Stepmother

I’ve been seeing photos plastered on various social media outlets stating “A stepparent is a truly amazing person.  They made a choice to love another’s child as their own” and I find a lot of truth in that.  I became a stepparent to two amazing children when I got involved with my ex-husband.  As we were getting divorced, I was terrified that this would mean the end of my relationship with his children.  I truly did (and still do) love them like they are my own children.  Luckily it didn’t come to that, and they are still in my life.  I don’t get to see them nearly as much as I’d like to.  They live out-of-state with their mom (who is my personal idea of what a superhero looks like sometimes) and stepdad, and circumstances being what they are I only get to physically spend time with them briefly when they come up for a visit.  For very complicated reasons, I have to keep some distance so that all involved can maintain their sanity.  Someday, they’ll understand that.  That doesn’t mean I don’t miss them and think about them every day (thank goodness I can keep in touch via Facebook!)  and it doesn’t mean I love them any less than I did before.

Later on, I met Lane.  Well after that, I met M and O.  This is my second journey in stepparenting.  One day, the kids just started telling people that I’m their stepmother (it’s not a title I asked for, kids do these things when they’re ready) and so it really began.  I used to be reminded at Mother’s Day that I’m not a mother in that I’ve never adopted a child and I’ve never given birth to one either.  I’ve grown used to letting it pass as a day to celebrate women who are considered to be “real” mothers.  Even when I had my ex-husband’s kids in my life with more regularity, I was reminded that I was not a mother.  In no way am I minimizing the beauty of adoption or the road to delivering a child of one’s own, but stepmothers really get a bad rap.  I shop for and cook their meals, I wash the grass and dirt stains out of their sports uniforms (and pretty much anything else they wear), I sit at soccer practice when it’s freezing cold and raining.  I get them chicken soup and crackers and ginger ale when they’re sick.  I work to teach them about being kind to others, and responsibility, and good manners, and teamwork.  I help with homework and feel like I’m re-learning simple math so I can help M when she furrows her brow and says “I’m stuck.”  I’m missing traveling for my baby sister’s college graduation in part because I am partly responsible for the two small humans in this house and for getting them to school and soccer and baseball and whatever else pops up on the schedule.  I do all of this while being mindful of my role as “not the actual mother,” and it isn’t easy.  The school doesn’t know what to do with me, who am I in all of this? Do I make decisions? Is my signature good enough on a permission slip for a field trip, or am I just the person who’s allowed to pick them up when they’re sick?  Other moms at school don’t know what to do with me, either.  I’m an outsider, not part of their special “I’ve given birth/ adopted” circle.  I’ve had my directions undermined by others who felt justified doing so because I’m not their mother, I’m just Lane’s girlfriend.  That’s okay, I don’t do the things I do for the title, or recognition, or to be part of a social circle.  I do it because I am a stepmom, and these are the things you do when a child is in your care.  So please, let’s put away the special stepmother wart and let’s stop assuming no woman could love children that aren’t their own as if they are.  I have no doubt in my mind that if Lane and I ever have a child, I will love all five children (two from my first marriage, M, O, and a long-shot future baby that we’ll call “the urchin” for now) just the same.

Back on the topic of Mother’s Day, I have never expected anything from anyone in celebration of that day.  I’m happy to celebrate the moms of all forms in my life and leave it at that. I suspect Lane and the kids have something up their sleeve but if I’m wrong, that’s okay.  It’s not about special recognition for me, it’s more important that (especially as women) we all start to respect the roles people play in children’s lives.  I’m blessed to have children in my life who love me enough to call me their stepmother and there’s no better way to recognize it than that.  Although, if someone really needs to show me they care, on Mother’s Day or any day, cinnamon rolls are one great way to do that.  I won’t turn down cinnamon rolls.  They’re simple, and gooey and comforting.  They take some effort, and I’m a firm believer that sometimes, the effort is the biggest part of a gift.  The effort for these is minimized by using a bread machine (that could also be a great gift for mom!), but you can make them without one as well.

Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients:

for the dough:

• 1 C. plus 2 Tbsp. warm milk
• 3 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
• 1 egg and 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 4 C. flour (possibly more)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. yeast

for the filling:

• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2/3 C. packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon

for the icing:

• 1 tsp. milk
• 1 1/2 C. confectioner’s sugar
• 4 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the dough using a bread machine, place the dough ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order listed.  Select the dough cycle and wait for the cycle to complete.  Check the dough after the first few minutes of the cycle and add a little more flour if necessary.

To make the dough without a bread machine, add 1 tsp. of the sugar to the warm milk and stir in the yeast.  Allow the mixture to sit for a minute.  In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), combine the vegetable oil, eggs, salt and sugar.  Add in 2 C. of the flour and the milk mixture and mix to combine.  Mix in the remaining flour until the dough is smooth and easy to handle.  Knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5-10 minutes or in a stand mixer using a dough hook for 5-10 minutes.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When the dough cycle is finished, or the dough has completed rising if making the dough by hand, roll the dough into a large rectangle (roughly 15×9 inches) on a well-floured surface.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Spread the melted butter over the dough.

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the buttered dough.

Roll the dough up tightly, starting from the long side, like a jelly-roll.

Cut the dough into 15 rolls (about 1″ each) and place the rolls into two greased round cake pans.

At this point, you can cover the unbaked rolls with plastic wrap and refrigerate them overnight, then bake in the morning if desired (if this is your plan, skip pre-heating the oven).

Bake for 20 minutes, until browned.

While the rolls bake, combine all ingredients for icing in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in a mixing bowl using a hand mixer) until smooth.

Spread icing over cinnamon rolls as soon as the rolls come out of the oven.

Makes 15 cinnamon rolls.

Source: adapted from Money Saving Mom

Rapscallion

We started a small container garden last weekend and I’m equal parts nervous and excited about this.  For starters, the last time I engaged in any major gardening was when I followed my dad around the yard and into our back yard garden as a child.  I’ve grown herbs from kits and sadly they wound up becoming an abandoned mess on the kitchen counter.  In my defense, I was in graduate school and working full-time and remembering to water and feed myself was a project most days.  That apartment was also suitable for vampire living, not one room seemed to get a big amount of sunlight and moving my little herb tower outside wasn’t an option.  S0, as we picked out herb seedlings and seed packets last weekend I was determined to keep it small and keep it simple.  Now, I’m hovering over two tomato plants, four herb plants, a pepper plant, and sixteen little peat pots that I’m hoping will sprout seedlings for green beans, yellow squash, and pickling cucumbers.

Because all of that didn’t blow my “keep it small” strategy out of the water, I decided to test out the concept that you can grow food from kitchen scraps so there’s also a pot with garlic cloves (that sprouted, yay!), onion ends, and scallions.  The scallions grow wild all around the edges of our yard, and Lane always thought they would be bitter so he just mowed them down year after year.  When I heard this, and that those little scallions grow back just in time to be mowed down again, I knew this was the crop for me.  I pulled the scallions up with their bulbs and roots, cut off the tops (leaving about three inches of scallion and the roots), and plunked the ends into a cup of water.  I’ll never have to buy scallions again, two days later I had new growth.  Then, it occurred to me that maybe I should heed Lane’s warning about the bitterness and actually taste them.  They taste exactly like any scallions I’ve ever purchased or eaten anywhere.  While Lane ran off to let the neighbors know that they will also never need to buy scallions again, I started planning what I would do with my bounty of wild scallions.

Scallion pancakes were my first thought.  I love ordering these at Chinese restaurants and we were just discussing them over some great Thai food on date night so this seemed obvious.  I have made them before, so I knew that scallion pancakes are ridiculously easy to make at home.  In my quest to keep it semi-healthy around here, I wanted to see if I could get around frying them in oil and still have a tasty reproduction of the restaurant staple.  I was probably way more excited than anyone should be about scallions already, but I was even more excited when I cooked these in a non-stick skillet with a spray of olive oil (from a Misto sprayer) instead of frying each one in oil and they were every bit as awesome.  If you don’t have an oil sprayer, I have some solutions.  Any clean spray bottle can be used (please don’t use a bottle that held bathroom cleaner last week though), or non-stick cooking spray, or brushing the olive oil onto the pancake with a pastry brush are all great alternatives.  The dough is simple to make and easy to work with and even though the steps seem numerous, they are quick steps so you’ll have tasty scallion pancakes in about as much time as it would take to order them and wait for delivery.  With a simple soy sauce ginger dipping sauce, these were better than the ones I usually drool over at the restaurant.

Scallion Pancakes

Ingredients:

for the pancakes:

• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C. warm water
• 1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
• salt
  
• olive oil (I used a Misto to spray it, cooking spray or brushing it on would also work)

for the dipping sauce:

• 1/4 C. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

To make the dough using a food processor, put the flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade.

Turn the food processor on and stream the warm water in, running the food processor until the water is incorporated.

Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl or onto a clean work surface and knead the dough until smooth.  The dough will be firm and smooth, not sticky, when fully kneaded.

OR, make the dough without a food processor by mixing the flour and 1/4 C. of the water in a large mixing bowl.

Stir until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl, then knead until the dough is firm and barely sticky.

Once the dough is made, knead it about 20 times and then cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball.

Work with 1 ball of dough at a time and keep all others covered with a damp towel.

Roll each ball of dough out on a well-floured work surface into a thin circle about 1/16 of an inch thick.

Sprinkle salt evenly over the pancake (I used about 1/2 tsp. of salt per pancake, use more or less to taste but they should be fairly salty).

Sprinkle 1-2 tsp. of scallions over the pancake.

Roll the pancake up from one end, like a jelly roll.

Curl the roll up into a spiral like a snake and pinch the end to the roll so they stay closed.

Press the coil using the palm of your hand to flatten it, then use a rolling pin to roll the pancake out to 1/8 of an inch thick.

Spray a skillet generously with olive oil (or non-stick cooking spray) or brush both sides of the pancake with olive oil, and heat the skillet over medium heat until hot.

Place the pancake into the skillet and cook until the bottom is crisp and starts to brown.

Flip the pancake, spraying or brushing on more oil as needed and cook until cooked through and starting to brown.

Remove the pancake from the heat and serve immediately, or place it onto a baking sheet in a warm oven to keep warm until all pancakes are ready to serve.

To make the dipping sauce, whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until combined.

To serve, cut each pancake into four wedges using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors and serve with dipping sauce on the side.

Makes 8 pancakes, 32 wedges.

Source: pancakes adapted from Use Real Butter; sauce from Ming Tsai

No Excuses

I still get funny looks when I tell people I make all of our bread.  Then the assumption arises that I make sandwich bread once a week and that’s it.  That’s how it started, that I wasn’t going to buy and waste store-bought sandwich bread anymore when we owned a perfectly good stand mixer (oh, how I love the dough hook for kneading!), and a perfectly good bread machine.  The oven is in working order (though I’d love for it not to be so we can have a gas oven but that’s another post), and I have enough baking pans to open a Bed, Bath & Beyond.  A five-pound bag of bread flour costs less than a “good” loaf of store-bought bread.  The hands-on time involved in making homemade bread even without a mixer or bread machine is really minimal.  One by one, the excuses to keep buying bread disappeared.  When store-bought bread is packed full of preservatives that are supposed to keep it fresh and yet we were tossing bread into the garbage despite the minimum of four sandwiches a week that go to school, there were really no more excuses for that kind of waste.  It may have started as sandwich bread, but it clearly didn’t end there.  I found that once I was comfortable with the basics of bread making, there was no reason to buy flour tortillas, or English muffins, or pizza crust dough anymore.  So now spring is here, and we want to grill some hot dogs (please don’t jump on me about hating preservatives in bread but eating hot dogs.  I’m very careful about the brands we buy and what ingredients they contain), and we want those hot dogs in a bun, please.

Challenge accepted.  More often than not, the bun is viewed as the vehicle by which you lift the hot dog to your mouth without getting hot dog toppings all over your hands.  Not anymore.  These potato hot dog rolls are substantial enough to hold a hot dog loaded with all of your favorite toppings and not crumble or get soggy under that kind of pressure.  I haven’t met a store-bought bun yet that really holds up to a great chili sauce on a hot dog.  My worries are over.  O has a habit of eating the hot dog out of the bun and leaving the bun behind like an optional side dish.  That didn’t happen with these buns- there was not a crumb left on anyone’s plate.  They’re buttery and soft, and worth every bit of effort that goes into making them yourself.  Goodbye, store-bought hot dog buns!

Potato Hot Dog Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1¼ C. lukewarm milk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 C. bread flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. potato flour (or 3 Tbsp. instant mashed potato flakes)
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. instant yeast
• ½ C. cultured buttermilk

Directions:

Mix the dough using a bread machine, stand mixer, or by hand and then proceed to forming the rolls:

To mix the dough using a bread machine, put all of the ingredients except for the buttermilk into the pan of the bread machine.  Choose the dough cycle and start.

To mix the dough using a stand mixer, put all ingredients except for the buttermilk into the bowl of the mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Mix on low speed for 10 minutes, until a smooth, elastic dough forms.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover loosely with a clean dish towel and allow it to rise 1-2 hours in a warm place, until doubled.

To mix the dough by hand, put all ingredients except the buttermilk in a large mixing bowl.

Use a wooden spoon or your clean hands to stir until a rough dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes until a smooth, elastic dough forms.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and allow it to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled.

To form the rolls:

Line an 11×13 inch baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicone baking mat, or lightly grease it and set aside.

Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces (I like to weigh them with a kitchen scale to make sure they’re even), and form each of the 3 pieces into logs.

Divide each log into 5 equal pieces (for standard hot dog rolls) or 4 equal pieces (for larger sandwich or sausage rolls).

One piece of dough at a time, pat each piece into an oval shape.

Use your hand like a blade and press the side of your hand the long way into the dough, forming an indentation down the length of the center of each oval.

Roll the dough up around the indentation you made and pinch the seam together tightly.

Transfer the dough pieces to the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

Let the rolls rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, until they’re puffy.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Brush the rolls generously with the buttermilk.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, until deep golden brown.

Cool the rolls on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Rolls can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for 2 days, or wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 1 month.

Makes 15 hot dog rolls (or 12 larger rolls).

Source: slightly adapted from Foodie with Family

Marble Mouth

No matter how small of a ham I’m able to find, if I’m serving just the four (or sometimes just the two) of us there is going to be leftover ham.  It’s nice to cook once and eat twice (or more), so if I’m planning ham for one night, I plan what to do with the leftovers for the next night.  With the leftover ham from Sunday’s dinner, I made my favorite pea soup in the crock pot and decided to serve that with ham sandwiches.  The best way to serve ham sandwiches if you ask me is on fresh rye bread.  I haven’t found better rye bread locally than the marble rye from a bakery in my hometown but I couldn’t justify a forty minute drive for a loaf of bread.  I also wasn’t going to resort to grocery store rye bread because I always find that to be sub-par and I’d rather not have the preservatives and high fructose corn syrup that comes in every loaf.  With this recipe, I’ve managed to avoid the forty minute drive and nasty grocery store rye bread.

I was contemplating making half of the recipe because this recipe makes two full loaves of bread and I’m never sure exactly how well new things will go over with the kiddos.  Four grilled ham and Swiss sandwiches later, I don’t see any of this bread going to waste.  This doesn’t have the overwhelming rye flavor or a ton of seeds like rye bread I’ve purchased at the grocery store.  The best marble rye I’ve ever had is from a bakery in my hometown, and my days of contemplating a forty minute drive to get a loaf of bread are over now that I’ve made this.  At first it seemed a little intimidating because there are two separate dough recipes and more than a few steps, but really this is as easy as making any other bread.  The dough came together quickly and beautifully and was really easy to work with during the entire process.  Because there are multiple rises, I suggest allowing for a good length of time if you plan on making this.  The work and the waiting are well worth the results though!  The hardest part of this was finding rye flour locally, which I found easily at the second supermarket I tried (Hodgson Mills and Bob’s Red Mill both had offerings there).  You do not taste the molasses or the cocoa powder in this, so if you aren’t fans of either of those items have no fear.  As with many recipes, I strongly recommend weighing the ingredients for the most accuracy. I baked the loaves in loaf pans, but you can skip that step and free-form them into loaves or rounds on a baking sheet.  Whichever you choose, be sure that the seam is sealed well and that you bake the bread with the seam side down.

Marble Rye Bread

Ingredients:

for the light rye:

• 6 oz. (1 1/2 C.) white rye flour (if you can’t find white rye flour, use regular- not dark- rye flour and sift it twice)
• 13 1/2 oz. (3 C.) unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 3/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
• 1 1/4 C. plus 2 Tbsp. water, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp. molasses
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

For dark rye:

• 6 oz. (1 1/2 C.) white rye flour (or regular as explained above)
• 13 1/2 oz. (3 C.) unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 3/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
• 1 1/4 C. plus 2 Tbsp. water, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp. molasses
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water

Directions:

To make the light rye dough, whisk together the rye and bread flours, salt, yeast, and caraway seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer*.

Add the water, molasses, and olive oil and mix at low speed, using the dough hook, until a rough dough forms. If needed, scrape down the mixing bowl and turn the dough in the bowl with a spatula if needed to make sure the dry ingredients incorporate.

