Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Theresa and Cathy's Easy Bread Sticks

(Baked by Theresa and Cathy, written ~ and typed out ~ by Theresa. Pictures taken by Mommy.)


INGREDIENTS

1 cup of warm water
1 packet of yeast
2 TBS of olive oil
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 egg or 2-3 TBS butter
Poppy Seeds, Sesame seeds, or garlic salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pour the warm water into a bowl. Then put one packet of yeast in with the water and stir until desolved.


2.Now add sugar, salt, olive oil, and flour. Then stir until the flour is all mixed in (about 20 stirs).

3. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes.


4. After that you knead it with your knuckles about 20 times and form it into a ball.

5. Spray an 11" x 14" cookie sheet with non-stick spray.



6. Press the dough into a 10" x 10" square on the pan.


7. Cut the dough into strips about 1" across. You can twist them if you want to.



8. Without stretching, it separate the dough so that none of the strips are touching. Then crack an egg into a bowl, add about a tablespoon of water, and beat it up. Brush it onto the strips with a pastry brush or anything that will serve for a brush.



9. Sprinkle with garlic salt, poppy seeds or sesame seeds. (We used a grinder with sea salt, garlic and parsley in it)



10. Then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Serve with a nice bowl of chicken soup!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those bread sticks look delicious and the recipe is easy-peasy enough that I may have enough spare time to try it this weekend - or even on a weeknight. Thanks for the recipe, girls!!

Memarie Lane said...

This is totally off topic but I wanted to get your take on something.

Over the past few weeks our pastor has been talking about the ministry of Paul and Barnabas, and emphasizing that what God wants from us is faith, not good works. Not that He doesn't appreciate good works, but that faith is most important.

But the other night the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 popped into my head: "and there remain these three: faith, hope, and charity. But the greatest of these is charity."

So Paul himself said charity is more important than faith! What do you think about that?

Lisa said...

Well, I think St. Paul rocks (I named a son for him, in fact) and I agree with him. Catholics believe that faith and good works are both important and completely interlinked, but that faith without works are nothing.

I mean, what kind of Faith do we have if we don't show it through our works?

It's an unfortunate fact of human nature that we may like to say we have Faith, we may even have a good deal of it, but if there is no emphasis on the the works to go with the faith, our faith is just a bunch of words ~ and is likely to be drowned out by the temptations of the world.

It's like the fellow that says he can worship just as well from home as he can by going to a Church building... but usually ends up sleeping in, having coffee and doughnuts, watching tv, reading the paper, and maybe thinking how he really ought to get out his Bible.

It's like the husband who says he loves his wife, but forgets her birthday and makes her take out the garbage.

It's like the "pro-lifer" who votes for Hilary Clinton.

We humans are pretty weak, we need more incentive to behave ourselves than to just be expected to SAY we have faith and leave it all to Christ. God knows this. We have a lot better reason to be good if we know He's the Judge and expects it of us ~ Our charity is the gasoline in the engine of our faith. The engine's no good without the fuel.

Jesus showed us how important works are by dying on the cross. He didn't have to go to that much trouble, being God. But, the impression of His incredible sacrifice, followed by the miracle of His rising, has lived through the centuries. If He had been a preacher, alone, without miracles, without the cross and resurrection, Christianity would likely not exist today. Don't you think this is true? See how weak we are?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Protestant idea is that having Faith implies you try to have good works ~ but that Christ's works are all that are good enough for our salvation. We are too weak to help ourselves.

But I think Christ's life and death were meant for an example of how to love (St. Paul's charity)~ It is because we are weak that we have to follow His example. We can't reach Jesus' perfection, but He expects us to try our best!

Maria (also Bia) said...

Lisa, I was going to leave a comment on your two adorable daughters (and they are adorable!) when I read your comment concerning faith vs. works. You gave some wonderful, concrete examples. I once got into a discussion with someone on this very topic, but I see now that I didn't explain it adequately enough.

Isn't the Pope going to dedicate this year to St. Paul? I know they're planning some huge celebrations at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall in Rome.

Anyway, you should post this comment as a blog entry because it's wonderfully done.

God bless.

Marie said...

This is marie1 posting lol!

I remember I once made bread the problem is it came out so rock hard that not even my dog could eat it LOL! And the friend who gave it to me said it was a recipe that even stupid people could get right...LOL!Hhahahhahahah!!!!

In answer to Marie2
I think it comes to the intent. Many people can do good things but they do it for themselves or others without believing in God.
When a Christian does a good thing or good works they do so to bring Glory to God, but one must believe and have Faith first. Dont know if that makes sense?

Lisa I also love St. Paul and it would be great if a year was dedicated to him.

Peace to you:)

Marie xooxoxoxo

Laura said...

Yum.
That's all I have to say.
Yum.

Memarie Lane said...

It's a strange contradiction. When someone prays for something and it doesn't happen for them, they're told they didn't have enough faith. But faith is supposed to be all that's required, but faith without works is dead.

One thing that made me LOL at Tom Cruise's Scientology video was that he said that most people will just drive by an accident scene, but a Scientologist will DRIVE PAST knowing that they COULD do something about it because they're just better people I guess?

So if you're a Christian and you drive past an accident scene, does that make you worse than the non-Christian that does the same thing?

Lisa said...

Bia ~ Thanks! (about the girls!~They are sweet little things!) And Thanks! (about the faith vs. works attempt at an explanation.)

Gotta admit I was enjoying this chat at the "kitchen table" with Marie1... I knew that it would be my best friends that joined us back here! Tell you the truth, I wouldn't know how to make a post on it at this point, but am enjoying the philosphical/theological discussion with everyone from this comfy spot! I love gathering in the kitchen. We can even smell the breadsticks baking back here!

Marie2 ~ Sometimes you get that hard-as-rock bread problem because the yeast is either dead or didn't activate (wrong water temp maybe?), and sometimes just because it's baked too long, which can easily happen with breadsticks, since they're so "skinny." You should try again!

You're right about the importance of intent in good works! A year of St. Paul would set up for a year of great study and meditation, wouldn't it? I would look forward to that!

Laura ~ You hangin out over there by the bread-n-butter? ~gg~ The smell of bread baking is one of the best aromas there is... And it did turn out great. We love that touch of garlic on it!

Marie (1 ~ Memarie) ~ Now you've opened a whole other can of sardines... Actually, a Catholic doesn't generally say that someone's not got enough faith if they don't receive something from prayer... We just assume God knows something we don't.

That's where the real faith comes in ~ trusting that He's on top of things, even if they're not turning out like we want them to. He's looking for our best spiritual welfare, which may sometimes contradict our material welfare.

Scientology is a religion that baffles me, and one way or another, I don't think Tom Cruise has done anything to make it look better than it ever did... What a guy.

But, is a Christian worse than a nonChristian who leaves the scene of a crime? That's an interesting ponder. I would think that, in a way, the Christian was worse because s/he should know better, and does the wrong thing consciously. You'd hope s/he'd feel guilty and mend their ways (and go to Confession if they're Catholic).

A nonChristian suffers because s/he doesn't know better, (though I don't know if that's necessarily always true... because I would think inborn natural law would tell the worst heathen that s/he should stop to help someone who's injured)~ Anyway, s/he's in danger of losing out eternally, regardless. Theirs can be the bigger picture tragedy...