Whenever I bake bread I feel like an earth mother. Because there is just something primal about taking a few simple ingredients and turning them into something as magnificent as bread. And since baking some form of bread is as old as civilization itself, I feel connected to past generations through this simple action. It fills my soul with joy and humbles me to watch bread rise, then come out of the oven as this incredible product that I had some small part in producing. Kind of like watching my kids grow up. Talk about a humbling experience! But I digress!

If I try really, really hard, I can still recall the smell of bread baking in my grandmother’s kitchen. Pure heaven. But I’ll tell you true, I’m sure my grandmother never dreamed of putting anything like garlic, rosemary, or kalamata olives in her bread! In fact, I’m pretty sure she never even heard of rosemary or kalamata olives. Garlic, maybe, but if so, she sure as heck never used it. (Mores the pity.)

But the good news is – I know about rosemary, garlic, and kalamata olives, and I am not afraid to share my knowledge with you! First of all, if you are not using these amazing ingredients with enthusiasm, in my opinion, it is time to re-think your priorities.

Lets’ start with garlic. There are very few savory dishes that can’t be improved by the judicious use of garlic. I swear, there are weeks when not a day goes by without me finely mincing a garlic clove or 2, 3, 4, etc. This Allium sativum is simply an integral part of my cooking. And because it is so much a part of our everyday life, we have never been bothered by vampires. (Not just everyone can make that claim!)

And rosemary, how can I esteem rosemary any more than I do? This fragrant evergreen herb with its edible needle-like leaves is fabulous in so many dishes. In fact, rosemary is almost essential if you are fixing lamb. And for many other dishes, including soups, rosemary provides just that certain “something” that turns the dish from acceptable to incredible. And the fact that this perennial is ever so easy to grow, makes it even nicer. I have 3 big bushes of rosemary in my yard because I never want to find myself without rosemary. (I’d get the hives without rosemary. I’m absolutely sure I would. So, I take no chances!)  

That leaves kalamata olives. Oh, how I wish kalamata olives had been around when I was younger. I have always loved olives in any form. But kalamata olives, they are just special. Perfect in pasta (think puttanesca or pasta salad), salads (think Greek salad), pizza, and of course bread. Which of course now leads me directly to why you should make this bread at your earliest convenience.   

I first started making bread containing kalamata olives many years ago. And no, I did not dream up the use of kalamata olives in bread. I read about it in a cookbook I’m sure, because this was decades before I could go online and find at least a thousand recipes already posted for what I thought was an original concept. (I have since learned that there is no such thing by the way! At least when it comes to food!)

Anyway, the gist of all this rhetoric is that garlic, rosemary, and kalamata olives are wonderful ingredients, even in bread. And because this particular bread is baked flat, there is a lot of crust. And the part that isn’t crust, is nice and chewy. So, give it a try. Easy to build, and lovely to eat. Perfect with soup or as a side with a hearty main course salad.

As always, begin each day with a smile on your face. For me, that’s easy. Because I know there will be an Americano waiting for me in the living room once I stagger down the hall in my bathrobe. Freshly made coffee, and delicious. And while I sip my coffee and read the daily paper, I always take a moment to thank whichever deity may happen to be listening, for providing me with such a wonderful life. May you be as blessed.

Peace and love to all.

1 c. sourdough starter discard

2/3 c. slightly warm water

1½ tsp. active dry yeast

½ tsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. granulated garlic

1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 c. Kalamata olives cut in thirds

2½ c. bread flour, or more as needed

extra virgin olive oil

flaky or coarse salt

Combine the sourdough starter, water, yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes. (Or as long as it takes to chop the rosemary and olives and retrieve the granulated garlic from its hiding place.)

Add the granulated garlic, rosemary, kalamata olives, and 2 cups of the bread flour to the mixing bowl. Using your dough hook, knead dough until relatively smooth, about 6 minutes using enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. (Most of the dough will form an irregular shaped ball around the bread hook. There should still be a bit that clings to the bottom of the bowl. And the dough will be very sticky.)  

Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Prepare a large, flat baking sheet by spraying with cooking spray.  Pour the dough onto the prepared pan, and shape into a rough circle about ¾-inch thick. Spread the surface with olive oil. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 1 hour at room temperature. Sprinkle lightly with flaky or coarse salt. 

