Best Yet Walnut Bread

Sometimes the best way to figure out what to bake is just to read recipes aloud. Someone will let you know, loudly, what they want (Dylan). This is not a recipe I would have chosen since it seems a little plain but it caught Dylan's attention so I thought I would give it a go. It is from my handwritten green cookbook and probably from the 1940's-ish. 

I do not have the best of luck with breads but let's try. Looks super easy!

This is such a simple recipe with everything readily available. Who doesn't have flour, milk, and walnuts around?

All dry ingredients are mixed. All wet ingredients are mixed. Walnuts are waiting patiently. 

Easy peasy mixing! It did turn out quite thick.

Added the walnuts. They got tired of waiting.

As I mentioned before, I do not have very good luck with breads. I have a 8 inch bread pan and it looks like the dough is just enough. My main problem is that the bread overflows! This does not look like it will. I have hope!

At 60 minutes the center was still a bit runny. Same with 70! I had to bake it for 80 minutes for the center to come out clean. It also looks like it the edges are a bit hard. Smells delicious but I'm afraid it is overbaked.

I had to warm up a slice and add a nice smear of butter. Do Not Put Vintage Dishes in the Microwave! or Dishwasher! They will be destroyed, shattered into a million pieces and you will be crying on the floor.

This was surprisingly yummy! The ends were ends hard as a rock but the insides was nice and moist. I would probably try this again with a larger pan. The walnuts were spread evenly throughout. I enjoyed it! I kept feeling like something was missing but I think I am too used to banana bread. I have to admit: I have never had just plain walnut bread. 

My Rating: Definitely a keeper!

Dylan's Rating: This is so delicious! Ends are a bit hard.

Banana Bread

 Okay I am tired of bananas. Tired of looking for new recipes and tired of baking with them. Luckily, (I think) when we lost power due to the storm we lost my entire shelf of frozen bananas. I am annoyed but not upset. I was planning to make a bunch of banana muffins and freeze them. Darn. Oh well! Right before the storm, I made this banana bread recipe from the 1963 edition of Charleston Receipts but as giant muffins. Because muffins are great but giant muffins are better! 

Super easy looking, nothing unusual or special. No judgement so far. It could still be amazing...

Hmmm....Everything is so white...

Just getting everything prepped. Eggs beaten and bananas mashed!

Just creaming shortening and trying to get artsy. I think it's a cool pic. What do you think?

Everything is all ready to mix together. I debated on pulling out the standing mixer but it was not necessary. I love my mixer but sometimes it is too heavy to deal with.

This recipe made the perfect amount for 6 large muffins. Just for fun I added a light dusting of raw sugar on half the muffins. I am hoping for a lovely layer of crunch on them!

These baked up beautifully! So...I have no idea which ones had the sugar on top. It looks like the sugar just sank in. Interesting.

Isn't this a great looking muffin?!

This was an easy recipe with pretty common ingredients. They baked up very nicely, are moist, and have a good flavor. But, as I suspected, nothing special or unique. Dylan did not share my opinion. If you are looking for a tasty and simple recipe than this one is perfect however I would probably add nuts or cinnamon next time. Or more sugar on top. 

My Rating: Good but not great

Dylan's Rating: Delicious! They are a little dry but overall they are great.

Dill Rolls

Out of all the recipes I try, bread is the worst! I live with a penguin so it is already difficult to find a warm area for it to rise and nothing turns out right. I have tried several. I am ready to give up. I don't eat a lot of breads so it was more for the challenge than anything else. Then my mother found a great little pamphlet from the 1940's, I think, The Art of Making Bread...At Home put out by the Northwestern Yeast Company. The regular bread recipes all made 4-5 loaves. I do not need that much bread if it turns out and I don't want to waste all the ingredients. So let's try rolls! I have a beautiful dill plant in the garden so....Dill Rolls!

I don't know exactly what my mother was doing when she found this great pamphlet. Cleaning out something. She also gave me a 1970's Rival Crock-Pot cookbook to go with my beautiful bright orange crock-pot and a 1930's cake cookbook.

Rolls don't look too difficult but a bit time consuming.

First! Have to make the sponge. A quick online search to get the measurement of a yeast cake (2 1/4 tsp) and we are off.

