I used to take it for granted. The smell of yeast as it foams in the bowl, gnawing away at the sugar feeding it. It is a smell I’ve always known, one that would greet me as I walked into either of my Grandmother’s kitchens as they prepared loaves of bread for sandwiches or rolls for Sunday meals with the family. And the site of my aunt’s green bread bowl gently draped with a crispy pressed flour sack towel sitting by the warm oven is one I won’t likely soon forget either.

After I’d married, I was given a fancy bread machine to make homemade bread. It now sits idle in a top cabinet of my kitchen, having been moved from home to home over the past 16 years and only having baked a couple of loaves. After using it, I quickly realized that I enjoyed the process of making bread as much, if not more, than I enjoyed eating the results of the effort. Something was missing in the translation from the ingredients to the finished product for me.

When making bread, I’m right back in the kitchens of the women I grew up admiring. Scuffed floors polished to shine as best they could and counters worn from years of meals made and served on their tops. Just the thought of those kitchens makes my shoulders immediately go slack as I relax in the rhythm of mixing simple ingredients of yeast, water, flour, and eggs together and then later as I roll and knead it on my counter top.

It’s a peacefulness that I don’t quite feel when making brownies or cookies even.

Biscuits? Maybe.

But the smell and the feel of making yeast bread takes a bit more patience and allows me time to think. I believe you could say it is a therapy of sorts. Maybe I’m trying to learn to be a bit more patient as I grow older. Or maybe I’m just realizing that like fine wine and cheese, there are other things that just get better with time.

Lately, I’ve noticed that I choose a certain type of bread and then make it over and over for my family. At least one Friday afternoon a month, you will usually find a bowl of my favorite Challah Bread Dough rising on the counter top to ensure French toast, bread pudding, cinnamon rolls, or other tasty treats throughout the weekend. By Sunday afternoon, the loaf has disappeared only to have me thinking of my grandmother’s homemade yeast rolls or a sturdy loaf of bread she would bake for the week’s sandwiches and such. But the Challah Bread is definitely one of our favorites. Easy to prepare, it most certainly is a versatile dough. In it’s true form as a loaf though, each flaky, buttery, eggy bite can not be mistaken.

No heavy mixers or fancy equipment are required to make this Challah Bread. A bowl, a spoon, a few traditional ingredients, a warm oven, and time are all that you need. Well, that and your hands. Maybe that’s where the therapy part comes in.

Here’s how I make it.

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Read the rest of Challah Bread Recipe

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Post Categories: Bakery, Bread, Breakfast, Cooking, Recipes
Post tags: Cooking, eggs, yeast

Every year for the past few years, my family has participated in the cardboard boat regatta in support of the animal shelter at the lake where we all love to visit and play. Not only is the cardboard boat regatta a day filled with fun, it is for a wonderful cause. This year’s event included numerous adoptions of shelter animals and raised over $20,000 for the shelter. That’s definitely a successful day if you ask me.

The race has also become one of the most-looked-forward to events in my family as discussions of rules and regulations and paddling strategies take place for weeks leading up to the big day. Practices have even been held at my father-in-law’s pool to get the boys ready in years past, helping the boys to find the right weight and balance on their boat, The Huck Finn. Practices also helped them to find just the perfect cadence as they row and took away a bit of the jitters before the race.

It truly become a family affair when building the boats, too. From design and building, painting and decorating, rowing and cheering, everyone has his or her own special role.

The rules for our cardboard boat regatta are that the boat must be made of corrugated cardboard, tape, water-based wood glue, water-soluable outdoor latex-based primer and/ or paint, and water-soluable caulk or silicon sealant. Boats must not contain foam, plastic or wood with the exception of the oars used to row the boat or if paddles are attached to the boat. However, there is not a restriction on any decorative materials as long as they are not used for aid in the flotation of the boat and are not a hazard. Each boat must contain two people and the boat must undergo a technical inspection prior to being allowed entry into the race.

And let me tell you, the physics lessons we’ve enjoyed over these boats have been endless!

You’ll see boats of all shapes and sizes, designs and decorations in the regatta. Our boys like their old trusty Huck Finn that they’ve been racing for the last few years. Truthfully, it’s heavy and bulky and not at all aerodynamic for racing, but just like Huckleberry Finn’s raft, it gets them where they are going.

