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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I am finally in the upright position after having the flu for four days. I was pretty much in bed or pretending to feel well, walking and looking like a zombie, while baby college girl was home for Christmas. I think that Santa must have decided to give me the flu for Christmas instead of coal. Jeepers….I must have been a bad girl this last year ; )

Anywho, while I am still feeling good enough, I am going to finally post my overnight cinnamon roll recipe. I don’t know if you remember me talking about making over a hundred cinnamon rolls for the staff at my high school in December, but I had so many staff members wanting the recipe I thought I better get it posted in time for the new year. What better way to start 2014 than eating hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast, right? One of the best things about this recipe (besides the gooey icing) is that you can make them the day before, put them in the fridge overnight and bake them in the morning. I am using Alton Brown’s Overnight Cinnamon Roll recipe, with some changes and with a different, delicious cream cheese icing. From the viewers who made his recipe, some had a hard time getting the dough to rise. I have included the little tricks that I used and it worked for all 130 something cinnamon rolls. So come on, give them a try…who can resist warm cinnamon rolls.

Here is what you need to make these cinnamon rolls.

Make sure that your ingredients are at room temperature. This will help in the dough rising.

         

The first thing you need to do is put four egg yolks and one egg in a large mixing bowl. Next, add the sugar and combine.

         

Next add the buttermilk. I warmed my buttermilk in the microwave for 3o seconds before I slowly poured it into the egg mixture. After, I mixed in the warm milk, I added the warm melted butter and combined everything together with the mixer.

         

Now, add in two cups of flour, salt and the yeast. Use the paddle attachment to mix the dough until the flour and yeast is all mixed together. Now, take the paddle attachment off and put on the dough hook.

Add in enough flour to form a nice soft, slightly sticky dough. The amount of the flour depends a lot on how fresh the flour is. I just add about 1/2 cup of flour at time and when the dough starts pulling together with the dough hook, I just start tapping flour in a little at time until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. You do not want to add too much flour because it can make your dough dry. When you dough is ready, use vegetable spray and spray a large bowl. Put the dough in the bowl to rise. I also spray the top of the dough so it does not dry out. I cover the bowl with a cloth and put the bowl in a warm place to rise.

                  

Here is a picture of all the bowls of dough I had sitting on the oven doors to rise for the ones I made at school. I warmed the ovens up and then turned the ovens off. I sat the bowls on the oven doors with a cloth over them to rise. I felt like the dough needed the extra warmth to rise.

When the dough doubles in size (mine took about two hours), punch the dough down and get ready to roll the dough out.

Lightly flour your counter top. Set the dough on top of the flour.

Roll the dough into a large rectangle about a 18 inch by 12 inch. Spread melted butter on top of the dough.

         

Measure out the brown sugar and the cinnamon and mix together.

         

Spread the cinnamon brown sugar on top of the buttered dough. Starting with the long side of the dough, roll the dough up. Cut the dough into approximately 10 rolls.

Set the rolls on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator until  you are ready to bake. When you are ready to bake, warm your oven to 200 degrees. Place the pan of rolls in the oven (take the plastic wrap off). Make sure to leave the door of the oven  ajar. Let the rolls rise for about 20 minutes. Take the rolls out of the oven and heat the oven up to 350. When the oven is preheated place the rolls back into the  oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the inside of the roll is cooked through.

The rolls will pop up in the middle and brown sugar will start oozing out.

While the rolls are still warm, spread with the icing.

If you want, after you ice the warm cinnamon rolls you can top them with sugared pecans.

Here is how to make my favorite icing for the cinnamon rolls.

In a bowl add the soften butter and cream cheese.

With a mixer, mix in the powdered sugar, warm water, vanilla and salt. You will end up with a bowl full of creamy icing.

