Sheepherder's Bread

I wanted to share one of my staple recipes with you today. My favorite, tried and true bread recipe. This is the one I make over and over, for sandwiches, toast or sliced thick with butter to pair with a steaming hot bowl of homemade soup or stew.   There is nothing like fresh from the oven home baked bread and wow does it make the house smell g-double o- d good!
This recipe makes four loaves and I always like to bless someone with a loaf whenever I make it.  Last week it was my hairdresser, who was planning on BLT sandwiches for dinner that night - I love when things work out that way!  Wonderboy's music teacher, The Principal's co-workers and several neighbors have been happy recipeints as well.  If you are local let me know if you'd like a loaf and it can most assuredly be arranged ;-)

                                                                                                                                                                             Sheepherder's Bread  

INGREDIENTS                                   
3 cups warm water
1/2 cup oil (olive/safflower/coconut oil or combination - anything goes ;-))
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons yeast
9 cups flour

(I typically use 1/2 unbleached white and 1/2 fresh ground prairie gold wheat)

2 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS
Combine the water, oil, honey, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Stir to dissolve the yeast.  Allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes (sponge) to proof the yeast.  Add 7-8 cups of flour.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead.  Add flour as needed (dough gets very sticky).  Knead for 10 minutes (by hand - if you have a Bosch or other mixture, knead for 8 minutes).  Put dough into a greased bowl to rise.  Cover with a clean towel.  Let rise until double.  Punch dough down.  Let rise until almost double.  Punch down again.  Form into loaves or rolls.  Let rise until double.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tests done. Remove from pans and place on cooling racks, brush crust with melted butter.
*For raisin bread, I add 2 tablespoons cinnamon and 1 cup raisins(soak in warm water and drain and pat dry prior to adding in.
**  I buy the plastic bowl covers ( we call them party hats here) that come in 3 sizes at The Dollar Tree and use these instead of dishtowels - they work great if you put them on the bowl to rise in the oven with the oven light one and then one on each pan after you form into loaves.

This can easily be made into dinner rolls as well.

Yields 4 loaves or 2 loaves and 1 1/2 dozen rolls.

Do you have a stand by favorite bread you make?  Let me know if you try this recipe and how it turns out for you.

Garden Food.....Tomato Corn Salad

The garden has started to produce and the meals we are eating are reflecting the bounty we are enjoying.  Most meals around our house lately include a plate of sliced tomatoes and  cucumbers - so good with a sprinkle of salt or pepper!  Last night I tried a new recipe I had seen on Pinterest for Buttermilk Grilled Chicken and wanted something to go with it.  This Tomato Corn Salad was just the ticket.  I shared some with my neighbor and she called to say she wanted the recipe, that her 14 yr.old grandson was drinking the juice from the bowl!

Tomato Corn Salad

INGREDIENTS

3 good sized tomatoes, chopped

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

1/3 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tabelspoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 cups fresh corn (about 9 ears of corn) - I used frozen

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

Optional - chopped olives, sweet bell/hot peppers or celery to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. In a large skillet, saute corn in oil until tender longer fro fresh, for frozen just until thawed. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in mustard. Add to vegetable mixture; mix well, toss to coat. Refrigerate briefly or serve immediately using a slotted spoon.  Enjoy! 

What's cooking from your garden? Do you have some tried and true favorite 'garden food' recipes?  Please share them in the comments!

Coconut (You Choose) Curry

Do you love curry?  There was a time when curry kind of scared me until a friend made a pot of chicken curry one night while I was fortunate enough to be visiting and I was hooked.  I have tweaked this recipe and made it many times with consistently good results.  An easily flexible recipe - chicken, shrimp, veggies, beef you choose.  This one was chicken, but the shrimp is really our house favorite.

Coconut (You Choose) Curry

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red or yellow onion, finely chopped
1 handful frozen peas
2-3 sweet peppers chopped in largish chunks
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger,  about a 1-inch peeled piece
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1-2 teaspoon curry powder
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can coconut milk, light or regular - I use Chaokoh brand Thai - delish!
2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/4 cup water
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS
If shrimp is your protein of choice a try this simple marinade, toss the shrimp with the 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/8 tsp cayenne and juice from 1 lemon in a resealable large bag or in a bowl. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until rippling and hot. Saute onion, pepper chunks and frozen peas 2-3 minutes. Stir in the pepper, ginger, salt, garlic, coriander, turmeric and curry powder. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture is very fragrant and the onion is soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add undrained tomatoes to the pot and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring often. Add the coconut milk, stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the shrimp and any accumulated juices from the marinade. If using shrimp bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the shrimp are curled, lightly pink and cooked through, about 2-4 minutes. Dissolve arrowroot powder in water stir in to pot and remove from heat to thicken.  Stir in the cilantro. Wonderful served over rice or potatoes or all by itself with some yummy naan bread.

