Date Nut bread/loaf

 Date nut loaf

1 cup chopped and pitted dates

1 cup boiling water

2 tbsp butter

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (you can substitute walnuts)

3 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine dates, butter and boiling water. Cool.

Sift flour and baking soda together

Add sugar, egg and nuts to the date mixture

Add vanilla, then flour mixture.

Add lemon juice last and stir until combined

Pour into a prepared loaf pan and bake for approximately 50- 60 minutes in preheated oven (or until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean and loaf is lightly browned on the outside) . Cool on a cooling rack.

 

Rainbow brioche bread

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour  

1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (about half of one 1/4-ounce packet)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 cup whole milk

4 large eggs

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature, plus more for the plastic wrap and brushing the bread

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple gel food coloring (liquid doesn't mix due to the amount of butter in the dough)

Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low speed to combine. Add the milk and 3 of the eggs and mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until the dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the speed to medium and start adding the butter, a little at a time and waiting until it is completely incorporated to add more, about 5 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium-high and continue to mix until the dough is glossy and slightly tacky but not sticky, about 7 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 equal-size pieces. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one piece of dough and knead until vibrant and no streaks remain; set aside. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of dough, tinting each with one of the remaining colors (orange , yellow, green, blue or purple). Place each tinted piece of dough in a separate small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours.

To assemble, individually roll out the 6 pieces of chilled dough on a sheet of parchment paper into six 9-by-5-inch rectangles. Stack the pieces on top of each other in the color of the rainbow, so red on the bottom, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Roll out the stack of dough again to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle; this will ensure that all the layers stick and bake together. With the red layer on the bottom, and starting from a shorter end, start rolling the dough into a tight spiral, like a jelly roll cake.

Generously butter one 9-by-5-inch nonstick loaf pan and place the rolled dough inside, seam-side down. Generously butter a piece of plastic wrap large enough to cover the pan and place it butter-side down loosely over the pan. Let the dough rise until it comes to 1/2 inch above the rim of the pans, 2 to 3 hours.

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Beat the remaining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle reaches 190 degrees F, about 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the loaf to loosen and turn the loaf out of the pan. Let cool completely top-side up on the rack.

Easy one bowl apple cake

 One bowl apple cake

2 eggs

1 3/4 c sugar

2 heaping tsp cinnamon

1/2 c oil

6 medium apples peeled and sliced

2 c flour

2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350º. In large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. Peel and slice the apples and add to mixture in bowl. Coating as you go to keep apples from turning brown.

Mix together the baking soda and flour and add to the ingredients in the bowl. Mix well with a fork until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan or two 9 inch around pans.

Bake around 55 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy. 

Easy cinnamon rolls

 

Too easy cinnamon rolls

2 cans of Cinnamon rolls quartered, 1 can apple pie filling, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans. Gently mix together in a bowl. Pour in a sprayed 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Top with icing while still warm. Easy and oh so good.

Crock pot cooking chart

 Below is a conversion chart to illustrate comparative cook times for High and Low:

High     Low

3 hours    7 hours

4       8

5       9

6       10

7       11

8       12

Typical slow cooker food loads and their respective cooking times:

Meat Cut   Meat Weight   Low cook time High cook time

Large pork roast   6-7 lbs      9 ½ hours             7 1/3 hours

Pork Loin         3-4 lbs        6 hours               5 hours

Poultry         6 lbs       7 1/2 hours        6 ¼ hours

Beef Roast 3-4 lbs              8 hours               5 ¾ hours

Stew meat 3 lbs         6 hours                 4 ¾ hours

Fish                 2 lbs         3 ½ hours          1 1/2 hours

All cook times are approximate. Appropriate cook time varies according to specific meat characteristics for fat content and connective tissue as well as other ingredients added to dish including liquid, size of meat cubes, type of vegetable, size of vegetable dice, how slow cooker is filled, etc.

Mushroom Wild rice soup

 

2 Tbl. olive oil  

2 medium sized carrots finely diced

3 stalks celery chopped and bottoms removed

1 large  onion finely diced

2 cloves Garlic

8 mushrooms, I use white button

2 Tbl. flour depends on how thick you want it

1/2 cup Wild rice

4 1/2 to 5 cups Vegetable broth

1 tsp dried oregano

1 Tbl. fresh Thyme or 1/2 Tbl. dried thyme

sea salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup milk or half and half 

Simmer for about 50 to 60 minutes, until the wild rice is completely fluffed up and cooked through. Set aside.

In a large pot over medium high heat, add the oil then

add in the carrots, celery, onions, garlic and mushrooms and sauté for 8 minutes. Watch closely, garlic burns quickly.

Sprinkle the flour over, and stir to combine. (Or mix the flour with the veggie broth and stir to combine to heat through). Add in the wild rice, vegetable broth, dried oregano and fresh thyme. Season generously with  salt and ground black pepper. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

  Stir in the milk or half and half and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to heat through. Taste and season with  salt and black pepper again.

Remove from stove and serve.

*** If you like you can add some cooked chopped chicken to make a full meal deal. 😋

Salt Free bread

 SALT FREE BREAD  

2 c. lukewarm water

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 tbsp. sugar

2 pkgs. rapid rise yeast

5-6 c. all-purpose flour

Put water in large bowl. Add oil and sugar, then yeast. Mix in a little flour and let stand a few minutes until bubbles start to form. Stir in flour (may use mixer) until thick batter. Then add flour slowly until dough starts to come from sides of bowl.

Turn onto floured surface, round into ball. Cover with bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Knead, adding flour if necessary so it isn't sticky. Dough should feel smooth and soft.

Put into well oiled bowl. Turn so it is covered with oil. Cover with towel. Should double in size in about half hour or a little more. Punch down and divide into 2 loaves.

Put into well oiled or sprayed 9 5/8 x 5 1/2 x 2 3/4 inch pans. Oil tops, let rise until doubled in size. Set in oven. Turn heat to 350°F Bake about an hour or until loaves are brown on top and pull away from sides of pan. Put on rack to cool. Makes excellent toast. If cut into 16 slices, 97 calories per slice.