Limpa Bread (or Swedish Rye Bread)

Swedish Rye Bread (Limpa)
 Ingredients

1 tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup dark mollases
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups rye flour
2 3/4 cups white flour
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 teaspoon anise seed

mix ingredients, knead, let rise, form into loaves
bake at 375 for 40 minutes

Spritz Cookies

Always a favorite at our house. A rookie mistake to note and avoid is to put the spritz on an ungreased baking sheet (this also means no parchment paper)--the butter will do the greasing for you....

Spritz Cookies: 

Ingredients

2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons almond (or peppermint) extract
red/green food coloring as desired

Instructions:

cream butter and sugar together
add eggs
add flour and salt
finally, add extract
place into cookie maker and "spritz"
bake at 350 for 8 min

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

 Sugar Cookies:

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

 Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes

. 

Swedish Coffee Cake

It can't be Christmas without thinking about our good Scandinavian ancestors who gave us so much to be proud of: lutefisk, strange stuffed sausages, and the almond in the rice pudding. Among these many attributes is the Swedish coffee cake which gives Christmas morning so much of its wild festivity!

Swedish Coffee Cake: 
Ingredients

2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages yeast
4 eggs
1 cup butter
9 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons cardamom
Mincemeat for filling OR raisins, crushed pineapple, and cinnamon.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Note, for the smaller group, the recipe can be halved or even thirded (is that a word?). 

Christmas Spirit: Toffee Bars

It's the moment we've all been waiting for. The Turkey is gone, the pumpkin pie is (mostly) gone, and the Christmas carols are on in full force. The butter in the freezer is gently calling to us, and it's time to start baking.

Toffee Bars
Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yoke
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 chopped nuts

Instructions:

Cream butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla.
Then add flour and salt.
Pat into jelly roll (11x15") pan
Bake at 325 for 15-20 min

Parmesan Chicken

The recipe for this one is written on a used piece of ordinary lined paper.  Humble origins for such a glorious meal. 

Parmesan Chicken: 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c margarine, melted

Instructions:

Line broiler or 15x11 pan with foil
Combine Parmesan, bread crumbs, oregano, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl
Roll chicken strips in margarine, then Parmesan mixture
Bake 400 for 20-25 minutes uncovered.

Serve with rice. 

Beef Stroganoff or Russian Beef

Beef Stroganoff: 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons bacon fat
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 pounds round steak
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons water

Instructions:

Cut steak into 1" cubes.
Melt bacon fat, cook onions and garlic until soft.
Add meat, cook about 10 minutes until brown.
Add rest of ingredients except flour and water.
Lower temperature and cook about 2 hours.
During last ten minutes of cooking, mix flour and water and stir into mixture to thicken.
Serve over egg noodles.

Serves 8

Sidenote: this is a great one to toss in the slow-cooker and simmer during the day... Enjoy!

Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots

Mostly we love all food.  Any shape, color, size, or flavor, we'll give it a try and probably like it.  But out of all these possibilities of delicious food, there is one recipe/meal that consistently gets us pumped: Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots.  It's why we called this recipe collection what we did.  It's why we get up in the morning.  How we celebrate big events or long weeks that are over.  It is the pinnacle of all good food.  Expend almost no effort and you're still on the right track.  Can you believe it?

Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots: 

Ingredients:

Chuck Roast (poundage can match the number of people you're cooking for)
1-2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup red wine (merlot or cabernet work well,but whatever is on hand will do)
Lowry's Seasoning Salt
3-4 cups water
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp garlic powder (or 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic)
1 bay leaf
3-4 whole peppercorns (or 1 tsp ground pepper)
a dash of soy sauce
3-4 potatoes, diced
4-5 carrots, peeled, chopped

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet. 
Sprinkle roast with seasoning salt and brown in the skillet.
Add wine and simmer for a minute or two, continuing to turn the roast.
Pour roast and wine into crock-pot.
Cover with water, rosemary, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, pepper, and soy sauce. 

Simmer on high for 5 hours, then low for 3 more (the longer you simmer, the more tender the meat)
About an hour before serving, add potatoes and carrots to the slow-cooker. 
 
Serve with fresh bread.  

Note: take leftover juice to make a simple gravy to pour over the meat and potatoes.  So delicious!

Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Guaranteed to give Panera a run for its money, this soup is cheesy and rich.  Perfect to brighten our Novembers.

Broccoli Cheese Soup: 

Ingredients:

3/4 cups onion (sauteed in 2 tbs butter)
2 1/2 cups water
6 bouillon cubes (chicken)
8 oz noodles
1 tsp salt
10-16 oz broccoli
3 cups milk
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 pound Velveeta

Instructions: 

Saute onions; add water and bouillon and bring to boil
Add noodles and salt and cook five minutes
Add broccoli, garlic, and milk and cook another 5 minutes or until broccoli is tender
Add velveeta and cook until melted
Serve with bread

Steak Soup

November! This marks the official downhill slope into Christmas. It also marks the beginning of cold blustery days and long dark nights.What better to celebrate this cold, blusteryness than with a bowl of warm soup and some freshly baked bread?  We say not much!

