paska

lemony
delicious
soft
easter
mennonite

all words that lead to PASKA!

i have never made paska before. my grandma always made it, and i miss her & all of her good mennonite baking.

so i found this recipe on a blog called mennonite girls can bake

i made it once, and it is already gone (3 days later!!) paska is meant to be shared & given away so my paska was given & shared with some friends, both sisters, aunts, uncles & cousins, and of course my hubby. the second batch is about to go into the oven, and i already have in mind a few people i will be sharing these with. so, try it for yourself. it seems like a bit more work than other recipes, but it's worth it.

Paska

1 medium lemon
1 medium orange

Using a potato peeler, peel the rind of the citrus very thin. You don't want any of the white part of the peel. Put the thinly sliced peel into your blender.
Once you have removed & discarded all of the white pith of the citrus, chop your lemon & orange, removing all the seeds. Add the chopped lemon and orange to the blender.

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
In a large bowl, put your yeast, sugar & warm water. Let it sit for 10 minutes. If it hasn't poofed up, either your yeast is old or dead, if that happens, start again. There is no point continuing with dead yeast.

1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
In a microwave safe bowl, heat the butter & milk until the butter melts. Once it is melted add it to the blender with the citrus. Start the blender & puree for 2-3 minutes.

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Add eggs, sugar & salt to citrus/milk/butter puree in the blender. Blend for 1 minute, or until smooth.

Measure the milk/citrus/sugar mixture, it should be about 4 1/2 cups. if you have a bit more or less, that is fine, you will just have to adjust the flour likewise.

pour the mixture, along with the yeast mixture into a large bowl. Add flour, one cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth soft dough. it will be sticky.  7-8 cups is what worked for me, but it will depend on the size of your eggs & the size of your lemon & orange. if you use a plastic bowl it is easiest to tell when your dough is getting to the right consistency, because it will stop sticking to the sides. once the dough is getting close to the right consistency it's best to turn it onto a floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is slightly sticky, but doesn't stick too much to your hands.

The amount of flour is a guide. if you dough is still super sticky add a little more flour, just a dusting at a time.  the dough should be able to hold it's shape.

After kneading it by hand for about 8-10 minutes, transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap & a tea towel. i place it in the sink with about 2 inches of hot water to help speed up the rising process. let it rise for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

at this point, give it a bit of a punch down and let rest at least 10 minutes, or up to another hour.  during this 10 minutes, prepare your pans by spraying with pam or rubbing with margarine. make loaves, or use muffin tins, or shape into small buns or twists on cookie sheets. let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour to an hour & a half.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. bake the loaves for about 20 minutes. if you are making buns or muffins, it only takes about 14 minutes.

allow to cool on cooling racks. freeze if you aren't going to eat them in the next couple of days.

ice with a lemon cream cheese icing - which you can find on my lemon raspberry loaf post
and top with rainbow ball sprinkles.

share with friends & family & enjoy!

tex mex chicken & rice bake

i was flipping through my chatelaine today and came across this recipe page with the tastiest looking meal. you know it must look super good if it makes you crave chicken at 8 am! so i got all the ingredients together & now it is cooking up wonderfully in the oven.

try it for yourself!

1 can campbell's condensed cream of chicken soup
1 soup can 1% milk
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups mixture of red & green peppers (i used red & orange)
small chopped onion
1/2 cup frozen corn
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb)
1/2 cup shredded tex mex cheese (or cheddar & monterey jack mixture)

Mix soup, milk, rice & chili powder in shallow 2 L baking dish. Spread evenly with vegetables.
Top with chicken. Sprinkle chicken with cheese & additional chili powder, if desired. Cover.
Bake at 400 degrees until chicken is cooked through & rice is tender - about 45 minutes. Remove cover and broil until cheese is golden & bubbly - about 3 minutes. Remove chicken & stir rice before serving.

