Category: Blog

Challah Bread

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Challah Bread

Hey guys! Just wanted to share a quick recipe with you. A traditional Challah Bread often baked during our Hanukkah celebration.

It’s delicious and looks great on the table!

Ingredients:

1 cup warm

2 teaspoons yeast

4-4 ½ cups flour

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk (save the white for the wash)

¼ cup oil or butter

 

Instructions:

  1. Proof the yeast. Place the warm water in a bowl with a teaspoon of sugar and the yeast, mix to combine. Allow to sit until you can see a frothy layer across the top, should happen within 10 minutes. If no froth try again with fresh yeast.
  2. Mix together the dry ingredients. Flour, sugar, and salt. I use my stand mixer to knead and mix but this could easily be done by hand.
  3. To the flour mixture, add the eggs, egg yolk, and oil. Whisk.
  4. Mix the egg white with 2 tbsp. of water and set aside until time to use.
  5. Pour the yeast mixture in. Add flour a tbsp at a time until a nice dough forms.
  6. Knead on low for 10 minutes. The dough is finished kneading when it becomes soft, smooth, and can be shape into a ball.
  7. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and place in a warm area. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  8. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a long rope about 16 inches long.
  9. Separate into 3 rolls each, doing a simple braid with each set. I like to do 2 sets of 3 but you could also do a 6 stranded bread.
  10. Place braids in a warm area and allow to rise again for 1 hour.
  11. Brush the braids with the egg wash while the oven is preheating to 350.
  12. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
  13. At last, allow the challah to cool. Slice and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday set aside to commemorate the rededication of the temple of the LORD in the 2nd century BC. Hanukkah is actually considered to be a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, however it’s become very popular as it falls close to Xmas-time each year.

The Syrian-Greek Emperor Antiochus made the observance of Judaism, a crime punishable by death.

He desecrated the Holy Temple by having an altar to Zeus placed there and had pigs sacrificed.

A rebellion of the Jews, led by the Maccabees (a Jewish priest and his five sons) miraculously managed to defeat their oppressors and rededicate their Temple.

…So the story goes, after the temple was cleaned up and purified they needed olive oil to fuel the light of the menorah but there was only enough for one night. The miracle was it lasted for a full eight nights!

On Hanukkah, Jews celebrate their religious freedom and the great miracle that occurred at the rededication of the Holy Temple! It’s celebrated for eight nights to honor the miracles that occurred at that time.

How do we celebrate Hanukkah? Every community and family has their unique Hanukkah traditions, but there are some traditions that are practically universal. This includes:

Lighting of the Menorah- There is a candle used for lighting the other candles called the Shamash, which has a special place on the menorah. Blessings are said as the candles are being lit. On the first night the first candle on the right is lit. On the second night add a candle to the left of the first candle that was lit on the first night. Light the second candle first. Followed by the light which was lit on the previous night. Each night after an additional candle is added. On the eighth night all eight candles will be lit.

Spinning the Dreidel- The most popular game to play during Hanukkah is dreidel (similar to a top). The dreidel has four sides with Hebrew letters on each side: Nun, Gimel, Hay, and Shin.

Eating fried foods- Potato latkes and doughnuts are the most popular!

When?- On the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th of Kislev.

 

Happy Hanukkah!

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Fall is here! And at the Pilgrim Homestead that means Pumpkin Flavored Everything. Not only does it taste great, it’s super healthy! This week we’re celebrating Sukkot and kicking things off with Pumpkins!

Pumpkin Loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups Pure Pumpkin
3 cups of sugar
1 cup olive oil
2/3 cup of water
4 eggs
3 ½ cups of flour
2 tsp of baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground clove

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix together pumpkin, sugar, oil, water and eggs in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir well.
4. Gradually pour into the bowl of pumpkin mixture. Stir until completely combined.
5. Oil two loaf pans (9×5).
6. Pour mixture evenly into both pans.
7. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool. Slice, Serve and Enjoy!

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:
The Crust:
2 cups Graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick of melted butter

The Filling:

2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
4. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
5. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice to the remaining batter and beat until combined. Spread over the batter in the crust. Set aside.
6. Cook for 40-45 minutes. The edges should be puffy and look done while the center should still be slightly “jiggly”.
7. Let the cheesecake cool completely on a cooling rack. Once cooled, let it refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. For best results, refrigerate overnight.

 

CLASSIC PUMPKIN ROLL

Ingredients:
For the cake:
3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
For the filling:
1 package 8oz cream cheese, softened
1 -2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
More powdered sugar for garnish if desired

Instructions:
1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease a 13×18-inch half sheet pan; line with parchment paper. Grease and flour paper.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in larger mixer bowl until thick and pale yellow in color. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately but gently, roll up cake and parchment paper together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4. For the filling: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove parchment paper. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

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It’s time for another celebration!

For those of you that don’t know, Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage ‘Holy Days’ referenced in the Bible. It’s also known as Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.