Here is the recipe:

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

4 large egg yolks: room temperature

1 large egg: room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

6 tablespoons melted butter

3/4 cup of buttermilk, warmed slightly in the microwave

Approximately 4 cups of flour: you may not use the total amount

1 package of instant dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Vegetable spray

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Melted butter: enough to brush on the dough approximately 2 tablespoons

Icing:

4 tablespoon butter, softened

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons warm water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the egg yolks, egg, sugar, butter and buttermilk. Add 2 cups of flour along with the yeast and salt. Combined until all the flour is incorporated. Switch to the dough hook attachment. Add 1 cup of flour and  knead for 5 minutes. Add more flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. The dough should be soft and moist. Spray a large bowl with vegetable oil. Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and transfer to the large bowl. Lightly spray the top of the dough with the oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place (I used a warm oven door) until the dough doubles in size. It took mine about 2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle about a  18 by 12 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the dough with brown sugar and cinnamon. Leaving a edge on one side to use later to seal the rolled dough together. Press the brown sugar on to the dough. Beginning with the long edge, roll the dough up. Seal the edge together. With a serrated knife, slice the dough into 10 to 12 cinnamon rolls. Arrange on a cooking sheet, lined with parchment paper.  Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove the rolls from the fridge and place in a warm 200 degree oven. Be sure and take off the plastic wrap. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar. Let the rolls rise and proof for 20 minutes or until the rolls look slightly puffy. Take the rolls out of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the oven is preheated, place the rolls in the preheated oven and bake until the rolls are golden brown. While the rolls are baking, make the icing. When the rolls come out of the oven, let them cool slightly. After the rolls have cooled, ice with the icing and serve.

Before, I finish this post, I wanted to thank all the teachers who came to my rescue the morning I was making all those cinnamon rolls.

Does it look like we are having fun!!!

Don’t worry, you don’t have to make this many….not unless you have a really big family.

Enjoy!

Becky

Other Posts you may enjoy:

 

Buttermilk Pecan Pancakes

 

Heavenly Hash Candy

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I must be feeling a little nostalgic. Yesterday, I made those cute and delicious,  strawberries in winter candy and today I am making another childhood favorite, heavenly hash candy.

I think it has something to do with marshmallows. I love anything to do with marshmallows. Marshmallow cream, marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes, on top of a steaming mug of cocoa and of course grabbing a handful right out of the bag for a snack. This candy is full of marshmallows.

I think I need an intervention!

Anywho, when I happen to run across a picture of this candy, it brought back memories of family gatherings and tables full of great food, I knew I had to add heavenly hash to the trays of goodies. They are full of marshmallows and nuts (I used almonds) and all coated in creamy chocolate goodness.

I will have to admit it took me a couple of tries to get it right. I am not sure if I mis-measured the sugar or I did not boil the milk and sugar for the full two minutes. The first batch just would not set up. I was not just going to give up, and I thought I would try it again. This time I took extra time to make sure I measured everything correctly and boiled the milk and sugar the full two minutes. This does not mean simmer either, make sure you boil it for two minutes to insure the candy will set up. I just finished my fourth third batch and the candy set up like a dream.

I know it will for you too.

Here is everything you will need to make Heavenly Hash Candy.

                   

First thing you need to do is measure out one cup of evaporated milk. Put the milk in a medium size sauce pan and add one cup of sugar. Do not worry about using a candy thermometer. I was just curious to see what temperature the milk would get when I boiled it.

                   

Now, add three tablespoons of corn syrup. Stir the milk, sugar and corn syrup until the sugar dissolves. Bring the milk mixture to a rolling boil and boil for two minutes. The mixture will look really foamy when it boils.

                   

Let the hot milk mixture cool for two minutes. Then, add in the chocolate chips (two cups) and one teaspoon of vanilla.

With a whisk, whisk the chocolate chips and vanilla with the hot milk mixture until the chocolate chips are melted. Let the chocolate mixture cool for 20 minutes.

             

After the chocolate has cooled for twenty minutes, stir in two cups of miniature marshmallows and 2 cups of chopped nuts. I used almonds. I left some whole and some  I just did a rough chop on.

With a large spoon, stir all everything together until the marshmallows are well coated in chocolate.

Using a spoon, scoop out the candy onto parchment paper to set up. This candy will set up faster in the fridge, but I just mine set up on the counter.  If you want, you can spread the candy in a parchment lined pan and cut into bars. I store the candy in the fridge until I am ready to fill my trays.

