Baking Again

It got pretty cold here again last night, 19° so we still have our layer of icy stuff.  Today should melt some and tomorrow in the 50's should take care of the rest....

I vowed not to feed the birds from the porch again because of the mess, but with ice on everything I knew they needed to be fed.  I finally caught a few of them but with everything in gray shades it is hard to pick them out.  There are 6 here.



Cooking

I made the new cookies from the recipe my Sis sent me.  It was from Williams-Sonoma.  It is a keeper.

Cookies-Williams Sonoma Coconut Butterscotch Chip (equally good with chocolate chip)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a parchment lined cookie sheet.

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. Salt (I would use only ¼ next time)

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

½ tsp. pure vanilla

1 egg

1 ¾ cups sweetened, dried flaked coconut

1 1/2 cups chocolate or butterscotch chips ( I used chocolate)

½ cups finely chopped pecans (recipe didn’t call for nuts but I added them anyway)

Sift flour baking powder, soda and salt together in a bowl or on a sheet of waxed paper.

Cream butter on high speed until light yellow and fluffy. Add sugars and continue beating until no longer grainy to the touch. (I just creamed them well. Add vanilla and egg and beat until well mixed then on low speed, stir in flour mixture. Lastly add nuts and chips and continue stirring until well blended. Drop on prepared cooky sheet with rounded Tablespoon or with dampened hands shape into 1 inch balls. (I used my scoop which is about a rounded T., the shaping was going to take longer than I wanted to mess around with. The scoop worked fine.) Bake for about 15-17 min. until the edges are barely golden. Don't over cook.

I baked these one day and then the next, yesterday, I made  my first loaf of Challah.  I wasn't really too worried about making it....I have been making bread for several years.  Well, darlings, this was a bit of a challenge for me!  Not making it, that was very normal.  Then came the braiding.  First I thought this would be a simple thing so I opted for the 4 braid....after several sweaty attempts to do this one, I lobbed the dough back together and kneaded it into one ball.  Divided it into three ropes and began

  again.  Even this was not an easy task. First thing I know I did wrong was  the first of the braid wasn't tight enough.  It came out OK but is not very professional looking.  I will do better next time (I hope).  

I will be making it again.  It is a wonderful, rich and soft bread and we are loving it.

I used the recipe in Williams-Sonoma once again and I hope this link works.  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/challah.html?cm_src=RECIPESEARCH


and this is a slice that I hope shows the fine texture,


DH was very impressed; he really likes a soft, moist bread.  It toasted nicely for breakfast.





Farm Notes:  February 22, turned bull into lot with Jewel and Willow. Random Dog Picture

I think I will use the small heater in the background for her pictures so we can guage her growing,  My Sis likes updates and it is hard to measure her.