A Susie Homemaker Day

I love these days. Days I can put business and busyness aside. Days to delight in the joy of homemaking. Days to bless my family by restocking the pantry.

Basically no bread in the house? Time for Mom and me to try out a couple new recipes from last year's Christmas gifts -- no knead bread recipe books!

Two hours later and the dough was up to the top of the pails. Seven grain bread...

...and basic European white bread. Time for the dough to go into the refrigerator until tomorrow.



We are always trying to use up something in our pantry and freezer around here. This day my goal was to make frozen, leftover bread samples (served to customers at farmers markets) into croutons. A few of these seasonings are also on our to-use-up list.



Multigrain, Sourdough, Dill-Onion, and Cran-Orange Whole Wheat Breads, seasoned and toasted to perfection. (Sound like a strange combo? Think cranberry stuffing.)

Spiced herring makes way for croutons. It is just too fun to use old jars.

Time to fill up the granola container while making a bit to sell to a friend.

The next day -- Seven grain bread goes from fridge to oven to tummies.

Thick, chewy crust. Creamy and crunchy crumb. Yum!

Pasta Day II

Don't ask me what to call these noodles, but they make mighty delicious stroganoff!

Note the two different colors - one batch with egg, the other without.

Pasta Day

What do you do when you have a cousin home from overseas for a couple months? Get together to visit over ravioli making. While learning about life in another culture, why not learn a new kitchen skill? The byproduct -- broadened minds, happy faces, and full tummies.

Kneading the pasta dough. It doesn't feel anything like my soft bread dough.

Wait 30 minutes to let the gluten relax, and you have a nice and pliable dough for rolling.

Pillows of meat. An egg yolk mixture is brushed on to hold it all together.

Sealed up and cut apart, this ravioli is ready to go into the boiling pot. Spinach and cheese fills these.

We did it... and now we can eat!

Snow Days

What is this? It is the product of our March 31st snow day. Never in my life have I had a day I could actually call a "snow day" like most people. When I was school age, storm days meant nothing more than a day where Dad might be stuck at home, unless of course he took the tractor to the office, which on occasion happened. Of course there was the excitement of seeing the snow falling, but school continued on in my homeschool. Don't feel too badly for me. Mom would usually try to make the day a little more special by giving us time to bake, do handwork, or just read a fun book. Come spring the bonus of finishing school earlier than other kids was enough to make the sacrifice of vacation on snow days seem like nothing. Now as I am older I still can't get away from my work since my business is based out of home. Yet that doesn't drive away that feeling that we should be doing something fun on stormy days. Thus the evening of March 31st found my family not only estimating the inches of snow we had gotten that day but also savoring mouth fulls of an apple tart.

Who's in the Kitchen?

Recently, Mom was having a conversation with her mother. The topic was a common one for this family - food. On hearing about all the food that comes out of our kitchen, Grandma shook her head. She was probably thinking, "Is your kitchen ever empty?" The answer is, rarely. But unless you think that I am the one who dominates that room of delights, let me try to prove otherwise. Why, as I type, my sister, Hannah, forms Chinese steamed buns - a topic for another blog post. A loaf of bread my oldest sister prepared also bakes in the bread maker, and my Mom busies herself with dinner preparations.

I even have pictures to prove it. One day a week or two ago, Hannah donned her apron and took over the kitchen. Soon tantalizing aromas wafted to our noses. While potato-onion soup simmered on the stove, the ovens were being filled with an experiment. Corn sticks.

What are corn sticks? They are simple corn bread batter baked into special cast iron molds in the shape of a corn cob. Here Hannah is filling up a mold.

Corn sticks in the oven getting nice and puffy. Just a couple more minutes and they will be just right.

Dumping out pan #3 - well, trying to. Unfortunately Hannah learned the hard way that the pans aren't seasoned well enough and have to be sprayed with oil every time they are filled. These sticks ended up looking more like the cobs Mom has already de-corned with our corn creamer.

But these came out perfectly. Sweet and slightly buttery corn sticks - crisp on the outside, tender on the inside. We ate like kings!

Playing With Pita

I've been known to say, "I was made for the kitchen." Maybe that is the reason that even during the time I set aside for vacation from baking people's orders this Christmas season, I somehow couldn't stay out of the kitchen.

One day I decided it was time to try making falafel pita. Everything was going to be from scratch, even down to the tahini to make a garlicky sauce.

First to be made was the tahini and tahini sauce. Since our freezer contains a surplus of sesame seeds from bread experiments, I went on a hunt for sesame recipes. Thus tahini, a paste made from grinding, you guessed it, sesame seeds. I felt like a pro smashing and mincing garlic, tasting, and altering the sauce recipe.

I made the falafel right before the meal. Normally deep fried in patties or small balls, this yummy bean and spice mixture makes a great meat substitute. My recipe came from a health magazine, so I simply fried it in an oiled pan. Talking to my well traveled cousin, I found out that this food is commonly served in Egypt.

Though the falafel and tahini sauce were both easy and enjoyable to make, the most fun, hands down, was the pita. Knowing pita has a bad reputation among home bakers for being flat and uncooperative, I searched my favorite blog for some tips. Sure enough, they had the answer. The secret - baking on a cooling rack!

Here we go. Flat-as-a-pancake dough going into the oven.

Three minutes later: Flying saucers!

Falafel pita with tahini sauce and all the fixings.

Ready to take a bite?