Bake in a pre-heated 450-degree oven for 14-15 minutes, or until a light golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before slicing.   

Sorry for not posting for such a long time, but because of vacation, visiting a daughter post-surgery, breaking my nose, planning a trip to southern Oregon to attend my son’s wedding, and planning and booking camping reservations for our fall trailer trip, I haven’t had the opportunity to share recipes in my usual carefree and frequent style. And yes, I have been missing sharing great recipes with you all. But as with everyone, I must prioritize my time wisely. But I think I am finally at the point where I can resume my passionate incidence that you should have access to the best possible recipes an internet search can provide. So, basically – I’m back! (Well at least until our next vacation or until I break some other part of my body.) Good grief! And I thought I was invincible! Huh! Anyway……….     

I’ve had this recipe ready to post since late March. But for all the reasons listed above, I am only getting to it today. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a first-rate recipe. Because it is! So, if you are a sourdough bread lover and have a sourdough starter languishing away in your fridge, you are in for a treat.

This bread is very easy to build, and it tastes like it came from a fancy bakery. When we were hosting jazz concerts in our home, and I would provide a full meal before the concert, I almost always served homemade bread to our guests. At one of the concerts one of the ladies asked me where I bought my bread. I told her I had made it myself. She stopped, looked at me for a few seconds, then said “wait – you mean people can make bread like this at home?” I quickly assured her that if I could make bread, then almost anyone who could read could do the same. That baking bread just took a little practice.

She was totally flabbergasted. She had obviously never contemplated such a thing. Where I on the other hand, I had never considered not making bread. Same planet, different world.

But, since you are reading about this recipe, you are either a friend catching up on what’s going on in my life, or you are a bread baker. If you are a maker of bread, I hope you enjoy this simple recipe. If you are a friend, I send you love from Chez Carr.

As always, have fun in your kitchen, but don’t forget to spend some time each day outdoors. Because it’s SPRING! And if you have the time, inclination, and a bit of ground or a nice large planter, plant some seeds. It is so fun and rewarding to experience the magic mother earth can perform with just a bit of tender care from you. Now please excuse me, I have some rhubarb to harvest. Rhubarb crisp –  coming soon to Chez Carr.

Peace and love to all.

1½ c. warm water

¾ c. sourdough starter discard, room temperature

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ c. dark rye flour

¼ c. whole wheat flour  

1 T. vital wheat gluten flour

3 c. bread flour, plus more as needed

extra virgin olive oil 

Place the warm water, sourdough starter, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the salt, rye flour, wheat flour, vital wheat gluten flour, and 1 cup of the bread flour. Mix together with your bread hook. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add enough remaining bread flour to make a soft, elastic dough. Dough should ball up around the bread hook, leaving just a bit stuck to the bottom of the bowl. The dough should be a bit sticky, but not tacky. Pour a bit of oil in the bowl and using your hands and a stiff rubber spatula, form the dough into a ball, completely greased with the oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in volume, about 90 minutes. Punch down once during this rising.

Cover a baking sheet with a rectangle of parchment paper. Gently shape the dough into two balls, using flour as needed, but avoid kneading. Place the dough balls on the parchment paper. Dust with a bit of flour and cover with a clean tea towel. Place in a warm spot for an hour. In the last half hour of rising, preheat your oven to 400-degrees.  

Once the oven comes to temperature, slash an “X” on the top of each boule. (Don’t use too much force or you will deflate the bread.) Just let the weight of the knife do the work.

Bake for 24-27 minutes, or until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches at least 205 degrees. Remove from oven and cool completely before slicing.

OK, I’ve spared you any new bread recipes for several days now. But yesterday morning we had feasted on the remains of my last homemade bread baking adventure, so I had no choice but to take my sourdough starter out of the refrigerator and whip up a loaf. I was really in the mood for a nice boring whole wheat bread that would make great toast. And my favorite way to eat toast is slathered in honey. Now, not just any honey. My favorite is pine tree honey. But it’s really hard to find because the best pine tree honey we’ve ever tasted comes from Turkey. (The country, not the critter.) Which, incidentally, is where we learned to love pine tree honey in the first place.

