Caramelized Onion and Garlic Focaccia Bread

I am so excited to be sharing my recipe for focaccia bread with Sumptuous Spoonfuls.  Ann is wonderful and she has always been so supportive of my blog and photography.  This is the post that I shared with her last month.  ENJOY!

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It will be one year in June when I started my blog, Simply Gourmet Photography.  I have been taking pictures for a long time and just happened to be asked to work with some amazing companies as a food photographer.  I recently moved to MD and was needing a change, so I started the blog with the hope that new opportunities would come my way and they have.  I am now a writer for one of our local magazines and I enjoy it very much.  I still get to take pictures, develop recipes and write. 

One thing that I love about Ann's recipes are they are fresh.  I love her salads the most!  She has inspired me on more than one occasion to create a fun salad and dressing.  What better accompaniment to a salad than a fresh loaf of bread.  

I love bread and I make bread a lot for my family.  I have easy one hour recipes and then I have the all day, double rise, let sit over night recipes.  I enjoy them all. I love the way the dough feels in my hands after it has risen, so soft and airy.  I find the process of making bread creative.  There are so many types of bread, toppings, flours and styles.  You could never get bored with making bread.

This recipe for focaccia has been made numerous times for my family.  I especially like to make it for sandwiches and big parties.  It makes two loaves and the options for toppings are endless.  This flavor of the caramelized onion and grilled garlic is my favorite.  I will make this focaccia and use the bread for French Dips.  It holds up great for a sandwich and the onion/garlic combination compliments the beef well.

Recipe:  Caramelized Onion and Garlic Focaccia

Makes 2 loaves

To make the caramelized onions you will need:

1 large red onion, sliced

1 T. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Splash of red wine

In a large saute pan, add oil.  Add the sliced onion and cook over medium heat.  The onions will start to turn a light brown and then gradually become darker.  If you need to add a bit more oil go ahead.  You don't want them to get dry.  When the onions are dark brown, add your splash of red wine.  This step is optional but it does add a deep rich flavor to the onion.  Continue cooking until the onions are dark, not burnt.  The process takes about 25 minutes depending on how many onions you have.  If you only use half of the onion, the cook time may be shorter.

To make the grilled garlic:

1-2 bulbs of garlic

1/3 cup of olive oil

Cut the ends off of each garlic bulb.  Brush the ends with the olive oil.  On your BBQ, set your grill to 350 and grill the garlic until browned on both sides.  They should be done at around 15 minutes.  I try to do a bunch at this time and then store the extra's in the fridge.  When they are cooked, I remove the cloves and smash into a small bowl with 4 T. of olive oil, this will be used on the focaccia bread.

To make the loaves of focaccia:

2 cups of warm water

1 teaspoon of sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

4-5 cups of flour, start with the smallest amount and add as needed

5 T. of olive oil

Toppings for focaccia:

coarse salt

pepper

fresh herbs or dried (optional)

Parmesan cheese (optional)

olive oil

grilled garlic (recipe above)

caramelized onions (recipe above)

Prepare the yeast by add the water, yeast and sugar to a small bowl.  Set aside for 5 minutes until it starts to bubble.  If your yeast does not create a foam/bubbly top then you may need to start over.

In your Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle, add the salt, 3 cups of flour and 2 T. of olive oil.  Start to mix together and add yeast mixture.  Mix well.  Let rest 10 minutes.

Change from the paddle to your bread hook.  On medium speed, add a 1/4 cup of flour at a time until the dough forms a ball and no longer sticks to the bottom of the bowl.  Because my humidity is so high I usually end up adding more than 5 cups…just add it in 1/4 cup increments and you won't add too much.

Knead in your mixer for 7 minutes. Move dough to an oiled glass bowl and let rise until double.

When the dough has doubled, turn onto a floured surface and knead for one minute.  Cut dough in half.

Preheat your oven to 400.

Prepare your cookie sheet.  Spray or oil the sheet then sprinkle some cornmeal across the cookie sheet.

The two focaccia loaves should fit side by side on your cookie sheet.  With your hands pull and push the dough into a small rectangle to fit on half of the cookie sheet.  Leave an inch in between the two loaves.  It will be uneven, this is okay.  It should look like little hills and valleys over the top of each loaf.

