Cooking-with-Aspiring Mom2three

Creamy Chicken Lasagna

2012-02-12T14:40:00.000-06:00

I've been going through my recipe notebook and trying some recipes I've had for quite some time. Time to break out of my cooking funk and try some new dishes!

This is one that I literally ripped out of a cooking magazine back in 2003!!! I must say I LOVE it, but my tomato disliking son picked out all the tomatoes and THEN ate it. I loved the rich creamy sauce which married perfectly with the chicken and spices. I hope you'll give it a try. I did not add the mushrooms, and it turned out perfect. Here it is:

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If she could have any job in the world, member Jean Lehman would own and manage a small, upscale restaurant. She’s already an accomplished cook, having published a cookbook called Family & Friends. We’re sure this recipe for chicken lasagna would be a hit at any restaurant she opened. For a lighter version, Jean recommends using low-fat cheese. Serve the lasagna with garlic bread and a green salad.

5 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (14.5-oz.) can diced plum tomatoes, undrained

2 (4-oz.) cans sliced mushrooms, drained

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided

2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups half-and-half

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 cups (12 oz.) shredded Swiss and/or mozzarella cheese

8 oz. cooked lasagna noodles

3/4 cup (3 oz.) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch pan. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onions and garlic; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until onions are transparent. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, tarragon, basil, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Simmer 4 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens. Stir in chicken.

2. Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and remaining 1 teaspoon salt; cook 2 minutes. Stir in half-and-half; cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in wine; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

3. Spoon one-third of the tomato sauce into bottom of pan. Cover with one-third of the white sauce. Top with 1 cup of the Swiss cheese; cover with one-half of the lasagna noodles. Repeat. Top with final one-third of the red sauce and white sauce and remaining 1 cup Swiss cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan.

4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until heated through and light golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes.

8 servings

PER SERVING: 580 calories, 34 g total fat (19.5 g saturated fat), 34.5 g protein, 34.5 g carbohydrate, 120 mg cholesterol, 1055 mg sodium, 2.5 g fiber

Sarah Sam's Beef Stew

2012-01-26T13:16:00.001-06:00

There is no doubt that are some pretty awesome cooks in churches all over the country, but I had the opportunity to know one fabulous one, Sarah Sams. Her and her sweet husband (senior minister for 20+ years at our church) have been an influence and mentors in our lives: marriage, to parenting, and of course spiritual matters. I always loved going to their home or just talking to them. She has this sweet southern drawl, gives the best hugs, listens and really let you know that the stuff you're going through... you'll live. Wanna know a funny thing about Sarah? She is known for feeding those sweet babies things FAR sooner than they should (chocolate cake, etc). Everyone knew to keep an eye on her if she was holding your baby... Makes me laugh and cry just thinking about her. Sure have missed them since they moved.

I don't remember if Sarah brought her stew to church one Wednesday for Meal Service or where I was privileged to taste it, but I immediately asked her for the recipe and it has been a favorite of our family's ever since.

Sarah Sam's Beef Stew

1 lb Cooked ground beef
1 onion
potatoes - diced
2-3 cans mixed veggies - don't dump out the juice
1 can tomato juice
2/3 Tablespoons sugar
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper
left over green beans and corn
A wooden spoonful of Worcestershire sauce

Put in a crock pot and let it do it's magic! Sarah says: "The key to great stew - add a little sugar."

** Now, I have always believe that recipes are suggestions, so I usually add: carrots and celery, and a can of red kidney beans. Because I don't do a lot of ground beef, I'll use stew meat or deer meat. I'll braise the stew meat in a skillet with some olive oil, and save back the juices, adding a cup of good red wine and let it glaze a bit before adding it to the stew pot. I usually end up adding some extra beef broth to the stew because I add in fresh veggies instead of canned.

Pup'kin Dog Biscuits

2011-12-27T17:23:00.002-06:00

Today I branched out and made some doggy biscuits. We had a sweet friend (they have three schnauzers) whom cared for Lady, our German, and Midnight, our cat. I wanted to do something for them, plus try this recipe out. In an October issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray, (they have recipes just for dogs) they had Pup'kin dog biscuits ***by Sarah Zorn. If you go to RR Mag Pet Friendly section, they have many more recipes just for our furry friends.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
2 tbsp. dry milk powder
2 1/2 cups white or whole wheat flour** (please see note below about using brown rice flour)

Directions:

2" diameter biscuit cutter

Preheat the oven to 350°. In abowl, stir together the eggs, pumpkinpuree, milk powder and flour; add2 tsp. water, or enough so that thedough just comes together.

On a lightly floured surface, rollout the dough 1/2 inch thick. Cut intoshapes with 1-inch cookie cutters.Gather the scraps, combine, roll andform more biscuits; repeat until allthe dough is used.

Place the biscuits 1 inch apart on anungreased baking sheet. Bake for20 minutes, then turn over and bakeuntil hardened, another 20 minutes.Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes.

cut the treats into fourths

When the dog treats are completely done, they will be hard, dry and crisp. They will be hard for you to break in your hands--and better for your dog's teeth.

It's supposed to make about 3 dozen, but I used a 2" diameter biscuit cutter, cut those into fourths and have manageable bite size pieces (easier for smaller dogs), easy to store and not too filling.

Pup'kin Biscuit Treats

You can store these pumpkin dog treats for a month or so at room temperature.

* I doubled the recipe because I didn't want to waste 1/2 a can of canned pumpkin, and thus did not use as much flour as they stated. When I rolled it out and kneaded it some, some of that flour was used. Because I have so many, I'll freeze some and give some to another friend who has a has a small dog.

Lady and Duke's (my friend's schnauzer) assessment: They ate them easily and begged for more! Next time, I think I'm going to try Jessica Gorman's Olive Oil and Bacon Truffles.

Lady begging for more!

According to Fido Dog Treats
As simple as it sounds, pumpkin is not beef, corn, wheat gluten or any other ingredient that is well known for causing allergic conditions in dogs. In most all instances, these dog treats are vegetarian. This reason alone makes pumpkin a tempting alternative for many pet owners (although the ingredients list of any treat should be double-checked should your dog suffer from these or other food allergies). In addition to the absence of these ingredients, pumpkin based dog treats tend to be made with many other natural, nutritious items that dogs find hard to resist. Pumpkin is known to be quite palatable and widely accepted by even the most hard to please canine palettes.

**Some dogs are not able to tolerate Wheat or cornmeal. Brown Rice Flour is a great substitute to use as it gives a crunch and helps with digestion
as Marilyn from Simmer til Done noted in this post.

*** Pumpkin dog treats are also considered to be a great choice for dogs that tend to suffer from an upset stomach or the varying forms of motion sickness. It is said to benefit dogs with issues related to diarrhea and vomiting although it is highly recommend that you consult with your veterinarian should your pet have issues with these ailments.

Four-Cheese Baked Ziti

2011-12-10T08:53:00.001-06:00

Photo Credit

I spotted this simple recipe for Four-Cheese Baked Ziti in a Fall issue of Taste of Home magazine and I'm so glad I tried it! It was an instant hit with my cheese loving family. My sour-cream disliking husband had no idea it was even in there. You could even add a bit of grilled chicken to make it a main dish and it would be even more delicious! I take no credit for this yummy delight, but it's too good not to share!

This pasta dish, made with Alfredo sauce, is deliciously different from typical tomato-based recipes. Extra cheesy, it goes together quickly and is always popular at potlucks.

8 Servings

Prep: 20 min. Bake: 30 min.

Ingredients

1 package (16 ounces) ziti or small tube pasta
2 cartons (10 ounces each) refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 carton (15 ounces) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1-3/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

Cook ziti according to package directions; drain and return to the pan. Stir in Alfredo sauce and sour cream. Spoon half into a lightly greased 3-qt. baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese and parsley; spread over pasta. Top with remaining pasta mixture; sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining Parmesan.
Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1.333 cups equals 667 calories, 39 g fat (20 g saturated fat), 145 mg cholesterol, 1,037 mg sodium, 50 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 29 g protein.

Originally published as Four-Cheese Baked Ziti in Country Woman February/March 2008, p25

Marilyn's Whiskey Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-16T18:31:00.001-06:00

Honey and I both grew up with our moms fixing Libby's Pumpkin Pies for Thanksgiving dessert, but when I tasted my friend Marilyn's pie a few years ago and I just HAD to get the recipe! She said it was the pie her mom fixed when she was growing up and naturally fixed it for her family. While my family generally doesn't like change, they did like this one.

In doing some research, I've found a few similar recipes with the secret ingredient, whiskey, which I've seen is based off a Mennonite recipe, but Marilyn's only has a tsp of whiskey, while most of the other recipes has a 1/2 - 1 cup of it. I am no expert on whiskey or liquor, people usually give us the whiskey or I have someone else buy it for me. Most of the time I use Crown Royal or Jack Daniels, though I'm open to just about anything.

Boozy Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin cake with Whiskey Whipped Cream - Pioneer Woman
Whiskey Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pumpkin
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup cream or evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup whiskey
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Pie Crust Shell - Here is the recipe I love to use

Combine the pumpkin, the sugar, egg yolks (slightly beaten), and cinnamon and beat for several minutes. Quickly add the cream, butter and whiskey, mix well.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then sprinkle the cornstarch over the beaten egg whites and fold into the first mixture.

Pour into a 9 inch pastry lined pie pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in a 375 degree oven. Let it cool.

