Friday, March 27, 2009

Egg Salad & Fresh Bread...Honey Hush!


I have been busy today.  It started out when I noticed my poor neglected Kitchen Aid mixer sitting on the counter this morning.  I decided that it had been WAY too long since the smell of fresh baked bread wafted through the kitchen, so I rectified that situation.

While the wheat bread dough was rising, I was checking out a few blogs.  My buddy Deanna posted her recipe for egg salad here.  It looked so good, I decided to make a batch...with a few twists (recipe to follow).

Then my son came over to see if he could figure out why the water dispenser on my fridge quit working.  His suggestion was to turn the whole thing off and defrost it to see if the line is frozen. 

Ugh....what a pain!

I have a side-by-side and it stays full (well, most of the time anyway).  First, I had to rearrange my other freezer (which is pretty full too) so it would accommodate the extra food.  Then I filled an empty clothes basket with frozen food to transport to the big freezer.  After doing that, I took stuff out of the fridge and stuffed it into two small ice chests.  I called him back to find out how long I have to keep it off.  I did not like his answer: 24 HOURS!

Anyway, at least I had a good lunch of fresh bread and creamy egg salad. 

Mmm...

Here are the recipes:

Egg Salad

8 eggs, boiled and peeled
1/3 c. of mayonnaise
4 oz. cream cheese
2 T. sweet pickle relish
salt & pepper

Sit the cream cheese out a while to soften.  Add mayonnaise, relish, salt and pepper.  Chop the eggs fine (I used the food processor).  Stir all together and enjoy!  (This is not an exact science...feel free to adjust the ingredients to your taste.)

Honey Wheat Bread

1 envelope yeast 
2 cups warm water (120 degrees) 
1/4 cup butter, softened 
1/2 cup honey 
1 teaspoon salt 
3 cups whole wheat flour 
2 - 3 cups white flour 

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. (I add a pinch of sugar) 
2. Combine butter, molasses, honey and salt and mix well. (I use my large KitchenAid bowl)
3. Add yeast mixture.
4. Gradually add flours, a cup at a time, mixing after each cup. (It's kind of tricky to know when enough is enough. I keep adding a little at a time until it starts to come clean from the bowl as it kneads.) 
5. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth. (I let my Kitchen Aid do the work!) 
6. Place in buttered bowl and let rise until double. (I leave it in the KitchenAid bowl & cover with a towel) 
7. Punch down and let rest for a few minutes. (Since I left it in the KitchenAid bowl, I just turn it back on for a minute) 
8. Divide dough into 2 parts and shape into loaves. 
9. Place in 2 greased pans and let rise for about an hour. (I turn on the oven to 200 degrees, just until I feel heat, then turn off heat, turn on the light and put the loaf pans inside to rise.) 
10. Bake at 375* for 35 to 40 minutes. (I leave the pans in the oven and turn on the oven...no need to preheat. It's done when it's browned and the top sounds hollow when thumped.)


3 comments:

Jen said...

Yum...everything sounds so good!!! Good luck with the water line....hope it all works out!

Deanna said...

O.K. I want YOUR egg salad. I love sweet relish but my boys hate it. I usually add a little into my tuna salad before eating it, but haven't thought about putting it into my egg salad!

And that bread.... I could toast up some of that right now with some hot lemon tea.

~ said...

We had some toasted bread and egg salad for dinner tonight...with asparagus (baked w/ olive oil spray, herbs, and topped with bacon).

The line apparently defrosted, 'cause the water is working again.