Take a pastry brush and brush the olive oil and grilled garlic over the top of both loaves.  It will pool and look like a lot, this is okay as it all cooks into the focaccia.  Let sit for 15 minutes.

Next, add the caramelized onions.  

The final step is adding your herbs and coarse salt.  I used dried herbs in this recipe.  I sometimes use fresh and I love that too.  I usually use an Italian spice blend or you can use oregano, rosemary, basil and thyme.

Bake the loaves for 20 minutes.  The focaccia bread should be golden brown.  We slice ours into 1 inch chunks.

I often times serve the focaccia with a dipping mixture of: extra virgin olive oil, parmesan cheese, Italian herbs and salt.  My guest love it!

152. Mango's and Capital Style Magazine-May 2012

Have you ever received a call and when you hung up you cried?  This happened to me recently.

Oh rest assured, those tears were tears of JOY!

I submitted a picture, was asked a question, got a call and cried.

Called everyone I knew to tell them the news only to be met  by voice mail after voice mail..even the hubby…LOL

So, I sat and enjoyed every minute until I could tell someone that I was being asked and given the opportunity to be the food writer for Capital Style Magazine in Annapolis, MD.

Why the tears?

Hard work!  I started this blog in June of 2011 not having any one area of focus (writing or photography) of what I would do with it in a year.  I worked really hard to maintain updates on the blog, worked on recipes, took pictures and just keep going.  I wanted the process to be "organic" in the sense that I wanted the opportunity to find me and it did.

Do you have a little voice that speaks to you?  Well, I do.  It kept telling me to "build it and they will come".  Yes, I just used an old movie quote…but it is true.

I knew that if I stayed focused and did my very best that something would come my way, and it has.

To write about food, create recipes and share this all while living in a place that I love…is a dream come true.  This is my first set of recipes for Capital Style Magazine.

I put together a set of recipes that could be a "mix and match" for one meal or they could be prepared individually and used at separate times.  I chose to use Mango's because they were one of the first foods that I remember, as a child living in the Philippines with my parents, eating right off of the tree.  I have remained a fan of this fruit my whole life.

Mango's are best eaten when they are fully ripe.  Even when they look over ripe their fruit inside will be so sweet and juicy.

Here is a link showing you how to cut a mango.  They even have a short video you can watch.

1.  Mango Salsa:  This is wonderful served with a batch of warm chips OR it could be used as a relish for your favorite grilled fish OR to add a tropical flavor to your favorite salad.

2.  Parmesan Croutons:  We eat these in soups (usually tomato bisque), like crackers by the handful or served with your favorite salad to add that extra crunch.

3.  Mango Marinade/Dressing:  Just as the title says, it can be used as a marinade for shrimp or chicken OR as a salad dressing.  Our favorite way to enjoy the recipe is warming it first.

Mango Salsa

Makes 2 cups

1 mango...very ripe, cubed

1 slice of pineapple or a small can of tidbits, drained

1/4 cup of red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup of red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 T. cilantro, finely chopped

In a medium size bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well and serve with chips or as a side with fish.

This will show you how each of the ingredients were prepared before I combined them.

Parmesan Croutons

Makes 4-5 cups of croutons depending on how big your cubes are.


4-5 cups of cubed stale bread. French bread works great.

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon of dried basil

1/4 cup of fresh parmesan, grated finely


Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Combine the bread cubes, olive oil, herbs and cheese. Mix well until each crouton is tossed with herbs, oil and cheese.

Pour the entire bowl onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Toss the croutons every 10 minutes until they turn a golden brown and are crunchy. The tossing will allow the melted cheese to stick to the croutons and bake into the bread cube.

Estimated cook time is 45 minutes. Store croutons in a brown paper bag. They may be served with a salad, soup or just by themselves as a snack.

Mango Basil Marinade/Salad Dressing

Makes about 2 cups

2 ripe mangos, peeled and seed removed

1/3 cup of fresh basil

1 tablespoon of fresh oregano

2/3 cup of orange juice

2/3 cup of sweet chili sauce. I used Mae Ploy.

1 teaspoon of soy sauce

Using a blender, combine all ingredients. Blend the marinade/dressing until you have small flecks of herbs.

