Lemon Basil Focaccio - #CIC

I am cutting this month's challenge to the last minute. I am not sure where the month went, before I knew it the 20th was just around the corner.  Our challenge this month is Basil and Lemon and as I had both, I thought I can do this.

PIkkupullat ~ Finnish Sweet Buns

Last week my furnace decided to that it needed to take a break.  While I was waiting for the repairman to come ~ and as the house got colder and colder I decided to do some baking.  Sweet bread making as that way I could keep the oven on for a long period of time.  Instead of making my pulla into loaves, I decided to make them into "Pikkupullat" ~ small buns.

Seasoned Pita Bread

I have wanted to make pita bread for a long time.  I finally did it and I think it turned out wonderfully.  It was pretty easy to make and you can have fresh pitas without having to even heat up your house.

Slow Cooker Recipes for every Occasion.

Slow Cooker recipes can be used for any meal or any occasion.  You can start your meal the night before or the morning and it will be ready for breakfast or dinner.  The worst part about setting your slow cooker the night before is that you keep waking up to those wonderful smells of food.

Guest Post over at Feeding Big ~ Reiska

Today I am doing a Guest Post over at Feeding Big while Cynthia is over in Germany vacationing.  I feel a bit jealous that she is having fun while I am at home working.. but glad that she is having fun and hope that she shares lots of pictures.   I am sure she is enjoying the German Food over there.

Cinnamon Raisin Bannock

Is Bannock a Canadian food?

It is eaten in most regions of the country, so yes, I would say it is Canadian.It is a quick round bread that is usually fried and when cut in wedges it is called scones.This food has been traced back to the Indigenous Indians and is made from flour, water and baking powder. It was brought to the Indians from the Scottish people.  Settlers did make this type of bread on the trail.

I decided to try to make bannock as I have eaten it before.  It is a quick bread that you can make on your stove and not heat your house up.  It is tasty and filling.  I decided to add spices and raisins to mine.

Cinnamon Raisin Bannock

 recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 cups flour ( 1 used 1 cup whole wheat and 2 cups white)
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons baking powder 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter melted
1.5 cup water
raisin ( I didn't measure, just threw some in)
oil to fry (I used coconut oil)

In large bowl add flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add  and butter and stir with fork until makes a ball. Add raisins and mix until combined.  Place ball on lightly floured surface and knead gently about 10 times.  Break dough into about 12 pieces and flatten into circles that are about 1/4 -1/2 inch thick.
Heat oil in frying pan, over  medium heat, fry bread until golden brown.  It took about 4 -5 minutes each  side.  
You can also bake these in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy

Note:  This recipe could be made in a frying pan over an grill or in a grill pan over an open fire.

March Surprise Recipe Swap - Chai Tea Bread

March Surprise Recipe Swap

Jutta from Hungry Little Girl started this Surprise Recipe Swap.I believe that this is the third month but it is the first month for me.  We were given a blog partner at the first of the month, giving us a couple of weeks to go through our partner's blog and find a recipe to make.  Then on the 20th you will post the recipe that you made.  I love this idea as going through someone else's blog and finding recipes are so much fun.  I know this makes me go though the blog as with my busy life I don't always make time to do this, so this way I have to go and read someone else's blog.  If you want to participate in this, head over to Hungry Little Girl and read what it entails and the few simple rules that there are.

This month CJ from Morsel of Life is my Surprise Recipe Swap partner.  At the beginning of the month I went through her blog, finding many recipes that I wanted to make.  I wrote down about 8 recipes and then the next step was to pick one of them.  That was the hard part.. which one do I make.  After some humming and hawing I decide to make her Chai Tea Bread recipe.  I love Chai and I knew that I had wanted to make this already as I had left a comment on this recipe.
  

As you know I very seldom make a recipe the way it is written.. Mainly because I don't always read the recipe and another reason is that I believe a recipe is a guide and you need to make it to your taste.  I also made mine in 2  Welcome Home paper loaf pans as even though we have 10 feet of snow and it is still snowing, today the 20th is the first day of spring and I wanted something that looked springy.

Chai Tea Bread

adapted from Morsels of Life

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups flour ( I used 1 cup white and 1 cup whole wheat as the recipe stated)

3/4 tsp cardamom (ground)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp anise (ground)

2 tsp baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil (I used Tradition Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil)

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

3/8 cup milk (I used evaporated milk)

1/2 cup Chai concentrate or Chai tea  (I used Chai tea as was to lazy to make some concentrate)

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients together in bowl.  In mixing bowl combine wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until barely moist.  Pour into greased loaf pan or I used 2 paper Welcome Home loaf pans. Sprinkle coconut over top of loaf.  Bake for 50 minutes if using one loaf pan or mine took about 35 minutes with the 2 paper loaf pans.

Enjoy

Enjoy with a cup of Chai Tea

I loved the spices in this bread and it is not too sweet.  Just perfect to have with a cup of tea.  I had a couple of pieces for breakfast this morning.  I had planned on putting some ripe banana's into this last night when I made it but thought I would wait...  I think bananas would be a perfect addition to this wonderful bread.  To find the original recipe, go HERE.

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻   Marlys

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`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻ Enjoy your day....`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻

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