sauce starts to thicken. Stir in the milk, bring to a simmer, and continue to cook for 4 minutes. Stir in the remaining salt and pepper, potatoes, carrots, peas and green beans. Mix the filling thoroughly and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, if needed. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared ramekins.

With a knife cut out circles of dough big enough to cover the top the of the ramekins. Press the dough evenly around the edges to create a seal. Egg wash the dough. Put the pot pies on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper because they'll most likely boil over. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Bon Apetit!

Saturday, February 19

green tea

Another easy craft to do on this very rainy day. Turn an unused tea cup into a perfect spot for a little succulent!


Friday, February 18

DIY Jewelery Frame

I feel in love with this Jewelry Frame from Urban Outfitters but didn't want to wait for shipping (patience is a virtue that I'm lacking). So I turned that lust into inspiration and decided to make my own!


It ended up being an extremely easy mission to fulfill!  Went to the Goodwill and found a pile of perfect frames. Then went to the hardware store picked some screening and had them cut and fit it to my frame. After that I popped it in and secured the screen with the frame pegs and... VOILA! 


Jewelery Frame that took me less than an hour to make and cost a little under five dollars!