For some reason, I thought this baby would come before his due date. At least a week before. But, I turns out I may be wrong. Our little “B” is due on Saturday and there still has been no sign he will be arriving soon.

So for now we wait, and I get to catch up on my reading, TV shows and recipes I’ve been wanting to try.

This one looked particularly good, and since Brett loves anything with cinnamon sugar and we had all the necessary ingredients in the house it seemed like a no-brainer.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread
recipe from Joy the Baker

Dough:
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (one envelope) active dry or rapid rise yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces (half a stick) of butter
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 ounces (half a stick) of butter, melted and browned

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and the salt. Set aside.

Whisk together the eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the milk and butter, until the butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and the water and vanilla extract. Let cool for a few minutes until the mixture is between 115 and 125 degrees.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. It takes several minutes for everything to come together.

Add 3/4 cup flour and mix. The original recipe said to mix with a spatula, but I had to turn the dough out onto the counter and knead for a few minutes to get the rest of the flour incorporated.

Place the dough in a large greased bowl (spray with some Pam!), cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about an hour until it doubles in size.

While the dough rises, mix together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Once the dough has almost doubled, grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and melt the butter until browned.

Deflate the dough and knead in the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for about 5 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out so it is about 2o inches long and 12 inches high.

Using a pastry brush, spread the butter evenly onto the dough. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Slice the dough vertically into six even strips.

Stack the strips on top of each other, and cut into six squares.

Layer the squares into the loaf pan, as shown below.

Place a towel over the loaf pan, and let rise for about 30 to 45 minutes until the dough almost doubles. Preheat the oven to 350 while the dough rises.

Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

The original recipe says to let the bread rest for 20 to 30 minutes before removing it from the pan and serving. We couldn’t wait that long, since it smelled so good and Brett had to get to work, so we probably only let it sit for about 5 minutes before digging in. No harm done

This bread looks cool, was fun to eat, and tasted fantastic. And, I was able to make it without leaving the house to get more ingredients!

While shopping for items to stock the pantry and freezer, I picked up a bunch of peaches on sale. Peaches are excellent right now, and while I usually prefer to just eat the fruit raw and fresh this time I was looking for a new baking project, so decided on this peach crisp.

Peach Crisp
recipe from All Recipes

6 fresh peaches: peeled, pitted and sliced into bite-size pieces
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8 x 8 baking dish.

Peel, pit, and chop the peaches, and place them in the bottom of the baking dish. Add the lemon juice and almond extract, and stir to combine.

In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter until the mixture looks crumbly.

Spoon the mixture in an even layer over the peaches.

Bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the juice is bubbly.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, or however you’d like! This peach crisp was even better the next day, after it had sit overnight in the fridge and all the juices had been reabsorbed.

As for the rest of us, Izzy seems to be getting frustrated from the lack of walks. It’s just too hot to take her out during daylight, and I have been too tired to take her out at night. Here in Central Texas, we have had 67 days of 100+ degree weather this year so far. Its pretty ridiculous.  Thankfully, we have really good air conditioning. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live here without electricity and air conditioning…

We have promised Izzy lots of walks and time at the dog park once baby gets here. Although I think she has been missing all the  outdoor time, she has been enjoying all the activity in the kitchen, and helps me taste just about everything.

She helps to lick all the plates, bowls and utensils clean

Brett has worked every single day in August, and is looking forward to a much needed break later this week. We’re hoping the baby comes during his time off! Our friend took a bunch of pregnancy pictures for us the other week, here are a few.

In order to pass the time I’ve been doing a lot of baking. Last week I was craving bagels… and not the kind you get in the bread section of the grocery store. Real New York-style bagels. Unforutnately, our part of Texas is seriously lacking in the bagel department. So, I found this recipe over on the Brown Eyed Baker’s Blog (I seem to be making everything from her blog these days…). The recipe comes from my favorite bread book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while, and a weekend alone at home seemed like the perfect time to give it a go.

Bagels

recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker and the Bread Baker’s Apprentice

For the sponge:

1 teaspoon instant yeast

4 cups (18 ounces) bread flour

2 1/2 cups water, at room temperature

For the dough:

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

3 3/4 cups (17 ounces) bread flour

2 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon honey

To finish: 

1 tablespoon baking soda

cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting

Everything bagel topping

Everything bagel topping: (enough for 12 bagels)

4 teaspoons poppy seads

4 teaspoons sesame seeds

4 teaspoons dried garlic (minced or flaked)

4 teaspoons dried onions (minced or chopped)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

First day: 

To make the sponge, combine the yeast and flour in a mixing bowl. Add the water and mix until it forms a smooth, sticky batter.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, until it  becomes bubbly doubles in size.

