A Mouse in the Pantry

Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese and Soft Boiled Eggs

What a happiest of New Years.  Have you felt the fresh breath of 2010 sweeping briskly across your face with soft kisses of new hopes? Have you begun to untie those tethers from 2009, letting them float away?

I have found that spirits seem a bit brighter, a bit more relaxed, when roaming about, and the big empty year ahead of us is void of obligation which always gets the creative juices flowing.

In our nearly "new" kitchen tonight was a freshly piled spinach salad with blue cheese, a soft boiled egg and balsamic vinaigrette. A healthy start to the new week as kids are back to school and life gets back in the fast lane.  I am sure, that by this time next week the calendar will be full, but for now, spinach salad, fresh eggs and peace.

Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese and Soft Boiled Eggs

1 pound freshly washed and patted dry baby spinach

2 ounces firm blue cheese - crumbled

4 soft boiled or poached eggs, peeled

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 clove crushed and minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

salt and pepper to taste

To make the dressing: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, vigorously.

Compose salad on a large platter, beginning with clean spinach, then blue cheese crumbled about, eggs, and then sprinkled with a dash of salt and freshly ground pepper.  Drizzle dressing all over salad just before serving.

*One egg per person should be fine, cook more as required.

All My Eggs in One Basket

Oh my dear sweet lordy. Would you step back and take a look at what one of my cutest of little chicks has gone and done.  Just five months after coming home with me to torment my dog, they have gone and produced! Eggs people. O.k., one egg, but still, check this out, an egg!

This is it, my beacon of good for the coming year/decade. One little brown pullet egg all full of surprises. And in commemoration of this little beauty, a recipe, full of eggs and absolutely perfect for new years day breakfast (assembled the night before).

*I'm thankful for Nugget, for Jumpy-Duce, for Cacciatore.  I'm thankful for my friend Cathryn, who inspired chicken ownership and continues to "egg" me on when home improvement gets hard.  I'm thankful for the end of December.  I'm thankful for rainy days and sunny mornings.  I'm thankful for the sheet of photos from my mother's childhood given to me over Christmas and the beautiful heart ornament to go with them.  I'm ever so grateful for the look on my child's face when he saw our first egg (#52).

Cheese, Pumpkin and Egg Strata (inspired by a recipe from the late Gourmet Magazine)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion (1 large)

2 cups diced raw pumpkin

2 cups raw leaf spinach
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 cups cubed French or Italian bread in 1-inch cubes (1/2 lb)
3 tablespoons coarsely grated parmesan
1 cup grated gruyere or swiss
2 3/4 cups milk
9 large eggs
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Sauté onion in olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add  salt,  pepper and nutmeg and continue cooking for one minute. Add pumpkin and saute for two minutes. Stir in spinach, remove from heat and set aside.

Spread one third of the bread cubes in a well-buttered 3-quart gratin dish or other ceramic baking dish. Top with one-third of bread cubes,one-third of spinach mixture and one-third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice with remaining bread, spinach and cheese.

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard  together in a large bowl and pour evenly over strata. Cover with plastic wrap and chill strata for eat least 8 hours or up to a day.

The next day, let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 350°F. Bake strata, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Stew with Curry

It is time to clean the decks for soon arriving company. Christmas Eve is upon us and with so little room in our decked out cozy home, we must tidy and tuck so as to maximize our guests pleasure this glorious night.  Luckily, not a one arriving is likely to judge us mice for not having the perfect "Martha" effect on show for the holidays, but still, one hopes to dazzle even the most generously gracious of guests.

In an effort then to get a fresh start, it's time i'm afraid for those long lasting squash, kept sometimes for months in our temperate California weather, to make their way to the dinner table. My oldest, whom I think I will always remember at this age, all lanky and slightly awkward and beautiful and smart, will be heartbroken when his orange and brown pals get the axe.  But this is life, right?  We can't hang onto things forever. things do not make up who we are.  Pumpkins too are part of the great cycle of life. A hearty and sustaining fruit that have the ability to keep our tummies full long into the winter months. A winter squash stew is in order this Christmas eve.

