Homemade Strawberry Frosting

I still have not mastered the art of making homemade cupcakes, but this frosting certainly turned out great and will leave you wanting to eat the whole bowl.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoon fresh strawberries, pureed
• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 dash of salt

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer, in a large bowl add 1 cup of butter and salt and blend on medium high until fluffy.
2. Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar and blend well.
3. Add vanilla extract and the strawberry puree and blend well.

Will frost 1 dozen cupcakes.

Homemade Mayo

This is just a recipe I came across for homemade mayo that sounded good. There are several out there on the internet, so feel free to browse for something that suits your tastes.

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup vegetable or olive oil

Directions

1. Combine the egg yolks, mustard, cayenne and lemon juice in a food processor (or blender). Start to process, and as the machine runs, add the oil in a thin stream through the top spout. The mayonnaise will come together and thicken all of a sudden.

2. If the mixture is too thick, add a little warm water to thin it. Add salt and pepper to taste. The mayonnaise will keep for about 1 week in the refrigerator.

Homemade Bread

I have recently been doing a lot of research on healthier, more natural foods and have come across a few recipes. One of the recipes Walter found was for homemade bread. If you've ever read the ingredients on the package of a loaf of bread, then you know that you're ingesting more than just oats and grain; there are a lot of preservatives in bread. Since I'm trying to move away from as much processed foods as possible, I was thrilled to find a homemade bread recipe with baking instructions. The instructions are kind of lengthy and in-depth, which is great, but instead of trying to type them out I'm just going to post the ingredients below. You can read the step by step instructions by visiting http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup milk
• 5 teaspoons sugar (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 5 teaspoons butter (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 1 package active dry yeast (you can get yeast near the flour at your local grocery store)
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour (get unbleached white for your first attempt)
• Corn starch or nonstick cooking spray (just to prevent the bread from sticking to the bowl or pan)
  

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it looks fairly easy and not too intimidating. I hope to try it out in the next week or two, and will try to give an update once I've made some.