Apple Butter and Oatmeal Bread
Last week I had a request for my oatmeal bread recipe, and I thought that some homemade apple butter would round it out perfectly. Unfortunately, yesterday I pinched a nerve in my back and then today the electricity went out for most of the afternoon, due to an outage clear to Nebraska. Needless to say, I have not been doing much other than sitting very still. I didn’t get any bread made. though I did manage to do the apple butter after the electricity came back on. I wanted to share both recipes with you as with the weather cooling down, there is almost nothing better than a slice of fresh, warm bread and the delicious taste of apple butter. Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, I cheat when I make bread. I dump all of the ingredients into my bread machine pan and let it do all the kneading and rising work for me. Then I pull it out and shape it the way I want it, and bake it in the oven. This method works really well for me, so while one day I would like to do all the kneading with my own hands, this works for me now. Hope you enjoy!
Apple Butter
- 2 cups applesauce
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- pinch of ginger
- pinch of cloves
- pinch of nutmeg
- Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for approx. 1 hour until desired thickness.
Oatmeal Bread
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 cups AP flour
- 1/2 cup oats
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. dry yeast
- Place ingredients in bread machine pan in order specified by manufacturer (mine is wet ingredients first, so just put them in in order I have listed)
- Put on the dough cycle, and when it is done, take the dough out and shape it however you want your loaf to look.
- Cover and let rise until about doubled.
- Bake at 350° for approx. 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Enjoy!
This past weekend was our little girl’s 5th birthday. We woke up in the morning and there was a solid foot of snow on the ground, we were snowed in. We really try with our kid’s birthdays to have it be more about memories than stuff. We let them choose what the meals are for the whole day and if it is possible, what to do that day. Even though we couldn’t go anywhere, it ended up being a great day, with lots of fun and snuggles. After donning her birthday crown we ate bacon, cheddar scones from the recipe in 
This year for her birthday gift, we put together a sewing basket filled with all the goodies necessary to start crocheting. I found a neat old sewing basket at an antique shop last month and had fun picking out pink and cream cotton yarn, several crochet hooks in colours she would love and 
There was lots of playing in the snow, making snowmen and snow angels, plenty of black forest gateaux, and lots of snuggling with her new crochet hook and yarn. She mastered the slip knot and was thrilled to complete a chain of 23 stitches with just a teeny bit of help. Five years ago I held a tiny baby girl in my arms just seconds after she was born. My how time flies, and now she has grown into a beautiful, funny, imaginative, loving, creative 5 year old. We are so grateful to have her and look ahead to many years of love and laughter. Happy Birthday little one! 
I love making my own bread, there is something about smelling it rise and pulling a beautiful golden loaf out of the oven that I just adore. The only hard part is waiting long enough so as not to burn my fingers trying to get at a slice before it has had the chance to cool slightly. Both of my girls have been ill and some nice bread was just what they needed to ease their tummies back into health. I, however, needed an excuse to slather on some thick, golden Scottish heather honey. My mom recently returned from a trip to England to visit a dear friend of ours in the town that we lived in when I was a child. She brought home many treats including the honey. The second I smelled it I knew a fresh baked loaf was in order. The moment I tasted it I was transported right back to Scotland where I had first tried it. It still amazes me that a smell or taste can take you back 15 years as though it was yesterday, and I was reminded that this indeed, is the best honey in the world.