Bring a little bit heaven to your holiday candy making with these heavenly hash chocolate candies. I am sure your little angles will love them.

Here is the recipe:

Heavenly Hash Candy

Ingredients:

1 cup of evaporated milk

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups chopped nuts (I used almonds, leaving some whole and some I did a rough chopped)

2 cups miniature marshmallows.

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, heat the evaporated milk, sugar and corn syrup, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the milk to a full boil and boil for a full two minutes (no short cuts here). Let the milk cool down for 2 minutes and add the chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir, until all the chocolate chips melts. Let the chocolate mixture cool for 20 minutes. When the chocolate mixture has cooled, stir in the marshmallows and the nuts. Stir until all the marshmallows are coated in chocolate. With a spoon, scoop out the candy and place on parchment paper to set up. Store in the refrigerator.

I hope your goodie making is going faster than mine!

Happy Candy Making,

Becky

 

Other post you might enjoy reading.

Caramel Toffee Pretzels

 

 

Strawberries in Winter Candy

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WooHoo…..holiday break is finally here! I have postponed my holiday baking until the last minute (as usual) and spent the better part of the day in the kitchen making home made goodies for my Christmas Trays I give out as gifts on Christmas Day.

Last week, I happen to run across this recipe for, strawberries in winter candy,  from an old cookbook one of my students brought to school. She was making no bake cookies and was using the recipe for them from the  old cookbook. I asked to borrow the book for the day to look through it on my spare time. She informed me the book belonged to her mom and she needed it back. (I guess her mom made it clear that she was not to lose the cookbook at school.) After I spent, more time than I could spare, looking through the cookbook and making copies of interesting recipes, this recipe caught my eye.  I remembered eating these strawberry candies at a church fellowship dinner way back when I was in college. I don’t know about you, but some recipes just put a smile on  your face when you see find it. I knew I just had to add these to my Christmas trays.

I mean…who does not like Strawberries in Winter? The name alone sounds yummy!

This recipe does not require any baking or boiling. All you have to do is stir the ingredients together, chill, form into a strawberry shape and chill again.

They look so pretty when they are made. The bright red color of the sanding sugar will add a splash of color to your holiday table.

On these cold and icy days here in mid Missouri, some strawberries in winter sure sound good!

Here is all you need to make these delightful candy strawberries.

The candy is made from sweetened condensed milk, coconuts, chopped walnuts, vanilla and jello. The outside is rolled in red sanding sugar and the stem is made from greed dyed almonds.

The first thing you need to do is chop the walnuts. I chopped them in pretty small pieces.

Place the chopped walnuts in a medium size bowl.

Next, pour in one can of sweetened condensed milk.

         

You will need 3–3 ounce packages of strawberry jello. I just used a 6 ounce size and a 3 ounce box. Pour the jello to the bowl with the sweetened condensed milk and chopped walnuts.

         

Add the vanilla to the bowl and measure out the coconut.

Add the coconut to the strawberry jello mixture.

Stir everything together until all the ingredients are coated and you cannot see the white of the coconut. Now it is time to refrigerate the candy mixture for one hour to firm it up.

While the candy mixture is firming up in the refrigerator, you can dye some slivered almonds green for the strawberry stems. To do this just squeeze some food coloring into a bowl, add a bit of water, and then just stir you almonds around until they are coated in green food coloring.

After, I got the almonds all dyed, I just scooped them up and put them on a paper towel to dry.

         

Here is the first one I made. I took the jello mixture and formed it into a strawberry shape. I then took it and rolled it in red sanding sugar. After that I put it on wax paper and inserted the dyed almond in the end for the stem.

I was really surprised that forming the strawberries did not turn my hands red.

You can have these made in no time.

After you get done, just put them in the refrigerator to firm up. The sugar coated hardens up slightly to add a nice coating. Keep them in the fridge until you are ready to bring them out to your guest. They will be amazed that you were able to make them strawberries in winter.

