Well, I’m at it again with yet another bread recipe. It all started with deciding to serve Sloppy Joes (recipe on this site) as one of the entrées for an upcoming classical pre-concert luncheon at our home. And as with all the dishes served before concerts at our home, the entrées and side dishes must not only be different each time, but they must also be easy to eat. No knives required. So, I decided on Sloppy Joes and Rotolo al Forno (recipe also on site). And usually for sloppy Joes, I just use homemade sandwich bread. But to make the Joes more authentic, I decided to serve the hamburger mixture on buns. (BTW, the way God intended Joes to be served.) But then, I wanted a really soft and tender bun, so it was easy to cut with a fork. And this is the recipe I found. But for the life of me, I can’t remember which site provided this terrific and very easy to prepare recipe. (If I don’t write things down right away, they are often gone forever. My bad!)

Anyway, these buns were so easy to build and so absolutely perfect for what I wanted. And tasty too.

So, the next time you decide to serve Sloppy Joes or hamburgers for dinner, may I recommend making your own buns. And I know, I would have bought buns too if I were still a working mom. But if you are retired or trying to save money, baking your own bread is really cost effective.

Well, that’s it for today. And it’s 1:15 pm and I still haven’t figured out what to cook for dinner. So, I better post this and then pay a visit to our freezer.

I sincerely hope that one of these days I will get my act together and make a meal plan for the coming week. Of course, I have been saying this for years, and at the ripe old age of 80, I doubt that I will be able to change my ways. But we haven’t starved yet, so maybe it’s not that important anyway. Frankly I have a lot more work to do on myself that has nothing to do with food. I am very much engaged in learning to forgive and remain civil with people who do not agree with me politically. I simply can’t understand the sh-t storm that is emanating to and from our country. Not only is our country suffering, but we have subjected other countries with the consequences of our exceedingly bad behavior. I can only offer my profuse apology.   

Peace and love to all.

¼ c. whole milk

1⅓ c. warm water

1 T. instant yeast

4 tsp. granulated sugar

2 lg. eggs, divided

2 tsp. kosher salt

4½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

¼ c. (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temp.

veggie oil, for greasing the bowl

1 T. water

Place the milk, warm water, yeast, sugar, 1 of the eggs, salt, flour, and butter in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until everything comes together, and all the flour is incorporated into the dough. Start kneading the dough and add enough extra flour to form dough that is very sticky. Some of the dough will stick to the bottom of the bowl and the rest will pull away from the sides of the bowl like it is sheeting. Don’t be tempted to add too much flour. Then continue to knead the dough at a low speed for about 5 minutes.

Pour about a tablespoon of veggie oil on the side of the mixing bowl and use a stiff spatula and your hands to shape the dough into a greased ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and place it in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Punch it down and form the buns in one of two ways.

First method (my way). Using a #16 ice cream scoop that has been coated with cooking spray, squeeze off balls of dough and push them into the scoop. Too much dough, remove a bit. Too little dough, add a bit. Then, plop the dough balls at least 2 inches apart on a parchment paper or greased baking sheet. When you are finished forming all the dough, lift each dough ball and shape it with your hands by rolling the dough outward and under to form a smooth top. Place each bun back on the parchment paper, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rise for 45 minutes before baking. This method produces about 19 rolls.

After 45 minutes, whisk the remaining egg and water together and brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash.

Bake in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 11-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the internal temperature reaches at least 205-degrees.

Remove from oven, and cool completely before storing the buns in an airtight container.  

Second method. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter or floured pastry cloth. Divide with a sharp knife or bench scraper into 18 equal pieces and shape each piece of dough into a tight ball.  

Place on a parchment paper lined or greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rise for 45 minutes before baking.

After 45 minutes, whisk the remaining egg and water together and brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash.

Bake in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 11-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the internal temperature reaches at least 205-degrees.

Remove from oven, and cool completely before storing the buns in an airtight container.

It all started with Mr. C.

