Hi Everyone! So what seemed like the beginnings of spring turned into more snow and cold weather… this winter just seems to linger on and on! Although I’m more than ready for it to be spring already, all these long months of cold winter have meant a lot of baking around here! It’s the perfect past-time for me, and I have been able to get through these dark months much easier than I initially thought. I love baking, and being able to make good use of all the other appliances, that may feel slightly neglected at other times of the year, fills me with great joy. As the likes of the oven and dishwasher have seen quite a bit of action recently, I think I should follow the advice of my friend who has said that I should get in touch with somewhere like this home warranty florida company to see about finding a warranty coverage plan so that these extra appliances have more protection should they break or malfunction than they would without it, so I definitely think it’s the best thing to do, especially if I continue with my baking even after these months have passed.

I love working with yeast, because it’s almost like magic… all you need is some water, flour and seasoning, and those simple ingredients can be turned into so many different kinds of soft, fluffy bread goodness! I wanted to share this pita bread recipe with you because it was so simple and so good, and not too time-consuming or complicated. Here’s how to make the pita bread…

3 1/2 – 4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbs dry yeast

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

A pinch of sugar

2 tbs olive oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup of warm water. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes, until the mixture is frothy.

2. Meanwhile, in your electric mixer bowl, combine about 1 cup of flour, the olive oil, salt and the rest of the water. Mix just to get everything combined, then add in the yeast mixture and the rest of the flour (add in the flour in 2 or 3 portions, you may not need the full 4 cups, add enough for a soft dough to form, that’s not sticking to the sides of the bowl). Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for a couple of minutes, then form it into a ball, place it in a greased bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm spot for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

3. Preheat your oven to 450 deg F and move an oven rack to the bottom part of your oven. Place a pizza stone on it as soon as you start preheating your oven. Take out your dough and divide it into 10 equal pieces, making each into a ball. Roll each piece into a 6 inch round (diameter). Place the rolled out pita rounds onto a floured kitchen towel, and cover then with another kitchen towel for about 10 minutes, while your oven is still preheating. Place a baking sheet on the pizza stone and let it warm up for a couple of minutes. Once the oven is preheated, brush the baking sheet with some olive oil and place your pita rounds on it to bake (you will need to bake them in several batches). Bake for 6 – 7 minutes, until they are puffed up and just beginning to brown a little bit. Place them on a plate or wooden board and cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm before serving!

Good Morning, Everyone! I hope you’ve been having a good week, and if not… the weekend is almost here! But before it starts, I have a recipe to share with you! I LOVE banana bread, and have tried lots of different recipes, some of which I’ve shared with you here (like THIS Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Greek Yogurt that’s still my favorite, or THIS Chocolate Banana Bread)! Here is another recipe to add to the banana bread recipe collection – Banana Oatmeal Bread! It’s super moist, not overly sweet, and makes for a great snack or breakfast!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup plus 2 tbs rolled oats

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or regular plain yogurt)

2 eggs

2 very ripe bananas (about 1 cup), mashed

Optional: chocolate chips, chopped nuts

1. First, preheat your oven to 350 deg F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper (or grease your loaf pan). In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract, until you have a smooth, yellow mixture. (Add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter taste, I usually try to use less sugar, and if the bananas are super ripe, they will naturally add a lot of sweetness!)

2. Next, sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Stir well until all the ingredients are well combined. In a small bowl, combine the mashed bananas and yogurt, then add in 1/4 cup of oats and mix the batter well.

3. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tbs of rolled oats. Bake for about an hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, and let cool in the pan before slicing. (*Note: if the bread is getting too brown while it’s baking, cover it with some foil to prevent it from burning.)

 

Hi Everyone! There is nothing worse (well, at least in the kitchen!) than getting ready to bake something, then reaching for the brown sugar and finding out it’s as hard as a rock! Here are two simple tricks to help you! The first is one to help the brown sugar stay soft, and the second is what you can do to make it usable again if it has hardened.

 .

2. If it’s too late and your brown sugar has already hardened, you can grate it to make it soft again! The texture will be slightly different, but you will still be able to use it!

Do you have any other tips & tricks you use to keep brown sugar soft? Leave me a comment if you do!

Hi Everyone! Happy Weekend! I have a great little “recipe” to share with you today, that I have been loving for the past couple of weeks. I am a huge tea lover and just fell in love with this fresh mint tea when my mom recently made it for me. I drink peppermint tea almost every night before going to bed, because I love how soothing and calming it is, so I couldn’t believe how simple the idea of this fresh mint tea was – all it is is mint leaves and boiling water! It’s so wonderfully refreshing and light, and it’s almost as if you can feel it cleansing your body as you drink it!

Mint has many health benefits, including helping with your digestive system, respiratory system, skin, oral health and even stress level just to name a few. Those who want to benefit from products that promote better digestive health may want to check out these unify health supplement reviews to see how such things could help in doing this. To be honest, I am a tea lover. That is why I prefer learning more about differnt types of organic tea. I also have some friends who are ardent tea lovers. They have tried almost every tea flavour. And one of them recommended that I check out something like this organic Japanese matcha, which is known to boost energy and improve skin health. Though I was tempted to purchase this product, I thought I will try this after some time. For now, I think I will stick to the mint tea, which I’ve been drinking in the evenings as well as throughout the day. I have loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you! If you want to add to these health benefits, you may want to see about letting it cool down and include some vital reds powder to your mixture. Your body is incredibly important, so making sure it is functioning in the best possible way will make you feel good day-in and day-out.

Hi Everybody! Happy first day of March! Since this month marks the official beginning of spring (and I am counting down the days!) I thought it would be the perfect day to share this simple early spring centerpiece idea with you! Seeing snowdrops grow outside is always a reminder that spring is on its way, so why not bring these sweet, delicate flowers inside and create a couple of these pretty and effortless looking bunches to decorate your table!

