Wednesday, January 28, 2009

ICY DAYS

I showed a picture of our front yard yesterday with the ice on everything.

This is our backyard. So.....as I said I was going to do Monday, I baked bread. 3 loaves of good, nutritious Whole Wheat Bread.


As always with my bread pictures, I have one that we have already cut into, because we HAVE to have a good, hot piece the minute it comes out of the pan and we can cut it. Hot bread with butter!!! YUMMY and in this case I opened up a jar of Strawberry Rhubarb Jelly that had been given to us by friends at Christmas. Oh my, was this ever good!!!!
The recipe made 3 loaves and here are the other two. As I write this we have already eaten (devoured!!) the first loaf and I had to get another out of the freezer this morning. Nothing like fresh, home made bread, and especially the good, healthy whole wheat type.
Yesterday I decided to make some cookies
Harvest Pumpkin-Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
That's Mickey's hand trying to grab one while I was taking the picture!!
These were absolutely one of the BEST tasting cookies I've ever made. They aren't the prettiest but the best tasting. Plus they are at least somewhat nutritious because of the pumpkin, oatmeal, raisin and walnuts.
I had a whole bunch of Spl*enda packets I wanted to use up. I got the recipe off of the Spl*enda site on the Internet. Oh, how did I do anything before using this wonderful internet??!! The hardest part of making these was opening a BUNCH of packets to make a 1/2 cup!!!! They are so tasty I am posting the recipe:
Harvest Pumpkin-Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup SPL*enda Sugar Blend (as I said I used the individual packets and I didn't use a full 1/2 cup, but close)
1/2 cup SPL*enda Brown Sugar Blend, packed (I did not have this so just used regular light brown sugar)
1 cup pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Spray baking pans with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar & brown sugar in large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in walnuts and raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Serves: 48 (I got 55)
Bake and ENJOY!!
We are still iced in so I'll go see what I want to bake today. I have 1/2 the opened can of pumpkin left so I'll make something with pumpkin. If it's good....I'll share it. Have a great day. "This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice in it!"

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21 comments:

Susie said...

Hi Susan,
All your baked goods look and sound so tempting. An icy cold day is perfect for baking!
Stay warm and cozy :)
hugs))

Brenda said...

My mouth was watering when you talked about eating a slice of bread just from the oven. Unless your cookie sheet wasn't full to start with, it looks like Mickey helped himself to more than one before you snapped the picture!

;)

God bless!

Sohailah said...

I LOVE making bread - of course, I only use my bread machine.... I know, so NOT turly homemade :) But I Agree that fresh, hot with yummy real butter... yum yum yum !

retha said...

Yes indeed, nothing like fresh bakes dread.
Hope the next baking was also good.

I just had to say this ma'am, my verification word to day is
BACKEYER
with some imagination one can see it fits this post.

Anonymous said...

Susan,

Your house must smell so good! I love the picture of the hand reaching for the cookies. A cookie in the hand is so much better than one on the pan :)!

Scooterblu's Whimsy~Rhonda said...

Hi Susan, I can smell that wonderful bread through the screen! YUM! :)

My prayers are with your friend from church. Please let us know how the surgery goes! ~Hugs, Rhonda

Momma Roar said...

The bread and cookies look yummy. I must try that bread recipe - I have it saved somewhere. I just have to be in the mood to bake - and I'm not feeling it this week!! The first half of the month I was on a cooking/baking spree, but now I've slowed down. Hopefully that feeling kicks up again soon!!

Enjoy your tasty treats!!

Maxine said...

Boy, I bet your house has been smelling good. It really helps on these cold wintry days. Our snow turned into freezing rain and now we have ice all over everything! I use half and half for my whole wheat bread and it's just right for us. By the way, I use Splenda in all my recipes for just us and by it in the bulk bags from BJ's. They have large bags and we really go through them. And you are so right about the internet. It's almost as if we modern cooks would be lost without it!

Saija said...

oh yum!
wish i lived close enough to have a taste ... they look great!

Joy said...

That bread looks delicious and shaped just perfectly.

Ya'll stay warm.

Joy

Sue Seibert said...

We had sleet yesterday and the day before, but it is cleared almost off and although it will freeze tonight it should be ok by tomorrow.

Mari said...

Sorry you are dealing with this weather, but you did make good use of your time! It all looks good.

The Olson's: said...

I think I'll have to do some baking this week! Thanks for sharing the cookie recipe. Any chance you want to share the WW bread recipe? I haven't made bread in a LONG time, but some WW bread sounds good! (I just have to keep it away from Jeremy!).
~ Leanne

Susie said...

I'm not sure what looks better, the cookies or the bread. I would gobble up both of them. Wish I lived closer and I would bring over some juice and coffee.

Jill said...

I totally agree that fresh baked warm bread is a little "slice" of heaven on earth..pardon the pun. Everything looks so yummy, Susan. Stay safe!

Lori said...

The homemade bread and cookies look delicious. Enjoy.

I should make some homemade bread sometime soon.

Anonymous said...

What's better than warm fresh baked bread with butter and jam? Wish I had some right now and I'm not even hungry.
Charlotte

Anonymous said...

Your back yard looks like ours. We did get more snow late yesterday. The bread looks good.

Unknown said...

GIRLFRIEND! It's too late for me to be reading these types of posts. My tummy is now growling and it's bed time! Shame on you!

Barbara said...

Your bread looks good. We make all our bread but for the last 15 years it has been with a breadmaker. So great to drop the ingredients in before bed and wake up to the new bread in the morning.

MightyMom said...

you DO know that Splenda comes in a Big Bag right??

:-)