I was hoping Annie would post the wild rice bread recipe Rusty was looking for. Then I remembered that Annie emailed me the recipe. After digging through old emails I found it! At the time Annie posted a beautiful photo and the bread looked great. Here is the recipe along with Annie's comments on the substitutions she made. Later in another post on the forum I believe she said the recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens. Oh - and Rusty - I know it seemed like it was just last year that Annie posted this recipe. Her email is from November 2010. Annie - please correct me if the source is wrong. Teresa, it's very good, savory and substantial, I think it would make an awesome grilled cheese sandwich. Here's the recipe I used. I never have wine, so I just used more chicken broth for that, and I never use bouillion or soup base because of the salt and I sure wasn't going to go buy some for a loaf of bread, so I used 1 1/4 cups of homecanned chicken broth. I made it in the bread machine on the dough cycle, added the wild rice when I got the "beep" for the add in, shaped the loaves on my half sheet pan and baked them on the pan. Wild Rice Bread 4-1/2 to 4-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 packages active dry yeast 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley, crushed 1 teaspoon snipped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed 1 cup cooked wild rice 1 cup water 1/4 cup dry white wine or water 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules 1/4 teaspoon salt Stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, parsley, thyme, and wild rice in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Heat and stir water, wine or water, butter or margarine, sugar, bouillon, and salt in a medium saucepan just until warm (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F), butter almost melts, and bouillon dissolves. Add water mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (45 minutes to 1 hour). Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rise for 10 minutes. Shape each half of the dough into a 6-inch round loaf, tucking edges underneath. Place loaves 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (30 to 40 minutes). Using a sharp knife, cut an X in the top of each loaf. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven about 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when you tap the top with your fingers (if necessary, cover loosely with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Remove bread from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Calories 76, Total Fat 1 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 3 mg, Sodium 55 mg, Carbohydrate 14 g, Fiber 1 g, Protein 2 g. Definitely a keeper recipe, this would be really good with soup in the winter too. Annie

It's just food, food, food all day! For breakfast, we always have an egg and sausage casserole, a jazzed up hashbrown casserole, ham biscuits and garlic cheese grits (with jalapenos -- Yum!) Fruit will be something very simple like cantaloupe wedges or fresh pineapple. I may or may not get around to making muffins or French toast fingers since sweets aren't a high priority with my crew, particularly early in the day. As some leave to go to 'the other' family's house, and others wander in for the first time, we sort of gradually segue into the brunch phase. I'll add their favorite Cajun crab spread with toasted garlic rounds and a dip or two to the buffet. Once the biscuits are gone, we'll bake some rolls for the ham. I make a super-spicy mustard sauce that my children adore and an herb-flavored mayonnaise so everybody can put together mini-sandwiches. There's always some sort of seafood -- usually poached shrimp with cocktail sauce since it's so easy to do ahead -- and a couple of salads (broccoli and pasta are the faves). Oh, and Bloody Marys to help the cook forget how bad her feet are hurting at this point... By the time everybody who had to leave has returned and we've all worked up a little bit of an appetite again, it's usually 7:30 or so. Our dinner menu varies a little, but this year we'll have Boston Clam Chowder as a starter. (Gift from a dear friend who feels sooo sorry for her poor, deprived Southern pal who didn't grow up eating this. lol) Spinach salad with poppy seed dressing. Beef tenderloin, if I can afford it. If many extras are going to turn up, it will be prime rib instead. A green vegetable TBD, and a potato gratin. Dessert will be Italian cheesecake with a strawberry/Grand Marnier topping -- not that anybody will have room for it, but you have to have one, right?

Sherried Wild Rice Soup from The Union Station Restaurant in Bemidji, Minnesota 8 servings - 1 cup portion size 2 Tbs butter 1 Tbs minced onion 1/4 cup flour 5 cups chicken broth -- Note: Not the same broth the wild rice was cooked in 2 - 1/2 cup cooked wild rice 3/4 tsp salt (to taste) 1 - 1/4 cups Half & Half 1/2 cup dry sherry Saute the onions in butter until light brown, blend in flour, add broth. Stir constantly until thickened. Stir in wild rice and salt. Simmer about 5 minutes. Blend in cream and sherry. Simmer until heated to serving temperature. Garnish with minced parsley or chives, if desired. Wild Rice Preparation: 2/3 cups uncooked wild rice yields about 2 - 1/2 cups cooked wild rice Rinse rice with cold water until water runs clear Boil 5 parts chicken broth to 1 part rice. Add rice after broth is boiling Boil 25-30 minutes for soup 35-40 minutes for regular rice Stir regularly while rice is cooking Drain and rinse with cold water Note: Rice cooking time may vary with different wild rice. Taste rice while cooking to obtain desired crunch to rice.

I haven't cooked mine yet. I've a potluck to attend on Sunday, but I don't think I want to share with so many...does that make me mean? We've dear friends coming over for dinner soon, and I think I'll use it then. For now, the aroma even raw is enticing, much stronger than that which I buy in the store. It is also lighter in color. Gosh, I almost hope I don't like it TOO much as I don't think it grows anywhere around here for me to harvest!!! Very sweet of Teresa to share her family's tradition with us.