Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season! It has been some time since I posted so it’s good to be back. Several months ago I tried a no-knead bread recipe I found on Pinterest. It was great – easy, fast, and delicious! It got me looking at and trying lots of other bread recipes I came across. In fact, I haven’t purchased any bread at the store since!

Some recipes, I found, were easier, some were faster, and some had a much better flavor and texture. I’m still trying new recipes and this one, for Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, will definitely be added to my bread rotation. I found this recipe at A Hint of Honey and made a few changes when I made it. For one thing she baked her’s on a pizza stone. A pizza stone is on my want list but I don’t have one yet so decided to bake mine in a loaf pan. It worked great! Also, she used white wheat flour in her bread but I didn’t have any in my pantry so I used all-purpose and bread flour, and again, it worked great. So basically this is a very easy and flexible recipe.

If  you have never made your own bread it is really worth a try. There are recipes out there for bread that can be mixed up in just minutes and that don’t require any kneading. Recipes for other breads, like this Rosemary Olive Oil Bread require a little more time but especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, are really very easy. (No stand mixer with a dough hook? A Hint of Honey gives instructions for mixing by hand) AND the smell of homemade bread baking in your kitchen is one that just can’t be beat AND no chemicals (preservatives, flavor enhancers ect – who needs them???)

This is a delicious bread, light and with a great flavor and texture! Don’t be intimated by the long list of ingredients, it’s not as complicated as it looks and mixes up quickly and easily! I would love to hear your comments about it!

Homemade Dinner Rolls

Dinner Rolls

I have always loved the smell of bread or rolls baking – takes me back to my Mother’s kitchen – there’s just nothing like it. Plus, I love making homemade things, without all the added chemicals. I mean really, do bread or rolls need flavor enhancers? Preservatives? Not if they taste like fresh homemade ones. The flavor is great with nothing added but a little butter and when they are this tasty, they sure aren’t going to last long enough to need preservatives!!! And if, like me, you don’t have a houseful to eat them you can just freeze them and take out one or two whenever you want. If you have never made homemade rolls you really ought to jump right in and give them a try. They aren’t difficult, if fact they whip up easily and if you have a mixer with a dough hook they don’t even require any hand kneading. Easy Peasy! And once you try them, smell the wonderful aroma, and get a taste of the flavor, you will never want store bought again! If you have any questions or need any additional info about making your own rolls just let me know in the comments below and I’ll be glad to help in any way I can! Don’t hesitate – jump in and give them a try – I guarantee you’ll be glad you did!!!

Country White Bread

Grandma’s Country White Bread from Pennies and Pancakes

Can’t believe it’s been a month since I posted anything. Ok, the reason, I admit it, is that I got sidetracked by Pinterest. My daughter ask me one night on the phone if I had ever checked out Pinterest, and when I said no, I didn’t even know what it was, she told me I really needed to look it over as there was so much neat information there. Well, here I am, a month later, finally pulling myself away from Pinterest to do a post on my site. My mind is still in a fog from all the wonderful recipes and crochet patterns I’ve seen and been trying. SO…..BE WARNED! If you haven’t checked out Pinterest yet don’t even wander over there if you have anything at all that you need to get done – PEOPLE HAVE DISAPPEARED THERE FOR WEEKS AT A TIME!!!!!!!

I have always loved yeast breads but now that my kids are grown and I live alone I just never make it anymore – guess it just seemed to much effort for one person. But then there was Pinterest, tempting me with all these new recipes I had never seen before – No Knead Bread?? Fast & Easy?? Wow, they sounded really good. First I tried the “No Knead Bread” and I loved it. It made a beautiful round loaf that could be flavored with all types of add ins. I will try to get that recipe posted in a few day because if you haven’t tried it you really might want to. Talk about easy, quick and delish!!

I really wanted to try a regular loaf of white bread like I remembered growing up with but I no longer had my Mom’s recipe. Then I found this recipe! Not only is it far faster and easier than any I used to make, it raised up beautifully and tastes absolutely wonderful! I will definitely be making this bread again and again!

