Pita Bread

I've been wanting to try making pita bread for a while and I finally tried it! This is a pretty basic recipe, and it tastes pretty good. My only complaint (which could have been my fault) is that the bread is a bit more dense than I expected, but still, I'm enjoying some pita and hummus ;-)

here's the link I got the recipe from:

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/breadsrice/r/pitabreadrecipe.htm

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.

Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in storage bags.

Puffy Pancakes

My sister gave me this recipe, and it is GREAT- super simple to make and a great "Saturday Morning" breakfast food. The ingredients are really simple, and it only takes a total of 15 minutes or so to make (including bake time). Also, you can always cut the recipe in half if you want a smaller portion/if you are only cooking for one.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 T butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 t salt

(I add 1/2 tsp of vanilla too, but that isn't required)

toppings: powdered sugar, syrup, jam, fresh berries, etc. (whatever you like to put on it)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450. While the oven is preheating, put the butter in the bottom of a glass pan (9 by 13 or whatever you have...). Put the pan with the butter in the preheating oven so that the butter melts by the time you are ready

2. mix together the eggs, flour, milk, salt, and vanilla

3. When the butter has melted, take the pan out of the oven and pour the batter on top of it (make sure the butter covers the entire bottom of the pan)

4. bake for 10-15 minutes. you know it's done when it has "set" and it is puffy (hence the name "puffy pancakes")

5. serve with toppings (I like powdered sugar, but anything is good!)

enjoy!!!