On one of Mr. C’s recent trips to Costco, he came home with a 12-pack of almond poppy seed muffins. And right then and there I decided I had been remiss in not making almond poppy seed muffins a part of our everyday life!  And even though the cost for these amazing muffins was not high, I decided I should be making them from scratch at home. And even if it was not a cost saving decision, it was a chance for me to once again cut unnecessary and possibly unhealthy preservative chemicals and fake ingredients from our diet. So, I found this recipe on the brokenovenbaking.com site. And boy am I glad I did. Because I had forgotten how much I love the combination of almond flavoring and poppy seeds.   

Kayla’s recipe on her site came with an almond glaze. But I decided, since I would be freezing most of the muffins, a glaze was not a good idea. (Glazes tend to break down into sticky messes when frozen or even refrigerated. Plus, we didn’t really need any additional calories.) And sure enough, the muffins were just delicious without a topping of any kind. And as you might already know, I often add toppings to muffins. But with these babies, there was really no need at all for any type of embellishment.

So, if you too love muffins that are quick and easy to build, contain simple ingredients, and don’t even require a mixer, this is the recipe for you.

Well, that’s it for today. Mr. C. has a gig tonight at the Rockfish Grill in Anacortes. And you might find this interesting. The Rockfish Grill is celebrating 25 years of serving Anacortes and Skagit County. They pour 30 different styles of beer year-round from the Anacortes Brewery right next door. Which BTW, is the 8th oldest brewery in the great state of Washington! But what impresses me the most about this restaurant is that The Rockfish is one of the longest continuously running music venues in Western Washington. And Mr. C. is lucky enough to be a part of 5 of the musical groups that provide entertainment while diners enjoy not only the food, but the welcoming atmosphere provided by the owners Allen Rhoades and Rick Star and their staff at the “fish”. So, am I looking forward to this evening? You bet I am. I will be dining with friends and listening to one of the greatest upscale classic rock bands around – The Fat Fridays. Life is good!

May your life also be filled with good food, good friends, and good music. This trio may seem a bit simplistic, but I assure you, good music, good friends, and good food help keep me from sinking into despair over what is happening to our country.

Peace and love to all.         

2¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed 

¾ c. granulated sugar

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 T. baking powder

2 T. poppy seeds

1 c. real buttermilk, room temp.  

½ c. veggie or canola oil

2 lg. eggs, room temp.

¾ tsp. good quality almond extract

Place muffin liners* (I needed 15 muffin liners) in your standard size muffin tin or tins. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds together.

In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and almond extract together.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until the flour streaks disappear.

Using a medium sized #20 (around 2¼-inches in diameter) ice cream scoop, plop balls of dough into the muffin liners.

Bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees.  

Remove from oven and allow the muffins to cool completely on a wire rack before eating or storing them in an airtight container.

*I use parchment muffin/cupcake liners. Using parchment liners rather than regular paper liners ensures that my muffins or cupcakes don’t stick to the liners. And OK, parchment paper isn’t as pretty and colorful as decorative paper liners. But you don’t lose any of the muffin or cupcake to a parchment liner the way you do with a paper liner. Pick your battles!  

(Sorry for not having a picture. But if you want to see what focaccia looks like, you can bring up my other focaccia recipes. All focaccias actually look pretty much alike.)  

This must be the easiest homemade bread recipe ever invented. No stand mixer required, no killing your hands by kneading the dough for several minutes, plus no worry whether you added too much or too little flour to the mix. This recipe is practically fool proof. OK, you could mess it up if you left it in the oven too long, or didn’t use instant yeast, or forgot to add the salt. That kind of error. But if you follow the instructions to the letter, you simply can’t go wrong.

And this focaccia is just so amazingly tasty. And chewy. Perfect with Italian food or anytime a nice hunk of bread would be perfect with soup or stew. No butter or dipping sauce required. It is simply perfect as it is.

So, I’m going to make this post short and sweet today. I want you to have time to go into your kitchen, mix these marvelous ingredients together, put the whole mess in your fridge, and walk away until tomorrow.

