Tuesday--A Day at Home

Today, a day with my grandson, the light of our lives. My man brought home a yummy coffee at lunch time, a surprise visit that made my day! This afternoon, I had lots of snuggles, lots of play time and fun with my little chatterbox. He is so funny- and I LOVE emergent language!
We took time this afternoon to watch some lovely music on you tube while we waited for bread to rise. He helped my with the bread--and watched as I chopped broccoli and cauliflower for Cheese and Trees soup. I think I will put the recipe below for one of our favourite cold day meals. And I do mean cold. It may only be -13 or -14 outside, but the wind is taking it down to -25 or so. This means our water still is not getting fixed! It has been one week and I am getting a bit tired of it! Oh well, I should be grateful that we do have lovely clean running water most of the time! So, here is the recipe:

Cheese and Trees Soup

2 cups broccoli, chopped into small pieces

2 cups cauliflower, chopped into small pieces

Put these into a heatproof bowl and add:

1 c water

Cook in a microwave on high for 15 minutes. Add 1/3 c chicken stock powder. Add 1 tsp Dijon mustard. Pour these all into a slow cooker and put on HI.

In the emptied bowl, place 1/2 c. butter and melt for one minute in microwave. When it is melted, add 3/4 c flour and stir into a smooth paste. Add 2 c hot water, stir again and put into microwave for 2 minutes, until bubbling. Add 1 more cup of water, stir into smooth paste, then add 3 c. cheddar, grated (or a cheddar mix, pre-grated) and stir until smooth. Put into microwave for one more minute, then pour over the vegetables in the crock pot. Turn to LO, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Serve with:

Pizza Bread

1/3 c hand warm water*

1 Tb yeast

1/3 c sugar

Let these activate to bubbling. Add:

1/3 c oil, 

1 Tb salt, 

1 Tb Greek seasoning mix

2 c. hand warm water*

Flour until this mix is tacky but not sticky. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until it feels elastic, about 8 minutes. Rise in a warm spot for about an hour, until doubled. Turn it out onto the board and cut into 2 pieces. Shape one into a football and place it on a stone to rise about 45 minutes to an hour, until doubled. With the other piece, stretch it out on a stone to about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle grated cheese on it--I used Feta. Let rise about 15 minutes, then place into 400F oven for 25 minutes until golden. Cook the cottage loaf in the same oven, for about 30 minutes.

* Hand warm= when books ask for the water or milk to be 104F, that is simply warmer than your hand, so the water or milk is starting to be warm, but not hot.

Let me know if you try this recipe. Nothing better on a windy cold day than soup and fresh bread!!