To use as a marinade: In a bowl with your desired meat (pictured is shrimp), let marinate at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. If using raw meat, do not serve the marinade as a dressing. This should be thrown away.

To use as a dressing: My family loved this dressing served warm over their shrimp salads. It will last one week in the refrigerator.

Here, I marinated the shrimp, skewered them, and grilled them on the BBQ for about 3 minutes on each side.

I served the shrimp with a huge salad.  My family used the mango salsa, croutons and the warmed up dressing to combine all of the flavors to create a mouth watering dinner.

153. Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats

I am convinced that once you have brown butter, you will never go back to using plain butter.

Ok, so I am exaggerating a bit.  There are a few things that plain butter is best used for, but at the moment I am finding it hard to remember exactly which recipes.  

All I can see are those little brown specks of deliciousness, the aroma of nutty flavors wafting through my house and my teeth sinking into one of the yummiest desserts I have had in a while.

I grew up on Rice Crispy treats.  They were a staple for classroom parties, sleep overs and church bake sales.  

Who didn't like the snap, crackle, pop of this yummy rice cereal?  In fact, I just introduced the cereal to my 5 year old and actually held my ear down to her bowl and gave her instructions to be quiet and to listen.   We laughed and she said she could hear every word.  I could when I was 5 too…LOL

So why not take this treat of my childhood and bring it into the 21st century with brown butter?  I am not the first to have thought of this over the top spin of a simple treat.  I don't know who did it first but all I can say is THANK YOU!

I will warn you that it's near impossible to eat just one.  Trust me I know these things.  

This is not a snack you want to eat frequently..it's called brown butter for a reason, there is a lot of butter in the recipe.  

Recipe:  Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats with Chocolate

Makes one batch of treats. 

1/2 box of Rice Crispy Cereal or 5-6 cups of cereal

1 bag of mini marshmallows

1 stick of butter, browned

1/2 stick of butter, browned for the top (optional)

1/4 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

I used parchment paper to line my pan.  It made removing and cutting the treats so much easier.  If you use a 9X13 your treats will be thinner than what you see in my picture.  I have an odd size pan it's like 7X11.

To brown the butter.   In a large pot, melt your one stick of butter.  With your heat on medium, watch your butter slowly start to turn a caramel color, it will also bubble and foam right before it transforms to the desired brown butter.  I use a spatula to stir the butter so that it does not sit and burn.  The color will get darker and the aroma will become very nutty.  

Remove butter from burner after you have reached the desired color.  You don't want it to burn.

Immediately add your bag of marshmallows and return to the heat set to medium. Stir until they are melted. When the marshmallows have melted, add the cereal.

Dump your cereal into the prepared pan and with buttered fingers or spoon, press the treats into the pan.  I don't like to do this too hard.

At this point you can stop BUT to have the FULL flavor of the brown butter, it needs a bit more.

While those are sitting for a minute, melt the 1/2 stick and brown the butter.

I took a spoon and went for the dark flakes of brown goodness at the bottom of the pan and drizzled them on top of the already prepared crispy treats.

Those brown circles under the chocolate are brown butter spots.

I then melted the chocolate chips in the microwave and used a baggie with a small hole in the corner and piped the chocolate back and forth.  This created a thin layer of chocolate.  You can definitely add more, but I really wanted to taste the flavor of the brown butter more so than the chocolate.

 If you are in a hurry and want one immediately, I would suggest popping them in the freezer for about 10 minutes to cool the treats and firm up the chocolate.  Don't leave them in or they will become very hard (again, I know this from experience…LOL)

  

Avocado Fries with Basil Ranch Dressing

I have never cooked so many recipes out of one cookbook….EVER.  I am usually all over the place and just jump from one idea to the next.  My inspiration comes from many sources: TV, Pinterest, Internet, blogs, family and friends.

I have to admit, that it's been nice to work through Joy's book, Joy the Baker, because it has allowed me to learn about new ingredients(leeks), try new skills (puff pastry) and try new concepts…Fried Avocado's.

I first saw this tasty appetizer a few months ago on Pinterest and thought it sounded amazing.  Why?  Because I love avocado's!  I remember living in California and having an avocado tree in our neighborhood.  Oh, how I would love to have one of those now.

