Should I be concerned?  Should I be worried?  My all-time favourite pizza is Donatos, and I am beginning to wonder if they have altered their delicious ingredients.   If they have changed their recipe, it does not agree with my system.  Every single time I alone eat an entire large pizza (original crust, green olives and pepperoni), here is what happens:

• Usually an hour after eating, I develop an unquenchable thirst and find myself drinking gallons of water
• I develop a bloated feeling that can be painful
• I feel nauseous
• I feel as though my blood has changed into some sort of salty solution
• I am pretty sure I sweat pepperoni juice
• I find it hard to sleep, usually waking up in the middle of the night feeling as if my heart is trying to pass a grapefruit through my pulmonary artery
• I experience a temporary loss of appetite

If you have insights regarding the apparent new recipe for Donatos pizza or if you have any thoughts about a medical condition I may have, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I did something epically sandwich-related over break: I made bread. Homemade bread.

And, though it may be tempting, you really don’t need a fancy mixer or even a bread maker to make sandwich bread that is better — way better — than the stuff you find squished in the grocery store aisles. You really only need a handful of ingredients and a free afternoon to get bread that looks like this:

see? totally edible.

The first thing you need to make bread is a recipe. I used a book to make a bread called the “Pullman Loaf” from “Beard on Bread” but online recipes abound. Here are some picks: No-Knead Bread (via Mark Bittman’s amazing New York Times “Bitten” blog), Wheat Bread without a timetable (via Smitten Kitchen; this post has a great step-by-step, photo illustrated guide), and a Spelt Bread (great for beginners!)

And, while we’re talking Christmas lists, bread-baking books are great resources to have on hand. Here are some recommended books if you’re thinking about getting in the baking spirit: James Beard’s “Beard on Bread“, “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” and “Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads.” I own or have used each of these books and would recommend them all for a bread-baking beginner!

So, without further ado, here’s how I did it:

Pullman Loaf (or “Pain de Mie”)
This bread is described as “frequently used for sandwiches, a four-square loaf that has delicate texture, a fine crumb, and good flavor.” Though it called for a special pan, I used a standard bread-baking pyrex pan and it worked just fine.

Ingredients:
2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp. sugar
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) sweet butter

Directions:
1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water with the sugar and let it proof (or, allow it to sit until the yeast begins to bubble and takes on a beer-like, or yeasty odor).
2. Combine 6 cups of the flour with the salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to the flour/salt mixture, but don’t overwork. Add in 1/4 cup warm water and incorporate with one hand. Slowly add the rest of the water to make a stiff but sticky dough.
3. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead it for about ten minutes, aka beat the crap out of it: hit it, massage it, punch it, etc. When you’re done, let it rest a few minutes then shape into a ball. Place in a well-buttered bowl, cover, and let sit for an hour and a half. After this time has passed, go back, knead it again for about three-four minutes, and let it sit covered again for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.

doughy

4. After this, knead it a third time and then fit it into your buttered bread pan (either 1 or 1.5-pound loaf size). Again, let it rise another hour (it should almost double).

risen dough.

5. Butter a piece of foil and cover your bread. Stick it into a 400 degree oven, but turn the heat immediately down to 375 degrees. After 30 minutes of baking, lift up one side of the foil to expose half the loaf and bake for five minutes. Then, do the same thing with the other side. Finally, remove the entire foil covering and bake until the top is crusty and golden brown, or about 10-15 additional minutes.
6. Pull the loaf out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

voila!

If you’ve still got doubts, here is a helpful video tutorial!

Kabocha Biscuits

http://breadplusbutter.blogspot.com/2009/11/kabocha-biscuits.html

This recipe is fast to prepare and easy to make!

Recipe (1 serving):

1 1/2 – 2 large eggs

half of a ‘walla walla’ onion

fresh or dried herbs

1/2 C (or more, depending) of milk

cream for taste preference

salt, pepper, to taste

feta cheese

Mix the eggs, milk, onions, and cream together. Add the herbs. Pour into a soup crock (that makes one serving size) and place in a pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat water in a kettle on the stove (1/2 C). Put the crock (that is in the pan) into the oven. Pour the hot water into the pan so that the soup crock is surrounded by water. Bake this for 45 minutes.

Remove soup from the oven very carefully! Sprinkle feta cheese on top and enjoy.

Progress on knitting…

I’m getting there! I began fingerless mittens for my father (also a Rowan pattern) which I am knitting from dk 50% wool/ 50% mohair yarn. It’s a beautiful yarn, and knits smoothly! I’ll be putting up those pictures in the next post.