Top with regular or Whiskey Whipped Cream (recipe below)

WHISKEY WHIPPED CREAM: from Pioneer Woman

1 cup Heavy Cream, Very Cold
2 Tablespoons (to 3 Tablespoons) Sugar
2 Tablespoons Whiskey

Combine ingredients and begin mixing immediately on high speed until stiff, about 4 minutes. Spoon over cooled cake. A little whiskey goes a long way on making this and the alcohol makes whipping the cream more difficult. A harder process, but worth it.

Eat extra cream with a spoon, if desired. Ree Drummond

Mini Cheese Meatloaves

2011-09-08T21:08:00.000-05:00

Mini Cheese Meatloaves

There are a few things that I love to "collect" - books and cookbooks. What I love even more are FREE books, which I sometimes get on my Kindle device on my phone. When I saw that a Gooseberry Patch Cookbook Circle of Friends Cookbook Meatloaf Recipes was offered for free, I had to download it (it is no longer free). While my meatloaf has been so-so, I really was looking for one that really made my family excited when I fixed it. They were so VERY excited to taste my latest trial and LOVED it! Here is the yummy meatloaf recipe that we fell in love with a few months ago. I'd post a picture, but they ate it all!

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
3/4 C. milk
1 C. Shredded Cheese (I use Monterrey Jack)
1/2 C. quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1/2 C. onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. lean ground beef

Sauce for top
2/3 C. catsup
1/4 C. brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice

1. In a large bowl, whish together egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion and salt.

2. Add beef and mix well.

3. Form into 8 greased mini loaves (I use muffin tins or just put it in the crock pot for a big loaf). I like to take the left over mini loaves, freeze them, and use them whenever I'm in a pinch for something to fix.

4. Combine remaining ingredients for the sauce and spoon over the mini loaves. Bake at 350º for 45 minutes. I like to put this in the crockpot in the summer and save on heating up the kitchen.

Homemade Pizza Dough

2011-09-01T16:32:00.000-05:00

Crust

3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup lukewarm water

Making and rising the dough:

1. Pour the water into a mixing bowl and dissolve the sugar and yeast. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step.

2. Add the oil and salt, mix well then stir in 1 cup of the flour. Add the rest of the flour, a cup of flour at a time, mixing well.

3. Turn it out onto a floured surface, knead and let rise until doubled in size in a bowl, covered with a towel. (this helps keep the cool air off and allows it to rise properly). —till you've made a soft, smooth dough. ** If you're in a pinch and are making pizza at the last minute, it will still work without rising, but the texture may be different.

4. While the dough is rising, ready your 14" deep-dish pizza pan. Grease it with non-stick vegetable oil spray

5. When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down with your fist (it will appear to deflate). Turn the dough out on a floured surface and roll out thinly (remember the dough will rise slightly while baking. Stretch the dough to make as large a circle as you can. I use a rolling pin but you can simply stretch the dough in your hands.

6. Lay the dough in the pan, and stretch it towards the edges till it starts to shrink back. Cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Start preheating the oven to 425°F while the dough rests. Many times I don't have time to let the crust rest in the pan for 15 minutes and it works wonderfully if you don't.

Make sure you preheat your oven to 400º.

Making the pizza: On the prepared dough, add a thin layer of sauce, shredded mozzarella or Monterrey Jack cheese, your topping(s) of choice, and top with a sprinkling of cheese.

Here is the link for my homemade pizza sauce

Fake Febreeze

2011-08-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

Lady, our big stinky dog

I love saving money, especially when it's for a pricey cleaning product. We love Febreeze at our house - two stinky boys and a big stinky dog call for extra means to make it smell better.

When I came across this awesome idea to Make Your Own Febreeze over Fake-It Frugal, who found it at Homemade Mamas, and I just had to it out. I used an old Zout spray bottle and found it worked just as well. Here is how Heather at Fake-It Frugal did it.

I changed their recipe up a bit to Refill my already existing 32 oz Febreeze Spray Bottle:

1/8 Cup of Your Favorite Fabric Softener
2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
Hot Tap Water - To Fill the Bottle to the Top

Shake it up in your Spray Bottle and you're ready to go and fight those Stinky Dog Odors!

I found that Fake Febreeze actually has a bit more "staying power" than regular Febreeze, too!

Fake-It Yourself Breakdown:

Fake Febreeze ($0.15 or less for 1 oz Fabric Softener)

Total Fake-It Cost: $0.15 Each

Compare to Actual Febreeze ($5.59 Each, seriously?)

Total Fake-It Savings: $5.44 Each*

*Let's say you purchase 1 Bottle of Febreeze per month, that's a Savings of $65.28 per year!

PS - If you've never visited Homemade Mamas before, go check out their incredible catalog of DIY household and beauty products, among all of their other great tutorials!

I hope you have a chance to try this! Thanks for stopping by!

How to make rich chocolate milk

2011-07-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

I know, who in their right mind wouldn't just go down to the store and BUY a 1/2 gallon or gallon of the rich chocolate milk, but have you noted the price of milk lately? A 1/2 gallon of regular chocolate milk from the grocery store is almost as much as a gallon of 2% milk, plus there is something just delicious about drinking some thick rich chocolate milk.

This actually started because our local grocery store was REALLY low on milk - no chocolate milk, strawberry milk, 1/2 gallons of any type, and the gallon section was really chintzy. My family has been begging me this week to make some more Frosty Ice Cream, and I'm not planning on running to Walmart or Braums (they have the thickest chocolate milk) at this moment, I figured there HAD to be a way to make some right?

Do you wonder why chocolate milk is so udderly thick than it's white counterpart? Looking at the label, I found they put a thickener, cornstarch, in it! With a little research, I found a recipe for Spanish Hot Chocolate - Chocolate Caliente and made a few modifications based on those results. (I found it was a tad too sweet). I would be easier if Honey would just buy me that chocolate cow I've been asking for, but until then...

Total Time: 20-30 minutes

Yield: 2 Cups

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup sugar (a tad less is good)
3/4 tsp. cornstarch
dash of salt

Preparation:

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and add the cornstarch and salt. Whisk to dissolve the cornstarch. I actually like to double this and use 2 cups whole milk and 2 cups heavy whipping cream for an added richness, especially when I'm making ice cream.
Once the cornstarch is dissolved, heat the milk on medium heat just until it boils. Keep whisking it because you're milk will stick if you don't.
Add the chocolate immediately and begin stirring until the chocolate is completely blended and uniform in color. Turn down heat to medium low.
Pour the sugar into the chocolate milk mixture and stir until thoroughly dissolved.
Continue to stir slowly, but constantly. (Do not cook the mixture over high heat because it may cause lumping.)
Taste the chocolate for sweetness and add more sugar if necessary. The mixture should thicken quickly. As soon as you see it thicken, remove the pan from the heat so the cornstarch will not thin. Poor immediately into cups and serve piping hot or put it in a container and put in the fridge to cool for use later.

Whole Wheat Bread

2011-06-24T20:26:00.000-05:00

That flat rock is my first try

I've searched for years for a delicious wheat bread recipe that would raise well. Lets face it, wheat bread is usually heavy and slow to raise. My friend Eva and The Momma's loaves are always tall and tasty, so I asked them for the recipe... Turns out I already have it (Marilyns Famous Bread Recipe), but my loaves were not that great - they were flat! I'm not a horrible bread maker, so I was puzzled. I don't use a bread maker or mill my own flour, but I use quality flour. Turns out, The Momma has changed the recipe slightly... So here is the adjusted recipe from The Momma**.

Hand Method: (yields 3 loaves)
1/3 C honey
1/3 C oil
3 1/2 C Warm Water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon salt
3-4 C whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons TB Dough Enhancer
(I made my own, but if you want, you can add lecithin (you can get this from a health foods store - use the same amount of yeast)

Combine the warm water, yeast, and 2 Cups of fresh whole wheat flour in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sponge for 15 minutes. Add the honey, oil, dough enhancer, salt and 4-5 cups additional flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. Do not allow the dough to get too stiff (too dry). Dough should be smooth and elastic. It is a common mistake for the beginning bakers to add too much flour.

Knead the bread by hand 7-10 minutes or until it is very smooth, elastic, and small bubbles or blisters appear beneath the surface of the dough. Six to ten minutes of kneading should be sufficient to develop the gluten if you are using fresh flour. If you are kneading by hand, be sure to add the minimum amount of flour to keep the dough soft and pliable by using a tsp of oil on your hands and kneading surface.

Turn dough out onto floured surface, shape loaves and place in prepared greased loaf pans. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a slightly warmed oven or other warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes).

Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes in a 350º oven. Bread is cooked through when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, and when the top and sides are a golden brown color. I like to take a stick of butter and run it over the fresh baked loaves.

My family was thrilled to have good fresh wheat bread and I'm tickled to have a great recipe and wanted to share it with you. If you need to see the recipe for a bread machine or are just curious, click the link above for Marilyn's bread.

**The Momma and Eva both use a Bosch or similar type bread machine for mixing and kneading.

Lemon chicken with White Wine and Parsley

2011-06-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

I love to find a great recipe, using chicken, and when it incorporates lemon, it is an even bigger hit. One of our favorite dishes is Lemon chicken with White Wine and Parsle, that I discovered in my autographed copy of Tyler Florence's Eat This Book, Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors , which I won from Debra at Our Imperfect Life. It has so many wonderful recipes that I look forward to trying on my family (Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Bananas with Honey, Sauteed Feta Cheese, Crispy Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Apples and Fresh Thyme, etc. ).

