Grandma’s Old Fashioned Raisin Bread

AHHH this bread, this glorious wonderful bread has been in our family forever. Well forever may be a bit of an exaggeration but I don’t really know how many generations it goes back. I just know it’s old. Whenever I decide to make this recipe I am reminded of my mother, my grandmother and all the woman of my past. This bread flows in our blood, a recipe that I hope to pass down to my own little woman someday.

Aside from the luscious taste of this bread it has an old heavy wonderful consistency that is totally worth the 8 hours it takes to cook it. I know you think EIGHT HOURS is a long time to dedicate to bread but it is WORTH IT. If you break down the steps this recipe is quite easy. The hardest thing about it is finding the lard and dedicating a whole day to making it. And dedicate is the right word for it because you have to baby that yeast. By leaving it alone to fend for itself it may die and that will just make some sad flat bread. Good luck and let me know if you decide to make it and what you think!

RECIPE: GRANDMA’S OLD FASHIONED RAISIN BREAD INGREDIENTS 1 small Idaho potato 3 packets of fleshmen’s yeast 17 cups flour 1 egg 1 Kero syrup 2 tablespoons of salt 1/2 pounds of lard 1 box brown sugar 1 box raisins 2 tablespoons of cinnamon 1 1/2 tablespoons of nutmeg 1 1/2 tablespoons of all spice 1/2 teaspoon of cloves 2 cups water ¼ cup Crisco 3 brown paper bags DIRECTIONS 1. Peel, dice and boil the small potato until very soft 2. Remove potato from water (strain if you have to) and place potato in a large glass bowl. Add about 2 ½ cup of luke warm water and break up the potato pieces. You want the water to be warm, like a baby’s bath water. Once the pieces are all broken up and the mixture is not to hot or cold add the 3 cakes of yeast and 3 cups of flour. Stir gently until just mixed. 3. Cover the bowl with a damp warm towel and let rise until double in size about an hour and a half. Since yeast is alive and we want it to grow you have to keep the mixture warm. You have two options. If your oven has a Proof setting that is a setting that will keep your oven warm and the yeast alive, you are lucky and can turn that on and come back in an hour to an hour and a half. If you do not have a proofing setting on your oven you have to do a little bit more maintenance to keep the yeast alive. Make sure to remove the cooled cloth and re-warm it in water every 20 minutes. Leave the dough in the oven away from cool drafts and also keep a casserole dish with very hot water right under the bowl making sure to change the water with new hot water every 20 minutes. If you baby the dough in this fashion you will get a nice raise, where the dough will double its size and the bread will become lighter and airy. If your dough does not raise well in this part of the process the dough will be more compact and dense but it will still taste good. 3. Take a coffee cup and put in an egg. Fill the cup with kero syrup and put off to the side. The egg and the kero syrup must be at room temperature so giving it an hour to sit while the bread is raising is a must. wait an hour and a half 4. About 10 minutes before the raise is up, in a large roasting pan over two burners turned on the stove warm all these ingredients; 10 cups of flour, salt, lard, brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice and cloves; until they are like bath water, warm but not hot. 5. Take the roasting pan off the heat, place the pan on two large kitchen towels (to prevent the counter from getting scratched and burned). With a bag of flour next to you and a half scoop measuring cup sticking. 6. Make a hole in this warmed mixture and add yeast mixture, egg & kero coffee cup, and two cups of water. 7. Start to knead your dough adding flour in half cup increments until the dough is no longer SUPER sticky, like wet gum, but just slightly tacky like taffy. You will generally need to add about 4 cups of flour give or take a cup. 8. Once the dough is ready lightly grease the top of dough with Crisco. Cover with warm towel and again keep in the oven warm swapping out the warmed towel and water below until it doubles in size (about 2 hours). 9. Cut paper bags into squares large enough to line bread pans. Grease bread pans with Crisco, put in paper bag liners and grease the paper bag. Set aside until dough is done rising. wait two hours 10. Remove bread yeast from the oven. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 11. Cut the bread yeast into 3-5 equal sized loaves and gently mold the bread into mini loaves placing them into the lined bread pans. 12. Bake at 300 degrees for about 1 hour to 1.5 hour until the tops are toasty brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove bread from bread pans and let cool for another hour. Place loaves into large freezer Ziploc bags and place in the freezer for up to 4 months or the fridge for 3 days.

