Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

As mentioned in a previous entry, I'd been wanting to make that cranberry relish that Susan Stamberg talks about every year on National Public Radio. In past years, I'd buy the ingredients and never make the dish. This year was different.

I had some spare time on Friday afternoon, so I went to the local Kroger to pick up the ingredients I needed: raw cranberries and sour cream. I already had the horseradish, sugar, and onion. The cranberries were placed in a food processor to chop them up. The onion was peeled , sliced, and run through the Veg-O-Matic. I added the horseradish, the sour cream, and the sugar, and mixed them all together. I then spooned the mixture into a 1-quart container for freezing, and put the container in the freezer. This morning, I took it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator. When it had thawed enough to eat, I tried a spoonful.

I liked it.

The tartness of the cranberries is balanced by the sweeetness of the sugar, the creaminess of the sour cream, the zing of the horseradish, and the pungency of the onion. The flavors all meld together nicely, like a cranberry-onion chutney.

Would I make it again? Absolutely. But I'd only share it with people who are adventureous enough to try it.

Several years ago, I bought a bread maker -- a Welbilt Bread Machine. In the past few years, it's been sitting in the garage, since it wasn't being used and The Ex wanted the counter space for a toaster oven. A couple of weeks ago, while having some beef stew, I had the hankering for homemade bread. So I went into the garage, found the bread maker, and brought it in the house. I then searched for the bread mixes I had in the pantry. I found the mixes, used one of them, and proceeded to make a loaf.

Since then, I've been making my own bread, and not bothering with store-bought bread. I have the ingredients at home; I might as well use them. Two nights ago, I made a loaf of whole wheat bread, with only whole wheat flour, water, and yeast. I didn't have any honey, so I left that and the other ingredients out. As a result, I ended up with a fairly dense loaf (about the consistency of a Brownberry loaf). Last night, I made some white bread using the recipe in the bread make booklet. It turned out great.

I'm trying to think how/why bread making machines went out of fashion. Part of it's the influx of restaurants/bakeries like Panera Bread, part of it's the low-carb diet craze.

Now I'm looking for a recipe for hunza bread. Supposedly that bread will help me lose weight, or so the story goes.

Anyone else have a bread maker? When was the last time you made a loaf?

Shout-outs: Happy birthday rms_butterfly!