Yeasties going to work! I've had such bad luck with breads that I actually tested the yeast before committing myself. 

Everything looks good so far. I waited until Dylan was out of town for the weekend since I needed to keep the kitchen at a warmer temperature. This lovely mix had to sit out overnight.

The next day...it's time to make the bread! I looked over several recipes online to get an idea on the amount of dill I should use. I ended up with about 1.5 Tablespoons.

I am so surprised! The sponge rose nicely. Looks much better than the water with melted shortening behind it.

Now I am getting concerned...looks soupy...

Still looking soupy with the dill... The dill smells amazing!

Time to knead! But this great pamphlet has step by step instructions with pictures on how to knead bread. I love this book!

It is starting to look like bread now. I'm already getting the feeling that I did not add enough dill.

The dough had to rise 2 more times but it looked great!

I decided to make crusty rolls instead of just plain rolls so I could keep several in the freezer for later. But first, they have to rise. Again.

They are finally ready to bake. I never knew bread could take 2 days to make!

Smells so good...I should have done a better job at making them the same size but I had already spent almost 2 days on the damn things.

They look so pretty! But hard to see the dill.

These were light with a slight crust and, sadly, almost no dill flavor. I definitely need to add a lot more dill! Besides that, they were great! Delicious sliced in half with butter, as a sandwich, or even as a hamburger bun. I kept catching Dylan sneaking off with them as a snack. I want to make these again but not as crust rolls. Put them close together in a pan and have rolls without sides like back in school. All in all these were very easy to make and, while they did take 2 days to do, not a lot of it was active. The only problem was keeping the kitchen warm enough to let the dough to rise. I will not be able to make these while Dylan is home and cranking the ACs up. 

My Rating: Keeper!

Dylan's Rating: "I love these! They were perfect to freeze and thaw out as needed. 10 minutes in the oven at 325."

Banana Bread

I made a comment the other day about how many bananas I had stored in my freezer so my mother suggested this recipe. An easy, quick banana bread! And my boyfriend loves banana bread...what a coincidence...

This cookbook was given to mom from my grandma and she uses it often. It is a 1945 edition of the Culinary Arts Encyclopedic Cookbook. I will probably explore it more later.

I had pecans, pistachios, hazelnuts, and peanuts so we had to make a trip to the store. I decided on walnuts.

I realized after I took the photo that I was missing the shortening. But I'm sure you know what that looks like. I grabbed a few frozen bananas but I still have several in the freezer.

 I was trying to do an artsy pouring photo. It didn't work.

It's starting to look good!

The only loaf pan I have is an 8 inch and not a 9 inch. I don't know why. It's too small for almost all loaf recipes and I always remember that right after I start making bread. I need a new pan. I'll probably forget by the next time though.

Yum...forget candles! My apartment smells like baking!

 The edges got a little too dark but the inside was perfect!

With a normal sized loaf pan this would have turned out perfect. I actually prefer muffins and usually make those instead of a loaf but my boyfriend (I guess I should give him a name...Dylan) requested a loaf. My mother swears by this recipe and I see why. So easy! So delicious! It made a great breakfast with coffee. I think Dylan purposely bought more bananas than he can eat this past shopping trip.

My Rating: Yum! I'll definitely make again.

Dylan's Rating: "This is really good! We should make a couple more and freeze them just in case."

Date Cheese Bread

Date bread sounds good. Cheese bread sounds good. Who would think to combine them? Wisconsin of course. This interesting bit comes from the 1964 pamphlet Favorite Recipes from America's Dairyland, Wisconsin's World Fair Edition, published by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.

 I couldn't get a genuine Wisconsin egg or Wisconsin milk but I did have some delicious Wisconsin cheese.

 Mix the dry. Mix the wet. and...

 Combine!

 It actually doesn't look bad.

 Okay, it looks worse in the pan.

 I think my bread pan was a bit too small and it looks like the tempurature was too low as well.

 The dates looked great through the bread but I lost cheese somewhere in there.

 Had to add some butter!

The bread was just okay by itself. It almost tasted like wheat bread. But when I added the butter...Wow! The dates add a nice touch of sweetness and then you get a bite of sharp cheddar. Yum.

My Rating: Good but not great.

Friends and Family Rating:"Surprisingly good!" "You would not think that these 2 things go together but it is great!"