Baking Up Goodness!!

Yes, this is the third post today. It seems that I only get to post every week or so these days, yet my mind doesn't stop and there are many blog posts that get stored in my mind.

I've been baking a lot lately - or cooking, making things in some way. And posting about it on here. Before, I was tempted to keep my secrets to myself, but I've been sharing more these days, too. I hope you like my posts about the recipes I've been trying out (b/c there will be more and more!), and feel free to share any of your favorites. Also, let me know if you try any of the ones I post about and tell me how you liked it!

(PS - I still am not giving out my peanut butter fudge recipe. That's a signature dish of mine. Sorry - can't have it! Well, no, I'm really not sorry. You just can't have it. Few people have gotten it out of me, and it's only been for special occasions!)

So - my latest was bread. Ryan asked why I needed to make bread. He thought it was a little silly and superfluous, I think. Well, after last night, he's not thinking that anymore! This bread was delicious and easy. I did have to make the starter the night before and take various steps the day of making it, letting it rise for a couple hours between each step. But since I stay at home and was home for the day, it wasn't that bad. Aiden enjoyed watching me go through some of the steps, too (each only took a little while when I actually had to DO something with the bread). If you work away from home, this is probably better as a weekend recipe.

Here are a couple pictures. Pictures of the dough before/after it's risen aren't that exciting, but the pictures of the finished product sure are! (I think so, at least...)

First...a little help from my friends.

My KitchenAid mixer is a long-time friend of mine. I couldn't live without this thing!! Plus, it was a treat I saved up for when I was a single-mom in college, so it means that much more to me personally. A friend recently asked what I actually use it for b/c she couldn't think of what she would need it for to make it worth the cost. I wanted to laugh b/c it is indispensable to me!!

My newest kitchen friend is our new Cuisinart 11-cup food processor. We're going to use it to help make baby food for Aiden soon, but so far it has been a great help with shredding cheese, esp for this bread. (And yes, that is a tv in my kitchen... The tiny apartment kitchen does not lend itself to having a room full of people, so cooking can get either very crowded or lonely in there. It's nice to have something on while baking at times when I am in the kitchen for an hour or more.)

And the moment you have all been waiting for (or wondering about - since I'm posting about BREAD of all things here...).

TA-DA!!!

Yes, this came out of MY oven. Four of these, actually. And they were quite yummy.

The original recipe calls for Gruyere cheese. We used good 'ol cheddar - because that's what we like. It was fabulous. Not sure which kind of cheese I'll try next. The recipe is also called Gruyere-Stuffed Crusty Loaves. I told Camden I was making "volcano" bread (the cheese melts out of the bread like lava). Because then he was more excited and thought they were really cool. Call them what you like. They are simply GOOD.

Here is the recipe.
And the bakers blog with details, tips, pictures, etc.
This blog is worth subscribing to via Google Reader or whatever you use.
By the way, Google Reader is an excellent way of keeping up with my blog, too, ya know. ;) wink, wink. (You can also subscribe to my blog by clicking the "subscribe" button on the side of my blog page - or click to "follow" my blog if you are a fellow blogster, also somewhere on the side there.)

I subscribe to this blog AND get their email Newsletters. I have a bunch of printed recipes from them wanting and waiting to be tried!!