This is one of my favorite recipes in my 'One Pot Wonder' repertoire.  Do you have a favorite go to 'One Pot Wonder'?  I'd love for you to share it.

Bacon Onion Cheese Bread - Oh My!

I recently discovered a new site with an absolute mother load of amazing recipes- enough to make your head swim and just in time for fall baking ! Woo Hoo!! Mennonite Girls Can Cook is loaded with beautiful pictures and a fantastic selection of wonderful recipes. I have tried a few recipes and all have been top notch! This particular one was a last minute addition to dinner last night because it just needed more than what I had planned - one bite and WonderBoy declared it a keeper ;-)
This is the Onion Cheese Supper Bread recipe I started with.....here is what I actually did

Bacon Onion Cheese Round

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 unbleached natural white)
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt (garlic salt)
• 1/4 cup mayo ( light)
• 3/4 milk (1/2 of this was buttermilk)
• 1 egg
• 2 TBS melted butter
• 1 small - medium onion sliced thinly
• splash of olive oil
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 5 slices cooked turkey bacon
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary finely chopped

Directions

1. Cook onion with a little olive oil in your favorite skillet.
2. Mix dry ingredients together and add milk(s) egg and mayo.
3. Mix in cheese and bacon.
4. Place dough in a well greased 9" round pan spread out to even level with back of spoon.
5. Top with sauteed onion, rosemary and a sprinkle or two of seasoning - I used a little "Johnny's Garlic Spread" - go with your mood and what's on hand and by all means feel free to add more cheese on top as well ;-)

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until brown and wonderful around the edges.

This lends itself wells to what's on hand and can easily be played around with to compliment whatever you are serving it with - think olives, thinly sliced tomatoes, parmesan cheese and a pasta dish , or go rustic and think soups and stews - easy peasy and oh so good !!

Not For The Faint of Heart...

Chocolate Gravy!! Oh My!! I have lived for 45 years and never had or heard of Chocolate Gravy.....until yesterday. I don't considered myself to have led a very sheltered life in any way shape or form, but apparently my chocolate education was lacking - was being the operative word - I feel that it is now complete.

We had a lovely breakfast today of biscuits and gravy..... Chocolate Gravy - Oh My!! I cannot possibly keep this gem to myself - I know that there have to be others out there living in Chocolate Gravy Oblivion as I was - be free!!! Get your biscuits in the oven right this minute and a pot of the stove - do not wait, the time of day does not matter. Do it!! Really!! You will thank me........

Chocolate Gravy.....Oh My!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar (I will use a little less next time)

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional - I used it)

1/4 tsp cayenne (optional - did not use)

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBLS butter

Directions

Mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon & cayenne if using together in a sauce pan. Add milk and whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and butter and serve immediately over biscuits, croissants, waffles, thick sliced french toast - the possibilities are wonderful ;-)

Top with chopped pecans, hazelnuts, cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar or anything else that floats your boat.

Oh and by the way, although we did not have any, it was unanimous that strawberries would be a very nice side nibble.

This is destined to be on the 'special breakfast' menu - Birthdays, Valentine's Day, Arbor Day - you get the idea ;-)

Bon Appetit!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Funnel Cake Mommy Points

Summer is all about fun and good childhood memories right? Well in the spirit of summer fun and making good childhood memories I earned a little leverage in the eyes of my 9 year old yesterday when the lunch menu was Funnel Cakes & Watermelon. I had never had Funnel Cake growing up, so sadly my memories are vacant in that regard - it may have made it's way to Canada by now, but it was not "fair food" in my day. I was introduced to it many years back after moving to the South in 1994 and several years ago decided to try my hand at making my own......we love it - and personally I think it is better at home than anywhere - but that may be just me ;-)

Give it a try and earn yourself some easy Mommy Points.........

