I’m not sure where this all started, but it’s become a growing fixation. Perhaps it’s rooted in my disappointment with that ever-expanding aisle of soft and flavourless white breads. Maybe it’s that dark brown loaf my grandmother brought home from the corner bakery – which I probably ate in its entirely – smearing each rich slice with a thick layer butter and honey, fresh as the day was clear. Maybe it’s the yeasty smell of a fresh loaf, hot out of the oven. Maybe it began when I noticed the smiling faces of my family, happily anticipating the kind of warm, simple pleasures that brings us all back to our childhoods.
Picture below is a failed batch of milk bread buns I made yesterday. As you can see, the “bun” shape remained somewhat elusive this time around. Really, what we have here is a giant baking-pan sized bumpy ol’flatbread.
As for round one in the corner? Let’s just call that an experiment.
I’m learning, and that’s what’s important here, right?
I’ve started a new sub-category under Recipes and Food, called iKnead. And my plan is to document the best bread recipes, discoveries, and the mistakes I make along the way (trust me, there will be many). I hope you’ll follow along!
In the case of the flattened buns, I didn’t oil the plastic wrap (like directed) and didn’t leave enough space between them (like directed).
Lesson one: instructions are meant to be followed.
When I was sick, nothing made me feel better than (a) garlic toast and (b) Tylenol Cold and Flu meds (c) tea with honey and lemon and (d) chicken broth.
I have never been the sort of gal to whip up a batch of chicken broth. In fact, I didn’t even have a tested chicken broth recipe (or chicken stock, as some may call it), but I was so desperate that I forced myself to make a batch, even though I had to drag my sick, sorry, self to the kitchen to do it.
Fortunately, I knew this day was going to come. So I was ready. More or less.
This recipe uses carcasses of already-roasted chickens, the kind that we buy at the grocery store. I had two of them in the freezer, just waiting for this day. Back when we’d eaten our fill of the chicken I just wrapped it up in a bag and tossed it in there. Thank god I did because the leftovers were the basis of my:
Easiest Chicken broth recipe, ever.
- 1. Take the leftover bodies of two roasted chickens (even if they’re frozen) and put them in a large pot. Cover with cold water.
- 2. Add whatever you have in your crisper, just chop everything into large pieces. (Sloppy chopping is perfectly acceptable here. You will not be using these veggies again. You’re just going to boil the crap out of them. ) I used half a red onion, garlic cloves, chunks of carrot, celery, potato, and parsnip. In terms of herbs and spices I added a couple of bay leaves, some chopped fresh parsley, and ½ teaspoon of sea salt and five or six peppercorns.
- 3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for several hours (three or four will do). Bits of meat and fat will float off the chicken bones. You might want to skim the “foam” while it’s simmering.
Strain. Throw out the bones and soggy veggies.
- 4. Freeze the extra for future cold and flu emergencies.
If you want to remove some of the fat, let it cool and skim the stuff off the top. Voila! You just made yourself some really satisfying homemade chicken stock.
My kids like chicken soup but there cannot be a shred of chicken in it, nor a single visible vegetable. I took some of the stock, boiled some circular-shaped pasta in it, and served it up for lunch (as pictured in this previous post). I don’t know if chicken soup is the most effective cold remedy out there, but every little bit helps, right?
Kids and crafts go together like peanut-butter and jam. There is a lot to love about crafting.
a) Kids are free to be creative and work without constraints
b) Kids love to make a mess
I have been browsing some websites for small crafty projects that caught my eye.
Here’s my list so far:
Fall crafts
Halloween crafts
I’m still looking, but in the meantime, if you have any fall crafty ideas you’d like to add, add ’em!