Also, while I’m working on my weebly website, I’m going to be fixing up things here, too.

Oh the joy of the coming of Christ! Welcome Advent!

What a mixed week last week was! It was a mixture of feeling extremely festive and extremely stressed!

We have been flooded with orders on the week that Nick, the divisional manager, decided to take a golfing holiday!

We sold the entire cookbook reprint before it had even arrived but luckily we have a second delivery on its way very soon. It’s great that the books are so popular. As a Christmas special we are also offering a lovely free Dairy Diary pen with each giftpack sold (yes I have kept a few for the pen pot on my desk!)

On a festive note, tomorrow of course, we can open the first window of our advent calendar! I still get embarrassingly excited about such Christmas traditions. We have a very traditional Christmas dinner in our household and as Christmas orders need to be made soon I have started planning Christmas lunch and how much I may cheat this year.

For many complex reasons, last year we enjoyed a completely shop-bought lunch. It was tasty but nothing in comparison to proper home-cooked fayre. One side dish which will definitely be on the menu is the Treacle-glazed red cabbage from the 2004 Dairy Diary (contact me if you would like the recipe). It’s always really popular with everyone reaching for second helpings. I think I will also bake the Honey roast parsnips from last year’s diary (see below). Of course, everyone’s Christmas lunch varies and today Jamie Oliver tweeted a picture of Christmas tree-shaped pizza, consumed for Christmas lunch! Each to their own.

Christmas isn’t Christmas without roast parsnips. The honey in this recipe adds a little extra sweetness and turns the humble parsnip into something very special.

Honey Roast Parsnips

Serves 4
Time 35 mins
Suitable for vegetarians

Olive oil 2 tbsp
Unsalted butter 50g (2oz)
Parsnips 900g (2lb), peeled and quartered lengthways
Clear honey 2 tbsp

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. Heat oil and butter in a roasting tin on top of the stove. Add parsnips and fry until golden on all sides.

2 Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, turning occasionally.

3 Pour honey over roast parsnips and coat evenly. Season and return to the oven for 5 more minutes, or until tender.

Cook’s tip
Small or medium sized parsnips give the best flavour and texture.

A Dairy Diary recipe.

I made soap, lip balm, sugar scrub, bath salts and bath fizzies for 3 years before moving on to other crafts. So, when my friends came to me with a request to have craft time, I jumped at the chance to show them how easy melt and pour soap is. We were making the soap for prezzies. I realized that I had some really good recipes that are currently collecting dust.

This is not a how to, but a recipe for melt and pour soap. I will eventually submit all my personally developed recipes, so you’re gonna have to stay tuned to get them all. There’s a lot!

Tiare Silk

Ingredients: Coconut Oil Base, Tiare Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Castor Oil, Cocoa Butter, Glycerin

Per 1lb Coconut M&P:

• 4T Tiare Coconut Oil
• 1T Beeswax
• 1T Castor Oil
• 1T Cocoa Butter
• 1T Glycerin

Tiare is a Tahitian Gardenia. They smell amazing and are not too offensive in high amounts. It’s a scent that lingers but dissipates well. Most people loved it when I made it.

All additives are chosen for their response to the skin. Adding castor oil to your melt and pour is a great way to make it sudsier and soften the skin. Glycerin is added to increase the cleaning properties and as a skin softener. Beeswax acts as a thickening agent because of all the oils that are added. Cocoa butter is also great for the skin and doubles as a thickening agent. If allergic to beeswax or turned off by animal products, you can substitute the beeswax for cocoa butter or shea butter. Just use the same amount.

If you have any questions, post them in the comments. I will be happy to answer them. Thanks. Happy soaping!

I had a real craving this weekend for bananas which is strange as I normally have a bit of an allergy to them! However I went with it and put together this moist and crunchy Banana, Cinnamon and Walnut Loaf Cake!

We enjoyed it on Sunday morning with a nice cup of coffee!

Ingrediants

6oz Caster Suger

4 oz Butter

9oz Self raising Flour

1 round tsp Cinnamon

4-5 Bananas

2 Eggs, beaten or Groundnut Oil for the non egg eaters

125 ml Milk

Handfull of crushed walnuts

Recipe

Pre heat the oven to gas 4/180c and grease a loaf tin.

Beat the butter and suger until soft and light, using a potato masher, mash up the bananas. Slowly add the beaten eggs/groundnut oil to the butter mix.

