I know it says bread, but THAT was a cake!!!
Mrs. FC came home with this recipe and a ziploc bag of goo last week. She followed the day by day instructions and the result was the cake you see below.
Yowza, it was good!!!
The cake was wonderful, moist and cinnamonaical. It was perfect with a glass of real milk or coffee.
I took 4 bags of the starter mix to work and passed it out with the directions to my girl buddies. They are not Amish, but they are friends.
With any luck, they will send a bit of the starter back after they've made their own cake.
Or ... they can just bring me a slice.
These are wild muscadine grapes from the vines that cling to my oak trees. They are sooooo good and seem to ripen weeks ahead of my domesticated muscadines and scuppernongs.
Bear and I discovered these one evening last week and we just stood under the vine chowing down on them.
He's a real berry eater. You may remember him eating the blueberries off the lower branches of my bushes.
I know if you live up north, these may be an unknown variety of grape. I wish you could experience their heady fruitiness.
Even though they signal the end of summer unemployment, I always look forward to them.
In other news ...
I went for a night walk Saturday night with the flashlight and camera and came across the strangest thing occurring on my passion vine. I plan to share that with you soon ... it may change the way you look at hoppers like katydids, crickets, and the like.
Today, was hurricane prep day and since all 3 smart and interesting DNAlings are around, we chipped in and got it done together.
I have some pics of that too and some pond before shots I took today, just in case FAY causes a big change.
Supper tonight is a roast, stuffed here and there with garlic slices, and sprinkled with black pepper, a little salt, and some basil. This is in the oven as I write and it's actually time to go baste it with that cheap screw cap burgundy wine.
The combination of pan drippings and wine is going to make a dark, rich gravy which will be co-starring with some taters and a salad.
Should be an interesting week (aren't they all?) with school starting and a hurricane forecast to roll over us.
23 comments:
Real milk! Yay!
I have read of muscadines but never tasted them, alas. We have had the cake however, and it is as wonderful as described.
Good luck with the storm.
That cake looks SO good. In fact, your whole post has made me very hungry.
My grandfather used to grow muscadines and then make wine from them. It was the tastiest wine I've ever had but 1 glass was equivalent to drinking an entire bottle of regular wine. It tasted good but left you with a really nasty hangover LOL My MIL makes scuppernong wine that is good too and it doesn't leave you feeling like you've been on a week long drunk.
I hope that pond gets some water but that all of your trees are left intact!
this is so funny -- i got some starter maybe 5 years ago, and a neighbor lent me her cookbook clippings file for "herman" bread, similar to amish friendship bread -- the finished starter is treated the same way. and i'm such a good neighbor that i still had her file until 10 minutes ago, sheesh.
her file has a recipe for the starter, noting that "the flavor of this starter evolves as it ages -- mildly sweet when young, more like sourdough when older." if anyone's interested in the [similar] starter recipe, i'm happy to share. kathywithcats AT gm@il Dot Com.
the down sides to keeping starter around are that it requires attention, and pretty soon you run out of people who might appreciate a baggie of fermenting dough.
also, that bear sure is a darned cutie-pie!
here's to a great year and a peaceful hurricane!
That stuff makes the best "BIG GOOEY CINNAMON ROLLS," still warm to melt butter on top and a big glass of ice cold milk. Boy those things melt in your mouth. I think those labs eat anything. Mom tried to teach Barney to fetch with a tennis ball, bad idea. He tried to swallow it whole.
Bro J
MMMmmmmmmm! I haven't had friendship bread in ages! It does tend to get out of hand after a while.
I haven't seen so many grapes on our vines this year. Reckon the deer are feasting. Before letting Bear eat any more, check this out. Oddly, I have heard as many no prob stories as tragedies. Better safe, anyhow.
I've heard of those friendship cake things. Sounds like a fun deal. Glad it turned out so good.
Oh, those grapes look So good, but don't let Bear eat grapes! They're toxic to dogs (as are onions and chocolate).
So you guys did prep work, huh> We didn't do squat. My psychic powers are telling me we have nothing to worry about down south. IF it goes your way, I hope it doesn't do much damage.
