A Tale of Bread

I mixed up my first batch of Artisan Bread dough on Sunday using the basic recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. On Monday, we had Ann, Eric and the boys over to have Christmas. Earlier as Ann and I spoke on the phone about what to have for dinner, I mentioned the bread dough and the possibility of using it for pizza crust. She had mozzarella, olives and some peperoni, and I had Canadian bacon and sauce. Done deal. We had fun putting the pizza together, checking the book for instructions as we went along. The moment of truth came and we slid the first pizza off the peel and onto the hot baking stone in the oven. Twenty minutes later, we took it out, slid in number two and sat down to eat. Eric took the first bite. "Wow!" he said. Cameron and Keaton bit into theirs and smiled. Finally I took a bite and it was crusty, chewy, and fabulous!! Why, oh why, did I wait so long?

Number one disappeared in short order, but here is a picture of number two right out of the oven.


Yesterday I decided we'd better get back to our bean soup from Saturday, and a loaf of artisan bread would be just the thing to go with it. It was a snap to get it ready and into the oven. I was washing up a few things when I heard a strange noise. As I was glancing around the kitchen trying to determine what I heard, I glanced into the oven (I had the light on so I could watch it bake) and saw that my baking stone had cracked. And I do mean cracked! It was in three pieces and had spread apart as much as two inches on one side. Miraculously my little loaf of bread remained straddled across the gaping divide and so I continued to let it bake.


It cooled, and we had it for dinner with the soup. It was wonderfully crusty on the top and chewy in the middle. The bottom was not quite so crusty as most of it had baked in mid air, so to speak, the last half of the time.

My baking stone?


It's in the trash.

Reason for the Season

I read an interesting comment the other day and it's stuck with me: "Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit." - Frank McKinney (Kin) Hubbard

And as I've thought about it, I believe it is true. So much hoopla leading up to the day, and actually, not much is related to the real reason for celebrating December 25th. Lots of articles on retailers counting on it to boost sales for the year, a few stories about people helping one another, and even one on celebrating the Winter Solstice. Hmmm to that one. And come December 26th, all is gone. I needed to be reminded that Christmas is not about decorating, baking, buying or getting frazzled (although I confess I do all of those things). It's about celebrating the birthday of Jesus. Peace with God--it doesn't get any better than this, and it's not a one day a year, or even a one month out of a year, kind of thing. So here at Miller's Last Resort we say again, Happy Birthday, Jesus! :-)


We had Christmas with Ann, Eric, Cameron and Keaton last night and I received the pictured books from them. I looking forward to reading what Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer have to teach me.

Kitchen Update

First, I need to say that I made another batch of spritz cookies last week and had a much easier time. I think my butter was too cold the first time and that led to my problems. This time a cookie popped out with each click of the trigger and stuck to the cookie sheet. Sweet success!!

Second, the pressure cooker rocks! I can't believe how easy it was to make a wonderful, flavorful bean soup in just a matter of little more than an hour. I did let it simmer the rest of the afternoon, but we could easily have eaten it much sooner. I can't wait to try again.

Third, I just finished mixing up the dough for artisan bread!


It is rising in the kitchen and before I head for bed I'll pop it into the frig. I'm not sure when I'll bake the first loaf as I think we're having Christmas with Ann, Eric and the boys tomorrow night.

And finally, Dan got a nice cow elk this afternoon so we're set for meat for another year! For those of you unacquainted with elk, in my opinion it rivals any beef for flavor. (And I must say, I do love passing up the meat section of the grocery store with its incredible prices.) Dan always does all his own cutting and he is very particular about how its done, but I promise--no pictures of my kitchen in its butchershop mode!

Christmas Gifts

We're not done with Christmas yet, but yesterday Dan and I opened presents from each other and our present from Matt, Amy and Ryan. Amy made us a beautiful quilt!


The pattern is an Atkinson Designs called Slide Show and Amy picked out many of the fabrics when she was in Portland and Sisters, Oregon this summer. We love the pattern and the fabrics and it's a beautiful addition to our living room! Here is its current home:



And speaking of presents, last Christmas, thanks to CJ and Judy I asked Dan for a pressure cooker. Both CJ and Judy are always writing about things they cook in theirs and I decided I wanted one. Time for true confessions: A whole year has gone by and I've let that crazy pressure cooker buffalo (as we say here in the west) me!! Dan is elk hunting today, and I decided today was the day. I used it to cook up a mix of dried beans which I will turn into bean soup with German sausage made from last year's elk.