The Ain’t Drag-N Tail has always been a favorite of mine. Just look at the creativity!

And then there is the USS Soggy Bottom that is as simple as you get, but in a cool sort of way.

This boat always wins, too.

I’m not sure if it’s the boat design or the two burly guys that row it every year or the combination of the two.

Regardless, their formula works.

One of the main attractions has always been this boat built to resemble a Caterpillar tractor, complete with smoke coming from her smokestack. But let me tell you, don’t get downwind from this baby, it’ll take your breath away!

My family entered a new boat this year though. This one was at the request of my niece. With her beautiful Hawaiian coloring, she makes the perfect Indian princess. Of course, she talked my nephew into joining her on the Pocahontas this year.

The boys gave him a bit of a hard time for “jumping ship” over to the new boat with a girl, but these two (my niece and nephew) showed them a thing or two about how to win.

They beat them hands down.

You can see the determination in their faces, can’t you?

They were on a mission!

It couldn’t have helped that The Huck Finn was caught in a blockade of boats that paddled a bit to heavily to one side, right in their path and didn’t know how to get any other way.

The event always a pretty relaxed, easy-going crowd. Bluegrass bands, concessions, a silent auction, and lively announcers keep the entertainment value up all day long as different heats (races) take place by the dock. Folks usually arrive early to grab a shady spot for their chairs after they’ve walked around to see all of the boats.

They also want to see the boats as they sink.

Because it is pretty inevitable that at least ONE boat is going to sink during the day.

And then everyone starts cheering for the first ones into the water.

Some boats sink faster than others.

Like this one. It didn’t sink until they were headed back to shore.

So this Daddy and daughter duo just swam it on in.

And these boys were like a scene you might see on Gilligan’s Island when another crew of folks wash ashore, spend a few days, then leave without taking the Skipper, Gilligan, Ginger, the Hortons, and others with them.

Did they have bad luck or what?

All those years people came and went, but never thought to send help for them.

All I know is, The Huck Finn survived another year. I wonder how we’ll do next spring.
Note: I thought many of you might be more interested in the history of cardboard boat regattas and how to begin one in your own neighborhood. While I’m not sure if this is the organization our local cardboard boat regatta uses for guidance or not, I thought it might be of use for you.

The Great Cardboard Boat Regatta Website

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Post Categories: Family, Living
Post tags: Living

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!

Didn’t it seem to fly by?

Our weekend started at the lake for Little Buddy to participate with his cousins in a cardboard boat regatta to benefit the local animal shelter. This was their fourth year competing and I have to say it is one of the funniest events I have ever seen. Boats of all shapes and sizes, competitors of all ages, spectators boisterously cheering on their favorite teams, boats that smoked and boat that sunk.

I’m still in the process of looking through the gazillion +1 photos that I took from the day and can’t wait to show you later this week.

But let’s just say, this little sweetheart had a great time, too.

He was one more loved on pup Saturday.

Everyone that came by our boat had to stop and pet him and scratch behind his ears.

Which left him looking like this most of the day.

I have to say, I think I had a similar expression yesterday after being one more loved on Mama.

Hope you were, too.

Mingle Monday

Are you ready to mingle? You’re welcome to share a favorite thing you’ve made – craft, sweet treat, meal, photograph, or even decor. I look forward to seeing all you’ve made!

How to participate {Easy as 1-2-3!} :

1. If you have a blog, simply add the permalink to your post. Do not add the link to the homepage of your website. If you don’t have a blog, don’t worry, add a link from your Facebook page, Instagram, or Flickr of your photograph.

2. Include a link in your post to addapinch.com to share all of the great ideas linked up with your readers, if you have a blog.

3. Select the photo you wish to link to your site and include the title of what you are sharing! Add a Pinch is family-friendly, so please be sure the links you are sharing are as well. I reserve the right to delete any links as I determine necessary.

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Post Categories: Living, Mingle Monday
Post tags: Living, Mingle Monday

Bright green stalks of asparagus are popping up all around lately – at our local farmer’s market and in the produce department at my grocery store. I keep kicking myself that they would also be shooting up in my garden right about now if I’d just have planted them a few years ago when I should’ve.

