Sunday in the Kitchen - Pioneer Skillet Bread

Not cast iron...but works for me.

In my current work in progress, Surrender to the Sheriff, my heroine has traveled from the present to a California Gold Rush town in 1851 and the cast iron skillet has become her favorite tool - but not in the kitchen! Lilly actually uses the cast iron pan as a weapon.

And while the cast iron pan could do some nice damage to a man's leg or shoulder...most woman on the frontier used their pans to make the staples on the trail and keep their families fed.

The cast iron pan could be used over an open fire on the trail or in an oven once they had a kitchen in their new home.

The pan would be filled with dough and moved about the fire, angled in such a way that the bread would eventually rise and cook. Though cooking was difficult along the Oregon Trail,  baking skillet bread was often the only food they could count on as conditions were usually harsh.

Today you and I can grab these items from the pantry and pop them in the oven without barely a thought about the travelers heading west over rugged terrain.

Hope you enjoy this time-tested biscuit!

SKILLET BREAD

3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp butter (or shortening)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk or sour milk
Shortening for greasing the pan

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then cut in the butter or shortening (on the trail this would have been done with a fork, you can go ahead and use a pastry blender if you'd like!) Cut in the shortening until it's grainy. Stir in the milk. Knead the dough a few times, then push into the greased pan. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 35 minutes or until the bread is  lightly browned and light in weight.

Enjoy!

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Sunday in the Kitchen - Banana Pecan Bread

Today I'm back in the kitchen...did you miss me?

I'm struggling with a cold, a cough and a sinus infection - so I decided I needed something warm from the oven this morning for breakfast.

It was so great with melted butter and a steaming cup of coffee!

So, now I'm sharing it with you.

Enjoy your Sunday my friends!

EASY Banana Pecan Bread

2 large ripe bananas (smashed...more if you like!)

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg (beaten)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup pecans (chopped)

No mixer required! Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, smash the bananas with the melted butter. Add in sugar, egg, vanilla and cinnamon. Sprinkle baking powder and salt over mixture and mix in. Add the pecans. Add the flour in last.

Pour into a greased or buttered standard loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Sunday in the kitchen: Apple Pecan Loaf

It's been frigid here on Long Island this past week and for me, that means nothing is better than a warm slice of bread!

I found this recipe online yesterday from Cooks.com while looking for a new recipe to use up the chopped pecans I have left over from Christmas.

It was awesome and smelled great in the oven.

More important, the kids all liked it too.

I made a few changes to the original recipe (because of the ingredient amounts I actually had on hand and it was very tasty.) The kids said to definitely make this one again...so I guess that makes it "blog worthy!"

Apple Pecan Loaf

2 Apples, raw, peeled and diced (I used red delicious because that's what I had)

3 Cups Flour

2 Eggs

2 Cups of Sugar

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 Cup Oil

1 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 Cup Pecans, chopped (I think I'd use 3/4 next time)

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Put the diced apples in a bowl, add sugar and let stand for 20 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except nuts). Mix well. Add nuts. Pour into standard size loaf pan (greased). Bake at 350 for 1 hour (The recipe says 1 hour - but it took almost an hour and half for mine to be cooked through since it was a very thick dough!)

Happy eating!