Parmesan Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs that I grow.  When making a pan of focaccia the other evening, I felt I needed to make it  different  than the usual.  I went outside and snipped a few sprigs of rosemary from the potted rosemary plant on my deck. I chopped the rosemary and also grated some fresh Parmesan to garnish  along with a drizzling of olive oil on the top of the dimpled bread. It sure made the plain dough so much better and the aroma of the herbal bread baking smelled so wonderful. Try serving this bread alongside Hearty Minestrone Soup.

Parmesan Rosemary Focaccia Bread
(Printable Recipe)
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 cup very warm water
2 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
21/2 cups flour (I use 1 cup plain flour and 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese grated
1/4 cup chopped rosemary
3 extra sprigs rosemary for garnishing the top

Dissolve yeast with water. Add the oil, salt, sugar and flour and mix in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to rest. Roll out on a stone or baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil on top of the dimpled rolled dough. Sprinkle cheese on top and garnish with rosemary sprigs. Cover and let rise for about 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated 425 oven for about 15 minutes.

Chocolate Raspberry Mayonnaise? Cake

Recently, I had a sudden craving for chocolate cake.  I checked the refrigerator and found that I was out of eggs.  As I was thinking about past cakes I have made, I remembered this moist, chocolate mayonnaise cake that I had made a long time ago and conveniently, the recipe does not require eggs!  Because I had a jar of raspberry preserves and some fresh raspberries on hand, I dressed it up a little more.

Chocolate Raspberry Mayonnaise Cake
(Printable Recipe)
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, cocoa, soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, mayonnaise, water and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and stir until well-blended. Pour batter into two greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans. Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes, then turn out of pan onto  a cooling rack.

To make the frosting, melt the butter and stir in the cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency, adding more milk if needed.

To assemble, spread bottom cake layer with raspberry preserves. Add 1/4 cup frosting on top of raspberry preserves and spread evenly. Add the second layer on top of first layer. Frost cake with remainder of frosting and garnish with fresh raspberries.

Simple Pancake Recipe

This is my simple pancake recipe I have used for years.  It seems to be pretty foolproof.  I usually make it with whole wheat flour and sometimes I add fresh blueberries.  It makes a small batch so you may wish to double the recipe for a large family.


Pancakes
(printable recipe)
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil


Combine dry ingredients in small bowl.  Make well in center.  Add egg, milk and oil.  Blend into dry mixture until smooth.  


Heat skillet on stove to medium heat.  Spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  When hot, add 1/3 cup batter. When bubbles appear all over pancake, flip and cook other side until golden and done.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

I was hoping for a light and tasty biscuit when I decided to switch up my regular biscuit and use whole wheat flour and Earth Balance spread.  The results pleased me and I will be making these again.  

Whole Wheat Biscuits

(printable recipe)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup Earth Balance natural buttery spread

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Sift together dry ingredients into bowl.  Cut in the buttery spread until resembles coarse crumbs. Make a hollow in the mixture and pour in enough buttermilk to make a soft dough.  Mix quickly with fork until dough clings together and leaves sides of bowl.  

Turn out onto floured surface.  Knead a few time until dough is manageable.  Roll 1/2" thick.  Cut with floured biscuit cutter.  Place biscuts close together on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.

Grilled Pineapple with Ginger Thyme Shaved Ice

If you're hot from being out in the humidity, this treat is the one for you! I had been wanting to use more of my herbs that I have been growing all summer and saw a cooking show on filling ice cube trays with a variety of juices and sodas. The pineapple was still warm and the ice treat melted quickly. It was still tasty but I would have liked to savored the treat more. It melted too fast. The next time I will have the pineapple at room temperature and the shaved ice made ahead , so you can just pull the  ice treat out of the freezer to be scooped and dolloped on the fruit.

Fill ice cube trays with any fun flavored soda.  I made mine with ginger beer and fresh thyme. Freeze for several hours till set. Remove and put ice in a food processor for a few seconds till it is like shaved ice.  Store in freezer until ready to use. Meanwhile, grill fresh sliced pineapple until browned and soft. Set aside to cool at room temperature. Scoop out shaved ice and put on a slice of grilled pineapple.