Mix It Up Friday - December

from Tracey G

Here it is again! Another Mix It Up Friday! One of my favorite things we do - because while it's always fun (usually, lol) to bake from scratch, there's something equally fun about a mix as well! I love trying them and seeing if they can pass for homemade, even if it's not my intention, that is always my underlying ulterior motive, lol. I may not even do it consciously, but that's always something I'm looking for regardless. So far, King Arthur Flour has yet to disappoint!

Every mix I have tried would pass the homemade test, and this one this week is no exception. The Essential Goodness Cinnamon Sugar Puff Muffin Mix is wonderful! It really does remind me of a cinnamon sugar doughnut! I think there is just the right combination of nutmeg (once again they are putting one of my favorite spices to use!) and cinnamon in the muffin that combines wonderfully with the cinnamon sugar topping.

The extra ingredients you bring to the party for the muffins are eggs, butter or vegetable oil and milk. The only additional ingredient needed for the coating of cinnamon sugar is melted butter. Since I am watching my cholesterol intake these days, I used the vegetable oil option in the muffin mix instead of the butter, and they were still yummy as can be. I imagine the butter would add an extra layer of flavor (or just that little something you can't quite put your finger on), I do hope to try that variation one of these days, lol. And the other thing I did, was only dip the tops of the muffins in the cinnamon sugar mix. That is because I used foil liners for the muffins, and didn't feel like peeling them all off for the coating, lol.

 So, bottom line is this is another winner in the Essential Goodness line of mixes from  King Arthur Flour. And don't forget, that for every Essential Goodness mix purchased,  King Arthur Flour will donate the cost of a meal to Feeding America! And that's something you can feel good about!

If you're like me and have limited places to shop, you can purchase any of the Essential Goodness mixes right from King Arthur Flour's website. Here's a link right to the purchase page: Cinnamon Sugar Puff Muffin Mix


from Kris B

My taste buds and the scale say that I have had enough sweets lately.  I was surprised to discover that King Arthur Flour carries soup mixes.  The Indiana Harvest Sausage and Lentil Soup Mix is manufactured by Frontier Soups and sold by King Arthur Flour as well as on the company's own website.

As Tracey said, most of the time we are committed to cooking from scratch. but every now and then it is handy to have a "mix" on hand.  The Indiana Harvest Sausage and Lentil Soup is described as a hearty meal and has a made from scratch flavor.  The "mix" contains the lentils and a spice packet.  So really, the convenience is in not having to forage through the spice rack and measure everything out.  The package instructions call for you to brown and add a pound of Italian sausage,  broth, three diced zucchini, and a couple of cans of petite diced tomatoes.  Since this was my first time to try this mix, I made it exactly as was instructed, but now having done that and eaten it, I can see the potential for lots of variations.

Though the name is sausage and lentil soup, I think that the Italian sausage could be omitted and vegetable broth substituted for the beef broth without compromising the overall flavor of the soup.  And, as is the case with almost any soup homemade or otherwise, whatever vegetables that you happen to have on hand could be added.  The next time I make this, I am going to try adding some spinach and or kale.

I do have a warning...this recipe makes A LOT of soup!!!  The package says 8-10 servings.  I'm not sure what they consider a serving size, but Weber and I had a dinner and two lunches with generous portions, plus I froze several containers for lunches once I go back to school.  It's a good thing we liked it! lol!

And what goes with soup?  Of course...a nice loaf of hot out of the oven bread!  I made the Everyday Whole-Grain Bread from the King Arthur October Bakealong Challenge.

I have not seen this soup mix in any of my local grocery stores, but as I said above, it is available on their King Arthur Flour website.  It is the prefect meal for these cold winter days ahead!

*****

On a completely different note,  we want to let you know that this will be our last post to Pixels, Plates, and Lols.  No, we did not have a falling out over crumbs and drips or no crumbs and drips in our food photos, or over Times verses Arial (We both have that argument with Blogger!), or PS over LR.  All is good with us!  With a new year comes  new things.  Watch for new things from us with the dawning of 2017  We love all of you who have followed us from the beginning or who just stop by occasionally.  

Please don't go away!  we will be right back!  

Until then, drink lots of coffee, take lots of photos, and laugh, laugh, laugh!

We wish all of you and those you love a happy and healthy new year!

XOXOX Tracey and Kris

Food Friday - King Arthur Flour December Bakealong

from Tracey G

It's King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge week again! This month's recipe looked rather daunting due to steps, I was a bit apprehensive. But wow, was I mistaken! It was so easy to do, but yet looks like you fussed over it! This month, the recipe challenge is a Butter Pecan Kringle.

