Homey and Comforting

When the words "homey" and "comforting" are uttered, I usually see in my head my mom cooking in our kitchen the favourite foods I like. Today, I made one of her famous recipes -- her Christmas Ham. I also made a loaf of bread and homemade chewy granola bars. One of my co-workers liked it so much that she even asked me for the recipe. Thank goodness it was an easy-peasy one and I, miraculously, remembered it!

Unfortunately, my version of Momma Bear's Christmas Ham was a big fail. It didn't taste like how my mom makes it. Mine tasted like boiled Ham. Edible but blah in taste. I paired it with Garlic Fried Rice. 

S.O. didn't really say if he liked it but I definitely have to ask my mom how to make it and if it is a success, I'll post the recipe for it. For now, let's file my Christmas Ham into the Fail File. 

On the bright side of things, the white sandwich bread recipe I lifted from Farmgirl Fare is a huge success that I am thinking from now on, I will be making my own bread. Economical for us as we go through at least two loaves a week. S.O. a huge sandwich eater. He even makes sandwiches in his sleep! (S.O. has this weird habit of sleep-eating, he literally is sleeping and eating at the same time!) 

Click the link to Farmgirl Fare's Farmhouse White bread for the recipe. I only did one loaf of bread as it has been awhile since I made bread and I was afraid I was a bit rusty with kneading. ^_^ But, it turned out well! It was fluffy, soft, with just the right amount of chew in the crust. It would hold a nice amount of peanut butter or a good slather of mayo.

Look at the fluffiness!

Thank goodness I work in a grocery store as I was able to nicely ask our store manager if I could use our bread cutter to cut my own bread and he said no problem! So my bread is sliced evenly which makes it look like those store bought breads!^_^ S.O. and I might have to invest in a nice bread knife and maybe a baking stone. . .

Not too much air bubbles. . . Better for holding P.B. & J.!

It pretty much took me half the day to make the bread but it was worth it. I am seriously considering making our own bread every week. It's way cheaper than store-bought bread and kneading was quite relaxing! Kinda just released all my pent up anger into kneading this bread! 

Since I was in a baking mood today, I decided to make some homemade granola bars to for myself and to share to my co-workers. I just lifted the recipe from the marshmallow packet I had on hand and gave it a little twist and viola! A raving success! ^_^ I'm calling this Roaring Chewy Granola Bars!

Homemade Roaring Chewy Granola Bars

Roaring Chewy Granola Bars

1/4 cup unsalted butter

250 grams marshmallow

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups rice krispies

2 cups granola

1 cup chocolate chips

1) Line an 8 x 8 pan with either food-grade plastic film or parchment paper. 

2) Melt butter in low heat. 

3) Add marshmallows. Constantly stir for about 3-5 minutes or until all marshmallows are melted. 

4) Stir in vanilla extract. 

5) Remove from heat. 

6) Add rice krispies and granola to mixture. Making sure all dry ingredients are coated. 

7) Once the new mixture has cooled down a little bit, stir in chocolate chips. 

8) Transfer to prepared pan. 

9) Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes or until set. 

10) Cut into desire length. 

11) Wrap individual in food-grade plastic film or store in a container with a lid (add parchment paper in between layers). 

There's something about baking that eases my stress. It just puts away all my worries for a brief moment. Sharing what I made and people appreciating it makes it worth it too.