Category:

Breadhead Roadtrips

4/12/2014

This is Joan and her mom, a pair of Bread-heads who contacted me earlier this week in the hope of arranging a brief visit to the abbey. I met them at a bread demo in St. Peter MO a couple of years ago, and Joan said that a visit to the abbey was on her Bucket List. Since I was free for the afternoon I was happy to receive them. We toured the abbey church and some of the public areas of the monastery proper, saw a little bit of the grounds, and ended up in the monastery refectory eating Magic Bread with homemade apple butter, before they left with a blessing and the rest of the loaf.
My only point in posting this brief log is to let Breadheads know that they can indeed visit the monastery, stay as overnight guests and even make a weekend or week-long retreat here. We find it difficult to properly host people who just "drop by" unannounced, in part because the guest rooms may be full and/or the community at work or prayer. But you can always contact me through this website to arrange a visit. If I have enough free time, you can even get a bread lesson!

On an entirely unrelated note, here is a picture of a sandwich-size cutting board with a matching butter spreader I made out of vintage oak salvaged from our old choir chapel. I also posted this picture on my Facebook Page, and from the response I gather that I will need to make a lot more of these and make them available for sale online!

2 Comments

While I'm at Hogwarts . . .

1/9/2014

3 Comments

I'm going to be at the Illinois High School Theatre Festival this weekend, hobnobbing with my fellow wizards. Since I won't be doing any baking, here is a slide show of photos I took of stained glass windows, all related to bread in some way. (I take pictures of church windows as souvenirs the way other people buy shot glasses and magnets at airports!) Hope you enjoy seeing them---I'll be back to the kitchen on Sunday. I'd enjoy knowing which are your favorites in the comments.

3 Comments

It's called "Deer Poop"?!

9/3/2013

0 Comments

The Stage Rats have a number of recipes they especially like---funnel cakes, donut holes made with refrigerator biscuits, caramel corn---but lately they've been bugging me about "deer poop". We always served this as a treat at theatre camp along with its counterpart "Fruit Poop" and the kids have been craving it, evidently.

I actually posted this recipe and photo last year after my nephew's "redneck" wedding (see August 2012). The bride had a camo dress (which she rocked) and a camo cake, so deer poop in a camo bowl seemed like a nice contribution to the reception. Here's the recipe, in case you have a hunter in your family whose birthday is coming up.

2 Pkg. (24 oz.) Wilton's Dark Cocoa Candy Melts
1/4 cup peanut butter
4 cups Cheerios (Dulce de Leche or Honey Nut)
1-1/2 cups of honey roasted peanuts
1-1/2 cups mini-marshmallows

In a large sauce pan, melt candy melts and peanut butter over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat. Using a wide rubber spatula, gently fold in Cheerios and peanuts until well coated. Allow mixture to cool slightly (5 to 10 minutes) before folding in marshmallows (they should remain whole rather than melting) until everything is evenly coated in chocolate. Drop by tablespoons onto parchment or wax paper. Allow to harden for two hours before storing in an airtight container.

Since last year, we've also made Deer Poop candy with Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter cereal, which is round and looks even MORE like deer poop! I like the flavor of the Dulce de Leche Cheerios the best, but make it and decide for yourself.

0 Comments

Filial Guilt, Russian Tea Cakes, and Binge Eating

7/25/2013

0 Comments

My mom recently injured her leg and has been hobbling around the house, ably assisted by my older sister Anj and my younger sister Eileen. I must confess to feeling guilty that I couldn't be there to help as well, so tomorrow I'm going to visit with a gift of Russian Tea Cakes. (The photo here is from the Kraft Foods website: link HERE.) These melt-in-your-mouth delights go by a variety of other names as well, most often Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies. They are ridiculously easy to prepare (just six ingredients) and are sure to become a family favorite if you don't already have them on your "must-bake" list.

