Original post here.

The recipe information says its good for 30 days, and thats about what it lasted.  At about the 30day mark it started loosing flavor really quickly.  Which is fine, the recipe made more than enough for that time period for us. 

2nd time making it I made a half recipe, since we didn’t use all of the first batch, and I used just a little less of each liquid (I didn’t measure sorry, maybe a teaspoon or two less) and it took much less time to turn the right consistency.

Christmas, just over a year ago, my SIL got us a small dehydrator.  We’ve LOVED having it in the house, and its been in use pretty much constantly.  And I have to say that for what it is I’ve been quite happy with it.  After a year of hard use the motor is still running just fine, though the trays are showing definete warping.  So after this past Christmas I ordered some new trays for it.  And its back in perfect running order again.

But after some additional discussion Husband and I decided we wanted more dehydrator than the little one could provide.  Now we’re still using it, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve also been slowly working on building up my stores of dehydrated meat and organs to feed the dogs for travel and SHTF type situations, and for that, well, the little dehydrator was just to slow.  So we ordered ourselves the Excalibur 3900 9 tray model dehydrator.  I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now and I’m absolutely delighted.  The temperature control is just awesome, and it holds SO MUCH MORE of whatever I’m dehydrating.  So totally worth the money!

So, I decided to try making homemade mustard.  It started out as a random thing, I ran across a recipe for a Dijon mustard and started asking hubby about the mustard he eats.  Cause I don’t care for it.  Now he usually eats Spicy Brown, but remembered seeing a Good Eats episode where Alton made a mustard recipe that he thought sounded good.  So I dug out the recipe.

And then the modifications began.  Hubby DOES NOT LIKE sweet pickles, so he asked me to find a substitute for that.  Well, someone in the recipe comments had used white wine vinegar, so I said sure.  Then I got started and discovered I was out of apple cider vinegar.  A google search said that red wine vinegar was an acceptable substitute just not as sweet.  So ok.

In the end I followed Alton’s recipe except for swapping out those two items (I did not add any extra sugar).  Hubby says its damn close to spicy brown and he loves it.  I guess I’m making mustard!  It turned out really easy to do, and not really time consuming, so I don’t mind.

(several of the commenters/reviewers complained about it being to liquid, but as another commenter pointed out you just keep heating it till its reduced to the consistancy you want, though I may try reducing the liquid just a bit next time)

Its been cold enough today that the woodstove can’t quite keep up.  So rather than turn up the heat I decided to bake instead.

 

First up, Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls:

Ingredients:

For the Biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups heavy cream
For the Filling:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the Icing:
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place the oven rack in the upper third of the oven.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cream and stir with a wooden spoon until a rough dough comes together. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Knead the dough for about 30 seconds, or until smooth. If the dough seems dry, add more cream 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Roll the dough into a 9×12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the melted butter. Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the surface of the dough. Starting at one of the long sides, roll the dough into a cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 8 equal pieces. Press down on one side of each piece to flatten slightly, then transfer to a pie plate. Repeat with all the pieces.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk and drizzle the icing over the biscuits. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

I used store bought frosting, and I had to add an extra 1/2cup of flour to the recipe.  But they turned out awesome.

 

And Soft Pretzels:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (around 110 degrees F)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons if you’re using bulk yeast)
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ounces butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for bowl and parchment paper
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Coarse salt

Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the warm water, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let it sit for 5 to 8 minutes, until it gets a little foamy.
Add the flour and melted butter and mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated. Once there’s no risk of creating a plume of flour dust, increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl walls, climb up the hook and appears smooth. This should take 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove the dough and shape it into a smooth ball. Grease the bowl with a little oil, place the dough ball into the bowl and turn it so that it gets a thin coating of the oil. Cover the bowl some plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out and a towel to keep it warm. Let it rise for approximately one hour, or until it has doubled in size.
Combine water and baking soda in a large, wide pot and bring to a boil.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and generously grease the paper. Set prepared pans aside.
Turn the dough out of the bowl and onto a slightly oiled counter top. Gently deflate it a little and shape into a ball. Cut dough into quarters and then cut each quarter in half (so that you have 8 pieces of approximately the same size).
Roll each piece of dough into a long thin rope and twist it into a pretzel shape (see above for detailed instructions). Place on the greased parchment paper.
When all the pretzels have been shaped, give each one a 30 second turn in the baking soda-spiked boiling water (a slotted spoon or spider is the best tool for this job). Return boiled pretzels to their positions on the baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake pretzels until they reach a deep, brown color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and serve warm (ideally with some coarse ground mustard). These pretzels are best on the day they are made, but can be refreshed in a hot oven on the second day. For longer storage, freeze them in a ziptop bag.

They turned out very nice.  I didn’t have any pretzel salt, so I grated chedder cheese over mine instead.

It really is too.  It calls for vinegar to simulate the taste of slow rise bread, and then forces the rise by putting the dough in the MICROWAVE.

Seriously.

Anyway after reading that I had to try it.  And I have to say it turned out pretty decent.  Its by no means the BEST bread I’ve ever made, but its definitely better than the cheap store bought stuff.  And the best part is that it only takes just over an hour from start to finish.

I found it here.

Note: it calls for a dutch oven to do the baking in, if you don’t have one however pretty much any lidded pot that’ll go in the oven and that is big enough will do, and in a pinch you can fake the lid with tin foil.

 

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (two packets)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer put the yeast, sugar, and water and let it sit.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Put a Dutch oven in to warm as the oven heats. Get out your flour, salt, vinegar, spray oil, and anything else you need.

