Challah bread - A post FINALLY from the other twin!

Hi everyone. It's the "other twin".  Allison has done a great job at updating this blog.  I, Emily, have not. Confession time.  Ok, that's done.  But it's not because I haven't wanted to.  It's just life right now! You can read about it at my family blog here.  With a two year old and a rumbunctious little boy due in 6.5 weeks (eeeek!), we have had our hands full. With that said, my hubby and I decided to make a true Sabbath in our house - starting on Saturday night and extending through Sunday night.  What a difference Sabbath has made in our household too!  You can read about it here and here.  The Sabbath tradition for hundreds of years has included making Challah bread.  So, in true tradition I decided to try it.  And we have LOVED it!  For my first post on this blog, I give you - the Challah bread!

Step 1:  In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the oil, sugar, salt, 4 eggs and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough.

2.   Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  I LOVE this part. There's just something about getting your hands dirty and your arms being sore from kneading bread.

3.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

4.  Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half.

5. Divide each portion into thirds.

6. Shape each piece into a 15-in. rope. 

7. Place three ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until doubled , about 1 hour.

Right before going in the oven!! Yummo!

8.  Beat cold water and remaining egg; brush over braids. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Y'all, this is sooo good! We've also omitted brushing the top with egg whites before baking.  But, don't worry.  RIGHT when it comes out of the oven, smother it with loads of butter. If you like your bread toasty, use egg whites. If you like it softer and with lots of flavor, add butter. You can also add parsley and garlic to the butter and give it a little somethin' somethin'.

The smell of the bread is incredible too! It fills the whole house and seems to prepare us for the Sabbath that's coming.  We also use the bread for paninis throughout the week. Yummo!!

Enjoy the bread and enjoy a Sabbath this week!



One word that will make you smile or gag....Meatloaf. Dedicated to the BFF....Mrs. Kelli Gossmann

Awwww Meatloaf!  I really really like meatloaf.  I like the meatloaf from Cracker Barrel but grandmother sure does make the best meatloaf.  Everyone has their own opinion about it.  It's not one of those recipes that you make when guests are coming over since you don't know if they will soon not ever come back to dinner. 

Let me introduce you to my best friend, Kelli Gossmann.  I first met Kelli my freshman year of college at Howard Payne University (Sting 'em Jackets).  We soon became best friends my sophomore year (after our friends Robyn and Tiffany set us up) and have been friends ever since.  We are very similar in many different areas....we both love Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, both love capers and salmon, both love to laugh until our stomachs hurt, both love to read, and both adore our husbands.  We have traveled the world together and been in each other's weddings.  There is one thing that Kelli and I have disagreed on ever since we first had our first conversation on this topic.  I think we were driving somewhere having a fun day together and I realized her first flaw......her dislike for meatloaf.  It wasn't just a "oooo - I think it's gross".  Oh no, for Kelli it was "OOOOO - I would rather eat snails than meatloaf."  HA! 

Recently I received a text from Kelli that she tried meatloaf and I couldn't have been prouder that she came to the good side.  She said it was ok. Then I was folding laundry and saw Paula Deen make a meatloaf so I texted Kelli and decided to post the recipe for meatloaf......it will change your life.  Kelli, I sure love you and so thankful for your friendship.  :) 
(Can you find Kelli in this picture?  Where's Kelli?  Look for the beautiful smile and "English Queen wave".

G-mother's meatloaf
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef, browned and crumbled
1 1/2 cup of Saltine crackers, crumbled up fine
1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 teaspoon of oregano and basil
1/3 cup green pepper
2 eggs
1 8oz can tomato paste
1 Tablespoon Worchestershire sauce (did I spell that right?)
1/3 cup milk
1 package of dry onion mix

Mix all the ingredients into a bowl except save half of the tomato paste for later.  Mix it together with your hands......get in there and mix it really well.   (If it looks to dry, you can add some water to it so it forms together nicely)  Then flop it into a greased loaf pan and bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.  At the last 15 minutes of cooking mix the tomato paste with some pepper and ketchup to your taste.  Place on top the beloved loaf and continue baking.  You might have to cook it longer if it doesn't look done.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with more ketchup.  :)  I'm truly obsessed with Ketchup so I add ALOT. 

OK, so where do you stand in the meatloaf dilemma?  Let us know and let me know if you try this one.  Ok, Kelli I'm so thrilled for you and wish I could be there with you!

Chicken Enchilada and Peach Cream Skillet Goodness! Oh and homemade tortillas and fresh salsa!

Nothing says home in like Mexican food.  I grew up on good mexican food and no, I'm not talking about Allsups burritos (bringing back the highschool memories).  I can always remember being so excited when mom or our other friend Crill would make chicken enchiladas.  Living in TN now, we have found a few good Mexican restauarants but I always judge them on their chips and salsa.  I can OD on chips and salsa and then have a salsa hangover but that is one of my "comfort foods".  Well, my hubby had a big test yesterday and today is our 5 month-aversary so I decided we should celebrate.  I made some homemade salsa and had that for  a little breakfast snack and then made homemade tortillas which were surprisingly easy to make.  I'll post that recipe next because it was so fun! 