Oh well. I’ll support the local farmers who did think about planting them instead.

But, where ever I find them, I’m definitely snatching them up as quickly as I can. My family loves asparagus, especially Little Buddy. I think it has something to do with the after-effects of eating a great deal of it and the humor of a 10 year old little boy.

I think you catch my drift?

Right? {hello, did you go away?}

If your family enjoys asparagus as much as mine, I really think they’ll love this tart.

Place your sheet of pastry dough onto your tart pan. I used my long, skinny tart pan that has become one of my favorites lately. I love the size and the removable bottom to the pan. It makes tart serving so easy, peasy.

Anyway, once I have laid my pastry dough onto my tart pan, I make sure that it is not overstretched for the inside of the pan. Then, to trim the dough, I simply use my rolling pin and roll along the edge of the pan. It makes a clean and neat cut every time!

Next, place your Gruyere cheese slices on the the bottom of your tart dough. I had my cheese cut at the deli of my local grocery store. This is what she called “deli cut.” I have no idea if that is really the name of a cut or if she was pulling my leg. Either way, it is not too thick and not too thin. Just right.

Next, trim the bottoms of the stalks of your asparagus. For my tart, I decided to use five stalks going in one direction and five for the other. I just placed two stalks of asparagus end to end in my tart pan to decide how much needed to be trimmed. While this doesn’t have to be perfect, it is nice when they are trimmed evenly so that the presentation looks nice.

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Read the rest of Springtime Asparagus Tart Recipe

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Post Categories: 30 Minutes or Less Recipes, All Recipes, Cooking, Cooking Style, Easter, Holiday, One Dish Meal Recipes, Recipes, Shower, Simple Recipes
Post tags: asparagus, cheese, Cooking, vegetables

Mother’s Day is just right around the corner and it always seems to bring with it the endless advertisements for kitchen appliances and gadgets. Those things are definitely special and as a Mama who spends a great deal of time in her kitchen, I more than appreciate any of those that I receive. However, there is one thing that I want more than anything else for Mother’s Day each year – to spend the day as leisurely as possible with my husband and son.

The thought of waking up and enjoying brunch with my guys on our back porch followed by riding bikes or scooters, taking a long walk through the woods, or even giggling as we race through the sprinklers would be fine with me. There is truly no possession in the world greater than the time spent together and maybe watching Little Buddy show off his new whittling skills he learned in Scouts as we laze through the day.

Regardless of what activity or non-activity we do or don’t do, I plan to soak up every delicious second of it.

And if my special fellas decided to make brunch for me, this Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast would be on the top of my list.

But if not, I know that I’ll make it again soon for them. And for myself. And for anybody that stops by my house long enough for me to feed them a bite because it is so scrumptious that I think everyone needs to taste it at least once.

I hope you make it soon. Or print out the recipe and leave it all over the house so that your family makes it for you.

Or just drool over it, enjoy whatever meal you have for Mother’s Day and know that it was made with love.

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Read the rest of Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast Recipe

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Post Categories: 30 Minutes or Less Recipes, All Recipes, Breakfast, Cooking, Cooking Style, Holiday, Mother's Day, Recipes, Valentine's Day
Post tags: cinnamon, Cooking, eggs, fruit, strawberry

Strawberry Chicken Salad from Kitchen is My Playground | Salted Caramel Scones from Inside BruCrew

 Salted Caramel Cupcakes from Mrs. Happy Housewife

Ruby Rhubarb Syrup from Farmgirl’s Dabbles | Birthday Cake Ice Cream from Pint Sized Baker

What an amazing week! There were so many delicious treats and creative projects shared this week that I absolutely loved! I think you are going to love them, too!

Beautiful salad, salted caramel yumminess, rhubarb syrup and ice cream. I just don’t think it could have gotten any sweeter!

Meyer Lemon Scrub from Utryit

Dahlia Flowers from Project Housewife | Garage Organizing from Joyful Homemaking

Sewing a Simple Dress from Creative Chaos

But now I’m inspired to get creative with some crafting and organizing projects!

As always, thanks so much for sharing your creations this week.

