Pumpkin Spice Bread

This recipe is not a sweet bread.  It tastes and smells great toasted with ham or other meat for sandwiches.  It also works well for french toast.  The recipe came from a need to find yet another use for lots of pumpkin.


Pumpkin Spice Bread:  2 loaves or one loaf and a dozen buns
4 cups pumpkin water - microwave for 3 minutes or until warm.
(liquid strained from cooked pumpkin chunks plus a little puree - If using canned pumpkin, take one small can and add water to equal 4 cups.) 
2 tsp salt
3-4 Tbs. sugar
4 1/2 tsp dry yeast
2 Tbs. olive oil
8 cups flour
2-3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
a few dashes nutmeg
2-3 tsp. dried, ground ginger

Instructions:

Pre-warm mixing bowl with warm water and dump it out.  Refill with measured warm pumpkin water. Dissolve sugar and salt in water. Sprinkle dry yeast over the surface and allow it to soften before adding oil.  Using the batter paddle, mix in 4 C flour; mix well.  Switch to the dough hook; mix in the remaining 4 C flour.  Dough will be a bit stickier than normal bread dough.  Transfer to a large container, and allow it to rise until doubled for 1-2 hours.  Time will vary depending on room temperature.

Remove dough from bowl, Form dough into desired shape and place on heavy baking stone or in large cast iron frying pan dusted with flour, semolina meal, or corn meal.  You may need to use quite a bit of dusting flour when working the dough to keep it from sticking to your fingers.  Cover with large bowl and let rise for 30 min. to 1 hour or until almost doubled.  (Rising time will depend on room temperature.  The warmer it is, the faster the bread will rise.)

Pre-heat oven to 370 deg. F.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when thumped.

Different Perspectives

Hubby has today off work.  As he usually sleeps in on his days off, I was attempting (quite successfully) to do the same.  Unfortunately, hubby had trouble sleeping and was already upright and running on autopilot.  I was jarred to wakefulness by the sound of dog food pouring into Chloe's bowl, followed by crunching sounds in the kitchen.  That is usually a welcome sound of hubby helping with daily chores, but today it heralded the approach of a possible situation.  (20-20 hindsight: Perhaps I should have just rewashed Chloe's backside later instead.)  This is what followed.

Me:

"Hon, if you feed the dog now, she'll have to go potty quite soon.  Can you shave her but before you take her outside?"

Hubby:

"Where's the clippers?"

Me:

"In the living room cabinet.  Please shave her in the kitchen."  (The implication being, not on the living room area rug.)

Hubby (from a far away place, guessing it was the living room because he left to get the clippers before making sure the conversation was completed):

"Where's Chloe?"

Me (talking louder than my throat likes in the morning because hubby is in the far away room):

"She's hiding here in the bedroom.  You'll need to come and get her."

Hubby:

"She's not wearing her collar.  There's nothing to get a grip on and pull."

He moves the clippers to the kitchen.  He goes and gets the collar.  Puts it on Chloe, and takes her rather unwillingly to the kitchen.

Hubby:

"I don't want to hurt her, how do these things work."

Me:

"Glide it gently along her skin."

Hubby:

"You sure are an expert at giving advice on how to do this."

(The implication being - get out of bed lazy and help.)

Me:

"Give me a minute Hon to wash the sleepers out of my eyes and put on some sweats."  (The kitchen floor is rather chilly this time of year, and what I use for p.j.'s definitely is not warm enough.)

After some preparation, I walked into the kitchen to find hubby, clippers in hand with a worried look on his face.  Judging by her posture, Chloe seemed a little worried too.  Hubby took one pass with the clippers.  That was where I made the fatal mistake, and opened my mouth.

Me:

"If you shave from the top down, the hair just falls to the floor.  The other way the hair gets stuck on the clippers."

He handed me the clippers, and Chloe's backside was shaved.  She was less than thrilled about having her morning routine of food followed by a romp outside interrupted with a but shaving.  Then Hubby took her outside to do her business, and when they came back in the house, he commented.

"I don't see why it is so important to shave her but before she goes potty.  Can't you just wipe it dry and then clip her?"

All I could say was "EEW!  Dear, we definitely have different perspectives on that subject."

We then got into a discussion of how glad we are that we have a girl dog and how difficult it must be to shave around a boy dog's jewels.  Especially if he strongly disagreed with the procedure.

Then hubby's conversation wandered to the topic of hot summers and a swimming hole that was perhaps a little too close to a horse corral.  And how the hotter the weather became, the less the swimmers thought about the tannic colored water.

