Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING!!!

Super Jenn Things to Eat! , ,

During the time of year, Pumpkin spice is Everywhere. Among with the posts about how yummy it is, comes equal posts about how many fake ingredients major manufacturers put in it. In my attempt to eat a cleaner life, I sought out a way to have a Pumpkin spice that I knew all the ingredients put into it. No corn syrup of any kind, so it does have an expiration date!

Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups water
  • 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions:

  • In a medium saucepan, add water and both sugars. Simmer on medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes.
  • Turn the heat down to low and whisk in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pumpkin puree. Simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil. Once you add the pumpkin the mixture will thicken quite a bit, don’t be fooled! Continue to let it reduce a little.
  • Almost ready
  • Remove from the heat and strain through a mesh strainer lined with cheese   cloth or a very thin, clean tea towel
  • Cheesecloth and strainer set up
  • Allow the syrup to cool to room-temperature before stirring in the vanilla extract. It’s important to note that it won’t really taste right until the Vanilla is added. If you are using a real vanilla extract and plan on giving the syrup as gifts, be aware that there will be alcohol (very small percentage) in it since it’s added after the cooking is done. Store in a mason jar or airtight container. The syrup will last for 1 month at room-temperature or 3 months in the refrigerator.
  • Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Homemade Bread

Super Jenn Things to Eat! ,

About six months ago, I made the decision to stop purchasing bread. I found that I was throwing away about 3/4 of the loaf due to mold, and just simply not being able to eat it fast enough.

I absolutely LOVE PB&J, and knowing that, my delightful Mother sent me a few jars of Jam she made. So here I have been sitting and waiting until I have the time to make some bread. Since it is a bit of a new en devour for me, I like to make sure that I have enough time to make sure I do it right. Hopefully as time goes by, I will get more confident with my bread-making skills.

Finally the day had come! I had an entire afternoon to do nothing but bake. I found a very simple recipe and followed it the best I could.Since I do not eat much bread, and it tends to go bad on me, I like to freeze half of it. This time, I divided it and froze half of it right away, before letting it rise. As soon as it was mixed, kneaded and ready to let sit, I cut it in half. I rolled the dough up in parchment paper, and placed in a plastic bag – labeled of course.

 Bread to freeze

The other half went according to plan, and after a few short hours I was finally able to enjoy a slice of homemade bread, fresh from the oven and topped with a bit of my Mothers yummy Jam

. Fresh Bread

Indredients:

  • 1 (1/4 oz) package of active dry yeast
  • 2 1/4 cups warm water
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons canola oil
  • 6 1/4 – 6 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

  • In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, salt, oil and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  • Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. (This is the point where I halved it.)  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. (either more oil, or butter can be used. I like to use butter) Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.
  • Punch dough down. (some people suggest letting it rise and punching it down more than once to let it mix more thoroughly
  • )  Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.
  • Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 loaves (16 slices each).

Fresh from the oven