The End and the Beginning

Well.... Bakerista, Burgermeister and I are wrapping up our year together. After nine months of muffins, Athanasius, cookies, Dante, Sandwiches, Shakespeare, Pasta, Logic, Rhetoric, Grammar, Western Civ, Government and Soup, we are tired and ready for summer. Granted, we are close friends so our summer involves us working surf camps together, going to movies and you can be guaranteed a good dose of BBQs and cooking. But the usual routine is on hold until September. I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to be their teacher. I spend my days laughing and teaching. I pray they have learned the importance of beauty, laughter, hard work, and perseverance. But most importantly I hope they have learned to look at the world and see the work and storytelling of their Maker. I hope they love Him more because they have learned more about Him. And I hope they have seen His love manifested through me to them. This is a year that I will never forget. A year that has changed me and has changed them. I could never ask for better students, and I am eternally grateful and I cannot wait for another year on this journey with them. I hope you have enjoyed the food side of our journey. I can promise you there is more to come. But for now we say goodbye.

Much love to you all,

Jordan, Bakerista, Burgermeister and Fusty.

The Tomato Soup Dilemma.....

Well.... There are always those moments when you are so sure you have it all figured out. Then something happens that throws a big ol wrench in your plans. That happened this last Friday when Bakerista, Burgermeister and I had planned our meal. Waffle Iron grilled cheese (grilled ham for Burgermeister) and tomato soup. It had been a busy week, so we were going to be lazy and buy the tomato soup. Looking back, how dare I? But as I said, I was feeling lazy. Anyhow, somehow the soup was forgotten in the grocery shopping and all the cars were in use. It was lunch time. What do we do? We make it of course. Oh wait. There are no tomatoes. Canned or fresh. None to be found. I was sure that there was no way to make tomato soup without tomatoes. But, I was wrong. I put on my creative cooking cap, (hair in a messy bun) and figured it out. There may have been no tomatoes. But there were cans of plain tomato sauce. There was onion, garlic, cream and chicken stock. Miracles do happen. So I chopped half an onion, cooked it in olive oils with two cloves of garlic. Then I dumped three cans of plain tomato sauce in the pot. Then I added chicken stock. Here is the trouble. I don't know how much. Just until it looked right. Then I brought it all to a boil. Salt and pepper where added as well as 1/3 cup of one part heavy whipping cream one part half n half. I poured that in and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Then I fried five strips of bacon, chopped them up and tossed them in there with about half the grease. Normally I would have pureed it in the blender, but Bakerista loves onions so much, I didn't dare rob her of the chunky onion goodness. I was very nervous about how this soup would turn out. I tasted it. "Little jig of happiness" SOOOOOO GOOD!!! Consider me very happy. My students liked it, Fusty liked it. Moms liked it. Overall a potential wrench induced disaster turned into a success. I was reminded of something that my favorite author G.K Chesterton said. "An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." That statement has shaped the way I look at the many "wrenches" that have been thrown into my plans over the years. That is something I daily try to instill in Bakerista and Burgermeister. So instead of a life full of frustration and discontentment, they will have one full of laughter and gratitude. I am currently taking a break from studying Shakespeare's Henry V play to write this blog post. Burgermeister is answering review questions for Logic and Bakerista is answering questions about the proper composition of English sonnets. Just a usual morning for us. I am grateful for the routine, yet when the wrenches get thrown by a kind and winsome Creator, I hope my response is to burst out in laughing gratitude rather than irritation. This is not really a recipe post. It 's more of a story post! Next post I am going to share the story of the infamous "Valentine's Day Party". And my Chesterton quote was certainly put to the test that day. That post will have many recipes attached to it. Trust me. So many.

The Italian Stallion...

No. This post has nothing to do with Rocky Balboa or horses from Italy for those of you who sadly have no idea who this 80's film hero is. It does however have a great deal to do with Italian food. I love Italian food. If there is one place in the world I want to go it is Italy. This coming from a girl that has never been to Hawaii. I love all things Italian. Thankfully so do Bakerista and Burgermeister. Several months ago, the father and mother of Bakerista and Burgermeister as well as their three younger, rather precocious brothers, handed me the keys to their house and monster car and drove away for the weekend. I organized archery competitions in the back yard and used ice cream bars to bribe the younger boys into the cleanest rooms they have ever had. Because things were going so smoothly I decided to tackle homemade pasta sauce, homemade foccachia, scratch made noodles and homemade nutella cheesecake moose cups. Burgermeister was gone, so only Bakerista was there to help me. It was a challenge but in the end a major success as the third oldest informed me that it was a "masterpiece in my mouth." Fist in the air in victory, for he is hard to please in the food department. So when we decided to do Italian this past Friday, Bakerista requested (demanded) that meal again. So while my students sat under the weight of Algebra and Chemistry tests I was in the kitchen. The youngest of these five children decided to don an apron and chef hat and help me. His name is Fusty. Well, that isn't his real name, but that is what we call him. No clue why. Fusty was in a very helpful mood and before you knew it the seven year old was standing on a stool blanching tomatoes. It took over four hours and nine rounds of dishes, two of which Fusty did on his own, before the meal was done. But as the four of us sat down to a bowl of scratch made pasta and marinara with foccachia and gruyere cheese dip it was more than worth it. So, here is the process that Fusty and I went through to produce this Italian delight of a meal.

