Now that is not so blazing hot outside, C and I went to the park for the first time today. He had lots of fun on the swings, playing with a fire hydrant, and practicing his walking with the help of a fence. Here is one picture, but I will post more later.
I've adapted this recipe from a bread recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. This bread is especially great with Italian dishes and wonderful for making toasted sandwiches.
One very important thing to remember with this recipe is to NOT RUSH the rising or baking process. That is unless you have a thing for heavy and gooey bread...
Course: Bread
Ingredients
Dough
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated garlic (I personally like Savory Spice Shop's Roasted Granulated Garlic)
½ tsp onion powder
3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
¼ cup water
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 tbsp white vinegar
Filling
½ cup minced onion
4 cloves roasted garlic, minced
1½ tsp crushed rosemary
1 tbsp minced parsley
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the dough, combine the yeast, sugar, salt, granulated garlic, onion powder, and 1½ cups of the flour in a large bowl.
Combine in a small saucepan and warm the milk, water and butter until liquid reaches 110℉.
In a stand mixer, combine the warmed liquid, vinegar, and flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened, then increase speed to medium and beat for an additional 3 minutes.
Add 1½ cups additional flour, reduce speed of mixer to low, and mix until a sticky dough is formed.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead adding ½ to 1 cup more of flour until dough is smooth and pliable.
Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. This step can also be done on the floured surface, if you have the counter space.
While dough is rising, cook in a saucepan the onions, garlic, rosemary, salt, parsley, and butter until onions are translucent.
Punch down dough and roll into a rectangular shape about 16x8 inches.
Spread the cooked onion mixture over the dough rectangle, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and starting from the 16 inch side roll the dough up tightly. Then wind up the roll into a bun like shape.
Place the bread seam side down onto a greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled in sized.
Preheat oven to 400℉. Bake bread until golden brown about 20 to 30 minutes.
“Once upon a time in a land not so very far away, lived a girl who loved peanuts in most any form they came. She would eat peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly of course), Reeses’s Peanut Butter cups, Butterfinger candy bars, and a multitude of other things containing peanuts. All was well until she found out that she was allergic to peanuts, one of her favorite foods. It was a very sad time in the Johnson house and there may or may not have been slight periods of mourning.”
Early this August, I went to the allergist for a food challenge, after a blood test had found that my levels for peanuts had dropped significantly. Nearly eight years after cutting peanuts from my diet, I was in the doctor’s office eating spoon after spoon of peanut butter—with a bottle of Benadryl and vial of epinephrine sitting on the table across from me. After eating almost a cup of peanut butter, I (peanut lover, turned deathly allergic) was cleared to once again eat one of my favorite foods!
Needless to say, Jason and I were very happy when we found out the wonderful news, and since we have been making up for lost time making/eating lots of yummy things. One such yummy thing has been this peanut butter pie. While the basics of the pie are like a lot of peanut butter pies out there, what makes this one different is its orange flavored ganache, giving it an intriguing twist.
While I’m not sure what my dad was thinking in this photo (or what he was planning to do with those paper towels) here is a picture of the pie right before my family devoured it.
As you can see from my mistake, the two hours chilling time is definitely needed…
This morning I was reading a post on friend’s blog about being Blessed beyond Measure and was truly encouraged by recalling some of the ways the Lord has chosen to bless me. I think about how the Lord continually provides for my family, how He surounds me with brothers and sisters in Christ, how He protects me…fights for me when Satan tries to discourage, how He encourages and teaches me by using those I think I should be teaching, and in many other ways that would take an entire post to list. That being said, one of the first ways that came to my mind is how He is allowing me to be a part of the steering committee for an AMAZING event that my church hosts every other year (click here for more information)!
In the Summer of last year, I was approached about heading up the food committee for this event and after some prayer Jason and I decided that it would be a great thing for me to do. I never would have guessed all the Lord would do to bless me by making that decision. I have been able to build relationships with a group of godly ladies that I might not have had the opportunity to do so otherwise. Every month we have our monthly planning meeting, which is always such a sweet time of community and fellowship. This month I hosted our last meeting at my house and of course, me being me, had to throw some yummy food into the mix. After the Lord laid on my heart what He wanted me to share during our devotion time I had to rethink a few of my menu choices that would have taken a little too much time/stress to do well. Thankfully the Lord allowed me to find easy things to prepare and serve that weren’t too far out there or expensive, as I will often make things myself since they’re generally more cost effective that way. Here is what we had on the menu…
Food
Sweet and tangy meatballs
Praline cashews (A Southern Season)
Baked brie with crackers
Fresh fruit
Raspberry Tart (Trader Joe’s)
Drinks
Sweet tea
Orange cucumber water
Decaf coffee
I was very pleased with how things turned out, minus the slightly burnt brie (that’s what happens when you get caught up talking) and I know that God used our time during the meeting to get a lot accomplished. A few of the ladies asked for the recipes of my meatballs and brie so I figured I could just add them to the blog.
