I'm Back!!

I had a wonderful Christmas holiday and I hope you did too!! 

The Christmas baking is over for the year and all the Christmas recipes and supplies have been carefully (yeah, right!) put away. But I do have some plans for the coming year. I found a great recipe for individual loaves of bread and I can't wait to try it out. I also have a great recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins that I've been baking for my family for awhile that I'm offering up for sale now. 

Happy baking!! 

New Toys

I'd you hear I got a new toy? It's a cookie press! Now I can make good looking cookies (as well as tasty!) I am not known for my decorating skills so this makes it super easy! The picture is a bit blurry but the cookies are awesome! 

Tis the Season

I know it's been awhile since I last posted. I have started my Christmas Baking and I wanted to get it all done before I posted. But it has proved to be a bigger job than I expected. I have a few recipes to still do but I would like to show off what I have accomplished so far.

I am also on Facebook (just look for Mom's Buns).

Here are one of my favourite. Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls. So rich (I do not provide nutritional values because of cookies like this) and tasty. Also available in Oreo. Even more rich.

What would Christmas be without Gingerbread men! Run, run as fast as you can!!

The classic Sugar Cookie. Never fails to impress. I use an icing sugar icing for these cookies. If you'd rather, I can leave them plain so you can ice them with your favourite icing!!

One of my favourites, so much so that I only make it at Christmas. Otherwise, I would eat it round the clock! Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares!!

I will update with some more yummy Christmas cookies (I promise). But I am enjoying the trial process - as is the rest of my family!!

Trust me, I'm a Professional

Although what I'm doing is not technically a "real business" it doesn't mean I can't be professional. So I got myself a nice, new apron and oven mitts. Looking good! 

And here's my helper. She needs a bit more experience before I hire her on full-time. 

But at least I got it all done...

Like a pro. 

The Big Day

Update 1:

I mixed the rest of the ingredients with the starter. I'm already wary of it. It's so stiff and difficult to mix. I need to wait until it rises so I'll have a better idea soon. The crazy part is that the recipe calls for another 2 cups of flour and I barely got the the flour to mix in as it is! I may be looking for a new recipe. Wish me luck!

Update 2:

I'm feeling encouraged. After letting the dough rise, it seemed less stiff and much easier to work with. I even ended up adding some flour! Then I kneaded for while and shaped it into a loaf. Now I just have to let that rise then into the oven. So far so good!

Update 3:

The sweet sourdough success. Good news everyone, it turned out just fine. Nice crunchy crust on the outside and soft an fluffy on the inside. Very relieved. 

It was more work than I'm used to but it's a nice treat to have.  

Yum. 

Mad Scientist

Day 2: 

I'm feeling a bit like a mad scientist. Or some kind of medieval witch. I'm stirring this creation and I have no idea if it's working out or not. It's a frustrating thing not to have a frame of reference or something to compare it to. I know it's not supposed to be pretty and it's just a starter, but the doubts are starting to creep in. I'll not know whether this is all for not for another few days. I know there's only one way to learn, but I so hate wasting ingredients. I guess the worst case scenario is that I dump it all out and wash a bowl. And the best case scenario is a yummy loaf of sourdough bread and a new recipe to share. It took me years to perfect the bun recipe so I can't expect perfection with every new recipe. And it only Day 2. Like I tell my daughter, sometimes you just have to be patient. 

Starting the Starter

I'm trying something new today. I decided awhile back that I'd like to start experimenting with different types of breads. Well I looked around and I found a recipe for sourdough bread that I think I can handle. It requires a starter so I started that today. I've never done a starter so this should be a good opportunity to try. I've done the Amish Friendship bread before - where you get a bag of starter then pass it on to a few friends, but I've never actually started it from scratch. Should be interesting. It will take 3-5 days before the starter is ready so I'll do my best to keep you posted. In the meantime, this is what it looks like today. Kinda like a lumpy, gooish, glue. I'm sure it will look better once it all mixed together and baked!!

I added some links to different websites and blogs that I found interesting. The Links are found on the right of your screen.