So, until tomorrow, or whenever I have the strength to post again, may you stay happy, healthy, and well informed. And as a small aside: to any underinformed out there who mainly get their news from FOX, just perhaps it might be time to broaden your horizon. There is a whole lot of tragic “stuff” going on in Washington DC that might even affect you. Especially if you are a veteran, work for any kind of agency that was created for the betterment of all (both state and federal), care about state and national parks, have even the tiniest belief that science is not a hoax, are retired and depending on social security and Medicare or Medicaid to fund your old age, or have even the smallest consideration for those less fortunate than yourself. You need to open your mind to the reality of what is currently happening to our democracy. Read what the historian Heather Cox Richardson has to say. Listen to NPR (National Public Radio). Tune into PBS NewsHour and CNN. And after learning about what is really going on you feel things have gone too far, you might consider sending a message stating your dissatisfaction to your favorite Republican congressman or woman. They need to do the job they were hired to do. That being – to defend the Constitution and try to do the best they can FOR EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN. THERE JOB IS NOT TO JUST SIT BY AND ALLOW ANY PRESIDENT AND HIS BILLIANAIR BUDDY OR BUDDIES DESTROY OUR BELOVED COUNTRY! And in doing so, destroy all the good we as Americans have done for other nations. Remember, we are just a small part of planet earth. We can’t just think about ourselves. So, please take a stand for democracy and the greater good of all mankind.

Peace and love to all. (Or at least, most of you!)

4½ c. bread flour, fluffed

2¼ tsp. kosher salt

2¼ tsp instant yeast

¾ tsp. granulated garlic

5 tsp. finely minced fresh rosemary

1¼ c. roughly chopped kalamata olives

2¼ c. lukewarm water

extra virgin olive oil

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, salt, instant yeast, granulated garlic, rosemary, and chopped olives together. Add warm water. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the liquid is absorbed, and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Rub the surface of the dough with olive oil. (Use enough that the dough won’t dry out as it sits in the refrigerator.)

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.

Pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a half-sheet (18×13-inch) rimmed baking pan. Remove the dough from fridge and using a stiff spatula, transfer the dough to the baking pan and form it into a rough ball. Roll the dough ball in the oil to coat it all over, again forming a rough ball.

Let the dough rest uncovered for 3 to 4 hours or until it looks about doubled in size.  

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 425-degrees. Press the dough as much as possible into an even thickness and into the corners of the pan. (The dough will slip back to the center but spread it out as best you can.)   

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the underside is golden and crisp and the internal temperature of the bread reaches at least 200-degrees. 

Remove from oven and transfer the focaccia to a cooling rack. Let it cool before cutting into small squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

True fact. I could eat some variation of bread/biscuit/gougères*/etc. with every meal if I thought this chunky body wouldn’t get even chunkier! But alas, I must use the 3 percent** of my brain God gave me, to at least try to eat nutritionally.

But sometimes, I can’t even consider serving a certain dish without a hunk of some kind of bread on the side. And last night was no exception.

But what I wanted last evening to go along with Pot Roast with Potatoes, Onions, and Carrots (recipe on this site) was a simple to prepare savory drop biscuit. I didn’t want to chop fresh herbs (which would mean a trip to the grocery store) or mess with getting cold butter incorporated into flour. I wanted simple from start to finish.

I found several recipes that used melted butter, but none that used dried herbs. Fresh herbs, yes. But being the audacious gal that I am, I decided someone had to try using dried herbs and veggies. So, the recipe you find below is what I came up with. And oh my, the biscuits were absolutely delicious. Tender on the inside and crusty on the outside. And perfect with the pot roast. But truly, these biscuits would be perfect any time a savory biscuit would complete your menu.

Suffice it to say, I will be making these biscuits regularly.

And even if you have never made a biscuit in your life, there is no way you can fail with this recipe. Seriously!

So, on that happy note, as always, peace and love to all

*Gougères are baked French cheese puffs made from choux pastry and cheese. They are crunchy on the outside and soft and hollow in the middle. And yes, I have a great recipe. But no, I have not posted it yet. I plan to rectify this abysmal failure as soon as I get my act together!

