America's Favorite Batter Bread
Make this quick and easy white bread with no kneading! Expect a more open texture and a top crust that has a rougher appearance than kneaded breads. As with all batter breads, it is best when fresh-baked.


This recipe is featured at My Kitchen Addiction.
This recipe makes 2 loaves
Ingredients





Water (120°-130°F)	3 cups
Vegetable oil or Shortening	2 TBSP
Bread Flour	6+1/2 cups
Salt	1 TBSP
Sugar	3 TBSP
Active Dry Yeast	4+1/2 tsp
Butter	as desired

Directions
*Baker’s Note: Cake pans, casserole dishes, pie plates, coffee cans, muffin tins, or other oven-proof dishes may be used. Fill containers half full to allow space for rising.


Traditional Baking Method
In large mixer bowl, combine 3+1/2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water and shortening or oil to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. By hand, gradually stir in remaining flour to make a stiff batter. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 30 minutes.


Stir down batter with a spoon. Divide dough evenly between 2 greased bread pans, 8 x 5-inch. (See Baker's note for other pan options.) Cover; let rise in warm place until batter reaches tops of pans, 20 to 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately; place on rack.  Brush with butter; cool before cutting.




You can substitute Instant (fast-rising) yeast for Active Dry Yeast. Traditional methods- replace 1:1. Expect your dough to rise faster; always let your dough rise until ‘ripe’. Bread Machines- use 1/2 tsp Instant yeast (or 3/4 tsp Active Dry yeast) per cup of flour in your recipe. Visit our Lessons in Yeast & Baking for more information.



Pasted from <http://www.redstaryeast.com/print/our-best-recipes/breads-rolls-and-more/americas-favorite-batter-bread>

Chewy cooked wheat berries, more than baking breads

I was lucky enough to come across 150 lbs of these wheat berries through a trade.  I thought now what can I do with these things??  Can I feed this staple to my ducks, geese, chickens, goats, and/or dogs?  Can I eat this?  Well, with these questions in mind; I hit the web.  I looked up lots of different ways to cook these.  Out of all the ways I found to cook them I decided to just go with my gut.  I used 1 cup of wheat berries to 2 cups of water.  I started cooking em' just like you do grits.  I put them on the stove to cook, brought them to a boil and then brought it down to a slow boil (adding water when needed).  I cooked them for 90 minutes. 


At this point, I had no idea what to expect.  Would they be mushy, crunchy, turn out like cream of wheat, or what.  After 90 minutes I tasted them, and I thought they were a little bland--yet chewy.  The kids said they tasted like fresh raw, chewy corn. 





These berries can also be thrown on top of a wetted down  cardboard box and newspapers and you will get green grass blades in a day or so.  Fresh greens to eat!!  The box and paper don't sound so tasty, but in hard times this is the least of my worries.  Like water bottles with BPA --who cares.  Thank God I have a container to put water in. 


What I am trying to stress is I got this wheat for the yard animals and then I decided to find out what else I can do with it.  So, I experimented.  I liked the end results, and I learned you can use them almost anywhere in the kitchen and yard.  Not to mention, a person can grind them up and make bread. 


Hunger makes good gravy, and gravy with wheat berries fills a tummy more full.  If you have any ideas or recipes please share.   I would like to share this one website that has very valuable information about these wheat berries:  Cooking Lessons From the Kitchen  I hope you enjoy!!

Making Homemade Soft, Spreadable Butter. Recipe

Making Homemade Soft, Spreadable Butter. Recipe


This butter spread stays soft even when refrigerated, and can be used in place for margarine.


Ingredients
• 2 c butter
• 2 c canola oil or other light tasting oil
• 1½ tsp salt
Instructions
1. Leave butter to soften for several hours or overnight.
2. Blend together butter, oil, and salt.
3. Pour into containers and refrigerate.


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Black Swamp Meatloaf

Raven Hickox

 -  May 16, 2013

Black Swamp Meatloaf
1/2 lb sausage ground sweet or spicy
*1/2 lb ground beef or ground venison
*1 fresh tomato and onion
*1 packet meatloaf mix
*spicy or sweet BBQ sauce (opposite of whatever sausage u picked)(mushrooms, cilantro or whatever other veggie spice u may desire)
*1 lb of bacon (I use hickory)
*salt and pepper to taste
Combine meatloaf and sausage and meatloaf mix add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. Layer top of meatloaf with rest of ingredients. Lay bacon flat on cookie sheet or non stick surface. Put meatloaf in center of bacon. Start to wrap till there is lil to know meatloaf showing. Cook at 350 degrees or until done. ENJOY.

 

 Corn Meal Mush




Thrifty and tummy filling, Corn Meal Mush makes a tasty breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The following steps show how to make Polenta, which is a close cousin to Corn Meal Mush. Both dishes follow the same technique and steps for preparing this corn meal based dish.
 Ingredients
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups corn meal
 Steps
1. 1
   Place a saucepan on the stove top.
2. 2
   Gather together a whisk, wooden spoon and a bowl.
3. 3
   Add water to saucepan.
4. 4
   Add salt.
5. 5
   Bring water to a boil.
6. 6
   Whisk corn meal into boiling water.
7. 7
   Bring mixture to a slow boil, and cook until thickened.
8. 8
   Lower the heat.
9. 9
   Switch to the wooden spoon. Continue cooking until mixture thickens. Cook the mush over low heat at just a simmer. Be careful as the mush spatters and can burn tender skin.
10. 10
    Spoon corn meal mush into a bowl while hot.
11. 11
    Serve with maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar.

You will save lots of money.