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 11/2 pounds)
All-purpose flour, for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, with rind, cut in thin rounds
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick.

Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.

Dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the chicken cutlets to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.

Toss the lemon slices into the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the wine, broth, and lemon juice, simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly.

Roll the butter in some flour and add it to the skillet, this will thicken the sauce. Stir to incorporate and dissolve the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan; place the lemon slices on top of the cutlets. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

I hope you get the chance to try this tantalizing chicken dish, maybe some carrots, steamed snow peas, peasant bread, and Fettuccine Alfredo.

Marilyn's Fettuccine Alfredo

2011-06-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

The one pasta dish that my family request frequently is Fettuccine Alfredo. For years I did the Philly Cream Cheese version, and it is good, but it wasn't quite the right taste and texture. It wasn't until we were having dinner with my friend Marilyn, that my whole family went crazy over her version and she willingly gave me the recipe. I love it because it so simple and tasty.

Marilyn's Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients

1 Stick butter
1 C. sour cream
1 beaten egg
1 C. grated parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
dash of nutmeg

The Method
Melt 1 stick of butter and 1 C. sour cream in a sauce pan. As soon as it is melted, take it off the burner, put in 1 beaten egg. Add 1 C. parmesan cheese, dash of nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until smooth.

Mix with 1 package of cooked fettuccine noodles, Serve immediately. I sometimes add a touch of dried parsley for a nice touch of color.

Cinnamon Butter

2011-06-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

When we have the opportunity, we love to stop at Sante Fe Cattle Co. in Broken Arrow, OK. The rustic western theme, paired with movie and real cowboy pictures, unique decor (including a massive ceiling fan),awesome food and fun atmosphere makes us anticipate each visit. Between the bucket of peanuts my crew loves to munch on and starting with their homemade biscuits with Cinnamon butter, we've yet to have a bad experience. Yummo!

This is the closest I've come to their Cinnamon Butter

1 Stick of butter
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Whip the butter, add in the honey and cinnamon, chill a bit if it's too soft. Taste great on Country Biscuits.

Country Store Biscuits

2011-06-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

My family loves biscuits, especially the ones from Cracker Barrel because they are so light and fluffy. Though you use Bisquick, they don't taste like it. After searching and different trials and error with recipes, this is the closest that I've come from Recipezaar

It makes about 10 biscuits
15 minutes prep time

2 1/4 C. Bisquick - (I use Heart Smart Bisquick)
2/3 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp butter, melted
also, melted butter for brushing on the biscuits

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix the Bisquick, buttermilk and sugar together in a bowl.

Add the melted butter into the batter.

Stir until a soft dough forms.

Turn out onto a well floured work surface.

Knead 20 times (this is a very forgiving dough), and don't be afraid to get additional flour into the dough.

Roll 1/2 thick, or thicker if you prefer towering biscuits.

Place close together on an ungreased baking sheet.

Brush tops with melted butter.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes; I usually find 8 minutes is enough.

When you remove the biscuits from the oven, brush the tops with melted butter again.

Serving Size 45 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories

113

Calories from Fat

% Daily Value^*

Total Fat 3.0g 5%

Saturated Fat 0.8g 4%

Cholesterol 4mg 1%

Sodium 316mg 13%

Total Carbohydrates

19.4g 6%

Dietary Fiber 0.7g 3%

Sugars 3.2g Protein 2.6g

Vitamin A 1%	•	Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 12%	•	Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade B-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Marilyn's Carrots

2011-06-12T16:49:00.030-05:00

One late afternoon, I was helping a Marilyn (who is an awesome cook) prepare a meal at church. The thought of fixing carrots for 400+ people was daunting - especially since I held the peeler in my hand. I should have signed up for something different, but what I learned was a fantastically easy way to fix delicious carrots for either a large or small group. Here is her recipe:

Peeled and sliced carrots, cook them until tender. To make this really easy, I love to use baby carrots. They are just the right size and already peeled.
Put the carrots in a baking dish
Sprinkle with brown sugar
Melt butter, mix with a little ginger and honey to taste. The butter should come up 1/4 of the way on the bottom of the dish.
Pour over carrots. I like to sprinkle a little chopped parsley - makes it look pretty.
Cover with foil and bake. Since the carrots are already tender, you don't have to bake this very long at all.

Martha's Fudge Sauce

2011-06-10T16:41:00.005-05:00

Years ago, when I was growing up, my mom used to love watching Martha Stewart. She saw her make some delicious fudge sauce one day and decided it had to be good. Martha has changed her original recipe since then, and I didn't find the original recipe on her website, It is so awesome on ice cream, that I wanted to share it with you.

Martha Stewart Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup light cream

1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
(I leave out the above salt if I only have regular butter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or Kahlua
(I like to use Kahlua because it enhances the chocolate flavor)

Method

Combine all ingredients in saucepan except for vanilla.

Cook over med. heat.

Stir until mixture boils.

Set timer and boil for 2 minutes, I stir mine constantly so it does not stick

(Don't boil for more than 3 minutes or it will become like fudge).

Turn off heat and stir in vanilla.

Store in refrigerator up to a week.

Can reheat in microwave for a few seconds at a time or place in pan of hot water until sauce warms and thins.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2011-06-10T15:50:00.001-05:00

I'm sure they had ulterior motives, but I'm not sure I cared. Honey and the kids gave me a 6 qt. ice cream maker for Mother's Day this year. I was very anxious to try it out and since we consume an embarrassing amount of Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, I decided to try that first. We make a huge amount of ice cream each year, but most of it is Frosty Ice Cream (like a Wendy's Frosty) and we have actually burned a motor out on a ice cream maker in one summer before. Ice cream is really the only sweet that we keep in the house - dangerous isn't it? Here is the recipe I used and got rave reviews. I have included measurements for a 4 qt. and 6 qt recipe.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

   4 qt.    6 qt.

Milk                     2 2/3 C           4 C

sugar    2 C             3 C

salt                               pinch               1/4 tsp

Half and half         2 2/3 C 4 C.

Vanilla extract    4 tsp.        2 Tbsp

Whipping Cream       5 1/3 C            8 C

Mint extract                   1 1/3 tsp         2 tsp

Green food coloring        1/2 tsp         2/3 tsp

Chocolate chips          10 2/3 oz        16 oz
                                     or                 or
                                  1 1/2 C        2 1/3 C

Scald milk until it bubbles from around the edge of the pan. Remove from heat. Add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in Half and Half, vanilla and whipping cream. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

While it is cooling, take the chocolate chips (I used 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 dark chocolate) and chop them into finer bits. A food processor is an awesome tool here. Make sure they are just smaller bit, not pulverized! If your local store carries Nestle Toll House or other brand of Mini chocolate chips, they are perfect. My friend Amy used 1/2 C. Andes Thin Mints Baking Chips and 1 cup Semi sweet chocolate chips and her family loved it.

Take the chilled mixture from the fridge, add the mint extract and green food coloring to it. Pour the mixture into the ice cream canister and follow the ice cream maker's directions and freeze. I found that allowing the ice cream to freeze and then adding the chocolate chips works great - after about 25-30 minutes or whenever it stops!

We'll just see how long the 1 1/2 gallons of this yummy concoction lasts. It is definitely cheaper than the $6 a gal (or $3.98 if I really watch for a sale)! I'd love to hear if you try this how it turned out for you and how you like it!

Blueberry Muffins

2011-06-09T11:55:00.000-05:00

Blueberry Muffins
from the Muffin Lady

Our family loves when I make fresh blueberry muffins

2 rounded C. flour

1 C. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/4 C. oil (I use olive oil, but you can use what you have on hand)

4 tbsp. butter, melted

3/4 C. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

8 oz of frozen blueberries or 1/2 pint fresh berries.

Preheat oven to 350º. Sift all dry ingredients together. make a well in the center. Add the eggs, oil, butter, milk, and vanilla. Gently hand-mix until all the liquid is absorbed. Fold in the blueberries. I use 1/3 cup of batter in each parchment paper** lined 12-muffin unit. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on the doneness of the muffins in the center of the tin. When you press against the tops of the muffins, they should be firm to the touch.

** Handy Hint: I use parchment paper cut up into squares about 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 is a good size. The muffins don't stick to the paper and allows you to fill a tad bit more than regular muffin/cupcake paper liners. Pretty cheap as well. Just form the paper in the muffin hole space and add about 1/3 C. of the muffin batter.

Enjoy!!!

Blueberry Syrup

2011-06-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

Every June

Skaggs Berry Farm

beckons us

luscious plump berries

eager fingers search

buckets fill

victory is sweet

Mother Earth News

Picking with the Princess

Blueberry Syrup

4 cups Blueberries
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup water
1-1/4 cups sugar

In a 3 qt saucepan, cook berries, water, and lemon juice on high heat to boiling. Boil for 2 minutes, mashing berries with a large spoon**. Add the sugar and cook over high heat to rolling boil for 30 seconds. Cool. Will keep in refrigerator up to 2 months. Makes 3 1/2 cups of syrup.

We love this on waffles, pancakes, french toast with some whipped topping or just take a spoon and enjoy before anyone wakes up.