Here is the chicken enchilada recipe from mom.  I changed a little bit of it but not much.  MMMMMM and we  will have leftovers for days.  I thought it would be fun to have a dessert baked in the most beautiful green skillet that I received as a wedding gift and LOVE it! 


Chicken Enchilada

2 skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 oz container of sour cream
1 4 oz can green chiles
1/4 cup milk
tortillas (flour works the best)
salsa with tomatoe chunks
Jalapeno cheese or just plain ole chedder cheese (get the package with the white and yellow cheese)
salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, more garlic and salsa

Heat water in a large pan and boil chicken until it is cooked through.  Then shred them into bite size pieces. 

Heat some oil in a saucepan and saute onions with garlic until they are nice and sauteed.  Take the saucepan off of the burner and add chicken soup, sour green, green chiles, salsa and salt and pepper.  I added some of the homemade salsa with the chunky tomatoes because I love the color and it looked pretty.  Add some salt and pepper and a little cumin to taste. 

Now divide this by half.  To one half add the shredded chicken and about a cup of cheese.  Lay out a tortillas and dump a bunch of this mixture into the middle.  Now roll up like a burrito and place seam side down in a 9x13 pan.  Repeat until add the goodness is gone. 

Now to the other half, add 1/4 cup of milk and some more seasoning if you want.  Pour this over all the enchiladas and make sure to get the mixture covering the bottom and the sides of the pan so the tortillas won't burn.  Now dump with more cheese.  Sprinkle with pepper and fresh cilantro.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.  OOOOO - la-la!  Mom, was that right? 

Ok so now on to the fun peach cream pie. 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 (3 ounce) package non-instant vanilla pudding mix (I used lemon because that is all I had and it turned out really well)

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches and 1 smaller can of peaches, drained and syrup reserved

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

cinnamon

Add flour salt, baking powder, pudding mix, butter, egg and milk and mix together for a few minutes.  Place in the bottom of a pie pan or a fun green skillet and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Let cool.  Meanwhile drain peaches and slice.  These need to be pretty drained so the bottom crust doesn't get soggy.....gross!  Arrange peaches on top of the crust. 

Beat cream cheese with sugar and add some cinnamon.  Pour this over the peaches and leave about a half inch space between the side of the pan so it won't burn.  Sprinkle some more cinnamon and sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.  You can either eat it hot or I liked it cooled down a little.  YUMMY and yes that is my husband giving his approval!

Happy 5 months and Happy test 1 of Anatomy completed.

Shrimp and Sausage gumbo

Here we go!  My house still smells like gumbo and my hands smell like onions and garlic.  I was so nervous and didn't take any pictures.  I wanted to get a picture of the roux but was so scared that I was going to burn it so this is a boring blog recipe post but here it is!

3/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 large onions, chopped
  1 cup frozen okra
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 quarts chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste ( I used "Slap Yo Mama"  Yes that is the name of a seasoning.  Isn't that terrible?)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves and 1 teaspoon of parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 pounds of cooked shrimp
• 2 pounds andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces

In a large stockpot heat oil and add flour.  Stir, stir, stir like crazy with a large spoon or I used a large spatula because I read that it is was better.  Stir on medium heat like crazy for a while and get your workout music because your arm will hurt!  The roux should turn a color a little darker than peanut butter but don't let it burn!  Make sure you pre-chop all of your veggies because they will need to be dumped into the roux as soon as it's dark or the cooking term is "carmalized".  Add all the veggies together and then stir until them are tender (about 6-7 minutes).  Then add the chicken stock and the seasonings....get the Slap-Yo-Mama out!  HA!  Add the smoked sausage too and NOT Boudain (read the previous blog on my mistake in sausage)  Cook on low heat for hours and hours......I was hoping it would make it better to cook it for a LONG time.  About 30 minutes before serving, add the shrimp and okra.  Mistake number 2 - adding the okra at the beginning because it turns into okra mash......yummy! 

Serve hot over hot white rice and add more pepper or Slap-Yo-Mama depending on your spicy taste.  FUN!

Super Bowl Par-tay 2011!

Well first, it is snowing AGAIN this morning in TN.  I got on the treadmill which we have in our outside "shed" area and it is a 3 sided garage thing.  My treadmill faces the front so I can see outside.  I watched it rain and then turn into snow and then into a blizzard.....Ok, maybe not a blizzard but it's been snowing for the past few hours.  Then my hubby went outside and got a HUGE amount of snow and we made snow cream.  I've never made snow cream before but it sounded fun so I dumped about 10 cups of fresh snow into my mixer, added some milk, sugar, and vanilla extract and created the first ever Shamblin Snow Cream.  I then got creative and added some cinnamon and Rum extract that I grabbed from the cabinet.  Pretty yummy!  Brad had a couple of bites and then got the Blue Bell out.  :)  But I then added cocoa and he LOVED it!  Bingo!