Funnel Cake

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour ( I use 1/2 unbleached white and 1/2 fresh ground whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup milk (buttermilk is good if you have it)

1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)

oil to fry (I use coconut - yumm)

confectioner's sugar

Directions

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Snip the bottom corner out of a quart size freezer bag and poke cake decorating tip through the hole. Pour batter into bag and seal. Heat oil in cast iron skillet or electric frying pan to 350 degrees. We do ours in a cast iron skillet on the side burner of our grill - this way the house stays smoke free ;-) Pipe batter into pan in squiggly funnel cake style lines and brown 2 minutes per side.

Remove from pan onto paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Dust with confectioners' sugar and enjoy warm.

Odds are pretty good that this will likely earn a few Good Wife Points - it's win win the way I look at it ;-)

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Peach of a Treat ;-)

Peach season is under way here in the sunny south and it never hurts to have one more recipe to help enjoy the season ;-) This recipe calls for canned peaches, but could easily be adapted to the sweet juicy delights that are going to be available in abundance for the next little while - save a little juice and use fresh peaches instead!!

Peaches & Cream Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup self rising flour *see note*

1 small package instant pudding cheesecake or vanilla (I used cheesecake)

3 TBLS butter softened

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 large (28 oz) can sliced peaches drained, reserving 3 TBLS juice for topping

8 oz package cream cheese room temperature

1/2 cup sugar or splenda

1/4 tsp cinnamon mixed with

1/2 tsp sugar/splenda

Instructions

Mix together first 5 ingredients and spread in lightly greased (deep) pie plate or 8" square casserole pan.

Arrange peaches over batter.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and 3 TBLS peach juice for about 2 minutes until smooth.

Spread cream cheese mixture over peaches leaving a 1 inch border.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over cream cheese mixture.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven until edges are golden brown.

Cool, refrigerate and chill before serving.

Not too sweet, reminiscent of cheesecake and oh so good!!

Enjoy ;-)

*note* to substitute all purpose flour in any recipe for self rising flour add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for each cup of flour used.

Learning as I go,

Leisha

These are a few of my favorite things.......

Merry Christmas Eve !! I am up alone this morning - a rare treat ;-) I have a freshly ground cup of Jamaica's finest here beside the tree and just wanted to take a minute to wish you the best of the season.

We are having our family meal today around one-ish so I have plenty to do this morning other than coffee drinking and tree gazing, but there was one thing I promised I would do and I strive to keep my word as much as possible.

A few weeks ago I had dinner with the two original "Mama Leisha Girls" to celebrate Jenny's birthday and to exchange our Christmas gifts. We took a road trip to Nashville in November to start our Christmas shopping and had a little too much fun - who knew trying on hats could be so much fun!! I share this picture only because of the fun factor - it certainly isn't to show off how good I look in a hat !!

Forgive me, I digress, it was during this fun filled adventure that I got the idea of what I wanted to do for my girls for Christmas. We looked at several cute aprons and I thought that would be a great thing to build a gift around - so I came home armed with my plan. I found some cute festive aprons and made some homemade goodies to go with, found some monogrammed recipe cards and I was ready. The night we met we opened our gifts from Hannah first - a cookbook, a monogrammed Christmas ornament, Christmas kitchen towels and....an apron!! How fun - I LOVE aprons !! ;-) Next we opened the gifts from Jenny - decorated with a beautiful rhinestoned monogrammed ornament (hmm...) we opened our boxes at the same time and went into fits of laughter - monogrammed aprons !! Well needless to say when they opened the packages from me we were just plain silly- everyone went home with two new aprons !! The best part of course is knowing that we are like minded and obviously know each other pretty well!! Jenny really went above and beyond in her apron giving by having them embroidered - she told me she wanted me to post a picture on my blog of me in my apron so.......notice the "H" over my shoulder.....hmm. Can I tell you how much I love this apron?? I mean it has polka dots for goodness sake - big ones!! And I have to be honest with you y'all - in the midst of all the girlie giggling - I was choked up - I love my girls so much and this apron really blessed me because I felt the love that was put into giving it. Jenny Pooh I will never put this on with out being reminded of how blessed I am to have your friendship!! It is truly an honor to be your "Mama Leisha" - one I pray that I will enjoy for many years to come!!

So a few of my favorite things......my girls - those mentioned here and those who are not - you know who you are and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH - can't imagine where I would be without each and everyone of you!! Thank you for allowing me to be Mama Leisha in your lives (boots and all). The good looking cake I am holding is our dessert today - Italian Creme Cake - another one of my favorite things. And last but not least aprons - did I mention I love aprons!?! This one has one more feature that you MUST see......

a ruffle.....it has a ruffle - I am pretty sure it doesn't get any better than that !!