3C,
2% but definitely from a cow.
SCMomma,
My grandfather did exactly the same thing!
Kathy A,
What's funny to me is I had never heard of it before, but everyone else seems to know about it.
Thank you for that starter recipe offer!
... and for the Bear comment!
Mel,
Ditto dat!
Bro J,
Bear has a shredded tennis ball that he loves.
Sophie,
That link didn't take me anywhere. Wanna send more info?
Swampangel,
How do foxes eat so many grapes I wonder???
I appreciate the info. Will investigate.
FC,
A friend taught me the secret to friendship bread starter-take a bag or two and toss it into the freezer till you are ready to use it!!
It gets tiresome to have to keep it going on the counter all the time,but if you defrost a bag of starter (I let mine sit a day)you can get right back in the bread making business any time the urge hits.
I'm sure you've also tried muscadine wine... a distinctive southern treat.
By the way, does Bear know that he's not your dog?
Here's hoping that your week goes fine with no troubles from school or the hurricane!
How odd, the link showed up when I previewed. Anyhow, here it is again... http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp
I'd love to see that starter recipe. It sounds delicious!
We spent today just keeping an eye on things and doing some prep work, just in case.
Funny you'd mention roast. I bought one in prep for the storm! Wrote about why, on my site today. I make mine a little similar to yours, but without the wine. Your version sounds delicious, however!
Fay Prep Notes:
The squirrels removed the avocados from the tree for us, wasn't that nice. One less thing to worry about, airborne avocados!
However, they left them partly chewed up, all over the deck. ugh.
I've heard that about the raisins and grapes also. However, my dog has eaten ant and roach baits, and survived. Mom's beagle used to eat EVERYTHING. I swear, that dog had a cast iron stomach. Guess there's no telling what their bellies will put up with!
Just remember that in some dogs, grapes and raisins can be toxic. Can cause acute renal failure.
The vet will now return to lurker mode. ;-)
Hope the first day of school is going okay.
FC-
Those of us in Cincy (Thunder, STEB, Taco and myself)really like the end product your muscadine grapes make! Thunder made the mistake of bringing home a couple of bottles from the winery there in your hometown. I have since had a couple cases shipped up north!
Lightnin
My family had that coffee cake recipe in the 70's. It was called Herman, for what reason I don't know. Mom kept it going for a couple of years before she'd had enough of it. It was kind of sad to let Herman die.
With the way Fay's looking right now, you may miss the brunt of it as it passes to your east.
Here at my new home in Melbourne, though, we are expecting tropical storm conditions tomorrow and tomorrow night...It will be interesting biking to class in 30 MPH sustained winds and driving rain...It's been awesome though, being nerdy with all my new meteorologist friends :-D
I wish much rain upon you.
I've never heard of Amish Friendship bread. It does look quite yummy.
Good luck on the first day back at school and with the storm.
BTW-- I love the word DNAlings.
Myamuh,
Wishing I had frozen some of that now!!
Susan,
Muscadine anything sounds good, but my favorite is just fresh off the vine with room to spit seeds.
Bear is such a love bucket. I think he has enough to go around:)
Annie,
Cool new picture! Thanks for that wish.
Sophie,
It could have been my old computer!!
Laura,
That roast method is the way my Momma makes it and I can get pretty close to hers if I hold my mouth right.
It was delicous.
Good luck with our storm.
I've seen dogs eat horrid dead things,but I guess no more grapes for Bear.
Anonymous Vet,
Thank you!
Miz S,
Not bad for a first day back.
Lightning,
Surprisingly, they can actually be eaten as nonfermented fruit too.
;)
Stacy,
Poor Herman, I bet you were sad to see him go.
HT,
Sounds like you are in nerd nirvana.
I see that east slippage and I'm putting a halt to that.
I need that storm.
Robin,
Like a not too sweet, moist cinnamon coffee cake.
I loved it... I could see mixing in apples for a super apple cake.
Glad you liked DNAlings ... just trying to keep the mother tongue vibrant and alive.
interesting picture!( that dog)
Dave's friend
Carina
coming to see good pictures of the nature!
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