We came to the conclusion that neither of us was really awake, and that the day should be restarted after hubby had a bite to eat and some more sleep.  It is definitely time for some hot tea for me-caffeine please.


A bit later in the day, Chloe's haircut was finished.

"Ah, now you can see my hypnotic eyes.

Give me a whole bag of rawhides.

Oh well, one will do for starters."

It may seem strange to give her a haircut just as winter is about to start, but her hair will be long enough in two weeks to keep her warm on trips outside.  Until then, she can wear a t-shirt.  Otherwise, she would be standing comfortably outside in -10 weather while we shivered, and she would be panting from the heat while sitting still in the house.

It Smells Like a Wet Dog in Here.

The picture is from the summer, but the expression is the same.

Just finished giving Chloe a bath.  She reluctantly tolerates the pre-wash routine of having her ears cleaned, her hair brushed, and a compulsory trip outside to empty #1 & #2.  She sulks through the washing part, but immensely enjoys having her face & ears rubbed in the drying phase.  Then she runs around the house playing with her toys.  Because she was such a good girl and did not try escaping the tub, her begging for a rawhide is rewarded with one.  Then she plays with her toys again, and finally settles down next to hubby to lean on him and beg for head scratching.  Eventually, she will sneak off to a dark corner where she thinks I cannot hear and see her to begin the toe licking, because according to Chloe, shampoo is not the proper cleanser for toes, dog drool is.


It is getting rather late, so her haircut will have to wait until tomorrow.

Leftovers Are Mostly Gone

Guess I have to go grocery shopping.  I hope the rabid shoppers of black Friday are all done.  If there aren't any more posts in the next day or so, send out a search party.

Fruitcake with Fresh Cranberries

Hubby doesn't understand why fruitcake is so maligned.

Of course, not many people have tried his mom's fruitcake recipe.

Since I really cannot stand candied fruit, the recipe has been altered to contain only dried fruits and fresh cranberries.  Some of the bad fats have also been replaced with olive oil.  It does make the recipe a bit healthier, but also shortens the shelf life of the bread.  It is best to make a batch and throw two of the three loaves in the freezer to enjoy later.  It also keeps fairly well in the fridge.

Fruitcake with Fresh Cranberries:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups thick hot applesauce

1/2 cup olive oil (non-virgin)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon (more if using applesauce without cinnamon)

1/4 tsp ground cloves

4 cups nuts (I typically use hazelnuts, pecans, almonds, & walnuts)

   (Try to avoid brazil nuts unless you know they are fresh.

    Rancid nuts really ruin a fruitcake!)

3-4 cups dried fruits like raisins, dates, apricots, etc.

   soaked in boiling hot water or hot adult beverage of your choice

   and drained.  (Reserve the sweet water for making regular bread.)

1 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries, sorted, washed, and drained.

Add olive oil to hot applesauce.  Stir until emulsified.  Then add sugar and eggs, stir until sugar is almost dissolved.  Add flour, salt, baking soda, and spices; mix well.  Switch to a dough hook and incorporate the nuts.  Add the dried fruits and incorporate well.  Add the fresh cranberries last and stir just until distributed evenly through the dough.  Double line three loaf pans with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Put batter in pans.  Bake at 310 degrees 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The original recipe listed the baking temp. as 300 degrees, but in my experience, temperatures that low tend to make a cake a bit soggy.

Enjoy!

Makes a great substitute for granola bars when hiking, hunting, etc.

A Little Levity for Black Friday

The niece and nephew did not seem amused yesterday

by the second song

"You Ain't Gettin Diddly Squat."

By some bizarre chance, I caught Expanded Sound's performance on the Jerry Lewis telethon years ago.  When they walked out on stage in biker garb and sang the third song, it was hilarious.

Pumpkin Casserole

As requested by stopsign,
the pumpkin casserole recipe appears first.

There isn't much to the recipe, except that you should start with the best eating pumpkin you can find.  If you cannot find a good, fresh eating pumpkin, perhaps substitute acorn squash instead.  The harvest was good this year, so that we have plenty of the Musquee de Provence heirloom variety of pumpkin sitting around the house waiting to be used.  I think it was the middle pumpkin in the picture on the sidebar.  It is very orange and very sweet all by itself.  When cooked in this casserole, it is more like candy than a vegetable.  If what you have is not very sweet, perhaps consider bumping up the brown sugar amount to taste.

Pumpkin Casserole:

Take a 9"x13" pyrex baking dish and fill it with the following ingredients in this order.