On that ruffly note, I bid you adieu and wish you all the very Merriest of Christmases - hug your loved ones and treasure the moments of memory making - count your blessings and you will feel rich regardless of the recession - The King is still on the thrown!!

Thank You Jesus for all you do in our lives and Happy Birthday Eve - I love You like crazy!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Meet Annabelle.........

This is Annabelle - a sheep who lives in West Virginia. I have loved Annabelle from afar since I met her online at Chicken in the Road . This is my very favorite blog - I visit it everyday - some of the best things that are made in my kitchen come from Suzanne's blog.

I made her Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing yesterday and The Principal asked me to make it for a potluck at work in a few weeks - it was that good. SO.....why all the talk about chickens and sheep and cooking ?? Suzanne needs our help......yes......yours and mine. Suzanne is a single mother of 3 who is doing the best she can to live out a simple life in the country (oh....sigh) anyway - she is a writer and her blog is just one way she supports her family - she has entered a contest with SAM-e for a 6 month writing position that will pay well and help her out significantly.

She needs votes - it takes less than 5 seconds...click once to the site and once when you are there and that's it - done !! You can only vote once a day until December 7th -bookmark her till then -(that's 5 seconds a day for the next 10 days - 50 seconds of your time - less than 1 minute!!)Suzanne is currently about 2000 votes away from 1st place. Suzanne's blog is a joy each day - beautiful pictures, great recipes, hilarious stories - you never know what you are going to get, but it's always good - make her a morning stop like I do when you fire up your computer for the day. The Principal and Wonder Boy are on board with me - won't you join us? Help her out would you please......for me??

There are animals that need her and teenage mouths to feed!! There is nothing in this for me (or you) outside of doing something good - that and being grateful for the wonderful amazing recipes she posts!!! The recipes alone are worth the time!!

Visit her and vote for her just because it feels good to do good!!!

You guys are wonderful and I love you ;-)

It's Crackers at Our House

Our dinners lately have been light and easy as it has been getting hot and we have been enjoying what I would call "Summer Buffet Meals" - they are mainly an assortment of goodies - nothing too filling and everyone helps themselves. I made some salmon spread and tabbouleh (with parsley, fresh mint and lemon balm from our garden...yum!!!) this week and we had watermelon, strawberries, olives, hoop cheese from a trip to Tennessee's Amish area recently and assorted veggies with homemade Ranch Dip. Add in some pita bread and tortilla chips and you have a feast fit for any appetite. Last night I still had plenty of tabbouleh and salmon spread and I had some twice baked potatoes in the freezer that I made a big batch of a few weeks ago but I had no more pita bread and was not in the mood for tortilla chips so I took a trip over to visit Laura at Heavenly Homemakers as I remembered seeing some kind of cracker recipe on her blog a while back. I found this recipe for Crispy Cheese Crackers and Wonder Boy and I set about our mission.........
I love using cookie cutters to make things more fun ;-) These were very easy to make - the hardest part was doing it with the cookies cutters rather than cutting the crackers in squares from a rolled out sheet of dough as the recipes instructs (I have a hard time ever following a recipe exactly) - in other words not hard at all ;-) They were quite good, for our tastes I would add more cheese next time - we are pretty cheesy folks in this house. They were healthy and easy and not over time consuming - win, win and win.

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Cold Mornings & Hot Love

With temperatures dipping below freezing mornings are c-o-l-d here in the sunny south (being Canadian I ought to know) it's time to break out the heavy artillery to fight the cold - not many things work better than a little hot love on a cold morning.......

Hot Love

A hot bowl of hot love is a great way to chase away the morning chills......it worked for us this morning ;-)

Ingredients

3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 medium Granny Smith (or other tart variety) apple, chopped

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 cups 7-Grain cereal (the flaked variety works well)

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons flax seed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Bring water, salt, apples, raisins and cranberries to a boil in a large saucepan. Add cereal. Stir and reduce heat to medium. Stir in walnuts, flax seed and cinnamon. Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.Makes 4-6 bowls. Serve with brown sugar and a little milk. Refrigerate leftovers.

Now I for one tend to not follow a recipe exactly - I use them more as a guideline - so I would add to this recipe and say - throw in anything else that sounds good. We like a little milk and brown sugar or maple syrup on top - this will keep you fueled through the morning!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha