My Favorite Pumkin Pie

• 2 cups of pumpkin purée
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream or 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 good crust

1 Preheat oven to 425°F.

2 Mix sugars, salt, and spices, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the bowl. Stir in the pumpkin purée. Stir in cream. Whisk all together until well incorporated.

3 Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

4 Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.

Serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Amish Sponge Shortcake

Preheat oven to 350° F. Beat eggs and water until thick and lemon colored. Add sugar. Add dry ingredients. Mix and bake in a 9x9" square cake pan for 30-35 minutes. Serve with fresh strawberries, topped with whipped cream.

3 eggs 1 c. sugar 6 Tbsp. cold water pinch of salt 1 tsp. vanilla 1 c. flour 1½ tsp. baking powder

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

* 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 3 medium very ripe bananas, peeled
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
Before you start
Be sure an adult is nearby to help.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan with butter.

Make the batter
In a bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, smash the bananas with a fork. Add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla and beat with the wooden spoon until well blended.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until blended.

Bake the bread
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with the wooden spoon. Put the pan in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it, about 45 minutes.

Using oven mitts, remove the pan from the oven, set it on a wire cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

Remove the bread from the pan
Gently run a table knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen the bread from the sides.

Using oven mitts, turn the pan on its side and slip the loaf out onto the wire rack. Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes before serving. Makes 1 loaf.

William-Sonoma recipes

Artisan Bread in Minutes

1 1/2 tbs yeast
1 1/2 tbs salt
3 cups warm water
6 1/2 cups flour (white or half wheat and half white)

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Then place the lid on the bowl slightly cracked open. Let set on the counter for 2 hours and then place the bowl in the frig for up to 2 weeks. If you allow it to set the full two weeks in the frig you will have a light sourdough type bread.

Once you are ready to use it just take out the portion needed, cover it with flour so it doesn't stick to your hands and shape it as you desire. It's a free forming bread so you don't need bread pans but you can use them if you like. Otherwise place your bread on a lightly greased baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Then top it with a little flour and score it. Cover with a dry dish towel and let rise 40 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 with a pan of water on the bottom shelf to allow for steam creating that beautiful crust. Bake about 35-45 minutes.

Now this same recipe can make pizza, hot dog and hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls and lots more. You can mix cinnamon and raisins in the dough and make cinnamon raising bread, or cover the bread with nuts, cranberries, herbs, cheese, whatever you desire either mixed in or topped. You can make flat bread on the BBQ. Best of all you can always have quick easy bread fresh from the oven to make on hand all the time. Enjoy!

Homemade Tortilla's

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (my choice oils are shortening or grapeseed)
1 cup hot water

Mix ingredients in a bowl (preferably stainless steal allowing the dough to stay warm). I keep the bowl covered with a plate. It's much easier to roll the dough out if it stays warm. On a floured surface roll a small ball of dough in a paper thin circle. Have a pan preheated in the stove and ever so lightly flour the pan just before you place the tortilla in it. Cook on both sides about a minute. Stack the tortilla's but then let them cool completely before placing them in a zip lock in the frig or the condensation with cause them to stick together and become soggy. They should last about 2 weeks in the frig. Enjoy!

Tip - I use half white flour and half wheat for better nutritional value and you'd never know by the taste it was half wheat. It's amazing!

Yogurt Making

Get yourself a yogurt therm, cultures at www.cheesemaking.com and discover just how simple and cost efficient it is to make your own yogurt. The yogurt therm and yogurt culture you purchase will give specific instructions but in my size therm and the type of yogurt culture I chose it's as simple as heating 4 cups milk on the stove to 185f (I like adding 1/4 cup organic powdered milk but you don't have to) let it cool to 112F then place in the yogurt therm (which I plugged in before I got started) then add the culture, let sit a few minutes and gently stir in and let it sit for 6-12 hours depending on how strong a tasting yogurt you like, then place in frig. If you don't want to purchase the cultures you can add a 1/2 cup plain yogurt since the cultures are still active. Save a 1/2 cup of your homemade yogurt to make the next batch. As long as you keep it plain you can reuse the yogurt about 10 times before providing new culture. If you already used yogurt for the culture reuse it about 5 times. The trick is to make sure it doesn't go bad before you make some more but the perk to homemade yogurt is that I've found that it lasts about a month or more depending on how cold your frig is and how you store it. If you wish to add favors to it set aside your half cup for reuse and then gently fold some blended fruit into it.
Yogurt Therms are about $25-$40 at any kitchen appliance store. The cultures are only a few dollars. Enjoy!

Fuel

Despite this films perspective in evolution and global warming I can't throw out the bath water with the baby. I found this film very encouraging, inspiring and informative in natural living but for me it will always be about returning to God's natural order. It's a must see!

Food Matters

Why We Should Grind Our Own Flour

Whole wheat is a nutritious food but the vitamins and minerals dissipate quickly once the wheat has been ground into flour. In fact, within the first 24 hours the flour has lost 45% of it's nutrients and by the time 72 hours has passed it has lost a whopping 90%! 90% of nutritional value of the wholesome grain that does not make it in to your family's bodies. Is it any wonder we have to take nutritional supplements?

The taste of freshly ground flour is another reason to grind your own. Imagine that if that much of the nutrition is lost a comparable amount of the taste of the fresh grains must be lost as well.

The Structure of Whole Wheat Kernels

The whole wheat kernel or berry is made up of distinct parts, all of which contribute to the high quality nutritional value of the wheat. The wheat has high amounts of vitamins A, E and B. Wheatberries found in the tombs of the pharaohs in Egypt and examined still contained the full range of 26 vitamins and minerals, over 2000 years after it had been harvested!

The outside of the kernel is called the bran. Bran is good for the fiber that the body needs as well as helping to regulate cholesterol. It helps to detoxify the body which is an important function in our society where toxins assault us from every angle.

The wheat germ is the part of the kernel that sprouts. It holds the life of the wheat, the ability to produce plants like itself. It has the highest density of vitamins B and E in the wheat. This is where wheat germ oil is found, a healthy oil that helps the body absorb vitamins that are not water soluble.

Finally, the endosperm is the part of the wheatberry that holds the starch. This is the only part left in white flour. It is literally only the starch which breaks down into sugar in the body, and is meant as a food source for the plant as it grows, before the leaves come out and photosynthesis begins.

Written by- Marye Audet

When you grind your own flour freeze it to preserve the nutrients.

Healthy Zuccini Bread

3 eggs

1 cup softened butter

2 cups honey

3 cups grated zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour (half whole wheat half white)

Whip the eggs then add honey, butter and vanilla and blend until smooth. Then add the remaining ingredients and slowly stir as you add flour until just blended. Place in 2 well buttered loaf pans and bake at 325 for 1 hour. Enjoy!