Belated: tardy; too late

Fresh-from-the-tree apples, Mom's birthday, and October are long gone, yet these pictures remain on my computer waiting to be posted. Yes, this is belated.


Chocolate curls and real apple tea light holders. It was Mom's birthday and I was in the mood to do something creative. Besides, I needed something to distract from my amateur job with the frosting.

The chocolate didn't stay curled long with all that heat!

A fun little project. All that is needed are apples, tea lights, a knife, and flames of course.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Gourmet Gifts Made Easy

Clockwise from bottom clear bowl: Aromatic Coffee & Cheese Spread, Favorite Jam Spread, Peanut Butter Lover's Cream Cheese Spread, Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread with maple syrup, Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread without maple syrup.

I promised my customers more Christmas gift ideas. This time instead of wrapping ideas I have some spread recipes perfect for making your gift extra special. You could either mix up one of these delicious spreads to put alongside your gift of bread or simply copy the recipe onto a pretty recipe card to stick in with the loaf.

For months I have been dreaming of flavored cream cheese spreads atop Chocolate Pecan Bread. With the onset of winter, thus no farmers' markets filling every minute of my life, I was able to do some recipe research online. The spreads you see in the pictures are the result. After much taste testing my family and I have come up with some favorite bread/spread combinations. See each recipe for our comments.

Peanut Butter Lover's Cream Cheese Spread

The blue ribbon winner! This can be eaten on any bread, but nothing could beat a generous slab of Chocolate Pecan Bread smothered with this spread.

1 c. peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Using an electric mixer beat until smooth.

I found this to make a very clumpy, dry mass. It may have been this way because I was using our favorite natural peanut butter (only ground peanuts and salt). Whatever the cause, these are the additions I made to get a desirable smooth texture plus a sweeter flavor since our peanut butter has no added sugar:

2 T. + 2 tsp. powdered sugar

4 oz. (1/2 c.) butter

Aromatic Coffee & Cheese Spread

Ahhh! The rich and comforting flavors of coffee and chocolate. Definitaly a spread for Chocolate Pecan Bread. Even Mom and Maren who are not coffee drinkers didn't mind a bit of this one.

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules (or up to 1 tsp. for more flavor; may need to add more hot water)

1/2 tsp. hot water

In a small bowl beat cream cheese and sugar. Dilute coffee granules in hot water. Add coffee to cream cheese mixture until it is light and fluffy.

Favorite Jam Spread
This one got mixed reviews. The general consensous, though, was that it needed more jam flavor, especially if served on Chocolate Pecan Bread. I personally enjoyed the spread on French Batard, one of my signiture artisan breads.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

8 oz. butter, softened

4-6 T. jam, any kind (I ended up using much more homemade cherry jam for more flavor. It still wasn't as cherry flavored as I would have liked, so I would try adding even more and eliminating all or part of the butter to keep it from getting too soft.)

Cream together the cream cheese and butter (if using) until well mixed. Add jam to your taste. Do not overmix or it will separate.

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread

I originally made this one to try on Pumpkin Pecan Bread. While very good I still prefer this bread with just a little butter. A la French Batard this taste bud pleasing spread made a very yummy treat! Maren gave the spread with maple syrup the highest rating, while Hannah voted for no syrup. What's your vote?

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 T. brown sugar

2 T. pure maple syrup (optional for a sweeter spread)

1/4 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. vanilla

In a small bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, and syrup (if using) until creamy. Add pumpkin, spices, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour. (It will be softer if using maple syrup.)

Christmas is coming...

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat..." Soon that song will be playing over our speakers as Christmas preparations begin. Decorating, cookie making, buying and wrapping presents... For some, these things have already begun. In fact yesterday I got my first Christmas present order for the year. Twenty loaves made up of a mixture of some of my more special breads will soon be in production - Chocolate Pecan, Julekkake, Pumpkin Pecan... Visiting with the woman ordering, I learned that these loaves, wrapped in festive cellophane, are going to be teacher gifts.

Her call got me thinking. What are some creative ways to wrap bread? Keep reading to see some of my ideas.

Ribbon makes a simple yet elegant wrapping. Even a novice bow tier can make a stunning bow or simple knot with wired ribbon.

Ribbon being put to use again. Here it ties together a bamboo tray and loaf of bread. Ready to serve!

Want to add a little, inexpensive gift? Buy or make a tree ornament and tie it on with curling ribbon. So easy, yet see how special that looks!

Towel: Mom, being a lover of textiles, dreamed up this gift wrap. Here I used some antique lace to secure the towel around a loaf of Chocolate Pecan Bread.

Take gift bags to the next level with a fun cloth bag. No fancy wrapping required!

