Guacamole a la Wendy

Welcome back, challenge recipes!! I know this is kind of lame to call guacamole a challenge recipe but I have honestly never tried to make it before so it was a challenge for me! My sister-in-law made some at Easter and I got a huge craving for it last weekend so I asked her how she does it. She wrote me a list and I threw this together. I am not so great at picking out avocados evidently because the first ones I grabbed were too hard so I had to go back for others. First, I googled how to pick good, ripes ones and I found a tip about how to tell if they are too ripe. At the stem end, take off the last little stem button. If it is kind of green there, it is a good one. If that part has turned dry and brown, the inside is too far gone. You're welcome!
Now guacamole is very easy to throw together in any case but Wendy's trick is using fresh salsa from your grocer's deli/produce section. You could use fresh pico de gallo too. Here's what I picked up at my store:

 

3 - 4 ripe avocados

1 - 2 limes

garlic salt

fresh salsa or pic de gallo

Cholula (or your favorite brand) hot sauce

Then I had to go back for more avocados and went straight to a party where I actually made the guac and forgot to take any pictures. but really, it is so easy. I ended up using three avocados. Split, pit and mash them all up together. Then add the salsa by spoonfuls and stir until it looks right. Squeeze in the juice of one of the limes, sprinkle in the garlic salt and Cholula. Give it a taste, enlist others to help. Add more of whatever you think it needs. I added more garlic salt a couple times, then it was perfection. Open up the chips and get some while you can because it will not last long!

Amish Friendship Bread--Chocolate Cheesecake

Are you tired of these yet? If you answered yes, then I apologize because I AM NOT! Each one has been more delicious than the previous one and I cannot wait to run through all the different variations on my to-do list. Here's a website with a great selection .
The Ingredients:

1 cup Amish bread starter
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 small boxes instant cheesecake pudding mix
2 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients. In a smaller bowl, mix the dry ingredients, including the pudding, but wait for the chocolate chips. Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mix and blend well. Stir in chocolate chips. Prepare two laof pans. I like to spray them with cooking spray and then sprinkle them with sugar. It adds a delightful crunch to the outside of the loaves. I guesss for this bread you could use cocoa instead. Now for the cheesecake portion:

1 tub (12 oz) whipped cream cheese or 8 oz block, softened **not fat free**
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Cream ingredients together and pour on top of bread batter. Fold the cheesecake mix in a little bit and then pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for about 1/2 hour before removing from loaf pan. Slice and enjoy!!

Amish Friendship Bread--Lemon

I thought Easter would be a great reason to make a fresh lemon variation on the Amish bread. Pattie loves the Lemon Pound Cake at Starbucks so I am hoping she will like this bread too. It is still baking as I post so I will have to add taste notes later. But here is the recipe to get you started! More recipes at this website
The Ingredients:

1 cup Amish bread starter
1 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup lemon juice*
1 Tbsp lemon zest*
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 small boxes instant lemon pudding mix

*I used the zest and juice of 2 small lemons. First I zested them:

It took all the zest from the two lemons I had to make the full tablespoon required. Then I juiced the two lemons with my reamer:

and it was the prefect amount as well! Can't beat fresh ingredients :)

In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. In a smaller bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Add the dry mix to the wet mix until fully combined. Pour into two sugared bread pans and lightly sprinkle some sugar on top too. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until done. Leave them in the pan to cool for about 30 minutes and they will be MUCH easier to remove from the pans.
I like to put one loaf in the freezer once it cools completely. That way I have a dessert or brunch I can pull out or take with me to a gathering. I hope you are enjoying the variations as much as I am!!

Amish Friendship Bread--Butter Pecan

The Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 cups Amish bread starter
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp butter flavoring
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Mix wet ingredients together in a large bowl. I used about 1 3/4 cups of starter. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet. Pour into two well greased bread pans. I like to sprinkle sugar in the pans after spraying with cooking spray. It gives a nice little crunch to the edges. I ended up using a mini loaf pan and a regular pan. Unfortunately the mini loaves stuck! They didn't turn out very pretty but they sure are tasty!!

Amish Friendship Bread--New York Cheesecake

The Ingredients:

1 cup Amish bread starter
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 small boxes instant cheesecake pudding mix

For the filling:

8 oz cream cheese**
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Spoon mixture over the top of the bread batter and swirl a knife through. Pour into two well greased bread pans. I like to sprinkle sugar in the pans after spraying. This gives the bread a wonderful little crunch on the outside. Bake bread at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

**I find that 12 ounces of whipped cream cheese does wonderfully as a substitute for 8 ounces of softened cream cheese or if you are going to need to combine it with other ingredients.

***UPDATE***
If you really want a treat, try the addition I made this 4th of July. To me, summer is all about peaches. I was looking for something "peachy" to take for dessert to our 4th of July picnic with my parents and grandparents. I checked the webiste above for peach recipes and I didn't have the ingredients I would have needed for any of them. I decided that just putting some chopped up fresh peaches in the cheesecake bread I was making would be a good gamble. And I was right!! It was fantastic. I highly recommend it. I used one cup and made just one loaf with the peaches in it. Everyone swooned :)

Amish Friendship Bread-Banana Muffins

I have had a lot of fun with my Amish Friendship Bread starter. This variation made quick use of some bananas that were in danger of being tossed!
The Ingredients:

1 cup starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup ripe mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix

Ordinarily, Amish Friendship Bread is baked into two loaves. I decided to make these more appealing to my 4 year old by making muffins. She LOVES muffins!! To make loaves, cook at 325 degrees for one hour. For muffins:
Grease muffin pans and sprinkle them with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

I used one jumbo muffin pan

and one mini muffin pan.