*I am thankful for my good fortune to own a home with a stoop that holds pumpkins and winter squash so well. How very lucky I am!(#76)

*I am thankful for curry powder because it reminds me of my mother(#75)

Warm Winter Squash Stew with Curry

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 c. onion, finely diced
4 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. black pepper
6 med. tomatoes
2 cans chicken stock
6 c. chopped & peeled pumpkin
1 1/2 c. diced potatoes
1 1/2 c. turnips
1 c. dried apricots,finely chopped
1/2 c. golden raisins
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
2 c. green beans, 1" pieces
1 lg. pumpkin (as tureen) - optional

In a large heavy pot, heat olive oil.  Saute onion until translucent. Add bay leaves, curry, garlic and stir to combine over medium heat for about 30 seconds.  Add black pepper, tomatoes, chicken stock, pumpkin, potatoes, turnips, apricots and raisins. If they are not covered in stock, add another cup or two, or add more water until all vegetables are covered.  Simmer for twenty minutes.  As vegetables begin to soften, add parsley and green beens.  Simmer stew vegetables are tender. Salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt is probably good. For an even more intense flavor, cool cooked stew overnight and reheat the next day before serving. Garnish with creme freche or sour cream.

Chocolate Peppermint Spritz Cookies and bitterness

There is nothing quite like the holidays to bring out the best in everyone.

This last weekend we got our tree.  A grand 7-foot beauty with one massive ring around it's middle with no branches.  My son chose it because it had excellent places to stash large objects. I laughed all the way to pay for it and all the way home.  It's a sight.

So this last Sunday we invited our dearest little friend over to help us decorate the tree while her mom was out and about. Bea (as we'll call her) was very helpful in unpacking and organizing the ornaments on our floor.  How exciting to look through someone else's life history, particularly when so much of it is glittering and full of snowmen.

I watched as I lost control yet again over our tree. Yes, this is a very debbie-downer moment in this blog.  I am a tree control freak and my husband takes time to point that out every year.  He accuses me of micro-management.  I fuss and fume and reject this notion that I am overly involved. And then, on schedule, I surrender control and feel horrible. Hmm, I have begun to think this is his ploy.

And this year the accusations turned into small arguments, into tussles, into an all out family brawl in front of little miss Bea. She watched in amazement. There is no dad at her house to argue with mom. We were like some strange alien family who took christmas ornaments way to seriously.

"Oh 1978! Look Mr. Coast Guard, another of YOUR ornaments, why don't you find a place for it!" I said.

Bea watched.

"Whats your problem Grumpy Wife? Throw them out if you don't like my ornaments" He said

Bea eyed the 1978 ornaments to see if there were any keepers to score.  Any with glitter were definitely NOT going in the trash on her watch.

"I'm not throwing them out, I'm just saying, this is YOUR tree every year.  What about US, what about OUR kids." I say.

Bea leans in close to whisper to me, "He's not in a very good mood, is he?". Three points to Bea for joining my team.

"Look, sweetheart, why are you riding me about this?" he throws out there.

Bea looks at me.

"Oh, oh, oh... WHY am I riding you? WHY? you ask" I'm now fuming.

And here's where it hit me. It dates back to the first year we were married.  We were wed four days before Christmas and in all the hustle and bustle and joining of families and traditions and travel, we still managed to get a tree up in our little apartment. When all the ruckus had ended and January was at our doorstep, we went to put our ornaments away and drag the tree outside with the wedding gift boxes and holiday leftovers.

I picked up one foreign ornament after another, examining them carefully, breathing in my husbands childhood. His Mom kept him well stocked with bits and baubles from his past. Happy memories he took with him from coast to coast with his job.  I had only a few ornaments of my own.  I was young and probably only needed a small shoebox to hold them all.

"What are you doing?" he asked when he walked in the door of our apartment.

"Putting the ornaments away" I said as I wrapped each one and tucked them into a tupperware I had picked up.

We had been married for 11 days.

"Oh" He said.

"What?" I said.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe we could wrap my ornaments  up separately? You know, store them in their own box." He said this so casually that you might not have seen the dart that flew from the tree and pierced my heart with a tiny drop of poison, if you didn't look carefully.

I cried. I unpacked the box and put mine into a the old shoebox.  I, after all, had very few in comparison to him and he needed the space.

We fought. We fought long and hard. I called his mother to tell her what he had asked, and she gasped in pain for me.  I love her.