Just in case you were wondering, I did return the old cookbook to my student, but not before I copied a few more recipes “gems.” All of which I will share of course. : )

Here is the recipe:

Adapted from Old Silver Dollar City Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1 1/2 cup flaked coconut

3 (3 ounce) packages of strawberry flavored gelatin

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup red colored sanding sugar (I think I used a little more than that)

1 small package of slivered almonds

Green food coloring

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl, combined the nuts, sweetened condensed milk, gelatin, coconut and vanilla. Combined until all the ingredients are well blended. Set in refrigerator for one hour.

Meanwhile, dye your slivered almonds in a small bowl with green food coloring and a little bit of water. Place the almonds a paper towel to dry.

When the strawberry mixture is chilled, shape the mixture into strawberry shapes and roll in the red colored sugar.

Place a green dyed almond in the end for a stem.

Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

These strawberries makes winter a little less cold.

Here are a couple recipes links, I thought you might like also.

                    

Cracker Toffee                           Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies   

Happy Holiday Baking,

Becky

Meringue Fudge Drop Cookies

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Every year about this time, I try to make a few unusual cookies to take to a local business that is our departments partner in education. So, today while I had a break from teaching I thought I would try my  hand at making these pretty holiday cookies.

During Thanksgiving break from school, I was able to go to some flea markets, Salvation Army and Goodwill stores to see if I could find any treasures that I could use. Among some sweaters and cool dishes, I found some old recipe magazines. I figured at a quarter a piece, if I could find two or three recipes I would like to try, I would buy a few (ended up buying 7). This recipe was in one of the magazines. I thought it was a fun and different take on regular meringue cookies and putting the pistachios on top, added a finishing holiday color to them.

I was able to make these in about a hour and half, and that includes cooking and cooling time. There were much easier than I thought they would be to make. After sampling one of them (ok a few of them) I was impressed by the crunch and slight chew to the cookie and when you add that to the creamy fudge topping, it sent these cookies to holiday heaven. One thing I would have suggest that I did not do, is waiting to fill the cookie until you are ready to plate them up. You can make the cookies and the fudge filling a head of time  and when you are ready to eat them, pass them around or take them to a party, fill the cookies real quick, top them with some nuts and you are good to go. Do not store the cookies in the refrigerator (I learned the hard way) as the cookies absorbed some moisture. But, if  you are making the filling ahead of time, put the filling in the fridge because it has two eggs cooked in the filling. Now, the recipe did not say to do this, but just cause I like to do things on the safe side.

If you are searching for a gorgeous cookie to add to your cookie recipe arsenal, then give this one a try. It is even gluten free!

Here is all you need to make these cookies.

For the cookie you will need two egg whites, salt, almond flavoring and cream of tartar. For the fudge you will need two egg yolks, some butter, chocolate chips and powdered sugar, You garnish the cookies with chopped pistachios.

    

Separate the eggs whites from the yolks. Put the whites into a mixing bowl and save the yolks for the fudge filling.

    

With you whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they are foamy.

    

Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time to the foamy eggs. Whisk on high until you add all the sugar and the eggs whites form a stiff peak.

With a teaspoon, spoon out the meringue onto a parchment covered cookie sheet. After you get the meringue scooped out on the cookie sheet, take a small spoon and form a little hole in the center of each cookie. After the cookie are baked this little hole is where you will put the fudge filling. Bake the cookies for 30 to 40 minutes in a 250 degree oven. Make sure the cookies sound hollow and are dry. I rotated my pan half way through the cooking process to make sure all the cookies got an equal amount of heat to dry them out.

While the cookies are baking, you can start on the filling.

      

In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate chips and the butter together.

    

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks till creamy and stir in the powdered sugar. Add the egg mixture to the melted chocolate.

Whisk the eggs and melted chocolate mixture on the range on low heat until it thickens making sure it reaches a temperature of 160 degrees. Take the fudge filling off of the heat and let it cool.

    

As the filling cools, chop up some pistachios.  You only need a couple of tablespoons but I always like to add more nuts.

With the cooled cookies and the cooled fudge filling. You can fill each cookie with the fudge. I used a small spoon. After you fill them, top them with some pistachios and press them into the filling to secure. If you do no plan to serve the cookies right away, just store the meringue cookies in a air tight container in a dry spot. Put the filling in a sealed container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve, then fill and decorate with nuts.

