Merry Christmas Cookies Recipe

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Photo Credit: Scott Smith (SRisonS) / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

One of the funnest Christmas traditions I wish to pass on to my kids is leaving cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve.  Because the kids won't get to see Santa come in and fill their stockings on Christmas eve, it is easy to take him for granted.  What a great way to teach them that Santa appreciates a small gesture of kindness by leaving cookies and milk for him.  It's a simple way to teach the children the joys of giving.  

Santa may not come and fill stockings at Basic Living on Christmas Eve, but that doesn't mean we can't take part in the spirit of giving during Christmas season.  Last weekend, Mechele baked some yummy cookies during slow hours at the store.  They will be given to patrons as long as supplies last.  I tried some, and they were delicious!  We wish to share this recipe, which she's had for years, and hope that you, too, will take part in this wonderful spirit of giving this Christmas season!

Merry Christmas Cookies

1/3 cup       soft shortening

1                 egg

1 tsp           lemon flavoring

1 tsp           soda

1/3 cup       sugar

2/3 cup       honey

2 3/4 cup    flour

1 tsp           salt

Mix ingredients and chill the dough.

Roll out the dough so it's 1/4" thick.  

Cut into desired shapes.

Place 1" apart on lightly greased baking sheet.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes (or until touching lightly with finger leaves no imprints).  

by Kento Fukuyasu

Wholewheat Cinnamon Bread Recipe: The Bosch Way

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It's Thanksgiving time!  That means it's time for turkey, stuffing, and some yummy baked goods.  Whether you are spending the holiday season at home or abroad, we hope it will be a wonderful one for all of you.

Just like many other Saturdays, we had another great day at Basic Living.  One of the many things that made today great at Basic Living was Mechele's delicious Wholewheat Cinnamon Bread.  Drizzled with a little frosting, this bread filled the store with warm fall scent of cinnamon.  For those of you who missed out, here is the recipe so you can enjoy it too.


Cinnamon Bread Recipe
This recipe is from one of the books we sell at the store, "Healthy Recipes from the Heart of Our Homes."


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the following ingredients in the Bosch Mixer Bowl with the dough hook attached.

• 5 cups of warm water
• 1/3 cup of oil
• 3 Table spoons of dough enhancer
• 1 Table spoon of salt
• 1 cup of honey
• 3 Table spoons of SAF Yeast
• 1/2 Vital Wheat Gluten
• 2  Eggs

Add enough flour until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl  (12 to 14 cups).  

Knead for 3 minutes.

Add 2 cups of raisons.  

Add 3 Table spoons of cinnamon.

Knead for 2 more minutes.  

Divide the dough into 5 loaves and place them in 5 well-oiled pans.

Let rise until doubled.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and hope to see you at our store for our Black Friday sale!  

Also, be sure to check out our other Bosch Recipes.
Making Pie Crust Using a Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine
Putting the Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine to the test

How to Make Bread with the Bosch Universal Plus Mixer

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     Here at Basic Living, we carry a wide variety of products to help our customers in your kitchen along with other self reliance needs.  As we interact with our customers, we pay close attention to what people are looking for.  As a result, we add to our line of products each year anything that might be of value to our customers.  It has been a joy for us to try to meet our customers' needs by introducing them to new and amazing products that will empower them in their homes.
     It's probably not right for us to have favorites when it comes to products we sell at the store.  Perhaps it's almost as bad as having a favorite among your own kids.  However, if we were to point something out as an all-time favorite, it would be the Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine (you didn't hear this from me, don't tell my boss).  Boasting a 6 1/2 quart bowl, which can hold up to 15 lbs of bowl, the Bosch has no problem kneading all that dough thanks to its powerful 800 watt motor under the hood.  As the years went on, Bosch has made small improvements here and there which drastically improved the user experience.  One of the newer features is the bowl scraper, which scrapes the dough off of the sides of the bowl to provide a more complete kneading action.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  See for your self.


The Bosch also enjoys the patented dough-hooks that kneads bread dough very effectively.  The new models also have small rubber suction cup-like pieces on the bottom to keep the machine from walking off the kitchen counter.  The list goes on.  There are hundreds of reasons why the Bosch has been one of the most popular items sold in our store.  The biggest reason is that the Bosch was designed and built for you and me.  They have done such a great job in making improvements to tailer fit the Bosch to meet our needs.

Dark Rye Breat Recipe

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One of the great things about visiting the Basic Living store is that more often than not, there are samples.  If you walk into the store and smell something delicious, that's usually because something is in the oven.  Here is one of those samples that we gave out to customers as they came by (not the whole thing, obviously :D) a few weeks ago.  In our new location, we have a very nice kitchen in the back that allows us to use some of the items we sell to make delicious things.  This also gives us experience and knowledge concerning the products we sell.  This Dark Rye Bread was made using our favorite product, the Bosch Universal Kitchen Machine.  

