September 17, 2010

I think I posted a very similar post this time last year- about a day of field trips....we did that again this year. We started at the UT gardens while Paul was in class....

Then we stopped to drop off some bread I entered into the fair. Our hope was that we could stick around until it opened- and you know, get in for free- but no such luck. We had to unload in under 10 minutes. So since we had time to kill we went to the zoo....

We didn't do much....went to some of their favorites and played mostly. Then we went to the fair. I personally don't care for the carnival part of the fair. But I do enjoy the animals and exhibits. The boys also wanted to check out the youth show and junior bakers contest results.

Our first stop was the Kerr Building, where they had the Youth Show exhibits. You can see Rylan's hand picture below...

And Cale's Squash Frankenstein, which he entered for Holiday Decorations. He was so excited to see the ribbon hanging on it! (2nd place)

This is the drawing Cohen entered- none of their paintings or drawings placed- but they were okay with that...

Here's the Christmas ornament section....you can see Rylan's egg, the bottom of Cohen's green egg at the bottom center and the head of Cale's snowman in the center left. It was hard to see very well- but it looked like Rylan's had a 3rd place, Cale a 2nd and Cohen a 1st. We can't pick up those exhibits and ribbons until Monday after the fair is over....so we will find out then for sure.

They also found out the results of their cupcakes, brownies and cookies in the Junior Bakers competition.

Rylan received 2nd place in both is brownies and cookies


Cale received 2nd for his cookies and 4th for his brownies


And Cohen received 4th for his cookies.


They were all very excited! They put a lot of work into their baked goods, so I am very proud of them.
(and in case anyone was wondering....my bread placed 3rd)

Sweet Potato Poppy Seed Muffins

So Rylan has been begging for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins for awhile. We have the poppy seeds but not the lemon. He found a recipe for plain poppy seed muffins in my cookbook yesterday and wanted them tonight. I have been wanting to make sweet potato muffins since, well, we have over 75 lbs sitting in our living room. So we mixed the two. Here is my basic recipe...I didn't write it down, and I didn't measure some of the ingredients.

Sweet Potato Poppy Seed Muffins

1/2 cup butter
2/3 (or less) cup sugar
3/4-1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
2 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 T poppy seeds

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the sweet potatoes, vanilla and milk. Mix until combined. Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until just moistened. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.

Some notes: We used our white sweet potatoes. They do have a different flavor than the orange. We weren't looking for them taste like pumpkin/squash/sweet potato muffins with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg. We wanted the lighter flavor. I am sure they would taste good to with the above orange fleshed additions and extra spices.

Sandwich Bread

For the past few months I have been making all of our bread products at home....a little of wanting less preservative filled foods, more fresh and to save a little money. Sandwiches have been an issue- I have been trying different recipes from my standard egg bread, to plain old white to wheat. It's not that I want the same flavorless sqaushy texture of storebought....but something soft, easy to slice relatively thin, and taste right with peanut butter! And after all the different recipes....I belive I have found what I want....in my old standard honey oat bread that I have been making for years. All it took was a couple changes and it works great. I'm partial to bread and butter and this is my all time favorite for fresh eating with dinner as well.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

2 cups boiling water
1 cup oats
1/2 cup honey
2 T butter
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp) yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4-6 cups flour (white, wheat or a mix of both)
1 heaping T vital wheat gluten

Mix boiling water, oats, honey, salt and butter and let sit for 1 hour. Stir in eggs. Soften the yeast in the warm water for a few minutes then add to oat mixture. Add 2 cups of flour and the wheat gluten and stir (or use the dough hook on a mixer). Add the remaining flour 1 cup at a time. I usually use about 5 cups- more makes for a drier loaf. Knead for a few minutes. Cover and rise for 1 hour. Form into 2 loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover and rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375o. Bake for 30-35 minutes.