Favorite Things: Homemade Hawaiian Bread (or Rolls)

I am a huge fan of hawaiian dinner rolls.  My sister-in-law recently gave me this recipe and I've enjoyed making a few batches.  It's a delicious, slightly sweet bread. Very similar to the orginal, though the texture is not the same in my experience.  (Note the recipe variation at the bottom, if you want to give it a try.)

6 c. all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 c. pineapple juice
1 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. ginger
1 t. vanilla
2 pkgs yeast
1 stick butter or margarine, melted

Beat eggs; add pineapple juice, water, sugar, ginger, vanilla and melted margarine.  Add in 3 cups of flour and stir till well mixed.  Sprinkle in yeast one package at a time and stir till well mixed.  Gradually add the other 3 cups of flour.  Mix well.  Will be a very sticky dough!

Leave in the mixing bowl, cover and rise 1 hour in a warm place.  Remove from bowl onto well-floured surface and knead in 1/2 cup flour -- a bread scraper is a huge help right about here.  Knead about 10 times. Will still be a very sticky dough.

Grease pans for desired loaves or rolls:

• For loaves, you'll need three 8-inch round cake pans. 
• For rolls, this will fill a double-sheet cake pan (or two 9x13 pans and possibly one more small one).

Form dough into round loaves or rolls.  Once again, my bread scraper was a lifesaver here.  I used it to cut the sticky dough into my desired number of pieces.

Cover loaves/rolls and rise 1 hour in a warm place. Bake at 350 degrees, 20-30 minutes for breads and 10-12 minutes for rolls.

Variation to yield a fluffier bread
I just found these alterations to the above recipe online, for those who want a fluffier texture:

Use 1 1/2 cups of pineapple juice and 1/2 cup of water. Heat this mixture to 110 degrees and proof the yeast in it. Mix the eggs, sugar, melted butter, ginger and vanilla together. Put 6 cups of King Arthur Bread Flour into a bowl. Then mix in the egg mixture, then the pineapple juice, water and yeast mixture. After mixing, let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, knead, divide into 3 loaves. Place each loaf into a greased round cake pan, let rise for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 - 25 mins. Brush with melted butter when you take out of oven.

Favorite Things: Roasted Winter Squash Soup

This soup is amazing - creamy, rich, and so very good for the soul. 

First: Roast the Squash

2 -3 medium-sized squash: butternut, acorn, delicata, etc
     (you will need 2 - 3 cups of roasted squash for your soup)
olive oil
salt & pepper


To roast, wash the outside of the squash, carefully cut open (sometimes it's easier to remove the stem first), and clean out.  Lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Turn cut-side down in a large pan and cook at 375 degrees for 1 hour, or until squash flesh is very, very tender and no longer hard or stringy.

Allow the squash to cool, then gently scoop the flesh out into a large bowl, making sure not to get any skin.  You can either choose to blend your squash now, or wait until it is in the soup.

Should you care to stop here, I say go ahead!  Pureed squash is pure heaven in my book!


Second: Make the Soup

2-3 cups roasted squash
2 quarts chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 small onion, finely chopped
olive oil & butter
salt & pepper
immersion (or regular) blender

Cook the chopped onion in a little bit of olive oil and butter.  Once onion is tender, add chicken broth and squash pulp.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer about 20-30 minutes.  

To puree the soup, either allow to cool and carefully blend a few cups at a time in a regular blender or very carefully use an immersion blender set on low to blend to a smooth consistency.  (Here is where it is easier if the squash flesh was already pureed to start with.)

Notes:
- Roasting extra squash is good.  If you like a thicker soup, you add more squash flesh.  This is something you can eyeball.  The bonus is you get to eat any extra squash you don't use in the soup!

- This makes a lot, so throw some in the freezer for a cold winter day.  Or, a warm spring one for that matter.  Squash soup is good all the time!

Variation:
- My mom made a version with sweet Italian sausage, and I have to say, it worked for me.  Gave it a nice zip and depth.

Favorite Things: Mrs. Wages Seasoning Mixes

It's no secret around these parts that I have really jumped into canning these past couple of years. I love preserving produce from our garden and making tasty treats for my family: spiced peaches, salsas, pizza sauces, applesauce, pickles ... and, of course, jams! Jessica's Pantry at the store is filled with a wide variety of my jams. But it's my basement shelves that see the true bounty. 

My not-so-secret weapon for preserving a flavorful harvest: Mrs. Wages seasoning mixes.  The easy-to-follow directions and flavorful seasonings take a lot of time and guesswork out of making fantastic canned goods.  Directions for immediate eating or preservation by refrigeration-only, freezing or canning are all provided on the package.  For the beginner like me, Mrs. Wages seasonings make things easier as you grow accustomed to the canning and preserving process. 

So far, I we have tried Mrs Wages Pizza Sauce, Medium Salsa, Spiced Peaches, and Refrigerator Pickles and my family has loved each!  I am a huge fan of the pizza sauce and made sure to can two batches this year since we ran out last year and I was bummed.

You can find the seasonings at your local grocer (for me, that's Meijers), right along with the plethora of canning products available this time of year.  Or, you can shop Mrs Wages online store.  Prices seem pretty comparable - especially when you consider shipping costs.  (Though if you go here and scroll to the bottom they do have some specials going on.)

Enjoy and happy harvesting (and preserving!).

Favorite Things: Meet My Very Good Friend Phil (odendron)

I thought it would be fun to do a series on my favorite things - plants, recipes, and otherwise.  To launch this series, I present to you my best bud Phil.

Phil is a philodendron tropical plant, or as I like to call it - a "No-Kill 'Um" plant. 

Which means -- just as it sounds -- it is very, very difficult to actually kill one of these hardy plants.  Outside of jade plants, philodendrons are the most fantastic, forgiving plants it has been my great pleasure to know. 

Not only can they survive in low light and with sporadic watering, they are fantastic climbers and prolific viners and it's quite fun to wrap their vining branches in and around your decor. 

Another fun thing you can do: snip a few philodendron vines and keep them in water indefinitely. They make lovely windowsill gardens or bookshelf decorations.

Trust me, novice and forgetful plant-keepers will find philodendren to be a fun and easy way to green up your living space. I hope you stop by Country Harvest Greenhouse and pick up your very own "No Kill 'Um" and give it a try!