Category: Bread baking

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Malawi Journal – Day 4 – Our Surroundings and Meeting the Elders

Our Surroundings

We got up eager to see our surroundings by day. Having arrived at night we didn’t really know anything about our surroundings. We knew it was rural and the roads narrow and rutted. Now we know we are staying on a farm nestled among many other farms in Tombolombo.  Beautiful fields of grain, beans growing, goats, chickens, a dairy cow, beehives, and a grieving dog are all part of our surroundings.

This farm is a part of family land with several family members living nearby. They have their own fields to plant and their own homes. They share a  common well and several families share a common outhouse as we would call it.

Our Hosts

Our hosts, the Chirwas are an amazing, hardworking, talented, inventive, family. I can’t say enough. They are up early tending to the animals and daily necessities of life cooking, sweeping the area around the house, and heating water for baths, as well as managing their farm. There are 4 sons in the family which are 8,13,16, and 19 years old.

The only source of electricity is solar. These solar panels once installed should last about 25 years and yield free power. Mr. Chirwa teaches sustainable gardening workshops and practices it too. Looking at his fields and those surrounding them there is a very obvious difference.  Mrs. Chirwa has a small grocery shop and is a  part of a bakery co-op.  Mr. Chirwa is the director of a farmer’s cooperative that has over 700 participating farmers. This cooperative allows them to sell to customers needing greater quantities as well as other things which I am learning about. There is more opportunities available when small farms band together. This family is very active in their church and community! Special people for sure yet they share the same struggles and needs and goals that most of us deal with.  The Chirwas have welcomed us into their home in a beautiful way.

Meeting with the Local Elders

Today we met with the elders at the local church. Everyone gave self Introductions and the church leaders made speeches of welcome. Speeches and welcoming are a normal part of the culture in Malawi.

The elders shared the history of the church and its current ministries. We talked of working together for the glory of God as we shared our hopes and future possibilities.

Mtendere Bakery

After a very nice meeting with the elders and church leaders, we got to visit the Women of Hope’s sponsored Mtendere Bakery.

It was an incredible bakery and I was so intrigued by their ovens. I really wanted to join right in as they kneaded the loaves of bread. Esther got involved in making cupcakes. The ladies had a great time with Esther teaching her to cream the sugar as they do. I am hoping to get to try these earthen ovens while I am here. We are treated to their singing and dancing as the ladies share the story of how blessed they are to have this opportunity to work in the bakery and provide for their families. Many women are widows or left to provide for themselves and their families while their husbands have gone away to work in South Africa ( this is a very big problem in Malawi).

We would love to see more opportunities for work right here in Malawi. The bakery is one of these wonderful opportunities. With their success may be many people will see they can create work right here in Malawi, as these women are doing.

After we returned home some of the youth, as they call them came to get to know Esther.

Malawi journal
Goat Pen
Malawi journal
Huge cactus in our yard
Malawi journal
A new shoot on the huge cactus
Malawi journal
Earthen oven – Cupcakes!
Malawi journal
Bread, scones
Malawi journal
Hot Cross Buns
Malawi journal
Bakers – Giving thanks for the Bakery and opportunities to support themselves
Malawi journal
Esther getting baking lessons
Malawi journal
Mtendere Bakery – Women of Hope
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1933 Biscuit Recipe

Biscuits
Biscuits

I am not really sure where the 1933 biscuit recipe originated from. It has been in my files for many years. Yesterday I did something I have not done in years. I made a single recipe of biscuits! That’s an accomplishment for me! Below I will share the single recipe and then my Redding size batch that I used while I was raising my family.

A Little Family Trivia

This is not my grandmother’s recipe but I do remember seeing my mom and my grandmother make biscuits. They started with a huge bowl of flour and then made a well in the middle and added the ingredients and slowly mixed it by hand. I am not sure if they measured the ingredients beforehand or by instinct knew exactly how to make them. My dad called these pinching biscuits. Still makes me smile. If any of you have heard of pinching biscuits please let me know.

1933 Biscuits Ingredients:

2 cups sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

4 tablespoons butter or shortening

1/2 tsp. salt

about 3/4 cup milk

Sift flour once, measure, add the baking soda and salt, and sift again. This will make your biscuits lighter or softer. Cut in shortening or butter using a pastry cutter or I use my hands by rubbing the butter into the flour until it is like tiny pebbles. Add the milk gradually, stirring until a soft dough is formed. Turn out on lightly floured board and lightly “knead” for 30 seconds, enough to shape. Roll 1/2 inch thick and cut with 2 inch floured biscuit cutter. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet in a 400° oven for 12-15 minutes. Makes 6 biscuits.