**I have found that if I don't want a really lumpy syrup, I put mine in the food processor or blender for a few seconds. If the syrup mixture is really hot, you need to let it cool before putting it in the blender or the heat may build up and you'll have a mess.

Banana Nut Muffins

2011-05-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I saw a lady in the early 1990's on Good Morning America, who worked out of a NY firehouse making these incredible muffins. So I made used that one recipe, copied down on a ratty piece of notebook paper for a few years, until I found that she published a cookbook with so many delicious recipes. I've been hooked ever since! Many friends who have tasted my muffins think I'm a baking whiz, but I always have to tell them about a lady who turned to baking to keep off welfare. Her recipes are easy and delicious, but her story inspiring. When I get her cookbook out, the kids start gravitating my direction, just itching to get their hands on a fresh blueberry or banana nut muffin.

Linda's Banana Nut Muffins

2-3 ripe bananas

1 C. oil (I use olive oil, but you can use what you have on hand)

2 eggs

1 C. sugar

2 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp mace (this is a stronger than mace). If you don't have mace, use twice the amount of nutmeg - 1/2 tsp in this case.

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C. chopped nuts (I like pecans) (optional, but makes it more yummy)

Preheat oven to 350º. Place bananas in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pureed or mashed. Add the oil and sugar, blend. Add the eggs one at a time. Fold the dry ingredients together before gradually adding them to the wet mixture. Add the vanilla or whatever you wish. Fold in the nuts. Bake in a wax paper-lined muffin pans for 30-35 minutes.

Handy Hint: I use parchment paper cut up into squares about 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 is a good size. The muffins don't stick to the paper and allows you to fill a tad bit more than regular muffin/cupcake paper liners. Pretty cheap as well. Just form the paper in the muffin hole space and add about 1/3 C. of the muffin batter.

How to make Cottage Cheese the easy way

2011-03-05T21:10:00.001-06:00

This adventure started from a horrible discovery that TWO gallons of milk (that's like two gallons of gas these days) had begun to sour five days before expiration date. ARGH!!! Not wanting to pour them down the sink, I began searching for ways to use the soured milk and I happened upon Homemade Quick Cottage Cheese.

I must confess I really have never thought to make my own. We really don't use it that much unless I have a coupon or I'm making lasagna. We found two recipes that seemed easy enough to follow and they seemed very similar. Needless to say, I was actually a little giddy when I finished and thrilled with the outcome.

Food Network - Alton Brown ever a man of science and food
Savy Housekeeping has great pictures to help visualize what it should look like during the process.

Cottage Cheese

Ingredients:
1 gallon fat-free milk (I used 2% because that's what went bad)
3/4 cup white vinegar

You’ll also need a:

vinegar and soured milk

Pot
Thermometer
Cheesecloth or any other porous towel (good to have in a kitchen anyway)
Colander

2nd batch got a little warm

Directions:
Pour your milk into a pan

Using a thermometer, position it so that is it touching the milk but not the pan. Heat the milk up to 120 degrees.

When it reaches that temperature, turn off the heat. Add the vinegar. Let sit for a half hour.

making curds and whey

Now it gets a little gross. The milk curdles and separates into curds and whey. You might think you are doing it wrong, but that’s what’s supposed to happen. **See end of post for ideas of what to do with whey.

Draining the whey off

Put a cheesecloth across a colander and dump the mixture out into it. Let the gross stuff drain away for about 3 minutes.


I used mosquito netting

Wrap the cottage cheese in the cheesecloth and run under cool tap water for about 3 more minutes, knead the cheese with your fingers.

Cottage cheese

Finally, pour the cheese into a bowl. You have just made cottage cheese. Mine was very fine - just think of it was VERY SMALL CURD! I put it in a tightly sealed container and put it in the fridge until I make lasagna this week.

There are two ways you can now use this:

mix it with some half-n-half and salt and it taste delicious
cook in lasagna or any other pasta dish that calls for ricotta

"Ricotta, real ricotta, is made from the whey left over after making mozzarella (or other soft cheeses), and whey can be used for other things, too, pickles and soda and way beyond."
"There is vegetable rennet, and there is animal based rennet. Using rennet per the enclosed instructions, (can be obtained through a cheese maker supplier, or you can buy Junket from the grocer). The resulting whey can be used to make ricotta. Unless the milk is fortified with the calcium chloride, the yield is small. Ricotta can also be made with whole milk."

I hope that you'll try to make this and if you do, please come back and leave me a note of your experience and results. I'd love to hear from you!

**At Savy Housekeeping, there were several comments that the leftover whey could be used for several things. I plan on making pizza and pancakes this week and using the whey I kept in the back of the fridge.

water when making bread can give the bread a tangy flavor
an ideal substitute for buttermilk
soup
cooking rice
pizza base
while making eggs, add some whey. The egg will be a little mushier (wet) but delicious
can be frozen, or just stored in the refrigerator well covered, until used
pancakes

Perfecty Easy Dinner Rolls

2011-03-03T17:17:00.000-06:00

After tasting my friend Marilyn's fantastic dinner rolls, I begged her for the recipe. She confessed it was one her mother had used, but gladly gave it to me. I've used this recipe for a few years, now and love it. It can be easily used to make lip-smacking, ooey delicious cinnamon rolls.

Servings: 2 dozen rolls

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 - 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Additional melted butter, (optional)

INGREDIENTS

Servings: 2 dzn
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 - 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Additional melted butter, (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let the mixture stand until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Stir in butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough is too stiff to mix (some flour may not be needed). At this point, I do like to transfer it to the counter dusted with flour and knead to ensure smoothness of texture. Now you have two options on how to proceed:

Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or up to 4 days. Just take it out of the refrigerator, let rise and bake
Make sure the dough is floured on the outside and put in the bowl you mixed it in. Let it rise on the counter, covered with a dishtowel, until doubled in size. Proceed as below.

When ready to bake

Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Turn the chilled dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide dough into 24 equal-size pieces (about 1 1/2 - 2 oz each). Roll each piece into a smooth round ball; place balls in even rows in the prepared pan. Cover and let dough balls rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. If it is warmer outside, they will rise faster and if it is cooler/cold outside, it will take longer. Adjust your time accordingly to when they need to be finished.

Preheat over to 375. Bake until rolls are golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Brush warm rolls with melted butter, if desired. It's a little messier, but I like to take a stick of slightly soft real butter, uncover one end, and run that over the tops and exposed sides of the rolls. Break rolls apart to serve.

Helpful hints, in this recipe do not use quick rising dry yeast, since it is designed to raise breads quickly.

Italian Peasant Bread

2011-02-04T17:06:00.000-06:00

Ah, an Italian restaurant. I remember the first time I had dinner there. I thought it was the most romantic place - the atmosphere, the music is floats just below the soft conversations, the servers at attentive, and Mama Mia! The food is delicious! Once we ate on the patio on a cool Fall evening under the stars... I'm going to a happy place here! Each time we anticipate the arrival of a fresh baked herbed flat bread as we peruse the menu - searching for new items. We always have to ask for a second loaf and there is always swatted hands to get the last slice dipped in seasoned olive oil. It's always a toss up between the Roasted Chicken Cannelloni or the scrumptious Fettuccine Alfredo, Grilled Chicken Spiedini, or oh, I've got to stop before I beg Honey to drive me through the snow for these delicious meals.

Peasant Bread and peppered olive oil

The first time we were there I begged our server to tell me what kind of bread it was and how to make it... Peasant Bread was all they would tell me and thus the quest began. After many trials, I finally found a recipe that gained my family's approval and it has quickly become a favorite on Italian night at our house, so here it is!

Italian Peasant Bread

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, this bread flecked with herbs, the smell just tempts you to sink your teeth into it. Its a great bread to tear and dip in flavored olive oils and to serve with your best Italian pasta dishes, or soups. I usually make 2 loaves at a time because it's so flavorful and it goes very quickly.

Servings: 2-4 Yield: 1 loaf
3 hours 2½ hours prep

¾ C. water
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tbsp. sugar
1 ½ tbsp. rosemary
1 tbsp. yeast (active dry yeast)
salt (to garnish)
additional rosemary (to garnish)

BREAD MACHINE: Place ingredients, according to manufacturer's directions into your bread machine. (some call for all liquids, or all dry ingredients first, so know your machine) Set machine to"dough cycle" and wait. (This takes most machines about an hour and a half for a full cycle) Remove from machine when cycle is complete and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

BY HAND:
I don’t have a bread machine, so this is how I do it.

In a large bowl, mix the water (just a little warm to the touch) with the yeast, and let it set for 5 minutes. It should foam a little.
Add the oil, salt, sugar, and rosemary; mix well. Gradually add the flour, making sure it is smooth and elastic. You might have to add just a tad bit more flour to make sure the dough is not sticky.
On a well floured surface, kneed the dough until smooth and elastic.

Place the dough on a baking sheet or stone. You can flatten it a bit if you want, but it should be in a round mound. This bread is not a shaped type bread, but rather takes it shape as it bakes and spreads a bit.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. Brush with a little olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and salt if desired. (This is the way its done at Macaroni Grill)

When the dough looks like it is almost doubled in size, turn the oven on to preheat (like a mound of raised dough).

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and crispy. Bread is meant to be a flatter shape and not high rising bread.

I like to cut my bread and then serve with olive oil flavored with fresh ground pepper or my recipe for the Herbed Oil for Dipping Bread below. I like to mix a bunch of this up at a time and keep it in a pint jar by my spices so it will be ready any time I need it.

