Faith, Folklore, and Friends

There is nothing better than homemade bread.  The second best thing is how the house smells as it is baking. I make bread from several different recipes, but I needed to use up some buttermilk today.  This is how I make buttermilk/honey bread.   Pour 1/4 cup warm water in a large mixing bowl.  Add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon yeast, about the same as one packet.  I buy yeast in bulk at Sam's; it is much cheaper that way.  Let it proof for 5 minutes. Heat 2 cups of buttermilk until it is warm; NOT boiling. This is 1/3 cup honey.  We use local honey made by a friend.  I have found that some of the honey at the supermarket has corn syrup added. 1/4 cup butter, melted just enough to be liquid and warm. 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (or sody, as some folks call it). Add the buttermilk, honey, salt, and soda to the yeast mixture and mix together. This blue Kitchen-Aid mixer was my Christmas gift las...

Nothing says October like pumpkins.   They can brighten up the gloomiest rainy day.   They decorate our porches, our tables, and our yards, bright against the dead leaves on the ground.     After we have enjoyed the pumpkin's outside for a while, the inside gives us pumpkin bread, pumpkin biscuits, and pumpkin muffins. We freeze the cooked pulp in two-cup bags for these things all winter.  The pulp of one average pumpkin goes a long, long way. And who can keep from smiling when we see all these globes of radiant color?   Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin.... We anxiously anticipate it every year. ~Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer , October 2010