Once the wet ingredients are fully incorporated, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and knead for 6-8 minutes until the dough forms an elastic ball that clears the sides of the mixing bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead a few times, shaping the dough into a round ball.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, smooth side up.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside while you make the dark rye dough.

To make the dark rye dough, repeat the same process as above, and add the dissolved cocoa powder to the mixture with the other wet ingredients.

Place the dark rye dough into a separate lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Let both doughs rise at room temperature for 90 minutes, until doubled in size.

Line a large baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper.

Turn out both the light and dark doughs onto a lightly floured work surface.

Gently press down to deflate the dough, then divide each dough into 4 equal pieces.

Shape each piece of dough (8 pieces in total) into a round ball, then slightly flatten the ball and place all 8 pieces onto the prepared baking sheet.

Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes.

Working with one piece of dough at a time and keeping all of the others covered, roll out each piece of dough with a rolling pin into a flat oval measuring roughly 5×8 inches.

Layer the ovals of dough, alternating light dough with dark dough, into 2 stacks of 4 pieces of dough each.

Roll each stack up, starting from the long side, like a jelly roll, into a cylinder.  Press the dough together to seal it as you roll it up.

Seal the final seam well.

Place the two loaves onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, seam down, or into greased loaf pans, seam down and cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap.

Let the dough rise 60-90 minutes, until doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and baked through (internal temperature of 190 degrees).

Remove the bread and place it on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 2 loaves of marble rye bread.

Source: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart

* To make this without a stand mixer, you can either mix each dough separately in a bread machine on the dough cycle or by hand.  To mix by hand, combine the ingredients using the directions above in a large mixing bowl and knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it becomes elastic, then proceed.

Spring Breeze

Happy first day of spring!  Today is the spring equinox, better known as Ostara to me.  It’s hard to think about starting a garden with a blanket of new snow on the ground, but that’s exactly what’s on my mind.  For weeks, we’ve been discussing the herbs we’re going to start and the raised bed garden we’ll put outside the kitchen window.  I’m beyond excited about this, and the other yard projects we have planned.  We’re building a new shed (the blizzard was the undoing of the old one), and we need to fix the lawn from where the gas line was installed (as I try to figure out how to kill the electric stove and make it look like an accident).  Ostara’s a great day to think about and work on these projects, as it’s a day celebrating fertility and new growth.  You’ll notice that a lot of Ostara traditions are a lot like Easter traditions, and I’ll reserve my thoughts on who “owned” them first because I’d like to be part of a world where we tolerate (or in some cases, celebrate) each other’s differences.  If I remember right (and my apologies if I have this wrong), to some who celebrate Easter the colored Easter eggs represent the empty tomb of Christ and coloring eggs was also a good way to use up the eggs in the house before the beginning of Lent.  To those who celebrate Ostara, eggs are a symbol of rebirth.  What all of this egg talk boils down to is that no matter what religious beliefs you hold, there’s room for interpretation.  I think we can all agree that it’s been a rough winter and rejoice that spring is finally here.

As with most holidays, I like to celebrate with food.  This sweet Italian bread wreath is a great treat no matter what your beliefs are and it was a great breakfast for the first day of spring.  The orange hints in the bread and the glaze are a great reminder that spring is really here, but this is a great bread for any occasion.  It’s usually reserved for spring or Easter celebrations because most often, it’s seen with colored eggs baked into it.  I skipped the colored eggs because our schedule this past week didn’t leave time to color eggs, and because I feared they would go to waste since I was only serving this to the four of us.  The bread doesn’t need the colored eggs but they do make the bread look much more festive.  If you choose to include the colored eggs, dye the raw eggs (with a dye that is safe to consume or preferably with a natural dye), and place the dried colored eggs on top of the wreath before baking.  The eggs will cook while the bread bakes, and the hard-”boiled” eggs are nice alongside a slice of this bread (warmed with a little butter is my recommendation) for breakfast.  As far as the braiding, it’s up to you how decorative you want to be.  I did braid the dough for the one below but after rising, the braid lost most of its definition and that’s fine- the flavor is way more important than the braiding.  You can also divide the dough into two strands and twist them together, then pinch the ends together to form the wreath.  I find that doing it that way makes for very pretty presentation and is easier than juggling three strands of dough.  It’s important to note that the dough for this is incredibly sticky, and I don’t advise adding any more flour to it.  The braiding happens on a greased work space and should happen quickly to keep the dough from becoming too stuck to the work  space.  This starts with an easy starter that you make a day ahead of time (at least eight hours ahead of when you want to start), and does need to rise twice for about two hours per rise so be sure to plan ahead if you want to serve this for any celebration you’re having this spring.

