Recipe Friday: Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

I am a carbaholic/bread addict, so when I saw this recipe for Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread on The Pastry Affair blog I knew I found a recipe keeper.

My mouth virtually watered as I read the ingredients and discovered that this yummy bread was very easy to make and could be on my table in less than an hours time.

Serve it as an appetizer at a dinner party or alongside your favorite Italian entrée with a dinner salad.

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Yields 1 loaf

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast 
1 1/3 cups barely warm water 
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
2 teaspoons salt 
3 1/2 cups all purpose (or bread) flour 
1/4 cup butter, melted 
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast and water. Let sit 5 minutes until yeast is foamy.

Mix in the olive oil, salt, and flour. If you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, or until elastic. If you are doing this by hand, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until dough is elastic, 7-10 minutes.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until dough is doubled in size.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter, parsley flakes, and minced garlic. Set aside.

Punch down the dough. Tear off small pieces of dough (roughly the size of the bowl of a medium spoon), coat in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of a Bundt pan.

Repeat this process until you have one layer of dough balls.

Sprinkle on 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese.

Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers.

Cover the pan with a clean towel and allow to sit until dough has doubled in size, 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Serve hot with a side of marinara or tomato sauce.

Pass the bread!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Get Featured on Living Locurto

Are you creative? Want to be featured on Living Locurto?

Living Locurto is looking to meet creative people who can come up with new and original craft ideas. If Living Locurto features you, your idea will be seen by over 115,000 people or more in one month! Pretty cool, huh? You don’t have to blog to be considered. Just crafty!

What Living Locurto is looking for:

§  Super creative ideas that are simple to make. (see a list of ideas below)

§  Simple to understand instructions and a list of supplies used.

§  Quality photos. – Must not be blurry with good natural light (means using the light from a window or outside, no pop-up flash)

§  2-4 photos total. Must have several good images of the final product. Can also have photos of the craft in progress. Step-by-step photos are not required, but fine if you want to include them.

§  If you blog, I would ask that you wait at least a week after your feature to blog about your craft.

Sound like fun? Read the Submission Rules and send your craft idea and photos to this email address.

SUBMISSION RULES

1.       Craft must be something new, not something you have previously blogged about.

2.       Instructions and supply list must be included in an email. No word documents or PDF attachments.

3.       Photos must be no larger than 800 pixels wide. If you don’t know what that means, just send me what you have.

4.       By sending photos, you agree that you own the rights to the photo. If someone else took the photos, please get permission for me to use them and provide credit info.

5.       If you blog, you agree to wait one week after your feature on LivingLocurto.com to blog about your project.

6.       You must provide your name and blog URL to receive credit. Don’t forget to send that information with your craft.

7.       Send Instructions and 3-6 good quality photos to this email: LivingLocurto.Crafts(at)gmail.com

Ideas:

§  Simple Sewing and No-Sew Ideas

§  All Kinds of Crafts

§  DIY Home Decor (Trash to Treasure)

§  DIY jewelry

§  Ideas for kids

§  Holiday – Wreaths, home decor, centerpieces, gifts

§  Party Decor – Baby; Wedding Showers, Birthdays for kids or adults, casual gatherings, centerpieces.

§  Food Crafts – Recipes in a Jar, edible crafts, party arrangements 

Good luck to all those who enter! If chosen, post a comment here so that we can make sure to link to your feature.

Happy Crafting!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Labor Day

What is Labor Day?

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. The people whose sweat build and maintain the hear of the United States.

In 19^th century America, the industrial revolution was in full bloom and people were needed en masse to feed the machines of mass production. Millions responded, coming from the farms by the promise of the American dream, a trust in the commonwealth. The people wanted a secure year round income in an environment sheltered from the ofter harsh elements. What they found was a life toiling twelve and fourteen hours a day in dingy and sometime dangerous conditions in factories or underground mines.

From the late 1700s into the mid 1800s working people increasingly joined together in trade unions that would bargain collectively for the benefit of all members.  A day to praise the efforts of the everyday people was first suggested around 1880 by Peter J. McGuire, found of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. However, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday September 5, 1882 in New York City by the Knights of Labor.  It celebrated the working man and the idea of celebrating the everyday working man began to spread with the growth of labor organizations. By 1885, Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. Speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key than May 1 Labor Day celebrations in most countries, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years.

 Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school, although school starting times now vary.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable for women to wear white.

This Labor Day, turn on the sprinklers and sip some lemonade while remembering to give a toast to those who made it possible. Without them, there would be no standard of 8 hour workdays and minimum wage.

Happy Labor Day!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of September 3rd

Hello and Happy Monday to Everyone!