Rogue List: #45. Surprise Myself with my Own Strength

I have been struggling with depression for a while and seem to be FINALLY coming out of the woods. Over the past few months since I started taking and then slowly weaned myself off antidepressants I have felt the cloud that was over my life lift a bit and the sunshine, ah the glorious sunshine is beautiful. Although I feel like I got chewed up and spit out of something horribly unpleasant with every single bone in my body broken and battered I did learn something important; I never really knew how strong I was. Although my recovery took some time I can now say with confidence that I am much better and I credit this blog to be a large part of that recovery process. I have been toying for weeks weather or not I should use this as my #45 on my list and in the end I decided it was perfect. Although there were times, dark sad times when I thought I would not make it I know now that with the love and support of all of you I did. And for that I thank you.

Construction Part Duex: Let’s Get Back On this Bucking Bronco

For what seems like a lifetime, Mr. Rogue and I are finally ready to finish phase II construction on our home. We are elated, depressed, excited, scared, and just plain cautious about doing this but it must be done and now is better than never. So today we are diving down the rabbit hole of plumbing, construction, random men in my house and mayhem.

We are planning on completely redoing the bathroom, which desperately needs to be demolished, see here. Here is the old floor plan vs. the new one we are proposing to the city gods, I cringe when I think about that... here’s why.



Basically it makes the room a real bathroom instead of a cramped place of doom for hips, that constantly crash into things, and functionality, don’t you like how the door currently runs RIGHT into the shower or the fact that I can pee and brush my teeth at the same time with the continently placed sink?

I am hoping to survive with my sanity.

P.S. Construction, please don’t kick my butt this time. Pretty please, with sugar on top. I will be your best friend. Love Rogue Woman.

Taste Buds: Delicate Frisco Cups

I came across the idea of tiny cheese baskets filled with all sorts of goodies a few days ago and decided to put my spin on them. I used parmesan cheese which I read is a more stable basket, but in reality you could use so many different kinds of hard cheese. The basket was sharp and tangy like a good parmesan cheese so I decided to couple it with something a bit more delicate and light.



I decided to make a portabella, shallot mixture since I had these left over from yesterdays Omelette purse and I made a delicate balsamic butter lettuce salad with pomegranate seeds. The combinations were vastly different from dark and earthy to light and airy. A beautiful decoration on the place and they are fun to make. Here are some suggestions

Shaping the cheese can be a tiny bit of a challenge, that is until you get the hang of it. The cheese is a bit rubbery like and super flexible so getting it in the shape you want takes a little delicacy. Gently remove melted cheese off of the silmat with a spatula and then shape in various kitchen cup shapes. I like using cupcake tins, ramekins, or measuring cups to get my shapes



In the future I may have to try a salmon, ginger, and sesame mixture.

RECIPE: DELICATE FRISCO CUPS INGREDIENTS Shredded Parmesan cheese about 2 tablespoons per basket filling experiment to your heart’s content! I used Portabella Mushrooms Rosemary Shallots Butter lettuce balsamic vinegrette olive oil pomegranate seeds DIRECTIONS 1. Heat your oven to 400 degrees 2. Using a cookie sheet with a silmat (or parchment paper) sprinkle in a circle 2 tablespoons of your hard cheese. 3. Bake for 5-6 minutes, you want the cheese to be melted but not browned (browning will make the cheese taste bitter). 4. The cheese will be pretty soft so gently get it off the silmat and shape (See above).

German Measles

Today Mrs. Fruit and I took Baby Fruit to her pediatrician and we found out that the raging fever on Friday and the little rashy bumps that appeared on Saturday were the result of Baby Fruit getting the German Measles. At least now we know what caused her fever and we know that she will be ok. Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers we really appreciate it!

Taste Buds: Omelette Purse

I love the omelette and it is a breakfast we often have on the weekend so when I got this idea to bundle up an omelette in a little breakfast sandwich I was in heaven. And the outcome came out so much better than what I thought, I was a bit worried I must admit. Airy, light and delicious this will be served here again and again.