A sukkot is a hut-like structure that the Israelites lived in during their 40 years of wandering through the wilderness, after their exodus from Egypt. Sukkot simply means ‘temporary dwelling’.

We celebrate by constructing our own sukkot. The festival lasts for seven days. During which we spend much of our time outside in our sukkot. We try to cook our meals and eat them in our sukkot during the weeklong event.

We use this celebration as another way to educate our children and reflect on the time when God lead His people through the wilderness. Talk about a History lesson!

This joyous celebration is a reminder of God’s deliverance, protection, provision, and faithfulness.

This is important not only for Jews but for Christians as well. Jesus not only celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, He used it as the occasion to reveal His nature and His mission.

…And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us… (John 1:14 NKJV)

In celebrating the Biblical feasts like Jesus and His disciples did, we as Christians can get a better understanding of the Jewish life that Jesus lived while he was here on Earth as man.

In the New Testament, Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles and spoke these words on the last day of the Feast: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”(John 7:37-38 NKJV)

The next morning while the torches were still burning Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”(John 8:12 NKJV)

Sukkot points to the truth that our lives rest on the redemption which is in

Jesus Christ and His forgiveness of our sin.

Happy Sukkot!

Doughnuts

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So, my daughter’s been reading a book called Doughnut Day, where a mother and daughter take the day to make doughnuts together. Needless to say, upon finishing the story, she had a craving for some ‘momma time’ in the kitchen.

Here’s our recipe:

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of flour

¼ cup of sugar

3 tbsp of softened butter

1 tsp salt

½ cup of kefir or milk

1 egg

1 pk yeast

½ cup of mixed flour and water (1/3 cup of flour and 1 cup of water)

Olive oil for frying

Glaze:

3 cups of Powdered sugar

½ cup of water

4 tsp vanilla

  1. First, make the mixture of flour and water to act as a dough enhancer by heating 1 cup of water, then adding in 1/3 cup of flour until thick. Set aside to cool.
  2. Mix all ingredients together and knead for 15 minutes. I used my kitchen aide mixer with a dough hook attachment.
  3. Set aside and let rise 45 minutes.
  4. Punch down and let rise another 45 minutes.
  5. Next, place the dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1/2” thick. (tip: don’t over handle the dough at this stage or it’ll get tough)
  6. Cut into doughnuts.
  7. Final rise! 1 hour.
  8. Heat oil. I used a deep fryer, but a deep skillet would also work.
  9. While the oil is heating, make the glaze. Just whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, and water.
  10. Fry the donuts in the oil about 30-45 seconds on each side, until golden brown.
  11. Scoop out onto a towel and allow to dry.
  12. Once slightly cooled, dip in glaze and set aside.
  13. For powered sugar doughnuts, you could also place doughnuts in a large Ziploc baggie filled with 1-2 cups of powered sugar, shake well.

We made half our batch glazed and the other half powdered sugar.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

 

Bagels

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My kids love Bagels! Unfortunately, they take a few extra steps to make and time is never on my side.

So I enlisted the help of a few extra hands and we had ‘cooking class’.

Here’s the Recipe:

Ingredients:

4 – 4 ½ cups of flour

1 pk yeast

1 ½ cups of warm water

3 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp of honey

1 tsp salt

 

  1. Mix together flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
  2. Add warm water.
  3. Knead for 5 minutes.
  4. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
  5. Cut evenly into 12 rolls.
  6. Roll into a ball, put your finger through the middle to form a 2 inch hole. Shape and place on a baking sheet.
  7. Let rise for 20 minutes.
  8. Next, broil in the oven for 2 minutes on each side.
  9. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil, adding in 1 tbsp of honey.
  10. Once broiled, place bagels in the pot to boil (I did 3 at a time). 4 minutes on each side, turning only once.
  11. Do the same with the remaining.
  12. Once removed from boiling water, let them drain on a towel.
  13. Next, you’re gonna Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
  14. These Bagels slice well, taste great with butter, and even better with cream cheese! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bread

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Cinnamon Bread

I love to wake my kids up in the mornings with the smell of something yummy coming from the kitchen. Its way more effective than me telling them it’s time to start the day. They hurry to their feet and rush to the kitchen to find out, what’s for breakfast?

This morning it was Cinnamon Bread! A Quick and Easy recipe that’s delicious!

Ingredients:

Dry:

2 ½ cups of flour

1 cup sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

Wet:

3 eggs

½ cup olive oil

1 cup of sour cream

¼ cup of milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Swirl:

4 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp cinnamon

¾ cup of sugar

 

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Oil two loaf pans.