Mix ingredients in order and pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 325 degrees. Mini muffins took 15 minutes to cook.

Jumbo muffins were done in 30 minutes

Allow muffins to cool for 30 minutes in pan before turning them out onto wire rack to cool completely. Pattie said, "Mommy, call the police cause I'm stealing another muffin in here!" I guess I'll take that to mean she likes them :)
For more fun variations, visit this website.

Amish Friendship Bread-Chocolate Chocolate Chip

Another of the wonderful variations you can use to enhance the basic recipe for Amish Friendship Bread.
The Ingredients:

1 cup Amish bread starter

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 large box instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups chocolate chips

Mix ingredients together in order. Pour batter into two prepared loaf pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Cool in pan for 30 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Slice.

Enjoy!!

If you are looking for something else, try this website for other variations.

Amish Friendship Bread-Basic Recipe

This is the basic recipe for Amish Friendship bread. It is highly delicious and very hard not to eat within seconds of pulling it from the oven. Try it and you'll see!
The Ingredients:

1 cup starter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix

Grease two loaf pans and sprinkle with a mix of cinnamon and sugar (I keep a mixture in a shaker for waffles and pancakes and such). This is optional but HIGHLY recommended. Trust me, I have done it both ways and this one sends it to the next level!

Mix ingredients together in order and pour half the batter into each prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with more cinna-sugar.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. It won't look quite done, but it is okay! Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before removing it. Otherwise you will lose some chunks. In the 30 minutes it will pull away from the sides and then slide right out.

This basic recipe can be altered in too many ways to list! Check out this website for other variations.

Amish Friendship Bread-Starter

I was lucky enough in December to have a friend who offered me some starter for Amish Friendship Bread. I gladly accepted her offer as I remembered with great fondness the delicious bread from a time when my mom had been given a starter. I have found it to be a fun and very easy process that is actually more forgiving that you might think. Notice I used the word "process"? Here's why:
The instructions that you receive with your cup worth of starter list out a ten day script of what you have to do before you can bake anything. I have taken pictures through my starter's journey. Here you go:
DAY 1: The day you receive your starter you don't have to do anything. Make sure that date is written in a place you can easily keep track. I use a sticky note on the lid of my jar.

DAY 2: Stir your starter

You'll see the yeast action grow each day

I just use a chopstick or sometimes just swirl the jar around. Only takes a second!

DAY 3: Stir
DAY 4: Stir
DAY 5: Stir
DAY 6: Feed the starter and move to a larger container.

Add one cup of milk, one cup of sugar and one cup of flour to the starter and mix well.

Then cover lightly again

DAY 7: Stir

See all the pretty bubbles?

Whisk them away!

DAY 8: Stir
DAY 9: Stir
DAY 10: Baking Day!!
Feed your starter again by adding another 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 1/2 cups milk. Separate out four portions: one for you to bake in 10 days time

and three more to pass along to friends along with a set of instructions.

Now for a few important notices:
Never use any metal when stirring or storing your starter.
There are some recipes that tell you to store your starter in a ziploc-type bag. Then there are some that say not to because it needs to breath. This makes sense to me so I store mine in a mason jar with the lid on but not tightened. Then I use a glass dish with a lid that is not airtight for the second stage.
If you are not able to bake on day 10, put your starter in the freezer. If you just need one more day, the fridge will do but it will bubble up so make sure it is in a big enough container.
I have found a great website for variations and even for the starter itself if you want to start from scratch. The variations I have tried are:
The Basic--delicious and perfect for snacking, breakfast or dessert
Banana--kids loved these, I made it into muffins
Chocolate Chocolate Chip--do you really need me to tell you that this was AMAZING?!
I often bake and put one loaf in the freezer once it is cool. I also have several starters in the freezer because once you have given one to all your friends, what are you supposed to do with them? My plans are to bake a bunch of loaves for Easter. We'll see if that happens. I suppose you could just bake it all up on Day 10 and end up with 10 loaves of bread! Have fun!!

Bella Cucina Mini Donut Maker

For Christmas, my grandparents gave us a Bella Cucina Mini Donut Maker!

I am really excited about it because I have wanted one for a while. And it's red so it matches my kitchen. After my post-holiday bout of pneumonia, I felt well enough to finally give it a test drive. I used the Basic Donut Recipe included in the instruction booklet.
The Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Plug in the donut maker and wipe the face of both plates with an oiled paper towel. While it preheats, whip up the batter.

Stir the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add wet mix to dry mix.

Beat with an electric mixer for one minute (or vigorously by hand).

Add oil and beat for one more minute. Pour by scant tablespoons into the donut wells.

Close the lid and wait about 2 minutes then check the donuts for doneness. Mine took about 2 or 3 minutes per batch.

They were very tasty plain. They reminded me of pancakes. Slightly sweet on their own they could be dressed up a thousand ways! I dusted with powdered sugar since those tend to be a Chaosville favorite.

I did not keep track of how many batches it made, sorry! I want to say it was at least 4 batches, so 28 donuts but it may have been a little more like 5 batches (35 donuts). In any case they were gone by morning but enjoyed by all!

I can't wait to try out some of the various glazes in the recipe booklet and I want to try to find a way to make some chocolate cake donuts; they are my favorite!


*UPDATE*
I recently made this pumpkin donut recipe in the Bella Cucina and they were perfection!