Wandering around the grocery store a few days ago I spotted these divine portabella mushrooms. I didn’t know at the time that those portabella mushrooms would end up in this morning’s adventure cooking but they worked out perfectly complimented with some shallots (mini onions with a lighter flavour).



To get the purse shape roll out the dough in a square. Set the dough on the pan and place four dinner knives under the dough in a smaller square making a bucket shape so the egg does not run all over. Place the cheese and veggies down first and then gently pour the egg mixture. Quickly fold the top and bottom in and then both sides. Pinch the dough so it stays in place, remove the knives and pop it in the oven.

RECIPE: OMELETTE PURSE INGREDIENTS 1/3 herb pizza dough Trader Joes Pam 1 teaspoon olive oil ½ shallot 1 portabella mushroom 1 eggs ¼ cup Colby cheese DIRECTIONS 1. Preset the oven for 425. 2. Pam a pan and roll dough per instructions above. 3. Pre-cook shallots and mushroom in olive oil in a pan 4. Lay down the shredded cheese, add mushroom mixture, beat eggs and gently pour on top. 4. Close over dough and bake for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Slice and serve.

makes one pocket

A Night at the ER

I was expecting Ms. Eden and the girls for our Mexican Wii night any moment, it was 5:38 when I got the call from Mrs. Fruit that Baby Fruit had a raging fever of 103.7. So cancelled plans and we were off to the emergency room. Hours later trying to keep a one and a half year old entertained while having a fever and sick was NOT FUN. We were both worn out, tired from worrying, hungry because neither of us thought to eat in our haste to run out the door with no end in sight. We were there for six hours but finally the Baby’s fever broke and the doctors and nurses were able to get the temperature down to a much more manageable level of 100.2.

I was so worried about Baby Fruit, and I got yet another glimpse of what it is like to be a mom. The ER was filled with crying screaming kids, all sick or injured, all frazzled parents trying to sooth and coddle.

After trying everything we could think of to keep Baby Fruit amused I finally ended up handing her my mini camera. IT WAS THE BEST IDEA I EVER HAD I THINK. *Pat myself on back* It kept her entertained for two hours, long enough for us to get a room, for her fever to reduce, and for her to pass out in exhaustion. Although most of the photos were not good to say the least, two actually came out pretty cute.

A shot of me



And a shot of the free bear they gave Baby Fruit for being such a good girl.



She really latched onto that thing and only let go when she finally slept.



Poor sweet little baby so tiny in that big bed with that big tag around her ankle. I just made me want to cry.

Taste Buds: Seven Layer Mexican Dip

This is a dip that takes a bit of time to make but it is PERFECT for a party and always seems to be gobbled up quickly. Which is why I made it yesterday, I was supposed to have another girls night this time centered around Mexican food and playing the Wii. However that totally got sidetracked, more to come about that in another post. Needless to say I get to eat this WHOLE DIP now myself, in less than 48 hours. Anyone wanna swing by and try some?

My mother has made this for years and I thought I would share it with you. You can make this several hours ahead of time but it only lasts for about 48 hours before the guacamole starts to turn brown and ugly so plan accordingly.

RECIPE: SEVEN LAYER MEXICAN DIP INGREDIENTS 1 can refried beans 2 avocados ½ lemon ¼ cup cilantro ¼ vadilla onion salt 1 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons taco seasoning 3 oz Colby cheese or cheddar cheese 1 small can black olives 2 scallions 10 cherry tomatoes DIRECTIONS 1. Put down a thin layer of beans into a circle on a plate. 2. Make the guacamole. Half, discard seeds and skin, rough chopping avocado and put into bowl. Add the lemon juice, finely chopped vadilla onion and finely chopped cilantro. Salt to taste. 3. Place a layer of guacamole on top of the bean dip being careful to spread it gently on top so it stays a separate layer. 4. Mix the sour cream and taco seasoning. Spread the mixture on top of the guacamole carefully. 5. Shred cheese and sprinkle on top of sour cream mixture. 6. Slice the scallion, tomatoes and olives and place on top. 7. Wrap with saran wrap and place in the fridge until ready to serve.

I like to serve these with a bowl of Tostitos scoop chips. YUM