Here are this week’s fabulous digital stamp and image freebies found on website and blogs or sent to us from friends and followers:

The Altered Scrap shares an adorable Happy Penguin,  Mr. Pork Chop,  Connor the Crocodile, and Pedro the Pelican digital images

Bits N Bobs is getting ready for the holidays by sharing a reindeer digital stamp freebie

It looks like Dove Art Studios is looking forward to the cold weather as she shares a snowman digital image

Digi’s With Attitudes presents Zoo-A-Tudes Gina Girrafe as this month’s freebie that goes along with the rest of the Zoo-A-Tudes collection

Sliekje Digital Stamps shares a few items from her winter digital image collection including an angel of love, singing Christmas caroles, little winter bird, and winter puppy

Also from Sliekje Digital Stamps are a few items from her cat digital image collection including raining love, catnapping, garden kitty, and love you mommy.

Foxycrafts has been busy creating new digital images and she shares with us a rocket, space alien, and golfing goodies  to download

That’s all for this week’s freebies. Happy Crafting!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Dad’s Chili – The crockpot version

Growing up, both of our parents worked outside of the house. My dad’s work schedule started at 5:30 in the morning, which brought him home at 3 just as my sister and I were coming home from school. Since my dad is a traditional family man, he believes dinner should be on the table and everyone eating together at 5:30, which meant he took over the daily cooking chores.

This of course also meant that dad would have to learn to cook more than just things on the barbecue. We grew up before FoodNetwork came on the air, so dad would count on PBS with Julia Childs, Graham Kerr, Jacques Pepin, and Jeff Smith to help him learn new skills and recipes.

One of the things that dad was able to master very quickly was his chili. Never a crockpot kind of guy, he would make his chili over the stove in a huge soup pot. It was started the day before and cooked on low heat for several hours before being refrigerated. The following day, he would take the pot out of the refrigerator and cook it on low for a few more hours before serving it to us for dinner.

Once his girls were grown and out of the house, he passed the recipe onto my sister and me along with the responsibilty to pass along a few containers to him and mom whenever we made a batch. I don’t have the time like he did to watch the food cooking on the stove, so I took his recipe and revised it into a crockpot version. Even dad agrees that my revised recipe tasted just like his stove top version.

Ingredients:

1 to 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef

2 (14.5 oz) or 1 (28 oz) can stewed tomatoes

1 (15.5 oz) can chili beans

1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained

2 (15.5 oz) can red kidney beans, drained

1 (15.5 oz) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained

1 package McCormick chili seasoning mix

1 (4 oz) can green mild green chilies

Directions:

Cook ground beef in saucepan over medium heat on stove; drain off excess grease.  Add to crockpot.

Dice up stewed tomatoes and add tomatoes along with all its liquids to crockpot.

Add chili seasoning mix to crockpot and stir.

Add chili beans, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, and green chilies to crockpot.

Stir crockpot contents and set to low.

Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.

Serve:

Serve chili in bowls with diced onions, 3 blend Mexican cheese, hot sauce, and oyster crackers on the side.

** Our family loves to eat the chili the next day instead of the first day it is cooked when all the flavors have a chance to blend together.

After the 6-8 hours of cooking, the chili is divided into freezer/microwave safe individual serving containers. A few containers are put in the refrigerator, reheated, and eaten within 2 days and the rest are put in the freezer. While chili can last at least 6 months in the freezer and then microwaved for quick meals, it usually doesn’t last past a month in our individual households because everyone loves chili.

Enjoy!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Recipe Friday: Southwestern Chicken Rollups

Lately I have been finding myself eating the same dishes over and over due to time and convenience, so I decided to pull out my recipe binder. Inside, I found this recipe from Cooking Light which is not only fast and easy to make but healthy and extremely tasty. I usually serve it with a side of broccoli or asparagus spears and a large dinner salad.

Ingredients

6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 tablespoons (about 3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

6 tablespoons picante sauce

6 cilantro sprigs

6 tablespoons Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

Cooking spray

Preparation:

• Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin.
• Top each breast half with 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 tablespoon picante sauce, and 1 cilantro sprig.
• Roll up jelly-roll fashion, beginning at narrow end.
• Dredge chicken rolls in breadcrumbs.
• Place rolls, seam sides down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; lightly coat rolls with cooking spray.
• Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

Once you make this recipe, I am sure you will agree that this will become a part of your family's favorite dishes.

Happy Eating!

Creativity Bug - Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of August 29th

Hello and Happy Monday to Everyone!

My original post has gotten lost in blogger space, so this is coming out to you late. There are only a small handful again this week, but here are this week’s fabulous digital stamp and image freebies found on website and blogs or sent to us from friends and followers:

Spyder’s Corner shares a birthday moon monster digital stamp

Broken Box Stock shares cats with cream digital image

Not Just Mom (aka Steady On!) shares a knot cross,  flower vine, shell, and a purse

Arty Crafty shares a snowman, alien, zig zag, and a spoon full of sugar

Happy Crafting!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue