Asiago Cheese Semolina Braid with Prosciutto Crumbles

Bacon, egg, and cheese bread – that’s what my friends are calling this recipe.  I just couldn’t get the idea of a savory brunch braid out of my mind. I love braiding dough. I’ll use any excuse to make homemade bread look prettier for the table. So many braids are sweet and creamy and fruity (Exhibit A: my Hot Cross Cream Cheese Braid from last spring). I thought to myself, what a great challenge to make a really cheesy, garlicky, savory one. My friends have not complained once through an extended testing phase.

Asiago cheese, milk, and eggs enrich strong dough made from Hodgson Mill Semolina Pasta Flour and White Whole Wheat Flour. The finished golden brown braid is covered with another sprinkle of cheese and crisp, bacon-like crumbles of prosciutto for a huge punch of flavor. Bar none, this is some of the best toast I’ve ever eaten.

To get started, mix warm milk, butter, and yeast proofed in warm water with a little flour and the asiago cheese. Then mix in the rest of the flour to make a stiff dough.

Apple Butterscotch Blondies

Do you remember that scene in the old Disney cartoon of Johnny Appleseed, when the pioneers are laying a table, and every single dish is made with apples? The song runs through my head as I chop up apples of all kinds to bake or snack on lately.

“There’s apple pickles, oh so tasty,
Apple tarts and apple pastry,
Apple dumplings, not to mention apple sass –yeah!
There’s apple fritters light as thistle,
And for folks to wet their whistle,
Tangy apple cider in our hands . . .”

– Walt Disney 1948 short, “Johnny Appleseed”

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

I think the moment I realized it was fall was when I cut into my first butternut squash of the season and the absolute shocking, but gorgeous, Halloween-orange color was revealed. Somehow, the color had faded in my memory since last winter; but take a look at it now– it’s absolutely glorious. It practically screams “Vitamins! Nutrients! Good stuff!”

Gluten Free Apple Butter Pancakes

Remember how I said I had a produce problem? The madness continues – it is well and truly apple season! The days are getting cooler, there are frostings of color on the treetops here, and there are little sunset-colored globes bursting with flavor in the fruit section and the farmers market. Love, love, love! Fall is amazing. And filling.

I was having fun with Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix—the basic pancakes are lovely on their own, but I wanted to see if I could pack some fall flavor that I’ve been craving into the finished product. I’ve found I could easily interchange regular wheat-flour pancakes with this gluten-free mix. And then I can invite friends who don’t eat gluten to brunch. 

Easy Homemade Polenta: A How-To

I have a produce problem. This time of year, I can’t resist buying as many fresh vegetables off of farmers’ market tables as I have biceps to tote them home. Peaches, apples, beets, cabbages, tomatoes, eggplants and kale. . . . my crisper is full to bursting.

Polenta to the rescue! It’s simple to make, as long as you have some time to pay attention, but once you’ve got a batch, it makes a perfect base for many dishes and sauces — including my farmer’s market largesse. It’s also a tasty alternative to pasta, so I like to use it to shake up my routine. I especially love the contrast of the bright, smooth, melt-in-your-mouth polenta, a sprinkling of rich, nutty parmesan cheese and a twist of black pepper against fresh crisp vegetables and tangy tomato sauce. I’m also amazed that it’s only  three ingredients — stone-ground Hodgson Mill Corn Meal, water, and salt — I thought there must be something more to it. I was wrong. Deliciously wrong.

This will be a pictorial lesson, thanks to my good friend Kevin Good, who took these gorgeous photos. Thanks Kevin!

Plum Orange Anise Breakfast Cake with Multigrain Cereal

This is a real, true-blue breakfast cake – I woke up especially early this week to bake it to fit it into my crazy schedule. (I am not a morning person, so those who know me know that this was quite an event.) But knowing this cake was downstairs waiting for me got me out of bed this morning, for sure.

What’s a breakfast cake, you might say? Well, it has to go well with a cup of coffee – which this one does. Beyond that, though, it’s a tricky balancing act between being just wholesome enough to be ok for breakfast, and just sweet enough to be considered a cake.