From the Test Kitchen: Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding

On occasion my parents go away to a meeting or on a short vacation leaving my sisters and me to hold down the fort. We girls relish these times to make dishes our parents aren't fond of, try out new ones clipped from magazines, and even come up with creations of our own. Sometimes these recipes are filed away in the trash can, but usually we find another good and fun food to add to our repertoire. The latter is what happened to my own version of bread pudding.

Looking in the freezer on one of these parentless days, I found an overabundance of chocolate bread. Experimenting to create the perfect bread made for a yummy finalized product and a freezer full of rejects. What was to be done with it all? Then the idea dawned on my. Why not make bread pudding? Knowing that Mom uses our well loved "old Rothsay cook book" when making this old fashioned dessert, I flipped through its pages until I found the yellow edged page with a well marked bread pudding recipe at the bottom. This must be it!

When Mom makes bread pudding she uses all the left over ends of bread collected in the freezer over time. Slices that have been out too long to be very tasty, left over hot dog buns from grilling at the lake, and unused bread samples from the farmer's market make their way into the freezer to be pulled out for home made salad croutons and an occasional casserole full of not too mushy, slightly sweet bread pudding. The recipe has been much altered to make a lighter dessert, one that we can go away from feeling as if we've had a good dessert but not pay for it later. A satisfying dessert all around.

For my chocolate version of bread pudding, I realized a few alterations would have to be made to the already tweaked recipe. Raisins and cinnamon had to go. This is what resulted.

Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding - Skinny Version
8 c. Chocolate Pecan Bread, cut in small cubes
2-1/4 c. milk, scalded (more if you like a wetter pudding)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 c. sugar
Spread the bread cubes in a large, flat casserole or in a 9"x13" pan. Pour scalded milk over the bread and cool. Pour eggs over the bread and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until the bread becomes pudding-like at the bottom (use a knife to probe into the center and check it out). Viole - a successful dessert!

Realizing that not everyone goes for skinny desserts, I experimented with the original recipe to make a deluxe bread pudding. This will not last long on your table!

Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding - All the Way
4 c. Chocolate Pecan Bread, cut in small cubes
2 c. milk, scalded
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 T. sugar
Spread the bread cubes in a 9"x9" baking pan. Pour scalded milk over the bread and cool. Pour butter and eggs over the bread (Do not mix these two together! The warm butter will cook the egg.) and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until the bread becomes pudding like (I baked mine 1hr. - for a wetter pudding bake less).

The traditional way for our family to eat bread pudding is with milk poured over the top, but I have been dreaming of other toppings. These are some of the ideas that have been floating around in my mind: A scoop of soft ice cream melting over the top, a dollop of whipped cream, a drizzling of caramel, fresh raspberries. Hmmm - I should open a bread pudding shop!

Shop Until You Drop

Dad's meeting in Moorhead last week created the perfect opportunity to save some gas while getting the last ingredient and supply shopping done before farmer's market season hits. My sister, Hannah, kindly gave her day to run around Fargo with me. But it was a fair trade - she ran with me to buy supplies, and I gave her thumbs up or down in the dressing rooms at our favorite department stores.
Our first stop - the restaurant supply store. Love those containers!

We had a coffee break mid-afternoon. Turtle mochas from Caribou and my home made Cherry Chocolate Scones, another one of the new additions to my product list this year. A yummy way to celebrate Hannah's birthday (a few days late).



At Lowe's buying hardware for my new sandwich board sign: Hmm... Which chain should I get - the pretty, little one in my one hand or the hefty one in the other? ;)

At the end of our long day in Fargo was a Sam's Club run. Good thing Dad noticed the cherry sign said "seasonal," or I would have been up a creek without a paddle come August. Stock up!

Chocolate Pecan Bread

- Chocolate Pecan Bread -
Yes, this is a yeast bread, and it's the latest from the "test kitchen." After trying five recipes I ditched them all to create my own chocolate bread. Starting with my whole wheat French bread I added Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips, toasted pecans, cocoa, and a hint of sugar. The result - the perfect bread for all chocolate lovers. Although it's not much to look at (no, it's not burnt) Chocolate Pecan Bread delights the mouth with it's moist, slightly chewy crumb, nutty pecan pieces, and bursts of complex bittersweet chocolate flavor. How is it eaten? My family and I have only begun to explore the possibilities, but the current favorites are just as is, slightly warmed to make little pools of chocolate, and the latest, generously spread with peanut butter. I'm dreaming of eating it alongside a bowl of fresh from the garden raspberries or spread with a fruit flavored butter (strawberry?), cream cheese, or cherry jam. Whatever way it's eaten, it is great with a special meal, as a dessert, with tea, or just as a snack.

The most exciting thing is that it's not just my family that has been enjoying it. After making six experimental loaves in one day alone, we decided it was time to start giving loaves away. I haven't gotten any complaints yet. Yay for a success! Now if only my current experiments would turn out as well...