Jul 03 2008
Bake :: Make
The incessant reading stopped for one night (although I did listen to an audiobook) when it was time to bake some bread. Over Father’s Day weekend, my sister Mimi gave me an Amish Friendship Bread starter. I made my first batch of bread over the weekend at the beach, choosing banana walnut. I had a hard time giving away my new starters (hmm… I guess this means I don’t have any friends?) so, I ended up having three more starters for the next batch, ten days later.
So, it truly was a bake night. Three batches – six loaves.
First batch (above): Almond/Raisin/Flaxseed
Second: Lemon (low poppyseed count, we were running out!)
Third: Chocolate/Walnut/Coconut
Smelling so sweet. And they all turned out quite delicious. I took the second batch into work, and I came back to a completely empty plate (not even a crumb!) so, it must have been a hit (well, that, or those people will eat anything!) The beauty of it? I have more starters on top of my fridge – two are spoken for, but that leaves me with two still! Need to get creative and come up with some other flavours (maybe one of the garden zucchinis will be ready by then? or a carrot?) Ideas?
We have been enjoying the first greens from the garden and the fresh vegetables and fruits from the farmers’ market. Meals around here have been both delicious (if I say so myself) and quite colorful too!
Stuffed pepper (bulgur + carrots) and greens from the garden
Freshly squeezed cherry lemonade
My own variation of rajma and fresh naan
…and while things are simmering or baking in the oven, I can manage to get a few rows completed on a knitting project. My newest project on the needles? The Silk Garden socks – I am absolutely loving this colorway.
My stomach is growling (I probably should’ve eaten some breakfast before checking this out). Everything looks so delicious, in particular the Rajma and nan (thanks for the link – although yours looks so much tastier than the original)!
that is a lot of bread!!!!! luckily you can bring it into work….I think zucchini or carrot would be wonderful!
I have so many greens from the CSA I’m at a loss – kale, chard and collards!!! Any good ideas besides steaming them?
I really love that colorway as well. It’s so subtle and natural. Lovely.
YUM! I can smell those bread loaves all the way over here!
I am so curious about the flavors of all the bread I have seen posted around blogland. They look so tasty
The stuffed peppers look delicious too, they are one of my faves.
Mmmm, the breads look wonderful! I personally vote for zucchini bread, it’s so yummy, and chock full of veg!
The silk garden socks are beautiful…that colorway is so zen.
Great pictures as always! Gorgeous dinner.
i’ll eat your bread!
YUM!
That colorway is so beautiful! And the bread – so very tasty!
That bread looks delicious. I have never heard of Amish Friendship bread before, somehow, and am fascinated by this giving-away-of-starters aspect of it.
I love the colorway of your new socks-in-progress…so perfect for AIR!
Ohhhh! That food looks so good!
Everything looks absolutely delicious, especially your version of rajma!
Wow! It looks like you guys have been eating so well! I am such a slacker in the food department. Next year I am definitely having a garden.
All of that bread, it’s a beautiful thing!
I can smell baking bread just by looking at your pictures! I really love baking, but since we moved into an unfurnished house for the interim, I’ll have to be without my beloved KitchenAid mixer (so sad) and any other equipment. I love how crafty people are crafty in so many different aspects of their lives!
That looks completely amazing! All of it, including the socks – wow, so lovely! I must get my mitts on some of that Noro yarn. I have never heard of rajma before so thanks for the link, it’s going onto my to cook list!
What scrumptious-looking treats! You’ve inspired me to start my cooking for the barbecue we’ll be going to tomorrow at my brother-in-laws…red, white and blue potato salad and and Asian chicken slaw. And if I’m really ambitious – blackberry crisp!
Hey, you’re back from Canada now – we spell flavor without a “u” here
I don’t know how well bread starter travels, but I’d gladly accept some when you come to visit (I hope you’re still coming!). It will solidify our friendship.
The breads sound delish! You could make some with dried fruit, like currents or cherries. Orange and dried cranberry is always good, and fresh blueberries would be yummy, too.
You made me pause b/c the food looks absolutely delicious! But even more so b/c I need to know WHERE I can get the SG sock yarn?!?! ;o) Please do tell!
All of it looks ultra-delish per your norm…maybe an upside to my kids being gone is that we can eat more wacky vegetables!
Such gorgeous photos of delicious looking food. Thanks for the link to Archana’s kitchen – while I am not vegetarian, I am on a pulse eating kick, and love Indian dal recipes.
Looks like you have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen. My cooking/baking mojo has returned as well – I think the return of fresh produce helps. One of these days I’ll blog about some of the fun.
One suggestion for your bread, for a more savory taste go with zuchinni, chopped basil & a bit of parm cheese. I made some muffins like that last month that were amazing.
mmmm, i love homemade indian food!
So delicious. I already feel like am famished!
This a most delicious post!!
What lovely food!
Almond Flaxseed bread sounds wonderful! And your rajma looks fantastic.
Have a great fouth of July!
Amanda
What fabulous goodies – the pictures are gorgeous! And those socks, so understated – I love them.
Ooooh, that colourway is gorgeous. I would love it if you could post the recipes for some of these wonders. They look delicious!
<3
Mmmmm…. – your food pictures look absolutely wonderful. And the socks will be beautiful too.
I should have eaten before I read this post. Everything looks wonderful and I am really hungry right now! The stuffed pepper and salad greens look heavenly!
I have that colorway in the regular silk garden. I really like it too.
What is an “Amish Friendship Bread” starter?! I think I must have one!!! Do tell!
Oh…I’ll take a bread starter…well at least the recipe to start my own because you wouldn’t want to mail that stuff to me :>). Don’t you just love picking fresh goodness from the garden?
Wow, a big YUM to all those photos. What eye candy!
The breads all sound delicious (and all your food pictures have me drooling)!
Your Silk Garden sock is lovely
wow: knitting, weaving and baking: are you superwoman or what?
Dagnabbit Lolly! How do you find the time to do all of this great stuff? You amaze me.
I got so overwhelmed with Amish starters when I was in high school – i didn’t know who to give them to! But i certainly wasn’t clever enough to turn it into different flavors. Now I want to try it again, hah.
That Rajma and naan, though – now that’s what I REALLY want to make right now!
Well I guess we are both without enough friends because I need a friend to GIVE me some starter! It’s been years since I’ve ‘kept’ some and the bread is so incredibly delicious! I’ll have to dig up my old recipe for starter now that I’ve been tempted with your bread!
I’m intrigued by your Indian vegetarian cooking, do you have a cookbook or fly by the seat of your pants (so to speak).
I recieved some starter several months ago and after making several loaves and giving bags of starter away I wanted to find a way to keep one going for myself without having to be baking continually. Allrecipes.com has a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread Starter. Several people who wrote in to comment on the recipe said they had frozen it on the last day of the cycle and defrosted it when they wanted a loaf starting back again on day 1 of the cycle. I have done this twice so far and have not noticed any difference in the quality of the baked loaf. Hope this helps.
A very delicious post indeed – love the cherry lemonade and that sock!
Such yummy goodness! Wonderful colorway for those socks.
Those pictures look yummy! I’m getting hungry now.
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I was given 2 Amish friendship bread starters maybe 2 months ago… it was my husband’s boss’s mother, so she gave us each one (like my husband is going to bake). I just made the basic cinnamon bread recipe that she gave us with the starter, but your breads sound nicer. I wish I had kept it going, but I got busy the next week and forgot to feed it.
I did find a recipe to start your own starter online, though, so maybe I will try again with more creative breads. Where did you come up with the recipes you used?
Amish Friendship bread – I’m very intrigued. Off to google. Thank you for sharing!