There are lots of recipes out there with subtle variations regarding the amount of vanilla or the kind of nuts used, etc. I relied on good ol' Betty Crocker's version, which has a bit more vanilla and uses ground pecans (my mom's preference over walnuts or almonds). I've posted the recipe below, but HERE is the link to the actual web page. These cookies are popular at Christmas and you sometimes see them in the form of crescents; instructions and a photo can be found HERE.

I don't care what shape they are in, I could eat these sweet treats until I was violently ill and it would not be that bad. I said as much to some colleagues in the school office, which generated a discussion of favorite binge foods and the unhealthy behaviors they inspire in us. For one woman, it's chocolate cake: "I don't stop---I just eat it until it's gone." (I hasten to note that this woman's figure by no means suggests that she has ever eaten a whole cake!) Another person admitted that Frito's corn chips are his guilty pleasure: "Whole bag, gone before the commercial break."

As I diabetic, I can't really indulge in binge eating without some serious consequences, but if I had Wolverine's mutant healing factor, pancakes would be pretty high on my list, and I suspect I could take out a whole pan of warm cornbread if there were enough butter and honey in the house. But after rolling round butter cookies, still warm from the oven, in powdered sugar, I had to go to another floor of the monastery to force myself to leave them alone long enough to cool. Try this simple recipe and you'll find that these little goodies can wreak havoc on any dietary resolve.

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
(From the Betty Crocker Website)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped or ground almonds or pecans
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar

1
Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup powdered sugar, the butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in flour, almonds and salt until dough forms.

2
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 1 inch apart.

3
Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

4
Place 3/4 cup powdered sugar in small bowl. Roll cookies in powdered sugar. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar again. Cookies can be placed in an airtight container and freeze up to 3 weeks. Before serving, thaw the cookies and reroll them in powdered sugar.

0 Comments

Homemade vinegar, continued

5/30/2013

1 Comment

Well, I've alternated between feeding and ignoring my vinegar jar for the past six weeks, and today I decided on a test taste. Wow! Very tart, rich and flavorful, a bit overwhelming in fact. I'll definitely have to let this mellow a bit, maybe dilute it with some spring water before it goes on the tables in the monastery refectory. The mother on top was about a quarter inch thick, like a slimy piece of upholstery leather. I fished out all the old mothers and strained off the dregs from the vinegar before adding 2 more cups of Tuscan Red left over from a fundraiser in April. Then I cut off about a quarter of the most recent mother and dropped it into the jar. The project is working so well I decided to launch a second batch with white wine, in a gallon jar for makiing sun tea---I think the spigot will come in handy. I started with five cups of pinot grigio plus 2 cups of purified water and another quarter of the freshest mother. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to this batch.

Of course now I'm on the lookout for interesting bottles to use for vinegar decanters, and researching herbal vinegar recipes. I don't think this new hobby is going to overtake bread baking, but it gives me something to do while the bread is rising. Speaking of which, I have to mix some pizza dough for tonight's haustus. Back again soon!

1 Comment

Spring in the Woods

5/2/2013

0 Comments

I haven't been in the kitchen as much lately because I've been enjoying my spring ritual of walking in the woods with a camera. Since there have been fewer recipes, I thought I would share some of my favorite spring wildflower pictures.

0 Comments

Mmmmm . . . biscotti!

4/11/2013

0 Comments

Some friends of mine recently gave me a few pounds of dutch process cocoa powder. In case you don't know, this type of chocolate has been treated with an alkali to neutralize its natural acidity. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder. So I decided to make some biscotti.

The word "biscotti" comes from the Italian for "twice baked," and they were originally developed as a bread or cookie that would keep for a long time, as one might need for a journey or a time of war. They are very hard and crunchy and are traditionally dunked in vin santo (an Italian sweet wine) or coffee. The earliest recipes for them had no fat/oil or sugar in them, and many of these early biscotti were savory rather than sweet. At first pistachios or pine nuts were used, and later almonds, with anise being one of the most popular flavorings for sweet biscotti. I've made them with all sorts of ingredients, from white chocolate chips to dried cranberries to fresh mint. Once you get the simple technique, you'll be drawn to experiment!

