Sunday, August 19, 2012

Joe Froggers

Photo from: yankeemagazine.com
My grandmother, who was the mother of 15 children, ran an immaculate and well-organized household. As a little girl I always aspired to be just like her!! She was so special and sweet all the time, to everyone. She was the very soul of hospitality and on any given day or night of the week she might have had guests in her home for meals. She was always prepared though.

One particular thing I remember about Grammy is that she always had her cookie jars full. When I was about 7 or 8 years old I used to go into her pantry just to look at the cookie jars. I remember my head was just a little above the counter top where they were placed and I would rest my chin on it and stare at them. There were always sugar cookies and there were always molasses cookies, a regular staple in Maine households where I grew up. Yep, I'm a transplanted Yankee. (After I write this blog post I will definitely never be able to visit the Confederate garage up in Walker County, Georgia, EVER. I don't think they do Yankee up there. If you think I'm joking--google it, I'm serious!)

As an adult I have not lived up in the north country very much, but I still love the food that we ate growing up. (Can you say Lobstah???) Molasses cookies are something I hardly ever make because my southern husband and children just do not like them too much. My two oldest children do, though, but that is because they lived several years in Maine when they were very small and they are familiar with them.

Sooo, for a long time now I've been looking for a good molasses cookie recipe. Grammy died four years ago this month so I couldn't get hers. I researched online for a while and finally decided to try a recipe I found at Yankee Magazine. Well, guess what? Mr. J and all the kids ate 'em AND liked 'em. I didn't even offer them to Mr. J because I know he hates molasses cookies. He took it upon himself to mosey on into the kitchen and take a bite of one. Then he comes into the room and says "Hey, Hon, these cookies are great!" To which I responded, "Huh? Those are molasses cookies." He said, " I know but they're good". To which I thought to myself, "I'll make a Yankee out of that boy yet...".

 But I digress.... the truth is that I actually made these cookies because I was entranced with the story behind them.It's kinda neat. Plus they are an authentic Yankee recipe and Lord knows I need a little Yankeefying wicked bad by now, ya'll!!!

So get Yankeefied with me and try the Joe Froggers. They are wicked good.

Back to School and Our Curriculum for this Year

'Country Schoolhouse' photo (c) 2011, TumblingRun - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

It's about that time again. For our family it's actually a little later than usual. We usually start our home school year the first Monday after the 4th of July. It's so hot down here in the summer we figure we might as well spend the hottest days working on academics and then we have more time to play outside and enjoy going to places when its much cooler, but this year we decided to take a longer break. Tomorrow its back to the books for us :) .
Everyone in the house is anxious to get back to our normal routine, especially me! The fall term at LUO (Liberty University Online) starts on Monday and I have to take Intermediate Algebra... I've been putting it off for five years but now I have to take it as a prereq for Statistics. I have to teach Algebra I to my freshman daughter this year anyway, so maybe this will help us both get through it. She's a lot better at Math than me, though! I'm also taking Marketing, International Business, and Organizational Ethics. Oh, my, it's going to be a long academic year!!! At home this year I have a freshman in high school, a seventh-grader, a fourth-grader, a second-grader, and a pre-schooler.

Has anyone else been feeling the economic crunch in the homeschooling area? Well, we have. In fact, I decided to go through the house, attic, and storage to see what we have for curriculum that we have accumulated over the years. I found a lot of stuff!! In fact, I found so many things that I decided not to buy a lot of new learning materials this year, but to use the ones we already have and supplement with the internet and the library.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Recipe Review: Buttertop Bread


When I saw this recipe from the King Arthur Flour blog, Baking Banter, I knew I had to make it.  It looked so buttery and yummy and it was!! This will definitely be made again in our house, especially this winter when we are frequently eating soups and stews. This bread is great for toasting, too, but watch out because it burns very easily! In fact, be sure not to skip the step where you tent with aluminum foil after 15 minutes in the oven because it browns very quickly while baking. Here is the recipe:

                      Buttertop Bread

                
      3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
      1 1/2 teaspoons salt
      3 tablespoons potato flour or 1/3 cup dry potato flakes (I used Hungry Jack potato flakes)
      1/4 cup sugar
      2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
      1 large egg
      2 tablespoons soft or melted butter
      3/4 cup to 7/8 cup lukewarm milk ( I actually used about 1/2 cup of evaporated milk, and water   to make 7/8 cup)

Topping

  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted

   


1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients together until you've made a smooth, though somewhat sticky dough. If you're uncertain about the amount of milk to use, start with the lesser amount; you can always add more as you go along.
2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, or an 8-cup measure, which allows you to track the dough's progress as it rises. Cover, and allow the dough to rise for about 90 minutes; it should become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.
3) Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into a 9" log. Place it in a lightly greased 9" x 5" loaf pan.
4) Using a sharp knife, cut the loaf vertically down the middle from one end of the pan to the other, almost but not quite to the bottom of the pan.
5) Cover the loaf with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a shower cap), and allow it to rise until its top has crowned about 1" over the rim of the pan, about 45 to 60 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
6) Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, until it's golden brown. Tent it lightly with aluminum foil after about 15 minutes of baking; because of its somewhat higher sugar content, this bread tends to over-brown if not covered.
7) Remove the bread from the oven, and brush it with melted butter. Cool completely before slicing.
8) Store bread, tightly wrapped, for several days at room temperature; freeze for longer storage.
Yield: 1 loaf, about 18 servings.

Here is what it looked like after it baked and cooled:


Didn't last long around here!



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