Herbed oil for Dipping Bread

1 tsp. ground black pepper (I use fresh ground from a pepper mill)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt

"Secret" Homemade Pizza Sauce

2010-10-07T13:03:00.000-05:00

When we first got married, all Honey could talk about was a secret recipe that Mrs. Ruth used to make at Cookson Hills Christian Home for Children, in Kansas, OK. Now, you're probaby thinking you didn't even know such a place ever existed, but nestled in the western OK hills is a wonderful sleepy little town. Honey's parents were house parents there for many years until 1988.

Well, being the "good" wife I thought I was supposed to be, I made a long distance (before cell phones) and called the only Ruth I knew from Cookson, got her not so secret recipe (she claimed) and had it waiting for him when he got home from work. Well, he was not impressed. Come to find out there were TWO Ruths and I called the wrong one. RATS! I finally got it out of him, called her. She was astounded that he loved and remembered it and was happy to give me the Secret Recipe.

So I made this NEW recipe and I quickly found out it wasn't the crust that he loved, but the sauce! Gee if I had only known that in the beginning it would have saved me a lot of grief! I now will make up a HUGE mess of this (almost 3 gallons) and can it so we will have it when we need it. Guess it's not so much a secret now1

Secret Homemade Pizza Sauce

Combine the following in a sauce pan, until just heated to marry the flavors. Spoon onto your pizza crust and build a mouth watering pizza that will have your family begging for more! Check this post out to see how I make personal pan pizzas for everyone just the way they like them.

1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 8 oz can tomato paste
1/2 C. water
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp salt

Net

Itallian Spaghetti Sauce

2010-09-09T18:16:00.000-05:00

Many years ago, a family from church left for Africa to become missionaries. Before Susan left, we had the privilege of eating with them. Though we had the most wonderful time with them and their girls, it was the spaghetti sauce that I had to inquire about before we walked out the door that night. She confessed that got the recipe from some Italian folks they had befriended. It is a recipe that my family loves and one that I fix and can for my mom for a Christmas present each year. It is simple, easy, and a fix it and forget it type of sauce... I hope you'll give it a try.

In a crock-pot, I use my stock pot if I'm in a hurry, combine the following and let it simmer on low all day.

3 - 14 oz cans stewed/diced tomatoes
2 - 1 lrg can tomato sauce
2 - sm. cans tomato paste

1/4-1/2 C. Good red wine. I've always heard that if it's good to drink, then cook with it. Beings that we don't drink, I usually have to rely on a good friend to tell me what I need to get. Someone recently gave me two bottles of Frank Coppola Gold label Red Table Wine, so I used that. I try to get Kahlua around for baking with chocolate (really enhances the flavor) or whiskey for making BBQ sauce or Jack Daniels Grilling Sauce (like at TGI Fridays).

Brown 1 lb beef and 1 onion. If I'm canning my sauce, I leave out the beef/turkey.

Add the above and the following to the crock pot:

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (I go light on this as my family isn't found of the hot stuff)
2 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
2 Tbsp. crushed garlic
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. Rosemary
1-2 Tbsp. sugar.

My family loves this over the bought canned stuff any day. Great to use in lasagna as well.

Enjoy!

Homemade Cleaners

2010-07-21T12:34:00.033-05:00

For some time, I have made my own laundry detergent, glass cleaner, and 409 Cleaner. Do I do it because of chemicals in store bought cleaners? No, not really. I do it to simply save money and I wanted to share this with you today. There are lots of different recipes for these out there, this simply is what works for me.

Liquid 409 Cleaner
Mix the following in a spray bottle and shake well.
1/2 tsp. soda wash (Arm & Hammer)
2 tsp. borax
1/2 tsp liquid detergent (I use Dawn)
2 C. hot water (to help the borax to dissolve better)

Soft Scrub
2 C. baking soda
1/2 Castile soap (usually found in the face soap section in our grocery store)
4 tsp. veggie glycerin
4-5 drops of essential oil if you want, but not necessary (lavender is our favorite)

Glass Cleaner
Option 1
4 fl oz rubbing alcohol
4 oz. ammonia (I've had a gallon of this for years - doesn't take much because it is VERY strong)
3 pt. water

Option 2 w/o ammonia
1/2 C. rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
1 Tbsp vinegar
2 1/2 C. water

Toilet Bowl cleaner (but you can use it to clean sinks, counters, etc)
Mix the following, put in a spray bottle to use

2 Qt. or 64 oz (1/2 gal) warm water
1/2 C. ammonia
1/4 C. white distilled vinegar
1/4 C. baking soda

Cake Truffles

2010-07-13T10:51:00.001-05:00

I heard about these fantastic little delights while visiting in Dallas in a newspaper article and just had to try them and share them with you. I was surprised how easy they are to make and how scrumptious they are!

Cake balls are made by combining crumbled baked cake with frosting, rolling the mixture into balls, and covering the balls with confectionery coating to give the bite-size desserts a glossy, crisp exterior. VALERIE JARVIE

If you're a coupon clipper, sometimes you can find a coupon from time to time for both the cake mix and frosting...
Ingredients:
1 box cake mix, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines French Vanilla )
1 container of ready to use frosting (16 oz.), any flavor (I used cream cheese frosting)
Chocolate for coating the truffles, any type. It's best to use almond/chocolate bark as it is made specifically for coating candy. (I used just a little more than 1 lb. of white Ghiradelli chocolate and added some shaved Gulf wax. This really helps it to set up quickly and stand up to handling)

Directions:
1. Bake cake as directed on box. Allow to cool completely. I colored mine a beautiful purple because we are making a few hundred of these for a wedding in July, and this is one of their colors.
2. Crumble cake finely, I used my hand mixer.
3. Stir in frosting, at room temperature, until well distributed through cake crumbs. Put this mixture in the fridge for 2 hours. This will help it to set up and make it easier to roll into balls.
4. Shape cake into small balls, about 1" in diameter (I made mine similar to the size of Lindt truffle balls). Place balls on a cookie sheet and chill for 6 hours in the freezer (I did mine overnight). You can free these ahead of time in an airtight container (freezer ziploc bags) until ready to use if you need to make a lot of these.

5. Melt chocolate in the microwave a couple of ounces at a time. I highly suggest using good quality chocolate, and if you can find it, use chocolate bark, which is best for candy coating. The most important thing about melting the chocolate is not to burn it.Make sure your bowls and spoons are dry. Use 50% power in your microwave, and do about 15 seconds at a time, microwaving about 2 ounces at a time in a heat-proof bowl. ** Note that since the cake balls were frozen, they will be very cold and will cause the chocolate to harden very fast. So work quickly as you are dipping and rotating the balls, otherwise the chocolate on your spoons will start to get stiff. I I used a cake tester, but have found that by using 5" long Doll Needles to finely pierce one ball at a time, dip the frozen cake balls into the chocolate to coat, and gently place them on the wax paper to allow to set. I try to keep a cup of very warm water close by to put the needles in while not using them or in between truffle dipping. the warmth helps the truffle to slide off more easily.

You'll need to put a dot of coating that you use on the spot where you pierced the truffle ball or the mixture will seep out and look yuck! Try to do this immediately after you dip each ball and the coating is still wet. You have to do this quickly.

If you want to put a design on the top, place some of the coating, in a coordinating color, in a ziploc freezer bag or a icing bag, made specifically for use with icing. You'll need to keep it warm to keep it from getting hard. I left this for last so I could do as many as possible at a time.
6.You can store your Cake Ball Pops in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Keep in mind if you store them in the fridge, you may have condensation issues when you remove them. Trust me....they will stay fresh for up to about 7 days if you hide them in a nice cool corner of your kitchen.

Can be kept for up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator

Variety is as large as your imagination, almost any cake and frosting will work. The real thrill is in combining flavors and colors for distinctive results. Jill at Simple Daily Recipes

WHEN IT COMES TO COLORING CHOCOLATE, USE AN OIL BASED FOOD COLORING.
That little 4 pack of food coloring you find in the spice section of your grocer is water based and WILL cause chocolate to seize up. That's not good.
You can easily find oil based food coloring on the baking aisle of major craft stores, online, or specialty food shops. But don't misunderstand me, it's not a "specialty" item. Everybody knows the name Wilton for decorative baking tools, Wilton makes oil based food coloring.

Just so it's very clear, I did not create this recipe. I heard about it while visiting in Dallas, lived through it, photographed it and now, I'm passing it to you. The suggested list of flavors are from the paper, not me.

Devil's food cake with fudge icing and dark chocolate coating.

Yellow Cake with buttercream frosting and orange-colored vanilla coating with green and black accents.
White cake with white frosting mixed with orange and yellow sprinkles and chocolate coating.
German chocolate cake with coconut-pecan icing and milk chocolate or light cocoa flavored coating.
Spice or carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and vanilla coating.
Lemon cake with lemon frosting and vanilla frosting.
Chocolate Cake with vanilla frosting and mint-flavored coating with tinted green.

Lucy from Edible Memories made these fantastically beautiful truffles

Moomie's Beautiful Burger Buns

2010-05-06T22:08:00.003-05:00

This is a special recipe from Moomie, a great friend on King Arthur Flour's "Baking Circle" message board. I found this a few years ago in a King Arthur Flour Company catalog and had to try them. Haven't tried another one since. Our family loves these and they are so easy to make them the specific size you need and get the most delicious buns!

