Mix and knead this Oatmeal-Sunflower Bread in your bread machine, but bake it in your oven.
This is the bread recipe I promised two weeks ago along with a picture tutorial for exactly how one takes bread dough from the bread machine to the oven. If you would prefer your bread with the crust and appearance of the bread on the right in the picture below instead of the crust on the left, follow me.
Left: bread baked in a bread machine Right: bread mixed in a bread machine but baked in a loaf pan in a conventional oven
These are general instructions for changing any bread machine recipe baked in the machine into a loaf of bread you will be proud to serve and even happier to eat. Click here to see more pictures and recipe
Can you tell which loaf was baked in a bread machine?
I‘ve said it before, but in case you are a new or disillusioned bread machine owner who is just now finding this blog, please keep reading.
I almost never bake bread in my bread machine. Make no mistake! I love my bread machines, (yes, I have several) but I use them for mixing and kneading only.
Wanna know why? After all, isn’t that what a bread machine is supposedly made for? Check out the pictures, and I think you’ll see my point.
Left: Baked in a bread machine Right: Mixed in a bread machine, baked in conventional oven
1. The shape is weird when baked in a bread machine. I much prefer the way my loaf looks when I form the dough myself (after the dough cycle completes) and place it into a traditional bread pan.
See how the corners and bottom edges are rounded on the left? A bread machine pan is designed that way so no flour will be left behind during the kneading process. The result is a rounded lump of a loaf that doesn’t resemble anything for sale in a fine bakery.
Click here for more.
Raspberry-Marinated Grapefruit
Grapefruit is my new dessert. I like it plain or fancy, served as wedges or just cut in half. But occasionally, I crave grapefruit wedges soaked in raspberry puree.
This is a particularly good way to serve grapefruit to company because it not only looks festive but can be prepared ahead of time, and really, it should be for maximum raspberry flavor. It’s also easier to eat compared to digging each wedge out with a grapefruit spoon, although I enjoy that, too, for routine grapefruit eating. It adds a certain element of satisfaction and enjoyment not unlike eating corn off the cob or picking every last morsel of meat and crunch from a piece of fried chicken.
No recipe here. Just follow along and adjust the amounts to your needs. Click here for more details.
Are you having trouble getting the lid to seal when vacuum-packing a Mason jar?
It’s a classic case of seeing things differently after you experience something yourself.
Over the last 3 years of blogging about salad in a jar (a method of preserving chopped lettuce in a vacuum-packed glass jar), I’ve had the occasional reader ask me why they couldn’t get their jars to seal. I would gently repeat the original instructions and most would write back saying something was upside down, backward, inside-out, topsy-turvy or whatever. And they finally got it to work.
Then it happened to me. I have one Mason quart jar in my cabinet that will not seal no matter what I do. NOW….I feel your pain, with apologies to all of you who have ever had difficulties. Click here for more details.
Easter egg and heart-shaped cake pops dressed in “raincoats” for sharing.
It was a passing comment that got me to thinking. My boss recently mentioned she regularly takes treats to show her appreciation to the people who care for her aging relative. She inspired me to consider what I could do for those who watch after my mother.
Then it hit me. Cake pops!
They are already portioned, individually wrapped, don’t need refrigeration, and stay fresh for days. Perfect for a break room snack …or office parties, showers, visiting grandkids, bribes, etc.
Click here to see more pictures and recipe
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