Food for The Souls

 Today and tomorrow the Christian world honors its saints and its souls. This is usually done through prayer but also through eating. There's a warm feeling reminiscing over a loved one's favorite dishes and recipes past down. Thye're not really gone if their food lives on through the generations.

Mexicans celebate Dios de Muertos -Day of The Dead. It's not a day of sadness but one of togetherness as families create such dishes as concha breads, taquitos and skull shaped cookies and candies.Taquitos are easy to make and they 're perfect to cook up all month long.It's just taking tortillas and first heating them. They're then filled with whatever you want , whether chicken ,beef or beans and then frying them in oil.They can be topped with cheese or guacamole. These can also be baked or air fried for a healthier , crisper bite. Chili is also served for the day. This is a definite cold weather dish as well. The Mexicans have always used ground beef but you can also make a white one. This involves chicken instead of beef and using creamy white cannelini beans instead of the usual kidney and pinto.Some recipes add broccoli and corn .That's up to you. Spicing is the same, with the usual bite of chili.The  memorial meal is finished with some kind of sweet. Bake skull  shaped brownies that can be either iced or just dusted with confectioner;'s sugar. You can also make the sweet concha bread, perfect with butter and Mexican hot chocolate.

Soul cakes are  another part of the All Soul's Day. If it sounds familiar Sting sang about them over a decade in his Christmas album. They're a big part of Samhain the Celtic holiday which Halloween derives from. Children went from door to door, much like trick ro treat, asking if homeowners would want a prayer said for the souls of their dearly departed. Payment was an apple, plum or these. The recipes goes back centuries, probably to the medieval period and the ingredients reflect this. They are egg yolks, butter, sugar and milk. Raisins and such spices as cinnamon, cloves nutmeg and gimger. A cross is made in them, similar to hot cross buns. You can modernize them with subbing in pumpkin spice for the spices and craisins or dried cranberries for the raisins. Soul cakes can also be made plain. They're usually baked in rounds and then dusted with powdered or granulated sugar. Some British chefs use saffron as flavoring and to give the cake a pale yellow color. Soul cakes are a nice contast to the rich holiday cookies on the calendar ahead.

These are the days when we remember our beloved who are gone. There are taquitos and cocnhas or soul cakes. Any of these are a lovely way to celebrate those lost.

Good Old Fashioned Sweet Breads

 This is definitely the season for baking. There are pies and cakes galore. ovens are producing cupcakes and cookies for bake sales and Halloween parties. Yet there's one baked good that's being over looked. The sweet bread. There's nothing like a slice of cinnamon or honey flavored bread slathered with butter on a cold fall day. 

Sweet breads (not to be confused with a calf or lamb pancreas that some bold meat lovers enjoy) have been around for centuries. As long as there was honey or rose water and dough home bakers could create loaves and rolls that could be perfect for breakfast or even with the main meal. The Portuguese are famous for theirs ,made with milk, sugar and lemon zest. Portuguese workers brought them to  Hawaii where they immigrated for jobs, These evolved into the famed Hawaiian rolls that now eveyone loves. The Italians have gubana, a sweet loaf that's filled with dried fruits and nuts. Of course they also bake pannettone and pan dolce for Christmas. Sweets breads can also take the form of rolls as in England's Chelsea buns which is a lightly iced  cousin to the American sticky bun and the Dutch rasin filled  krentenbollen and the Jamaican coco bread made with coconut milk.It's up to you what you;d  like to make, whether a loaf or rolls.If you're new to baking stick with loaves. They're easier to form and you dont; have to worry about a batch of rolls' sizing. equal sizing .

A simple sweet loaf recipe just calls for  a cup of milk and a half a cup of sugar.  Eggs enrich the dough ,giving it a cake like crumb while butter gives it a higher rise and a crisper crust along with a longer shelf life.Like any other bread recipe there's also yeast and all purpose flours. You can make it an all natural one by using whole wheat flour and honey for the white sugar. Another  healthier ingredient that you can use instead of sugar is maple syrup. This gives the bread a lovely earthy flavor and is perfect for that Quebecois dessert - Tarte Au Sucre where the bread is topped with maple sugar and a fluffy mix of sour and heavy creams. Use about quarter of a cup of the  pure kind (not the cheaper version mixed with corn syrup. You won't get the rich maple flavor ). One egg and four tablespoons of sweet butter are also added for a decidedly lush flavor. One you've mastered the art of making the sweet bread loaves you can graduate to rolls. One tasty one, perfect for breakfast or a snack is the mexican concha bread baked in the shape of a conch shell. You will need a special concha tin for this .It can easily be bought on Amazon. They can be made with chocolate or vanilla topping. Another fun try is the british Chelsea bun made similarly to our cinnamon buns. They';re filled with raisins and cinnamon along with brown sugar. They;re more fruity than spicy but still so good.

Sweet breads are a perfect fall baking project Start a chilly morning with a warm sweet slice and coffee. They're easy to make and even easier to eat.