Make these in your bread machine as Moomie does, or by hand as I do. The key to success is to remember that soft rolls require soft dough. It's easy to double, makes a great bun for any type sandwich, and you can even make them into hot dog buns if you want!

Yields 8-10 buns

1 cup warm water (100-105 deg.)
1 Tablespoon instant yeast
1 egg

1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter -- melted
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur's) *

In a large bowl, mix yeast and warm water. Let set for 5 minutes.
Add egg and melted butter to yeast mixture; blend well together. (I use a large wire whisk to do this)
Mix the sugar and salt, add to the yeast mixture.
Gradually add flour to liquid mixture, one cupful at a time. To tell you the truth, I don't actually know how much flour I use, but just add it until it feels right in my hands (not real helpful I know).
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and supple.
Put back into bowl and let rise until it has doubled in size. I put a dishtowel over the bowl to keep any drafts off the rising bread.
Once it has doubled in size, dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 pieces. I shape them into a "bun shape" and place them on a greased cookie sheet. I spray them with Pam or olive oil.
Let them rise about 30-40 minutes or until they are the size you need. You can cover them with the dish towel again. If it is a really warm day, you may not need to let them rise the full 30-40 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 375º oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.
You can add a teaspoon of onion powder or 1/2 tsp. dried onion to the dough. Slice in half. I love to spread a little butter on mine and either put them on the grill or toast them in a skillet.

An awesome and easy bun recipe. Sometimes I add a bit of wheat, but this will make them a tad bit heavier and longer to rise. I hope you'll give these buns a try!

French Toast

2010-03-21T10:39:00.000-05:00

Friday Honey took the kids and some of their friends to Winter Jam in Little Rock. It's become an expected thing that I cook breakfast for the crew that emerges at odd hours the next morning, so I asked them what they wanted. This year, my kids requested I fix french toast, bacon, and eggs.

To start off, I enjoy watching cooking shows, but what I really love to watch or the shows that tell you the how or why behind a certain food. That's why I love Food Network's Unwrapped, Bobby Flay's Throwdown, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Alton Brown's Good Eats, where he tells the "origins of ingredients, decodes culinary customs and presents food and equipment trends." One of my favorite recipes is Brown's simple French Toast. French toast is one of those simple breakfast dishes that I've eaten since a child and love, so when I saw his show on it, I had to try it. It ended up being really tasty and I hardly ever have left-overs.

I've use everything from actual french bread, Texas Toast Bread, and Hot dog buns (my kids used to love Hot Dog French toast), but I rarely use regular sandwich bread. This is not my recipe, but it is one that is tried and true with us and I wanted to share it with you. I love to set out some diced pecans, powdered sugar, homemade blueberry syrup, real maple syrup, and real butter to pile on the toast, paired with creamy scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, and orange/grape juice and the family goes away full and happy.

French Toast

Ingredients
1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter
Directions
He suggested to set the bread out the night before on a pan to let it "stale" just a bit.
In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

Enjoy!

Mary's Cake Donuts

2010-03-18T06:55:00.001-05:00

Last week I experimented with three types of homemade donuts, my poor suffering family casts their votes for favorites and gladly took part in the taste tasting. Head over my blog to read my thoughts on doughnuts. But yesterday, I had to try yet another, and here it is - Mary's Cake Donuts. I received this recipe from a friend, Melissa, who raved about her grandmother's cake donuts, so I had to try them. Here is the 50+ year old cake Donut recipe

Mix the following Ingredients in a large bowl:
2 eggs beaten
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. Shortening/veg oil (once again, I used Olive Oil simply this is what we use)
1 C. sour milk (typically this is buttermilk)**
** I do not buy buttermilk, but rather use 1 C. 2% or Whole milk and add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or white vinegar. Let this
                 sit for 5 minutes before using. - it's just like buttermilk!

Combine the following dry ingredients and gradually add to the liquid mixture.

4 C. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

If dough is to soft to handle, add more flour up to 1/2 C. Roll out to about 1/2 " thick and cut donuts. You can get fancy with them and "braid" two 6" strips. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat, not too high or they will cook too quickly. Fry in oil till light brown. Turn only once. While still hot, roll in cinnamon sugar or sprinkle with powdered sugar, left plain these are awesome for coffee dunking.

I substituted vanilla for the cinnamon and nutmeg for a plain cake doughnut

They were eaten quickly enough. Only said they were not as sweet as some of the others, but they actually fried up more like yeast donuts. More fluffy, but still a cake doughnut.   Happy experimenting!

Yeast Type Raised Doughnuts

2010-03-18T06:24:00.001-05:00

This last week I experimented with three types of homemade donuts, my poor suffering family casts their votes for favorites and gladly took part in the taste tasting. Head over my blog to read my thoughts on doughnuts.

The third batch I tried, I used a Yeast Type Raised Doughnuts. I don't know there is anything magical about mine (from The king Arthur Flour Comp. 200th Anniversary Cookbook) .

Unlike cake doughnuts which are leavened with baking powder, raised doughnutsare leavened with yeast and have a lighter, spongier texture. These take some time, but the yeast will do a lot of the work for you while you go about other things.

The Sponge
1 cup warm water 1/₂ cup non-fat dry milk
1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon or packet of yeast
1 1/₂ cups Flour
Making the Sponge: Pour the warm water into a mixing bowl. Dissolve in it the sugar, yeast and dry milk. Blend in the whole wheat flour. This makes a sponge which you cover and let work for 15 or 20 minutes, until it is bubbly and expanded.

Doing The Rest

2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/₂ cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten

Making the Dough: After the sponge is bubbling, blend in the butter, sugar,and egg. Add the salt and unbleached flour. This should make a dough just barely firm enough to knead, but don't be afraid to add a bit more flour to make it manageable.

Kneading & Rising: Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead with floured hands for 3 to 4 minutes. Let it rest while you clean and grease your bowl. Knead the dough another 3 to 4 minutes until it's smooth and elastic. Then place it in the bowl turning it to grease the top. Let it rise for 11/₂ to 2 hours, until doubled.

Shaping: Roll dough out until it is about 1/2" thick. Using a doughnut cutter or whatever you have on hand - biscuit cutter or even a drinking glass. Cut the Hole out. If you didn't use a doughnut cutter, use what you have. I used a clean medicine bottle.

In a skillet (I used a small iron skillet) heat enough vegetable oil or shortening to about 375º to partially submerge them. It should cook a doughnut to a golden brown in about 40 seconds. If you get big a skillet, they the doughnuts can cook quickly if the oil is too hot and you won't have time to think.

Gently place the doughnuts into the heated oil. As soon as they come to the surface, or are a light golden brown, use tongs to flip them over so they'll expand evenly without cracking. When they're golden brown, remove them with a slotted spoon or rubber tipped tongs and let them drain on absorbent paper. I used cookie cooling racks with paper towels under them.

Top it off. Which topping you choose, I suggest a shallow bowl for the glazes and only dipping one side of the doughnut, the gooey stuff will drip down the side! If you have little ones, they might enjoy some colorful sprinkles or even chopped nuts on top.

Confectioner's Sugar Glaze
Blend 4 tsp. milk or water with 1 C. powdered sugar in a bowl that would be easy for dipping your donuts in. I added a dash of salt and a hint of vanilla and it seemed to be better.

Powdered Sugar: I have a shaker filled with powdered sugar - simply shake however much you want.

Chocolate: There are many recipes out there, but this is what we finally settled on. I did mine in the microwave - I had too much going on to babysit a pan on the stove.

1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4-6 tablespoons hot milk
4 ounces milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Frosting: Heat butter and chocolate over low heat until chocolate is melted
If you do this in the microwave, only heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in-between
heating.
Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Homemade biscuit donuts

2010-03-05T19:03:00.002-06:00

This last week I experimented with three types of homemade donuts, my poor suffering family casts their votes for favorites and gladly took part in the taste tasting. Head over my blog to read my thoughts on doughnuts.

The second batch I tried, I used my favorite homemade biscuit recipe. I don't know there is anything magical about mine (from the Muffin Lady by Linda Fisher) but here it is.

2C. flour 2 Tbsp. sugar 1/4 C. milk
1 Tbsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter 1 egg

Sift (mix) all dry ingredients. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Add the egg. With your hands, dough hook of a mixer, or pastry blender, lightly blend or knead the dough mixture. Gradually add the milk until the mix is moist enough for both the flour and the butter to stick. It might not be mecessary to use all the milk. Take the resulting mix and form by hand into a ball. Cover it with a towel or another bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

Roll dough out until it is about 1/2" thick. Using a doughnut cutter or whatever you have on hand - biscuit cutter or even a drinking glass. Cut the Hole out. If you didn't use a doughnut cutter, use what you have. I used a clean medicine bottle.

In a skillet (I used a small iron skillet) heat enough vegetable oil or shortening to about 375º to partially submerge them. It should cook a doughnut to a golden brown in about 40 seconds. If you get big a skillet, they the doughnuts can cook quickly if the oil is too hot and you won't have time to think.

Gently place the doughnuts into the heated oil. As soon as they come to the surface, or are a light golden brown, use tongs to flip them over so they'll expand evenly without cracking. When they're golden brown, remove them with a slotted spoon or rubber tipped tongs and let them drain on absorbent paper. I used cookie cooling racks with paper towels under them.