6-7 pounds of fresh pumpkin, cored, peeled and cut into chunks

(The Thanksgiving casserole used approx 1/3 of a 20# pumpkin.)

1/2 cup of water

a sprinkling of salt

3-4 large handfuls of pecans, sprinkled evenly over the pumpkin

3-4 large handfuls of walnuts, sprinkled evenly over the pumpkin

4 large handfuls (1/4-1/2 cup?) of dark brown sugar,

sprinkled evenly over the top

small spoonfuls of smart balance light to equal approx. 1/4 cup,

placed evenly on top

cinnamon, sprinkled liberally over the top (1-2 tsp?)

allspice, sprinkled slightly less liberally over the top (1 tsp?)

nutmeg, sprinkled very lightly over the top

cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 deg. F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  The casserole is done when pumpkin pieces poked with a fork are soft, and a syrupy sauce is formed in the pan.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving, a Little Early

Menu:

Roasted chicken

Stuffing

Plain and pumpkin spice rolls

Mashed potatoes & gravy

Green bean casserole w/french fried onions

Pumpkin chunks baked with pecans, walnuts, brown sugar, smart balance light, cinnamon, allspice, & nutmeg

Raspberry gelatin with red & black raspberries from the freezer

A can of jellied cranberry sauce

Macaroni and cheese for the fussy eaters

Monday preparation:

A quadruple batch of bread.

Two loaves of plain white bread

One big loaf and some rolls of pumpkin spice bread, not sweet.

Then there was the fruitcake, with a twist.

Added a bag of fresh cranberries to the recipe.

Hubby wonders why people malign fruitcake,

because he loves this stuff.

Thaw the chickens.

Tuesday preparation:

Yesterday was a lot of cleaning,

making another double batch of bread and

two pumpkin swirl cheesecakes.

I don't own a spring-form pan, so two pie pans had to do.

Brined the chickens.

Today:

Help arrived, and everything else was made in time for a

very late lunch.

Pardon the paper plates and plastic cups.

The functional kitchen is on the second floor,

but the dining room large enough to seat 9 is on the first floor.

So we got to work off some calories carrying the food

down the stairs, and the leftovers back up them.

 Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

 Rolls

 Pumpkin casserole & mashed potatoes

Fruitcake

Apple Pie

Are you hungry?

For some reason, we seem to have lost our appetites.

If you want recipes, please leave a comment on which ones you want posted first, second.....

Lots To Do Today

It is Thanksgiving week.  Family is coming on Wednesday, because that is the day that they have free.  Today's to do list includes.


1. Taking the dog to the V-E-T for her shots.
2. Picking up the yard here.
3. Putting things back where they belong, vacuuming and scrubbing.
4. Baking a quad batch of bread/buns, freeze.

5. Baking fruitcake with fresh cranberries in it, freeze.

6. Baking a reduced fat pumpkin cheesecake, freeze.

Well, stalling done, I best get hopping.

Taking the 12# sledge to mom's place to install

the new mailbox post before the ground freezes solid-

rescheduled to tomorrow.

And the Mama Doe Says to her Fawns

"Now remember dearies, one day you will be all grown up.  On a cold fall day a lot of strangers will try to sneak into the woods with sticks that go boom for one week.  During that week there are a few important things to remember if you want to live to the next year.
1.  Crawl through grassy fields.
2.  If you're too impatient to crawl, run as fast as you can.
3.  Don't believe everything you smell,
     especially if it smells really enticing.
4.  Run and hide deep in the swamp.
5.  Stand next to the road, but don't play in traffic.
6.  If the swamp is too boring, go into town and raid the bird feeders.
7.  If you have to travel through public hunting to get to 4, 5, or 6,
     make sure you pass between the strangers and the cars
     in the parking area.  Most of the time they will not shoot their
     own cars."


Opening day did not produce any freezer venison.  Hubby did see a nice, fat buck, but you guessed it.  It was running between him and the parking area in the public hunting.


Update:
Hubby saw a doe today, this evening on his way home from hunting.  She was standing approx. 20 feet off the road in someone's yard.

Nice Rack

What, were you expecting something else?

The rack wasn't huge,

but the meat was fairly tender.

Hunting season opens tomorrow.

We hope and pray that we will be as fortunate this year

as we were last year to get some good freezer meat.

Happy and safe hunting everybody!

Wonder how many deer will run to town tomorrow?

Recycling-in a good way

We're putting some of the removed kitchen cupboards

to good use as attic storage.

Don't let the oak facade fool you;

the structural members of these cupboards are thin, glued, mdf.