There it is--on my stove. I didn't blow up the house and it wasn't hard. Why do I let myself get intimidated by new things?? Honestly!! I just checked, the pressure had gone down, so I removed the lid. Mmmmm, smells sooo good! Dan will be so surprised!

And since I'm into confessions here, I must confess that Dan also got me the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook last Christmas (yes, I asked for it). And I haven't used it. But, since I've conquered the pressure cooker, I can't help but feel Artisan bread is next! I've made hundreds of loaves of regular bread, so why does this new style have me, yes, buffaloed?? It's the stone, the peel, and that tray of water. Timing. But I will prevail!!!



See the beautiful wooden peel propped against the back of my counter? Dan made it for me! On the counter is the Artisan bread cookbook and one of this year's presents, The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. I've had lots of fun reading it since I opened it yesterday morning. Some women love jewelry, roses, and chocolate. I love cookbooks, pots and pans, and sewing machines! Bless my sweetie's heart, he knows what I love.

To Grammy's House We Go

We are not hosting Christmas this year, but this morning we had two of our grandsons over. Zoom, in they came, clutching their swim suits. Yes, their swimsuits. You see, we have a hot tub. Papa had turned it on earlier, and while they waited for it to finish warming up, they played on our computers and then watched a Veggie Tale video. Larry Boy. When the water reached the desired temperature they quickly changed into their suits and hopped in. We have several "squirty" toys that help disperse the water all over the sunroom where the hot tub lives. Too much fun.


When they were thoroughly cooked, they climbed back out and after getting dressed, Cameron resumed his computer play and Papa helped Keaton cut out his car design for the upcoming Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts. Ann and Eric came back, we all had lunch, and after Eric left for work, the rest of us paid a visit to the local library to stock up on some vacation reading. An altogether satisfactory day here at Grammyville.


My view from where I sit while I'm blogging. :-)

A New Recipe Tried

Thanks to my friend, Kathy, I get emails from Better Homes and Gardens for the holidays. The other day one came through featuring cookie recipes, so I clicked and checked out a few. One caught my eye, mainly because I actually had all the ingredients and it was for bar cookies. I tried it yesterday, and with a little change or two, it turned out quite yummy. (At least Dan seems to think so as the container is surrounded by crumbs!)

Butterscotch-Toffee Bars

1 package 2-layer-size yellow cake mix
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted (I used margarine)
2 eggs
1 cup cashews or toasted pecans, chopped (I used 1/3 cup pecans and didn't toast)
1 8-oz package toffee pieces (I used half an 8-oz pkg of Heath English Toffee Bits)

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 15x10x1" pan. Combine cake mix, brown sugar, melted butter, and eggs. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Stir in nuts. Pat dough into prepared pan and spinkle with toffee pieces. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into bars.

I thought they looked rather, umm, unattractive when I took them out, so I decided to spruce them up a bit. I took two squares of white candy bark, melted them in the microwave, and then used a spoon to drizzle the whole pan before cutting into bars.

Here's a picture of a couple of the finished products. I just asked Dan what he thought of the new cookies and he said, "I love 'em!" There you go, a completely candid evaluation by a very experienced cookie muncher.

Christmas 1963

I was a freshman in high school the fall of 1963. My two best friends and I were growing up, and we began thinking of hope chests. Our small town had no fancy department store, but the local hardware store had branched out far beyond hammers and nails and in addition to a gift shop and furniture, had a small china selection. I fell in love with a pattern called Mayflower by Syracuse. I can still see exactly where it was on the shelf in the center section of the store. Onto my Christmas list it went.

On Christmas morning, I opened my first pieces: a place setting and the salt and pepper shakers. More pieces came my way over the next few years, and by the time I was married in January of 1972, I had a full set for eight including all the serving pieces. Syracuse went out of the home china business, concentrating on commercial ware, but in recent years I have been able to add more place settings thanks to Replacments, Ltd. I recently used these dishes at our annual women's Christmas Tea at church. I wish I had thought to take a picture of my table, but I didn't have a blog then. I snapped this picture this morning.


After forty-six years, I still love these dishes.