This morning was not only good because of the snow but also because my team won the Super Bowl....Go Packers.  I LOVE football and the only logical reason why I chose the Packers is because I thought they were the underdogs and I liked the color green.  But we invited all our friends in Jackson (all 3 of them...hahaha) and got ready for some good ole football fun.  I have wanted to make gumbo for a LONG time now since Brad loves it.  I didn't grow up with Cajun food or anything like gumbo so I wasn't sure what to expect.  But I read up on it and even watched some videos on how to make roux.  It didn't look so hard, right?  I also read that the two mosts important parts of Gumbo were the roux and the sausage.  So I marched to Kroger to find some Cajun sausage.  I found some that said "Cajun" but neglected to figure our what Boudain sausage meant.  I came home and started chopping the veggies and then made the roux. The dreaded and fearful roux.  I had to talk myself through it and added the oil and flour and watched it turn into a beautiful dark roux without burning it!  YEAH!  Then I stuck the sausage in the oven.  I took the sausage out of the oven and started cutting the sausage but it began to fall apart.  I didnt' think anything about it and added it to the gumbo and covered the pot with the lid to simmer.  I came to check back on it after an hour and with one stir I realized that the sausage fell apart!  WHAT?  I called Brad over and he said, "Oh, I wondered why you were using that kind of sausage because it's not meant to be cut in gumbo."  Well, why didn't he tell me earlier?  So I walked away from my less than perfect gumbo. 

Game time came and our friends came over complete with their Steelers shirts!  Go team!  I was outnumbered as 3 of them were going to the Steelers while 2 of us were going for the Packers!  We had a fantastic time though and I'm officially loving having people over!  I even busted out some of my fancy smanzy wedding platters to serve the veggies and hummus. 

Our menu:
Shrimp and fall-apart-sausage gumbo
Garlic Lime hummus
Spicy cranberry little smokies
Mixed berry cobbler and ice cream
5 great friends.....Go Packers!

Recipe to follow.....

Gingerbread - the trusted food of skiing the double blacks

Ok, so I didn't do any blacks but I learned how to ski this weekend.  I can usually pick up things pretty quickly and water-skiing was a piece of cake for me.  People kept telling me, "Oh it will be easy and you will get it right away."  So I was pretty confident to get it....boy was I wrong.  I think this blog should be called "Pizza" since I did that on my skis the majority of the time.

Brad and I drove to Gatlinburg, TN this past week for 4 days.  He completed his first semester (doing very well) and we wanted to get out of town.  So we arrived to Gatlinburg on wednesday night to find fresh snow on the ground.  The next morning we got up and drove to Ober Gatlinburg.  We got in our skis and then I thought we were going to the bunny slope as he took me up the ski lift, but found myself instantly on a green.  What on earth?  I couldn't even stop and had no idea what I was doing.  But I tumbled all the way down the  mountain as 4 year old were flying past me and screaming for me to get out of the way.  I got to the bottom and was upset that I couldn't do it and told him I wanted the bunny slopes.  Even that was super hard for me.....

At one point, I got so frustrated and he was being so patient with me.  He was great and tried to tell me how to do it but I was so frustrated that I.......well yes this is hard to confess for me.....I might have shed a few years.  But the sun was in my eyes and the snow was on my face too!  Ok, so I cried and laugh about it now.  But after 3 LONG hours of falling, tumbling, telling him how much I wanted to go home and eat a hamburger, I finally got it!  I actually made it down a green without falling!  Before that, I took a tumble into a ditch.....wipeout for sure and tumbled up a mountain (how do you do that again?)  One time I fell under the ski lift and a group of guys on the ski lift above me asked how the snow felt?  Then the girls behind them said they liked my pants and I said, "thank you and they look better covered in snow." 

So I recovered and went out the next day.  I thought I would NEVER EVER do a blue because it looked super hard.  But he managed to talk me into it and I made it down after a few tumbles and one time flying down the mountain backwards......ok, thank goodness we didn't have a camera.  I was flying down the mounatin backwards, screaming and laughing the entire way with my fingers in the snow trying to get myself to stop.  I could hear people yelling, "Just fall".  I finally fell and laughed so hard! 

So our first ski trip was success after I was about to quit.  I took Grandmother's Gingerbread and we had that for breakfast so it is now my breakfast of champions!  Until next year.....

Another Grandmother recipe - Gingerbread

Grandmother sent me a card in the mail with an article from "The Corpus Christi Times" dated Feb 23, 1960.  The title of the article was "Prize-Winning Gingerbread has Red Pepper in It."  At the top of the page has a handwritten description of the reason for the recipe....

"About 1939, this was one of the first things Grandmother Raymond taught me how to bake was this gingerbread and I've used it all these years."  So you know it has to be good.  I wish I could make this smell into a candle!

2/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

1 egg, beaten

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper

1 cup boiling water

Mix first four ingredients together.  Mix dry ingredients together and mix with others.  Grease 9x12x2 inch pan.  Slowing pour boiling water while stirring.  Mix well and pour into pan.  Bake 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees.  (Make sure to check it because it took mine a good hour to cook)

Classic and delicious!