Saturday, January 3, 2015

Cooking Again

We have warmed up a little.  At least not freezing at night.  We are still having those cloudy, dreary days often with a drizzle attached.

Yesterday was supposed to be the delivery of "our" sofa........didn't happen; didn't receive a call either.  I will be checking today.  The La-z-boy man did come and repair the foot lift on DH's chair.
It now works like new.  He told us we were  wise to repair it.  It was built in 1991 back when they used real, soft leather and were built  better.  He said if we  bought a new one  we would have seen him within 6 months! What a sad state of affairs.

Cooking

Seems I can't  quit making bread.  I have a full loaf of whole wheat oatmeal in the freezer but saw a picture of Easy Tuscan Bean Soup with a slice of bread on the side.....I had white beans cooked and had all the ingredients, well almost all, and knew I wanted to make it with some of my 'go to' recipe of French bread on the side.  I was off and running.

The soup:


This was just a combo of onion, potato, carrots, broccoli (called for kale), tomatoes (my own canned), celery and the white beans.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, garlic and a touch of rosemary.

It also called for summer squash which I didn't have.  I may try to freeze some this summer just for soups.

The bread:



The recipe makes 3 large loaves but I make up part of it into buns.

French Bread (from newspaper so many years ago, I can't remember exactly)

submitted by:  Dorothy Swinney of Republic,Mo.
I wish I could tell Dorothy how much we have enjoyed this recipe and how many people I have shared it with.

3- 1/2 cups warm water
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup shortening
2 packages yeast
10-2/3 cups flour ( any flour will do)

Mix well in large mixer bowl.  Knead well (I use the mixer from start to finish).  Cover and let double in size.
Divide dough into three equal parts.
Rroll out to about 1/2 inch thick.  Roll up like a jelly roll, as  tight as possible, pinch side and ends tight.  Place loaves on greased cookie sheet and let rise again until double.  Note:  I use two sheets since the loaves will grow together if too close to each other.

Bake at 400° until golden  brown.  For  my range that takes between 40 and 45 minutes.

I have never had a failure with this  bread .  I did omit the salt once.....no one noticed!


12 comments:

  1. I meant to go back and comment how much I like your new furniture. It is so classic. All that huge fluffy looking furniture they sell now is just not what we need. As my friend Etta once said about her new sofa, yours just calls out, "Sit on me!"

    He-Who-Mows works on his own recliners. The man is right, they don't last like they used to.

    Your soup looks wonderful. I intend to make soup today using the last of the turkey which I cooked for the New Year, not Christmas as we had ham. I envy all your bread which is not one of my skills.

    About 4 am I had to get up with the dog who had issues with her ears. When I let her out, it was 60 degrees outside. Cold weather is returning next week and we'll hover around freezing again.

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    1. Jean that could be one of your skills.......I usually just dump all in the mixer, mix, knead and rise in the same bowl. I think the secret is good flour and good yeast. For me that is King Arthurs and SAF yeast.

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  2. Wow, it all looks so good, sure makes a lot. There are only two of us, I may try to half the recipe. :-D Thanks for sharing.

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    1. It freezes really well. It takes so long to make bread, I like recipes that make at least three loaves.

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  3. I want to make more soups this year, and make my own bread using my new bread machine. Your soup and breads look delicious.

    It is terrible how cheaply stuff is made these days.

    Have a GREAT 2015 ~ FlowerLady

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    1. It is terrible; another good reason for all of us to take care of our things and keep repairing them until we are forced to buy again.

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  4. Your soup looks delicious...we just finished a crock pot of split pea that the Pres made!!!!...:)JP

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  5. I did split pea soup once but we didn't care for it. I sounds so perfect.....maybe I didn't have a good recipe.

    I love crock pot recipes.

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  6. Glenda, I've never made bread in my KA, but I think it's the same one you have. How big is your bowl? If it's same as mine I might try it for the first time with this bread recipe.

    Furniture is just junk these days. I'm not sure about those Amish furniture places, they're supposed to still be using the old ways but I know it's so hard to even get decent materials to work with. I heard them describing something on TV that looked like a leather-upholstered item and they called the leather something else, can't remember, it's a new term. But remember "leatherette"? "naugahyde"? (I've never seen a herd of Naugas, have you? LOL) How about "wood grain", which is nothing but a picture of wood grain on special paper, glued to fake wood that's nothing more than sawdust and glue? I'm showing my age, but I remember my mother looking carefully at wood furniture, and she wouldn't buy veneered woods unless she just couldn't find anything else. But veneer was the start of cheap materials. Back then, even pine was a better grade than it is now. *Sigh*

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    1. It is the KA Pro 600. Their recipes just call for 6 cups of flouir but I know 8 and 10 cups works fine. I often feel the motor and it it feels too warm just let it rest a couple of minutes. It won't hurt the bread at all.

      I never knead over 4-6 minutes.

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  7. Glenda,

    Now that's what I call a mighty fine looking soup, and the bread recipe is something I'm going to have to try.

    I hope your furniture arrives soon!

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  8. I just mixed up this bread dough and am now waiting for it to rise. Thank you for a new recipe, Glenda. 'Hope you're staying warm out there.

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