I'm always excited to see what the month's recipe is going to be, but mixed in with that excitement is always a little dread....what if it's too hard for me to do? What if it's something I don't like (granted, that worry is the smallest percentage, lol!)? When I saw this one, I will admit feeling a little "uh oh, what have I gotten myself into?" - I felt a bit of trepidation. And once I started it, that feeling totally vanished and in its place arrived "oh my gosh, this is so easy!". Seriously!

It's done in steps and if you just follow the 3 basic steps, you've got it. First you mix up the base, which is like a sticky pie pastry, lol. If you divide it into 4 pieces, it's really easy to form it into the flat oval ring (about 1.5" wide). Then you make the batter - easy peasy. It sounded harder than it was - it's super easy. Once you get that accomplished, you spread it over the pastry oval. Bake. That's it. Once, it's baked and cooled you add your adornments - in this case it's caramel drizzle (and the directions for getting that made as well are included), then on top of that you add pecan halves (I used chopped because I couldn't find halves) and top it all off with a powdered-sugar icing drizzle. There's also ideas for a raspberry jam and lemon powdered sugar icing, or anything that tickles your fancy. I am going to try using almond flavoring in the batter, and just topping with toasted sliced almonds and an almond flavored powdered sugar icing.  I also envision sweetened cream cheese somehow and cherry pie filling...lots of ideas for this versatile treat!!!

 Do try it, it's so easy and presents beautifully - Jeremy has pretty much eaten the whole thing single-handedly, lol. It goes great with coffee, and I left about a 1/4 of it without the pecans for Harry, it just had the caramel and the icing. I didn't take it one step further with the idea of the chocolate drizzle as the final step of goodness, but it was stated that it would be appreciated next time I make it, lol!!! I do believe I have found another holiday treat tradition!! Thank you King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge!

Link to the Butter Pecan Kringle Walk-through


from Kris B.

I am having a hard time getting my head rapped round the fact that Christmas is only ten days away.  It's not that I have any ill feelings about it this year; it just seems like I have had so much going on that Christmas just snuck up on me.  I have finally purchased a few gifts...and even mailed a few...but we have no tree up as of yet.  Making this month's Bakealong recipe has helped to nudge me toward the holiday spirit!

Christmas is all about suspending disbelief.  For me, making the Butter-Pecan Kringle required a little of that as well.  When I first read the recipe, I had a hard time picturing how the whole process was going to come together.  I took my normal approach to most things in life...take it one step at a time.  As Tracey said, if you do this, the Kringle comes together very easily; once you start working, the process is not nearly as daunting as it seems when you are reading through the recipe.

I made one slight error in in my preparation.  I used individual caramel candies melted in the microwave.  I failed to add a little bit of milk to keep the caramel filling super soft.  My husband was perfectly happy with my final product, but I thought the caramel was a bit too hard.  Next time I'll remember to add a little milk or use caramel sauce.  Lol!

The pastry is quite versatile, leaving lots of room for variation in the fillings and toppings.  Tracey is heading towards chocolate and almonds, I want to try a cinnamon and brown sugar filling.  Blueberries with a lemon drizzle also sounds good!  I have plenty of taste testers in my family willing to offer their services with almost any combination of flavors.

The Kringle is a great treat to have on hand for unexpected guests who might stop by to wish you happy holidays.  It would also make your co-workers happy if you leave it in the break room at work.    And of course, having it on hand for your own family holiday celebrations is also a good idea.

Happy baking!

King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge!

Link to the Butter Pecan Kringle Walk-through

We wish you peace and joy as you and those you love celebrate any of the many holidays at this time of year.

Food Friday - Cookies!!!

from Kris B.

Cookies!  There are very few kinds of cookies that I don't like.  Like Cookie Monster, having a cookie will always make me happy.  I'm not so sure about this new thing Cookie Monster has going on with cookies now being a "sometimes food."  I think they are most certainly an "anytime" food!

Admittedly, I have no talent for making the fancy iced and decorated cookies.  You'll have to turn to Tracey for help there!  I am more a master of uniform drop cookies, thanks to a handy dandy cookie scoop.  Lol!  But, that said, I really do like pretty cookies, especially as gifts.  I have reconciled my lack of skill and talent for icing with my love of pretty cookies by turning to making stamped cookies.

