Bread Blog

Home home on the range … I remember singing that song as a kid sitting around the campfire with family and friends. My Mom, would pull out the guitar and we would all sing camp songs. These sourdough biscuits bring back those old memories. I can just see the Cowboy cook whipping up a batch of these delicious biscuits over a campfire in a large cast iron pot. While the cowboys where out on the range herding the cattle.

Many of the Cowboy cooks were experts at sourdough baking. They would maintain a sourdough pot and regularly made breads and biscuits for the ranch hands. I’ve heard stories of the cooks keeping a 5 gallon keg and mixing some flour and water into a starter each day, and set it out in the sun to ferment. At night they would wrap it in a blanket to keep it warm and on really cold nights they would take it to bed with them. Cowboy cooks must have been very lonely back then lol.

These biscuits are soft and tender. I think it’s the bacon fat that really makes these biscuits something special. When I told my sister we were going to dip the biscuits in bacon fat, I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. She said, she felt her arteries hardening just thinking about them. But, really the bacon fat doesn’t over power the biscuits. It creates the most incredible texture, flavor and crunch when you bite into them. Absolutely delicious!

Our vacation is right around the corner and can’t wait! We will be leaving for New Orleans, Saturday, July 12. We’re catching a very early flight 6:30am. So, we have to be at the airport before 4:30am … Yikes!

My wife and I are really looking forward to the trip. It should be a lot of fun and the first time my wife and I will be able to get away without the kids. Mind you that means the kids will be home alone for the first time too. That’s a little scary! Even though they are 21 and 19 years old it’s still difficult to leave them. I know they are responsible and can take care of themselves. But, it’s still hard.

It has been such a busy week and I apologize for being late on my posting. We had new flooring installed and my wife and I painted the livingroom and hallway … three coats of paint was needed Plus, we tiled the fireplace and made a new mantle. It was a lot of work but looks great.

So, it was nice to spend a relaxing day making bread. I decided to make a pumpkin raisin bread, I know it’s not fall yet, but, I wanted something comforting and relaxing to munch on after such a hard week of home renovations. What a delicious bread! I love the smell of cinnamon and allspice in the air while the bread is baking. Pure comfort!

Well, I have 4 days left before we leave for our holiday and I still have to strip the patio and re-stain it. Looks like it’s going to be another busy few days. I also have to create a few posts for the blog. My sister will be posting them while we are gone. Take care everyone!

PS. If you have any ideas of things we should see in New Orleans or restaurants to go to. Please let me know.

Once a month, my wife’s sister has a ladies poker night. A group of 5 -6 ladies get together for a night of food, drinks and a friendly game of poker. We’re not talking about a lot of money here. I think it’s more of a fun night to socialize and share some laughs. This has been going on for several years now. The ladies take turns hosting the night at their home - I usually try to clear out of there when it’s my wife’s turn. It’s better that way. At my age, I have learned that whenever a group of women get together, it’s best not to hang around. If you know what I mean!

For the December poker night, the ladies go all out. Everyone brings some Christmas goodies and little gifts for each other. Everyone in the group are well aware of the challenges my wife has with anything having to do with cooking and they tease her all the time about what her husband is going to make for the poker party! The same thing goes for the potlucks at her workplace and dinner parties at our house. Don’t get me wrong my wife can cook but she’s the first to admit that she’s a little awkward in the kitchen. That’s why she married me. At least that’s what she tells me.

Well, last Christmas I made this Cranberry Walnut Swirl bread. The cranberries really gives this bread a festive look and it’s full of delicious flavor; a great combination of sweet and tart. Perfect for a brunch, breakfast or snack. It slices like a pie, so as a finger food, it’s great because you can slice it in as many pieces as you want. So, if you end up with more guests then expected you can cut the bread in smaller pieces. Plus, it’s a real eye catcher too!

For a step by step class of this great tasting Cranberry Walnut Swirl click here.

For a printable recipe card of this Cranberry Walnut Swirl click here.

For more free bread recipes go to our parent website at Cookingbread.com.

Firstly, I would like to say that we think we have fixed the hacker problem and thank everyone for their support. Now, lets get back to baking!

Sometimes, I wonder, who was the first person to start placing vegetables into baked goods? I ‘m sure it had to be someones mother, trying to get their kids to eat more vegetables. Whoever that clever mom was, she should get a medal.

I love the color and texture that carrots and other vegetables give to baked breads. Growing up you could never get me to eat carrot bread or zucchini bread. If my mom made carrot bread or cake she would have to lie to us because, if we ever caught wind that there were vegetables in the bread, we would never eat it.

These little carrot buns are stunning with the shredded carrots sprinkled throughout the interior, as well, they create a real chewy texture. You can taste the whole grains and the smoky flavor of the malt with every bite. The carrot buns would make a wonderful accompaniment to a piping hot bowl of soup or a chunky beef stew.

For a step by step class of this great tasting Carrot Buns click here.

For a printable recipe card of this Carrot Buns click here.

For more free bread recipes go to our parent website at Cookingbread.com.