Sift in the flour, cinnamon and milk slowly and mix together, once well mixed fold in the banana’s. Once well incorperated add 90% of the walnuts.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and sprinkle the remaining nuts on the top.

Bake for about 45-50 mins.

Enjoy early afternoon with a good coffee

Yummy              Fresh               Tasty           

It’s our favorite vegtable soup: Green beans, parsnips, rutabago, celery, onions, beef soup bones, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, pepper, beef broth or vegtable broth.  

Enjoy the fruit too, oh so very gooooood.  Tamarillo : Food of the Incas.                                      

Have a break and have a healthy and delicious cookies!

Ingredients
muesli – 110g
flour – 170g
butter – 170g
egg yolk – 1
bicarbonate soda – 1 tsp
sugar – 170g
salt – 1/2 tsp
raisins – 30g

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degree Celsius.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until it soft, add in the egg yolk and continue beating.
3. Add in the flour, salt, and bicarbonate soda into the mixture, then pour the muesli and raisins into it and mix well.
4. Roll the mixture into a shape of a small balls.
5. Place them on a baking sheet and flatten with the bottom of a floured glass.
6. Bake in the oven until golden for 10-12 minutes.  Serves.

This is one of my favorite soups to make.  You’ll have left overs for days and it’s full of yummy healthy ingredients!

(you can half or quarter as you like)

1/2 lb. italian sausage

1/2 lb. ground beef

1.5 tsp of salt (or not, since everything else is so salty

1.5 c. chopped onion (I usually omit this and it’s fine…but if you like onions…)

1.5 c. carrots

6 cloves minced garlic (that is sooo much.  I either do a clove or two or sprinkle some power on there)

brown sausage/beef with salt.  add carrots and onions.  saute for 3 minutes.  add garlic, saute for 3 more.  set aside.

7 tsp chicken soup base (I use a cube of two of boullion)

7 c. water

3 c. of canned diced tomatoes (a can or two, depending how much you like tomatoes)

1.5 c. marinara sauce

1/2 tsp oregano, tyme, basil, parsley

combine all in soup pot.  add first section, boil until carrots are tender.

still boiling, add egg noodle pasta (original recipe calls for .24 lb…or 3.84 oz.  Unless you cook like that, I just add noodles until I feel like there is enough).  simmer for 10 minutes.

enjoy with parmesan and/or mazarella cheese.

Ingredients

1. Pork Ribs (1000g)
2. Chardonnay (1 cup)
3. Onion (1)
4. Carrot (1 large)
5. Celery (1 cup chopped)
6. Garlic (8 cloves)
7. Chicken cube (1)
8. Flour
9. Butter
10. Basil
11. Bay leaves

Preparation

1. Start by cutting your carrots into discs, your onion into 8 pieces and your celery into fingernail-sized pieces. Peel the garlic and put it through a garlic press.
2. Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper over your ribs. After a few mintues, dredge them through some flour. The flour makes its easier to seal the meat when you are browning it and it also adds some body to your final sauce.
3. Using a frying pan with a few T of oil, sear your ribs until they are brown on all sides. Set aside the seared ribs in a tall pyrex or casserole dish (see picture).
4.  In the same pan, without washing it, fry your mashed garlic and assorted vegetables with a knob of butter. When the garlic starts to brown, turn up the heat and degalze with a cup of wine. Make some chicken stock using half a cup of hot water and a chicken cube and add that to the pan as well.
5. Continue to simmer until the volume of your braising sauce is reduced by a third. Turn off the heat and finish off the sauce by mixing in 1t of sugar, 1T of chopped basil and 6 bay leaves (see picture).
6. Pour your sauce over the ribs making sure the ribs are fully covered. It’s ok if some of the vegetables stick out. Seal the top of your baking vessel with aluminium foil, securing it around the handles.
7. At 160^oC (320^oF), bake for 2 hours. When it is done, taste the reduced sauce and add pepper and salt as required. If you are into or expecting a herby taste, you can sprinkle on some Fines Herbes at this stage.
8. The ribs should be served with a healthy dose of soft staple food. Rice, rosti (pictured) or mashed potatoes and polenta are the ones I usually serve with these ribs.

Notes

• Using foil instead of a Dutch oven lets the liquid thicken slowly and there should be no need to reduce your braising sauce after baking. You can check out my braised beef rib recipe for my opinon on Dutch ovens.
• Can you use any other wine other than Chardonnay? Yep, but avoid dry (i.e. sour) ones like savigon blanc.
• Why not use a Pork cube? Because Pork cubes are very ‘porky’ and I only use them for heavy dishes like curries.