Now that the yeast has had a few minutes to bubble up, add 3 cups of the flour as well as the salt and vinegar and beat for several minutes with the paddle. Add the last 1/2 cup of flour and switch to the dough hook and beat for seven minutes. Alternately, knead vigorously for five minutes, or until the dough becomes extremely elastic. This will still be a wet dough, but not goopy. The dough will clear the sides of the bowl but still stick to the bottom.

Lightly grease a microwave-safe bowl with vegetable oil and transfer the bread dough to it, rolling it in the oil. Cover the bowl with a very wet towel. Cover the whole thing with a dry towel and put in the microwave. Microwave on HIGH for 25 seconds.

Let rest in the microwave for about five minutes.

Microwave on HIGH for another 25 seconds, then remove.

Let rest and rise for another 15 minutes.

Shape into a ball and plop into the preheated pan. Quickly slash the top with a knife. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the internal temperature hits 210.

So today I was looking for something different to make when it occurred to me that I’d not tried King Arthur Flour’s Cheese cracker recipe lately.  I’d made it several times before but I always had trouble rolling the dough thin enough, but over the winter I found a pasta roller on sale, and then never made crackers.

So, out came the pasta roller, and I made crackers.

I’m not going to copy over the recipe, just click the link.  But they are pretty easy to make, and the only fancy ingredient you need is the powdered cheese.  I do suggest that when measuring out the cheese powder to make it a heaping to overflowing 1/2 cup.  I also suggest that when baking, at the 8 minute mark when you separate the crackers you also flip them.  From then on watch them closely, they really WILL go from golden to to brown in a second or two.   The only other thing I do that the recipe doesn’t suggest is that once they’re cool I put them into a large ziplock bag and add some more cheese powder and shake till the crackers are covered.

They’re awesome, and I totally recommend them!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Now I bake bread.  I’m not a master baker or any such, but I can bake bread and have it turn out decent.  My father, who taught me, ought to do it professionally but he decided that it wouldn’t be fun then, so he wisely decided to stick to baking for friends and family only.  So I KNOW what all this stuff is thats being talked about, and the descriptors and side comments are leaving me in stitches.  So totally worth the read, and shaping up to be a good set of instructions on bread baking.  If you’ve always wanted to learn, go read.

Yes, you read that title right, white lasagna.  See, I’m not a huge fan of tomato sauce.  Its ok in pizza, but thats about it.  So a while back I went looking for a white lasagna recipe.  Ran across one that was titled “(Major Chain Restaurant)’s 5 Cheese Lasagna”, the recipe called for the addition of chicken, and 2 cheeses I’d never heard of, one of which I wasn’t able to find locally.  So I “fixed” it.

Mind, its STILL not a recipe for anyone on a diet.  But I dumbed it down a bit, made it a bit easier to make, and so I make it a couple times every winter.  I cheat and use the pre-cooked lasagna noodles (the trick to make them taste right is to pre-soak them, before you do anything else for the lasagna set the noodles to soak in a pan of warm water, it makes a HUGE difference), but I DO use fresh cheese as much as possible.  I’ve had a couple people suggest that you could slice up some fresh tomatoes, or zucchini or the like and layer that in with the cheese, and I’m sure it would be wonderful that way too…..but I like it just the way it is.  I usually make a small lasagna pan, and several single serve size Pyrex containers, then once cool, put the lids on the Pyrex containers and freeze them for later.

(and yes, I’m making this for supper tonight!)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 Tbls. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1-32oz pkg ricotta cheese
• lasagna noodles
• Cheese: lots, I usually grab a good sized block of sharp cheddar, a couple large rolls of mozzarella, some fresh provolone, some asiago, a good sized block of Parmesan, and whatever else catches my eye at the grocery store.  You can do this with all pre-shredded cheese, but you’ll miss out, trust me.

 Directions:

• In a 1qt sauce pan heat the milk, pepper, garlic and salt, stirring constantly as mixture comes to a simmer, add the flour and stir till it thickens
• Refrigerate till cool (does not have to be cold, just not hot) 
• If using pre-cooked noodles now is the time to set them to soak, also preheat oven to 350F
• Spread a THIN layer (as in barely there) of the ricotta cheese and a small amount of the milk sauce across the bottom of the pan
• Spread out first layer of noodles and then spread ricotta cheese then layer on a handful of each of the cheese, and a little milk sauce. Repeat pasta, cheese layering till pan is full
• On the top layer of noodles repeat cheese layering and pour the rest of the milk sauce on top
• Cover with tinfoil (and I recommend layering some tinfoil on the bottom shelf of the oven under the pan in case the cheese bubbles over)
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour (if making single serves like I do they’ll probably come out about the 45 minute mark, though the time I forgot and left them in the hour they were fine)
• Remove from oven and loosen, but do not remove, the tinfoil
• Let set for at least 20 minutes (or as long as possible, I usually barely make it 10….) before serving to allow cheese the set (or it’ll go gooey all over the bottom when you try to lift out a piece), I usually just sit it on top of the warm oven to set without going cold 
• Enjoy!  (and don’t complain to me when your doctor has a fit over your cholesterol, I DID warn you!) 

Edited cause I almost forgot: the made, but uncooked lasagna will keep overnight in the fridge just fine, infact I’ve made it that way for cooking the next day several times, I have not tried freezing the uncooked lasagna.  Cooked lasagna keeps for several days in the fridge and freezes and reheats just fine.