21 November 2009

Thanksgivinig

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

20 November 2009

Homemade Bread and Russian Borscht

For about a year, I have been wanting to make homemade bread. I kept telling my family and friends, "I am going to try my hand at homemade bread." Well this week, I made three loaves--the first one as you can tell by the picture was not pretty to look at--but it tasted sooo good. My second loaf did not rise, but my third try was perfect. The shape and color were much better than my first and it also turned out to be sooo good too.






FIRST LOAF











THIRD LOAF








The recipe was simple and it came from the blog: The 50's Housewife.

I also made Classic Russian Borscht Soup and the only word I can think of is wonderful!!! I cooked this for my whole family and we are not eaters of beets, but this soup tends to cover what I called the "beet taste."

You can find the recipe on Cooks.Com under soups and if you pull up Borscht it will the third recipe submitted by CM.


Since I love food history, I would like to share some of the history of Borscht soup.

Borscht is a soup that is known for its very deep red color and the use of beetroot. My research showed this soup appeared around the 18th and 19th centuries and also a type of Borscht was cooked during the Medieval Period. Two countries take pride in this soup being on the top of their cuisine list and they are: Ukraine and Russia.

Borscht is the national soup in Ukraine and in Russia you can still find many families and restaurants cooking this soup.

Also in my research I came across that beets were very popular with European lower class families because they were cheap and most were able to grow their own. I also read where Borscht was very popular among the Jews.

If you come across any information on Borscht, please share your findings with me. I love learning all I can.

Resource: The Food Timeline
is called

01 November 2009

Poinsette Bridge

With my daughter in school and my husband at work, I decided to go on a small drive to Poinsette Bridge. The drive itself was beautiful with the sun out and the ever changing leave colors. The bridge is located on Old Highway 25 and if you are not paying attention you will drive pass the bridge. What caught my attention was the sound of Little Gap Creek that runs through the bridge.





Poinsette Bridge was built around 1820 and it was the only way one could travel from Greenville SC to Asheville NC. Looking at the bridge, I could not help but go back in time and wonder who travel across this bridge. I also wonder what the area looked like in the 1820's? Was it a wooded area or at that time were there houses in the area?





I do hope my pictures show the beauty of the bridge and the wonderful construction. For more information go to: Poinsett Bridge



Best
Tracy :)