These cookies are so pretty on a plate!

Here are your directions:

Meringue Fudge Drops

Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients for the cookie:

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup sugar

Ingredients for the filling:

1/c cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

2 egg yolks (slightly beaten)

2 tablespoon confectionery sugar

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Directions for the cookie.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, almond extract, cream of tartar and salt on medium speed until it forms soft peaks. Keep beating, and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out meringue, forming little circles. Take a small spoon and make an indentation in each of the cookies. Bake in a 250 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the all the cookies are dry to the touch. Let cool.

Directions for the filling: 

In a small sauce pan, on medium heat, melt the butter and the chocolate chips together. With a whisk, add in the beaten egg and powdered sugar and mix together completely. Turn the heat to low and continue to cook and stir the filling until it becomes thick and the filling reaches 160 degrees. Cool to room temperature.

To finish the cookie, spoon the filling into the indentation in the cookies and top with the chopped pistachios.

Happy Baking!

Becky

If you like this post, you might like to check out these other cookie recipes.

              

   Molasses Cookies                      PIC”s Creamy Peanut Clusters

 

 

Sugared Pecans

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Warning! After  you finish making these scrumptious pecans you will need to hide them in a really SAFE place or  you will eat all of them!

This past week I made 117 cinnamon rolls for the staff at my high school for our December staff meeting. I really wanted to make the rolls extra special, so I decided to try my hand at making sugared pecans to sprinkle on top of the rolls. If I had know how deliciously easy they were to make, I would have tried making them a long time ago! You can bag the pecans up to give as a gift or use them as a garnish in salads or in my case on top of my cinnamon rolls. You just need a few everyday ingredients and in a hour your house will smell almost as good as these pecans taste.

All  you need is a egg white, pecans, sugar, cinnamon and a touch of salt.

    

The first thing  you need to do is separate the egg and put the egg white into a mixing bowl. Add one tablespoon of water. With the whisk attachment, whisk the egg white until the mixture is foamy.

    

In another bowl, put in the sugar and the cinnamon and whisk together.

    

Add the pecans and stir to cover the pecans with the egg white.

    

Pour in the cinnamon sugar onto the pecans and stir to coat each pecan with the sugar.

Pour the sugar coated pecans onto a cookie sheet that is lined by parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to keep the sugar from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Put the pecans in a 250 degree oven for one hour. Be sure and stir the pecans every 15 minutes.

Take the pecans out of the oven and let cool. They will crisp up after they cool.

Now, the only problem you will have will be not eating them all!

Give these a try! I was pleasantly surprised how easy they are to make!

Here is the recipe:

Sugared Pecans

Ingredients:

4 cups of pecans (one pound)

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Whisk the egg white and water with an electric mixer until the egg white reaches a soft peak. In a different bowl mix together the sugar and the cinnamon. Add the pecans to the foamy egg white and stir to coat each pecan. Pour the sugar over the egg white coated pecans and stir the pecans and sugar together until all the pecans are covered in sugar. Preheat your oven to 250. Pour the pecans on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for one hour, making sure to stir every 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and cool. Store in air tight container.

 

I put some sugar pecans on top of warm cinnamon rolls.  You can also chop and put them in a salad.

OR….you can just eat them…which is my favorite way.

Christmas is just around the corner! How is  your holiday baking going?

Me….I am going nuts….: )

Becky

 

 

Thanksgiving Dressing, done right…finally!

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Are you a dressing or stuffing eater? Well, to be honest, I am not. But, it does not mean I do not want to make a great tasting dressing for Thanksgiving! I have tried the cornbread with sausage and other doodads in it and it tasted fine (the little bit I tried). I just still was not satisfied with what I made. My sister in law, PIC, always told me how much she loved the dressing her mom made each year.  PIC’s mom is a great cook, so I knew her dressing would taste fabulous, I just had to re-create it, somehow.