Mingle Monday will go up on Monday morning rather than Sunday night this coming week in celebration of Mother’s Day.

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Post Categories: Mingle Monday
Post tags: Living, Mingle Monday

As the school year is winding to a close, I realized my niece will be starting her final summer of high school. Which caused me to then realize that this time next year, she’ll be off to college!

Where did the time go? It just seems like yesterday we were celebrating her fourth birthday with a birthday cake that made the skirt of a doll.

Now a car, cellphones, and college plans have replaced her days of playing dolls for hours on end.

So I decided I needed to slow things down just a bit and have a supper to celebrate the end of her junior year of high school and the beginning of so many exciting things life has in store for her.

We were just a wee bit early in our celebration, but I knew the final days of school would be rush-rush with prom, final exams, and tennis tournaments. I knew I needed to catch her while I could!

I planned an easy, breezy get-together with fresh tulips in Mason jars along with a light supper of chicken kebabs, pasta salad, romaine wedge salad, and a dessert that absolutely screams summer – Cranberry Pineapple Sorbet.

Let me tell you a little bit about this sorbet. It has to be the easiest thing I have made in such a long time, but it tastes like you have worked and worked and worked to get the perfect combination of sweetness with a little bit of tartness in each bite.

With just two simple ingredients and a few minutes, you have the most delectable and refreshing sorbet I believe I’ve ever tasted! Are you ready for the recipe? Pay close attention now, because you are going to be amazed at how simple this recipe is to make!

It all begins with two cups of Simply Cranberry Cocktail. This juice cocktail is delicious right by itself and in this sorbet, it absolutely SHINES! It is very different from any of the other cranberry juice cocktails I’ve tried over the years and is a refreshing blend that definitely delights the taste buds.

Next, you’ll add one 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple that has been carefully drained. And guys, that’s it! That is absolutely all you need for this amazing sorbet. Simply make the sorbet according to your freezer’s directions. For mine, the Cranberry Pineapple Sorbet was ready in 15 minutes, and I had the perfect amount of 1 1/2 quarts for my party.

Let me tell you, this sorbet is going to make a regular appearance at my house this summer. That is if I can keep the Simply Cranberry Cocktail on hand. It seems like as soon as I buy it, my husband and son have it gone in smoothies and afternoon drinks.

Thankfully, Simply Cranberry Cocktail is kept well-stocked, in both 59 oz. and 13.5 oz. sizes, in my area grocery store in the refrigerator section alongside the other Simply beverages of Simply Orange, Simply Lemonade, and all of the others. It’s always in the refrigerator section because they keep it chilled from the time they blend it, using not-from-concentrate cranberry juice and a gentle pasteurization process that doesn’t involve preservatives.

If you can’t find it in your grocery store yet, be sure to ask for it. You definitely don’t want to miss it!

Here’s the recipe you can print and/ or save to your recipe box.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:296]

$100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

Simply Cranberry Cocktail is also sponsoring a great giveaway to one lucky member of the Add a Pinch community.

What is your favorite way to make a party or get-together at your home more festive? Tell me about it in the comments for a chance to win a $100 gift card!

Disclosure: I am participating as a BlogHer Reviewer for Simply Cranberry Cocktail Cocktail. This is a sponsored post; however, thoughts, comments and recipe are my own.

“Simply Cranberry_™” is a trademark of Simply Orange Juice Company.

© Robyn for Add a Pinch | Robyn Stone, 2012. | Permalink | All Rights Reserved. Add to del.icio.us
Post Categories: All Recipes, Birthday, Cooking, Cooking Style, Desserts, Father's Day, Fruit Desserts, Giveaway, Holiday, July 4th, No Cook Recipes, Recipes, Shower, Simple Recipes
Post tags: Cooking, pineapple

I decided to take my friend’s advice and try more things with my camera this past week. She told me the best way to learn the ins and outs of my camera, lighting, and photography in general is to get out there and take the shot. Study the settings, study the results, and begin to trust your eye.

It was sort of a freeing feeling after sitting through many a session where you are told how to light, how to style, camera settings you should use, and those you shouldn’t.

My friend encouraged me to make mistakes and to learn from them.

