Creative Outlets - Olive and Rosemary Fougasse

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I think every girl should have many creative outlets - especially moms who get caught up in the world of pleasing everyone but themselves. My family is my life but I also have my own life filled with ideas, dreams and fun things that entertain only me!! There are times, when the mood strikes (and I make this quite clear to everyone), that I take time to cook or bake something new that sounds interesting and delish! Now, I do like the challenge of taking on a recipe I have never tried before but only when it's not about dinner guests or holidays ( I usually stick to tried and true recipes, so as not to add additional stress on top of stress - you know what I mean). At the end of my creative baking/cooking jag everyone is welcome to taste what I have whipped up and hopefully proclaim it's the best they've ever had (if they know what's good for them - jk- sort of) ;) This time around I tried a recipe courtesy of French Cooking At Home -- called Olive and Rosemary Fougasse. Truth be told, it turned out amazing and looked and tasted exactly as I had hoped -- delish!!
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Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
  
• 1 package yeast (prepared as per instructions)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 3 eggs (2 for recipe and 1 for egg wash)
  
• 1/2 cups olives (any kind - I used kalamata) chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped finely
• cornmeal (to cover baking pan)
  

Directions:

Mix the flour with 2 teaspoons salt in a bowl. Prepare yeast (as per instructions on package) in separate bowl and let sit for five minutes - then add a small amount of flour mixture to it - whisk in. Make a well in the flour mixture and with a -- fork beat in eggs, and olive oil and yeast mixture. Whisk well. Add rosemary and olives into the well and whisk with fork. Mix the dough with your fingers, bringing it all together into a ball. Put it in a bowl and cover it with a cloth to let rise for 1 hour. Punch down the dough and give it a quick knead until it reaches a smooth, elastic and bouncy consistency. Flatten it out into a leaf shape and use a rolling pin to help with this. Place onto a baking sheet covered with cornmeal. Cut slits into the dough (see photo) creating a leaf design. Cover with a cloth once again and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until golden and yummy. Enjoy!!

(Top Photos Courtesy of Jupiter Images - others are copyrighted to me)