Pasta Sauce:

I don't really have a recipe for you. I totally made it up. I tend to do that. It went like this. Blanch 5 tomatoes. Peel the skin off. Mash them by hand in a bowl. Cut up an onion and four cloves of garlic. Toss some olive oil in a pot and heat it up. Throw the onion and garlic in the hot olive oil. Cook em for a few minutes. Then toss some dry basil, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes in there. Cook it until the onions are done and the garlic is a bit crispy. Breathe in the smell like Fusty and I did. Now toss in your tomatoes. Look in the pot like I did and realize you need more. Run over to the cupboard, grab a can of tomatoes and toss it in there. Bring it to a boil. Cook it on low with a lid on there for a long time. Like an hour. Then put it in a blender. Blend it. Realize it needs some salt and pepper and two dollops of tomato paste. Consult the seven year old and throw in a teaspoon of sugar. Perfect. Leave it on low till you are ready to eat it.

Pasta Noodles:

2 eggs to every cup of flour. 3 cups of flour in a bowl. Make a well. Crack in six room temperature eggs. Using one clean hand begin to slowly mix. Fusty dusts the board with flour. Pull mixed and sticky dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface. Add some flour and begin to kneed. Roll it. Smack it. Punch it. Kick it of you have clean feet and are that flexible. This takes about ten minutes. No joke. It needs to be super smooth and elasticky. Roll it out until it's super thin. If you have a pasta cutter Lord bless you. I didn't. I cut them by hand with a knife while Fusty and Bakerista laid them out on a plate. Boil a big pot of SALT water. Boild em for two minutes. Strain and toss with that marinara. Hear the angels begin to sing in the back ground. And by angels I mean Bakerista, Burgermeister and Fusty.

Foccachia:

Take a cup of water. Pour it into a kitchen aid with a dough hook attachment. Sift two cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt together. Toss it gently into that water. Turn on the machine and let it kneed. Once its combine drop it onto a floured surface and kneed it until it is a smooth ball. Oil a baking sheet. Press the dough out until its flat and thin but has no holes. Baste it with olive oil and top it with dry herbs of your choice. Bake it in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes. Cut and serve.

Gruyere Cheese Dip:

I did follow a recipe for this one. Thanks to http://www.food.com/recipe/gruyere-cheese-sauce-187029

for the amazing recipe.

And that was all she wrote. Many thanks to Fusty and my dear students for yet another amazing Friday.

The Panini Press.....

The time line of these posts is going to be a bit helter skelter. I am starting this a bit late in the game and if I were to follow a consistent time line you would find yourself in a deluge of pumpkin recipes in the midst of March. So, I am going to give you all a recipe that Burgermeister, Bakerista and I made just this past Friday. Since the new year, with the exception of an absurdly complex Valentine's Day party (which I will write about one of these days), we have transitioned from sweets to lunches. This has exacerbated the "cheese" drama considerably. In Bakerista's opinion, a lunch without cheese is worthless. Burgermeister, who could also be called "Sensei" holds an opinion that a meal should consist of either burgers and "home fries" or white rice and "Soy Sawccccce". Yes, that is how he says it and I now say it that way too. The battle lines were drawn and me and my good intentions were stranded in the middle. This last week however, was a sweet reprieve that turned into one of our most delightful meals yet. The Prosciutto, Gruyere, Caramelized Onion Panini.  Burgermeister took his without the Gruyere and everyone was happy. In truth, I was a bit proud of myself for how good these sandwiches turned out. They were AMAZING! Sourdough bread brushed with hot olive oil and fresh garlic with layers of meat, cheese and onion in a panini press, then served with a side of hot tomato soup. "VICTORY!" The rain was pouring down in buckets, but that did not dampen the mood inside. I paired my iPhone with the bluetooth speaker and we were in business. Bakerista straddles being a "Swifty" and a "Directioner" and while I don't detest either somedays I need a break. Burgermeister on the other hand has driven me completely insane with Pharrel's "Happy". There is no happiness when that song comes on now. So to give them a bit of "culture" I allowed the music to shuffle over to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel." I was thoroughly enjoying myself as I assembled our sandwiches while Bakerista caramelized the onions. Burgermeister was having fun too. In Bakerista's mind, I think it was too much fun. Soon he was dancing around the kitchen doing scarily good Michael Jackson dance impressions while singing at the top of his lungs. I was doubled over in laughter while his sister just looked scandalized. Sidling up to her, he paused, waited for Michael's cue and exploded with "Come on girl!" and started to try and dance with her. This merely resulted in him getting punched in the arm and front kicked. He continued to try undeterred until she chased him from the room. I laughed all through this, then changed the song and things calmed down. Once the panini's were done we all sat down to enjoy our lunch. Their responses were over the moon. Even Burgermeister loved them. Overjoyed, I pulled out my fat copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and read them aloud. It was the perfect rainy day in my opinion. The recipe is below. The idea came from pinterest but the resulting recipe came from myself and Bakerista.

