Greek Celebration Bread

This bread is also known as Artos bread. It was the 2nd bread that was baked for the BBA Challenge. Some who made the bread got really fancy and put dried fruit or nuts in it. Some made theirs into fancy braids. I just stuck with the plain version.

This was really fun to make and I have discovered that I enjoy making bread. I made it last weekend and determined that I should have halved the recipe. This makes a huge loaf of bread. It was monstrous! I put together the poolish the night before as the starter. It is a sweeter bread with a bunch of spices (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg) and honey. I brushed the top of the bread when it came out of the oven with honey, lemon and sesame seeds.

The bread was delicious. It was soft and worked perfectly for french toast that the boys inhaled. Everyone really liked it.

This weekend I may attempt to make bagels. We'll see?

You Capture. Feel.

Check out how all the others captured 'Feel' at Beth's. There are some really good ones!

Cinnamon Squares - TWD

Cinnamon squares while baking = house that smells like a Yankee candle factory!

These cinnamon squares are wonderful! Not only did they make my house smell divine while baking but everyone really enjoyed them. Especially Brock, who inhaled them. He even requested that I make this "cake" for his birthday! I was quite surprised that he liked them as much as he did. There was a lot of cinnamon and coffee flavor. Especially for a 5 year old.

Tracey from Tracey's Culinary Adventures was the TWD chooser this week. I'll admit that I wasn't too excited to make these cake squares. I didn't think that the picture in Dorie's cookbook (pages 210-211) did them justice. But, they sure were a hit.

This recipe is easy and doesn't require a lot of thinking. Just the kind of recipe I really like. I used a mixture of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate throughout.


Next Tuesday: Parisian Apple Tartlet

Chicken Turnovers

I have had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time. I found it at 3 Sides of Crazy and thought that it looked fun and tasty. Tamy has her recipe posted HERE and I will also post it below.

Here is my salsa, guacamole, green onions, chicken and cheese.

I did find this recipe a little time consuming, probably because I had to make the guacamole, shred the chicken and roll out the biscuits before stuffing. Good thing that Ben agreed to help me or it would have taken me much longer.

Here are the turnovers almost ready to be cooked.

And the finished product!


Chicken Turnovers

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used a rotissiere chicken)

1 large bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup guacamole (see notes below)
1 can refrigerator biscuits, grand size
1 cup shredded shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine in large bowl the salsa, guacamole, green onions, chicken and cheese.

On a floured board between wax paper layers, roll out each biscuit to about double the original size. Fill each biscuit with chicken mixture and fold over into a moon shape. Press the edges firmly to seal. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a side of sour cream and salsa for dipping.

For the guacamole, I searched for a simple one at FoodGawkr. I love this site! I used this recipe and made some modifications, such as halving the recipe. I also used regular salt instead of Kosher. It was good...but I prefer my own recipe that includes jalapenos and cheddar cheese. But for the turnovers and this recipe it was perfect.

Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream - TWD

Way back in August of last year this blueberry ice cream was chosen. It was originally chosen by Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. You can find the recipe HERE or on page 434 in Dorie's cookbook.

I was not part of the group at that time. But last week I found an ice cream maker and decided to practice and use it for the first time with this recipe.

Maybe I shouldn't have got an ice cream maker. I really should be concentrating on my diet and exercising. But...this was really good. It was also fun to make. Ben and Brock loved it and were disappointed that it only made a pint. I assured them that they would have ice cream again within the next 2 weeks. That peach honey choice is going to be good!

Crispy Fish Fingers - CEiMB

Living in Wisconsin....I value a good fish fry. I love going out for dinner on Friday nights and getting a good fish fry (although it doesn't have to be beer battered) with french fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and of course a nice soft marbled rye bread. YUMMY! I was very excited to make these fish sticks when I saw that it had been chosen.

Anne of rainforest recipes chose the Crispy Fish Fingers. You can find the recipe HERE or HERE. Be sure to check out Anne's blog though. She actually lives in a Guatemalan rainforest. I don't think that I could ever do that. OK. I know that I couldn't! I don't even like to go camping longer than 2 days in a row.

I am sure that some of my fellow Ellie pals really enjoyed these fish fingers which have a very healthy spin on them. I just did not! First, I couldn't find any flounder filets at the store. I went with the mix of northern and walleye fillets that my dad had given to us from one of his fishing excursions. Oh, I wish that I hadn't of wasted them on this recipe. I even doubled the recipe because I had close to 2 lbs of fish thawed and didn't want to waste any. Sigh.

I am thinking the reason I didn't like them was due to the whole wheat flour. I thought that they didn't have any flavor and were just bland with a slight nutty taste. Very, very bland. I guess if you are going to eat a fish with breading, it should be deep fried. The one thing good about this recipe though is the mock tartar sauce. It was quite tasty and would taste great with some other fish.

You Capture. Family

Obviously this is not my family. But a family nonetheless! I captured this "family" out and about earlier this week! I tried to get closer but didn't want to get hissed at.

I probably should have made a better attempt to get a picture of my family but all of my guys have been sick around here. In fact at least one of us has been under the weather at one time for the past 2+ weeks. I didn't want to cheat and dig into my archives or more to the point - I hate having my picture taken.

Don't forget to head over to Beth's and check out everyone's You Capture for Family this week.