• Recipes
• Pastry
• Bread
• Holiday spinach bread wreath (with cranberry spinach 'wow' dip

I learned something new this week. <br /> <br />I had been baking bread the last month or so, and sometimes the yeast didn’t activate. I couldn’t figure out why. I knew the date on the yeast was good. I even went out and bought new yeast, yet I sometimes got no action and ended up throwing it out. <br /> <br />Finally one day while I was walking the dogs (where I get my best thinking done!), it dawned on me that it is colder in the house now and the metal mixing bowl on my relatively new KitchenAid is a colder temperature than it was in the summer or even fall. <br /> <br />So I did a little experiment. <br /> <br /> I heated water in the microwave, measured the temperature (like I always do) and poured it into the metal bowl. I measured the temp again in the bowl and it had immediately dropped 7 degrees! So when I thought my water was 105?-110?F, it was actually less than 105? and not hot enough to activate the yeast. I tell ya, it was a joy to get that mystery solved! <br /> <br />So on to holiday festivities. <br /> <br />This wreath makes a great alternative to rolls at the holiday table. And the center makes a handy spot to house dips (such as my Cranberry Spinach ‘Wow’ Dip), herbed butter or oil, spreads or fruit. I got the idea for the dip from Susan Stamberg on NPR. Every year since 1971, she reads the recipe for her mother-in-law’s Cranberry Relish on the air to her fans who clamor for it at holiday time. The first time I tasted it, I said ‘Wow’! It’s zippy and bursting with flavor, and goes great with this bread. Guests can tear a ball off the wreath and dip into the dipping vessel–what fun!

Share: