Baking via Recipe

Another "bread" I've made is cinnamon pull-apart bread. Another Pinterest sighting, and I knew I had to make it! This was one of those breads that you knew nothing could go wrong. I mean... sweet dough, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, butter ... ahhhhhh!

Pros: Easy recipe, great looking bread, smelled fab when you baked it!
Cons: Don't overstuff your bread pan (or use too small of one like I did, causing me to cram it full) because then it won't cook thoroughly in the bottom and middle.
Suggestions: If you don't like nutmeg, then don't use it in the recipe. I really do not like nutmeg and it's painfully obvious that I didn't even know a little nutmeg can go a long way. Nutmeg has a spicy flavor to it that I just don't like and honestly I ate a couple pieces and was done with this loaf. I plan to make this again, same recipe minus the nutmeg!

Crafty Projects

For Valentine's Day, I made some heart garland and ran it all through my sewing machine to make a few long pieces. I never knew you could just keep "sewing" with nothing there to sew on. It just makes a twisty little string in between the papers.

I also made a cute card that I want to share, too. I think I was inspired by a sketch or card I saw - though I can't be sure of which one. I'm pretty sure my recipient loved this!

Pizza Bread

I saw a picture of pizza bread on Pinterest and knew immediately it was going to be a bread I wanted to make right away. It's a bread dough, with all of the ingredients you'd put on pizza (olives, onions, pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms, etc) you roll it out, add cheese to the middle, close it up, then you bake it and dip in pizza or marinara sauce to eat. Let's just say that looks can be deceiving and so can well written recipes. Click here for the original recipe source and original picture.

The picture below is my pizza bread:

Pros: It looks delish!
Cons: No flavor, very bland and definitely needs SOMETHING! Don't make a double batch and cook it together, make 2 separate pizza breads. I think that because I made 1 loaf out of the double batch, it may have contributed to its demise.
Suggestions: I think maybe it needs a garlic butter twist to it, but not sure how that will fly with the dough rising or cooking. When using pepperoni or other meats, you need to render it to get the grease/fats off of it so it does not alter the dough... Maybe it could fare as a flatter bread, when completely baked you can add some garlic butter/salt to the top and then dip in sauce. I'll definitely try this again and change things up. It appears that even the author of the recipe had some separate trials too, when I read comments.

Baking via Recipe

Since welcoming the KitchenAid to our home a couple weeks ago, I've been playing with lots of flour and yeast and everything that goes in between that! First up, Brian and Paul made homemade beer a couple weekends ago, and they had a ton of the spent grains left over. Curiously I asked, I wonder what you can do with these grains and Brian said he'd seen people mention they've made bread from it, out on the home brew forums.

So, I went online and looked for bread recipes using spent grains and I found a few that looked pretty good. Since I was just starting my venture into bread-land. I thought I should try something easy. I found this recipe here and used this recipe with no modifications. I didn't make the loaves artisan style, rather I put them in small loaf pans. I shared one loaf with friends and saved one for us.

**If I used this recipe again, I'd use more grains than it calls for, I'd cook the loaves a little longer and I'd like to put some oats on the top. I thought the taste was pretty good. I'd give it an A.

Dinner via recipe

I had never made a homemade potato soup before, until this past January. I can't remember what peaked my interest, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Pinterest had something to do with it! All those pictures of soups in the winter months, nom nom nom!

I'm pretty positive I followed this recipe from "Hobbies Make Me Happy" with no modifications. This soup was so creamy and tasty, the recipe is definitely a keeper! It is by no means a healthy recipe, but it sure was tasty! I'll be making this again!

AND, 6 weeks later!

Goals update:

• Lose at least twelve pounds - I've lost 2
• Bake 12 different things from a recipe - I've baked 4+
• Make 12 projects -I've completed 2
• Post on my blog at least 12 times a month -THUMBS DOWN
• Make a 2012 photo book - In-process
• Try 12 new recipes for dinner - I've done 2
• Read 12 books - THUMBS DOWN
• Write 12 snail mail letters and send - I did  1
• Enjoy 12 fun things to do - January - Bonfire
• Throw out 12 things I don’t need - In-Process
• Learn to quilt - Studying the How-to's
• Go to the gym at least 12 times a month - THUMBS DOWN

It's been 6 weeks since my last blog post? I have no excuses, and I hope to get back to it more regularly.
Going to the gym, reading books and blog posts are going to be the top 3 that will linger in my mind, because they are most important to me, as well as the 3 where I am lacking progress!

I started a book, couldn't get into it and finally decided "it is ok" if I don't read it. "Water For Elephants" was the book. I got it for Christmas - I hate circuses and I just couldn't get into it. I'm going to pass it along to someone else who may want to read it. I still have "The Help."

One of my mangers gave me a KitchenAid stand mixer (she'd have given it to me, but I couldn't "take" it without giving her something for it - it was just too nice of a mixer!) and I have been practicing baking things (mostly breads) since I got it! I'm going to do a recipe review post of the things I have made; from baking and dinner recipes.

In January, Paul and I went to West Newbury, where our friends live to go to the Tendercrops Bonfire. It ended up just being me and Tasha going and we had a BLAST! (The boys stayed back at the house and watched a movie)  It was so much fun and we can't wait to go next year! The East Coast has been spared a real winter this year and it's been so mild, that it's almost like Spring out! I think to date, we've had like 7" of snow for the Boston area so far, I am not sure if that includes the freak storm we had last Halloween or not. I certainly don't remember getting 7" since then.

Project of Goals Update 1

It's now the 2nd week of January and I haven't quite got into my groove to do much. We are going out to do something *FUN* this weekend - we're going to a bonfire in West Newbury on Saturday night. It's through Tendercrop Farms - looks to be a lot of fun. Click here for more information, if you're interested!

Change?

We're all capable of change. I'm not very good with personal "planned" change. This is something I struggle with every year as I choose to set new resolutions goals I'm likely to forget give up by the 2nd or 3rd week of the January! I know, my attitude is probably half of my battle. BUT, I go in with good intentions and that's counts for a good start. I'd like to work on the maintaining and sticking to my set/planned goals this year.

So without further ado, I declare my New Year Manifesto of Goals:

Twelve in Twenty-Twelve - A Project of Goals:

Lose at least twelve pounds

Bake 12 different things from a recipe

Make 12 projects

Post on my blog at least 12 times a month

Make a 2012 photo book

Try 12 new recipes for dinner

Read 12 books

Write 12 snail mail letters and send

Enjoy 12 fun things to do

Throw out 12 things I don’t need

Learn to quilt

Go to the gym at least 12 times a month

My goals are both fun and serious. Serious meaning losing at least 12 lbs and getting to the gym, fun is everything else. I went with the pick 12 things theme and I had been thinking about them for the last couple months. I really want to try to bake - something I guess. I like breads, cakes, cookies and by making them from scratch means I can make a small amount vs. a boxed recipe. I wanted to try 12 new recipes for dinner. Paul and I eat the SAME things over and over - I have a very bland diet and he is Italian. Enuf said! The rest is pretty much self-explanatory and for the most part = FUN!

I even made a desktop background for my computer to remind me of my goals - since I like cool looking backgrounds, I thought I'd try to make this look fun and stimulating, all the while piercing my brain with my goals staring at me in my face!