Every morning we would find a wonderful combination of dishes waiting for us in the dining room of our accommodation. Our breakfasts were generally comprised of black and green olives, sliced cucumbers, cured meats, dips and sauces, eggs, fresh cheeses, sliced fresh tomatoes, fresh-baked bread with butter, jams, and honey. And often, delicious pastries. But what we both lived for, was the fresh bread and the honey. All the offerings were lovely, but the honey was so wonderful, we simply couldn’t get enough. And yes, we loved our holiday in Turkey. The Turkish people are friendly and gracious, and the cultural aspects of the country unparalleled. I felt a true connection with the land and the people from the first day of our visit. I especially loved the call to prayer that happened 5 times each day. Even though I am not Muslim, this simple soundscape had a profound impact on me. It helped me remember to be thankful for all the many blessings I have in my life.    

And even though we can’t feast on pine tree honey any longer, we are lucky enough to live in the land of Cats Paw honey*. This raw, unpasteurized honey from bees that love to nibble on clover, blackberries, dandelions, and thistle is absolutely delicious. And I have to say, slathered on our unbuttered toast this morning, the combination of this lovely local honey and this simple whole wheat bread made for mighty fine eating. And the bread had been very easy to build. Always a plus.

So, if you too would like to make a bread that is quick to assemble, and tastes wonderful, I recommend you give this recipe a try. And if you live in this area, I absolutely recommend you buy some Cats Paw honey at your earliest convenience.

As always, cherish your memories while still making new ones. As we get older, if we let them, physical limitations can have a negative impact on our lives. But if we have great memories to look back on, I think that helps us adjust to our new reality. I can’t ski any longer. But boy do I have great memories of gliding through the snow with family and friends by my side. The laughter, the joy of being outside, and the fellowship at the end of the day. Marvelous. So, no regrets that I can no longer put on uncomfortable ski boots, hustle my butt to sit down on the ski lift without killing myself, or get myself buried in powder snow enough so that Mr. C. has to dig me out. Nope – can’t happen anymore. But it did happen, and I have those wonderful memories to keep me entertained when I start feeling a bit creaky. Life is truly wonderful. Enjoy it to the fullest.

Peace and love to all.

½ c. lukewarm water

1 tsp. active dry yeast

2 tsp. pure maple syrup or honey

1 c. sourdough starter discard  

1½ tsp. kosher salt

2 T. vital wheat gluten** (I use Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten)

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. bread flour, or more as needed

extra virgin olive oil

Place the water, yeast, maple syrup, and sourdough starter in the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir gently with your dough hook. Let proof for 15 minutes, or until foam appears on top.

Add the salt, vital wheat gluten, and whole wheat flour. Stir well with dough hook. Add enough of the bread flour until a smooth, only slightly sticky dough forms. (This takes 3-4 minutes of letting your mixer do the hard work of kneading the dough). There should be no dough stuck to the bottom of the bowl. It should all be hanging on for dear life to the dough hook.

Once the dough has been kneaded, lightly grease the dough with a small amount of olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it alone for about 90 minutes or until almost doubled in size. Punch down the dough. (The dough should feel smooth and slightly springy.)

Shape into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. If you prefer smaller loaves, shape the dough into 2 equal sized loaves and use 2 7½ x 4-inch (roughly ½ lb.) loaf pans. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise for 75 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425-degrees.  

Bake for 35-40 minutes for large loaf, or about 20 minutes for smaller loaves, or until golden brown and firm. (If in doubt if the bread is done, take the breads temperature with an instant-read thermometer. It should read at least 195 degrees.)

Remove from oven and turn out onto a wire rack. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Will stay fresh for several days.

Absolutely wonderful toasted and slathered with butter and honey!  

*Locally owned Cats Paw Bees is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of an organic environment for the honey bee in the local community of Stanwood and Camano Island in the Puget Sound area of Western Washington. Andy & Bonnie Swanson own and operate Cats Paw Bees using natural and organic methods to raise honey bees, producing a raw natural honey filled with local floral flavors. To find this wonderful honey, visit www.catspawsbees.com for retail locations.

**Vital wheat gluten is nearly all gluten and almost no starch. When used as an additive in baking, its purpose is to add elasticity to flours that would otherwise be low in gluten, such as whole wheat flour or rye. It improves the rise of the raw dough and also improves the texture and chewiness of the final product.