**After just watching Defending Your Life, a 1991 film written, directed, and starring Albert Brooks, I learned that the average person only uses 3% of their brain. I think I may be closer to 2%! (But do watch this movie. It’s a hoot!)

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper (a couple of grinds)

4-5 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 tsp. dried chives

½ tsp. granulated garlic

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 c. cold buttermilk

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, dried chives, and granulated garlic together.

In a separate bowl, stir melted butter and buttermilk together. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  

Using an ice cream scoop (I used a #16 – scant ¼ cup) or a large spoon, scoop biscuits onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them 2-inches apart.

Bake biscuits in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden.

Remove from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. To serve warm, nuke them on high for a few seconds. Store in an airtight container in your fridge.

Maple Sugar Cornbread

Mr. C. cutting brats and veggies

And checking the soup

The final product

OK, yesterday Mr. C. decided he wanted to fix dinner. (This doesn’t happen very often, and usually only if I’m ill, super busy, or have spent way too much time in the kitchen already and one more meal would drive me over the edge. (This too, doesn’t happen very often. But when it does, Mr. C. either offers to take me out, or he cooks dinner while I read a book, take a nap, or partake of an early double martini!)

Anyway, last evening he made soup – Bratwurst, Cannellini Bean, and Veggie Soup. He made this particular soup, mainly because we had leftover cooked brats in the freezer that had been there for a while. And Mr. C. is wonderful at keeping a close eye on the freezer contents. While I could go 6 years without noticing that forlorn, freezer burned, “whatever” lurking behind newer purchases. (I am not proud of this BTW.) (But it is the truth!) But back to this story.

As with most soups that include dried beans, you must start your soup early in the afternoon if you plan to eat dinner at any time before 9:00 pm. So, while he was chopping veggies at around 2:00 pm, I decided to make cornbread to go along with the soup. But why this cornbread when I already had so many other cornbread recipes already on this site?  

Our dear friend Jim had recently made cornbread using maple sugar. (Yup, I didn’t know such a thing existed either.) So, the last time Jim and Margo were over for dinner, he brought his bottle of maple sugar along for me to try. Well, boy howdy, I’m here to tell you, if you like slightly sweet cornbread that comes with its own maple syrup flavor, this is the recipe for you. And not only is the flavor marvelous, but the texture of this cornbread is divine. And we all have Sue from theviewfromgreatisland.com site to thank. I did change the quantity of maple sugar and the preparation guidelines a bit, but the rest is all on Sue. But the real hero is Jim. So, once again, oh mighty master of all things culinary, thank you for sharing this new-to-me ingredient. (And yes, you can find maple sugar on Amazon.)  

So, do not wait. Do not pass GO. Do not put off making this easy to prepare cornbread. Especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner. I can’t think of a tastier or easier to prepare bread to serve with turkey. Unless of course you are serving cornbread dressing. Then I would have to admit, two cornmeal dishes would be a bit of an overkill.

And before I’m done praising this cornbread, I should also mention that it is perfect with a side of eggs and bacon for breakfast. However you choose to serve this bread, you and your family are in for a treat.

Well, Mr. C. is off to make music at a retirement home in Seattle. I usually go to his gigs with him, but I have stopped going to retirement homes. The residents either think I’m one of them, or the people who run the place want to sign me up! I keep explaining I’m only 80, but they still insist on sending me home with a brochure!

So, instead, I will stay home and keep the home fire burning. (In my case, keep the thermostat set at 70-degrees.) And write up this recipe and post pictures of Mr. C. while he’s away. After all – while the cat’s away (and Mr. C. is a cool cat), the mice (Max, Miles, and I) will play!

But before I let you go, let me tell you about the book I just finished. (Actually, I’m not sure I finished the book, or the book finished me. It was a tough read from start to finish. But I am so glad I read It.) The name of the book is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

Set in the year 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns to the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, and the empirical insights of Roger Bacon to find the killer. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey (“where the most interesting things happen at night”) armed with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious curiosity.

So, there you go. A book, the likes of which, I have never read before.