Braided (Or Not) Spring Bread Wreath

Ingredients:

for the starter:

• 1 C. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C. cool water
• 1/8 tsp. instant yeast
  

for the dough:

• 2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. instant yeast
• 1/3 C. sugar
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. orange extract
• 1/4 tsp. anise extract
• grated peel of 1 large orange

for the glaze:

• 1 C. confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 2-3 Tbsp. orange juice or milk
• sprinkles, for decorating

Directions:

Mix together the starter ingredients in a bowl, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight (up to 15 hours).

The next day, combine the starter with all of the remaining dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or bread machine- hand mixing is not recommended, the dough is incredibly sticky).

Mix until the dough is elastic and smooth.

Grease a large bowl, put the dough into the bowl, and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours until noticeably puffy.

Spread out a sheet of parchment paper onto a work surface, and lightly grease it or spray it with non-stick cooking spray.

Turn the dough out onto the piece of parchment paper and divide it into 3 equal pieces.

Shape each piece into an 18 inch long rope, then braid the ropes together.

Connect the two ends to form a wreath.

Carefully lift the parchment paper and wreath onto a large baking sheet.

Cover the wreath and let it rise for 1-2 hours until puffy.  If you’re adding colored eggs, do so after this rise by carefully placing them as desired onto the bread wreath.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 15 minutes, then tent the wreath with aluminum foil and bake for 10-20 more minutes (check after 10 minutes), until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 190 degrees.

Remove the wreath from the oven and allow it to cool.

To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and 2 Tbsp. of the milk or orange juice.  Add additional liquid 1/4 tsp. at a time until the glaze is thin and pours easily.

Place waxed paper or parchment paper under the wire cooling rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top of the bread wreath.  Top with sprinkles as desired.

To serve, wait for the glaze to dry completely.  Serve warm, with or without butter.

If you have included the colored eggs, refrigerate the bread within 2 hours, or remove the eggs and refrigerate them separately.  If you do not include the eggs, this can be stored tightly covered with plastic wrap at room temperature.

Makes one 10″ round loaf.

Source: adapted from King Arthur Flour

Margherita

Since we had a quick math lesson yesterday, today it’s time for a quick history lesson.  Picture it, Italy, 1889 (in my best Sophia from The Golden Girls voice), a baker named Raffaele Esposito is asked to make some pizza for Queen Margherita of Savoy.  At this time, pizza was mostly a way for peasants to use up food that would otherwise spoil, and thus eaten mainly by poor people.  Esposito decided to make three different pizzas for Queen Margherita and she favored the one made with tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil.  Queen Margherita’s letter of thanks to Esposito was used to promote his restaurant, where the pizza was named “pizza Margherita.”  Queen Margherita is rumored to have especially loved the pizza because the tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil were reminiscent of the red, white, and green in the Italian flag.

Whether or not the flag had anything to do with it, it’s not hard to see how this became a popular pizza.  What makes this pizza great is its simplicity.  Yes, sometimes it’s nice to have an extra large with everything.  Sometimes, though, it’s nice to enjoy a pizza that isn’t laden with toppings.  Even though fresh basil is the only real topping here, this pizza is far from lacking in flavor.

Pizza Margherita

Ingredients:

• 1/2 recipe basic pizza dough, or 1 lb. your favorite pizza dough
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 1/2 C. (28 oz. can) whole peeled tomatoes
• 1/3 C. fresh basil leaves, torn
• 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

In a 10 inch skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add the onion and saute until golden, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and oregano and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the skillet, crushing them as you add them to the skillet (a potato masher works great for this).

Bring to a boil and stir for 5 minutes, or until thickened.

Lightly oil a 14-16 inch pizza pan (or sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza stone).

Heat the oven to 450 degrees and place an oven rack as low as possible.

Roll out the pizza dough as thin as possible, about 1/8 of an inch thick, into a 14-16 inch round.  Fold the edges slightly to create the crust.

Place the dough onto the prepared pan or pizza stone and let rest for 10 minutes.

Top the crust evenly with the sauce, then the basil, then the mozzarella.

Drizzle the 2 Tbsp. of olive oil evenly over the pizza.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust is golden and mozzarella is bubbling.

Makes one 12 inch pizza.

Source: adapted from The Splendid Table