Tuesday, September 21, 2010

My first "Homestead Blessings" Review--Bread-making!

(See my post HERE for more info on my new "Homestead Blessings" collection!)

The only DVD I have watched so far is "The Art of Bread-Making" and I loved it!!!  Just seeing how simple the whole process really is and how the West girls explain each step so clearly, was wonderful.  Plus, they threw in lots of tips and extra info just so you know why you use what you use and why you do things a certain way..and why each food has a different bread recipe!  And I don't know about you, but I like knowing the reasoning behind the methods!

They show you how to make both basic breads and quick breads...

So the video includes the following bread recipes:
Basic Bread
Sourdough Bread
Cinnamon Rolls
Hamburger Buns (I'm sure this would be handy for my hometown friend, Candace, who makes a different burger every Friday!)
Pizza Dough
Stuffed Bread Sticks
A "Loaf Meal" (more below)
Corn Bread

I was so excited about all of them, I didn't know where to start!  But I finally decided to be a bit daring and give the "Meal Loaf" a try.  In the video, they show you how to make a breakfast loaf (eggs, sausage, zucchini and squash) but I decided to branch out and make it in what I'm calling a "Pizza Loaf".

I made the bread first...
 Then I started working on some homemade pizza sauce (I wanted the WHOLE meal to be from scratch!)...

My hubby LOVED it!  He wants me to keep it around as marinara to dip in! 

My Pizza Sauce:
Tomato Sauce
Olive Oil
Garlic
Basil
Rosemary
Oregano


After the bread had it's second rise, I rolled out my dough and added my Pizza mixture to it...

My Pizza Mixture:
Pizza Sauce
Hamburger
Onion
Green Peppers
Cheese
Garlic
Butter
Salt
(and I think I threw in some other stuff as I went along!)

Then I did a little decorating (the video shows you how to do this)...
Then
came
the
reward
of 
all
that
hard
work...
I was
SO
excited 
to 
see 
the finished
product!

VOILA!!!

I brushed on some garlic butter and topped it with mozzarella cheese and IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!

The thing I loved about this recipe, is that I was able to make TWO "meal loafs", PLUS an extra loaf of just plain "Basic Bread"!!!  So three food items for the work of one!

I took the extra Pizza Loaf to a recent widow (the mom of one of my most precious friends, Morgan- she lost her dad unexpectedly just weeks ago-Please pray for the "Ward" family!)

So all in all, my first baking experience was fast, smooth and without any mistakes...I attribute that to the thorough tutorial I got from my "Homestead Blessings"!  (I am NOT very homemaker-minded or talented!!)

And guess what?  There's more to come--I've already made the cinnamon rolls and the stuffed bread sticks!!!  (I told ya I was feeling better!)

10 comments:

Grace said...

Yum!!! Nice work Grace! I can't wait to hear more!

Lori said...

YUMMY!!!!! Also those DVD's look fun! I had never heard of them.

Danielle said...

ummm...my mouth is watering!!! I may need to come be your apprentice!!! :)

Rachel said...

That looks too pretty to eat- it's like food art!

Jenilee said...

oh that looks sooooo good!! GREAT JOB!!! and glad you are feeling better!

Candace said...

Oooh that looks so GOOD! I'm so excited that your first bread turned out so great! And YES I'll definitely need to try those Hamburger Buns!

Cheri Bunch said...

Lovely!

Proud of you, Grace.

Gwen T said...

Looks wonderful, Grace!!! So glad you're feeling better - that makes such a huge difference for the whole family doesn't it?

Alice said...

YUMMY!!! That looks so amazing! I am so so glad to see you feeling better too!

The Blackley Tribe said...

Okay, I just cleaned the drool up off of my computer...not so much from the pizza, although it looked delish, but from the homesteading dvds. They look awesome! I can't wait to hear more about them!
ps-I'm glad that you're beginning to feel better!

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