King Arthur Flour offers this set of three snowflake stamps.  These stamps, made of heavy cast aluminum,  have a solid wood handle that is sturdy and easy to grip, making their $23.95 price tag a little more palatable.  I have worked a lot with terracotta cookie stamps.  I much prefer the aluminum ones.  The "heaviness" of these stamps makes it easy to get an even pattern over the entire cookie.  The Starry Night stamps are also good sized, measuring three inches.  Printed on the box in which the stamps come is a recipe for Starry Night Stamped Gingerbread Cookies.  This recipe varies slightly from the King Arthur Flour recipe for Winter Spice Stamp Cookies that I used.  The primary difference between the two recipes is that the recipe on the stamp box uses a touch of cocoa in addition to the traditional cinnamon, cloves, and ginger found in most spice cookies and The King Arthur Winter Spice Stamp Cookies use the King Arthur Winter Spice Blend (available from King Arthur for $4.99) that is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, coriander, and cardamon.  The Winter Spice Stamp Cookies also use a touch of molasses.

Usually when I make stamped cookies, I roll the dough into balls and use the stamping process to both flatten and imprint the cookies.  Instead of this method, these cookies are rolled out to 1/4" thick, cut out, and then stamped.  This process made for pretty edges on the cookies.  I used a fluted edge round cutter from a set by Ateco to cut my cookies.  The cutter was exactly the same size as the cookie stamps, which made for the pretty edges around the stamped area of the cookie as well as on its edges.  One thing that I did do that was not specified in the instructions was to dip the stamp in sugar before stamping each cookie.  I'm not sure if this helped, but I had no issues with the stamp releasing from the dough.

The Winter Spice Stamp cookies are a crisp cookie, much like a ginger snap.  Generally, I prefer chewy cookies, but these are really good, especially with a hot cup of coffee that I may or may not have used for dipping my cookie.  :-) As one who always prefers crispy cookies, and cookies with NO chocolate, and cookies that go well with coffee, Weber was quite happy with this week's recipe choice as well.  Tracey and I had a good laugh over the fact the we both tend towards chewy cookies and Jeremy, like Weber, likes the crispy ones...just one more way in which our worlds are similar!

If they are not all eaten before you can package them, these are pretty cookies and will make a great Christmas gift.  To make the gift even more special, add some nice coffee or, if you must, tea for a gift that will surely be appreciated...even if the recipient is normally a chewy cookie kind of person.  Lol!

Winter Spice Stamp Cookies




from Tracey G

This time of year I'm gearing up (if not already into full swing) for making my Christmas Food Gifts. Usually it's cookies or treats of some kind. I love making them more than I like eating them (I can't believe that's even possible, but it's true!), so it's always fun for me to get started. My plan of attack is usually the same - one or two really pretty things (more complicated) then fill in with the easier sorts of things that don't require a lot of tedious work or detail etc. I rotate my recipes every year, usually trying to incorporate one or two new ones every season. And the new ones usually involve some sort of EASY to produce cookie (or treat)!

I love thumbprint cookies - they are one of my favorite cookies to eat, and I love making them because they are so easy! Like Kris, I too use a cookie scoop (it's about a tablespoon I believe) for any cookie dough I can, lol. It makes quick work out of getting them on the baking sheet to be sure! So, when I was perusing the King Arthur Flour website  for a cookie recipe this week to try, I ran across this one for Lemon-Raspberry Thumbprints. It's a combination I've never made in this sort of cookie - I've used raspberry jam before in my thumbprints (because it's one of my favorites), but I've never made a lemon-flavored cookie to go under it. I was sold!

The dough was super easy to whip up. The do give you a couple options, as you can make them with the tablespoon sized scoop/spoon or a teaspoon. I went with tablespoon because that's what size my scoop it and I wanted it as easy as possible, lol. After I got them scooped onto the baking sheet, I used a round measuring teaspoon to make the indentations for the jam after they are baked. Once they were baked off and totally cooled, I added the jam. The jam sets up a bit, so they hold up nicely. 

Harry proclaimed that these were the best thing ever, and Jeremy (not to mention myself!) loved them as well. They have earned a spot in "The Book" of keepers for sure! I will make these again, and they will be great in my Christmas Treat Rotation!

Here's a link to the recipe:

Lemon-Raspberry Thumbprints from King Arthur Flour

Food Friday -We Love Bread!

from Tracey G.

This week, Kris and I raided our Fall issues of Sift, a most wonderful magazine published by King Arthur Flour, for our recipes. We both spotted breads that intrigued us, so, we decided to give them a whirl for our offering this week. I decided on the English Muffin Toasting Bread.