Top it off. Which topping you choose, I suggest a shallow bowl for the glazes and only dipping one side of the doughnut, the gooey stuff will drip down the side! If you have little ones, they might enjoy some colorful sprinkles or even chopped nuts on top.

Confectioner's Sugar Glaze
Blend 4 tsp. milk or water with 1 C. powdered sugar in a bowl that would be easy for dipping your donuts in. I added a dash of salt and a hint of vanilla and it seemed to be better.

Powdered Sugar: I have a shaker filled with powdered sugar - simply shake however much you want.

Chocolate: There are many recipes out there, but this is what we finally settled on. I did mine in the microwave - I had too much going on to babysit a pan on the stove.

1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4-6 tablespoons hot milk
4 ounces milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Frosting: Heat butter and chocolate over low heat until chocolate is melted
If you do this in the microwave, only heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in-between
heating.
Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Bisquick Cake Donuts

2010-03-05T18:30:00.004-06:00

This last week I experimented with three types of donuts, my poor suffering family casts their votes for favorites and gladly took part in the taste tasting. Head over my blog to read my thoughts on doughnuts.

The first batch I tried was from a ready made mix - Bisquick:

2 1/4 C. Bisquick (I used the Low-fat type)
2/3 C. milk (I use Buttermilk and make my own by mixing 1 C. milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice)
2 Tbsp. sugar

Mix above ingredients and turn onto surface dusted with Bisquick mix or flour. Knead until smooth.

Roll dough out until it is about 1/2" thick. Using a doughnut cutter or whatever you have on hand - biscuit cutter or even a drinking glass. Cut the Hole out. If you didn't use a doughnut cutter, use what you have. I used a clean medicine bottle.

In a skillet (I used a small iron skillet) heat enough vegetable oil or shortening to about 375º to partially submerge them. It should cook a doughnut to a golden brown in about 40 seconds. If you get big a skillet, they the doughnuts can cook quickly if the oil is too hot and you won't have time to think.

Gently place the doughnuts into the heated oil. As soon as they come to the surface, or are a light golden brown, use tongs to flip them over so they'll expand evenly without cracking. When they're golden brown, remove them with a slotted spoon or rubber tipped tongs and let them drain on absorbent paper. I used cookie cooling racks with paper towels under them.

Top it off. Which topping you choose, I suggest a shallow bowl for the glazes and only dipping one side of the doughnut, the gooey stuff will drip down the side! If you have little ones, they might enjoy some colorful sprinkles or even chopped nuts on top.

Confectioner's Sugar Glaze
Blend 4 tsp. milk or water with 1 C. powdered sugar in a bowl that would be easy for dipping your donuts in. I added a dash of salt and a hint of vanilla and it seemed to be better.

Powdered Sugar: I have a shaker filled with powdered sugar - simply shake however much you want.

Chocolate: There are many recipes out there, but this is what we finally settled on. I did mine in the microwave - I had too much going on to babysit a pan on the stove.

1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4-6 tablespoons hot milk
4 ounces milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Frosting: Heat butter and chocolate over low heat until chocolate is melted
If you do this in the microwave, only heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in-between
heating.
Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

Potato Refrigerator Bread

2010-02-24T08:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was bread day at our house, as I was baking bread for dinner. The first was Potato Refrigerator Bread, which my family loves. I've used a recipe from Bread World for years now and it always seems to work great. It was easy and fairly moist. just the really soft bread that the family loves to put butter and jelly on.

The second was Italian Hearth style French bread, using a recipe from my King Arthur Flour Company 200th Anniversary Cookbook that I've had for many years. I actually use King Arthur Flour when I can, as I can now get it from two places locally. It is not enriched and unbleached and I can get the regular or the bread flour, which I use a lot of. If I cannot get KAFC flour, I will use Hodgson Mill unbleached white flour, which I can find at my local grocer.

Because I do not have Italian bread or Baguette Pans, I found that I can substitute heavy duty foil triple layered before forming my make-shift baguette pan. A quick call to my Traci to consult with, confirmed she did the same as well. I continued, and I thought it worked rather well, and the bread still turned out great and the first loaf was consumed in no time!

So even though I don't have the fancy tools, I can still turn out delicious hearth style french bread. I must say, the recipe I use literally takes all day. I started at 9 a.m. and it was finally ready at 6 p.m. Please don't let this scare you away from attempting to make traditional Hearth style bread. It is the whole process of multiple risings that give it the classic French Bread. I was also busy yesterday teaching the kids, doing laundry, and chasing the baby, so the preparation time could have been much shorter, but it worked out well by the time Honey walked through the door.

Homemade Baby Wipes

2010-02-19T11:35:00.001-06:00

Homemade baby wipes. When my kids were little, they tender bottoms broke out when I used store bought wipes, so I made my own using water, baby oil, baby bath, and Bounty Paper Towels. Now that I am keeping The Princess, I've began making and using them again. I've even given them as baby gifts to moms that love this sort of thing. I know there are many recipes for this, but this is what we do. When our kids were little we used cloth diapers and made our own baby wipes. I loved knowing what went into them as Oldest was a little sensitive to the bought ones. In a few weeks, we will start watching a baby for a some friends when she goes back to the classroom, and I'm considering making them again. They last forever! Here is how we made them. Since most parents have these supplies on hand anyway, these are relatively inexpensive to make.

Supplies:

1 roll of Bounty paper towels. I like to use the Big Roll (it's gotta be a really strong paper towel)
2 TBSP Baby Wash/Bath (choose a natural wash!)
2 TBSP Baby Oil(I've heard some people use olive oil
2 Cups water (I like to use warm water, as it mixes easier)
Container to hold wipes. we use a 10 C. Rubbermaid container with locking lid that we got about 18 years ago. You just need something that has a locking lid

Directions

Cut roll of Bounty. I mark the center using a ruler and ink pen, then used my electric knife (or you could use a sharp serrated knife) to cut the roll in half.
Place 1/2 roll of paper towels in container.
Pour solution over towels.
Seal tightly and let set for a few hours or overnight.
Open container, remove cardboard center, use from the middle.
This will make two large rolls of baby wipes. Save the other 1/2 roll for the next time you need to make wipes.

Yummy White Chicken Chili

2010-01-26T22:30:00.000-06:00

Only was so excited. She had watched Rachael Ray Show Monday morning and saw a recipe they fixed and said it looked so yummy that she wanted to make it for dinner. Since I was in town, I stopped at our local Aldi store for most of the simple ingredients and then a quick stop at the grocery store for the chicken breast. Almost as soon as we got in the house, she was in the kitchen working on dinner, making the homemade salsa, chopping cilantro, adding ingredients, and finally mixing up cornbread from scratch... I must say that it was a HUGE hit with our family! We had plenty for our family of five, with a little less than a gallon to put away in the freezer for another day. Of course we had to have our Fritos and some extra Montery Jack Cheese on the top. We got so excited about trying it that I forgot to put out the sour cream! Here it is - give it a try and let me know what your reaction was.

Mandi Forester’s White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

1 32-ounce box chicken stock
3 cans white beans, left undrained
5 cups cooked chicken (rotisserie or boiled)
1 16-ounce jar salsa
1 8-ounce block pepper jack cheese, grated
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
Black or white pepper to taste
1/2 cup finely crushed corn chips (optional, if you like your chili thicker)
Sour cream, for garnish

We added a tbsp of fresh lime juice for a bit more Southwest flavor (because we have a hard time following a recipe "by-the-book")

Yields: 6 servings

Preparation

Place all ingredients except the corn chips in a crockpot. Cook on high until the cheese is melted.
Chili may also be cooked on the stovetop over medium-high heat until cheese is melted.
When the chili is ready, add the crushed corn chips, if using, and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken. Garnish with more chips, cheese and/or sour cream and serve.

The salsa recipe is from a friend of ours and I posted it the first of this month here, but here it is again. So good with all fresh ingredients!

Pam's Salsa
1 29 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
Season with salt
Add 1 tsp - 1 Tbsp cilantro (fresh is best) to taste.
Dice up 1 jalapeno, de-seed if you don't want it as hot
Garlic - only take a few cloves (or you can add minced garlic if you don't have fresh)
Sugar - a handful or about 2 tbsp. This is to taste as well.

Put into food processor and pulse a few times.

Braised Beef Short Ribs and Root Veggies over Egg Noodles

2009-10-25T13:48:00.010-05:00

"I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?"
Emeril Lagasse

First off, I must confess that I LOVE to try new recipes or search for something "better than" the recipe I have. This tends to drive Honey absolutely CRAZY!!! "Why can't you fix it like last time" or "What's wrong with following the recipe" or "I like this one, did you write it down?" About the only thing I do follow the recipe on is when I make bread.

The recipe for today, Braised Beef Short Ribs and Root Veggies over Egg Noodles by Emeril Lagasse, was given to me by a friend, Les, who loves to cook and he's really an awesome griller. He's fun to cook with, always makes life interesting, and has a great heart for others. He prepared the following recipe and brought some for me to try. Of course, since I didn't want to "poison" my family, I ate the bowl of delicious stew at lunch that day. I just had to try it on my family. Youngest and I had fun shopping for the ingredients for this at our local Walmart until it came time to find the wine. He told everyone that looked at him that we were "only getting it for cooking!" I'm hoping that, by Youngest helping me shop for the ingredients, he will not be so hesitant about eating something he's not eaten before. The smell of stew is drifting through the house and soon I'll stir up the cornbread as well. Don't be afraid to put a little "BAM!" in your cooking!