To make the dough, add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Add the three cups of flour, the salt, and the honey, and stir. You can also mix on low speed with a dough hook. Combine until the ingredients form a ball, working in the extra 3/4 cup of flour slowly.

Transfer to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes, or knead for 6 minutes on medium speed with the dough hook. I like to let the mixer do most of the work, and then finish off kneading by hand to see how the dough feels. The dough should be firm, but pliable and smooth, not too sticky. Add more flour or water if needed.

Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. I used my handy kitchen scale to make sure all pieces were equal. Form the dough pieces into rolls.

Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and allow to rest for about 20 minutes.

Line two baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper, and mist lightly with spray oil.

Form each roll into a bagel by punching a hole through the middle of the roll, ensuring the bagel is of even thickness all the way around.

Place the bagels on the the prepared baking sheets, at least two inches apart. Spray lightly with spray oil, and cover with plastic wrap.

Let the pans sit for about 20 minutes. Test if they are ready to be refrigerated by using the float test. Drop a bagel into a bowl of water. If it floats within 10 seconds, they’re ready to go into the fridge. Test one bagel. If it floats within 10 seconds, place both pans into the fridge, still covered, to retard overnight. If the bagel doesn’t float, take it out of the water, pat dry, wait another 20 minutes and try again. My tester bagel floated right away

Day two: 

The next day, when you’re ready to bake  your bagels, take the pans out of the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, with two racks in the middle of the oven.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, adding the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

Carefully drop the bagels in the boiling water, just a few at a time. Boil for one minute per side, and then flip.

While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the baking sheets (lined with parchment paper or silpat) with cornmeal or semolina flour. When both sides of the bagels are boiled, place on the sheets and immediately add your topping.

I decided to use everything bagel topping, since that’s my favorite, but you can obviously do whatever you want.

Once all the bagels are boiled and topped, place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Rotate the pans 180 degrees, and switch oven shelves, lower oven temperature to 450 and bake at least another 5 minutes.

Let the bagels cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

These bagels didn’t turn out as puffy as the ones I’m used to, but they were delicious and smelled amazing. I certainly enjoyed them, my craving was satisfied.

The other night I was feeling a little grumpy due to car troubles and an over abundance of hormones, but perked up considerably when I realized we had all the ingredients needed to make a patty melt. A good burger is a guaranteed way to put me in a better mood. Thankfully, patty melts are easy to make and don’t require the grill.

You don’t really need a recipe for patty  melts, but here’s how I make mine.

Patty Melt

1/3 pound of ground beef

1/4 yellow onion, sliced

2 pieces bread, preferably rye

2 slices american cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

butter

First, melt about a tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over low heat. I find a regular skillet, not a non-stick, works best. Slice the onion and stir into the butter. Stir often, as the onions caramelize.

Next, form the ground beef into a patty. Salt and pepper both sides generously.

Melt a little butter over medium heat in a non-stick skillet, and add the burger.

Cook about 7 minutes, then flip.

Cook about another 5 minutes, until it is almost to your desired doneness. For me, it was to 155 degrees. The burger will continue to cook a bit as you grill the sandwich.

Transfer the burger to a plate temporarily, and use a spatula to dispose of most of the pan drippings. Add in a little bit more butter, and lay one of the pieces of bread on top. Top with one slice of cheese.

Add half of the carmelized onions.

Next the burger… then the rest of the onions. Finish it off with the remaining slices of cheese and bread.

Let it cook a few minutes, and use a spatula to gently smush the sandwich together. Use two spatulas to flip (one to hold the sandwich together, and one to flip).

Cook another few minutes until both sides of the bread are grilled, and you’re done!

I paired mine with some tater tots. Definitely not the prettiest or healthiest meal ever, but it sure did hit the spot and lift my spirits.

Brett is now on his 13th day of work in a row. The poor guy gets tomorrow off, but then its back to working non stop. I have come down with a cold and am looking forward to sleeping a lot this weekend.

I’m pretty sure Izzy will be more than happy to keep me company

My parents’ backyard seemed like a rainforest when compared to the scenery we have in Texas.

We are in the midst of a terrible drought here in Central Texas, the worst since the early 1900s. Watering the yard and washing the car are both banned on certain days, and most of the 4th of July fireworks shows are cancelled due to risk of fire. Temperatures have climbed into the 100s almost every day these past few weeks. It’s not a very hospitable environment for a gal that is now eight months pregnant and was not very heat tolerant to begin with!

