Amish Friendship Bread: Starter and Recipe

Amish Friendship Bread is delicious and can become a great tradition, neighbor gift, or a great excuse to show up on someone's door just to say hello! Plus, there are so many variations from the friendship bread starter, so it's perfect for everyone. Just like friendship, you have to give it a little love and attention before it can turn into something great. I'll post a few of the recipes soon, but here is the starter to get it going:

1 package Active Dry Yeast

1 cup Milk

1 cup Flour

1 cup Sugar

*note: DO NOT USE METAL BOWLS OR SPOONS AND DO NOT REFRIGERATE

Dissolve yeast in a small amount of warm water. Mix in the remaining ingredients in an ample size plastic container or gallon re-sealable bag. IT WILL GROW! This is day 1 of the starter. Mark your bag/plastic container with the date.

Day 2: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 3: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 4: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 5: Add 1 cup Milk, 1 cup Flour, 1 cup Sugar and stir to combine.

Day 6: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 7: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 8: Stir once (or mush the bag)

Day 9: Do nothing

Day 10: Add 1 cup Milk, 1 cup Flour, 1 cup Sugar and stir to combine. Mark 3 bags or plastic containers with the date and add the starter (about 1 cup each). Give to friends with these instructions for days 2-10 and recipe below. Keep one for yourself.

Bread Recipe: using Starter

Starter
1 cup Oil
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
3 Eggs
3 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
*3/4 cup Nuts *optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into two well-greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake 40-50 minutes or until done. Cool 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Easy French Bread

I made this while I was getting dinner ready tonight! It is that easy, but super delicious. The recipe is my sister-in-law Brenda's from our family cookbook.

2 1/2 c. Warm Water
2 tbsp. Sugar
2 tbsp. Yeast
2 tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. Oil
5-6 c. Flour

Combine water, sugar and sprinkle yeast on top. Allow to soften. Add oil, 3 cups of flour and salt. Mix well. Add remaining flour until it pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Knead 2-3 minutes. Divide into 2 balls and shape into loaves. Let rise about 30 minutes. With a sharp knife make 3 slashes 1/8 inch deep on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Butter the top when it comes out of the oven.

Pumpkin Spiced Egg Nog Pancakes

1 Egg

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Spiced Egg Nog or Regular Egg Nog

3/4 cup White Flour

3/4 cup Wheat Flour

1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

2 tablespoons Pumpkin Puree

Beat egg; add soda and Egg Nog. Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Add milk if too thick. Pour onto low heat griddle and cook through turning once.

Red Lobster Biscuits

I've read dozens of recipes for Red Lobster Biscuits. They all claim to be the authentic recipe... Here is a mixture of those recipes that I like the best:

2 cups Bisquick

2/3 cups Milk

1/2 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Water

*1/4 cup Butter, melted

*Old Bay Seasoning

Mix Bisquick, milk, cheese and garlic powder. Add up to 1/2 cup water if mixture is too dry. Drop by large spoon fulls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning.

Thai Lentil Soup and Garlic Naan Bread

I was having a difficult day yesterday, so even though it was almost 100 degrees outside, I went for this comforting soup. It's my absolute favorite! I tried to make Naan bread to go with it and after some tweaking, I got the recipe just right!

Garlic Naan Bread: (Original recipe from allrecipe.com but I've updated it slightly)

1 pkg. or 2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

1 cup warm Water

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons Milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons Salt

4 -5 cups Flour

2-3 cloves Garlic, minced

1/4 cup melted Butter

In a large bowl or stand mixer, dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Let stand about 10 minutes to activate. Stir in milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6-8 minutes. Pinch off small handfuls of dough. Shape into ball and place in well oiled bowl. Let rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Mix garlic into melted butter. Take a ball of dough and pinch it in half. Roll out each as thin as possible on a large piece of tin foil. Sprinkle with salt and brush with melted butter and garlic. Place on grill buttered side down. Brush other side with butter. Turn every 1-2 minutes to get nice grill marks and avoid burning until cooked through. About 4-8 minutes total. Repeat process until all the dough in grilled. Serve warm.

Thai Lentil & Coconut Soup: (Originally from The Soup Bible, but I've updated it slightly)

2 tablespoons Sunflower oil

1 large Red Onion

1 Thai Chile, seeded and finely chopped

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

2-1inch pieces Lemon Grass

1 cup Red Lentils (usually found in the bulk bin section of Grocery Stores. This recipe only works with RED lentils because of the way they absorb moisture and almost dissolve!)

1 tablespoon ground Coriander

1/2 tablespoon Paprika

1 tablespoon Salt (it sounds like alot, but you really need to flavor those bland lentils!)

1 teaspoon black Pepper

1- 14 oz can Coconut Milk

3 3/4 cup Water

Juice and Zest of 1 Lime

3 Scallions, chopped

2 tablespoons Cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a large soup pot and add onion, chile, garlic, and lemon grass. Saute about 5 minutes or until onions have softened but not browned. Add lentils and spices. Pour in coconut milk and water and stir. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 40-45 minutes. Before serving, add in Lime juice and zest as well as scallions and cilantro. Serve hot.