So….for the last several years…yep years folks, I have been perfecting on this simple, yet totally terrific dressing. It has a crispy buttery top crust and a moist and flavorful inside. For several years I tried adding extra sage, or poultry seasoning or garlic and it was too over powering. Last year I just trusted the Pepperidge Farm folks with the seasonings they put on their bread crumbs and just add just a touch of sage and you know what happened, it was the best one I made…after years of trying to get it just right.

The best part in all of this, is that I finally wrote the recipe down so I do not have to worry about trying to remember what I did or adding any unnecessary seasoning. If you are looking for a simple, uncomplicated and the perfect compliment to your turkey and gravy, give this dressing recipe a try.

Here is what you need to make this special dressing for Thanksgiving, or Christmas or any other time you want to make dressing.

The first thing  you need to do is chop up the celery and onion into small pieces.

Here is the onions all chopped up.

In a bowl, put the seasoned bread crumbs and the chopped celery and onion.

Melt the butter.

Pour the melted butter into the bowl with breadcrumbs, celery and onions.

Make the chicken soup base. I add the base to water and then heat it in the microwave to help dissolve it. The reason I use half chicken base and half chicken stock is that the soup base has a real rich taste and it adds a little salt to the dressing too.

Measure out the chicken broth.

Pour in the chicken soup base and the chicken broth.

Add a small amount of sage. If you add too much, it can over power your dressing pretty fast.

Stir every thing together.

Put the dressing in a casserole dish and level smooth. Put small pats of butter on top. I usually make my dressing the day before I bake it. I think it taste better if it made the day before because the flavors really come out. This Thanksgiving, I had to make it and bake it in the morning and it was still gobbled up. So you choose what works best for you.

Bake at 375 degrees for around 46 minutes or until the top gets a little crispy and it is heated all the way through. If you make your dressing the day before and you take it right out of the refrigerator to bake it may take a little bit more time to bake.

Now it is time to scoop it out and watch it disappear.

One thing I figured out about making dressing, it is that people are passionate about their dressing. This recipe can be tweak it you need too. If you like more onions, celery or sage, just add a little more and if you don’t add a little less.

Me…I am leaving it as it is cause PIC thought it was great and my Daddy told me it was the best I have made so far. Who wants to argue with a 95 year old…not me : )

Here is the recipe:

Perfect Thanksgiving Dressing

Ingredients:

1 – 14 ounce package of Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing Bread Crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

2/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon sage

2 cups of chicken broth made from chicken soup base

2 to 2 and  1/2 cup chicken broth (canned broth such as Swanson)

Extra butter (around 1/4 cup) to put pats of butter on top

Directions:

In a large bowl, add the herb seasoned bread crumbs, celery, onions and sage. Stir to combine. Pour in the chicken soup base and the chicken stock, along with the melted butter. With a large spoon, mix everything together. Spoon the dressing into a greased casserole dish and level off with the back of a spoon. Arrange small pats of butter on top of the dressing. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until the butter on top is melted and the top gets slightly crispy and the insides are heated through.

I know that Thanksgiving is over this year, but Christmas is right around the corner and you made need a perfect, uncomplicated dressing recipe.

Enjoy!

Becky

 

Going Bananas!

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Is anyone else out there going bananas trying to get your house cleaned, menu made, grocery shopping, cooking, baking and then keeping the house clean for your Thanksgiving Dinner????

Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving! I even volunteer to have my whole family come to my house for Thanksgiving.  Come one, come all….but, this year it is taking me longer to get everything done. I am blaming it on having Company over. It is hard to get a lot done when you have Company over. Don’t you agree? : )

So, I decided to quit worrying so much about it and just,”go bananas,” and make banana bread with a twist of lime.

This recipe for, Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze, is super moist, has a great flavor and the lime glaze adds a refreshing tart taste. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have just eaten the top off the whole loaf of  bread, because it was that good!

Anywho, if you need a distraction from figuring out your Thanksgiving plans and don’t mind getting the kitchen just a little bit dirty, give this recipe a try.

Here is what you will need to make this delightful bread.

First think you need to do is mix the flour, baking soda and salt together.

Next, in a separate bowl, you need to cream the butter and sugar together.

In the same bowl you creamed the butter and sugar in, add the eggs and mix together.

