Robin's Cinnamon & Raisin Bread

My house smells yummy right now. I decided to make Cinnamon and Raisin Bread. So I'll share my recipe with you. I'm far from a Kitchen Witch, but a little baking with love always makes me happy; especially when I get yummy results!

I apologize for it being half eaten before the picture was taken! lol We could not wait.

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 packet Yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp oil. (Olive oil or Veg. oil.)
• 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Nutmeg
• 1 cup Raisins
• 1 cup Brown sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks Butter

Directions

1.  In a measuring cup, 1 cup warm (not hot and not cold) water. Add 2 tbsp sugar and the packet of yeast to the water. Wait 10 minutes or until the yeast proofs. You'll see little bubbles and a foamy action at the top. If your yeast does not proof, its no good. Start over with different yeast. 
2. In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp oil. I used olive oil for this, only because it is healthier. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and the contents of the measuring cup. 
3. Mix together so the flour and yeast mix is all worked in. You can use a mixer with a dough hook if you want. 
4. Add 2 tbsp Cinnamon and Nutmeg. 
5. After the dough is formed in a ball, flour your counter surface and place dough on the counter. Put a little extra flour on top. You may wish to flour your hands too. Kneed dough for 10-15 minutes. Dough should be pliant but not sticky. Don't work too much extra flour in or your loaf will be dense. 
6. In a bread pan, oil the bottom with 1 tsp oil. Place loaf in pan and flip it once or twice to coat it with oil. Place in a warm area and allow to rise. If you have a gas oven or an oven with a warm setting, this is a perfect place to allow to rise. Should take 1-2 hours. 
7. After bread has risen, in a separate bowl, 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 stick of butter. I added more cinnamon as well. I didn't measure, but it was about 5 tbsp. I like a strong cinnamon taste, but you can change the amount if you wish. Microwave a few seconds to melt the butter. Mix well. 
8. On your floured surface, roll out the bread dough. Place raisins along the top and pour the sugar mixture over top of that. I had some left over that I reserved for later. 
9. Roll the bread up. You should have enough for two loaves. Cut in half and place in oiled bread pans. Pour a little more of the sugar mix on top. Allow to rise another 1-2 hours in a warm place. 
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. If you tap the top of the bread and it sounds hallow, it's done. 
11. Transfer your loaves to a serving dish. I stacked one on top of the other, but you don't need to do this. Arrange them as you wish. 
12. In a saucepan, 1 stick butter, and either the sugar mixture you have left, or make more. Heat on high until it reduces to a glaze. 
13. Pour glaze over top of the bread. Allow to cool to room temperature and enjoy!

A Thanksgiving Recipe

One of our family traditions for Thanksgiving is to do Trail Beans. This is your basic baked beans recipe, plus the beer of your choice. The taste is delicious! Even if you don't enjoy beer (I don't) this recipe is wonderful.

Grandpa's Trail Bean recipe

• 2 cups navy beans
• 1/2 pound bacon diced
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 green onion diced
• 1 jar mushrooms (4-8oz)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 16 oz beer of your choice. (I like to use Samuel Adams, but it's good with any kind of beer you like)

1. Wash beans and soak overnight. 
2. Simmer beans for 1-2 hours in same water as you soaked the beans with. 
3. Drain beans but reserve some of the water.
4. In a casserole dish combine the beans, bacon, onion, molasses, salt, pepper, mushrooms, green onion, ketchup, brown sugar. 
5. Add as much of the beer as you like. I just use one can or bottle. Then use the reserved bean water until there is about 1/2 inch of liquid above the beans. 
6. Cover top with foil.
7. Bake at 350 degree's for 3-4 hours. Add more liquid if necessary.

NOTE: If your feeling lazy and don't want to soak beans overnight, you can do this with canned baked beans.

2 can's of Bushes baked beans
Onion
Bacon
Mushrooms
Green onion
Beer

Simmer for 20-30 minutes on stove-top; stir occasionally to make sure you don't burn the bottom.

November is Inspirational Quotes Month

I've decided that I'm making November Inspirational and Motivational Quotes month. Once a day I will post quotes I collect from around the web and share how they impact my life or why they resonate with me. As we gear up for Thanksgiving and Yule a lot of people fall into depression. I hope that if your one of these people who always go into a depression at this time that my quotes can help lift my readers spirit and get you into a more cheerful holiday mood.

