Easy No-Knead Sourdough Bread

EASY NO-KNEAD SOURDOUGH BREAD!

My baking friend Matt Kopans shared this super easy no-knead sourdough bread recipe, and it changed my bread-baking life! There's no yeast, just a few ingredients, and only a few steps. Like many people, my sourdough journey started in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was March 2020, and I heard Deanna Fox on WAMC's Food Fridays program. She was talking about the process of making a sourdough starter and baking bread. I was hooked. I looked her up on Facebook and signed up for her on-line Sourdough Bootcamp. My starter and I were on our way. 

Many pretty loaves of sourdough later, my friend Matt posted a picture of a beautiful loaf of no-knead sourdough bread, something he stirs together at night and pours into a loaf pan in the morning. Simple as that. So, I enthusiastically asked for the recipe and Matt graciously shared.

For measuring (for the most part) I use a digital food scale and if you don't have one, I encourage you to get one. I got mine for about $15. Worth its weight in gold. (How did I ever get by without one for six + decades?)

Directions: The night before or at least 8 hours in advance, in mixing bowl weigh (if you don't have a food scale you can look up measuring-cup equivalents online): 

• 450 grams all-purpose flour
• 350 grams un-chlorinated water (I fill a jug/pitcher and let it sit out for a day and the chlorine dissipates)
• 10 grams salt
• 2/3 cup (not weighed, just measured) discarded and unfed sourdough starter. After you take this out, it's a good time to feed your starter. NOTE: if you do not have sourdough starter, ask around. It's been such a phenomenon I bet you have a friend within six degrees who will share a cup. Or, you can order it from King Arthur Baking Company.

Mix well. I use a Danish whisk which is also great for mixing other batters - brownies, pancakes, things you don't need to pull out a mixer for. 

At least 8 hours later or next morning:

Place a cake pan full of water in the bottom of your oven. This provides a moist environment for a softer crust. 

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees Farenheit

Grease/spray loaf pan. Mine is a 9x5 with straight sides. Makes great slices for toast/sandwiches. 

Pour dough into pan.

I sprinkled Everything but the Bagel seasoning from Aldi's on top but a naked loaf of bread is beautiful, too. 

Bake for 45 minutes. 

Cool on rack for 10 minutes. Turn out of pan to cool completely. 

Happily cooling and looking pretty!

Thanks so much for the warm embrace as Adirondack Baker enters its second act. It is an honor to share recipes with you! 

Back in the Saddle! With a small cheesecake recipe you'll love!

Hello my friends! 

Welcome back! It's been a long while and much has happened since I last posted. With an eye toward the future, this blog is back in action. I will be posting regularly, something I have greatly missed and look forward to! I am committing to at least once a week, on Wednesdays, if not more. 

First of all, I want to thank all of you who've followed my posts and who come back, again and again, for recipes you've grown to love. The blog has remained active even though I hadn't been posting, which warms my heart. You may notice, it's had a facelift. 

It's probably time for a re-introduction. Here are the stats:

Jeannie O'Farrell Eddy, blogger, Adirondack Baker (adirondackbaker.blogspot.com)

I am a true boomer - born in the mid-50s and grateful for growing up in the subsequent decades. As one of seven siblings, I learned the value of family as community early on. 

Still working full-time, I am looking forward to retirement next spring so I can spend more time baking, cooking, writing, and enjoying time with my favorite people! 

I am a Mom and Grandma and spend a lot of time with kids and grandkids. 

My 'boyfriend' Russ and I just marked 24 years together, long-distance! He lives in Central New York and I live in Glens Falls, New York in a 121-year old bungalow that is my Shangri-la. It's about a 4-hour drive and we see each other at least a couple of times a month. He's my guy for life. I guess 24 years is proof of that!

This blog began as part of my master's thesis. I graduated from Skidmore College as an adult in 2003 and earned my masters in 2009. My masters thesis was on relationships in the kitchen and how they've evolved with the advent and advancement of technology. It was a fascinating topic to research, starting with outdoor kitchens that moved into the home, with sinks, stoves, the first appliances, cabinets, etc. all the way to today's modern, tricked-out kitchens. I read many food anthologies and researched old catalogs. I came to learn that food is so much more than something we consume. It is relationships. It is tradition. It is community.

With that in mind, I am welcoming YOU back to my blog, and I can't wait to get started, again!

Thank you!

Jeannie

And (drum roll...) here's the first recipe for Adirondack Baker, second shift! It's a small cheesecake and goes together so easily. I think you'll love it! 

Small Cheesecake (serves 6-10)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit - Prepare 8" round springform OR regular 8-inch round cake pan (cake pan set-up directions below).