  Learn to cook.  Learn to bake.  You can buy a pound of yeast at Costco or Sam’s for the same price as three small packages of yeast at the grocery store.  I love the 5 minute bread recipe.  6 cups flour, 3 cups warm water, 1 ½ tablespoon yeast, 1 ½ tablespoon chunky salt (kosher, sea, etc.).  Mix it together with a spoon. Let it rise an hour.  Put some flour onto the counter and pour the dough onto the flour.  (At this point I like to add Italian seasoning to half the dough) Shape into individual rolls or two round loaves.  Bake 350 for 15 minutes.  Noodles are another one of our favorites.






Flour, egg yolk, water, salt. Mix and roll out.  Cut into whatever shape you want.  We use the pizza cutter and make crazy shapes.  Boil for about 10 minutes. Here's a good starter

• 2 cups all purpose flour (Cake and bread flour work too.)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional

Instructions:

• On a counter top (or in a bowl) pile your flour, make a well in the center, and crack in your eggs into the well. Pour in the olive oil and sprinkle in the salt. Slowly mix together with your hands (or a spoon). Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until dough becomes smooth and pliable, adding flour to the board as necessary.
• Cut the dough into quarters and let it rest for a little while before rolling it out.

For Fettuccine:

• Roll the dough out into a 12x15 rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds and cut 1/2 inch strips along the shorter distance. Unwrap and let dry, or use it immediately. To cook, boil salted water, add pasta and cook until it has reached the desired tenderness. (This will depend on how old it is.)

Lice that time again

I just googled for a recipe and found this...

To prevent lice using an herbal, natural method, try using a tea tree oil spray. In a plastic spray bottle, mix 8 oz (236ml) of water with approximately 12 drops of tea tree oil. You can find the oil in any health food store. For a pleasant smell, add a few drops of rosemary or lavender essential oils. You can also find these in a health food store. Misting this mixture into your hair while combing through will help keep lice away.
Research shows tea tree oil attacks mature lice and dislodges them from the scalp, resulting in a high mortality rate after the first application (see Reference 2).
Read more: Herb Oil Natural Spray on to Prevent Lice | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5607561_herb-natural-spray-prevent-lice.html#ixzz1EZXLPCaO

CANNING POKE GREENS OR JUST PLAIN POKE

This is from a local friend who shared her canning of poke salad
Poke - canned

It takes a lot of poke to make enough to can. Two very full kitchen trash bagsof tender stem tops will yield about 2 gallons of cooked poke depending on how close you trim the leaves. Some people prefer no stems in their poke (like spinach) and some prefer some of the more tender stems in their poke.

Wash poke leaves in water several times. We set up an assembly line: strip leaves off stems and cut the stem ends then move thru two or three water baths to the cutting board. Cut bundles of washed leaves in 1 inch strips. Put in large pot with boiling water. Stir and cook until poke looses its bright green color and becomes dull green. Pour off the water (oxalic acid). Cover with fresh water and stir to rinse the cooked leaves. Pour off this second water and add just enough water to cover. At this point, the cooked poke can be cooled and placed in freezer bags. To can, heat back up. Fill clean canning jars to within 1 inch of the top, packing the poke tightly to remove the air bubbles. Top off with canning salt. (pints get 1/2 tsp and quarts get 1 tsp). Seal with hot sterile lids. Water bath for 3 hours or pressure can at 15 pounds for 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts.


Today we put up 15 quart bags in the freezer and pressure canned 19 pints. We had 7 or those white kitchen trash bags full. the stems ends and trimmings went to the chickens who stripped every little tidbit off those stems.

Canning Granny: Canning Cakes, Sweetbreads, Brownies and such

Canning Granny: Canning Cakes, Sweetbreads, Brownies and such: Yep! I canned cake! And brownies ! I was told you can't do it, but I did anyway. **Disclaimer** The USDA and the Ag Extension people...

The easiest Cake I know of

The easiest Cake I know of


Everyone needs to know how to make an instant cake – trust me, spur of the moment is often the name of the game. Now believe me I have made my fair share of birthday cakes, and you could use this as a birthday cake when you have left things to the last minute. And believe me I have made my fair share of box/mix cakes, but why buy a box of cake mix when you have this recipe? Really it is so easy that you will never need to buy a cake-mix again and you will never have to worry about what is lurking in those fine print ingredients again.

So here we go with the quickest, easiest cake recipe. This is what you are aiming for:


Now you could sift your flour, you could cream your butter and sugar together until it is extra light and fluffy, you could add your eggs one at a time and blend until they are incorporated, you could add vanilla or cocoa. You could do all that, but this is not that kind of cake.
 Generally they don’t mean in twenty minutes – they mean now… but I can’t do it faster than twenty minutes. So Let’s get started goof'in



    2 cups of self raising flour
    1 cup of sugar
    1 cup of softened butter or oil
    4 eggs



Step 1: Pop all your ingredients into the mixing bowl.



Step 2: Mix away… mix, mix, mix.



Step 3: Pour your mixture into the greased baking pans. And bake at 350 degrees  for about 20 minutes.



Step 4: When your cake is ready the knife will come out clean. Leave your cake to cool in the pan for a few minutes and then cool it on a cake rack till it is completely cooled (else the icing will slide off!).



Step 5: While your cake is cooling make some butter cream icing. You will need a lump of butter, icing sugar, a dash of hot water and food coloring. This is not a precise science!



Pop the sugar and butter into the microwave and melt the butter. Then stir it together. Add a dash of boiling water – this smooths it out. And add drop of food coloring in your favorite color.



Step 6: By now your cake should have cooled and you can pour the icing onto it…










****teaspoon of baking powder for each cup of regular all-purpose flour


**** I usually use about a cup of icing sugar and two tablespoons of butter, a dash of boiling water and a drop of food coloring…

http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/

http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/