And those of you who didn't get to come by the store and try this yummy bread, we have the recipe for you!!!  

Putting the Bosch Universal Plus to the test

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     So, I am not going to lie, I like to spend time on youtube.com looking for fun things.  And let's be honest, I'm sure you've had your fair share of "youtube-fix", so here's one for you if you haven't had your fix for the day.

Sour Dough Starter and Bread

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Different types of Starter
2 cups flour
2 cups water                                      
1 Tbsp. yeast       

1 cup flour
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast

2 cups fresh ground wheat
2 cups water

1 bunch of organic grapes
3 Tbsp yogurt
1/3 cup non-fat milk (dry)
1 cup warm water
1Tbsp. sugar

1 cup water
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup flour

2 cups bread flour
2 cups water
1 cup flour

General Tips
1. Do not use a metal bowl

2. Cover with plastic wrap, a wet paper towel, or a loose fitting lid

3. A dark liquid will collect on the top of your starter this is called the hooch. It is good. You just mix it in.

4. Keep in a warm place about 70-80 °F.

5. Thick starter seems to develop more flavor but a thick starter is difficult for new bakers to work with.    A pancake batter consistency is good.

6. When you use wild yeast (yeast from the flour and the air) it might take a few tries before you get the flavor you like.

7. If your starter starts to smell really bad feed it twice a day instead of once or empty most of the starter out feed it and put it in the refrigerator for a day.

8. The starter is ready to use after about 4 days on the counter. It should have lots of bubbles.

9. When using wild yeast for your starter, it will take the bread a lot longer to rise. It might take about 8 hours for your bread to double in size. So it is good to let it rise over night and bake in the morning.

10. Yeast provides the leavening action for the bread

11. bacteria provides the flavor.

12. Sweetners in your starter encourage mold.

13. You can dehydrate your starter to give to friends.

14. Starter left in the refrigerator will stay active for 4 weeks.

15. Many commercial bakeries use a combination of a starter plus packaged yeast which is more reliable and whose growth rate can be controlled.

16. Starter made with commercial yeast have a less distinctive sourdough flavor.

17. Feed your starter once for 3 to 4 days until there are a lot of bubbles and then use or store in the refrigerator.

18. If your starter has been in the refrigerator for a while. You need to refresh it before you use it. Refresh it by adding 1 c. flour and 1 cup water. Do it the night before you want to use it so it comes to room temperature and becomes bubbly.

19. All dough contains at least some bacteria. Why then aren’t all breads sour? In dough made by commercial yeast the yeast outnumber the bacteria. Since both compete for the same sugars, the yeast win out, and the bacteria don’t have a chance to produce their acidic by-products. In sour dough, yeast and bacteria are more closely balanced, so the bacteria have a chance to add their flavor to the bread.

Honey - Sweet Tips and Tricks

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     Honey is one of the few foods low in pesticide contamination.  Contaminated bees die before they reach the hive. Most diseases of bees are not transferred to humans. Honey is also free of preservatives, artificial flavors, colors, and will not mold.  Bacteria and disease micro-organisms when introduced into honey died within a few hours or days.
Babies younger than a year should not be given honey.

     Honey will not freeze, so store it almost anywhere, in a solid container with a tight lid. Be sure to keep honey covered. When left uncovered, honey picks up other odors and loses its own aroma.  Honey in storage usually gets darker in color and stronger in flavor, but remains useful as ever. Remember honey that has been diluted with water will ferment.

     Always mix honey thoroughly with other recipe ingredients before turning mixture into baking pans. This will prevent a too-moist, over-sweetened layer from collecting on the top.  Make it a rule to combine honey with the liquid ingredients to assure complete distribution in the mixture.

     When using honey in substitution for sugar in standard recipes, a general rule is to reduce the amount of another liquid ingredient by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used. Honey can generally replace 1/2 of the required sugar without changing the proportions of the other ingredients in the recipe.  Honey absorbs and retains moisture, thus slowing the drying out of baked goods. This is especially important when you want to bake in advance, or save baked goods for any length of time.

     Pure honey usually becomes granulated as it ages, or if stored at cold temperatures. Granulation is a natural aging process and does not affect the honey except for color and flavor. Just put honey in a pan of warm water. Make sure the jar of honey is up off direct heat by putting it on a rack or jar lids in the pan of water. Be careful not to overheat granulated honey since too much heat causes the honey to change color and flavor.

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