CRUST:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (if you don't have graham cracker crumbs, you can use any dry cookie. I actually used Cinnamon Life Cereal in a pinch!) 

1/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp. melted butter

CHEESECAKE FILLING:

1 lb. cream cheese (two blocks, room temperature)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

Pan set up: spray spring form pan with vegetable spray. If using 8-inch round pan, cut a circle out of cardboard, just a bit smaller than 8-inches. Cover in foil. Before placing it inside the pan, make a sling of a folded length of foil, about 3 inches wide and long enough to hang over the side of the pan. Insert sling into the bottom of the pan with ends going up the side and over, outside the pan. Then drop the foil-covered cardboard (smooth side up) into the pan and press down firmly. Spray bottom and sides with vegetable spray.

If using a spring form pan, wrap the outside and bottom tightly with foil and place on cookie sheet.

Make crust: Mix in food processor or blend with fork - graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press into bottom of pan and up the sides a bit if you have enough.

Bake crust, alone, for 10 minutes in preheated oven.

Meanwhile, mix filling:

To large mixing bowl, add soft cream cheese (must be soft or you'll have lumpy cheesecake) and sugar. Beat very well, scraping bowl as you go. Add vanilla extract and mix till incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, mix in sour cream until very smooth. 

When the crust comes out of the oven, let it sit for a minute then add the filling. Smooth top with a spatula.

Place a pan of water on the floor of your oven. This provides moisture that prevents the cheesecake from cracking. I use another cake pan and fill it about half way up. Be careful - it may splash. 

Place cheesecake on center rack of oven.

Bake for one hour. Turn oven off. Crack door open (I use a pot holder)and let sit for another hour. 

Let cool and then refrigerate. 

(Is that a pretty cheesecake, or what?)

Thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy the revival of ADK Baker! Please comment below and let me know what you'd like to see in the future. Coming up are baked apple cider doughnuts, pumpkin whoopee pies, key lime pie, crock pot beef stew, and kitchen sink chocolate chip cookies. And more, and more, and more! 

MORE ADK BAKER CHEESECAKE RECIPES HERE: https://adirondackbaker.blogspot.com/search?q=cheesecake

Pineapple Toasted Coconut Muffins, a Little Helper, and a Great Short-cut!

This morning, my grandson Pete came up to my Granny flat and said (he's four) "Hey Grandma, let's get baking!" I knew what was coming next, a suggestion for chocolate chip cookies. I intervened with my own suggestion for muffins, and he loved the idea. He wanted blueberry muffins, but I had no blueberries. I did have coconut and pineapple, and I also had a GREAT short-cut - a box of Krusteaz Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake and Muffin mix. I took the cinnamon topping packet away and will use that another time, for cinnamon rolls or some other treat. I urge you to buy a couple of boxes of this mix - it is so versatile and works great in a pinch! It's about $2.50 or $3.00 in the grocery store and worth its weight in gold!

Here's the recipe:

Pineapple Toasted Coconut Muffins
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit

Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners

Ingredients:
cake pouch from a box of Krusteaz Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake and Muffin Mix (save cinnamon mixture for another time)
1 egg
2/3 cup water (or pineapple juice!)
1 cup coconut, toasted (I used sweetened)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, not drained
Sugar for topping, granulated or sparkling

Directions:
In mixing bowl, with wooden spoon, stir together mix, egg, water, and pineapple. Stir in toasted coconut (directions follow).

To toast coconut: place coconut in dry skillet on stove top. Heat to medium/high heat and stir the coconut until toasty brown. Watch this constantly as it can burn in an instant. As soon as it's nice and brown, remove from the heat and stir into muffin mixture.

Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, divide batter evenly among muffin cups.  Sprinkle tops with sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly pressed with your finger.

Cool about 10 minutes on a wire rack, remove from rack to finish cooling completely.

ENJOY!

PS - don't forget the comment contest - FREE scones awarded to winner on April 1st. Any and all comments on any and all blog posts - even going way back - made during the month of March or late February are entries! See the comment section below? Where it says "Comment as:"  use the drop down menu and choose Name/URL or Anonymous and just write your name or include your name in the body of your comment. I want YOU to win!!!!

Scone Obsession

I know, SCONES, SCONES, SCONES! Lately, I've made more scones than anything else. Just this week I sent a batch out to my good friend Chris in Colorado who loves them just because, and another batch to one of my true BFFs, Sue. Sue, with her husband Pete, returned home to Michigan to be with her family and to say fare-well to her Dad Ken who passed away - the loss of an amazing and accomplished Veteran from the Tenth Army Division.

