A Day With Lasagna

Spring is here and I'm so far behind in all the projects in my head!  I haven't posted in ages (notice I have caught up on my BBA challenges, though).  I haven't even been reading any of my favorite blogs.  Next week is SPRING BREAK!  I will replace all my snowy pictures with spring next week.  And Easter is coming so fast.  I've had a lot of fun activities to post about--just not the time.  One of those was a day in the kitchen learning to make lasagna the way my daughter-in-law learned to make it from a Greek friend. 

The lasagna was made up of many layers with homemade sauce full of herbs and flavor, sausage, mushrooms, cheeses, pasta and a couple secret ingredients, etc.  It was better than any lasagna I've ever made and now I need a real lasagna pan! 

I wrote down the recipe, but with all the tasting and adding and more adding, I don't think I'll ever be able to reproduce it exactly.  But I learned her technique.  Thanks, K!

BBA Challenge - French Bread

This will be one of my favorites and most-often-baked breads.   I prepared the pate fermentee last weekend but didn't have time to make the bread then.  I put it in the freezer for a few days.  That didn't seem to hurt it at all.  This bread was actually fun to make.  I enjoy the softness of the dough--it requires such gentle handling to maintain the rise.  I used a couche for the proofing.  I had a dilemma at this stage.  There was a hot stone in the oven.  I had a peel dusted with semolina and I remembered I also had french bread pans that I had never used.  There were three soft, proofed baguettes waiting to be transferred somehow from the couche folds into the oven.  I decided to use my french bread pans.  I gently lifted one of the long loaves.  It immediately collapsed into a long shrunken loaf into a pan that was smaller in diameter than the loaf.  No good.  Forget the pan.  I couldn't imagine I'd be able to get those soft loaves onto a big wooden peel and then flipped onto a hot stone in the oven--but that was the only option now.  I managed to transfer one loaf onto the peel--looking good!  I opened the oven door and pulled out the rack with the stone and, with courage and confidence, gave a sliding flip and the loaf slid right off the semolina-dusted peel onto the stone!  The second one went just as easily.  That was an exciting moment.  I felt like a bread professional.  I wish I had a picture.  The loaves baked beautifully--but I did forget to slash the tops. 

Notice the nice holes!  This bread was really really good.

BBA Challenge - Focaccia

This was a good bread with so many possibilities for toppings!  I just added an Italian mix of herbs to olive oil to dribble over the top of the bread.

After it was baked, it was delicious dipped in just some salted olive oil.

Definitely have to try this with toppings like sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, cheeses, etc.

BBA Challenge - English Muffins

These were actually made a couple weeks ago, but I'm somewhat behind in posting.  This was another one of those breads that made me say, "Next time, I will . . ."  When I shaped the dough into boules, I took very seriously the instruction to create surface tension to cause the bread to rise up, not just out.  That's just what they did.  They rose up, but didn't widen much.

I thought they might spread out a lot when they were placed in the pan, but they didn't.  I also didn't know how to judge the heat of my skillet and the doneness of the muffins, so, as you can see, I browned them too much.  They didn't have the big holes I wanted.  I'll work on that the next time I make them.

But with butter, cherry preserves and a hot cup of tea, they were still a treat!

Cinnamon-Raisin Graham Bread

Graham Crackers.  That's all I knew about "graham"--until I got a bag of graham flour as part of a really creative, fun birthday present!  I researched it and found it's a whole-wheat flour that's milled very coarsely.

Lucky for me there was a recipe right on the bag that sounded good.  It's Cinnamon-Raisin Graham Bread.  The ingredients include cinnamon, ginger, molasses and a cup of raisins as well as the expected other bread ingredients.  I started up my Kitchen-Aid and  said, "Let's try this right now."  The bread was delicious!  It was moist and hearty.  I could have added even more raisins.  They add a nice sweetness along with the molasses.  If anyone out there wants to try the flour, I recommend the recipe on the bag.  Thanks C & K!!

2010 Knitting Olympics

I made it!  I finished my project for 2010 Knitting Olympics!  I committed to knitting a helmet liner.  This was a project I read about on the site of a nice little yarn shop in Maryland.  Any knitter wanting to knit and send a helmet liner to our troops in Afghanistan check out this site for a free pattern.  I haven't made it to the shop yet--a lot of snow in our area kept me from visiting a couple shops I'm wanting to get to.  But the snow has cleared and my helmet liner has been completed.

I hadn't attempted this type of project before.  It turned out to be a well-fitting pattern that would keep anyone warm out in a windy-cold area.  The front can be pulled up under your eyes or pulled under your chin, depending on how much coverage you want for your face.  I think any outdoorsman who goes out in severe weather would appreciate one of these. The pattern could be changed and different colors used to adapt this for just playing in the snow--a much less serious use for it.  I have enough yarn to make two more just like it for donation. 

The Knitting Olympics "Let The Knitting Begin!"

At the moment the torch is lit tonight to begin the Olympics 2010, more than 2000 knitters will cast on to knit a challenging project of their choice that must be completed before the torch is extinguished at the end. We're  joining the yarnharlot.  Read her inspiring and hilarious introduction.  There are other knitting groups on the web forming their own "knit with the Olympics" plans for tonight.  I had signed up to attempt my first Fair Isle mittens, using both the continental and the English methods for two-handed stranding--a real challenge for me--a continental knitter.  But, I discovered there is a call for "helmet liners for soldiers," that are being sent to soldiers in Afghanistan.  I've had a soldier in Afghanistan and I've decided to join that cause instead.  When the torch is lit tonight, I'll cast on dark olive 100% wool to knit a helmet liner before the torch is extinguished on Sunday, February 28.