While my week certainly didn’t turn out award-winning photos, I got over myself and carried my camera with me practically every where I went.

I used it in so many different situations, took photographs just to see how my camera would translate what my eye saw, and took photos just for the fun of it.

I remembered why I started taking photographs in the first place – to capture life.

… those little moments that slip by at the blink of an eye.

… the seconds of life we surely miss if we aren’t making the time to see them.

… the fleeting stages and ages that seemingly just melt from one into the other.

… the flips and spins, jumps and turns, and everything in between.

I’m thinking I may have learned about a little bit more than photography.

© Robyn for Add a Pinch | Robyn Stone, 2012. | Permalink | All Rights Reserved. Add to del.icio.us
Post Categories: Living, Mingle Monday, photography
Post tags: Living, Mingle Monday, photography

Growing up, one of my favorite meals that my Mama would make were her tuna melts. Now, I’m sure they were most likely like every other tuna melt that Mama’s across the country were making for their families, but my Mama’s tuna melts always tasted extra special.  Even better than the tuna melts that I’d sometimes have when I ate at a friend’s house.

I’m not sure if her tuna melts were better because she buttered and toasted her bread so that each bite was crunchy and held up to the tuna salad or if it was the cheese. She would slice a hunk off of a hoop of cheese and then cut into individual slices. Then, she would let me help her by peeling off the outer red rind on the cheese and carefully place a slice on each tuna melt before she slid the pan into the lower oven. My job was to stand and watch the tuna melts through the oven window to alert Mama as soon as the cheese began to slightly bubble on top – signaling the perfect amount of melt on the cheese.

The other night, I was rushing around doing laundry while I was also packing clothes into the RV for my husband’s and son’s all-guy’s camping trip for the weekend. Time completely slipped away from me until my sweet Little Buddy came up beside me and said, “Mama, what’s for supper?”

Now, you should know by now that I simply do not forget meals. I’m usually planning what’s for lunch as I make breakfast and what we’ll have for dessert with supper before I’ve gotten the breakfast dishes washed. It’s just what I do. So, for my ten year old sweetie to have to ask me what was for supper, I knew I had better get busy in a hurry to get supper on the table.

That’s when I remembered how quickly Mama could have her tuna melts on the table after coming home from a long day at work.

I decided to spice Mama’s recipe up just a titch and added a seeded and diced jalapeno to the tuna salad. Little Buddy helped me pile on the cheese and took the much-honored spot of watching through the oven window for the cheese to melt.

Within a few minutes, we were sitting down to the table to say our blessing. I said an extra thank-you for my Mama’s tuna melts and oven windows.

Here’s how I made them.

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Read the rest of Jalapeno Tuna Melt Recipe

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Post Categories: 30 Minutes or Less Recipes, All Recipes, Cooking, Cooking Style, Main Course, Recipes, Seafood, Simple Recipes
Post tags: celery, cheese, Cooking, jalapeno, onion, tuna

My husband and son are in and out this weekend so I decided to make myself a quick lunch just for me. What is it about cooking for yourself when you are used to cooking for everyone else that leaves you scratching your head as to what you want to eat? I walked around my kitchen no less than 10 times opening the refrigerator like surely something would speak to me from inside of it telling me what I should prepare.

I’m so used to preparing meals that I know my husband and son will love, meals that include their favorite things, that it takes me a while to realize what I’d actually like to eat when they aren’t with me.

Finally, I pulled ingredients from the pantry, refrigerator, and the freezer and tossed together one of the best lunches I’ve had in a long time! I quickly cooked a little pasta and thawed some precooked shrimp from my freezer. And remember the arugula and walnut pesto I made earlier this week? I scooped a few tablespoons of it onto my pasta, sliced a few tomatoes, and then tossed it all together until my pasta was well dressed.

It was heaven on a plate. So quick, so easy, and oh so delicious.

Here’s how I made it.

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Read the rest of Shrimp Pasta with Arugula and Walnut Pesto Recipe

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Post Categories: 30 Minutes or Less Recipes, All Recipes, Cooking, Cooking Style, Main Course, Pasta, Recipes, Seafood, Simple Recipes
Post tags: Cooking, herbs, pasta, shrimp, tomatoes