I enjoy the creamy texture of an avocado.  I like to use them in salads, dressings or just plain.  I grew up eating avocados with salt and pepper and then drizzled with Catalina salad dressing.  I ate them this way for years…and years.

My new favorite way of having an avocado is simply cutting it in half and serving a big spoonful of marinated cucumbers and red onions on top.  There is something about the tartness of the cucumbers that marries so well with the smooth and subtle flavor of the avocado.  It's a delightful snack about midday.

Joy's recipe is great, I did have to embellish just a bit.  I think my taste buds are very active because I like flavor and lots of it!  I like spices. I want to taste those spices in the things I cook.

I love that Joy's recipes keep inspiring me and pushing me to think outside the box.

I am a dipper.  I honestly don't remember a time when I was not dipping.  I believe it all started when I was a toddler eating hotdogs…I dipped my hotdog bites into a huge pile of ketchup.  I then graduated to fried eggs with soft yolks.  My favorite was an English Muffin torn into bite size pieces and dipped into the soft, warm yolk…my mouth is watering!

It just progressed from there.  I dip sushi in soy sauce.  Pork Tamales into ketchup.  Chicken tenders into ranch.  Apples into fruit dip THEN popcorn.  The list is endless.

And yes, I have even skinny dipped at the embarrassment  of my children and the delight of my husband.  That is actually a funny story.  Cory's family has frequented the same camping spot for years.  It is very secluded, mostly family with a few friends.  One hot day, all of the Mom's swam out to the "LOG" and took our tops off and threw them on the log.  We felt so "wild".  Our daughters were mortified (they were 12).  We never left the water and from shore you could see nothing. It was a good 100 feet away.  You could just see our arms waving and a ton of laughing. This is a memory that our daughters still bring up to this day.  I just laugh.  See all of my memories are associated with food…LOL


Notes:  Joy's recipe calls for 2 avocados, but for my family we only made one and it was plenty as a test.  I wasn't sure if the big kids would eat it or not.  They did and loved it.  The 5 year old, she tried it but passed on seconds.

Recipe: Avocado Fries with Basil Ranch Dressing
Fried Avocado recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

1 quart of canola oil
1 avocado, medium firm to the touch
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
dash of cayenne
1 Tablespoon finely grated Parmesan Cheese
2 cups of Panko

In a large pot, heat oil to 375.  I recommend using a thermometer.  If you don't have one then you can test the oil, by taking a small piece of avocado and preparing it as instructed below and gently placing it in the oil.  If it is bubbling, it is ready…if it is not, then you will need to wait a few minutes.  It will take about 5 minutes for the oil to get to temperature if your heat is on medium, although all ovens are different so be prepared and stand by.  You can usually see the oil start to swirl in the bottom of the pan and this is a good indicator that the oil is almost ready. BE CAREFUL WITH THE HOT OIL.

While your oil is warming up, prepare the three bowls.  You will need one bowl with the beaten eggs.  One bowl with the Panko bread crumbs.  The final bowl will have your flour with all of the spices and parmesan cheese.  Make sure you blend this bowl well.

Once your oil is ready, slice open your avocado, remove the seed and slice down..from top to bottom.  You want long and narrow strips.  I was able to get 5 slices out of each side.

I double dipped my avocado.  Some of the ladies did the single layer and they look great.  Because I added the parmesan cheese I wanted to make sure that everything stuck to the slice.  It did.

This is the process:  Dip in egg, dip in flour/cheese mix, dip in egg and then roll in Panko.

Fry for a quick minute.  It doesn't take long to get them golden brown.  Flip them over if you like.

The Panko will fall off into the oil and I just strained out the extra.  Otherwise it could burn and make your oil taste funny.

I also cooked one slice at a time because they cooked so fast I was afraid to have too many in the pot at once.

I lined a cookie sheet with paper towels and layed my cookie rack on top.  As they came out of the pot I set them on this.  The paper towels caught the extra oil and the cookie rack allowed the whole fry to cool an stay crisp.

Joy recommends keeping them warm in the oven until ready to serve.  You can preheat your oven to 200 for this step.  We ate ours so fast that this was a step we skipped, this time…LOL

Recipe:  Ranch Basil Dressing
Sherron Watson

Note:  This dressing can be made the day of, it should sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, but I believe it taste so much better if made the day before and allowed to rest for 24 hours.  When using the fresh herbs and garlic you need time for the flavors to bloom.