They are only pretty on the front and will not stand up to daily use.

The upper cupboards were so-so, but had two dead end corners.

The lower cupboards were designed so poorly, that there was only one cupboard with a door wide enough to store baking pans & mixing bowls w/o tipping them on their sides to get them inside.  And there was another dead corner.

Some of the lower cupboards have been moved to the basement where they will replace the old workbench.  Think drawers that you need a come-along to get them open.  The cabinet doors on the recycled cupboards, at least, are wide enough for tools and all those little things that tend to clutter a workshop over time.

Well at Least One Room is Done

The furniture re-arrangement is a bit odd, but it is walker friendly (>24" clearances) just in case mom has to have her hip replaced and needs a spot to recuperate for a few weeks.


Now, only if the rest of the rooms in the house had refinished floors and fresh paint jobs.  I haven't put any artwork on the walls, because I am still enjoying having clean walls without 60+ years of dirt buildup, any holes, hole patches, & mismatched touch-up paint.  So many design shows are doing fancy finishes like stripes, rag rolling, faux marbling, etc., but I'm just elated to have the walls all one color!


This is what it looked like before - dirty lemon yellow, with green showing through because the previous owners were too lazy to apply a second coat.  And they painted around a wall hanging, so part of the wall was still dirty aqua green.  We found the full, unused cans of yellow in the basement when we bought the house.  Ok, so the top coat of paint in this particular room was only 30-40 years old.  Oh, and the ceiling had to be painted twice because the first time I peeled back the masking tape around the crown moulding, the ceiling paint peeled with it.  Yes, the entire ceiling had to be peeled, scrubbed, primed, and repainted.

Our Deepest Sympathy

to Minnesota Vikings fans.

But we're still really happy that the Packers

beat them TWICE.

GO PACK GO!

What's that bubbling away on the stove?

Ah, It's an experiment, oriental style sloppy joe's.

Well, here's how it turned out.

Oriental Style Sloppy Joe's:


Ingredients:
1 Round-swiss steak (only slightly more tender than shoe leather)
     (trimmed of fat and cut into small pieces across the grain
     as much as possible)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped or run through garlic press
2 Tbs. fresh ginger, chopped finely
3-4 Tbs. soy sauce
3 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 small can tomato sauce
2 tsp. Chinese five spice
2 Tbs. brown sugar


In Dutch oven or medium sized stock pot, carmelize the onions using the salt to collapse them more quickly.  Turn up the heat; add the meat, garlic, and ginger.  Once the meat is browned reduce the heat to medium-low and add the soy sauce, vinegar, tomato sauce, five spice, and sugar.  Cover and cook until meat becomes tender (probably an hour or so).  If sauce is evaporating too much, add water to keep the meat from becoming too dry.


Serve on buns or over rice, with midget dill pickles on the side.

Please, Please

Take Me Hunting!

Chloe did get her wish.

Unfortunately, the hunting grounds

were more water than land Saturday,

but fun was had by both hubby and Chloe.

Chloe even found a cat hiding under a car in the parking area.

In Honor of the First Armistice Day

(Pictured above is a cousin of my husband's grandmother.)

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 the armistice was signed to end WWI.  Even those who fought and returned home are no longer alive.  Time has marched on.  We are grateful and remember them.


WWI was called the war to end all wars; too bad it didn't.  Tyranny returned as the empires of Japan and Germany sought to rule separate corners of the world.  More young people fought in WWII for the freedom of future generations.  Some died.  Some returned.  We remember and thank them.


It is good to have objects around to help remind us of the sacrifices made by the people who served in those wars.  We are lucky to have one.  In previous years, it was called army surplus and was packed away in cosmolene to be saved for any future wars if needed.  Eventually, it was decided that the army didn't want it anymore and it was sold to the general public.  Shortly after we purchased it, we found the correct bayonet by complete chance at a local "antique" mall mixed in with old costume jewelry and dishes.

M1917 Remington 30-06

Although extremely accurate, it is quite heavy, and with bayonet attached it is also very long.  Hubby is average height, and it is almost as tall as he is.  People on average were shorter in the early 1900's.  It had to be very cumbersome for the troops to carry and maneuver in the trenches of WWI with such a large rifle.

More tyrants have appeared on the scene.  More wars have come.


Many thanks to those who have served to protect the freedoms we have!

On the Silly Side

Hey Ma,

Does this puffy tail make my but look skinny?

Seriously,

please give me a haircut

before the other dogs

and the pheasants laugh at me

when dad takes me hunting!