Back to 2009.  We have since stopped putting the ornaments away separately.  There have been too many Christmas that he missed completely while away on one of his big ships. I mostly handle the clean up and tucking away, and I ran out of energy for all this stubborn doing it just because.  But each year, when I begin to decorate our tree, and this year in front of Bea, I am a little hurt. And we get a little mad. And I think we better find some more ornaments just for us. Perhaps, just perhaps, I need to give one ornament marked 1978 to a certain 6 year old girl I know (if my mother-n-law doesn't mind too much).

Chocolate Mint Spritz
Makes 5 dozen

1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon mint extract/flavoring
¼ teaspoon salt
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup crushed candy cane
Confectioners sugar for dusting

 
Preheat oven to 375°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment cream butter and sugars at medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add vanilla and mint and beat briefly.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture gradually to butter and beat well.

Scoop a small amount of the dough from bowl and form into a small log.  Place in cookie press. Press cookies onto cool ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle carefully with a few bits of candy cane – making sure not to get any on the baking sheet!

Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from sheet and cool. Dust with powdered sugar.

Copyright 2009 Meloni Courtway.  All rights reserved.  Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Homemade cranberry sauce - because you can!

Oh come on, you know you want to make it this year. If you feel any love for Mouse in the Pantry, PLEASE put away the canned sauce and whip out a bag of real berries!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

2  12ounce bags fresh cranberries
2 oranges 1 zested, both juiced
1 stick cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup water (maybe a bit more if you are going to let it simmer for several hours)


In a medium sized pot combine cranberries, cinnamon stick, sugar the zest of one orange and the juice from both oranges. You can also add the whole leftover skins of the zested and juiced oranges to the mix at this point and just remove them after the cranberry sauce is done. Stir mixture and turn on  low on the back of the stove and cover.  Let simmer until berries begin to pop. You can turn it to a very low setting at this point and let it simmer till it thickens.  Or, just turn it off and let sit on the back of the stove for a few hours.
Enjoy

Pumpkin Pie from scratch

It wouldn't be the holidays without a few recipes.  So if you're out their searching for a little thanksgiving flavor, here is a great (and completely from scratch) recipe for Pumpkin pie - but you better get started today roasting those pumpkins!

Roasting Sugar Pumpkins

1 to 2 sugar pie pumpkins
Double layer cheese cloth
Rimmed sheet pan

*Select firm dark skinned sugar pumpkins.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.

Slice each pumpkin in half.  Remove seeds and pulp.  Lay pumpkins open side down on pan.  Place in oven, and pour water around pan until it is 1/2 inch deep.
Bake for 35-50 minutes or until pumpkin can be easily pierced with a knife.

Cool pumpkins before scooping meat from skin. 

Using a double layer of cheese cloth, wring the pumpkin meat out over a large bowl to remove excess fluid.  Puree drained meat in a food processor for 2 minutes to make smooth.

Store pumpkin in refrigerator for two days or in freezer for 3 months.

Each small sugar pumpkin will provide 1-2 cups pumpkin meat

Sugar Pumpkin Pie
By Meloni Courtway

2 cups fresh pumpkin (or 1-15oz can pumpkin puree)
3 large eggs
½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1-teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of salt

Egg Wash: 1 egg white & two tablespoons cold water whisked together in a small bowl.

 


1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.    Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch pie tin or dish.

3.    In a large bowl whisk eggs slightly. Add pumpkin, milks and spices and whisk again.  Set aside while preparing dough.

4.    Working on a lightly floured surface, roll out ½ recipe pate brisee in a ¼ inch thick round.  The dough should be roughly the width of a #2 pencil eraser.

5.    Working with cold hands, lift the dough into your prepped pie dish. Press gently into dish, making sure to make contact all over tin.

There are several ways to address the edges of your pie:

6.    Fluted edge: Trim dough, leaving 1½ inches of overhang.  Again working with cold, and lightly floured hands, fold the outer edge of the dough under itself and tuck into edge of dish.  Using your thumb and index finger of one hand and the index finger of the other hand, crimp the entire edge of the dough into fluted shape.  Chill dough for 10 minutes to firm up.

7.    Decorative edge: Trim dough to edge of pie tin, only leaving a ¼ inch overhang.  Using various dough cutters, or mini leaf shaped cutters make several cutouts (This ca even be creatively done with the edge of another larger cookie cutter). Using an egg wash, lightly brush edge and firmly apply cutouts.

