Perfect winter dinner

Yesterday I spent the day cooking in the kitchen. I made everything from scratch. It took a long time but we were rewarded in the end!  

 Dinner was delicious and dessert was just as wonderful! 

Alyssa shares my love for the goopy middle so she claimed this piece! Smart girl!

If you're in the mood to try a few new recipes I highly recommend these!

Cheesy vegetable chowder  http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html

 cinnamon roll cake Jamie Cooks It Up!: Cinnamon Roll Cake...easy, breezy, beautiful. 

I made the bread bowls with this recipe: From Christy Jones

Artisan Boule/Bread

2lbs or 6 1/2 cups flour (exact amount)

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt (no substitutes)

3 cups lukewarm water

-Mix yeast & salt into water let sit for 5 minutes

-stir in flour, mixing till no dry patches

-cover and rise for 2-4 hours

To bake

cut grapefruit size piece (I find that each batch makes 4 loaves)

fold into a ball with hands, no kneading, very little flour

put on parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal

let rise for about 1 hour 

heat baking stone in oven for 20 min (baking stone a must)

bake @ 450 degrees 

slash top w/ knife and dust w/flour

slide parchment onto stone

bake w/ metal bowl over top for 20 min 

remove bowl and bake for 10 minutes more

**For bread bowls I made the balls into the size of an orange**