BBD#15 Glenda's Christmas Bread

I know this recipe is in here, but I have revised it to put into the BBD #15: Festive Breads by http://annarasaessenceoffood.blogspot.com.   I am glad I added the walnuts as I think it makes a better tasting bread. Here is the recipe!

Glenda’s Christmas Bread

Sprinkle these two ingredients in a large bowl and let proof for 5 minutes:

1 package of yeast

¼ cup warm water (105˚)

Slowly start adding the following ingredients and stir as you go:

1 ½ cups sourdough starter – freshly fed

1/3 cup sugar

½ cup butter, melted and cooled

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup pomegranate juice (I used POM® brand)

1 cup whole-wheat flour or whole spelt flour

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup walnuts - chopped

Now start adding the flour:

5 cups bread flour (up to a cup more for dusting and kneading)

Pour this out from bowl onto flour dusted counter top or table and knead for about 5-10 minutes, adding a little flour at a time until the dough is not sticky to the touch.

Grease a large bowl with a little oil and put the dough into this bowl. Cover and let rise about 1-1 /2 hours, free from drafts.

Take dough out of bowl onto lightly flour dusted counter top or table and start to form the dough into the shape you want, a tree, a wreath or can put into*2 large loaf pans. Cover and let rise about 1 hour.

Bake in preheated oven, 350˚ for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and surface springs back when touched with your fingers.

Made 1 tree and 1 wreath, can use loaf pans, makes *2-3 loaves (depending on your size pan). Decorate as you wish. The other main difference between this bread and the one on Nov 21, is that I didn't had red food coloring, so when baked this just looks as if it is all wheat bread. We really enjoy this recipe.

A Happy Christmas!

I love Christmas time, and all the excitement it can bring. It also can be too commercialized. This year I was wondering what could be done different. An idea came to me to recycle, so I came up with my own way of recycling what I had. I am not boasting or bragging I just wanted to see if I could do it. What a challenge! Started by thinking of what each family member wanted or needed then went to work on what I could give them, without them saying "oh I've seen this before" or "what is this?"

As I was contemplating, I came across some electrical goodies for one of my grandsons, he love them! Another was a special necklace for a daughter, which I had received from a special country. And so on down the line.

Here are a few pictures of happy people without expensive gifts and the joy of giving. What I didn’t expect was the gifts I received in return; they were all special to me. Some recycled some were not.  We all really had a nice Christmas, as I hope all of you did.

Here are some pictures of a happy family.

Father and Son, Merry Christmas!

I have been wondering what to write this year and have not come up with the words. So I am borrowing from my son and husband. Yesterday, I realized how my son and husband write alike. James has been gone almost six years and McKenzie does so many things like his father. I just felt these two poems are what I needed and so I am sharing. Jim's Uncle Mel used Jim's poem in his Christmas letter with a beautiful sunrise picutre of where they live, it is so heart warming to see the poem with his picture. As I read McKenzie poem yesterday, I saw the similarity. You may not, but that's ok. I really love these poems and hope you enjoy reading them, it brings the real spirit of Christmas to me.

Happy Hoilday and Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Gifts 

By McKenzie E. Staples
Once a year
People around the world
Find a reason to give and receive gifts.
While filled with good intentions,
Do they remember
Some of the greatest gifts ever given?
Do they remember the Father
Who allowed His Beloved Son
To leave His Celestial Home
To enter a world
Of pain and sorrow?
Do they remember the Son
Who lived a sinless life
Who suffered for our sake
Who bled from every pore
Who painfully died
That we may live again
With His and Our Father?
As we gather with our family
Do we remember
The price that was paid
So that we may be with them
For Eternity?
As we exchange gifts this year,
Let us not forget
Some of the Greatest Gifts
Ever bestowed upon us.
And remember
Those who lovingly gave them to us.
And when we may be tempted
To mistreat another
Let us remember
That the Savior
Who loved us enough
To Atone for us
Loved them just as much.
And may the True Spirit of Christmas
Abide in our hearts forever.

 

The Light Shineth

By James P. Staples

We celebrate light in the midst of darkness:

Hope in the human heart glows strong.

Beyond the power of sense and logic - 

The Christmas Tree, the Menorah;

Even the Yule-log of the ancient tribes -

Who bowed in awe a the grandeur of Creation,

But dimly understood the Creator.