1 cup of sourcream
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoons of fresh, finely chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons of fresh, finely chopped basil
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2-1 teaspoons of salt, taste as you go
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
1+ teaspoon of lemon juice, start of small and add more to your taste buds

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge.

This is great as a dip or as a salad dressing.

  

146. Taco Pizza

The year must have been 1983 when I first had taco pizza.  I lived in a small town as a teenager named Molalla.  We were known as the Molalla Indians at my high school.  It was a logging town.

Early in the morning you could hear the rumble of the large log trucks, see the steam from the mills and smell the scent of fresh cut pine in the air.

Those were the days.

I would visit my aunt in the summers before we moved there ourselves.  I would spend numerous days riding my bike on the logging roads.  Yep, they had their own roads.  The trucks did a lot of damage to the highway roads plus it kept them from driving through town.  We had one blinking light.

There wasn't a  McDonalds, grocery store chains or new subdivisions.  Our population was about 2500.  It was great.

Our place to hang out was one of the largest gathering places in town, besides the local churches. Michaello's was the place to be after football games, after dates to enjoy the ice cream bar or to just hang out with your friends.  Their pizza's were nothing fancy but you could get a huge one for a good price.  They sold pop by the pitcher and for a teenager in the 80's that was a good thing.

Of course this has all changed. The population is around 7500, Safeway and McDonalds are both in town, they have a real stop light and the property is being sold to create more housing.

Through the years I have taco pizza in other towns and I enjoyed it just as much as that first time.  My family doesn't just love it but this week they were good sports and let me make it for them.  For a family that was on the fence about having it for dinner, they sure do know how to put it away…LOL

I made one and we had a few slices left over.

I made the crust a little bit different this time.  I used some masa harina in the dough.  I was a bit leary of trying something new.  It worked and the corn flavored flour added a lot of flavor to our taco pizza.

The recipe makes enough for two crust.  I used one and put the other in the fridge.  The next day I took it out, wrapped it around a few hotdogs, let it rise and baked for a few minutes at 425.

The dough has a cool feel to it.  It's doughy like pizza dough and can be rolled very easily but it also has the feel of homemade corn tortilla dough.  It breaks off easily and kind of grainy looking.  It reminded me of homemade playdough.

As with most pizza, you can use all types of toppings to make it your own.  I will share with you what I did.  It reminds me of a 7 layer taco dip but on a crust and with mozzarella cheese.

ENJOY!

Recipe:  Pizza Taco

Dough, makes enough for two thin crust

1 tsp sugar
1 pkg. of yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of masa harina
1 tsp. cumin

Proof your yeast by adding the yeast and sugar to your warm water.  Wait about 5 minutes for the foam to appear on the top of your water.  If this does not happen, your yeast may not be good or your water is too hot.  Start over.

In your kitchenaid with the dough hook, add the flours, salt, cumin, and proofed yeast.   Have a small amount of flour near by in case you need to add a bit more to the dough.

Set your kitchenaid to a medium speed and knead your dough for 8 minutes.  You want the dough to look like bread dough.  If it is not pulling together into a ball add a bit more flour or water until this is reached.  You will need the dough to be worked for the full 8 minutes.

In an oiled glass bowl, add your dough and let double.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Mine took an hour and a half.

Preheat your oven to 425.  If using a stone, let the stone heat up with your oven.

Roll your dough out on a floured surface until your desired size it reached.

Bake the dough for about 10 minutes.

Remove and add your toppings.


TOPPINGS:

1 can of refried beans
1 can of black beans
1 jar of taco sauce (this is not salsa, it's similar to the sauce you might get at Taco Bell in the packets)
3 cups of mozzarella cheese, crated
1 small onion
1 small can of diced olives
lettuce, shredded
tomatoes, diced
jalapeno's, diced on the side
sour cream (optional)
corn chips, broken (optional)

Start layering your baked crust with your toppings.  I will show you with pictures the layers that I did.  You will need to bake your pizza again after you add the cheese layer.  Read below.

Heat your refried beans up first.  This makes it a lot easier to spread them onto your pizza.

