My September Kitchen: Sourdough Breads and Homemade Coconut Cream Pie

My September Kitchen was filled with the aroma of breads baking, and also with my dream coming true of making pies again! Though I am fairly regular at baking sourdough bread each week, I needed to take most of the month of August off from baking breads, as we were very involved with some significant happenings with my siblings. So it was especially exciting for me to spend a focused amount of time in September baking breads again. And the pie ... well, it was an unexpected gift for me to make a pie. 

My first bake the beginning of September was to replenish our supply of Artisan Bread. I keep a supply of this favorite sourdough bread in our freezer, and it was time to make more. I made four loaves, and like to cut each one in half before placing them in the freezer.  

My "Basic Artisan Sourdough Loaf" recipe comes from "Second Rise Sourdough" who I follow and learn lots of helpful tips from on Instagram.

I also like to continually have sandwich bread on hand, and made three loaves on my second bread-baking day this month. Again, the recipe I use is from the same source as the Artisan bread. For these, I slice the loaves, placing wax paper between each slice, and then store in the freezer to pull out as needed.

My next bake was a seasonal recipe that I've made before: Apple Pie Focaccia. A sweeter sourdough bread which is much like a dessert for us. Though it can be served as a sweet pastry for breakfast, if desired. Click for the recipe at Amy Bakes Bread.

Another sourdough bake this month was to make some Ciabatta again, something I do once in awhile. It's a treat to use these for sandwiches, shown as an open-faced sandwich in the photo below. 

I froze both the Apple Pie Focaccia and the Ciabatta in smaller packages, perfect to pull out for the two of us.

And now ... sharing my biggest baking joy of the month:

Homemade Coconut Cream Pie

It has been a desire of mine to get back into baking pies again. Sadly, it has been a number of years since I have done so, and my latest attempts a few years ago didn't turn out as I had hoped.

I feel like this was a gift from God, who cares about every detail of our lives, and knows even our dreams and desires. It turns out that I needed to find a new crust recipe. And in mid-September I learned of a great source with lots of detailed tips for pie baking: Sally's Baking Addiction. An answer to my dreams and desires ... I am so thankful.

This Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust turned out amazing, so buttery and flaky and so very delicious. And it will be my go-to pie crust recipe from now on! This baker also has very detailed helpful tips for baking pies, and also other baked items. (This pie crust will be replacing the one - click here - I used in the past.)

The Homemade Coconut Cream Pie  that I made was from the same source as the crust recipe. It was the perfect pie for me to make for my hubby, one of his favorites! And so delicious. And if you follow along here, you'll be seeing more pie recipes in the future, for sure. You can also purchase the cookbook, Sally's Baking 101 from this helpful source, which I treated myself to this month, as well. (Currently it's 45% off on Amazon.)

Thanks for reading along; it's a joy for me to share what is happening "In My Kitchen". And hopefully it will be an encouragement to you as we love and serve our families and friends with delicious foods. 

Where Do We Go When We are Running on Empty?

 

On an ordinary day, or on a stressful day, we each have our defaults of where we go, where we look to for renewal. And I keep learning ...

There are so many choices of where to go. The choices really are unending ... we can pick up our phones, spend time on a hobby, plan our next vacation trip. Go shopping, treat ourselves to our favorite flavored hot coffee. 

And I have done, and keep doing all of these. And each of these are good choices at times. Each of these choices can bring renewal and refreshment for a while.  

But what if our default place to go is the one choice that is always available, that satisfies in the deepest places? What if our default place to go when we need renewal, is to go to a Person. 

These words from Psalm 119:114 (MSG translation) have come to my mind often in recent weeks. What if we would pause in our busyness, pause in times of unsettledness, pause at the end of the day, or in the middle of the day, and go to this ultimate source of renewal. What if this would be our first choice, the very first place we would turn to?

Quieting our hearts, pausing our activity, and turning our thoughts to Him, spending time with Him, listening to His life-giving Words ... this is our true source of renewal. This is what we are made for, to be loved by Him. 

And this deeper joy will then overflow and affect everything else, giving joy to our ordinary days, our good days, and our stressful days. The cup of coffee will bring deeper refreshment, the tasks at hand will be given deeper purpose, the writing of a note to a friend, or the writing of a blog post, will overflow with more creativity, more love. The time in our kitchen will bring more joy, the tedious tasks of cleaning or fixing will be accomplished with a lighter heart. 

What are your current top choices of what to reach for when you are longing for something more, when your heart is unsettled?

Above all else, may we reach for Him, the source of everything we need, and everything we long for.

If you are needing some encouragement and some deeper insight in how to draw closer to God, how to make time for what is most important, here is a suggestion ... 

I read through this very thoughtful, encouraging book seven years ago when it first came out, and also just read through it again, very slowly, this summer. 

I highly recommend it ... click here: Whispers and Wildflowers.

(For more posts on this topic, click the page tab at the top of my Pursuing Heart blog:  "Above All Else".)