The method for making biscotti is not difficult, but it does take some time because of the two baking periods. You can make them without nuts if you prefer. Here's what I did for the ones pictured above.

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9” x 13” baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium size bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (a stand mixer is even better!). Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; stir into the sugar mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts---I find it easiest to do this last step by hand with a sturdy spoon.

Divide dough into two equal parts. Shape each part into a 9 x 2 x 1” inch loaf. Place them onto baking sheet, evenly spaced. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes. Discard used parchment and line pan with fresh.

Using a wavy knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1” slices. Place the slices on their sides on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes on each side, or until dry ands crisp. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Optional: Melt a couple of squares of almond bark and drizzle on biscotti in a wavy pattern, as pictured.

0 Comments

Not baking

4/8/2013

1 Comment

I'm not sure if my readers have noticed, but I've been keenly aware of how long it's been since I posted anything on the Bread Blog. I could claim that there were all sorts of other things that got in my way---the spring musical, my teaching schedule, Lent, community meetings, Holy Week, weekend missions, our Fr. Joseph's funeral, yadda, yadda, yadda. And I certainly didn't do as much baking during the past two months as usual. But in point of fact, it has been a conscious choice to scale back.

Yes, dear Breadheads, I have been trying to be sensible.

I'm sure that those of you who know me well are shocked, shocked at this unexpected revelation. After all, I am notorious in the monastic community for staying up unreasonably late after a meeting to produce two dozen loaves of multigrain bread for a bake sale, or testing three new recipes simultaneously, or making homemade cream puffs for the stage crew during production week. But when I baked hot cross buns for Ash Wednesday, I made an extra batch to put in the freezer until Good Friday---entirely too sensible. I'd have a day off from rehearsals or set building and use the time to grade papers, do laundry and nap---clear signs of the coming Apocalypse. Easter came and went and I baked absolutely nothing---no pastries, no Austrian povitica, not a single dinner roll. And I don't feel the least bit guilty.

The fact, the spring musical took a pretty big physical toll on my body, with far too many late night tech sessions going up and down ladders, followed by mornings hobbling like a 90 years old arthritic to the shower. I soon came to the realization that something had to give, and since I can't quit teaching and don't want to skip prayer, much of my kitchen time had to go. I made a big batch of white bread for the freezer sometime in early March, and played around with caramel recipes, but otherwise most of my connection with baking came from casually reading bread recipes without any intention of actually making them.

I know this hiatus is just about over. I've got a pizza party this weekend, and a talk to give next Friday, and it won't be long before there are fresh chives and sage to inspire me. But it's been a good exercise in restraint, and a reminder that we all need to give ourselves permission to take a break now and then.

As I mentioned, however, I have been experiementing with homemade caramels, much to the delight of my students/test-tasters. The best recipe I've found is HERE, but be sure you have a large sauce pan with a heavy bottom so you don't scorch anything. Wonderful as they are, but also a fine recipe with which to make turtles or chocolate covered caramel-peanut clusters!

