Happy Halloween!

Just a quick post today.  Things are still a bit crazy here.  Ugh.

Halloween is heaps of fun, and I LOVE to decorate for it, but for the past few years I haven't been able to do much of it except for maybe a pumpkin or purple strings of lights.  Nothing really cool, though.  This year wasn't any different - just the purple lights.  

Cleavers and knives and bloody hatchets, oh my!
Just the kind of grandmother you want for your
small children, right?

However, I made a cake for our Halloween - a RED velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  The fun part is I'd found some Halloween cake decorations at the grocery and couldn't resist using them.  Just another manifestation of my twisted sense of humor.  It's like the game, Clue - it was me, in the kitchen, with the hatchet!

So here's my recipe for delicious homemade cream cheese frosting - so easy!

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
1 c butter
2 t vanilla extract or lemon juice
4 c confectioner's powdered sugar

I let the cream cheese and butter sit out on the counter for half an hour before starting.  Using an electric hand-held or stand mixer makes mixing much easier and sifting the sugar unnecessary.

Start with the cream cheese and butter in the mixer bowl.  Mix at a low speed until well combined.  Add the vanilla extract or lemon juice and mix some more.  Add sugar, one cup at a time.  Turn the mixer to medium to medium-high speed and beat until smooth and creamy.  

Egg Bread

A long, long time ago, I had a DAK bread machine, and I used to make the most wonderful bread from one of the recipes that came with it - "Golden Egg Bread."  I made a few tweaks to it over time, until the product was exactly what I wanted.  

Added gluten makes the bread rise higher.  Potato flakes make the bread more moist and tender.  Most flour in the grocery stores is unbleached, but bleached bread flour (if you can find it) makes the bread rise higher I buy mine from a food service company in 25-pound bags.

The original recipe made the equivalent of two loaves - it was a LARGE bread machine.  The directions here have been halved.

[NOTE:  These directions are for my KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus.  If you have a KitchenAid Artisan mixer, use speed 2 for the kneading phase.] 

Egg Bread (1 loaf)

2 1/4 t (1 pkt) yeast (rapid rise or bread machine type)

3 1/2 c bread flour

1/4 c plain unflavored potato flakes (Hungry Jack or Idahoan are both good)

4 t vital wheat gluten (I use Hodgson Mill)

1 1/2 t salt

4 T sugar or honey

5 T melted butter (or 1/3 c canola oil)

3/4 c warm milk (or water)

2 eggs (room temperature)

Put ingredients in the mixer bowl in the order listed.  Using the flat paddle, mix on speed 2 until all is incorporated into a shaggy mass.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, scrape the bottom of the bowl, and scrape off the flat paddle.  Switch the flat paddle for the dough hook and knead on speed 1 for 5 minutes.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again, then continue kneading at speed 1 for an additional 5 minutes.  The dough should be smooth, elastic, and a little sticky.

While kneading, spray a large bowl with non-stick spray.  When kneading is finished, transfer the dough from the mixer bowl to the sprayed bowl, and turn it to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours until doubled.  [NOTE:  Some newer ranges have a bread proofing setting for the oven.  This gives you a consistent controlled environment for the rising bread.]

After the first rise, lightly flour a work surface, punch down the dough, and scrape it out onto the floured surface.  Fold in the edges a couple of times, then shape into a loaf and place into a 9" x 5" or 8" x 4" loaf pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  Cover again as before, but spraying the plastic wrap so it won't stick to the dough as it rises.  Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes (it should rise to about 1 inch above the pan rim).  Bake at 350 degrees (preheated) 40 minutes.  

Take from the oven and remove from the pan onto a wire rack.  If you want a softer, more tender crust, rub some butter over the top of the hot loaf, then cover loosely with plastic wrap until cooled.  Slice with a serrated knife so you don't mash the loaf down.

[TIP:  I use the same piece of plastic wrap for both the rising and the cooling phases of the process.  No need to waste plastic wrap!  Alternatively, you can use a damp linen dish towel if you want to be even more eco-friendly, but I find the plastic wrap does a better job.]

Oatmeal Raisin (or Date, or Craisin) Cookies (A Non-Trendy Comfort Food Recipe)

Here's the new mixer with
 the old one visible in the
 background.

I bought myself a new mixer during Black Friday weekend and decided to try it out.  I have a heap of cookie recipes, and some are harder than others to mix by hand.  I used my old 350-watt Sunbeam Mixmaster to make cookies now and then, and it generally did pretty well, until I tried to make cookies with heavier dough.  I finally caved and bought a 525-watt Kitchenaid Professional 5 Plus mixer.  All that lovely extra power really helped when I made the dough for these cookies.




Oatmeal Raisin/Date/Craisin Cookies (about 4-5 dozen)

1 c butter (2 full sticks), softened
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
4 t cinnamon
1 t salt
3 c old-fashioned or quick oats
1 c raisins, craisins, or chopped dates

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add the eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time, mixing well after each.  Dough will be stiff.  Drop by spoonfuls on a lightly sprayed baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees 9-10 minutes.  Let them cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

You can put the dough in the refrigerator overnight and bake it the next day if you like.  It will be VERY difficult (read "nearly impossible") to scoop when you first take it out.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 13 minutes.