Other people send flowers or make donations - I bake. It's what I do...

My scones aren't true scones in the Irish or British sense. Mine are more like a scone-Danish hybrid. I make many, many layers of butter-studded dough, like a Danish. You can see the process here in a series of photos from a previous blog post, and of course, the finished product photo below:

Lemon swirl scones are a favorite! 

There's something so basic, so un-techy about making scones. The only mixing utensils you need are a bowl and a fork!  No high-tech gadgets, no fancy-schmancy mixer or food processor. A bowl and a fork - oh, and a measuring cup and some measuring spoons.

I love to share my scones so much that I am holding a raffle at the end of the month, winner to be announced April 1st. The winner, no matter where you are, will get a dozen of my full-sized scones. That's a $25 value! 

Here are some photos I took this morning of scones-in-the-making. I made strawberry swirl, brown sugar cinnamon raisin swirl, and maple walnut swirl (with maple syrup from Nightengale Farm in nearby Galway, NY! Take a look:

These will be brown sugar cinnamon raisin swirl scones!

And maple walnut, with pure, local maple syrup!

Hope you enjoy these little snippets of my scone-making obsession. Let me share a dozen with you - comment below (as anonymous with your name if you have trouble) and it might be YOUR name I announce on April 1st!

All the best,

Jeannie

Your Adirondack Baker

Hello!

Hello my friends! I have missed you! My cookbook project has been on the back burner, so to speak, with a busier-than-ever job (4 nights this week) and lots going on with grown kids and not-so-grown grandchildren. I am re-envisioning this ambitious project to be an e-cookbook, downloadable and affordable, with photos and text, of all my favorite recipes. So, bear with me as creative inspiration and time come and go! I am excited about it and hope you will be, too!

I don't know what it's like where you are, but here in Middle Grove, NY, USA, this winter has been horrendous with well-below average (well below zero!) temperatures all of February, and I am hoping that March will show us at least a few signs that spring is on its way. I'm headed to sunny F-L-A March 16-20 with my good friend Joanne, and I CAN NOT WAIT to be warm, to feel the sun, to smell the ocean, to do nothing but read and drink and walk on the beach and eat (repeat, repeat, repeat!). It'll be a short-but-sweet escape, and when we get back, spring will be that much closer. Anyway...

Needless to say, I haven't stopped baking. Thought you might like to see some of the more recent concoctions from my kitchen. And maybe an updated photo or two of Henry and Peter! Henry's about to be 7 in April (!) and Pete is 4 going on 12! Here are photos with blurbs.

Thanks so much for reading - I'll be back in the saddle soon, promise! And just to make things interesting, comment on this post (below) and one of you will be winning a dozen scones. I ship, so anyone can enter! I'll announce the winner on April 1st. Like old times! :)

4-layer pastel swirl cake
for soon-to-arrive baby Sophia's shower

And baby feet cookies for baby Sophia!

Martha Stewart's Banana Chocolate Swirl Bread

Pete my kitchen helper!

Ready for the celebration to begin!

Peter, me, and Henry at the
Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College (my workplace!)

For my boys...

My grand boys!

Scones galore! 

For my friend Lisa's wedding in
December - such a lovely bride! 

Checking In and Catching Up!

Hello my friends! It's been a while since I've checked in. Progress is being made on my cookbook project. I have a working title: Adirondack Baker - The Occasional Cookbook. The outline of chapters has been decided and recipes are being chosen. The narrative writing is about to begin, and a letter to potential publishers is next... I'm in that "hurry up and wait" phase, but since this is my first book project ever, even this part is exciting!

Meanwhile -  please don't think I've abandoned the blog - I haven't. The hope is that you will use the blog's five years of archived stories and recipes to tide you over while the cookbook is underway. Meanwhile, I can't resist sharing recent photos (which I will do periodically - so check back!).

Life goes on and my little guys are becoming bigger little guys! Henry is six and a half, is in first grade now, and has lost many of his front teeth! Pete has started his 4-year-old preschool class (he'll be four in October) and tells me many interesting things each day. For example - today we heard something outside and I said, "Hey Pete, what was that?" and he replied "That sound noise is my ears talking. Don't worry, my ears can talk, you know." He fascinates me, this child!

So, here are some photos for you to enjoy, and I'll be back soon, promise!

Sweet Pete!

Onesie cake for Colleen Hursh's soon-to-arrive baby!

For friends Tricia and Jeremy -
wedding cake for a wonderful reception on Lake George!

Had to find something to do with the abundance of peaches
from Katie's tree, right here in our yard!

Boys on a Sunday morning!

Late Summer Boat Ride on Sacandaga Lake!

