Bread Starter

A little about this bread starter. I have been making bread with this starter for close to 18 years. Before that my late husband used it while he was in college. He got some from his mom who had hers for a while before that. It has been from North Carolina to Utah to Texas to California to Idaho to North Carolina again. Wisconsin and Tennessee and now back to North Carolina. We just kept it cool and fed and it keeps giving us lots of yummy bread. I have changed jars along the way and passed some on to friends. After my husband died I went through a period of do I want to keep up with this. This was his. I kept feeding it and making bread but never could I get rid of it. I now make at least 6 loaves at a time and freeze it. With 5 kids it doesn't last long. I can't seem to get rid of it. I will probably be making it until it dies on it's own. 

Some bread I made with the starter. I make all my bread things with this starter. Cinnamon rolls, Rolls, Monkey Bread, bread, etc.

I don't really have the Starter recipe of how to make it but I found one that sounds like what it is. 

I found it on here. Instead of of feeding it 1/2 cup of sugar I feed mine 3/4 cup sugar.

My Bread recipe is as follows.

1 cup starter
1/3  cup sugar
1 1/2 cups Warm water
1/2 cup oil
6 cups bread flour
(you can also use whole wheat flour as well. I like a 50/50 mix of flours. Makes for a good bread).
1 teaspoon salt

Put starter in a mixing bowl. Add Sugar and water. Add oil. Then add the flour and salt. Mix till dough is not sticky. (I use my Kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook, but you could use your hands if you want). Let rise and then punch down and divide into loaves. Rise again and then bake. 350 for about 40 to 45 minutes. (also depending on what you are making and how big your loaves are.)

Hope you enjoy and Happy Baking!

Easy Turnovers

I decided to make Turnovers for a Christmas Eve party. They were a huge hit and I didn't come home with any left. I made them again on New Years Eve for breakfast the next morning. Again a huge hit.

I started out with puff pastry. You get it in the freezer section at your local grocery store. Bring it to room temperature.

Once you have it at room temperature unfold it and cut it into squares. I got 9 out of each sheet of puff pastry.

Then take your favorite pie filling (I used cherry, apple and blueberry), and put about a tablespoon of the filling on the center of a pastry square.

Fold over the edge to make a triangle shape. Take a fork and press the edges closed. Place the turnover on a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (makes clean up a lot easier). Brush the turnovers with an egg wash. One egg white with one teaspoon water mixed together. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 for about 12-15 minutes. 

Then drizzle a powdered sugar glaze. There you have it yummy turnovers.

Powdered Sugar Glaze

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1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons Milk (more if needed)

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Mix all together till a dizzling consistency, adding more milk if needed.

Torch Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

We were having an Olympic type activity at church and I was to bring the dessert. I wanted to make something that looked like a torch. I had made torch cookies before but I wanted to make something different. So Torch Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes.

I was trying to figure out how to bake these so they wouldn't end up tipping over in the oven. I took the muffin tin and covered it with tin foil. I did two layers so it would give it a little more stability. I then punched a hole over each section.

I placed the cone inside the hole and filled the cone up with the cake batter. I just used a white cake mix. Fill it to the line in the cone.

Bake the Cupcake cones for about 18 minutes. Then let cool.

Because I was making Torches I wanted the icing to look like flames. I placed orange food coloring on the inside of a decorating bag then put yellow frosting in the bag. I then piped stars all over the cupcakes to make them look like flames.

These were the finished product. Everybody loved them and they matched the theme we were going for.

Mississippi Mud Brownies

We love brownies in this house. I thought for a Sunday dinner dessert I would make these. They were SO good. I started out with a brownie mix. I followed the directions for the fudgy type brownies but if you like the cake type brownies go ahead an follow that recipe. I put the brownies in the pan and cooked them according to the instructions. I used a 9x13 inch pan.

When the brownies came out of the oven I immediately put almost a whole bag of mini marshmallows on top . You just want a nice single layer of marshmallows. I took a can and a half of chocolate frosting and melted it in the microwave. I then carefully poured it all over the top of the marshmallows.

 I then let them cool for an hour or so. You do want them to cool other wise you will just have a big mess. Cut them up and enjoy.

Neapolitan Cake

I made this cake a while back for a Church Pot luck dinner. It was very yummy. I started out with 3 cakes. Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla. You can either make it from scratch or make the cakes with a cake mix. With this one I used cake mixes. I prefer Duncan Hines cake mixes if I am going to be making something with a cake mix. I like the texture of it better than the other cake mixes. 

I started off with the chocolate layer first. I piped a ring of buttercream around the edge to keep the filling in. The filling for this layer was a fudge filling. You could either make your own or for time I used the ice cream topping fudge. Spread it smooth.

Next place the strawberry cake on the chocolate layer. I layered strawberries on this layer or if you wanted you could use a strawberry jelly and layer it just like the chocolate fudge layer.

I then placed the white layer on top and gave the cake a crumb coat of buttercream.

I then tinted the buttercream pink and brown. I placed tip 1M in a piping bag and starting with the chocolate layer I piped chocolate rosettes. I then piped pink rosettes then finished the cake off with white rosettes.

There you have it my version of the Neapolitan cake.

Welcome

Welcome to my Baking/Cooking blog. I have to tell you that baking is more of passion for me. I am self taught. Growing up watching my parents make Sunday dinners, my Dad making cookies, my Mom making bread. They let us make things for desserts and weekly dinners. Once I moved out I really started playing around with food. I found I really have a sweet tooth and I love to bake. I have been making cakes for family and friends for close to 20 years now. I have been doing different things with bread for a while now. I get most of my recipes from the countless number of cookbooks that I own (my cabinet fell of the wall because it was filled with cookbooks.) I also find a lot of recipes on different sites online. I sometimes follow them the way they are or sometimes make it my own. I just want to share my favorites with you. I hope you enjoy my blog.

Just some of my many cookbooks. I didn't have anymore self space so I have a large suitcase under my bed that I also use for my cookbooks. I also have a weakness for Children's cookbooks. I see one at the store and I always have to look through them and depending I usually end up buying them.