Ypsi Cooks

We've been doing some great cooking, but it's been tough to tear myself away from school work (as teacher and student) and family life to write about it.But I want to… so many delicious things to share. Reading this blog (and having the laundry put away at 11:00 on a Saturday morning) got me a little inspired. So here goes.

We've been using this bread dough for a while now (having created our own whole grain version before the new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312545525?ie=UTF8Apple Sticky Buns [Using 1 1/2 lbs of the Artesian bread in 5 Whole Grain Master Recipe (I replace some of the white flour with random grains: steel cut or rolled oats, brown rice flour, etc. I always replace by weight. 1 cup of flour is about 5 oz., so I just set my container on the scale and start dumpin. It couldn't be simpler).]

Caramel Topping:
5 T butter, room temp
1/4 t salt
1/3 c. sugar
1 T blackstrap molasses
Pecans

Filling:
5 apples, thinly sliced (I leave the peel on, but love peel on apples)
3 T butter
3 T sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
pinch of salt
pinch of cloves or black pepper

For the topping, cream all ingredients except pecans until fluffy (2-3 min), spread into an 8×8 pan and press in pecans (20-30 or so)

For the filling, saute the apples in butter. As they begin to soften add all other ingredients until approximately pie filling-ish (or a little less).
As the apples cook, roll out 1 1/2 lbs of dough (I do this on one of my silpats that is about 12×18 ish. I find that seems to be a good size).
Spread the apple filling (add some chopped pecans or walnuts if you're really nutty) over all the dough except the far edge so you can get a good seal). Roll it up and seal it along the long edge. Cut into 9 equal pieces and place on top of the caramel topping with the swirl showing.
Let rise for 1 1/2 hours. (For breakfast, we make the rolls the night before, put them in the fridge, and pull them out as soon as the first little one crawls into our bed in the morning). There will be some rise, but not as much as with regular, kneaded dough.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 min (I put the buns in a cold oven and set the time for 50). Let cool 5-10 min. Turn out onto a lovely platter and serve.

Crockpot Apple Sauce: core, peel and chop 25 or so mixed apples. Place in crock pot, put the lid on and cook on high for 2-3 hours. Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ginger, 3/4-1 tsp of cinnamon

It's difficult to find a good cracker at a good price. I will forever love the buttery-richness of Townhouse, but at the same time I can't eat very many. My health-cosciensouness keeps telling me that they're not very healthy, loaded with tras-fats and white flour, and all that stuff. At the typical grocery store you can take a small step up to wheat-thins, but they are also loaded with fat. And salt. And corn syurp!? Kashi makes TLC crackers which are quite delicious, and quite healthy, but with the way my family consumes crackers, I'd cuickly go broke at the $3+ price point.
I've been wanting to make crackers for some time. I keep looking in my Fannie Farmer Baking Book at the cracker recipes. They look great, but I haven't gotten around to making them. But that's the great thing about joining a bread baking group: they give you homework assignments. We were supposed to make the Master Recipe and use that for a loaf (best peanut butter and jelly ever…), and epi (a fancy loaf that looks like a shaft of wheat which drives Tom nuts so I didn't make it), and crackers. My homework was crackers.

but I myself started with the 100% Whole Wheat recipe.

A few weeks ago I was reading a blog post about not really liking fig newtons as a kid, along with the recipe for a homemade version that is decidedly worth a try. Many commenters posted, sharing similar feelings about fig newtons. I on the other hand devoured newtons as a child. So, with a container of figs languishing in my dried fruit drawer, I knew had to make it. And am I ever glad I did. The cookie part itself was very good, and the with the fig filling, delicious.

The recipe originates from a gluten free cookbook and a version of it can be found here on Heidi's site 101cookbooks.com. I got the recipe from Julie at dinnerwithjulie and she adds the fresh ginger, which she lists as optional, and I think is absolutely mandatory if you like ginger at all. The ginger cookie-cake with the citrusy fig filling is a wonderful pair.

Eli and I enjoyed them with tea made from lemon thyme we had trimmed off the bush earlier that day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8M-v7_USAtJs4Ey6vcMKFw?feat=directlink

You may have noticed that I am not the best food (or anything) photographer. Eli might be taking over. Here's a shot he set up and took after I took the one above.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jFF49SnOZEJyeLbmUJDx6A?feat=directlink

Not bad for a 3-year-old with a camera where you can't control the flash.You don't need to use almond meal (especially if you're the mom of a kid with a nut allergy but didn't know it until your kid snuck a piece of PB