And as always, peace and love to all. And Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

1 c. fine corn meal

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed  

¼ c. maple sugar*

¼ c. granulated sugar

1 T. baking powder  

½ tsp. kosher salt

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter

¾ c. buttermilk  

¼ c. real maple syrup

2 lg. eggs  

cooking spray

Lightly coat a 9×9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.  

Whisk the corn meal, flour, maple sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.   

Melt the butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl. Then whisk in the buttermilk, maple syrup, and eggs.   

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Lumps are fine.

Scoop and spread the batter out evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 10 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 350-degrees and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm, or heated in your microwave, or at room temperature. Great when served with room temperature butter. Or for a special treat, drizzled with warm maple syrup.

*Maple sugar is a natural sweetener made from boiling maple syrup until the liquid evaporates and granular sugar remains. Maple sugar has a distinct maple flavor and can be used as a replacement for other sugar products like granulated or brown sugar.

Bread, bread, bread. I know, I know, I know! Another bread recipe, but what can I say? I love bread and I have this compulsion to keep nagging at you to make your own bread for 2 very good reasons. 1) Homemade bread is delicious and doesn’t contain any nasty chemicals. 2) Homemade bread is inexpensive. (Using this recipe, the total cost of making this bread is under a dollar. About 64 cents for the flour, less than a penny for the salt, 20 cents (at the most) for the yeast, and about 4 cents for the olive oil.) Now, where can you buy 4 small loaves of French baguettes for that price? Amen!

Anyway, yesterday I was in the mood for French dip sandwiches. I had leftover flank steak (recipe to be posted soon), onions to caramelize, a couple of slices of pepper-Jack cheese that needed to be used, and a great recipe and makings for au jus (Homemade Au Jus – no Drippings Required). But what I didn’t have was baguettes. And you really cannot make French dip sandwiches without some kind of firm, crusty bread. So, that left only two choices. Send Mr. C. to the store for costly baguettes or make my own. No contest there. And since many of my favorite baguette recipes call for an overnight rise, I had to come up with a recipe that could be ready, start to finish, in less than 4 hours. And the recipe you find below is what I came up with.

So, if you too ever find yourself with no baguettes, but an urgent need for some, give this recipe a try. Easy to prepare, inexpensive, and perfect for French dip sandwiches.

Well, tonight we are going to a local production of the comic opera Falstaff. I can hardly wait. Not only do I love opera; I love that this production is in Mount Vernon rather than Seattle. (No offence, Seattle, but you do know you are becoming more difficult to navigate, with all your one-way streets, bus only lanes, bike only lanes, especially in the dark.) So, I am ready to have a nice dinner out, then drive to McIntyre Hall, park in an easy to enter and exit (and free) parking lot and arrive home 30 minutes later. Ah, the blessings of living in a rural area. Can’t be beat!

On that happy note – as always – peace and love to all.           

1½ c. warm water

2½ tsp. instant yeast*

1¾ tsp. kosher salt

4 c. bread flour, or more if needed

extra virgin olive oil 

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the warm water and instant yeast with your dough hook and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the salt and enough flour to produce a shaggy dough. (The dough should be tacky but not sticky.)

Pour a bit of olive oil in the bowl, and using your hands and a stiff spatula, form the dough into an oil covered ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, punch down the dough and cover with plastic wrap again and let rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough in half. And then halve again. Shape dough into 4, roughly 10-inch-long loaves with rounded ends. Place on a parchment paper lined baking pan or pans, cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray, and let rise again until almost doubled – about 30-45 minutes.

Once doubled and just before placing in your pre-heated oven, sprinkle each baguette with flour and slash each top 3-4 times with a bread lame or serrated knife.

Spray loaves with water and place them in your pre-heated 450-degree oven. Set timer for 20-25 minutes. Bake for 5 minutes and spray with water again. After another 8 minutes spray again with water.

Bake for a total of 20-23 minutes or until baguettes are brown and crusty and have reached an internal temperature of 210-degrees.

Remove from oven and cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.     

To make the dough ahead, after forming the dough into an oiled ball, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge. The next day, punch it down, let it rest for about 10 minutes, and then shape.

