crafting food: baking powder biscuits

a good rule of thumb: if it involves a honeypot, it's probably going to be a beautiful thing.

one of my favorite fall traditions is sitting down with lord of the rings (the books or the movie) and a big bowl of stew. i usually serve this with apple cider and homemade baking powder biscuits which are so scrumptious with a touch of butter and honey!

here is a family recipe i use to make these very simple biscuits that are a great compliment to hearty sunday night dinners:

Baking Powder Biscuits
Makes app. 10 biscuits
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Sift together:
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder

then add:
6 TBLS. shortening
1 1/4 cups milk

i love my antique biscuit cutters but you can also use an upside down drinking glass
with a little flour on the edge to cut out your dough.

mix together and roll out at app. 1 inch thick. cut out circle shapes for biscuits and place on baking sheet. bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned and fluffy (if i recall, you can check them at about 10-15 minutes and go from there).


see, i told you they were simple!

Recipe Index

I've gathered up all my recipes on the blog for you here and hope you find something you'll want to make again and again—feel free to let me know how a dish turned out for you in the comments section of each recipe as I'd love to hear from you. Happy cooking!

P.S. Although there is a separate vegetarian category, I have tried to make notes for vegetarian options in as many other recipes as possible.


Main Dishes
Proscuitto Flatbread
Cheddar Ale Soup
Fresh Pasta
Choose Your Own Adventure Chili

Vegetarian Meals
Quinoa Vegetable Salad
Kat's Quiche
Spicy Pepperonata

Side Dishes
Roasted Asparagus
Buttered Brussel Sprouts
Skillet Cabbage
Farmer's Market Summer Salad
Cool Cuppa Cucumber Salad

Appetizers and Snacks
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Finger Food Smorgasbord
Bruschetta Two Ways

Baking
Gingerbread Men (and Women!)
Oatmeal Bread
Baking Powder Biscuits
Pie Crust Design and Leaf Pie Crust Q & A

Desserts
Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato in Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bowls
Homemade Marshmallows

Canning
Granny's Strawberry Freezer Jam
Grandma Sorenson's Kosher Dills

Dressings, Frosting, Sauces, and Dips
Nana's "Beat the Hell Out of it" Buttercream Frosting
Garlic Hummus

Drinks
Prickly Pear and Papaya Freezer Smoothies

crafting food: oatmeal bread (yum)

I spent part of my weekend making one of my favorite things: oatmeal bread! It had cooled down a bit outside and so I thought it'd be a perfect time to use the oven and bake up some delicious homemade bread...I guess i'm on a roll in the kitchen as of late.

My doctor told me a while back I have high blood sugar and with a history of diabetes in the family, it's become important to me to try and vanquish all the nasty chemicals, preservatives, and refined sugars found in the things we buy at the grocery store that make it so difficult to maintain a healthy weight. It's a seemingly uphill battle but investing in some whole wheat flour has helped me to make a lot of things at home as I'd much rather be baking and cooking than standing in the grocery aisle attempting to disseminate misleading food labels.

Here is the family recipe for this very tasty bread:

(makes two loaves)

Combine in a large bowl:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter/margarine

Mix together dry ingredients and then add 2 cups of boiling water.

In seperate small bowl, mix together until dissolved:
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water

When oatmeal batter is cooled down to room temperature, add in yeast mixture.
Stir in:
5 cups whole wheat flour

Once dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead for 5–10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and cover with damp cloth. Place this in a draft free area and let rise once until doubled, punch down, then let rise again. Shape into two loaves and place in greased 9x5x3 pans to bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Before popping them into the oven you can brush them with a bit of melted butter and sprinkle oatmeal on top.

Tada, homemade bread! Yum.

crafting food: prosciutto flatbread

we took a long walk around the lake in town on saturday (it's about 5k i think!) and went grocery shopping afterwards so of course we were starving by the time we got home. luckily for us, we'd started some pizza dough the day before and let it ferment over night for some extra flavor so all we had to do when we got home was warm up the pizza stone and then pop the rolled out dough in for about 10 minutes for this lovely flatbread (apologies for the flash photos..blech i hate that light..but c'est la vive, i am always cooking dinner at night wouldn't ya know!). making flatbread is a DELICIOUS and easy way to feed your pizza craving, possibly even just a tad healthier since this recipe doesn't require any sauce and melty cheese. don't worry though, it's still completely mouth-watering to bite into!

once your flatbread is toasty and golden (pop it with a fork in a few places if it bubbles up while baking), slide it off the pan or pizza stone and onto a cutting board. you can make it like this (above) in the big circular shape of a traditional pizza pie or you can create small oval flatbreads for individual servings. we decided that next time we'll try making the bread into individual servings as they'll save you from having to cut slices, store better for leftovers, and help the toppings to stay put. also, i think this individual presentation would make them great party food as people could decorate their pieces any way they pleased!

we chose to scatter on handfuls of prosciutto, heirloom tomatoes, rough-chopped basil, crumbled feta cheese, a small drizzling of olive oil, and then topped off with some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. trust me on the black pepper...seriously SO GOOD! you can use all kinds of toppings though like arugula, fava beans, different cheeses, and so on.

wa-lah(!):

happy vday lovely people!

here, have a cupcake :) ok, sorry to tease!

you could say the recipe is "vintage." it's my nana's and calls for enough butter that you know it's from the 1950's. i posted the recipe as a cake last year but just made them into cupcakes this time and added a bit of food dye to the frosting to spruce 'em up for valentines. i recommend refridgerating them once frosted so that the frosting has time to set.

speaking of gingerbread...

when i caught sight of this on a friend's FB page, I almost let out a little scream of glee. ok so i did actually and scared the cat right off my lap! It's tiny and cute and YOU CAN EAT IT!! what more could you ask for on a cold winter's day?!

craftzine.com

featured on craftzine.com, "Not Martha has a tutorial on how to make this cute tiny gingerbread house that can perch on the rim of your mug. You can download the PDF template for the gingerbread cookie shapes. Thanks Sarah!"

nana's gingerbreadmen (and women!)

Tonight we set out to make my nana's gingerbread cookie recipe. I have the recipe copied down in her own hand and she specifically notes in the title that it is for "gingerbread men (and women!)." good ole nana, she had five boys and did what she could every now and then to get a word in edgewise!


The recipe is as follows:

Blend together
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 molasses

Then add in one egg and mix until fully blended with the dry ingredients.

Sift together and add
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon


Chill dough overnight for easier handling (this step can be skipped if you are in a hurry).
Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4" thick on a well-floured board. Decorate as you wish before you pop the cookie sheet into the oven!


Be sure to preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake each cookie sheet full for just 10–12 minutes. This will give you a softer and plumper gingerbread cookie than usual.

ENJOY!