I never used to like muffins. That’s because I wasn’t baking them at home. My only exposure came at office staff meetings or birthday gathering. And you all know how that can be! Coffee slightly better than instant, and either a cake baked at a local grocery store, cookies straight off a grocery store shelf, or muffins that are absolutely flavorless and the texture – simply wrong! And OK, I know I’m picky! I just got to the point of not accepting a cup of coffee (just had some thanks) and mumbling something about having just had lunch or saving myself for a special dinner out or I’d rather eat dogfood (just kidding). Anyway, I was usually able to talk myself out of having to participate culinarily.  

But then, for some unknown reason, I decided to bake some muffins for Mr. C. because he really enjoys a good muffin with breakfast. And over the years I have learned to thoroughly embrace muffins for breakfast too. So, lucky you if you too believe that a great muffin should be part of a balanced breakfast. Because there are several great recipes for muffins on this site that might interest you. But for today, I’m going to concentrate on this lovely muffin recipe complements of the callmepmc.com site. (With a couple alterations from yours truly.)

Orange and cranberry have always been a winning combination. Throw in a few pecans for flavor and crunch, and you have a perfect trifecta. Then mix these three fabulous ingredients in with standard muffin batter ingredients and you have a winner. And a muffin everyone in your family will enjoy. Score!

So, as always, keep having fun in your kitchen, keep trying new and fun recipes, and always keep an open mind. If I hadn’t made muffins for my dear husband, I would have been missing out on an entire genre of caloric delicacies. (That probably would have been just fine.) But I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of preparing something that my husband really likes. (And that would have probably been OK too. But not nearly as much fun or rewarding. Nothing like something from the oven to ramp up the endearment quotient!) And God knows, I need all the help I can get!

Peace and love to all.

3-4 T. orange juice  

1½ c. dried cranberries

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 

½ c. granulated sugar

¼ c. brown sugar, packed  

2 lg. eggs 

½ c. plain Greek yogurt or sour cream 

¼ c. whole milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1¾ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 rounded T. orange zest

1 c. chopped pecans, toasted

Spray a 12-count muffin pan with non-stick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside. (My batch made 16 muffins, so be prepared to grease or line another muffin pan.)

Bring the orange juice and dried cranberries to a boil in a small pan. (I used all 4 tablespoons of orange juice because my dried cranberries had been around for over a year. And they were really dry. If the dried cranberries you are planning to use are still kind of squishy, start with only 3 tablespoons of orange juice. And even then, you might have a bit of juice left in the bottom of the pan.) Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated and brown sugars. Beat on high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until the mixture is combined and uniform in texture. (You might have a few small lumps even after mixing for a few minutes. Not to worry.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.  

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and orange zest together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture; mix slowly just until combined. Drain any juice off the cranberries. Fold the cranberries and toasted pecans into the batter. Using a #16 (¼ cup) ice cream scoop, plop batter into prepared muffin pan. (The batter will come almost to the top of the muffin cup.) 

Bake in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 5 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350-degrees, then bake for about 12 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.  Gently warm the muffins before serving.

In a constant effort to never, ever send even one tablespoon of sourdough starter discard down the drain, I am ever vigilant about finding new and different ways to use the discard without any negative impact to my psyche. (And yes, I still subscribe to the “waste not, want not” theory from being raised by parents who survived the depression. And similarly, I’m still under the influence of being raised Missouri synod Lutheran, where frugality was never openly discussed, but the implication was that being thrifty was a God-like condition.)

So, no matter how ridiculous this tendency of mine to not even discard a bit of discard, I’m stuck with my habits. (And whatever you do, don’t get me started on getting every last bit of toothpaste out of the tube! I’m positively irrational!) Anyway, enough about my quirks!

I found this wonderful recipe on the kingarthurbaking.com site. I changed the directions around a bit and made a modification to the amounts and type of flour called for in the original recipe, but the rest is straight out of the King Arthur kitchens.

Now I know the true definition of a quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda) rather than a biological one like yeast or sourdough starter. But this bread contains baking powder, baking soda, and sourdough starter. So, it should be a super quick bread. And you know what, it is. You don’t even need a mixer. And delicious? You bet. Perfect toasted for breakfast or as a lovely snack to go along with your late morning or afternoon cup of coffee or tea.