*I always use instant yeast whether it is called for or not. But I also always treat it as just regular active yeast. This means allowing the liquid and yeast to mingle for a minute or two to prove to me that it (the yeast) is still alive and willing to work with me. Trust but verify.

Well, it’s November 6^th, and I am currently wearing black. I am in mourning for our nation and especially for the millions of people whom I fear will be adversely affected by the presumptive winner of the presidential election. And although I briefly considered starting my day with a double martini, I decided that it would in no way help our nation and might have some kind of adverse effect on how I make it through the rest of the day. I have really never started my day with alcohol except for adding a little Jack Daniels to my coffee while camping with Dan and Evelyn. (BTW – Thanks Uncle Dan and Auntie Evelyn (my kids’ auntie and uncle) for all the wonderful times we have shared over the years.)  

So, instead of feeling sorry for myself (and every other conscientious person I know), I’ve decided to dwell on the one bad thing that might not happen because of who won the election. There might not be any rioting or killing because some stupid idiots with guns and a feeling they had been cheated out of winning again, might just stay home and reflect on the many wonderful new things that might be coming their way. Like no social security, their affordable health plan revoked, school lunch programs for their children abolished, Medicaid eliminated, more people allowed to roam free with semi-automatic rifles, etc. etc. Now, isn’t that enough to make any “right” minded American happy?! OK, I’m done now. (Well, almost!) And no, I don’t really feel any better. But I had to say what I had to say anyway. But on to this recipe……

Every time I make Curried Pumpkin and Peanut Soup (recipe on site), I always have about a cup of pumpkin puree left over. And although I could just use it in the soup (no one would know the difference), that little bit of extra pumpkin becomes a challenge. And I love cooking challenges.

So, this time I decided it was time for a new breakfast bread. But one that also included chopped pecans, grated carrots, and zucchini, because, well, why not? (Plus, I had a small zucchini that needed to be used.) I went online and found the basic recipe on the whatsformeat.blogspot.com site. I made several changes, including adding a crumble topping, but thanks go to the owner of this site for the basic recipe.

So, if you too love a warm piece of quick bread for breakfast (or anytime really), then give this recipe a try. The bread is moist, tender, and full of flavor. And I promise you, your children will never know they are eating their veggies.

Well, that’s it for today. It’s going to take me a while to get used to the new regime. It probably isn’t going to affect people who have enough money to weather the storm. I’m not worried about that demographic. I fear for those who are poor, ill, aren’t white, not heterosexual, not happy in the body they were born with, pray to a God that isn’t recognized by some people in our country with narrow minds and no empathy, a women’s right to care for their own body, immigrants, and anyone who is in the least bit free thinking. Or has ever crossed paths in a negative way with our new ruler.

So, my hope for myself and all who share my worries is that we can divest ourselves of agony over situations out of our control, bitter feelings toward others with different perspectives, and just go on loving and taking care of each other like we always have. And that’s going to be hard. (At least it’s going to be very difficult for me to find forgiveness in my heart for people with only their own selfish agenda in mind.) But that’s really all we can do, my friends. Forgive, forget, stay positive, stay caring, and get on with our lives.

And as always, peace and love to all.

For the crumble topping: (I suggest you make this first so it can get cold in your fridge while you put the bread part together.)

2 T. packed brown sugar

3 T. unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

2 T. unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together. Add the cold butter and using a pastry cutter or fork, cut butter into the brown sugar mixture until pea-size crumbles form. Or do what I do, dump the whole mess in a small food processor and whirl until chunks form.

Refrigerate until ready to use. (The colder the topping, the less likely it will sink into the bread while it is baking.)

For the bread:

½ c. vegetable oil
½ c. granulated sugar
½ c. brown sugar

3 lg. eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. grated zucchini, patted dry with paper towels
1 c. grated carrot, patted dry with paper towels
1 c. canned pumpkin puree

¾ c. chopped pecans
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed
1 T. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt

(And I have no idea why the spaces. I can’t figure it out. And I’m too tired to play with it any longer.)

Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan or 2 7-inch loaf pans. Line the bottom(s) with parchment paper. (After I place the parchment paper in the bottom of the pan or pans, I turn it over. This way the parchment paper is lightly greased on both sides to allow the baked bread to easily be lifted out of the pan and the parchment paper off the baked loaf.   
Beat the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in the bowl of your stand mixer until smooth, creamy, and yellow.

Add the zucchini, carrot, pumpkin, and pecan pieces and mix until well incorporated. In a separate bowl whisk the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Scoop into prepared pan(s). Top with the crumble topping mixture.

Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 40-55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. (You might want to check after 40 minutes, because all ovens are different and if the topping is getting too dark, you might want to cover it loosely with aluminum foil.)

Remove from oven and set on a wire rack. Let sit for about 15 minutes before carefully removing it from the pan or pans. Let cool completely before storing in a Ziplock bag or airtight container.

It is never easy to figure out exactly what to serve with soup. But at our house, there are two options that always work for us – garlic bread or cornbread.

So, when I was planning to serve soup at a recent JazzVox concert at our home, I decided to use my recipe for Garlic Bread from Scratch (recipe on site) and instead of cornbread, I thought cornmeal biscuits would be easier to serve. (Spreading butter on cornbread can be kinda messy.) So, based on a bit of research, I came up with the recipe you find below for a biscuit containing cornmeal which provided our guests with a surface on which to easily spread soft butter. And then I thought, why not flavor the butter, because I can’t be the only person who loves not only butter on my cornbread, but a bit of honey or maple syrup too! So, there you have it. The method to my madness!

For this event, I made the biscuits quite small (I used a two-inch biscuit cutter), because they would be easy to eat and because they looked so darn cute on a serving plate.

So, next time you serve soup, you might want to give this recipe a try. Yummy biscuits and the compound butter is really delicious.

Well, my work here is done. And the rest of my day is free of encumbrance. The only decisions I need to make today are 1) which book to read next and 2) what to cook for dinner?

And speaking of books, I just finished (for the second time), Gail Honeyman’s novel entitled Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. It is the kind of book that inspires the reader to strive to be a better person and to have compassion for others who might behave and act strangely. I absolutely suggest you read this book. And speaking of suggestions…..   

Please vote for the rights of others in the upcoming November election. For democracy, and civility, and compassion. Our nation is on the brink of losing the fundamental right to freedom. Freedom to believe as we choose, to care for our own bodies as we choose, and to assist those who were not born with the advantages that some of us take for granted.

Peace and love to all.   

CORNMEAL BISCUITS

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed  

1 c. yellow cornmeal

2 tsp. granulated sugar or maple sugar (if you are using maple syrup in your compound butter)

1 T. baking powder  

1 tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp. kosher salt  

½ c. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed

1⅓ c. whole buttermilk

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your food processor, whirl the all-purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt together.

Add the cold butter and pulse until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Slowly add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and pulse just until combined.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough with floured hands until about ½ inch thick.

Using a 2½ to 3-inch floured biscuit cutter, form and place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. (After cutting the first round of biscuits, pull the remaining dough into a ball, pat out again, and cut more biscuits until all the dough is gone.)     

Bake in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until just set. Do not overbake.

Remove from oven and serve warm or at room temperature. Great smeared with Honey or Maple Syrup Compound Butter. See the recipe below.

HONEY OR MAPLE SYRUP COMPOUND BUTTER  

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.

⅓ c. honey or maple syrup

2 T. powdered sugar

¼ – ½ tsp. flaky sea salt  

Beat the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer using the paddle attachment for 1 minute on medium speed or until the butter is completely smooth and creamy. Add the honey or maple syrup, powdered sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of the flaky salt.

Beat at a medium-high speed until the mixture is completely smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until the butter is completely smooth and creamy. Taste. Add more salt if desired. (For the creamiest and fluffiest compound butter, beat for 3-4 minutes.) Scoop into a pretty serving bowl.

Cover tightly and store it in your refrigerator.

Always serve the compound butter at room temperature.