Braised Beef Short Ribs and Root Vegetables over Egg Noodles

Ingredients

2 racks beef short ribs (4 to 5 pounds), cut into individual ribs
2 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 stalk celery, trimmed and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup ruby port (I used Christian Brothers Ruby Port)
2 cups dry red wine (I used Post Red Table Wine, from a local winery)
4 cups veal or beef stock *
1 pound butternut or acorn squash, peeled, fibers removed, and cubed
2 parsnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
12 ounces egg noodles, cooked al dente, accompaniment
1/4 cup chopped green onions, garnish
1/4 cup chopped parsley, garnish

Directions

Season the ribs with the Essence on both sides. In a Dutch oven or large, heavy covered pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.

Add the ribs in batches to prevent crowding and sear on all sides. Remove with tongs to a plate. Add the onions, celery and carrots to the fat remaining in the pan, and cook, stirring, until soft and starting to caramelize, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, red pepper, and black pepper, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste, bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the Port and red wine, bring to a boil, stirring to deglaze the pan and cook until reduced by 1/2.

Add the ribs and stock and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and simmer until the meat is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (During cooking, make sure that there is at least 1-inch of liquid in the pot; add more stock or water as necessary to cover.) **

Add the root vegetables and cook until they are tender and the meat easily falls from the bones, another 40 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the heat.

Transfer the ribs and meat to a large bowl and cover to keep warm. Skim any fat from the surface. Bring the sauce to

a boil and cook until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves.

To serve, arrange the egg noodles in the middle of a large platter. Place the ribs on top and spoon the sauce over the meat. Garnish with green onions and parsley and serve immediately.

* Instead of purchasing beef stock, I have used L.B. Jamison's Soup Base or Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Beef Base at my local grocery store. 1 tsp of base to one cup of water makes an excellent beef stock.

** What I did (okay here is the I didn't follow the recipe part): The meat was not as tender as I wanted, so I ended up putting all of this in a extra large crock-pot that I have. I cooked the veggies in a separate pot with beef broth so I could just add it without draining the seasoned broth. Normally I would handmake the egg noodles, but time has not been my friend this week, so I purchased some at the store. I also added the noodles to the stew - to make it more acceptable to my family.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Ginger Bread Lanterns

2008-12-19T09:24:00.015-06:00

Wednesday evening, a good friend and I hosted a children's gathering at our home while the parents were at a Graduation Party. I know, it's winter, but Ester worked hard for her degree and they were celebrating. Eva thought it would be great to have a Christmas celebration with the kids and we made plans for food and activities.

One thing we did was make Gingerbread Lanterns. Now I'd love to say I come up with this idea, but I have to credit FamilyFun.com for this one. To prepare for this, I made the gingerbread up the night before and put it in the fridge until I needed it. The next afternoon, I took it out, rolled the dough out, and cut the four sides of the lantern.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
	5 to 5 1/2 cups flour
	1 teaspoon baking soda
	1/2 teaspoon salt
	2 teaspoons ginger
	1 teaspoon cinnamon
	1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
	1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
	1 cup butter, softened
	1 cup packed light brown sugar
	1 egg, at room temperature
	1 cup molasses
	1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Sift 3 cups of flour into a large bowl. Combine 2 more cups of flour with the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, then sift the mixture into the bowl. Stir the ingredients, then set the bowl aside.

2. In another large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and egg until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses and beat until evenly blended, about 1 1/2 minutes. Blend in the vanilla extract.

3. Using a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture 1 cup at a time. The dough should be firm; if it's not, gradually stir in up to 1/2 cup more flour.

4. Divide the dough in half. Place each piec e in a gallon-size ziplock bag and flatten the dough into a thick rectangle with your hands. Seal the bags and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 with a second batch of dough.

6. Heat the oven to 350°. Working with one piece at a time, remove the dough from the refrigerator and set it on a generously floured cutting board or work surface. With a lightly dusted rolling pin, prepare the by rolling out the chilled dough to a 1/4-inch thickness on a large piece of parchment paper, sprinkling on some flour if the dough sticks. Then, using a 4- by 7-inch piece of cardboard as a template, cut 4 rectangles from the dough, removing any scraps. Transfer the gingerbread pieces to a cookie sheet by topping them first with a piece of parchment paper the size of the cookie sheet, then with the inverted cookie sheet itself. Quickly flip everything over, then remove the top piece of parchment paper.

7. To install the windows, use cookie cutters dipped in flour to cut and remove a few shapes from each gingerbread piece. Unwrap candies in similar colors (you'll need about 2 to 3 for each 21/2-inch cutout) and place them in doubled freezer bags. Hit them gently with a hammer (I used my meat tenderizer tool) to crush them, then generously fill each cutout with crushed candy.

Bake the gingerbread for 12 minutes, then let it cool for at least 1 hour. (The candy windows will be extremely hot! Do not touch them until they have cooled completely.) Only and I found that if we baked the gingerbread first, took them from the oven, then put the pulverized hard candy . Use a spoon to transfer the candy from the bag to the windows. It can get a little sticky on your fingers,

Royal Icing

This was so easy. Only was able to make this up while I was working on some other projects. We added a bit more powdered sugar to make it thicker, but it set up wonderfully and all the lanterns survived and made it home safely! I used Alton Brown's recipe for the Royal Icing.

Ingredients

3 ounces pasteurized egg whites (we used 3 egg whites, though 2 probably would have done the trick)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Using a pastry bag or a plastic bag with 1 corner cut off, pipe icing al ong the long edges of 2 of the walls. Assemble all 4 walls vertically on a platter or a piece of foil-covered cardboard, filling in any gaps and decorating the edges with more icing. Allow the icing to dry overnight. Set the lantern in a safe spot, then place a small candle inside and light the wick (parents o nly).

Delicious cinnamon rolls

2008-11-23T13:47:00.007-06:00

You can use left over Homemade Pizza or roll dough to make delicious cinnamon rolls.

Here is what I did:

I took the left over dough that had already risen once, punched it down and plopped it down on a floured surface. Using my french rolling pin (you can use what ever type of rolling pin or your hands if you like!) to roll it out - about 1/2" thick.
I softened a stick of unsalted butter, smeared that liberally over the top of the rolled out dough.
I then sprinkled a mixture of cinnamon sugar(1/2 C. sugar and 1/4 C. cinnamon) over the top of the softened butter. If you want you can sprinkle raisins or pecans on this at this time.
Started with the long side of the rolled out dough, started rolling the dough toward the other side of the dough - like a jelly-roll.pinch the edges to seal it.
Slice the dough into 1 1/2" to 2 inch pieces. Arrange dough pieces, cut side up, in a greased 12-inch deep dish or round cake pans.
Cover dough with a clear plastic wrap or clean flour sack dishtowel (this is what I use). Let raise until doubled in size - anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Bake in a 375º oven for 20-30 minutes or till light brown. If necessary, to prevent over browning, cover the rolls loosely with foil the last 5-10 minutes of baking.
As the rolls are cooling slightly, mix up the following for the glaze: I like to drizzle this on my rolls, letting the glaze flow into the crevices and then lick the bowl if you want!

Glaze 1 (I prefer)

1/2 bag powdered sugar
vanilla to taste
1/2 stick melted real butter
tsp. or two of flavored coffee creamer

Glaze 2

4 C. powdered sugar
1 C. + 2 Tbsp soft butter
2 tsp. vanilla
add milk to make creamy and spreadable.

The accidental Cinnamon roll

2008-11-22T08:32:00.004-06:00

Last night we had a wonderful time when two families came over to share in pizza night. With the 11 people here, I had planned on 12 personal pan pizzas, but ended up with so much more. It's always a bustle of activity when we have pizza night and last night was no exception. I love it when we have people over - the laughter and warm, stories shared, kids playing...

Well the long of the short of it, we had so much dough left over that I was able to make a huge batch of cinnamon rolls for this morning's breakfast! The kids were thrilled and the house smells just yummy!

The Sauce:

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 8 oz. can tomato paste

1/2 C. water

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the above in a sauce pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes. I usually make a double or triple batch of this and cold pack can the rest or stick it back for the next week's pizza.

The Dough/Crust

Mix 3/4 c. warm water and 1 1/4 tsp of yeast (I used fast rising yeast) and let set for 5 minutes. It should foam up a bit. Add 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 Tbsp. sugar and mix well. Mix in 1 C. flour and mix well, continue adding flour a cup a at a time, mixing well. Making sure the dough is smooth and elastic. Knead well on a well-floured surface until smooth in texture, about 10 minutes. Cover and let rise until the dough has doubled in size - 1-2 hours. Each batch of dough will make one large or two personal pan pizzas.

Making the dough really doesn't take much time, but it seems that everyone loves to have a different kind of pizza. To solve the problem, I use round cake pans to make personal pan pizzas! The dough recipe I use will make 2 personal pan pizzas or 1 large pizza per batch, so it is easy to figure out how many batches to make. I spray the cake pans with Pam Olive oil, roll out a small (a little bit larger than my fist) portion of the dough, and place it in the pan. I use my pizza cutter to cut off the excess dough by rolling the blade around the edge, just above the dough. You can make a thin or thick crust depending on how thick you roll out the dough. Put on your layer of sauce and create away. We lay all the ingredients out in containers and everyone can either construct their own pizza or I can make them up for them.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and pizza looks done.

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