Archive for December, 2007

Good-bye 2007!

Monday, December 31st, 2007

Gourmet Cooking: Lesson 4, Beer Bread

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

Easy Beer Bread

My younger brother gave me a variation of this recipe several years ago after using it during a long trip to the Minnesota Boundary Waters. This is a real recipe, unlike previous gourmet cooking lessons.

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder (1 tbsp & 1 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tarter
12 oz. beer (standard can or bottle, any kind)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease standard loaf pan. (I use non-stick cooking spray.)

2. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Stir in beer until fully mixed and no longer foaming.

3. Spread in pan. Bake 45 minutes.

4. Melt butter. (I microwave it in a coffee mug.) Take pan out of oven. Pour butter evenly over bread. If desired, first poke small holes in the bread using a knife or chopstick, to create places for butter to pool.

5. Bake 15 more minutes. Best served warm. Cover leftovers with foil or plastic wrap to prevent it from getting hard (unless you want that for putting crisp bits in soup). Ok to store at room temperature.

We eat this bread with homemade split pea soup, chili, and tomato soup. It’s also good with jam or cheese. I recommend warming leftovers in the microwave before eating.

The original recipe called for just four ingredients: self-rising flour, sugar, beer, and butter. I don’t have self-rising flour so fiddled with different ratios of the Emergency Substitutions listed at the back of my Betty Crocker cookbook until I found my preferred combination. Increase sugar and decrease salt to make it taste almost like banana bread, or add more salt and skip the baking soda & cream of tarter to make it more biscuit-like. It does not actually taste like beer.

Mark & Smriti: Married!

Friday, December 28th, 2007

smiling

and we're married!

Gingerbread house

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

gingerbread house

My Secret Can’t-Call-It-Santa at work gave me a gingerbread house kit as a final gift. Rebecca, Brandon, and I had a delightful time, even though picture on the box was a load of crap. No way that’s possible using just the tools and pieces provided. We’ve looked better, but our creation sure is pretty.

horrified by the result more gingerbread house

Christmas loot

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
  • A book about crochet and a FAQ book on knitting, which will increase my crafting repertoire
  • Lightweight hat, scarf, and gloves for these bitter cold Arizona nights.  (Freeze warning issued for 3:00-9:00 tomorrow morning!)
  • CD & mp3 player for my car, including iPod hook-up
  • Fancy serving utensils
  • Handmade paper & envelopes
  • Desserts by the Yard, a cookbook by Sherry Yard that includes beautiful photographs as well as anecdotes about her years as a pastry chef at Spago, Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant
  • Subscriptions to Real Simple and People magazines
  • Eternal salvation - thanks, baby Jesus!