So, if you too are looking for new and different ways to use up your sourdough discard, this bread is just waiting to be enjoyed by everyone in your family.

As always, keep smiling at all the wonderful things life has to offer. Keep laughing with your family and keep counting your blessings. As much as I make fun of my tendency to be frugal, it certainly helped me calmly maneuver through some rough patches when I still had children dependent upon my ability to squeeze a penny. We made it through with our dignity intact, our real needs met, and a true sense of pride.

And to this day I thank God for the parents he chose for me. Without their insight into what really matters, their example of kindness, and their belief that all troubles will resolve themselves eventually, I doubt I would have been able to provide any kind of a decent example for my own children to follow.

Sometimes we don’t realize all the blessings we have received over the years until we get a bit older. And then, only because we have the time to ponder something other than work or how to get the laundry done before everyone runs out of underwear. Don’t wait. Count your blessing now. Or better yet, count them while your folding laundry.

Peace and love to all.

¾ c. whole wheat flour

1¾ c. unbleached all-purpose flour   

½ c. granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ c. real maple syrup

½ tsp. maple extract

½ c. buttermilk

¾ c. sourdough starter discard

2 lg. eggs

1½ c. chopped walnuts

Grease a 9 x 5-inch (roughly 1 lb.) or 2 7½ x 4-inch (roughly ½ lb.) loaf pans. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Then whisk in the maple syrup, maple extract, buttermilk, sourdough starter, and eggs. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until the mixture is evenly combined. Stir in the walnuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven until the top of the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 70 minutes (large pan), 45-50 minutes (smaller pans). The internal temperature should reach at least 200-degrees. Tent the bread with foil after 45 minutes if it’s browning too quickly.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan(s) on a rack for 15 minutes before turning it out on the rack to cool completely before slicing.  Store the bread, tightly wrapped in plastic, at room temperature. Freeze the loaves for longer storage.

I am a sucker for really good biscuits. But then, aren’t we all! But when I start to eat a delicious biscuit that melts in my mouth, then you might as well just get out of my way because I’m going in for the kill! Fortunately, I have trained myself well enough now, to know that I simply must share my biscuits with others. But there are times, like with these biscuits, when the little kid in me rears its ugly head and wants to throw a mini “all mine” tantrum. (I’m not proud of this tendency even if it never comes to fruition. Well, not any more that is!) But with these biscuits, complements of Mike at chilipeppermadness.com., it takes every bit of my strength and determination not to eat the whole batch myself. They are just that good!

Yesterday was an interesting day. I had made turkey soup the day before in anticipation of not feeling well after my second covid-19 vaccination. So, when we got home yesterday from me being poked, I was fully prepared to feel a bit under the weather. But as the afternoon progressed, no symptoms emerged. So, I decided to make some biscuits to go with the soup.

I had printed out this recipe several weeks before. But for whatever reason, had not taken the opportunity to build a batch. But I thought these flavorful biscuits might go well with the fairly mild flavored soup we were going to have for dinner. And what-the-heck, while I still felt OK, why not? I had changed the instructions for preparing the biscuits because I always like to make life more difficult for myself. Just kidding. I just thought the way I planned to build the dough made more sense. And man did these biscuits turn out well. Very flavorful. Not too much heat from the jalapeño, but enough to ramp up the savory quotient. Along with the granulated garlic and sharp cheddar cheese, the flavor combination was perfect.

So, I would recommend that you build some of these easy to prepare biscuits at your earliest convenience. They are wonderful. And would go well with most any entrée. And don’t forget about serving them for breakfast. With our bacon and eggs this morning, they were just lovely. I heated them in our microwave for about 20 seconds on high, and they were perfect. No butter required.

As always, keep trying new and exciting ways to feed yourself and your family. We aren’t out of the woods yet. Covid-19 is still a reality, even though people are being vaccinated at an ever-increasing rate. But it’s still going to be quite a while before we can declare ourselves pandemic free. While we are waiting it out, the more we as cooks can do to make life as pleasant as possible for our family, the better off the entire household will be. Let’s face it. There is food that is basically just fuel needed to sustain life. Then there’s super delicious food that not only supports our bodies, but also helps lift our spirits. I mean really, who can feel picked on when they are busy shoveling really tasty food into their mouth?