I decided on this recipe even before I read completely through it - I love English Muffins, so I knew I'd love this! After I read it, I had to re-read at least a couple times - because it couldn't possibly be that easy. I must have misread it - or misunderstood it...nope, it really is just that easy. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, microwave the liquids in another until the liquid mixture is about 120-130°F. Add to the dry, and mix. Once mixed, dump it into the lightly-greased-and-coated-with-cornmeal loaf pan. Let rise until just slightly above the top of the pan. Bake for about 27 minutes. And done. That easy. No kneading, whatsoever. Mix and toss into the pan, let rise and bake. Now, for me, my dough seems to be ready to bake by the time my oven has preheated - so that makes it even quicker!

The only thing that I did that made it slightly more difficult was to make a double batch - it's so sticky, lol, that it was really hard to divide between the two loaf pans! But it disappears around here so fast (I've made it numerous times now!) making a double batch is most prudent. True to its name, this is a marvelous toasting bread. Oh my goodness, it's the best stuff ever for toast! It gets that delightful toasty-chewy texture, and the surface-texture of it holds the butter wonderfully! I even turned it into a lovely garlic bread - toasted, brushed with olive oil and then rubbed with a clove of garlic. It was perfect!

It seems to keep well, and it also freezes quite nicely, which I was happy to find out - granted, it wasn't in the freezer for long, since as I said before - the bread doesn't last long in this household! I do plan on trying to get ahead and getting a few loaves into the freezer because this is one bread I can tell you for a fact, will be a staple in around here. I have never ever made a bread this easy before, ever. Not only is it easy to make, but it's fabulous to eat too - toasted or even not toasted! I've been known to slice off a piece and eat it as is - nothing adorning it, just naked bread! Yummy! This is one bread that even if you've never attempted to make bread before - you will nail perfection the first time around. Because even if it doesn't look too perfect, it tastes perfect! 

So, please, give the English Muffin Toasting Bread a try, you will not be disappointed! 

English Muffin Toasting Bread   

English Muffin Toasting Walk Through


from Kris B.

 Tracey mentioned that the English Muffin Toasting Bread recipe was easy to make.  Thankfully, so was the Apple-Oatmeal Bread, my choice from the fall issue of King Arthur Flour's Sift magazine.  It is confession time.  Tracey and I usually bake and take our photos reasonably in advance of each week's post.  Somehow that didn't happen for me this time.  I was baking this morning, hoping with all my might that the recipe worked and that I could get decent photos before I ran out of time and light.  I have always been one who works to deadlines.  I am not exactly a procrastinator.  My method for accomplishing most things is to think about them, let them roll around in my mind until the eleventh hour, and then get it down, hoping that all the things that I thought about how the task would be accomplished actually work in reality.  I am happy to say that today's tempting of fate was not a disaster!

The method for making the Apple-Oatmeal Bread is much like that of the English Muffin Toasting Bread.  All of the ingredients, minus a cup of the flour, are all stirred together vigorously for two minutes and then the remaining flour is worked in 1/3 of a cup at a time.  Then the dough is turned out on a floured board and kneaded until it is "smooth and elastic."

This bread requires two rises.  The recipe suggests that both will take about an hour.  With the first, the dough should double in volume and with the second, it should rise an inch above the pan.  In both cases, my rise time was about 45 minutes.  The bread then bakes for 30 minutes.  The entire process from start to finish, beginning with peeling and dicing the apples, took about three hours, with only about thirty minutes of that being hands-on time.  The result is superb!

I deviated slightly from the printed recipe.  In addition to oatmeal, apples, and a touch of cinnamon, the recipe calls for the addition of walnuts.  I am not a fan of nuts in bread, and if I am going to include nuts, walnuts are my least favorite.  Being in the South, pecans are my "nut of choice."  I debated with myself about leaving them out, but I wanted to maintain the integrity of the original recipe, so I made the substitution.  Another confession; I like the nuts in this bread.

Both of the recipes that Tracey and I have shared this week are part of an article in Sift about ways to dress up a grilled cheese sandwich.  Both the breads are so good on their own that at neither of our houses did they last long enough to get to sandwich making.  They were eaten hot out of the oven.  In fact, because everyone at my house was home all day today and were surrounded by the smell of the baking bread, I had to fend them off long enough to get the photos taken.  Once I surrendered the loaf, they were right there with a knife and butter.

I am definitely going to make this again with the intention of using it for grilled cheese sandwiches.  I also think that it would make a delicious french toast.

This recipe was originally posted on the King Arthur Flour website in January 2008.  That recipe makes two loaves.  The recipe included in the Fall 2016 issue of Sift is halved, thus it makes only a single loaf.  Other than that, the recipes are identical.

Apple-Oatmeal Bread