The sun ends its southward retreat,

While winter had just begun.

Yet there is hope in knowing that spring will return:

Triumphant, life-giving;

The heat and sweat of summer,

Autumn's bounteous harvest, And winter's rest - 

For even in cold and darkness, there is renewal

And a season for inward growth.

Each cycle a part of something larger:

The days, the months, and years;

The planets, stars and galaxies;

Birth, death, and eternal life: Ourselves, our families and the human family,

Hope gives us vision beyond the senses, And reason beyond mere logic.

In the season of darkness, we celebrate light, Even the eternal light of our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer.

 

Need to catch up...

Haven't blogged in awhile. Things happen.

My neighbors had to put the dog to sleep, he was the best dog and we will miss him.

My best friends here in the mid-west had a major fire on their house, which also they lost their dog. But the damage was so bad, I am sure they will have to completely rebuild. This happened on Sunday evening, they were all at a church program and came home to find their on house on fire. On Monday a lot of people, (church friends, neighbors and city friends) were their to help pack up for later use. It was great to see all sorts of people their to help them. 

These are friends we have known since 1986 and seem to find each other when we have moved to differents places since then. It is weird that we both are here in the mid-west. I feel there loss.

We are busy with getting things ready for Christmas, as all of you are. 

So it might be awhile until I write, but wish all of you a Merry Christmas and great holiday season!

God Bless

Snow Today

It is snowing here in the mid-west and cold. I don't like to drive when it is like this as the cars slide. If you are from Los Angeles and come to the mid-west driving is different. You learn new things all the time. So, I visited a new web page today from a lady in Holland and her garden. It is much bigger than mine was and so I sat in my warm room and enjoyed her pictures. She grows lemon cucumbers, have you heard of them? Here is a link to her web page, if you are interested: http://members.lycos.nl/greenheavens/

I got her web address from one of the groups I enjoy through facebook. I belong to the sourdough, organic gardening, my best recipes and others. It is a continual learning of what others do in different parts of the world. For me, facebook, is a good way to share with my family, their pictures and everyday goings-0n.

Winter Cake

I saw a picture of a beautiful wedding cake and so I thought that would be a nice cake for winter time. So here it is, not great as the one I saw but the family and neighbors enjoy it.

A New Leftover

On Fri. night I took the leftover turkey and made my turkey enchiladas. Saturday night we pulled out everything and ate most of that. Thrus. night, their were 8 of us and on Fri., Sat. 10 of us, so there wasn't much after that to have as leftovers. But.....we did have left over sweet potatoes.

I make my sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, with the potatoes and some apples with a little water and baked until tender. I don't do the added sugar or marshmallows anymore, as no ones eats them but me. So, I cook them for me. The marshmallow got eaten but not the potatoes. Anyway, I took the leftover and pureed them and looked up a recipe for sourdough biscuits and added the puree and now we have sweet potato biscuits. The kids love them! Yeah, now I don't have to eat the leftovers by myself. They went really well with some chile, I made up.

Pictures from our Thanksgiving week-end

Here are some pictures, not many, that we took during our 4-day week-end. My neice and nephew were able to come up on Fri, Sat. We played alot of board games while they were here, what fun! My neice also surprised me with a little 2-cup pitcher she had made in her pottery class. I like it!

Here is a picture of my granddaughter.





Here is a picture of my oldest grandson.



A picture of my neice and nephew.





My neice and younger grandson.



The pitcher my neice made.

White Pumpkin Pie

I haven't blogged for awhile, as I don't know where to start. So here goes.....

I cooked up 3 white pumpkins last week and found out their meat was also white. (Most of the past white pumpkin I have bought has the orange meat inside and makes better pies, so I was surprised to find white meat.) I usually buy one white pumpkin and one orange. This year after Halloween the white was on sale for $1.10 each, so I got 2 along with the one I already had. I went online to see if the white meat was edible and found it was, so for Thanksgiving we had one white and one orange pumpkin pie. I froze the rest for later use. There so much to do with pumpkin that I thought I would spread it out over the year.

Here are the pictures of the two pies. Soren, my grandson, made the orange pie this year. He has helped to make pies the last couple of years. Since their was a little extra orange mixture, we decided to marble it into the white pie.

They both tasted great!