To create your spring table, all you will need are a couple different (or matching) vases, small bowls or teacups to hold your flowers, LOTS of snowdrops to fill them with, possibly some additional small glasses to fill with water and the flowers to place inside the vases, and some water, of course! You can use some floral foam balls to fill the space inside the containers if you like, but the flowers themselves are too delicate and the stems are too thin to insert into the foam balls. Simply create small bunches of the flowers in each container, and line them down the center of your table, the fuller the bunches are, the prettier they will look! With some fresh water, they should last for 2 – 3 days.

Hi Everyone! With March being just a couple days away now, I am hoping that spring is finally on its way. This has been one of the longest and coldest winters that I can remember, and it’s making me even more impatient for spring’s arrival! These Roasted Honey Dijon Baby Potatoes are a great spring side dish that’s so quick and easy to make! Baby potatoes (also called new potatoes) are great roasted on their own, since they are so soft and almost sweet on the inside, but they are even better coated in this honey mustard dressing that makes their thin skin wonderfully crispy and flavorful! My recipe is just a loose guideline, you can adjust all the ingredients’ amounts according to your taste, of course!

1 lb baby potatoes

2 – 3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs Dijon mustard

1 tbs honey

Salt & Pepper

Optional: Lemon juice

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, salt and pepper (and lemon juice if you are using any). You can adjust all the quantities of the ingredients to suit your taste, so add more mustard, honey or olive oil depending on what you like! Add in the baby potatoes and gently stir, making sure they are all coated with the honey mustard mixture. Preheat your oven to 400 deg F, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown and soft on the inside!

Hi Everyone! I wanted to share these little heart treats with you today, that I shared on Or So She Says, where I’m a monthly contributor, a couple of weeks ago! They are such a quick and easy thing to whip up for breakfast in the morning or to have with your tea or coffee as an afternoon pick-me-up! They only take about 30 minutes to make from start to finish, and the best part is that you can fill them with whatever you like! I did mine with a cherry filling, but you could use apples, peaches, any kind of preserves, Nutella, chocolate, or anything else you can think of! All you need are a couple of ingredients, and you have a delicious treat to satisfy your sweet tooth!

1 sheet puff pastry

1 egg

1 tbs water

Filling of your choice

1. To make these, first thaw out your puff pastry. Once that’s ready to be used, roll it out into a 12×12 inch square on a floured surface. You can make these little pockets into whatever shape you want, but I made these into little hearts so I used a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out my shapes (I got about 12 hearts out of the single sheet of puff pastry, which made 6 heart pockets). Preheat your oven to 400 deg F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Next, whisk together the egg and the water to make your egg wash. Add about 1/2 tbs of filling (or as much as you can squeeze in!!) into the middle of half of the puff pastry hearts. Then, brush their edges with the egg wash, and top them with the second heart piece. Secure the edges using a fork, then brush the tops with the egg wash and cut a slit in the top with a knife, so that air can escape while they bake (you can also sprinkle them with sugar for added sweetness). Transfer them onto your baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the tops are beautifully golden brown. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then dust with confectioners’ sugar and eat!!

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to stop by and wish you all a great weekend, and share a cookie recipe with you! I shared these Hot Chocolate Cookies here a long time ago, but they are still one of my favorite cookies and I thought they deserved a re-share! They are soft and chewy, and are of course best paired with a big cup of hot chocolate! Because you can never have enough hot chocolate, especially in the winter! You can find the recipe HERE!

Hi Everyone! Happy Weekend! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and are having a good weekend so far! It was a cold and snowy Valentine’s Day for us here in Maryland, so we decided to stay in, and my husband made the most delicious crab stuffed lobster for dinner. It was amazing! I wanted to share my Valentine’s dessert, this Strawberry Layer Cake, with you today, since it was so good and very simple to make, and would be perfect for any party, special occasion or birthday! The beautiful cake consists of layers of classic yellow cake, sweetened whipped cream and fresh strawberries, but you could definitely use other berries, do more layers or use chocolate cake instead of yellow cake, there are so many variations you could make! Here is how I made mine…

1 yellow cake (You can use a store bought mix or make your own with THIS recipe)

2 cups heavy cream

2 tbs confectioners’ sugar

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Strawberries and/or other berries

1. First, make your cake. If you are using a store bought mix, just follow the directions on the box to make the cake, or use this recipe to make your cake. Once you have your batter ready, pour it into two greased round pans (either 8-inch round pans or 9-inch round pans) and bake for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (if you are using a box mix, follow baking instructions on the box). Once the cakes are baked, let them cool completely.

2. To make your whipped cream, whip the heavy cream with the whisk attachment in your mixer. As soon as the whipped cream starts thickening, add in the sugar and vanilla extract (add more/less sugar and vanilla to get your desired sweetness) and whisk again until the whipped cream is nice and thick (but make sure you don’t over mix so you don’t end up with butter!)

3. Clean your strawberries and halve them (leave a couple whole with their stems on to use on top of the cake). Place one of the cooled cakes on a cake stand or your serving plate (you may need to trim the top using a knife if it’s super bumpy!) and spoon about half of the whipped cream on top, leaving about a half inch boarder around the edges, then place half of the cut strawberries on top. Top it with the second cake and press it down gently so you can see the whipped cream and strawberries around the edges. (If it seems like the cake is going to slide off, you can secure it with a couple toothpicks.) Spoon the second half of the whipped cream on top of the second cake, creating pretty swirls, then arrange the rest of the cut strawberries on top, and add the whole strawberries.

 Happy Baking, Everyone!