Focaccia Bread

Carbs are wonderful things, especially with a yummy Italian meal. You can buy bread at the store, but that's expensive (and loaded with lots of words I can't pronounce). Here is my favorite focaccia recipe to accompany any italian meal. If you make this bread in the Mojave desert, it doesn't take much flower to achieve the proper elasticity. If you make this bread in muggy Alabama (who knew October could be so warm and humid in central AL?), you'll need even more. When I'm at home, I substitute some of the white flour for wheat flower (usually the 3/4 cup) and the results are still yummy. I'm visiting my folks now, so its all white today.

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
2. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

as a side note, I usually omit the cheese on top to accomidate my allergic child...its still yummy

from allrecipes.com

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

People call my sister Becky Crocker. She's one of the best bakers. Ever. She also opens her home to me for long periods of time and I can't ever thank her enough. The only trouble is that I eat too many of her baked goods. Its SO HARD to resist the mini version of these...one fits right into your mouth, full of yummy pumpkinny, chocolate deliciousness.

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake standard muffins for 16-20 minutes. Bake mini muffins for about 11-13 minutes.
Cool in pan briefly before removing.
Yields about 24 standard size muffins. Yields 90 mini muffins.

Sweet Potato Lasagna

This recipe is a lovely autumn treat. Its meat free and not so heavy as a traditional lasagna. Hope you enjoy!

2 medium orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
3 medium zucchini
500 g spinach, well-washed
200 g fresh ricotta, crumbled
10 to 12 instant lasagne sheets
4 fresh mozzarella balls, thickly sliced
400g canned, chopped tomatoes
2 T basil leaves
Sea salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
3 T grated parmesan

METHOD

Peel and thickly slice the sweet potatoes and cook in simmering salted water for 15min.

Slice the courgettes on the diagonal and add to the pot for the last 2min.

Drain and cool. Wilt the spinach in a hot pan until soft, then cool, squeeze dry and mix with the ricotta.

Preheat Oven to 400 F. Lightly oil a baking dish (25cm x 20cm) and arrange a layer of pasta on the base.

Arrange layers of sweet potato, half the mozzarella, spinach and ricotta, half the tomatoes, basil, pasta, courgettes, and the remaining mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, and the pasta, scattering with sea salt and pepper as you go.

Drizzle with olive oil, cover with foil and bake for 40min.

Remove the foil, scatter with parmesan and bake for 15min more.

Adapted from the TimesOnline.co.uk