*note - i would decrease the amount of milk slightly or increase the amount of rice. it was a bit too runny/saucy for my liking. but otherwise, delcious!

lemon raspberry loaf

my favorite thing about spring is... the lemon raspberry loaf at starbucks!
ok, maybe it's not my FAVORITE thing about spring, but it is definitely one of my top 10 things.

so i tried making it once last year, and it was ok.. but not great. so i'm trying another recipe that I found.

lemon raspberry loaf with lemon cream cheese frosting

1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large lemon
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk

preheat oven to 350 degrees. oil a loaf pan.
in a bowl, use a fork to stir flour with baking powder and salt. Stir in grated peel of half a lemon. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, beat butter. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, vanilla and milk. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture just until batter is moist. Don't overmix.

Heat 1/2 cup Raspberry jam in the microwave, 10 seconds at a time, stirring inbetween each time. you want the jam to be soft, but not liquidy.

Pour 1/3 of the batter into the loaf pan. Spread 1/2 of the jam mixture over the batter. Swirl lightly with a knife. Pour 1/3 batter over the jam. Repeat with the rest of the jam, and top with the last third of the batter.

Bake at 350 for 50-65 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean. The top of the loaf will likely crack, thats ok.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
Squeeze the whole lemon into the bowl
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
5 cups icing sugar

Beat all ingredients together (except sugar) till smooth & fluffy. Add sugar slowly. Beat until creamy. Add sugar or juice as needed, to reach desired consistency.

Spread frosting over loaf once it has cooled.

enjoy!

all the ingredients together

fresh from the oven

all iced up!

yogurt

that's right! homemade yogurt!!

yogurt is one of those things that i never thought about making on my own, until my friend emily told me that she had made some.

so, i took it on. first attempt - not well enough insultated.. so i had runny stringy weird smelling milk. ick.

second attempt - better prepared. and.. SUCCESS.

so here you go:

you need either 2% or 3% milk
a large pot
mason jars
tea towels
heating pad (or hot water bottle)
cooler (not absolutely necessary, but i think it was a big help)

Pour the milk into the mason jars so that you know exactly how much milk you will need. Empty the jars into a large pot. Bring it to boiling (as soon as it foams up, you turn it off). make sure you are stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn on the bottom

pour the hot milk back into the mason jars and cover with lids.

put the pot you were using into the sink, and put the jars inside of the pot. then slowly add coolish water to the pot - you are wanting to cool down the milk, but you don't want the jar to crack from being really hot to really cold. as the jar gets used to the cool water you can make it colder. let the jar sit in the cool water for about 5 minutes
then test to see if the milk is cool enough, you want to be able to stick your finger in the milk for 10 seconds without it burning, still hot but not really hot as you don't want to kill the bacteria. when you are checking the temperature be sure to stir the milk to be sure that it's evenly cooled.
when its cool enough, put in about a tablespoon and a half of yogurt (plain yogurt, don't use any flavored kind). I put that amount into each jar that i had of milk. Mix it in really well so the bacteria are spread well throughout the milk.

then wrap the jars tightly in teatowels (one towel each) and place in a cooler. Put a heating pad on top and close the lid.  make sure all the jars are well covered and warm and that no draft is able to get in.

let them sit undisturbed for 5 hours and ta da! yogurt.

you can stick a spoon into the jar at that point to see if it is set enough, and you can leave it longer if you'd like. just don't leave it too long!!

my friend emily told me not to stir it, as it takes away from the thickness of the yogurt, but i think that is really a trial and error thing, and more about personal preference! i stirred up one jar so far, so I'll see if i dislike that in the end.

for those of you who aren't used to eating plain yogurt.. you can add fruit to it each time you eat it. or mix some sugar with a small amount of vanilla and stir it in just before you eat it. i like to cut up apples & pour the yogurt on top. then sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. mmmm

all ingredients are ready

measure the milk into the mason jars

once it foams up like this take it off the heat

cool down the milk like so (but with the lids on!)

add the yogurt "starter" to the milk & stir well

one tea towel per jar

all snuggled up

leave it alone for 5 full hours at least. no peeking!

all done & ready to eat with apples, brown sugar & cinnamon

krista's mom's super duper delicious chocolate chip cookies

my friend Krista posted a picture of these cookies on her blog the other day, so i asked for the recipe & now i have some freshly baked cookies to take to my girls night with leah & amanda. tasty

here is the recipe:

1 C Margarine

1 C White sugar

1/2 C Brown sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 C Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 pkg. Choclate Chips

* Cream together margarine and sugars

* Beat in eggs and vanilla

*Add flour, soda, salt and chocolate chips

(a tip from Krista - the best cookies are made when the dough is more stiff than wet. I usually add a bit more flour to make it the right consistency. Also, it helps if the margarine is soft.)

* Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet

* Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes

Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

delicious!

crepes

i am definitely a breakfast for supper kind of girl
when i can't think of something to make, or don't feel like making something, i normally choose to have cereal. if i ask michael to make supper, it's normally crepes that come out of the kitchen. good thing he's so good at making them :)

my grandpa klassen was also an excellent crepe maker. although, we called them german pancakes. and we only put corn syrup on them. then he'd show us how to hook one prong of our fork into the crepe & roll it perfectly.

when i met the thiessens, the simplicity of the corn syrup covered crepe was blown out of the water! (in a good way of course) crepes with the thiessens is more of an 'event' than a meal. there are so many options, that you can feel quite sick at the end because you want to try everything.

when it came to our wedding planning, we knew that we wanted the wedding to be uniquely michael&ashley - so we decided to have crepes. i remember the look on the caterers face when i started explaining the meal to him. he showed me this teeny tiny bowl that he would use for whipped cream & i said 'no no no, you obviously have never met my husband' and then he took me to his kitchen so i could find the right sized bowl.

the crepes themselves are the easy part. it's the toppings that really make the event, the event!

i also recommend getting a good quality crepe pan (about 25 bucks at home outfitters) it can really help.

crepes

2 cups flour
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt

mix ingredients together with a whisk so that there are no lumps. heat pan over medium-heat. pour just enough batter to make a nice layer over the entire pan & tilt the pan as needed so that you get the batter covering the pan evenly. when it starts to brown on the pan side, loosen the edges with a spatula and flip the crepe over completely (this is where i'm terrible & michael is great with the flipping). cook the other side till it's browned (it won't get as golden as the first side) then put onto a dinner plate & make the next one. we stack all of the crepes directly on top of one another & cover them with a tea towel till we're ready to eat. ** for whatever reason, we think that the batter is easier to work with if left in the fridge over night, or for an hour or two.

suggested toppings:
whip cream
maple syrup
nutella
peanut butter
corn syrup
vanilla sauce (or a thickened pudding)
bananas
peaches
plain yogurt (with a bit of brown sugar & cinnamon)
strawberries

mike's mom also makes a meat sauce (almost like a stroganoff) to make a savoury crepe. the batter itself is a savoury crepe because of the salt & no sugar, so you can go either sweet or savoury.

my personal favorite? a thin line of nutella. half of a banana sliced up. a line of whip cream. roll it up & drizzle with maple syrup. mmm tasty.

**just an fyi - i have tried to make it easier to comment by removing the word verification step. so feel free to comment as you like!

stack them like so

this picture is from google images. i can't claim the beautiful presentation of such a tasty looking crepe! but mine do always look that good, trust me ;)

this picture speaks for itself.

sea salt caramels

i love caramel.
one day my friends facebook status was about eating a whole batch of salted caramels. so obviously, i asked her for the recipe. a few months later i finally decided to attempt & conquer the recipe. and trust me, it is TASTY.

sea salt caramels

1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
parchment paper
oil/candy (deep-fat) thermometer

line the bottom & sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment.
in one pot, bring cream, butter & sea salt to a boil, then remove from heat & set aside.
in a larger pot, boil sugar, corn syrup and water, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring, but gently swirling pot, until mixture is a light golden caramel color. carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up) and lower heat slightly, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248 degrees Fahrenheit on thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes.
pour into baking pan and sprinkle with additional sea salt. let cool for 2 hours. cut into 1 inch pieces & enjoy. *for an added "candy" effect, wrap each piece of caramel in a piece of wax paper, twisting two ends to close.

**i think i may have kept my caramel on the heat for a little too long as I was unable to cut the caramel into pieces. i used a hammer to break it up. the pieces are hard but soften up as you keep them in your mouth.

all my ingredients ready to go

boiling the sugar, corn syrup & water mixture

boiling the cream, salt & butter mixture

the mixture bubbles up when the two parts are added together

let it bubble like this (stirring a lot) until you reach the right temperature

pour it into the pan & allow to cool

break up the pieces & enjoy!