3. In the first bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.

5. Make a whole in the middle of the dry ingredients and start adding in the wet.

6. Combine ingredients for the Cinnamon Swirl, set aside.

7. Pour half the batter into the loaf pans.

8. Spoon out a couple spoonfuls of cinnamon swirl on top of batter.

9. Add the other half of the batter.

10. Spoon out the rest of the cinnamon swirl on top.

11. Next take a butter knife and run through the batter to swirl the cinnamon swirl into the batter.

12. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

13. Serve warm and enjoy!

Flat Bread

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4 cups of flour

1 packet of yeast

¼ cup of sugar

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

1 ½ cup warm water

 

1.In a small bowl mix together yeast, 1 tsp sugar, warm water and let stand for 5 minutes until foamy.

2.Meanwhile in the bowl of the stand mixer add dry ingredients, starting with 3 cups of flour.

3.Next add the butter.

4.Then add yeast mixture.

5.Mix until well combined adding a little flour at a time until dough pulls away from the sides.

6.Knead on low for 5 minutes.

7.Slightly oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

8.Punch down dough and form into balls, then roll flat.

9.Let rise for another 20 minutes.

10.Preheat oiled skillet. Fry each flatbread until browned on both sides. 1 – 2 minutes per side.

11.Store in covered dish to keep warm while frying the others.

Serve warm with butter. Enjoy!

 

 

Popovers

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Popovers are a wonderful alternative to biscuits for breakfast, they also can replace rolls for dinner.

 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of chilled butter

4 eggs

1 ¼ cups milk

2 tablespoons of melted butter

1 ¼ cups flour

¼ tsp salt

*Recipes makes 12 popovers

 

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Butter 2 Popover pans, 6 cups each.
  2. Divide evenly the chilled butter into the bottom of each cup and put the pan in the oven until the butter melts.
  3. Beat the eggs until foamy using an electric mixer. Next beat in the milk and melted butter. With mixer on low add the flour and salt. Beat until smooth, approx. 3 minutes.
  4. Fill the prepared popover pan cups ¾ of the way with batter. Bake 30-40 minutes, until puffed up and browned.

Timothy’s Birth Story

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Timothy

Up until now all of my children had been born two years apart. I’ve had five beautiful children. Three were born in a hospital, then we had the last two at home, unassisted.

I’m the worst at keeping track of my cycles. Which in my defense, I’m not regular.  For the past twelve years I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding.

So needless to say, it’s hard to keep up with, or maybe I’m just lazy. Either way I don’t track it.

So here I am in the middle of August feeling a bit different knowing I had a cycle in June, sometime around my daughter’s birthday and was pretty sure I hadn’t had one since then.

So I took the test.

Yep, we were pregnant and here we go again!

I was happy, my family was happy and that’s all that mattered.

I estimated my due date to be March 26th. I have never had a baby to come early or on time, so that date didn’t mean much to me.

I handle my own prenatal care. I monitor my diet, my weight, baby’s heartrate, and our overall wellbeing.

I take my prenatal vitamins, maintain daily physical activity, along with regular Chiropractic visits.

Although I had done this before I reeducated myself on natural childbirth and how to handle different situations that could arise.

In January we decided to have an ultrasound to get the measurements of the baby along with the sex.

It’s a boy!

Another BOY!! We were happy. Four boys.

March came and went. We waited.

I kept reminding myself that no one had ever stayed pregnant forever, so I just continued to pray for a fast, and healthy delivery; healthy momma and healthy baby.

Finally, April 11th, 9pm. I had a contraction. Just one, but it was real. I knew time was close. I went to bed to rest while I still could.

April 12th, 6am. Another contraction. I was still in bed but quickly got up. Went to the bathroom. There was blood, just a small amount but it was a start.

9am. Another one. It was a bit stronger than the others. It was at that moment when we finalized his name. Timothy Adam Davis “God Honoring Man”. 1 Timothy Chapter 2.

11:15am. Another contraction, then they all came;

12:05pm

1:25pm

2:30pm

3:05pm

3:10pm

3:15pm

3:25pm

I was on the birthing ball between contractions and would stand during them.

I went to the bathroom to get more comfortable and wanted to get there while there was still time.

Once there my husband prepared our things. My music, birth ball, birth stool, essentials oils, towels, plastics, absorbent pads, and cord clamp.

I seemed to be more vocal and more relaxed with this birth. I was confident already having had two unassisted births, I knew getting scared was the worst thing I could do and would cause me more pain.

So I swayed and danced. I squatted, I reclined on the toilet, I was on all fours.

I do believe the pain was more intense than I had experienced with the first two, but I moaned and prayed through it.

At some time after 4pm I felt it was time to push, so I did. I pushed more this time compared to the others. But I felt it was needed.

6:40pm Timothy Adam was born. He was healthy and beautiful. I was healthy, tired, but healthy!

My husband and I waited a few moments before calling in the children. We just looked at him and praised God! We thanked the Lord for watching over us, for leading and guiding us!

My sweet baby nursed, while I delivered the placenta which took another two hours. We cut and clamped the cord an hour later. My husband took Timothy to clean and clothe.

Thinking back on this birth, I still praise God for His hand being on us.

My recovery, again was amazing! The birth was perfect!