amish friendship bread

this bread is very easy but it takes 10 days before you can bake it. i make my plain but feel free to spice it up with raisins or nuts to add a little personality.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter
Ingredients
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 cups white sugar, divided
• 3 cups milk
Directions
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart container glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature.
2. On days 2 thru 4; stir starter with a spoon. Day 5; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Days 6 thru 9; stir only.
3. Day 10; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Remove 1 cup to make your first bread, give 2 cups to friends along with this recipe, and your favorite Amish Bread recipe. Store the remaining 1 cup starter in a container in the refrigerator, or begin the 10 day process over again (beginning with step 2).

Amish Friendship bread (day 10 steps)
Ingredients
• 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 (9x5 inch) loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, combine the Amish bread starter with oil, eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well. Pour into prepared loaf pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

** Once you have made the starter, consider it Day One, and thus ignore step 1 in this recipe and proceed with step 2. You can also freeze this starter in 1 cup measures for later use. Frozen starter will take at least 3 hours at room temperature to thaw before using.

a perfect mango

here are a few tips that i’ve found work when picking the perfect mango. it should have a sweet fragrance at the stem, unblemished red and yellowish orange with some green skin, you should also feel slightly soft fruit when applying a little pressure. selecting a mango can be very tricky and also a disappointing process especially when your selection does not pay off. lucky for me this was not my fate and today i was able to enjoy two deliciously ripe perfect mangoes. i do however have the unfortunate fate of getting a rotten one now and again but when you get to taste the amazing fruit that is hidden in these perfect gems it’s well worth the search.

bbq pork roast

happy valentines day to me!! to celebrate i made my first pork roast from a recipe i found on the food network website. it was very flavorful and even for me, a first timer, it was super easy. it doesn't take much effort or time but i do recommend marinating overnight as i did. i served it on a bun with sweet baby rays bbq sauce (one of my favorites), a side of homemade potato wedges and broccoli. for dessert i made brownies served with mint chip ice cream from trader joes. i'd never had the mint chip before but after that cool refreshing experience i'll be going back for more.

barbecue pork roast
ingredients
• 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (4-pound) pork loin roast
• 1 cup barbecue sauce
directions
in a small bowl, combine worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, celery seed, pepper, and garlic. place pork loin roast in a large plastic resealable bag and pour marinade over pork loin. seal and marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).
preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
remove roast from bag, place in a roasting pan, and discard marinade. roast pork loin at 325 degrees F for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until an internal temperature registers 160 to 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. serve with BBQ sauce.

chocolate chip calzone

tonight i ate at claim jumper and ordered the whiskey apple glazed pork loin served over apple stuffing, mashed potatoes & roasted vegetables with sweet apple whiskey sauce & a giant buttermilk biscuit, instead of the mashed potatoes i got the cheese potato cakes. if you've never had these potato patties/cakes made with cheddar, jack & aged parmesan cheese, mashed potatoes, onions, dill and cilantro lightly breaded & fried crisp with salsa ranch then you're truly missing out on one of the treasures that claim jumpers has to offer. the other treasure in my opinion is the chocolate chip calzone and it often gets overlooked because of the motherload cake. if you've got some extra time and you have enough room after the generous portions i'd recommend trying the calzone. it takes 15-20 minutes to cook since it's made fresh with each order but each mouth watering bite is worth every extra minute of waiting!!
don't forget, sharing is caring so ask for a few spoons

since we're neighbors...

this blog is about food so i think i’m allowed to write about my frustration with the two grocery stores near my house. tonight coming home from a friends house i stopped at the lucky’s to purchase some milk but it was closed. although i thought it was odd i decided to try the safeway the next block up. me being a fan of safeway never thought that they too would leave me disappointed by being closed, when indeed that’s how it played out.. closed. seriously i have no idea why both stores are closed at just after twelve, not three or four in the morning but at 12am. don’t they understand that i’ve neglected my amish friendship bread and that i’m a day late adding the milk required of me on day 5? now this means by tomorrow i’ll be 2 days behind and will still have to make a trip to the store to purchase the milk. SERIOUSLY safeway and lucky’s you can’t help your neighborhood patrons in their time of need?
whatever happened to safeway's motto:
'since we're neighbors, let's be friends'

space needle/sky city

i started this morning eating scrambled eggs with carne asada, guacamole, cilantro, hot sauce and corn tortillas. come on... anyday that starts with carne asada has to be a great day and this day was no exception. after eating we walked to the downtown underground seattle tour and got tickets to the 12pm tour. while waiting for the tour to start i was able to see a friend who randomly happened to be visiting seattle at the same time. after a short visit we were on our way to discover the history on how the cities foundation was originally set. after the tour we ate a huge caramel, chocolate, and peanut butter apple from the rocky mountain chocolate factory. i'm not someone who enjoys apples but when they are served as calorie packed treats how could i resist? we ended up back at pikes market place where we were able to see the famous fish tossing. it was crazy how lively they make fish look while being tossed, i mean the fish are dead and yet they looked alive while flying through the air. even though it looked cool they smelled awful and it reminded me of one reason i don't eat fish. we ended the night with a short bus trip to the space needle to eat at sky city which is at the top of the needle. before dinner we headed up to check out the dynamic view of the city and i have to say it was breathtaking how beautiful the city looks from 848 steps up (no i didn't walk up those steps but i can't remember how many floors up it was and the only thing i found online besides the feet was the step count and i think that sounds cooler than feet). i ordered the grilled kurabuta pork chop in cider brined with roasted spaghetti squash, bourbon maple glaze and yukon potato gnocchi... it was surprisingly very tasty!! i thought it'd be an overpriced meal that you eat just so you can enjoy the sweet view while it spins you around for a tour of the city. i was wrong, my meal was cooked perfectly and i'd recommend it to any who visit the area, the view alone is worth it but the food was an added bonus.

** a special thanks to my friend who was on the trip with me for taking these pics!!

sleepy in seattle

1 city full of possibilities
2 friends on a flight to seattle
3 days off from work
4 trips to pikes market place
5 plus 12 floors high at the W
6 blocks walked in the wrong direction
7 dollar ferry ride
8 thirty dinner at the space needle
9 out of 9 restaurants closed by 9pm
10 am is a great time to wake up on vacation

this was such a fun trip and if it wasn't for the fact that the city shuts down after 9pm it could be a great place to live when single. but without the option of a night life i'd recommend a city with more action unless of course you are married with children this could be fun for you and your family. lucky for us we had tickets to a concert at showbox sodo to see fun. and jack's mannequin. this occupied at least one out of two nights in seattle. i was really juiced to see nate ruess so when fun. took the stage i was ready to rock. fun. came out hitting hard and although not many people in the crowd knew their songs fun. seemed unaffected. nate did not disappoint with his amazing voice and he sounds just as great live. i had high hopes of nate and andrew singing one song together but unfortunately this didn't happen. although i've seen jack's several times before andrew never fails to leave me satisfied, that's what she said. he played a few songs that i hadn't heard live so i was pumped. his contagious energy plus his crazy skills on the piano left me wanting more but the show wrapped up early and we were back to our hotel room by eleven. we looked for something to eat after the show but were somehow unable to find anything open.