Whole Wheat Bread

So - a slight whole wheat bread obsession - compliments of my husband - has overtaken me. He doesn't like the white bread I make. It's too dense and too white for him. (one of his solutions? Yellow food coloring. Really.)

So - I started with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Six or so loaves later I think I've got it.

I used this yeast. I had the thought on about loaf 4 to use more yeast. This caught my eye at the grocery and I like the brand.

I proofed the yeast according to the package (1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 t sugar) BEFORE I added it to the flour mixture.

I used this whole wheat flour and added it first so that I would be sure to get the full amount in the bread.

I used this white flour and only added about 2 1/4 cups. But that always varies.

Wow - a whole wheat dough that actually rose! It responded to the second rising (a problem I'd been having) and baked up wonderfully. The loaf is almost gone - I made it Sunday and it's Tuesday.

Success!

Kale Soup

Lisa's making Kale soup on the WILL show and I've been thinking about it ever since she mentioned it. At Wal-mart on Saturday they had HUGE bags of triple washed kale. HUGE. about 16x12 inches. And I had a turkey kielbasa in the freezer so....

Smoked Turkey Kale Soup

1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic - mashed
1 T olive oil
3 medium potatoes diced
1 cup white wine
2 cans chicken stock
1-2 cups water
1 Turkey Kielbasa (1 lb?) chopped
a lot of kale
salt
pepper

saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Add potatoes and saute the whole mess for a while. (I don't know why - but sauteing the potatoes in soups first makes them more palatable to me.) Add kielbasa and brown a bit.

Add white wine, and start ripping up and adding kale (I had about a 6" long piece of kale in soup at a restaurant recently and it was NOT GOOD.) Let kale cook down a bit. Add some more kale, the chicken stock. Cook down. More kale. Water. Cook down. More kale. I would guess I used about 1/3 of the bag of kale. Let kale simmer and cook down. It really doesn't ever get mushy (a la spinach).

I just had some for lunch. Tasty.

Exciting pieces of news:

Scott reports that Papa Del's now has signage up & equipment inside at their long-awaited restaurant at Village at the crossing.

Secondly - Seth won! Seth Won!! Seth will be cooking live on WILL TV, 3/9/09. He submitted his beef stew recipe and was the only child selected. I have never seen him so excited! Details to follow.....