I put the refried beans first so that the sauce would not all be soaked up by the crust.  This is one of my favorite parts of the pizza.

You don't have to add black beans but I already had an open can so I used them.

You can use a different type of cheese, but beware that cheddar is very greasy.  Mozzarella is a nice cheese to use even with a taco pizza.

At this point you want to bake your pizza for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and add your fresh ingredients.

Red onions and olives.

lettuce

fresh tomatoes

I served the other ingredients on the side.


  

Mini Meatloaves and Grilled Asparagus

Meatloaf was a staple in my home.  I remember eating it often.  I think it was an inexpensive dish that could feed a family and the meat could be stretched with the added ingredients of oatmeal and veggies.

I am not complaining.  I really like meatloaf.  I feel that as cooks we have come a long way with this dish.  I have seen meatloaf draped in bacon, served on sandwiches and filled with all types of cheese.

Sounds good to me!

This recipe is pretty basic and simple though.  I kept it that way because I have kids that get tired of all the "fancy" foods we eat and this is a good peace offering…LOL

I think that you could easily change a few things and have an adult version in no time.  Some options would be to cover the top with BBQ sauce, you could add more herbs and you could use a sharper flavored cheese.  I prefer using blue cheese but my kids don't like that as much.

This is a quick meal, one that can be prepared the day before and even frozen for a later date.  ENJOY!

Recipe:  Mini Meatloaf's and Grilled Asparagus, makes 15 

2 lbs of meat ( You can use just hamburger or a combination of Pork/beef/veal)

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 red onion, diced small

1 cup of oatmeal

1/2 can of diced red tomatoes

1/2 cup of ketchup

2 eggs

1 tsp. each of fresh Rosemary and Thyme

Mozzarella cheese sticks or the mini cheese balls

Ketchup for the top

Preheat your oven to 375.  You will need your cupcake pans.  A liner is not needed.

If you are using the cheese sticks, cut them into thirds and set aside.

Mix all of the ingredients until well combined.

I used a spoon and put the meat in my palm and shoved the cheese stick into the middle and then shaped it into a ball.  The little meatloaf's should stick up above the pan just a little.  They will shrink a bit when cooked.

Once you pan is filled, squirt some ketchup on top of each one.  I used a pastry brush to spread the ketchup around.

Bake the mini meatloaf's for 30 minutes.  Let them sit in the pan for a few minutes before removing them.  You want them to absorb the juices so that they are moist and not dry.

 For the grilled asparagus I used skewers to cook them on the BBQ.  I found this to be so much faster instead of turning each one individually.  Cook them for a few minutes on each side and then serve with butter or your favorite sauce.

Orange Bow Knots and 24 years of Wedded Bliss

Our Engagement pictures were done by a friend of the family.  Our pictures were not a priority for us and it makes me sad when I see the quality and such.  This is something I always counsel brides and grooms about, in the future the cake is all eaten, the flowers are dead, the dress is too small…BUT…your pictures are what you will have your whole life.  Spend your money wisely and hire the BEST photographer you can afford.

24 years ago today on a beautiful Thursday morning in Seattle, Washington, I married my best friend.  It was a beautiful day and we were so lucky to have blue skies and not your typical North West weather of rain, rain and more rain.

Our story is unique because it was a short and a whirlwind courtship.  I met Cory in person on January 19th,  we had our first date January 26th, we were engaged on February 14th and married on April 28th…ALL OF THE SAME YEAR!   YEP, about 3 months total.

Now, I look back and think, "how in the world did we know at such a young age what we wanted?"

I had just turned 20 and Cory was barely home from Japan.  We had nothing.  We did not know what our future would hold.  We just took that leap of faith and it worked.

With our future ahead of us we made plans.  Cory joined the Air Force, went to school and we moved to Austin, TX.  That would be the first of many, many moves for us.  I won't scare you with the double digit number of how often we have moved…LOL

Through out our time together we have remained the best of friends. People ask us what our secret is.  Is there a secret? I don't know other than I know what has worked for us.

