Saint Anthony's Bread

Look what I found going through an old cookbook.  It is a recipe for Saint Anthony's Bread.  I used to live in Greater Lawrence.  There is a church in Lawrence named St. Anthony's.  I don't remember how I received the recipe, but I was delighted to find it.

Saint Anthony's Bread is a term used for the gifts given to the poor in thanksgiving to God for the blessings received through the intercession of Saint Anthony.

This recipe makes 13 rolls in the shape of a wreath--a special symbol of prayer to Saint Anthony.  Traditionally, a novena of prayers said to this beloved saint is held each Tuesday for 13 weeks.

2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast or 1 small cake fresh yeast ----- for spiritual uplifting
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. warm water ----- for cleansing of the soul
3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil ----- for healing renewal
2-3 tsp. butter, room temp. ----- for richness of life
3 3/4 unbleached all purpose flour ----- for stability and strength of heart
2 tsp. salt ----- for preservation of happiness       sea salt ----- for the spice of life

Stir yeast into water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, 10 minutes.  Stir in oil and butter, and then the flour and salt until well blended.  Knead on a floured surface until elastic, 10 minutes.  Divide dough into 13 equal pieces and shape into balls.  Place in oiled ring molds sprinkled with sea salt.  Cove with plastic wrap and towel and let rise 1 1/4 hour.  Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake 35 minutes.

Strawberry Short Cake

For some reason, I woke up this morning with plenty of energy.  Since I had a pound of strawberries I looked through my recipes to look for something made with strawberries.  I found strawberry cake.

This is a picture of the end result.  Strawberries on top of a cake.  Duh!  I just made a strawberry shortcake.  All I have to do is add whipped cream.

Picky Eaters

Yes, I admit I was a picky eater.  When I was a child I didn't like eating and I hated meal times.  My parents were always after me to eat.  I swore that when I was a parent I would leave my child alone.  For the most part, I did.  They didn't have to eat what they didn't want BUT they couldn't have dessert.  I hope I made my kids' mealtimes pleasant.

Getty Image

Today, I was sorting through some old magazines to see which ones to keep and which ones to toss.  In allrecipes, February/March 2014 edition, an article on "Why kids are picky eaters (and why it's no big whoop) caught my attention.  The author attests that nature makes young children be picky about what they eat.  Afterall, in caveman days fear of different food was necessary or children would be eating poisonous berries and other dangerous things. 

My three kids from age 2-5 subsisted basically on one food:

the oldest was cottage cheese (plain!)

the middle hardly ate at all

the youngest only ate Cambell's cream of potato soup (and I always had a hard time finding it)

My grandchildren's favorite is McDonald's Chicken McNuggets.

One more story about myself.  As a child, I wouldn't eat asparagus for all the tea in China.  Once when I was a teenager, I was eating supper at my friend's house.  The green beans they served were different.  They were kind of mushy and tasted different, but they were good.  I complimented the cooking and said "I particularly liked the green beans.  They were tasty."

Everybody burst out laughing--at me!

You guessed it.  They were asparagus, not green beans.  As the article stated, "Children become more adventurous eaters at their own pace."

Details

I'm not a detail person.  "Good Enough!" is one of my most usual expressions."  But The Nightingale by Kristan Hannah was so well written, down to the minuteness of details, that she had me drooling.  I see the importance of details in writing, at least.  What a writer!  Her written expression seems so effortlessly done.  The story is about living in occupied France during World War II.  The Nightingale refers to the code name given to the guide who helped people cross over the Pyrenes.

Hannah's descriptions of the hardships endured had me suffering.  And what I particularly noted was the description of cooking.  This is not a book about cooking, nor hardship.  It's a story of two young women and their differences, especially their different ways of approaching the war.  They both get drawn into the battle.  Hannah deftly describes the scenes so well that you're there.  Although, food was rationed, and they grew what they could, the people had to make do.  Being French, I suppose, meant adding spices when cooking.  Even with using only root vegetables, I was drooling over the description of the vegetables braised in the pan.  This made me personally resolve to be a better cook.  If French cuisine can be adhered to during deprivation, then I have no excuse.

I went through my spices and threw out the old to make room for the new.  I plan to try some new ones too.  I'm even thinking of moving the spices to a more convenient reach, so I'll use them more often.

Actually, cooking has nothing whatsoever to do with the book, The Nightingale.  However, it is
a novel that I'm sure will whet your appetite.

Bake Sale Time

St. Mary's Women's Club is having it's bake sale this week end.  Since there's no call for my specialty--boiled water, I thought I would bake brownies.

Mind you, I'm not making these from scratch, they're mixes from a box.  Brownies are difficult for me because I never can tell when they're done.  The recipe will even say that.  You can't tell if the brownies are done, like you can cake.  You guess.

But I'm smarter than that.  I'm making two batches, and keeping one in longer than the other.

Same brand, same stuff, same pan, but not the same time.  I figure I have a 50/50 chance of one of the batches coming out perfectly.

The first batch was too soft in the center.  The other batch was too hard around the edges.  You think this is a bad thing.  On the contrary, I took the edge brownies from the first batch, and the center brownies from the second batch, and made one decent batch of brownies.

I told you I was smart.