Anyone Want a Slushie?

There's one in my yard.

You'll need a really big glass.

Mmm Soup

Homemade tomato soup and a few tidbits

Hope you all are safe, warm & dry.

The last of the tomatoes (picked green) are almost done ripening.

They no longer taste the greatest sliced

but still make good tomato soup.

(Recipe is somewhere in the summer posts if you're interested.)

Just a few months ago,

I was thrilled to get the first fresh tomato of the summer.

Now I just want the container full of them

off the dining room table.

Ah, the change of seasons.

It has been a busy day, and it's past my bedtime.

Good night all.

What Lies Beneath

Chairs look funny stripped naked.

The best seat in the house has gone

to the dog.

"Chloe be gentle; grandma's chair is NOT a trampoline."

Even the seat cushion has springs; retying those was a "gas".

Used a really handy knot used for rib stitching

old fabric aircraft wings; it never slips.

Hubby's old A&P mechanics handbooks

are still good for something!

101st Use For Duct Tape

This last spring when I removed the window insulator kits, some of the trim paint on a couple windows came off with them.  However annoying that was, it started me thinking on the possible use of duct tape as a paint stripper.  Cause, face it paint eventually just lets go after a while. Just tried using it on some window trim.  It worked GREAT, because it only removes the loose paint.  The amount of dust was drastically reduced!  Sanding was only necessary for feathering the edges between the remaining paint and the stripped spots.


Procedure:
Stick the duct tape on the surface of suspected loose paint.  Yank it off quickly (very similar to the procedure of hot wax hair removal).  Thankfully, I didn't hear a peep of discomfort from the window trim.
Repeat.


Note to self: remember to put duct tape on the shopping list.

Chinese Chrysanthemums

Rather pretty,

very frost tolerant,

and they make good tea.

Not Very Pretty,

But it will stick to your ribs,

and put wind in your sails.

Cabbage, Beef, and Potato Bake

The inspiration for this recipe came from an Amish cookbook,

but I tweaked it so much they would probably not recognize it.

Some of the ingredients are inspired by Kurdish cooking,

but the recipe is a lot simpler than making dolmas.
And the acidic ingredient (sumac) has been reduced so that we can keep the enamel on our teeth a little longer.

Ingredients:

1 small to medium head green cabbage, washed, cored, & sliced in

     thin strips

2 sirloin steaks, round steaks, or other lean beef to cover the bottom

     of a small roasting pan (fat trimmed)

7 or 8 large potatoes, peeled and cut into approx. 1" cubes

1 large can cream of mushroom soup (26 oz.)

     (NOT Campbells!  Guar gum used as a thickener is disgusting!

     Use a cheaper brand that has flour in it instead.)

1/2 of the soup can filled with skim milk

     (If using tough meat, also add 1/2 can of water to allow for

     increased baking time.)

Turkish seasoning (Penzy's if available)

Ground Black Pepper

Kosher salt

1 to 2 teaspoons Sumac powder

     (available in Middle Eastern &/or Indian food markets

     If unavailable, substitute 2-3 stalks rhubarb sliced thin

     or 1-2 lemons peeled and sliced very thin.

1-2 Tbs. Olive Oil

Directions:

Sweat prepared cabbage by sprinkling 2 teaspoons kosher salt over it and mixing well and allowing it to rest for 30 minutes.

Pat beef pieces dry with paper towel, tenderize both sides with a tenderizing mallet, and sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper, and Turkish seasoning.  Allow beef to rest until ready to assemble the casserole.

Peel and cut up potatoes.  Drizzle olive oil over them and stir thoroughly, sprinkle some salt and pepper over them and stir again.

Mix cream of mushroom soup with milk and water.  Set aside.

Rinse cabbage and dry it as well as possible, using a salad spinner, if available.  Spread cabbage over the bottom of a medium sized roasting pan.  Sprinkle sumac powder over the cabbage.  Place beef pieces on top of the cabbage.  Pour the soup mixture over the beef and cabbage.  Put the potato pieces on top, distributing them evenly.  Put the cover on the roasting pan (with vent holes closed) and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 deg. F.


It is done when cabbage and beef are tender and the potatoes are starting to brown on top.  Don't let it get too dry!  Add water if more baking time is needed due to tough meat (i.e. the meat package didn't mention that it was a retired dairy cow).


Freezes well.

What's that in the Sky?

What an unfamiliar sight - it's the SUN!


I have lunch to fix and yard work to do, so posting pictures will have to wait.


Later folks.