Fur Balls

 Some sweet new friends.

 

This month, last year's kitten  became a mother.


My children have waited long for this day. We have had a problem getting a cat to live long enough to produce off-spring. The day they discovered kittens was a red-letter day.



These four kitten are being well-loved.



Any of you locals want a sweet little kitten? It will be a few weeks before they are ready to leave their mother but if they take after their mother, they will make a great family pet.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread and Bagels

One of the questions I've been asked is how to make Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

You can use any favorite bread dough to make Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Some good recipes on Home Joys are Country White Bread or Whole Wheat Bread. In the photos on this post I was using the Sourdough Potato Bread.

I like to hydrate the raisins before adding them to the bread. Adding dried fruit to bread dough can make the dough more dry as the raisins suck the moisture out of the dough while it rises.

And none of us want dry bread. Right?

But neither do you want the raisins so soft that they disintegrate, especially if you add them to the dough while kneading. I usually add the raisins when forming the loaves to avoid problem. Or add them to the very end of the kneading process.



To hydrate the raisins I pour a half cup of hot water over 1 cups of raisins and allow to rest for about 15 minutes. You may also heat the raisins and water in the microwave. One cup of raisins will be a nice amount for two loaves of bread. Drain off all the excess water before adding the raisins to the dough.



For this bread, I rolled my dough thinly, spread on the raisins and generously sprinkled cinnamon and nutmeg. I also added some brown sugar. You can use honey if you desire. I then rolled the dough tightly and place in loaf pans. Bake as usual.

If you are accustomed to making cinnamon rolls, you probably also butter the dough. I do not use butter when making cinnamon bread. Butter will cause the dough layers to separate causing a great hole in the center of the loaf.



Want to make Cinnamon Raisin Bagels?

I again soak the raisins, this time two cups of raisins with one cup water for a batch of Sourdough Bagels or Whole Wheat Bagels. Halfway through kneading I add the raisins with 1 tsp of cinnamon. Precede with the remainder of the kneading and other directions.

If your family is like mine, the aroma of cinnamon and raisins will send them to the kitchen where they will beg for a taste.

You may not have any left for breakfast.

CD Giveaway - Mansion Over the Hilltop

I always enjoy seeing families who sing together. There is something special about a family joining their voices in harmony.

David and Laretta Meadath and their seven children have recently made a recording of their music. They combine vocals with instruments such as banjo and guitar.

(If you like to hear connections, Laretta is a sister to Regina Rosenberry who has guest posted here at Home Joys. And Laretta and Regina are my second cousins!)

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The past couple weeks, my children have about worn out this cd. My four-year-old loved to hear their four-year-old twins sing "The Worm Song." I've found my daughter singing "Daddy's Girl" to her baby sister. My boys like "Grandpa - Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days." This recording contains old fashioned songs like "The Little White Church" and "On the Wings of a Dove." My favorite is "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" sung to the tune of "The Rose." Lovely.

The Meadaths gave a cd for me to share with one of you. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment with your email address.

If you would like to purchase your own, email the Meadaths at dmeadath@ gmail.com Cost is $13.00 with $2.00 shipping. There is discounts for quantities.

Giveaway will be open for one week. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Flo's Cakes - Peach Coffee Cake

 

Peach Coffee Cake

1 cup butter, softened

1 ¾ cup sugar

4 eggs

3 cups flour

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 can (21 oz) peach pie filling

Icing:

1 ¼ cups powdered sugar

½ tsp almond extract

3-4 TBSP milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; add to creamed mixture and beat just until combined.

Spread 3 ¾ cups batter into a greased 15x10x1 baking pan. Carefully spoon pie filling to within 1 in. of edges. Spoon remaining batter over filling. Bake at 350˚ for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine the icing ingredients. Drizzle over coffee cake. 

 Florence lives in the northwoods of Michigan with her husband and three preschoolers. Her hobbies are writing and baking coffee cakes. A few  months ago she published a book titled My First Deer Hunt. This is a children’s story about the time her husband took their oldest son (then four-years-old) to the woods for his first hunting trip.  Email Flo at foxden @emypeople.net.

Kitchen Bloopers - or Creativity

A few weeks ago I tried making pita pockets. Sourdough pita pockets. I didn't have very high hopes so was astounded when they turned out far better than I imagined.

 The pita pockets actually puffed!



My family enjoyed stuffing the pockets so much that I made them again a week later.

Apparently I had beginner's luck because this time NONE of the pitas puffed. I now had a batch of flatbread.



Scrambling for some ideas to feed my hungry crowd I turned them into personal sized pizzas. I raided the fridge for leftover chicken, brocolli, cheese, alfredo sauce, and BBQ sauce.



The children loved making their own pizzas. In fact it was such a hit that I've made the recipe since then just so we could make pizzas again.

And never again have they puffed like a real pita should. I don't know what I did wrong, but anyway, we found a new favorite.

What creative ways have you found to utilize a cooking flop?

Books on Bats

Our family has been reading about bats recently and enjoying the many fascinating facets of this creature.

What to learn about bats too? Here is a list of the picture books we enjoyed from our library. Some of these repeated information, but each one was helpful.

 

Shadows of the Night, The Hidden World of the Little Brown Bat - Barbara Bush
One of my favorites, this book describes details of the brown bat, one of the most common bats in North America. Well illustrated.



Bat Loves the Night - Nicola Davies
A simple story of the pipistrelle bat, one of the most common bats in the world. Superb illustrations combine perfectly with the poetic prose.



Bats: Biggest! Littlest!  - Sandra Markle
Journey around the world to visit various types of bats. The photography makes this book a winner. A map at the back of the book shows where various bats were photographed.



Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats - Ann Earle
A readable informative book on the wonders of bats.



Bat in the Dining Room - Crescent Dragonwagon
(Whew, how would you like that name?) A just for fun book about the chaos when a bat appears in the restaurant. 

Amazing Bats - Seymour Simon
Bats - Elizabeth Carney
Two more bat books containing great photos.

Since we've learned how helpful bats are, we'd like to attract some more to our home. Have any of you built a bat house? Do you have information or a links to directions?

This post contains affiliate links.

Apple Fritters on Doughnut Day

Last week was my family's yearly doughnut making day.

 

Good times and good food!



I've already shared my mom's potato doughnut recipe. None of us would think of messing with that great tradition.

 

But this year we also tried something new - apple fritters. The dough was similiar to the rich doughnut dough - with the addition of cinnamon and grated apples.



And the results were yummy! I think we have a new tradition.

We also used a new glaze recipe this year which we liked even better than are normal recipe. We used the glaze for both doughnuts and the apple fritters.

Want to try it? Grab your largest bowl and maybe a friend or two and have fun!



Apple Fritters

2 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups warm water
1 1/4 cup butter
3 T yeast
2 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
4 cups grated apples
6 eggs
approximately 5 lb flour

Mix all ingredients together except flour. You will want a large bowl to handle this big batch! Add flour a few cups at a time until it makes a soft dough. It should be slightly sticky, but not too sticky to handle. Cover dough and allow to rise until double, about 1 hour. On a floured counter, roll out dough and cut. Traditionally apple fritters are cut into squares. But since we had the doughnut cutter out, we cut them into circles. Place on floured baking sheet and allow to rise about 30 minutes. Fry apple fritters in hot oil on both sides and drain. Glaze while still warm. Cool.

Glaze:
2 lb powdered sugar
1 stick butter, very soft
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup hot water

Stir all ingredients together until well blended. Do not heat. Dip warm doughnuts or apple fritters into glaze. Allow to drip on a cooling rack.