8.    Pour pumpkin mixture into dough, only filling to just below fluted edge, as the custard will expand.

9.    Using a pastry brush, brush entire crust with egg wash.

10.    Bake for 40-50 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is set.  A knife inserted in center will come out clean. Chill completely before serving.

Serve with homemade whipped cream:

1-cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1-teaspoon bourbon vanilla
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients. Whip on medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Keep chilled until serving.





Copyright 2008 Meloni Courtway.  All rights reserved.  Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

What a weird thing this growing up business is.  The navigation of life's ups and downs.  The realization that life is in fact, often unhappy.  The fact, sometimes slapping at your cheeks, that you must indeed make your own happiness.  You must find your way.

Have gathered by phone most of my siblings, cousins, in-laws this week.  All of us testing the waters about Thanksgiving.  All of us wanting to take ownership, but at the same time fearing the pending wrath of what is to come.  That families will gather around the table, will argue, will be uncomfortable amidst the mashed potatoes and overdone green beans.

This year should actually come off quietly, if all the cards have been played right.  Everyone at peace with one another around the table. Truly, friends gathered to enjoy each other.  But, I have had occasion to listen in to others conversations.  To hear whispers of unhappiness brewing, "oh God, yes, their coming to our house." 

There are the more subtle disgruntled folks out there too.  The passive, hide from the phone, the email, the FB in order to avoid an unwanted invite. I may be one of them (in hiding I mean).

There are families come apart, families just beginning to divide, and families bound so tightly together they don't realize there is in fact a great big world out there. A world so much bigger than just them.  There are lonely people this holiday too.

So much effort every year to make everyone feel included. So much effort to hide our hates and our wants and our lost hopes. We are supposed to suppress our dislike and be thankful. But do we? How can we fill such a tall order?

I am preparing to feast with abundance this year in the face of all this grown-up unhappiness, and to hold in my heart that I am thankful for the opportunity to afford such abundance in my own home.  Our first home.  I will force thankfulness out of my every aching cell.  I will find a silver lining.  I will make my own happiness, thank you very much (and you might try that one out for yourselves ladies and gentleman!).

I will let friends who are squabbling, and family who are lost, sort it out. I will be here, holding court, no judgments passed, just present. Feasting. My door is always open and my table plenty full.

24-hour Turkey Brine:

In a large pot combine 2 cups kosher salt, 2 gallons water, 1 cup brown sugar, 4 bay leaves, 1/4 cup peppercorns, 5 cloves of garlic, and 4 large oranges cut into quarters. Bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar and salt fairly well. Cool completely. Put turkey in a bucket and cover the bird with the cooled brine, by a couple of inches. Add more water or some cold beer if you don't have enough to cover it. NOW - you have to keep it cold, so if a bucket won't fit in your fridge, try a cooler with ice around it, or just use a clean cooler to hold the turkey and brine and add ice to keep it relatively cold.

I get a five gallon bucket and fill it with a salty brine. Submerge that bird for 24 hours before cook time (with a weight on top). Drain, stuff with halved oranges, 1 rough chopped yellow onion, rosemary and sage. Rub with olive oil and roast as you would a regular bird

Halloween? And Pumpkin Cake

It was night before, the day before, Halloween. Does that make sense? Ok, it was last Thursday night.  The kids were tucked into bed, a pumpkin sheet cake was cooling in the kitchen, the last item to ever be baked in my "old" oven.  I was packing up snacks and making frosting, the next day was the great costume parade at school and my six year old was eager to participate. His lovely borrowed hedgehog costume was hung on the back of a chair in the living room - waiting.

Then, there came a loud cough from his room. One startling, send parents running, cough.  A choking sound.  A boy in trouble.

It didn't feel real.  A whirl of crazy mom and dad. Chickens with our heads cut off.  Boy gasping, reaching for air. Dad lifting him from bunk to our bed.  Boy arching his back, desperate to breath.  Looking at us scared.  Us, looking at him scared.  Scramble for the phone.

"Call the doctor!"

"Find a nebulizer!"

"I'm calling the doctor!"

Boy not breathing, scratching at his chest, his throat, the bed. Lurching. Terrified.