Yields 3 Paninis

6 slices of sourdough bread
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 gloves of garlic
1 sweet onion sliced
6 slices of gruyere cheese
9 slices of prosciutto
a panini press

Put the olive oil and garlic in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30-45 seconds so the garlic flavors will open up in the olive oil.

Melt butter or oil in a pan and cook onions until dark brown and soft.

Layer 3 slices of meat, and 2 slices of cheese on the bottom slice of your bread. Place onions on top then add the top piece of bread. Brush the top piece of bread with the olive oil and garlic. Place the sandwich top down in panini press. Brush bottom bread with olive oil and garlic. Close panini press and cook as long as Desired. Remove and slice in half. Enjoy!

Back on Track (Meet my Partners in Crime)

Well, I have only posted on this blog once before. Providence saw fit to turn my attentions elsewhere for a period of time. But now, I think it is a good time to give this a whirl. If you know me, then you know that I love food. Just love it. You will also know that I am a teacher. I have two full time high school students whom it is my pleasure to educate. Siblings, one a 9th grade boy and the other an 11th grade girl, they keep life full of laugher. They also like food. Like, really love it. So, after four days a week of grueling Math, Science, Literature, Government, History, Rhetoric and all manner of essay writing, we decided Friday afternoons should be dedicated to another vital part of life. Good food. For the sake of this Blog, I am going to name my dear students. The Boy we will call Burgermeister. The Girl we will call Bakerista. Having Friday Food Day, comes with it's own set of challenges. Foremost, Burgermeister hates all things cheese. "HOW?" Bakerista and I cry in horror? This challenge was overcome at first by a decision to make things on the sweet side of the food spectrum. When it comes to Bakerista and I, there are few limits to what she and I can accomplish. Burgermeister reaps the benefits and happens to make the world's best homemade hot chocolate. So last fall was full of incredible dessert successes. Accompanied by a hearty dose of Shakespeare reading, Fridays were soon our favorite day of the week. There are consequences to reading Shakespeare with siblings though. Soon I was enduring a constant battle of Shakespeare insults as Burgermeister attempts to argue with his Rhetoric wielding sister only to be told, "I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed." He swiftly responds with, "I wonder that you will still be talking. Nobody marks you." On and on it went until duty required me to remind them of their duty of sibling love. Shakespeare then turned to Dante and that brought it's own set of troubles. But that story in another post. To kick off our Friday Food Day we baked Snickerdoodle http://heatherchristo.com/cooks/2013/09/15/pumpkin-snickerdoodle-muffins/Muffins and enjoyed them with a hot cup of the Burgermeister's famous hot cocoa with Bakerista's homemade whip. I do not think you'll ever wring the Burgermeister's recipe out of him, but we are more than willing to share the muffin recipe with you.

makes 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 
1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 
2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• 
¾ tsp cream of tarter
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• Topping
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 TBS of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and prepare 2 muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs until well combined.
3. Add the pumpkin and mix well (it will look curdled- but it’s fine!)
4. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add them to the pumpkin mixture and mix partially. Add the buttermilk and then mix the batter until smooth.
5. Scoop the batter evenly among the 2 dozen prepared muffin liners. Sprinkle them generously on top with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
6. Bake the muffins 15 minutes and then let cool slightly before eating.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

Recipe from http://heatherchristo.com/cooks/2013/09/15/pumpkin-snickerdoodle-muffins/