But anyways, I really enjoyed myself at home hanging out with family…

Spending weekends in NYC with friends…

And spending downtime with the dogs…

Of course we did a bit of cooking, too. One night my mom requested something “fresh, light and summery”, so I decided to make this pesto pasta dish I had seen over on the Pioneer Woman’s site. I don’t know if it can be considered light, since it does contain heavy cream… but nobody complained  and I think the meal was enjoyed by all.

Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce
recipe from the Pioneer Woman

1 pound dried pasta

3/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons pine nuts

2 cloves garlic, peeled

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

First, make the pesto.  Put the basil, 1/2 cup Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic cloves, salt and pepper into a blender or food processor and turn on to combine.

A food processor would definitely be easier, but the blender worked out alright.

Add in the olive oil, and continue to blend until combined, adding more olive oil as needed.

Meanwhile, put a pot of water on to boil and cook the pasta.

While the water is boiling, heat the cream and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Chop the tomatoes while the butter is melting.

Once the butter and cream are combined and smooth, stir in the pesto. Add in the remaining Parmesan and stir until combined.

Drain the pasta, and add it to the saucepan with the pesto mixture, toss to combine.

Mix in a scoop of diced tomatoes with each serving and top with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

Delicious! This definitely tasted fresh and summery, and there wasn’t enough cream to make it feel heavy. All I need to do now is to convince Brett to start liking basil and this could become a regular in the meal rotation.

In other news, we are working hard to get ready for the baby. Just 5 more weeks until I reach full term! Everything has been going well and we are really excited to meet the new “B”.

Here he is at our 28 week ultrasound.

Ham & Cheese Bread

recipe from TiggyBee over at Food52

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon active dry or rapid rise yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup warm water

3 ounces proscuitto, cubed

4 ounces gouda cheese, cubed

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast and salt. Slowly add the warm water, and stir until you get a rough looking dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. I let mine sit out on the table in the kitchen overnight, and then put it in the fridge while I was at work.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge about an hour before you want to bake. Chop up the proscuitto and cheese into cubes. The original recipe called for smoked provolone. I couldn’t find it at the store, per usual, so ended up going with Gouda cheese. It worked out perfectly.

Mix the ham & cheese into the dough with your hands. Once the dough is mostly mixed, dump it out onto a floured surface and finish mixing.

Place the dough in a large clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let sit until it doubles in size. While the dough doubles, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, while a dutch oven is in there.

After the dough has doubled in size, carefully transfer it to the pre-heated dutch oven, and bake covered for 30 minutes.

Uncover, and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Your apartment/house will smell amazing!!

Delicious! If I ever start my own bread shop, this loaf (or something similar to it) will definitely have to be on the menu.

Here’s a picture of me and Izzy enjoying the (very) brief season when you can actually find some green in Texas.

But, the most exciting news of all is that we’ll soon be welcoming a new “B” into our lives.

A baby! And, to fit into the whole “B” theme,we were very surprised to learn that it’s a boy!

I’m due around the end of August, and we couldn’t be more excited! Especially Izzy, she sported her blue bandana to celebrate.

We are trying to teach her not to howl so loudly whenever someone comes home or guests arrive

So, at least until August, you should be seeing more frequent posts on here. I have a whole backlog of recipes to get up. Once the baby comes I can’t make any promises, but will do my best to post pictures and updates.

Lemony Ricotta Pasta

recipe from the kitchn

1 pound pasta, in a short twisted shape or with a hole

1  15 ounce (about 2 cups) package fresh ricotta cheese

1/2 to 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons good-quality olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

juice of one lemon

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Set a pot of water to boil. When it boils, add a few teaspoons of salt and the pasta.

In a metal or glass bowl wide enough to fit over the top of the pot, mix together the remaining ingredients.

When there are about 2 minutes remaining in the pasta’s cooking time, place the bowl over the pot and slowly stir the ricotta and other ingredients. You should see it loosening as it warms.

When the pasta has finished cooking, mix it with the ricotta sauce, and serve.

Not the most photogenic dish, but it tastes fresh, reheats well and is super quick to make. Two notes: that bread you see is the baguettes described in the previous post, and the original recipe calls for adding shredded fresh basil at the end. It’s great with the basil, but I leave it out because Brett doesn’t like it.

Enjoy!

Pain a l’Ancienne

recipe from Peter Reinhardt’s “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice“

6 cups (27 ounces) unbleached bread flour

2 1/4 teaspoons (.56 ounce) salt

1 3/4 teaspoons (.19 ounce) instant yeast

2 1/4 cups pus 2 tablespoons to 3 cups (19 to 24 ounces) water, ice cold

Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting.