1 Comment

"Bread Flintstone" no more

1/26/2013

0 Comments

Although it feels shameful to admit it, I can no longer refer to myself as "Bread Flintstone" for resisting electric or electronic gadgets in the kitchen. I still prefer a chef's knife to a food processor, am proud to own three different sizes of hand-cranked Foley food mills, and will continue to spread softened butter with a wooden spatula. But the faculty of Saint Bede Academy were issued iPads this year, and once I discovered the wide variety of food apps available, there was no turning back.
So today I baked Monkey Bread Muffins with my friend Craig, plus a large Monkey Bread in a bundt pan---two recipes, same temp, different baking times. So I set two different timers with two different alarm sounds on my Timer+ app (Minama Sofware, FREE, with a couple of upgrades available for purchase). This morning I also entered several receipes into The Recipe Box (Corpus Collusion, $4.99) which allows me to import recipes instantly from dozens of websites like allrecipes.com and Betty Crocker. I looked at a LOT of recipe management apps in the iTunes App Store, some of which were free, but I liked the features and the good ratings The Recipe Box has. The keyboard for entering your own recipes has keys for "tsp", "Tbs", "minced" and other commonly used terms---really like that feature. The app also helps me generate shopping lists. Paprika Recipe Manager (Hindsight Labs LLC, $4.99) has similar features, does the "one tap" recipe download on over 190 supported sites, and has Cloud sync capability as well---I suspect I would have enjoyed using it, too. There are a number of free recipe manager apps out there, but I was willing to pay extra for the features I wanted. Many of these apps are available for smart phones as well. If you're new to the whole tablet thing, downlaod one or two free ones to get a feel for them before you decide to purchase one. And you can bet that if I find other useful kitchen apps I'll be sharing them. Have a favorite to suggest? Send me a message below, or tweet me @FrDomGarramone.

0 Comments

Bucket List

1/6/2013

1 Comment

The latest issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray appeared on the table of the abbey coffee corner, and although I don't watch her shows, I do like her recipes. So I leafed through the magazine this morning over coffee. There were some good looking side dishes and a year's worth of chocolate dessert recipes, but what really intrigued me was the article on developing a Bucket List, that is, a list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket."  (The idea comes from the movie of the same name--you can find Rachael's Bucket List here). I've had such a list for quite some time, which I refer to as my "Life Goals" and occasionally I try to get my students to write one out as well.
     I've managed to check off quite a few in the last 50 years. Write and publish a play? Check! Have my own TV show? Check! Make the syrup and the pancakes come out exactly even without having to pour more or enduring a soggy last bite? Check, with pancakes, French Toast, and waffles! Also among my other completed Life Goals: I have played a pinball machine for so long on a single ball that the computer in the machine thought something was wrong, turn itself off and ran a self-check. I actually didn't know that was a life goal until I had actually accomplished it. But I still have quite a few to complete, including:

--Be a guest on NPR's Splendid Table and make the host Lynn Rosetta Kasper laugh (she has a great "radio" laugh).
--Visit the factory where they make Brach's Maple Nut Goodies and eat them warm, straight off the line.
--Have a YouTube video (one that isn't embarassing!) that goes viral.
--learn to make great pie crust, every time
--Expand my repertoire of breakfast breads to include more yeasted coffee cakes.
--Make at least ONE recipe out of every ten that I repin on Pinterest.
--Adapt my Grandma Garramone's cinnamon roll recipe (she wrote it out herself and I think the amount of flour is too small) and make her Shortcut Kringle more often.

     This last one on the list (which is somewhat more expansive than what you see here) prompts me to make a point about life goals, bucket lists and resolutions in general   Experts tell us that to acheive goals successfully, the goals themselves have to be realistic, specific and measurable. No point in my saying, "I'll make her Kringle once a week," because once rehearsals for the musical start, I may not have a spare night for weeks on end, and the aforementioned "more often" is too vague. Better to say "I'll bake Grandma's Kringle for two special occasions this year"---realistic, specific, measurable.

One last thing for this year: get at least 1000 followers on Twitter. Yes, I've gone over to the dark side and started tweeting, mostly just to keep my publisher happy since he mentions it in nearly every phone conversation we have.  It's certainly true that most people in media use it a lot. We'll see what happens: @FrDomGarramone, if you're interested. I'll certainly tweet every time I have a new blog post or test a new recipe, but I promise you: no tweets about what I just ate unless it's a mini restaurant review or an invite to join me for supper!

1 Comment

<<Previous

Forward>>

Breadhead Roadtrips

While I'm at Hogwarts . . .

It's called "Deer Poop"?!

Filial Guilt, Russian Tea Cakes, and Binge Eating

Homemade vinegar, continued

Spring in the Woods

Mmmmm . . . biscotti!

Not baking

"Bread Flintstone" no more

Bucket List

Author

Categories

Archives