Redding Family Ingredient Amounts

This makes a lot of biscuits! Enough biscuits in fact to feed 8 hungry boys and maybe a few girls.

8 cups flour

8 tsp. baking powder

16 tablespoons shortening

2 tsp. salt

3 cups of milk

For this Redding size batch proceed with the directions from above.

Enjoy your hot biscuits with honey butter or strawberry jam! Yum!

Below you can find a link to another biscuit recipe I have used.

https://redaredding.com/homemade-biscuits/

Happy Baking!

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I am Feeling Productive Today, How About You?

Waking up Early

I am feeling productive today, how about you? Don’t you just love early mornings? The air feels so cool before the scorching heat takes over in the afternoon. My morning routine usually includes starting the laundry before heading downstairs. Then I sent some messages to a friend and a son. Next, I worked on my sourdough bread. I now have 3 loaves rising. My tomato plants need repotting so I worked on that a bit. Well, actually a lot!

Tomato plants
My first tomato!
Early Morning Walk

Esther and I headed out for a morning walk around our neighborhood. People were out and about already. Our walk went by so fast and easy as we chatted about the scriptures and our goals for the day. It was interesting to me that the passage in Acts 9 came up from three different sources in one day. Youth group, private study, and our ladies’ class book. When I realized that I decided I wanted to take a closer look at it.

Dorcas

One of the things which crossed my mind while reading about Dorcas was, what must the women who had prepared her for burial have thought? I don’t recall ever noticing that she had already been washed and prepared for burial before they laid her in an upstairs room. This was what women did for their friends and family. Can you imagine how sad they were? Dorcas had been such an amazing lady always doing good and helping the poor as we read in Acts 9:36. Apparently, she had the gift and the heart to sew clothes for the poor and widowed.

Two men went to Peter and asked him to come to Joppa. When he came he went upstairs to the room and sent the grieving widows out of the room. He got down on his knees (he knew where our help comes from and who has the power) and prayed. Then he turned to Tabitha and said get up! And she did. He called to the believers and presented her alive to them! Amazing!

God Can Bring the Dead to Life

God can bring the dead to life. Sometimes we may be dead in other ways and through God’s love and forgiveness we can become a living productive woman that God can use. Dorcas was a woman God was using and now that would surely only increase. Can’t you just hear people whispering? “That’s the woman Peter raised from the dead!”

Today I am thankful for this one beautiful day God has given me to live. I am a woman raised from the dead to live a new life in Christ! Praise God for his gift of life! May you be encouraged to use this day to his glory.

I am feeling productive today, how about you?

I am feeling productive today! Sourdough bread baking
Sourdough bread baking
I am feeling productive today! Sourdough bread baking
Sourdough bread baking
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Learning New Skills – Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starter
Sourdough starter

Sourdough Starter

Why am I learning to make a sourdough starter?  I have spent years at home rearing children, homeschooling, cooking, laundry, etc. So this time in our history hasn’t been as hard on me maybe as some of you. But it has given me an excellent opportunity to explore possibilities. Extra time at home, what will I do? Using this time to learn some new skills and improve some old ones seems like a good idea.

What have I been learning? In my crazy artistic, ok maybe chaotic (it’s those 11 kids I’m telling you!) way I tackled several things I have been interested in for some time. Today I will tell you about my sourdough project.

Sourdough

The problem is I love bread! If I had to choose one food group it would probably be bread. What smells better than fresh bread baking? With a little direction from my friend Eleni Melirrytou, I decided to learn to make sourdough bread. That entails first making a sourdough starter. Yes, you normally can buy yeast in the grocery store. Maybe not during a pandemic. And maybe not in Africa. I know that you can buy a sourdough starter on Amazon. However, I want to learn the whole process so that wherever I am in the world I can make bread. This is a long process that begins with flour and water mixed and worked with for at least 14 days before you can have a strong enough starter to make your bread rise. You can make some pretty yummy sourdough pancakes with your throwaway starter though.

Work With Refugees

Do you remember the first time you ate sourdough bread? I don’t. I’m sure it must have been in Seattle in the 80s. The best sourdough I have ever tasted was made by my friend Eleni Melirrytou when she and her husband came to Nashville, Tennessee, to share about their work with refugees in Greece. Check out their website here. As with most functions with Christians, there was food! Not just food but amazing Greek food which included Eleni’s sourdough bread! Yum, makes your mouth water bread!

