Thursday, January 09, 2014

Cooking up cold weather foods

Apple Cider Quick Bread


I've got to admit I love to cook so spending much of the Wednesday in the kitchen cooking was not a huge sacrifice. While outside temps hovered around 30 degrees as the daytime high, I washed and chopped celery and onions and other vegetables for a big double batch of Brunswick stew that bubbled on the stove along side a pot of homemade chili. As they slowly cooked for much of the afternoon, I baked molasses-gingerbread cookies and a loaf of apple cider bread which kept the oven going and the kitchen toasty warm.

The apple cider bread mix was a gift from our daughter, and it turned out really nice. After baking for almost an hour, it looked perfect and the top crust was crunchy and yummy. Half the loaf is for here and the other half is to share with my parents. I also made up a double batch of molasses-gingerbread cookies to share ... big, soft cookies just like they like them.

Since I'm heading to Richmond for some legislative-related events later today, it seemed a good time to cook. With the upcoming cool, rainy weekend, my folks will have some warm stews and a sweet treat or two to help stay warm, and the cooking is done for here, too. Talk about killing two birds with one stone....

After spending the better part of the day in the kitchen, by last night the food was divided and stored in containers, the dishwasher was loaded, and pots and pans were washed and put away. The long day cooking will pay off with no cooking through the weekend. My work here is done. LOL.

Stay warm with some stew because it's winter in the Shenandoah Valley....

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
January 8, 2014

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