The Trauma of Greek Easter Bread

Hey folks,

Well, today is Holy Saturday and I have been baking all day. Well, almost all day. I did manage to get an EAT in before I started. For those of you wondering what in the world and EAT is, well I'll tell you.  Many of my dear friends have gotten real into Crossfit. Then suddenly they started posting about their WOD's on Facebook and I was immediately worried. What was a WOD? It sounds so gross. They informed me that it was a Workout of the Day. "WHEW!" I was relieved. However, when I started doing beginner Crossfit to increase my energy and strength, I could not bring myself to call it a WOD. So, as my best friend and I lay on our mats, dying from all the circuits of pushups and dead lifts, our minds on food, I said, "How about EAT? "Exercise Activity of Today." She thought it was genius and so do I. So, back to my story, I have been baking since my morning EAT and Greek  Easter Bread is on tomorrow's menu. So between cranking out two loaves of scratch made lemon pound cake and orange, apricot muffins I have been giving it a go. It totally stressed me out. First, your milk has to be exactly 110 degrees to activate the yeast properly. So I hovered anxiously over the stove with my thermometer. I followed each step, terror at the thought of it not rising properly filling me. My relief was great when it rose the first time around. So I punched it down, braided it and made one long loaf and one round loaf. And then the real terror began. It was not rising again. I was freaking out, already planning an emergency trip to Panera, a trip of shame really. But then, lo and behold, it began to rise. "HALLELUJAH!" It's in the oven right now and it smells amazing. Hopefully it tastes that way too.  Recipe is below. Thank you Martha Stewart! I left out the whole red eggs thing.

http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/1041106/greek-easter-bread-tsoureki

In honor of Resurrection Lord's Day and the grace of my Savior:

Jesus Saves

Chaos rages through man’s heart

defying You how great Thou Art

searches to erase Your face

You creator of all space

Folly of man and wicked hearts

us from You it did part

Yet not alone You leave us here

on Your majestic blue green sphere

You Yourself Your Son came down

to win His bride by a thorny crown

to give His love and redeem the lost

even though He knew it’s cost

In our broken state You bled

on Golgotha Your blood was shed

from hell and tomb You rose again

and death no longer rears it’s head

King of Heaven You I praise

The answer profound and simple

Jesus Saves

You are my King, Savior, and God

In my heart Your Spirit plods

Hold my faith till my last breath

when I enter Your sweet rest

and one day rise whole and new

to forever feast and give praise to You

Food and Baking......

When my mother and I decided that we should start this food blog, we disagreed briefly about the name. The reason I wanted to call it, "As Long as There is Butter." Is because rarely do we cook a meal, even healthy ones, that do not have butter in some way. Butter is one of God's greatest culinary gifts. It manages to wrap itself in the savory, or drench a baked potato. It makes the best chocolate chip cookies, and how could we live without shortbread? It makes bread worth eating and fries eggs nicely. It is the most wonderful versatile block of goodness in your kitchen. However, as my mother and I are attempting to make healthy meals as well as baking, butter may not be in every recipe we put on here; but it will be in most of them. Eating healthy doesn't mean eating plain or bland. It is all about balance and self control. I bake once a week. We eat these delicious sugary treats on Sunday, at the fellowships and meals after church. For all my paleo friends I apologize, but I eat sugar once a week. Sometimes more, but I do my best. I do have some wonderful very clean and healthy recipes that we will put up as well. But I cannot and will not throw butter, sugar, flour, corn starch or cream out the window. Sorry, can't do it. They are gifts to be used and not abused. Same could be said for flax and greek yogurt. Too much is no good. I love greek yogurt, and I assure you there will be some of those on here. But today is Saturday! So I'm baking for tomorrow. Here is the recipe I am using to make "Double Chocolate Shortbread Cookies."

Double Dark Chocolate Shortbread
(makes about 12-14 cookies, double the recipe if you want to) 
oven to 325
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder 
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

• Cream the butter, cocoa powder and sugar together until completely combined and smooth.  Add in the vanilla.
• Mix in the flour, and finish with a wooden spoon.  Don't over mix.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and turn the dough out onto a board and form into an smooth 8" log.  The dough will be sticky. 
• Wrap it in waxed or parchment paper and twist both ends to secure, shaping the log as you roll.  Refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.  You can also freeze the dough for later use.
• Slice the log into 1/3" slices with a sharp knife.
• Put on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  They will feel slightly soft, don't over bake them.
• Cool for a few minutes on the pan and then transfer to a rack.
• If you're going to give them away make sure they are completely cool before you package them.  

Thanks to http://theviewfromthegreatisland.blogspot.com for this recipe! I found it on Pinterest and couldn't resist trying it!