Northwest Sourdough

I need to learn how to do this, I told myself. I asked Eleni for recommendations and she sent me a link to a video by Northwest Sourdough and Teresa L. Greenway. There is a link for a free guide below the video. This video and the following ones got me started making my sourdough starter, pancakes, and eventually bread. Click on the link to learn how to make a sourdough starter using only flour and water.

One interesting side note is that I lived very close to where Teresa L. Greenway filmed these videos and I never knew what I was missing or what great resources were right next door.

 

Sourdough bread
Sourdough bread – My first loaf
Sourdough bread 2
Sourdough bread 2
Sourdough bread
Sourdough bread

If you follow this link you will find the recipe I used for my sourdough bread. Bake with Jack is a great teacher.

Sourdough bread for beginners and that’s me!

https://www.bakewithjack.co.uk/blog-1/2018/7/5/sourdough-loaf-for-beginners

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Mayonnaise Biscuits and Enter the Contest

Who has ever heard of mayonnaise biscuits? I certainly had never! Read on for I am about to share the recipe. This year a friend of mine had a birthday. As is common his amazing birthday dinner was shared of Facebook complete with pictures. It was a dinner that made me jealous. Just kidding I was happy for Glenn to have an amazing birthday dinner after all he’s a pretty amazing guy. And he must have a pretty wonderful wife to do all that for him.

As I was reading the list of items on the menu something caught my attention. Mayonnaise Biscuits. I had to message Erica right away to find out if I could have the recipe. She was sweet enough to share her special recipe and a little bit of the story behind it.

Glenn’s mom used to make them for him and to make the story a little bit sweeter she got the recipe from her mom. I love to collect recipes and especially if they have stories behind them.

So today I will share this simple recipe for you to try.

Mayonnaise Biscuits
Mayonnaise Biscuits

Mayonnaise Biscuits

2 c. Self-rising Flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Preheat oven at 375° and lightly grease a muffin tin.

Mix all three ingredients and scoop by the spoonful into a muffin tin each one about 3/4 the way full.

Makes one dozen. 


Bake for 30 mins or until these golden brown.

These turn out to be very light.


I hope you enjoy them!! They are delicious! Thanks, Erica for introducing me to Mayonnaise Biscuits.

There are two ways to enter the contest to win a beautiful apron. Subscribe to my email list or send me a recipe with a story of why it is special to you.

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Making Old Fashioned Banana Bread

I didn’t really start the day planning to make old fashioned banana bread.  Today I was sorting books and got to looking through some old cookbooks. I found a recipe for old fashioned banana bread. We had some overripe bananas that needed to be used so I suggested Esther make banana bread. She got even more creative and made a video of her process. This was her first attempt at banana bread. She said to remind readers to soften the butter which she forgot to do.  And she said she poked it a few too many times checking for doneness. The bread turned out to be delicious.

Even though she put the recipe at the end of the video I am including it here at the bottom of the page.

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas

1 Tbs water

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups flour

1 cup nuts

Mash bananas and water together. Set aside 3 minutes, and then mix remaining ingredients together as listed. Bake in loaf pan at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

 

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Easy Homemade biscuits

Homemade Biscuits
Homemade biscuits
Homemade biscuits
Homemade biscuits

This morning I woke up early. I decided I wanted to make breakfast for the two kiddos I still have at home. (How did this ever happen that I only have two kids at home?) When I had a house full of kids my biscuit making always started with 8 cups of flour!

We are packing to move and to go on a month long mission trip.  I have been trying to use our perishables before we go. Today I took a little extra time and carefully worked the butter into the flour mixture and it was well worth the effort. On busier days I confess I take the lazy way out and do a quick drop biscuit. These turned out so well that I think this will be my regular biscuit recipe for awhile for the small batch and they were really easy to make actually.

2 Cups of all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons of chilled butter

3/4 cup of milk

 

Preheat your oven 425°. Combine the dry ingredients and then cut the butter into small pieces and then work it into the flour until the butter pieces are pea size or smaller. I do this with my hands, you can use a pastry blender or two forks if you wish. After this is done quickly add the milk without over stirring and then knead for a few minutes until smooth (not too much). Then pat out the dough and cut out with a biscuit cutter. Mine is already packed so I used this small square Rubbermade container which is probably used for salad dressing. I placed each cut biscuit into my iron skillet. Placed the skillet in the hot oven for about 12 minutes or until done. These were very good with boysenberry jam.
While the biscuits were cooking I scrambled a few eggs. Just a simple breakfast but still really good. Even with only two kids at home I turned around and the skillet was empty.
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Easy Bread Baking

Easy bread baking
Easy Bread Baking 6-3-3-13

This is a reprint from Redding Mountain on February 6, 2009.

