The Art of British Cooking - Buttermilk Bread.

It's an easy

Rhubarb fresh from the garden and a Rhubarb Charlotte recipe.

 We always look forward to

Buttermilk Bread; an easy recipe.

I recently shared some tag sale finds with you.  Among them was a cookbook called The Art of British Cooking, published in 1965.  It seemed appropriate on this rainy day that I try the Buttermilk Bread recipe.  I've had a bit of buttermilk left over from some delectable buttermilk waffles and I wanted to use it up. The book says "This is delicious and easily made.  If buttermilk is not available, use sour milk, or fresh milk with a teaspoon of creme of tartar added to the milk before stirring into the flour."

 I was a little worried at first...the recipe called for a pound of flour.  Thankfully, The Joy of Cooking has a "weights and measures" section that comes in handy at times like this.  There it was; one pound of flour equals four cups.

You'll need 4 cups of flour (I used all purpose), 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of buttermilk.  Start by mixing the dry ingredients together.  I like to use a fork for this.

 

Slowly add the buttermilk and mix to a slightly elastic dough.  Divide in two, put on a lightly floured bowl and shape to a round about 6 inches across.  Place them in a greased pan.  I chose to use my very large cast iron skillet.  They both fit into it very nicely.

The book says to mark the top with a cross and bake for 20 - 30 minutes in a moderate to quick oven.  I set my oven to 350 degrees and baked them for approximately 30 minutes. 

They smelled wonderful coming out of the oven!  The cookbook suggest making the dough into small rolls also.  I'll try that next time.  I would guess that you'd get about a dozen rolls out of the batter.

The rain had picked up so it was a cozy afternoon for warm bread and strawberries with cream.

This is heavy cream.  You can use light cream or even half and half if you prefer.  Milk is a bit too thin.

 A little butter on my bread and it made a delightful lunch!

Someone was watching me; shall I set another plate?

I'll be sharing more recipes from the The Art of British Cooking periodically.

The weekend's consignment finds.

Well it's that time of year again!  Yard sales, tag sales and flea markets.  A friend in the south asked me once "What do you sell at a tag sale - tags?"  I never considered that tag sale was regionally defined.  Of course, we're not selling our "yard" at a yard sale and we're not selling "fleas" at a flea market either!  This past weekend, there seemed to be a plethora of road side attractions selling items that I absolutely didn't need, nor necessarily want.  But the draw of the game pulled me in and I came home with the following items that, as truth be told, are still on my kitchen table waiting for me to find a proper place to put them!

I admit that it wasn't the color pink on this gorgeous dish that was calling my name.  I'm not really a "pink" person.  It was the golden allure of the lobster!  Gold after all, is such a rich color, bringing the illusion of wealth to any dining room; right?

The Germany stamp makes me wonder about it's age.

A serial number?  Are there other pieces to the set?  Plates to match?

I've been sewing since I was a kid in 4-H.  Not only did the 70's packaging draw me in, but it's an entire length of pearl emblazoned soutache; something we all need in our sewing rooms.

"Sew" pretty!

I chuckled when I saw this and I think I gasped when I smelled it!  The smell of my dad's garage was instantly upon me.  Motor oil and sawdust wafted through the room.  Perhaps your dad had one of these in his toolbox....a folding tape measure.  

Each click represents twelve inches of length.

Folded up like an accordion.

This one has a brass extension "slide".

Made by Stanley, now Stanley Black and Decker.

Published in 1931, this delightful little cookbook is a terrific addition to my meager collection.

I'll be testing some of these recipes in the near future.

I thought it was curious that a previous owner had glued this salmon souffle recipe inside the front cover.

Why would anyone discard this?  Another tasty find....I'll be sure to share some of these with you as well.

I probably won't be making picked herring but just in case you're interested.....

A pretty plate made by Homer Laughlin, a company known for "personalizing" plates such as those made for church fundraisers. 

My final purchase; an old cake decorating set.  Both of these frosting tubes have seen better days, but I loved the assortment of cap styles.

Complete with floral leaves, I will be using this in the kitchen.

I said I wasn't a "pink" person, but the snapdragons on the dining room table say otherwise!