Day 1:

Combine the flour, salt, yeast, and 19 ounces of water in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, and mix for 2 minutes on low speed. Switch to the dough hook and mix 5 to 6 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be sticking on the bottom of the bowl, but it should release from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, sprinkle a small amount of flour until this occurs. Dribble a small amount of water in if the dough seems too stiff and clears the bottom as well as the sides of the bowl.

Lightly oil a large bowl and immediately transfer the dough with a spatula or bowl scraper dipped in water into the bowl. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and cover the bowl with elastic wrap.

Place the bowl in the refrigerator and retard overnight.

Day 2:

Prepare the oven for hearth baking, According to Reinhart, the purpose of hearth baking is to radiate heat directly into the bread as immediately as possible in order to promote oven spring and a crisp crust. It also may involve  using steam to promote spring and contribute a shiny finish to the crust. To do this, place an empty pan with high sides (I used my brownie pan) on a top shelf in the oven. If you have a baking stone and want to use it, place it on the lower oven shelf. Since I have not had luck sliding dough from my pizza peel onto the baking stone, I decided to just use a baking sheet lined with a silpat. I didn’t put it in oven to preheat.

Preheat the oven to 500 F.

Check the dough to see if it has risen in the fridge. If will probably be partially risen, but not doubled in size. The amont of rise will depend on how cold the fridge is and how often the door was opened. Leave the dough out at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours to allow the dough to wake up, lose its chill, and continue fermenting.

When the dough has doubled from its prerefrigerated size, liberally sprinkle the counter with bread flour. Gently transfer the dough to the floured counter with a dough scraper that has been dipped in cold water, dipping your hands as well in order to keep the dough from sticking to you. Try to degas the dough as little as possible as your transfer it. If the dough is very wet, sprinkle more flour over the top as well as under it.

Dry your hands, dip them in flour, and roll the dough gently in the flour to coat it thoroughly and stretch it into an oblong shape about 8 inches long and six inches wide. If it is too sticky to handle, continue sprinkling flour. Dip a metal pastry scraper into cool water to keep it from sticking to the dough, and cut the dough in half widthwise with the pastry scraper by pressing it down through the dough until it severs, then dipping it again in the water and repeating this action until you have cut the full length of the dough.

Let the dough relax for five minutes.

Cut each half  of the dough into three equal pieces.

To shape the baguettes, take a piece of dough and gently stretch it to the length of your baking sheet or baking stone. If it springs back, let it rest for rive minutes and then gently pull it out again. Place three of the strips on the pan to bake together.

Score the dough strips with three diagonal cuts. Because the dough is sticky, you may have to dip the razor blade or serrated knife in water between each cut (I did).

Next time maybe I will have more luck with the shaping. It was hard to get all three dough strips the same size and weight, without handling them too much.

Ok, so the baking part seems complicated and ridiculous, but it really isn’t that bad once you know what you’re doing. Carefully slide the dough onto the baking stone if using, or place the baking sheet on the lower oven shelf. If you slide onto a baking stone, make sure the dough pieces are not touching.

Immediately (and carefully!) pour one cup of hot water into the steam pan and close the door. After 30 seconds, spray the oven walls with water (with a plant mister), taking care not to spray the light bulbs in the oven or the glass on the oven door. Close the oven door after spraying the walls. Repeat twice more at 30 second intervals. After the final spray, lower the oven to 475 and continue baking.

The bread should begin to turn golden brown within 8 or 9 minutes. If the loaves are baking unevenly, rotate the pan 180 degrees. Continue baking 10 to 15 minutes more or until the bread is a rich golden brown and the internal temperature registers 205 F.

Transfer the hot bread unto a cooling rack. They should feel light and air and will cool in about 20 minutes. While these are cooling, you can bake the remaining loaves.

My baguettes didn’t turn “golden brown” and were quite pale, but they got up to the correct internal temperature so I took them out. The most annoying thing that can happen with bread baking, to me at least, is overbaking or burning the bread. I would rather underbake a bit and have the bread be doughy.

But, even through they didn’t look quite right, they tasted and smelled wonderful, and I was pretty happy with my first attempt at baguettes. Next time I will try to get a darker color and take better pictures of the final product

However, when I made these cookies for the first time, Brett didn’t get to take any to work. We ate them all. Or rather, I ate most of them. They’re that good.

If you like peanut butter and chocolate, give these a try.

Peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.

Using a handheld or stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugars, peanut butter and vanilla extract for about 3 minutes. Add the egg, and beat to combine.

On low speed, gradually add the flour.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

Form the dough into 3-tablespoon or 1.7 ounce rounds, and space about two inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown.

Enjoy! These may be my new “go-to” cookies.

Here’s Izzy, keeping watch while I bake, like a good guard beagle.