Happy weekend, friends!
One of my most favorite hobbies and aspects of homemaking is that of cooking and baking. While these two tasks are often thought of as chores in the minds of many, to me, they are anything but. They are things that I genuinely love and find great delight and pleasure in. There are few things as satisfying as bringing out a loaf of homemade bread, a sheet of freshly baked cookies, and seeing a meal laid out beautifully on the dinner table ready to feed and nourish those you love. Cooking and baking and providing food for family, friends, and others is a joy. And there is much joy to be found in doing these tasks!
I am one who prefers to cook and bake from scratch more often than use convenience items. This is something I am rather passionate about, partly because of my love for being in the kitchen and also partly because I do believe in the benefits of cooking from scratch. I believe doing so is a labor of love and a truly lovely way to show others you care for them.
With that said, I have gotten off track with doing these things that I so love for far too long. It is embarrassing and pitiful to admit just how long, but trust me when I say it's been awhile. Over the past couple weeks, though, I have found myself back in the rhythm of menu planning, making grocery lists, shopping for necessary ingredients and in turn, preparing a home-cooked meal each night for my family. It has been wonderful!
One area of culinary endeavors that I have a great interest in is that of bread making. I truly believe it to be an art and one that I am determined and being diligent about mastering. Through the course of trying out different recipes and styles of baking, I hope to try and really get good at making different types of bread...in a machine, in the oven, quick breads, specialty varieties, and so on. There are so many amazing recipes out there that I can't wait to get my hands on.
Last weekend, I spent a good amount of time in the kitchen, which was definitely me in my happy place. I made Toffee Oat Cookies, our old family recipe for blueberry muffins, bread machine white bread, and Irish brown bread.
The brown bread recipe that I use is so simple and easy there's no excuse not to make it fresh and homemade. It is beyond tasty with butter and strawberry preserves. I had a large jug of buttermilk that needed to be used up, so I made two loaves. These were sliced and packaged into smaller portions to be brought out and enjoyed throughout the coming weeks.
My late Grandpa gave us his bread machine a couple years before he passed away, and he was no longer able to use it. But when he did, though, he made the best rye bread and he made it often! I, however, haven't tried that recipe yet. In fact, the only recipe I've made with the machine is this white bread. My, oh my! It is delicious! Not only is it perfect for sandwiches, it's also yummy with just a bit of butter. Simple but oh-so-scrumptious!
This weekend baking marathon that I set for myself was so fun and I loved being back in the kitchen. I will be sharing each of these recipes in the future here on the blog. More than likely, they will be part of an upcoming writing series/challenge that I will be participating in. So that is something to look forward to, indeed!
I hope you have a lovely weekend and perhaps get to enjoy a bit of cooking or baking fun yourself!