We would like to congratulate Jacqueline the winner of our Cookbook Give Away! Jacqueline has a new blog site at Toxo Bread and was hoping to explore more adventurous bread recipes. I’m sure that this wonderful Cookbook will be an inspiration to her.

We would like to thank Octopus Publishing Group for donating the Bread Machine Easy Cookbook. As well as everyone who participated in this giveaway.We would like to apoligize to all those who were unable to enter do to hackers. We are still in the process of fixing the problem and are planning a second giveaway as soon as we have this matter fixed.

Thank you for your understanding and patience, we hope to be up and blogging very soon.

Chuck and Angie

One of the perks to having a food blog is that sometimes we get the opportunity to review new cookbooks that are coming on the market. I received an email from Octopus Publishing Group ( http://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/ ) from the UK, telling me about a brand new Bread Machine cookbook that they will be launching soon called “bread machine easy“. They were wondering if I would be interested in trying out a few recipes and telling my visitors on my blog and website about the launch. I agreed and they sent me two copies of the book. Whenever, I get a new cookbook I’m like a child with a new toy. I can’t wait to peek inside and see what tasty morsels I may find. I don’t know about you, but I always look at the photos first, then the recipes. I can’t help myself, I’m more of a visual person. Many of the recipes have a full page color photo of the finished bread, which I enjoyed very much. To be perfectly honest, I won’t buy a cookbook without photos inside. Mind you thats just me, but, I like to see how the recipe will turn out when finished. The photos are very simple, clean and delicious looking. The picture above came out of the cookbook and shows one of the breads I made - a ” Gingered Papaya and Pineapple bread”. Doesn’t that just sound like summer to you? The bread had a luscious taste both toasted and untoasted, perfect with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Each recipe comes with a description, suggestion or comment; which I love reading because they really add to the visual appeal of the recipe.

The “bread machine easy” was created by Sara Lewis who has worked in magazines for over 12 years and has authored numerous cookbooks such as Gourmet Low Carb, Souffles, Veggie Food for Kids and Good Food for Mums. Sara Lewis did a great job with the technical aspect of the book, with a section dedicated to making the most of your bread machine to troubleshooting. I even learned a thing or two myself. Plus, each recipe has at least one helpful tip to make things move smoothly. The “bread machine easy” cookbook has about 70 interesting and tantalizing recipes, all categorized. You will find Everyday Classics, Gourmet breads, Sweet breads, Shaping breads, Wheat and Gluten Free breads to Tea-breads. One of the downsides of this book is that each recipe only makes a 1 1/2 lb loaf. So, if you want a larger or smaller loaf you will have to figure that out yourself.

One of the other loaves I tried was the Tarragon and Ricotta bread. There was no photo for this recipe and thats one of the reasons I wanted to make it. It turned out beautifully, full of flavor and very attractive too. This is the photo we took of the finished bread. There are many interesting recipes in this cookbook from Light whole-meal bread with omega boosters, Beer and brown sugar bread, Indian spice chickpea bread and Beetroot, Horseradish and caraway bread just to name a few. I really hope you will check out the “bread machine easy” cookbook and some of the other wonderful books at Octopus publishers, many of the books you won’t find here in North America.

COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY!!

Octopus Publishing Group was nice enough to give me an extra copy to give away to one of my lucky visitors. All you need to do is make a comment on why you would like this cookbook. Your comment won’t be the deciding factor because it will be a random draw. But, I thought it would be fun to make some kind of a rule.

I’m glad I have a copy myself and it will make a perfect addition to your collection. So, be sure to make a comment and the draw will be sometime on June 6th, 2008.

I think the weather has finally changed for the better and BBQ season has begun for me ( I knew there was a God ). You’d think with “Global Warming” I would have had the BBQ out long ago. We just finished having one of the worst winters and now April has been the coldest on record; with May not doing much better. Well, I better change the subject you don’t want to get me started and I’m sure you don’t want me talking about the weather.

So, back to the BBQ … I was finally able to pull the BBQ out of the shed and cook up some of the most delectable ribs you’ve ever tasted. To kick off BBQ season, I wanted to create a bread that would really compliment family picnics and barbecuing. I made these Corn Jalepeno Lava breads that not only have a savory kick to them, but look amazing too. My sister says they look like little money sacks. I love the way the cheese flows down the sides of these loaves. Just like the way lava would flow down the sides of a volcano.

The Jalepeno peppers are not overpowering but definitely there. They create a truly remarkable flavor that will tantalize your taste buds, one that keeps you wanting more. The corn has a sweetness that is soothing and the cheese … Well, what can I say about the cheese? I really think it’s the cheese that makes this bread. Of course you can use any combination of cheeses you want. But, the Mozzarella and Gruyere cheeses make one of the best flavor partnerships. This recipe makes three small loaves that will be devoured in no time at any family BBQ or picnic.

For a step by step class of this great tasting Corn Jalapeno Lava Bread click here.

For a printable recipe card of this Corn Jalapeno Lava Bread click here.

For more free bread recipes go to our parent website at Cookingbread.com.