Steak Soup

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 10 oz cans beef consumme
1/2 cup diced fresh carrots
1/2 cups celery
1/2 cups onion
1 8 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp kitchen bouquet
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp accent
1 10 oz package frozen mixed veggies
1 lb ground beef steak, browned and drained

Instructions:

 Place butter in a soup pot and allow to melt without browning. 
Add flour to butter and stir to form a smooth paste. 
Cook over medium heat, without browning for three minutes, stirring constantly. 
Add the consumme to the flour-butter mixture and stir until smooth and slightly thickened.
Bring to full boil. 
Add the fresh vegetables and seasoning with the tomatoes to the boiling soup.
Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until vegetables are almost tender. 
Add frozen vegetables and the browned ground steak meat.
Simmer an additional 15 minutes.

Serves-8

Baked Oatmeal

Our last foray into warm, hearty oatmeal got us thinking.  What about another one for variety?

Baked Oatmeal: 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine (melted)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
3 cups oatmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Instructions:

Add sugar and eggs to melted butter
Add oatmeal, baking powder, salt, and milk to butter mixture.
Bake in greased bowl or pan at 350 for 1 hour.

Serves 6-8

Overnight Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Yesterday in Indiana, Hurricane Sandy gave us her last dregs in the form of icy pellets that made our Tuesday cold and miserable.  The only way to deal with this kind of shocking cold is to make shockingly warm food.  Accordingly, we turned up the fall music (try White Winter Hynmal by Fleet Foxes) and warmed the house with some tasty oatmeal.

Overnight Steel-Cut Oatmeal: 

Ingredients:

3/4 cups steel-cut oats
3 cups water

Instructions:

In a 1 1/2 to 3 quart slow cooker, combine oats and water. 
Cover and cook on low setting for 8-9 hours (overnight)
Stir well and scoop into serving bowls. 
Serve with milk, sugar, raisins, cinnamon, apple butter, pumpkin butter, or anything else that trips your fancy.

 Cold Morning? Vanquished.  

Cheesy Corn Bake

A classic Friday night staple--Like macaroni and cheese, only cheesier....

Cheesy Corn Bake

Ingredients:

1 can cream style corn
1 can whole corn
1 cup cubed Velveeta cheese
2 cups raw macaroni
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Instructions:

Melt butter/margarine in 9x13 baking disk
Add macaroni and stir
Add rest of the ingredients
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered, then 30 minutes uncovered. 
Alternative: microwave 10 minutes on high, then bake 30 minutes uncovered.

Nancy's Potato Soup

There's nothing that get's us in the mood for soup more than a chilly fall day.

Nancy's Potato Soup 

Simmer together for one hour:

Ham bone/Ham pieces
1 onion
1/2 kettle water

 Add potatoes to the stock (enough for the number of people eating), salt, pepper, and worchestershire sauce. 
Cook until potatoes are tender. 
Add frozen green beans and cook some more.
Before serving add cheese and milk.

There's a reason this is approximate--you can't mess it up.  Super helpful if you're cooking for two or twelve. :)

--The Chefs

Pumpkin Waffles

Since we're on such a breakfast kick these days, it wouldn't be right to taunt you with apple syrup and waffles without sharing our delight in all things pumpkin--particularly these light and fluffly pumpkiny treats.  Remember the strawberries and cream for the waffles?  Try these pumpkin guys with a bit of apple syrup and some whipped cream and you'll wonder if you're eating desert or breakfast.  Sounds about perfect to us. 

Because we're indecisive and we like to recipe mix, we're sharing two recipes with you.  See what you think.

Pumpkin Waffles #1

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
4 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. 

Instructions:

Heat the waffle iron.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl and set aside. 
Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin, butter, and vanilla together in another large bowl until smooth.
While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend just until smooth.
Generously coat the waffle iron with vegetable oil and cook. 
Repeat and enjoy.

Pumpkin Waffles #2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cups unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
dash of nutmeg
dash of cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

Now, not that you asked us for our opinion (and we do hope you'll try both recipes around), but we prefer recipe number one any day.  However, if you happen to be a normal kind of person who doesn't have little things like buttermilk floating around in your refrigerator, number two can be helpful.  

Enjoy, and happy fall!!!

-The cooks
 

Apple Spice Syrup

This is an old, but good, recipe for apple syrup--a nice change from "Mrs B.'s", especially this time of year when we start to crave all things fall and delicious.

Apple Spice Syrup

Ingredients

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 3/4 cups apple juice or cider

Directions

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, allspice, and nutmeg; mix well.
Add juice or cider.  Cook and Stir over medium heat until syrup is bubbly and slightly thickened. 

Yield: 1&3/4 cups

Farmstead Waffles

Come any given Saturday and you may find chef number 4 slaving away over the waffle irons, churning out these deliciously light and fluffly waffles.  Top them with some home grown strawberries a bit of cream, and you're really on your way...

Farmstead Waffles

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter or marjorine (melted)
2 C Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 C Buttermilk
3 Large Eggs

Directions:

1. Heat waffle iron
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Mix wet ingredients
4. Mix dry and wet together until just moist
5. Cook and enjoy!

Serves~6-8

Maiden Voyage

For our friends, family, and friends-yet-to-be,

Here is one comprehensive place to learn the secrets, tips, and little ways to make cooking easy and delightful. This is a safe place where we imagine that we live in a world where flipping omelets is as easy as Julia Child makes it seem, but where we also know that when the omelet crumbles we can just make scrambled eggs instead. 

Enjoy...

--The Fabulous Chefs