At the Pennies and Pancakes site Andrea has a wonderful tutorial called “How to Make Homemade Bread (Step by Step) that you might want to check out. Thank you Andrea for the wonderful recipe and the great tutorial!!

To try this great bread stop by Andrea’s site or continue reading for the recipe:

Zucchini Bread

There are many good recipes around for zucchini bread and this is the one I have used for years and have had very good luck with. As anyone who has a garden and grows zucchini knows, at harvest time you need lots of good recipes for using it all up. Friends, for some reason, stop answering their door when they see you coming, afraid you have more zucchini for them. This bread freezes very well and it is nice to be able to thaw it out for a winter treat. I also freeze grated zucchini in 2 cup containers so I can mix up a batch whenever the mood strikes.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I really like to make my own seasonings, condiments and to use as little prepared foods as possible. There is always so much sodium and so many chemicals in prepared foods. And yes, I know that flavor enhancers, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and lots of things I don’t even know what they are, all make foods last longer, taste better?, and look better but I really don’t want them in my foods! I prefer to know what is in my food. However I never considered making my own tortillas. I figured they were probably difficult to make and very time-consuming, but guess what? According to this recipe they aren’t difficult at all and I’m definitely going to give them a try. I would love to hear from you if you try this recipe and have your opinion.

Homespun Corn Bread

This is another recipe from the Hill N’ Holler cookbook published by the Madison County Arkansas Extension Homemakers Club in 1977. I love these recipes and hope that you will enjoy this one.

Yeast Biscuits

Another recipe from the Madison County Extension Clubs Hill N’ Holler cookbook, published in 1977. I have for years added yeast to my biscuits, I just like the flavor and bit of lightness the yeast adds. I haven’t seen any recipes for yeast biscuits though so I found this recipe interesting. I haven’t tried this recipe but it is very close to what I make. Hope you will give them a try and enjoy!

Lemon Monkey Bread

As I stated in my last recipe I have been making monkey bread for years and love it, the ease of making it and of course the flavor. When I saw this recipe for Lemon Monkey Bread on the Pillsbury site I just had to give it a try. I can’t say that it will make my favorites list for monkey bread – I really prefer monkey bread with cinnamon! But……this does have a really good flavor and is a very nice change of pace from regular monkey bread. It’s not difficult to make and because the Grands biscuits are larger makes a bigger batch. I had some leftover and reheated it in the microwave and it reheated well. I would love to hear what you think of this compared to regular monkey bread!

 

Cinnamon Pull-Aparts (AKA Monkey Bread)

This is one of my most requested recipes! I always take it to family get-togethers and it seems to disappear before the meal is even served! It’s also one of the easiest and fastest cinnamon roll “type” recipes I have. I’ve made it for so many years I don’t have an exact recipe, I just throw it together anymore but this is really close to what I use. Hope you give it a try – I really think you will like it!!

Easy Peasy Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

Is there anyone who doesn’t love cinnamon rolls? I haven’t met any of them if there are. But…sometimes you just don’t have the time to mix up yeast dough and let it rise twice. So when you want “yummy in a hurry”, biscuit cinnamon rolls are fast, easy and even though they don’t taste like yeast rolls, they are really good! Sometimes I make my own biscuits from scratch but sometimes even that takes to long so I use biscuit mix (like Bisquick or Pioneer). This batch was made with Pioneer (my favorite biscuit mix and available at Walmart). Now that they are done I’m not hungry for one right now – too much tasting of the frosting I guess – Well I had to make sure it was the right consistency and who can resist cream cheese frosting??? The best thing about these is that you can easily change anything about them and tailor them to your personal taste. You can use more or less sugar in the dough, more or less cinnamon and sugar in your filling, add nuts or raisins if you want and make your frosting thicker or thinner, put on more or less, whatever. Have fun with them and enjoy!!