Honesty-we are extremely honest with each other. No secrets or lies.
Lots of communication-we are open to each other, we listen, we share, we agree and learn to disagree
Friendship-we laugh, play, learn and find challenges together.
Date Nights-we still date after all these years.
Forgiveness-we have learned that nobody is perfect.  We have good days and bad.  We forgive often.
Acceptance-we never tried to change the other person.  We loved each other as they were.
Love-it was conditional in the beginning because we were young, and we have learned as time passes that to truely love, it must be unconditional and freely given….no strings attached.

This list could be much longer, but those are the basics to what make our relationship work.  I look forward to many more years together.  I still look at him, and get butterflies in my tummy.  His love is so pure and perfect, that at times, I can't believe how blessed I am to have a person that loves me so much.  It took me a long time to feel worthy of this great man in my life.  He saved me.  My life was not easy and I had a lot of issues to deal with when we first met.  He took all of it and patiently cared, loved and endured my time of healing.

I wanted to share a special recipe with you today that would signify a union.  Cory's Mom introduced me to the original recipe many years ago. I have updated it a bit. It is a special treat in our family and they get made once a year.  I usually share them with our neighbors and friends.

A knot has several meanings and is symbolic of love, eternity and togetherness.  I found a few definitions of various knots that I liked.

1. Symmetrical knots that tie into themselves; without beginning or end; are a universalsymbol of the eternity of life, the eternity of nature, and the eternity of love. Original quote here.

2. The knot is an ancient heraldic symbol of longevity, commitment, and permanence.

3. The marriage-knot or knot of Hercules, a strong knotcreated by two intertwined ropes, originated as a healing charm in ancient Egypt, but is best known for it’s use in ancient Greece and Rome as a protective amulet, most notably as a wedding symbol, incorporated into the protective girdles worn by brides, which were ceremonially untied by the new groom. This custom is the likely origin of the phrase “tying the knot.” Original quote found here.

We did tie the knot and for that I am so grateful ever day to have this very special man in my life. 

I love you more than ever Cory!

Recipe:  Orange Bow Knots, makes about 50

1 T. dry yeast

1/2 cup of sugar

2 cups of warm water

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup of orange juice

2 eggs, beaten

3 T. grated orange peel

1/4 cup whole milk

1 cup of melted butter (not hot)

9-11 cups of flour

1 stick of butter for later usage

In a small bowl, add 1 T. of sugar, yeast and warm water.  Let sit until foam is visible on top. (5 minutes)

Add the yeast/sugar/water liquid to the Kitchenaid.  

In your kitchenaid with the dough hook attached, add remaining sugar, salt, butter, milk and 6 cups of flour.  Mix on medium speed until well combined.  

Add the orange juice, orange peel, eggs and butter.  Start adding more flour.  Add one cup at a time.  You want the dough to not stick to the bottom of the bowl.  Depending on the humidity in your area you could easily end up adding 3-5 more cups of flour. 

Set your timer for 10 minutes and let your kitchenaid knead the dough on medium with the attached bread hook.  The dough should not stick to the bottom of the bowl.   If this is happening keep adding a little bit more flour until the 10 minutes is up.

The dough will be heavy yet pliable when you remove it from the bowl.  Transfer it to a large glass bowl that has been oiled with butter. Cover with plastic wrap.

Let the dough double.  Mine took 1 1/2 hours but it was a cool day in MD.  

Lightly dust your work area and dump the dough onto the table.  I use a metal scrapper to cut chunks of the dough so that I can work with smaller pieces.  Melt a stick of butter in a bowl. Roll each piece out into the shape of a rectangle.  I like the measurements to be in the area of 6X12 with the thickness being about 1/2 inch.

I use my pizza cutter to make strips of the rectangle.  With the bowl of melted butter close.  I dip the middle of the strip in the butter and proceed to tie a knot.  You can dip the whole strip into the butter but it's a lot of butter and I find that if I dip a portion of the strip, that by tying the knot the butter spreads to the whole strip anyways.

This will make about 50 knots.  It took 4 cookie sheets for my last batch.  Let the rolls double in size.  Mine took about 1 1/2 hours.

Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.  You want the rolls to be golden brown on top.  Remove rolls to a wire rack to cool.

Drizzle each roll with an orange icing.

Recipe:  Orange Icing

2 cups of powdered sugar
1 T. orange rind, grated finely
1/3 cup of orange juice

Mix all three ingredients together and drizzle atop the orange bow knots.  Let icing set.

April 28, 2012