​You will need - 
​
Basic White Bread Recipe 

• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 packet active dry yeast
• 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Cornmeal (to sprinkle on baking sheet) - optional

Topping - 

• 12 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• Paprika - I use Szeged Hungarian Hot Paprika - use sparingly unless you love the heat - it really is hot. You can also just use regular paprika. 

Make a basic white bread recipe - I use King Arthur Unbleached Flour. - see recipe above. A recipe for 6 cups of flour will make 3 loaves.
This is very similar to the recipe I use and has a step by step guide especially helpful if you are a beginner.

After the bread has risen the first time, divide the dough into three parts. Divide each part into three more sections to make the braids. Roll sections into 10 - 12" long lengths. 
​ 
Place shredded cheese and paprika on rolled lengths before braiding them and then add more cheese and paprika to the top after the braids are complete..

Oven - 375 F
Cover and let rise until double - 30 to 45 minutes.
Bake for 20 minutes. 

Easy and delicious! 

Mycala has been raving about Baby Artichokes (they aren't actually baby - just a different variety of the globe artichokes, which I also adore). The larger variety are a lot more work because they have a hairy choke that you need to scoop out before serving. The "baby" has no "choke" so it is very easy to prepare! 

I actually purchased them because of the gorgeous colors. They were simply begging me to take them home and get out the watercolors, so I decided I may as well do "another paint first, eat later" meal.

The outer leaves peel off easily, then cut off the stem, trim the top about a third of the way down, and halve or quarter. Drizzle with lemon juice, top with shredded parmesan cheese, home made bread crumbs, smoked paprika and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. And if you have fresh parsley growing in your garden or window box top with a few fresh leaves before serving. A few sliced tomatoes and dinner is served!

1 orange, peeled and divided into sections
1 grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
1 mango, cubed
1 cup blueberries
1 cup grapes
3 kiwi, sliced
1 quarter pineapple, cubed
1 bartlett pear, sliced
1 red pear, sliced 

Raspberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette - on 5/27/2013 post (Dragon Fruit)

This month I'm giving attention to numbers. It may be because it's tax season, or that I'm working on a VA report for my brother, or because this seems to be a month filled with assessing and measuring. For what ever reason, numbers, more than words and images, are on my mind. 

Thought the logical order is 0 or 1, I began with 30,000 days and 1000 marbles, then got off on other subjects. Admittedly, being linear is not my style. 

Right now, twelve is on my mind = probably because it is the 12th of April!  It is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. We find it in the universe, religion, mathematics, culture, sports, nature. These are just a few that come to mind. 

• Every time we look at the face of a clock. 
• The number of months in a year. 
• Jesus had 12 disciples
• Twelve tribes of Israel
• Twelve days of Christmas
• Twelve signs of the zodiac. 
  
• Hercules performed twelve labors in twelve years to atone for his sins
• Twelve days were given to King Priam to prepare for his son Hector's funeral 
• Twelve step programs in Alcoholic's and Narcotic's Anonymous
• Entertainment - 12 Angry Men, Ocean's Twelve, The Dirty Dozen, Twelve Monkey's, Twelve Rounds, Twelve, Cheaper by the Dose
• Twelve inches in a foot

On a trip to Tuscany, I had the most delicious rosemary roasted potatoes as we watched the sun go down on Lake Garda, probably my favorite place in the entire world! I've tried to recreate them many times, but they have always fallen short. This time i used new potatoes - 12 of them and that is the reason they are posted here - and I added a little zest (lemon). With the addition of garlic, capers and smoked paprika, they are even better than those I remember from Tuscany! 




12 Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

12 new potatoes, with a strip peeled out of the center of each 
salt
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
! Tablespoon capers (unless you are mad about them like I am, then 2 Tablespoons +)
Fresh rosemary, 2 Tablespoon. (must 
Two cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Smoked paprika

!. Cover potatoes with lightly salted water, bring to a boil and cook until just tender. Drain.
2. While potatoes are cooking, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice and capers in your serving bowl.
3, Brown potatoes in olive oil and garlic. 
4. When well browned, pour into the serving bowl with lemon, rosemary, capers and toss.
5 . Sprinkle with smoked paprika and serve

Preheat oven to 350 F


Two crust home made pie dough recipe (I didn’t have enough shortening for two crusts
so I made a crumb topping with I/2 stick of butter, homemade bread crumbs and
a cup of cheddar cheese).

Filling:

7 hard cooked eggs

3 packages frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained thoroughly OR
5 or 6 bags of fresh spinach - use a huge skillet - it really cooks down

2 large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
! Tablespoon olive oil
  Saute the onion and garlic in a large skillet until translucent

Season with salt, pepper, about 1 Tablespoon fresh or 1 teas.dried oregano,
1 or 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Stir in 2 raw eggs

2 large handfuls of cheddar cheese (I LOVE extra sharp cheddar cheese so I use a lot. 

Add the prepared drained spinach and stir thoroughly.

Preparing the pie:

Make a bed of spinach in the pie shell Arrange the cooked eggs on top - one in the center and the rest like spokes on a wheel.

Make sure that all the eggs are completely covered with the spinach. 

Top with crust or with crumb mixture. 

Bake for about an hour.

Wonderful warm - also great cold and delightful on a picnic!

This post was created for a Take the Rose Instead (guaranteed weight loss, one healthy choice at a time) client who complained that nothing tasted good. Life it too short to eat anything that doesn't taste good! Vinaigrettes, used sparingly, bring new life to raw or steamed vegetables, and fresh fruits. And the best part is, unlike pre-made salad dressings and marinades, you actually know what is in them! Have you ever read the ingredients on prepared salad dressings? I can't even pronounce some of them!

If you have already prepared your own dressings with fresh, natural ingredients,, making a salad or delicious vegetable  is quick and easy. The lemon and balsamic vinaigrettes can also be used as marinades on chicken, fish, etc. Avocados filled with fresh orange segments or melon balls come alive with the poppy seed. It is also great on fresh pears, on a bed of fresh raw spinach, or a mixed green salad with fresh raspberries or strawberries, red onion and pecans.

Over the holidays I ran out of my three favorite vinaigrettes - 

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Greek Lemon Dressing
Poppyseed Dressing

So today I made more and doubled the recipes for enough to share. The Balsamic and Lemon are the base and they can be enhanced by adding herbs such as basil, rosemary and oregano. A couple of tablespoons of Parmesan or Romano cheesed gives them an entirely different flavor. It's so much fun to play in the kitchen.

Salads, potatoes and vegetables are all improved with a small amount of dressing. I used the Greek Lemon Dressing on the asparagus below.

The poppy seed raspberry dressing is wonderful on fruit salads, or a salad made with greens with fruit added. Or cut an avocado in half and pour a little of the dressing in the center. You won't need a lot - the dressings add a lot of flavor. 

First I painted them - then I ate them. Roasted Rack of Brussels Sprouts