As summer turns to fall, I'll be back with updates and more pictures (there will always be photos) so please remember to stop back and check.

I miss writing and hearing from you, and I will be back!

All the best,

Jeannie

Change Is In The Air!

Dear followers of the Adirondack Baker Blog,

Yesterday marked five years since this blog's first post. It's quite a milestone, one that I've anticipated with a lot of thought about what this blog is, what it does, and how it serves its readers. It's been a wonderful experience, one I hope to build on in a very positive way.

Today I announce that I am formally starting to write my cookbook, an anticipated  year-long project that will build on the foundation of 5 years of my ADK Blog, with the addition of tested recipes from contributors and other sources. This will be a narrative cookbook, where the story, family tradition, and history of a recipe take center stage, followed by the recipe itself.  And there will be photos, lots of delicious photos. I have lots of ideas about how it will all take shape, and I promise that I will put my heart and soul into it!

You will continue to see posts from Adirondack Baker on my fb pages and linked on the blog itself, but they will be re-posts of favorite recipes and stories from the past five years. I hope you enjoy them again, or for the first time. I'll update you regularly on the progress of the cookbook project. 

I'd love to have your support and encouragement (and recipes!) as I dive in head first! It's daunting and exciting. Stay tuned, it will be great to have you all along for the ride!

Thanks everyone!

Jeannie O'Farrell Eddy

Your Adirondack Baker!

adirondackbaker@gmail.com 

http://adirondackbaker.blogspot.com

Home-style Vacation in Emerald Isle, NC!

After eight or so years of coming to this place for vacation, it feels, in a way, like coming home. My sister Anne and her husband John rent a beach house every August in this beautiful corner of Emerald Isle, part of the southernmost tip of North Carolina's Outer Banks (EI, OBX!). I am very grateful to join them each year. Typically, I fly but this year decided to brave the highways and drive. What I expected to be a 12-to-13 hour road trip was actually 16 hours. Fortunately, I had stopped at the library the day before and picked up audio books for the trip: Tina Fey's "Bossy Pants" and Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up." These books kept me company for the long haul, and since they were both narrated by the authors, I felt like I had very good company almost the whole way.  (Both, by the way, are excellent books!) I have two more books for the drive home, but I won't let my mind advance forward to leaving here. It's just too magical a week, too special a place, to even consider leaving!

We don't leave this house or beach, it seems, except to buy groceries with the exception that John takes a long bike ride every morning. We settle in and enjoy this house (so beautiful) and the beach. We have, over the years, created a routine of sleepy mornings, late breakfasts, packing lunches for the beach where we spend a few hours, coming back to the pool, starting dinner, happy hour, and then a long, leisurely dinner around the table for hours. That's followed by nights outside on the deck and playing games. We haven't even turned on the TV so if something big is going on in the world, I don't know about it! You know how when times get tough and you mentally want to go "to your happy place?" ...this IS my happy place, and I AM here!

On my facebook page, my friend Sibyl instructs me to have a good time and, affectionately, to "stop being so damned productive!" OK, Sibyl, you got it. Accordingly, I'll cut it off here but first I'll share a few photos, after which I'm taking a walk on the beach (with my camera, of course!). It's an overcast, misty morning but it's an overcast misty morning by the ocean!

I got a little color!

Nightfall on Emerald Isle, NC

Ben and his girlfriend Megan, and bruschetta!

Roasted veggies - so delish!

Thanks for reading, and I'll post again very soon!  Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes!

Here's a fancy-schmancy cupcake that couldn't be simpler. I was inspired by the idea of creating a unique cupcake, one that I hadn't seen before. The idea of a poundcake cupcake  -- enhanced with grated lemon rind and filled with actual lemon pie filling, and ultimately crowned in toasted meringue, became a temporary obsession, and I wouldn't rest until it was done.

Here's how I did it - so simple: Bake a dozen or more cupcakes from a good pound cake recipe - from scratch or a mix that you love. The cupcakes take about 25 minutes to bake at 350 degrees. When the cupcakes have cooled, carve out a cone-shaped cavity to hold about a tablespoon of just-made lemon pie filling. I used a grapefruit knife to cut out the centers. I topped each filled cupcake with a crown of meringue, and baked them at 400 degrees F for about 6 minutes, just until the meringue began to brown.

That is IT! My taste-tester Henry gave his cupcake two thumbs up!

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES
Oven 350 degrees F

1 recipe pound cake, from scratch or mix
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

lemon pie filling (I used Durkee Lemon Pie Filling Mix, followed package directions)

Meringue (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix pound cake batter, adding grated lemon rind and extract. Line muffin tin with paper liners and fill 2/3 full with batter (I use an ice cream scoop to evenly fill cups).