You will need:

1 shot triple sec
3 shots lemon vodka
1 shot club soda
1 lemon…

Click here to view the full recipe…
http://www.sevafrica.com/HealthWellness/ASunny-DelightRecipe.shtml

A very delicious meal that appeals to everyone, especially kids, spaghetti and meatballs and can be extremely healthy, especially when made with lean products and loads of vegetables. Why not mix it up a little by making chicken meatballs and adding mushrooms?

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound extra-lean ground chicken
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion…

To view the full recipe click here… 
http://www.sevafrica.com/HealthWellness/Chicken-Mushroom-Meatballs.shtml

This would be our third Thanksgiving abroad (!) and our first as newlyweds. Apparently, new brides char the bird or commit otherwise heinous culinary atrocities in the kitchen when first attempting a Thanksgiving meal. The statistics stacked against me, I set out to create a traditional Thanksgiving feast for my husband and six friends, in a country devoid of pumpkin paste (despite ubiquitous pumpkin farms), pie dough, cranberry sauce, yams and Butterball turkeys. With each misadventure, my mom’s wise words echoed in my mind: embrace the chaos — it’s much more fun that way!

Step 1: Locate a Whole Turkey.

Technically, I accomplished this on a ride a few weeks ago, having found turkeys running around the woods by the road. While not what I had in mind, they at least confirmed whole turkeys exist in this country (though not in any market). After a week of watching people screw up their eyes at my request, I met a local farmer willing to oblige the special order.

On my way to pick up the turkey, I realized with trepidation that I hadn’t clarified how I wanted the turkey prepared. I had just ordered “one whole turkey, please,” hoping not to inadvertently order a goose in my attempt at dialect.  For all I knew, they might hand it to me squawking on a leash.

Thankfully they did not. Savoring this small triumph, I carted the properly de-feathered turkey home to prepare for roasting the next day, only to discover the feet, neck and head (and beak and gobble!) intact upon removal from the bag.

Naturally, I googled. Surely, someone in cyberspace would know how to remove a turkey neck. As it happens, lot’s of people do, and they all say the same thing: just reach in and pull out the bag. In the US, prepared Thanksgiving turkeys are packaged sans feet, neck or head, with innards and neck (gizzards) neatly packed in a small plastic bag, tucked in the body cavity. Not so with the large foul in my kitchen.

Dear Internet,
Thanks for nothing.

Step Two: Prepare the Turkey.

For the record, to remove a turkey’s neck and feet, chop them off. As for the gizzards, you really do just reach in and pull them out . . .  but they’re not in a bag.

With the turkey properly butchered, I prepared a rosemary/cider/orange brine in a bucket (yes, we are that fancy around here) and brined the turkey overnight.   The “other bits” got roasted and thrown in a pot with fresh von Bauern onions, celery, carrots, rosemary, sage and thyme, then simmered to make a stock for the gravy.

Step 3: Apple Pie.

By this time, I began to feel like a pioneer, butchering my own bird, brining it in a bucket, making fresh stock and now pie crust from scratch.

A good flaky pie crust is tricky. Using a recipe from my mom (and her mom, and her mom’s mom), I cut chilled butter into flour with two knives. One could do this with a food processor, but we don’t have one. Welcome to tedium defined. Once I managed to cut the solid butter into tiny beads, each coated with flour, I rolled ‘er out, filled ‘er up and sealed ‘er off with a fluted edge. You know it’s gonna be good when the juices run as the pie bakes — lekker!

Step 4: Roast the Turkey.

I borrowed a roasting pan from my friend Betsey, only to discover it didn’t fit in our small oven. Thankfully the lid fit, even if it did create a little see-saw over the handle when flipped upside-down for this purpose. Ah well. I’d made it this far.

Into the lid, I tossed potatoes, carrots, onions and The Turkey (brined and cleaned), then roasted and basted the heck out of it with a maple-butter concoction as it rocked back and forth in the oven.

Step 5: The Rest of the Menu.

Montage! Our menu included: hors d’oeuvres of toast with goat’s cheese and caramelized onions, baked bourbon sweet potatoes topped with roasted candied pecans, romano garlic mashed potatoes, chestnut/apple/sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce (with real cranberries, not lingonberries!), gravy (from fresh turkey stock), an acrobatic maple roasted turkey with veggies (pronounced “wedgies” with a Deutsch accent — never gets old), and mom’s apple pie — all dishes made from scratch, with local, farm-fresh ingredients, including fresh herbs. Even the salt came from Salzburg.

Step 6: Round Up The Troops.

Our guests, four Americans and two Swedes, brought a delectable selection wines, whiskey and beer. My friend Carolyn (fellow American expat – check out her blog here) made a fresh feta cranberry salad and deliciously gooey warm brownies as finishing touches for the feast.

This is by far my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Without the gathering of friends (and family, when possible), Thanksgiving would be little more than a pile of food, because that motley mix of characters forms the heart of the celebration and renders the whole far greater than the sum of its parts. As my Uncle Ron would say, it’s Stone Soup.

Step 7: Strap on the Feed Bag.

We ate, drank and became increasingly merry into the evening and a wee bit of the morning, and by that time, I think we were all thankful for bed.

(images by me)

When there’s marking to be done, there’s procrastination to be done too   Today’s procrastination is brought to you by the letter B.

B is for bread rolls.

B is for breadmaker.

B is for beautiful.

Mmmm. So, I had lunch a little late today because I was so busy focusing on marking I didn’t think to procrastinate until it was nearly too late…

But my mind started to wander to delicious things to eat, and eventually settled on making some yummy bread rolly things.

So, I will share the recipe I used with you with this word of warning: these are incredibly moreish. You might make an utter pig of yourself without even noticing.  My children all spied them within 20 seconds of entering the house. My husband took a little longer as they were in storage by the time he arrived home – maybe two minutes.  Yes, these are delicous.

Annnyway, I have a breadmaker which I use almost exclusively for making dough for rolls or pizza bases of focaccia. The dough recipe I used today is my favourite one, and was given to me by my mother – traditionally this is what we used to make bread rolls by hand when we were growing up But I’ve put it in the larger quantities I use for my large breadmaker pan. And because we are such bread piglets!

4 t yeast (I use Surebake yeast)

600g high grade flour

1.5 t salt

2t sugar

4 T milk powder

50g butter

450ml warm water

Place the ingredients in the given order into the breadmaker pan, put on dough setting, and then roll out into a long rectangle. 

I made them with basil pesto, ham and mozzarella by spreading about 2-3T pesto over the whole lot, keeping 2cm from long edges. Ham – only for half since DH is veg, and about 3/4 – 1 C cheese sprinkled over the rest. You don’t need heaps, they will just melt and stick to the tray if you do.

Cut into slices and put on oven tray to rise. I usually put them in an oven I put on 50 degrees and then turned off, for about 20 minutes, then take them out and heat oven to 210 degrees, and  put them in when the oven is ready, then cook for 10-12 minutes.

Now the difficult part: wait until they are cool enough to eat or you’ll regret it!

And, if you are planning to blog about it, make sure you keep everyone away until *after* you’ve taken pics!

Yes, I do believe they are better than you get from the bakery, even if it’s because you can afford to eat two… or three… or more…

Lovely crab cakes. Gotta try it! Thanks. Enjoy.

Visit foodwishes.com for ingredients

Credits to Chef John @ foodwishes.com (Available in HD!)

Ingredients:

• 32 chocolate wafers (about 6 1/2 ounces) , plus 1 for garnish
• 1/4 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoon(s) canola oil
• 2 tablespoon(s) skim milk…

To view the full recipe click here…
http://www.sevafrica.com/HealthWellness/Frozen-RaspberryPie.shtml

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 300g noodles
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 stalk lemon grass, sliced finely
• 400g rump steak, cut into thin strips…

Click here to view the full recipe…
http://www.sevafrica.com/HealthWellness/RedThai-BeefPasta.shtml

Houmous is very easy to make but all too often recipes skimp on tahini or olive oil. These ingredients give the houmous its lovely creaminess and contribute to the flavour so are used in generous proportions below. Don’t replace the light tahini with dark tahini as you will get a completely different result.

Houmous

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until everything is well-combined and the mixture has a creamy consistency. Start off with 75g of the tahini and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Taste and add extra if required.

If necessary add a little water to make the mixture creamy, but take care to add it very gradually.

Notes on chick peas

250g dried chick peas yields about 500g when cooked – soak overnight in plenty of water and then boil for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

If you use chick peas fairly often, it is easier to cook a large batch of dried chick peas rather than cooking a small batch each time you need some. Once the chick peas are cooked and cooled, measure into freezer bags (say 500g per bag) and freeze.

to health…