I have found a wonderful recipe for easy bread baking. I found the article on Mother Earth News Website. It has a great article about making bread. It is so easy you do not even have to write the recipe down. Also, the authors have written a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I have ordered it from my library. If it is as good as I think it is I will order from Amazon.

6 cups of warm water 100°
3 Tablespoons salt
3 Tablespoons yeast
13 cups flour (I use a mixture of fresh ground wheat and white)

The cool thing is that you mix it up and let it rise and then punch down and refrigerate in a covered container. When you get ready to bake bread you slice or pull off a chunk and shape it with floured hands and let it rise on baking stone or sheet for about 40 plus minutes and then bake it. 450° for 30 minutes. The original recipe called for a pan of water in the oven while you bake it. I tried that which produces a chewy crust which I love. My husband also liked it best. The children, however, liked the version without the water which produces a little softer crust. Either way, it is yummy bread and very easy to do. Also, there is no kneading. So, remember 6 -3-3-13 and you’ve got great bread where ever you are. Enjoy! and let me know your results.

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One Hour Dinner Rolls

Do you want the taste of homemade bread? This is the easiest and quickest way to satisfy that taste.  I started making these rolls in the early 1990s. With six boys and we would soon add our first daughter, they were a hit. The boys consumed three dozen rolls the first time I made them. They soon became a family tradition. They are a little bit heavier than traditional rolls but my family has enjoyed them regardless.

For my bread making, I love to use these large beautiful bowls that my friend Betty Fitzsimmons has gifted me with through the years. She is a wonderful friend and bread baker too! Our together times are filled with spiritual encouragement and a lot of laughter.

Rising Dough

Ingredients:

2 packages yeast or two-level tablespoons of bulk yeast

1/2 cup Water

2 Tablespoons butter

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 cup of milk

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 egg ( occasionally I add an extra egg)

4-5 cups of flour

Mix the yeast and sugar in the 1/2 cup water and set aside (it should get foamy) You can use a small measuring cup to do this.

Mix 3-4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl.

Heat milk and butter until it is melted and cool it a little while. You want it below 120° or it will begin to kill the yeast.

Beat the egg and add it to the yeast mixture. Mix the milk mixture with the flour and add the yeast mixture. Stir until well mixed. If it is not too sticky begin to knead the dough and add the rest of the flour as needed. Knead for 5-10 minutes and then place in a greased bowl and turn to coat and then cover the bowl and let rest for 15 minutes or so. It should raise and look a little puffy. (Like the picture at the top) Punch down and divide into 2 sections. Take each section and shape into 12 balls. I place these in a greased pan side by side. Two 8 inch round pans or 13 X 9 pan. Then cover and let rise for another 15 minutes or so. Then bake them in a 400° oven for 15 minutes until lightly browned. They should be done but may require a few more minutes depending on your oven. You’ll smell them and they will look good. Rub the tops with butter. You may turn them out on a board or plate and enjoy them. The bottoms might get a little soggy if left in the pan too long from the condensation.

2 Dozen Rolls

Fresh Rolls
  • My Beautiful Betty Bowl

 

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Soft Gingerbread Cake

Soft Gingerbread Cake

Maybe you have a memory of soft gingerbread warm from the oven. I have such a memory but not from my childhood. When I lived in Reedsport, Oregon in 1984-1985 a friend invited us to dinner. I do not remember what she served for dinner. But for dessert, she served warm gingerbread with applesauce. It must have been VERY good because I still remember it today. Gingerbread does remind me of homey things and long ago days. I usually think of gingerbread in the winter but here I am home on a rainy stormy day and thinking of gingerbread. It is made from simple ingredients and ready to eat quickly. Because of this memory and my usual make do attitude, I went searching for a soft gingerbread cake recipe using ingredients I have on hand. I found a simple recipe at Once Upon a Chef. I adapted it a little. I used granulated sugar because I only had granulated sugar. I found it works well. I also love to use my flour sifter to sift the dry ingredients.  I chose to bake it in my small 13X9 cookie sheet pan so that it would be a bit thinner. I think you will like this recipe just as it is… My grandchildren happened along at the right time and shared in the sampling. We all agreed it tastes wonderful with a cold glass of milk.

You can find the recipe on the website below.

( Adapted from https://www.OnceUponaChef.com/recipes-Gingerbread-cake.html )

When I got ready to make a picture this is all that was left!