So, special blessings go out to all you wonderful cooks who spend the time and energy to make delicious and nutritious dishes for yourself and your family. In my book you are heroes, each and every one of you.

Peace and love to all.  

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, divided

1 tsp. kosher salt

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. granulated garlic  

6 T. (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

¾ c. buttermilk

1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, then finely diced

Whisk 1¾ cups of the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and granulated garlic together in the bowl of your stand mixer. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter looks like small, thin shards. (In other words, don’t over mix the butter into the flour mixture.)

In a small bowl, mix the cheese in with the remaining quarter cup flour and mix in with the flour/butter mixture. Combine the buttermilk and diced jalapeño in a small bowl. Then add to the flour mixture using low speed, only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly to combine all the ingredients. Pat the dough into about a ¾-inch thickness. Cut into 2-3-inch rounds, or any size you prefer.  Place on a parchment paper lined baking pan.

Bake in a pre-heated 450-degree oven for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. (The larger the biscuits the longer they need to bake. Duh!) The internal temperature should reach at least 205-degrees before the biscuits are ready to come out of the oven.

Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or gently warmed. Store in an airtight container.    

OK, I’m not going to sugar coat my next statement. (Would be hard to do so anyway since there’s no refined sugar in this recipe!) OK, here goes! The reality of this recipe is that it will never produce carrot muffins with the same lovely mouth feel and moistness associated with their cousins made with real butter or veggie oil and refined sugar. Never. Can’t happen. But what this muffin does offer is a healthy alternative while still delivering the tasty mixture of ingredients offered in the original product. But super tender and moist? Not going to happen. Oh, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like biting into flavored cardboard. But meltingly moist these muffins are not. But a great deal better for us? Indeed they are! And oh, so easy to build. And the fact that they come in portioned amounts, is also in their favor. (Can’t cut a large piece for yourself like you can with my Healthy Carrot Quick Bread, which incidentally is pretty darn delicious and healthy too.)

So, if you too enjoy muffins for breakfast, but feel a little guilty if the muffin is full of fat (even if it’s healthy fat) and sugar, then I suggest you give this wonderful recipe from ifoodreal.com a try.  

As always, be cognizant of how your own cooking tastes. I know it may sound terribly simplistic, but if you don’t like whatever it is you just prepared, chances are your partner isn’t going to care for it either. Of course, kids don’t count. Because they are often picky eaters. (It’s in their job description after all! #1 – be a picky eater. #2 – bug your parents on a daily basis especially when they are right in the middle of a task that requires their full attention. #3 – never mind, you get the picture!) Anyway, my point is, don’t take it personally if whatever you fixed is not well received by your spouse. And especially none of this “well I worked hard on this dish and you had better damn well eat it” attitude either. Martyrdom is not an appealing characteristic in a spouse or partner. And a terrible trait for children to learn. This is the time for humor. Because if you try new recipes, you can expect to prepare your share of dishes that are not as well received as others.   

Believe me, your family will forgive you a bad dish. But it’s hard for anyone of any age to sympathize with someone who gets all bent out of shape, and mean, when a good laugh would be the proper response. Food should never be the source of family friction. The dinner table should be the place where kids learn good manners, where they witness responsible adult behavior, where they can express themselves, ask questions, and learn to accept that life is full of “not your best effort” as well as “that was really great”. After all, it’s how we respond to failure that defines us as much as how we graciously experience success.

Peace, love, and happy cooking to all.    

2 lg. eggs

⅓ c. honey

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 c. rolled oats

1½ c. coarsely grated carrots, packed

¾ c. unsweetened applesauce* 

⅓ c. golden raisins, cut in half if they are fairly large

1 c. whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

⅓ c. unsweetened coconut flakes  

⅓ c. chopped nuts, plus more for the topping (I prefer pecans)   

cooking spray 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, honey, and vanilla together. Stir in the rolled oats, grated carrots, applesauce, and raisins. Let sit for about 15 minutes. (This little bit of time allows the oats and raisins to soften a tad.)

In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Add to the egg mixture and gently mix just until combined. Do not over mix. Stir in the coconut and nuts.

