Welcome to my food blog!

One opinion I have held for quite some time is that the United States does not do bread well. Bread is amazing and can be both the cornerstone and highlight for any meal in which it is incorporated. This spring, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and start baking. This decision was influenced and supported quite fondly by Lilly, who is quite the baker herself. One potential short term goal is to claim a spot at the local farmers market and start testing our bread out in the wild to see what the public thinks. 

We have a solid list of recipes going so far but we are always looking to expand our repertoire. I will share one here that we enjoyed. 

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Sweet Potato Bread

We followed this recipe for the most part: https://butternutbakeryblog.com/sweet-potato-bread/.  

Ingredients

• 1 ½  cups baked sweet potato, mashed and cooled. Around 2-4 potatoes depending on size. 
• ½  cup olive oil
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• ¼  cup Greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 ½  tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾  tsp ground ginger
• ½  tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼  tsp kosher salt
• 1 ½  cups all-purpose flour

General Directions

1. Bake sweet potatoes. Skin sweet potato and mash.
2. Heat oven to 350^oF.
3. Mix oil and syrup/honey. Then mix eggs, sweet potato, yogurt, vanilla, and lemon. 
4. Add baking soda, spices and salt. Mix.
5. Add flour.
6. Pour it into a bread pan and bake for ~60 minutes. 
7. Eat. Savor. Enjoy. 

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Other unique breads we have made include cranberry orange zest scones and a braided rosemary loaf (amazing). There is something special about putting time and effort into creating our own food and getting to reap the rewards of our efforts. The intimacy and familiarity of seeing a loaf of bread literally rise from nothing into a tall golden sculpture adds a certain appeal when I finally get to that first bite. 

If anyone has any must-try recipes please send them my way. It is kind of wild how many popular food blogs are out there. So many different variations to make every food I can think of – revealed in entirety after scrolling through a few ads. I typically make an effort to cook my food and generally think I eat healthy. I do want to start improving some of my skills in the kitchen. I suppose the best way to do that is simply practice. More time, energy, and creativity in the kitchen. Maybe someday I will have a Douglas Food Blog.