The holiday season means we are spending more time with family and getting ready to cook for Thanksgiving. I'm not a very good chef so I'll leave the cooks to give you Thanksgiving ideas. But I'll also cover some craft ideas and one or two family recipe's.

Don't forget, you can like me on Facebook! I try to post at least once a day with my blog posts plus other blogs I find interesting or just daily thoughts on Facebook. So make sure you follow and who knows, maybe I'll do a little advertising for your blog too!

11. Share your favorite recipe for Samhain dinner.

So I'm not the worlds greatest cook. I'm not even my families best cook. But for Samhain I like to keep it simple. I don't like to eat pumpkin, however I do like to cook for my husband so one year I decided to make pumpkin pie from scratch. I didn't come up with my own recipe. So I'll share a recipe similar to what I followed.

Buy 2 small pumpkins. They MUST be small ones. The large pumpkins do not have very much meat and your pie won't come out as well. If you want to skip this step, you can buy pumpkin puree.

Cut your small pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and "stringy stuff". Save the seeds, they can be baked for a yummy treat. Now you can steam, microwave, or do as I did and bake upside down on a flat baking sheet @ 350 for about 30-45 minutes.

Once its baked, scoop the meat of the pumpkin out and puree in a blender. If your puree is a bit watery, let it sit for 30 minutes and then pour off the water using a coffee filter.

Next you need:

1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
And your puree.
I just buy the pumpkin spice mix. But if you don't want to do that add:
1 tsp ground clove
1tsp all spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cans evaporated milk

Mix, pour into your pie crust and bake for 350 degrees until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Approx an hour.

Cool your pie and enjoy!

NOTE: The water you poured off the pumpkin puree can be saved and used in soup!

Also, if you have leftover pumpkin puree, you can freeze this and use it for later, or its a good medicinal use for your pets when they have an upset stomach/gastrointestinal problems.

This is apart of 31 Days of Samhain

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The Baking Witchy Momma: Pizza!

So lately I've really enjoyed cooking again. Last week we made our own pizzas.  I have to say they came out better than any pizza we could buy. And so much cheaper in the end too! Ever only get a couple of toppings because you don't want to pay the pizza man 50+ dollars for everyone to get every topping they want? I normally only get a pepperoni pizza which is fine, its one of my favorites. But I have had to sacrifice my tastes so other family members can get what they want, and we still be able to afford getting the pizza.

My Pepperoni & Cheese Pizza for lunch

With baking there's no compromise so I love it. :) 

At lunch I made my "test" pizza. OK I was just hungry and craving pizza. But it was a good excuse. It came out great! The lunch pizza was only pepperoni and cheese. But the one I made for dinner I had pretty much everything I like on it.

I have to say, the TV makes the throwing pizza dough in the air and twirling it look easy. Its really not! I guess I need to make more pizza to practice.

The recipe I followed is:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm (Not hot) water. 
• 1 tbsp sugar

Proof the yeast for 5 minutes

• Add 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp oil. The recipe I was following said to use olive oil. But I didn't have that so I used vegetable oil. 
• Pinch of salt

• Mix until dough is a ball. You may need to add more dough as you mix.
• After you have your dough ball, Knead.
• Coat the top of the dough with oil. (So the dough doesn't crack). 
• Allow to rise. Approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. If your home is cooler place dough in a warm area. My favorite place is in our gas oven while its off. The pilot light keeps the oven temperature slightly warm so it won't bake but allows the dough to rise faster. 
• After dough is double its original size, punch it down and knead again. 

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough to the size you wish. 
• Place it on your pan and cut breathing holes in the dough. (This is so the dough will remain flat on the bottom). 

• Add your sauce and toppings
• Butter the outer crust of your pizza.
• Bake at 350 for approx 10-15 minutes or until the bottom of the dough is a light brown. 

Time may vary depending on your oven.

If you want to make a yummy desert pizza, instead of normal pizza toppings add a can of pie filling on top and bake. You can fold the pizza dough over to make a little pocket for it. My favorite to use is apple.

Enjoy!