Maybe the Kathleen......something project??

I got the wonderful DVD of my most favorite movie! Julie & Julia. What a wonderful thing to do with a cooking blog!

After this movie came out, I have found a few bloggers who are doing almost the same thing with different cookbooks and in different ways.....
which, with my great collection of cookbooks, has me wondering .......
should I?.......but mostly......could I?
I certainly have the spare time to make wonderful dishes.......but which book would I choose?
The obstacles that I am facing in this journey would be
First: being able to purchase the ingredients.
Some ingredients are pricey and sometimes would not fit into my budget, and in our area, not all ingredients can be found.
Second: I have a family of very picky eaters...or to be fair....simple things(mostly meat, potatoes and bread) that we all have grown up with fits our palette most. Buying foreign ingredients that my family is not familiar in eating would also be a waste. It is very hard to get them to even eat vegetables.
Of course, in fixing different dishes, they might discover that they would like such treats. Anyhow.....this kind of project is something I would really have to do some research and thinking on.
How about you? Have any of you started cooking like the blogger Julie has? If so, what cookbook and how is it going? I would love to hear!

Merry Christmas!

To each and everyone,

My best Christmas wishes,

For all delicious treats,

and someone to wash the dishes!

Have a blessed Christmas!

Wonderful Sugar Cookies

This recipe makes a lot of dough, and what you do not use, freezes well for a later date. They roll out so wonderfully, and bake up nice and crunchy, with a wonderful flavor.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. Decorate to your heart's content! Enjoy!

Sourdough Starter Recipe and Bread Recipe Link

The sourdough starter that I posted about in my last post has turned out wonderful. I used a bread recipe I found for my bread machine on the Internet and will share the link with you.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Basic-Sourdough-Bread-34753

I chose this recipe for the bread because it had such good reviews. I chose to make my dough into rolls, but you can do as you desire. Here is the sourdough starter recipe:

Sourdough Starter:

On a Sunday morning combine

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups water.

Stir with wooden spoon. Cover with wet dishtowel. Now, every morning thereafter, Monday-Friday, stir in 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.

On the seventh day, Saturday, your starter will be ready. It should have bubbles and pleasantly sour. In the morning, spoon 2 cups of starter into mixing bowl. Then just cover your "mother" starter, (don't add anything to it this day, it's a day of rest) and set it aside until the next day, Sunday, when you start up the adding routine again, stirring in 1/3 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water to the mother stater.

To find out more on Sourdough Starter, the Internet is a wonderful resource.

Sourdough Starter

I love homemade sourdough bread. I have tried on several occasions to make and keep a sourdough starter, but have not been pleased with the results........

until now. I just found a wonderful recipe for sourdough starter, that as you can see from the photo, is so far, working out well. It is a very simple recipe and very easy to maintain. I will know how good it is by this coming Thursday when it should be ready to make bread with. If this turns out successful, I will post the starter recipe as well as a bread recipe to share with all of you by this weekend.

How about you? Do you like sourdough bread? Have you worked with a starter or do you still have a starter? I would love to hear.

Peppermint Bark

If you walk into any store at this time of year, you are sure to see the pretty tins and containers that are on sale to put all of your Christmas baked goodies in.

Something very yummy and oh so pretty for the holiday

is this wonderful peppermint bark. It is so easy to make and so wonderful to ship to all of those loved ones across the miles.
All you need is a little bit of peppermint, and some peppermint flavoring,

and some wonderful creamy white chocolate. I made this last year and sent it to loved ones. It was so delicious. Here is the recipe...

Crushed candy canes, to yield 1 cup
2 pounds white chocolate
Peppermint flavorings, optional

Directions
Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired.) Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces (like peanut brittle.)

Now how about you? Do you make something wonderful and send it in pretty containers across the miles? What kind of goodies to you like to receive? I would love to hear!
Enjoy!