Using a regular sized ice cream scoop, plop batter into a greased non-stick muffin pan. (Should make about 15 muffins.) Top with additional chopped nuts. Press the nuts lightly into the batter before throwing the pans in your oven.

Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don’t over bake.

Remove from oven and let muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Gently warm just before serving. Muffins take well to being frozen.  

*If you don’t have applesauce on hand, make your own. Peel and seed 1 large apple. (I used a very large Honey Crisp apple.) Cut into small even sized pieces and place in a small covered heavy pan with a tablespoon of water. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a gentle simmer, and cook the apple until tender. Check periodically as the apple cooks. Add a bit of additional water if necessary. When tender, mash it up.       

I made this bread a couple of days ago to go along with the Navy Bean Soup I was planning for dinner that evening. It had just started to snow, so soup and homemade bread were inevitably called for. (And yes, of course the soup recipe is on this site!) I found this recipe on thestayathomechef.com site. All the herbs, fresh garlic, and Parmesan cheese in this simple bread recipe absolutely resonated with me. And as it turned out, with good reason. This bread is perfection itself. Easy to build and an ideal complement to any meal. And not even a tiny bit of butter required. Just a beautiful blend of savory flavors. But consider yourself warned. This is not a quiet, timid little bread. This is a full blown, in your face, blast of flavor in tender bread form.   

I made a couple of very insignificant changes to Rachel’s recipe because I could, but she is the real hero of this post. So, thank you Rachel, and keep up the good work at thestayathomechef.com. I am now a devoted fan.

Now, if you are a seasoned bread builder, one glance at this recipe should be enough to send you directly to your kitchen to start playing with yeast and flour. If you are new to bread baking, then you are really in luck. Because this bread is incredibly easy to produce. Even if you consider yourself “gluten challenged”. Which, BTW, is a legitimate condition with which only one person I know is actually afflicted. That being our dear friend Jim. So, you probably only suffer from cold feet. Just don’t let cold feet stop you from making this bread. Pluck up your courage, and just go for it. You will be so happy you did. Because making homemade bread is a beautiful thing. And we all need more things of beauty in our lives.

As always, have fun in your kitchen. I know I say that a lot. But for me, our kitchen is one of my top happy places. I get to experiment. I get to create. And I even get to fail, sometimes miserably, without any real harm to anything but a few ingredients. (And maybe my pride.) But that’s OK.  Because, basically, it’s OK to fail.

I used to tell my children that I wanted them to fail at least half of the time. Because so what? At least they would have tried something new. And maybe that meant that they simply failed to enjoy whatever it was that they had just tried. Like they failed to enjoy playing baseball. Or they felt that hitting a small round ball into a tiny little hole yards and yards away for the shear fun of it was lunacy. (I can relate to that, although Mr. C., son Sven, and a few other good friends would, I’m sure, beg to differ!)

It’s that old – glass half full/half empty thing. I see a glass half full. And I see some failure as an expected result of living a full and rewarding life. Hope you live your life to the fullest also. Little failures and all. Peace and love to all.

1 T. instant dry yeast

1 T. granulated sugar

1 c. slightly warm water

1 tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. dried rosemary, lightly crushed

1 tsp. dried basil, lightly crushed

1 tsp. dried oregano, lightly crushed

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

2½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, or more as needed

⅓ c. finely grated Parmesan cheese

extra virgin olive oil

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, and water with the dough hook. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, oregano, garlic, 2 cups of the flour, and the Parmesan cheese. As your mixer kneads the bread, gradually add in as much of the remaining flour as needed to achieve a smooth, elastic dough that doesn’t stick to your hands. (Using my stand mixer, this dough clings to the hook and practically leaves the bowl spotless when enough flour has been incorporated.)

Pour a bit of olive oil in the bowl, and using your hands and a stiff rubber spatula, form the dough into a ball completely covered with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half and shape into two separate round loaves. Place loaves onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the loaves with olive oil. Cut a shallow X on each loaf. Let rise covered for another 20 minutes.

Bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for 20-23 minutes, or until golden brown. The internal temperature should reach at least 195 degrees.

Remove from oven and let cool before serving.  

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Bread is wonderful gently rewarmed before serving.