"CALL 911!"

And they came, six men in blue uniforms, into our tiny house, past our tiny pumpkin cake, into our tiny bedroom to our tiny boy, with oxygen and medicine, and care, and fast hands at work on a tiny throat.

And I followed him to the ambulance and climbed in as they gave him a snow white tiger to hold on our very scary trip to the E.R.  His second ambulance ride, the first when he was three weeks old as he was transfered from a hospital in the city to a hospital in Sonoma County.

And this boy, this very small boy in this very big ambulance, on the eve of a very important holiday, was so brave.  He has family members who are firefighters.  He has a dad who wears a very similar blue uniform.  He felt comfortable in ways some kids might not.  But, he was still terrified, in pain, lacking oxygen and tired. He was so tiny.

"Spasmodic Croup" the hurried doctor said.  "Rarely this bad, and rarely in a boy this old".  Of course - because we seem to be very good at "rarely" these days.

Home.  Awake until 6:45 a.m.. Steroids. Amazing sight, a six year old boy at 6a.m. Absolute meth head.

We ate pumpkin cake for breakfast, and lunch, and diner. We didn't make the costume parade, or Halloween.  We didn't even make it to school until today.

Baby sisters got it now. Oh joy of all joys.  At least it's not "Spasmodic".  It's the little things in life, really.

(*Note: These two pictures were taken in order that night. Straight off the camera and into the blog)

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:
4 eggs
1  1/3 cups granulated sugar
1  1/3 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:
8-ounce package cream cheese, cold
1/2 cup butter, softened
2  ½ cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin and beat  until light and fluffy. In a second bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture in three additions, and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
Combine the cream cheese and butter in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled cake.

Cuts well for bake sales.

I thought we were there

Having just wrapped up the 50th birthday bash of the year, I am feeling a little underwhelmed by my own abode.  The kitchen, it's coming, but not without sacrifice.

There are pantry boxes in our living room.  There are things stacked down the hall.  And somehow, while varnishing and sanding, and painting and building, we have let go of the laundry, forgotten the folding, escaped without cleaning - for way too long.  The bits and baubles that were once still in packed boxes have begun to escape the garage.  one stash opened to reveal another.  Oh dear lord, there is shit everywhere.

I stayed last night at a friends b-day (well done F.R., you shall now be called by the ever appropriate "Rosie", for those rosie goggles you wear), tidying up.  Despite having near a hundred over for dinner, the kitchen still looked relatively put away at the end.  I came home to caution tape (well there might as well have been), dirty diapers, dirty clothes and dust. AHhhhhhhhh.... Ick, plick... It's like we don't actually live here.

And yet, having walked from room to room this morning, I realized that we do and I am exhausted by the job ahead of me.  If you showed up at my door right now - I would tell you to go away.  It's haz-mat. 

And dinner?  I have no idea, probably take out (it will make fewer dishes). here's a recipe anyhow - because I love you!

Glazed Lemon Curd Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
¼ cup lemon curd
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest

For the lemon glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
5 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon curd


Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Spray muffin tins w/baking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture along with the milk,  lemon curd, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until blended and smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

Scoop the batter into the muffin tins using a ¼ cup scoop. Do not flatten the tops.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the lemon glaze: In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and curd with a whisk. Set aside, stirring occasionally.  It should eb the consistency of a thin batter.

Remove the muffins from the oven and transfer the pan to a wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes then remove the muffins to the rack  placed over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and cool for another 5 minutes. Drizzle the lemon glaze over the muffins and cool.


Copyright 2008 Meloni Courtway.  All rights reserved.  Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Apples and Honey (and Challah)

Friday is Rosh Hashanna.  My son was so taken with the holiday last year (which was introduced to him in his classroom), that  he sang about "apples and honey" for weeks.

In celebration of the Jewish calendar's new year, I took advantage of the residual heat of the day that was laying thickly in my improve kitchen, and began a batch of Challah.  Eggs, honey, yeast and flour all danced about my counter top as my mixer shook and trembled under their weight.

Three perfectly braided loaves are now rising in the night air, soon to go in to bake (now that the air is getting chilly).  A perfect pairing for the inevitable apples and honey we'll also be eating this Friday night with our cousin Lily.

Challah - Borrowed from Joan Callaway

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)

1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
2. Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.