Bake for 25 minutes or until cupcakes test done (toothpick or "press" test - the surface bounces back when lightly pressed in the middle). Cool in muffin tin. Leave cupcakes in tin.

Carve out a cone-shaped cavity from the center of each cupcake (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and an inch deep).  Keep cupcakes in tin. Add lemon filling to the cavity. Top with meringue and place muffin tin in another muffin tin or on a cookie sheet (to help insulate cake). Bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes or until the meringue is nice and toasted.

Meringue:

2 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar

In spotlessly clean mixing bowl, with whisk attachment or beater, beat whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread or pipe meringue on top of cupcakes, covering the entire top of cupcake if you can.

These cupcakes (other than Henry's test cupcake) traveled to my neice Sarah's home. She was having a birthday party for her two April birthday girls, Hannah and Katie, and a small family party (which Henry and I kind of crashed!) so I knew they'd be enjoyed.  Sarah's husband Bob LOVES lemon everything, so I decided to get these out of my kitchen and into theirs!

The next time you want to bake to impress, try this easy recipe for lemon meringue cupcakes! No one will be sorry!

Eventful...

Oh, my ADK Baker followers, I've missed you!  Over the past two weeks, I've been very busy at work and also in my personal life.  After my car was totaled in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, I've been especially busy with insurance policies, car shopping, and financing a new car.  Car-related things are winding down, and I am now driving a Jeep Patriot, better suited to the rigors of a northeast winter and the challenges of an ice and snow covered driveway.  It's a bit of a silver lining in an otherwise very frightful experience.

Old and New

Jeep meet driveway/driveway meet Jeep

To think about things other than cars, totaled and new, I always turn to baking.  Last weekend I baked quite a bit, and have this collage of the cinnamon rolls, scones, and muffins that I put together Saturday afternoon.

Baking Frenzy

Pete the blue dragon, and Henry, the "space rocket ship"

To add to the drama of the past two weeks, mother nature decided to gift us with a little pre-season snow storm.  While I absolutely dreaded the thought of winter driving with my Mazda, I am actually looking forward (did I say that?) to the first real snowfall to see just how well my Jeep handles the white stuff...

Winter, you're early.  Come back later...

When life gives me lemons, I don't make lemonade.  I bake (and take pictures!)...

I won't stay away so long again, promise!

Interesting Facts About You

Over the 2-plus years that I've been writing Adirondack Baker and sharing my life and recipes, you may have learned a little bit about me, but I've also learned a little bit about you, my readers.  Here are some interesting facts:







Of the 441 posts so far, and a total of 36,579 page views, the number one  page visited is  "Make Your Own Payday Candybar" (one year ago today, June 30, 2010)  with 1,211 page views.
 

You are a wide and varied audience and come from diverse locations including (but not limited to):

• US with 30,328 visits
• Canada with 11,410 visits
• UK with 1,635 visits
• Germany with 331 visits
• Australia with 279 visits
• Italy with 130 visits
• India with 111 visits
• Belgium with 107 visits
• Iran with 105 visits
• Russia with 102 visits

There have been 293 comments left for 441 posts (special thanks to Diane Loviza, Carolyn Bradford, and Colleen Barber!). 

Thanks to my 48 followers, in appreciation for the 12 we started and stayed with for a long time before there were 13, and then 14!  I hope to continue to bring you delicious things to read!

Photo credit: http://scm-l3.technorati.com/10/07/01/14453/blog.jpg

One Year Later

Adirondack Baker was born one year ago today.  With that first blog, I had a vision of what this blog would be.  While it has not been, so far, what I expected -- a repository for other peoples' recipes and stories -- it is a place that people like to visit.  What I want you to find here is a sense of home, where you'll read something that will spark a nostalgic memory, or where you find inspiration to make something you haven't tried before.

The initial vision of writing about recipes and stories hasn't veered too far from its origin.  Until those start pouring in from readers with more consistency, I will continute to find inspiration in my own memories and experiences, from as long ago as childhood and as recent as yesterday's dinner.  When it comes to food, there is always something to talk about, and it is usually not about the food specifically,  but also about the experience of sharing that food with people we love, the details of the setting, and the memory that shared experience evokes.  Whether it's a meal in a downtown restaurant or something whipped up at home, it's not the meal itself so much that I remember; it's the time with friends and family that resonates, long after.

Thank you for being part of Adirondack Baker.  On year later -- How sweet it is!

One year ago today: http://adirondackbaker.blogspot.com/2009/05/welcome-to-adirondack-baker.html


Image credit: http://wpgarage.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/bdaycake.jpg