Saturday, October 27, 2007


Yea! My daughter is home from college for a three day weekend. We had not seen her since late August! It was, maybe, the longest stretch of time that she has been gone without me going to see her. She still has homework, so she is reading a lot. And I still have tasks I need to accomplish each day. We may go to a coffee shop, she to read and me to grade papers and of course, we will have coffee and maybe something sweet to eat! Or maybe we will stay home to do it. I found a Napoli Panettone and brought it home in honor of her visit and her 23rd birthday next week. It is a wonderful Italian sweet bread we see in stores about now till Christmas. It is much more reasonably priced in the stores, Walmart or Sam's, than online. Also, we have a wonderful homemade pumpkin bread sent by her "mother-away-from-home" who is also more like an older sister in age. My daughter lives with a homeschooling family on some acres out of town and has enjoyed the children, chickens, etc. this past year during her studies at the university.

More about the panettone. I have modified and combined several recipes for panettone to come up with a yummy version in my bread machine.

2/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, chopped up
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Next ingredients subject to taste and availability:
1/2 - 1 1/2 teaspoons anise seed (really a must if you want the authentic flavor!)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cups dried and candied fruit
dried fruit like cranberries, currents, and golden raisins
candied orange or lemon peel
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips

My daughter believes that this bread tastes best when torn rather than cut but it does cut nicely and makes a very elegant tea sandwich when spread with cream cheese and jam!

We may also do a craft project today. We both need to make gifts for Christmas. If we manage this today I will post pictures!

3 comments:

gunnelsvensson said...

Have a great time with your daughter, Molly!
Tomorrow I am travel to Berlin in Germany to visit my youngest daughter, I haven´t seen her for six week, and it will be so fun! And to see Berlin of course!

Unknown said...

Oh, Molly I so relate to how good it feels to have your daughter home from college and under your own roof. It's a feeling that you want to cook, bake and savour the time you have together. I know that I feel ever so much more alive when both my girls are under my roof.

Have a wonderful time. Blessings, Karen

Rael said...

Sorry we didn't have time to decorate those memo books. But I was so glad to be there, even for such a short time. I miss and love you, Mother mine!

~Rael~

P.S. I'm going to eat the last of the panettone today, in my hour between work and AWANA. It's been so yummy! :-)