Crisis Management Soup (Reenacted)

I made a round of something similar to Crisis Management Soup the other day and it is so epically awesome that I figured I should write down what I did.

Ingredients

1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 bunch spinach
1 large handful of green beans
2 carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved
1 vegetarian bullion cube
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 parsnips
1 can of small white beans

Directions

I would have put in potatoes, but we ran out when I thought we had more.

Chop up your veggies. Divide your zucchini, squash, carrots, celery, and parsnips, plus potatoes if you’ve got them, into two piles. One is going to simmer for a long time and turn to mush, the rest will cook for a shorter time to be a little firmer.

Saute your garlic in the pot for a couple minutes in a bit of oil. Add the onion, saute until soft.

Add the 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, then fill the can up 2x with water and add to the pot. Add tomato paste and vegetable bullion.

Toss in half of the veggies indicated above. Reserve the other half.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for a long ass time, covered. When you feel that you’ve got adequate simmerage, use a potato masher to squish up the veggies that are in the pot. Give it a good stir. Now, toss the remaining zucchini, squash, carrots, celery, and parsnips, plus potatoes if you’ve got them, and now is the time for green beans as well. Add the small white beans. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until tender (depending on how big you chopped them).

Save the tomatoes and the spinach for the last few minutes of your cooking. Toss them in, and your soup will be ready when the spinach wilts.

Snow Day Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Oh, my.

So, I’ve had my first adventures in baking a yeast based bread recently. A month or two ago, I tried to make some rolls, and they came out ok. Last week, I tried to make Grandma VanDoren’s White Bread, though of course I used white whole wheat flour instead.

Today, I used that bread as my base and made some epic Snow Day Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

The original recipe’s yield is far too large for me – it comes out to three loaves, so I’ve reduced the recipe to two loaves. I fiddled with ratios a tiny bit. Today, I made one plain loaf and one cinnamon raisin loaf.

Ingredients

2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons oil
6 tablespoons sugar
5 1/3 cups flour

2 tablespoons raw honey
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup raisins

Directions

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, salt, oil, sugar, and 2 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, and let sponge rise until doubled in size. (I let it rise for about 30 minutes.)

Gradually add the remaining flour, kneading until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn several times to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Punch down the dough, let it rest a few minutes. Divide dough into two equal parts.

Shape the plain loaf and put it into one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch greased bread pan.

Warm the honey in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Mix the cinnamon and nutmeg in, stirring thoroughly.

Knead the raisins gently into the remaining dough. On a lightly floured surface, spread the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick.

Brush the cinnamon honey mixture onto the dough, then roll the dough and place it in the other greased bread pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. The loaves may need to be covered for the last few minutes with foil to prevent excess browning.

This came out great. I might have added a tiny bit more sugar and some cinnamon to the loaf that was the cinnamon raisin, but all in all, it came out awesome. Tita Leonore said it was “sinful.”