In another bowl, mash or beat up your bananas with a mixer.

Add the mashed bananas, yogurt and vanilla to the creamed mixture.

With a mixer, add in the dry flour mixture in with the wet banana mixture.

Lastly, stir in the coconut.

    

Pour batter in to a prepared loaf pan. I get my pan ready by lining the bottom with parchment paper and giving the inside of the pan a little spray of vegetable spray.

Once the batter is poured into the loaf pan, top the batter with some coconut.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.

Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes and remove.

While the bread is cooling you can make the glaze.

First thing to do is take a little zest from the lime using a zesting tool.

 

Add  the lime juice (you can substitute lemon) juice to the lime zest.

Add in some coconut.

Then add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

Stir together.

Once the banana bread has cooled off, pour the glaze over the top  of the warm bread.

Spread it evenly over the top of the loaf.

Now all you have to do is slice and eat (gobble) up the bread.

So the motto of today’s recipe with the holidays fast approaching, if you feel like you are going bananas, make banana bread!!

Here is the recipe!

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt ( I used vanilla flavored and it worked out great)

3 tablespoons vanilla

1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Lime Glaze

1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 cup powdered sugr

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

zest from half of a lime

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and the salt. In a large bowl, with a mixer, cream together the softened butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the mashed bananas, yogurt, and the vanilla. With the mixer set at low beat in the flour mixture until moist. Stir in the coconut. Spoon batter in a prepared 9 by 5 loaf pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with coconut. Bake for one hour or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes then take out of pan and cool slightly. Prepare the glaze but zesting a half of a lime, and mixing with the lime juice, coconut and powdered sugar. Pour the glaze over warm bread spreading evenly.

Next time you have some extra bananas, give this recipe a try. Before you know it, your loaf will be half gone just like mine!

Tonight I am going to eat banana bread…tomorrow I will worry about Thanksgiving!!!

Enjoy!

Becky

Pumpkin Puree Three Ways

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Remember when I posted this picture a week or two ago?

Well….my kiddos at school took the 50 pie pumpkins and made fresh pumpkin puree. With the fresh puree, they made pumpkin pie filling and baked pumpkins pies in their “from scratch” pie crust.

My kiddos did Gooooood!

One of my goals for my classes this year is to show the kiddos that they do not have to rely on using a can to make food. I just felt that my kids needed to experience how to take a pumpkin and turn it into a pie without opening a can (except for the can of Crisco for the crust).

On day one the students, peeled, cleaned, cubed and boiled pumpkins. Then they took the boiled pumpkin and put it into blender and pureed it into pumpkin puree. They also roasted the pumpkin seeds and while the seeds were roasting they made their pie crust in a food processor.

You can see the big refrigerator at school is full of pie crust and pumpkin puree.

Here is just one of the 24 pies that we made in two days.

The only complaints I had was that I forgot to buy the whipped cream…..

Oh well….

Anywho, I thought I would show you three ways you can take a pumpkin and make it into puree.

These are the three pie pumpkins I started with. Pie pumpkins are raised to be used in pumpkin pies. I was told that they were sweeter than the bigger pumpkins. You can use bigger pumpkins to make pumpkin puree also.

         

One way to make pumpkin puree is to roast the pumpkins. First you cut the top off of the pumpkin. Then cut the pumpkin in half and clean out all of the insides (save the seeds to roast later). Place the pumpkin face down in a baking dish and add about 1/2 cup of water. Roast in a 350 degree oven until the pumpkin is fork tender.

    

See how the fork goes right in to the pumpkin.  I then took the pumpkin halves and put them on a cutting board. The peeling of the pumpkin just pulled away leaving me mounds of roasted pumpkins.

Another way you can make pumpkin puree is to either boil or steam them.

         

Here is how I steamed the pumpkin. I first peeled the pumpkin. I then quartered it and scraped out the seeds. After that I cubed the pumpkin (you can see them on the cutting board behind my steamer pan). I used my steamer pan, which is like a double boiler, the only difference is that it has holes in the bottom to let the steam rise up from the boiling water.

     

I put the steamer on the range and started to boil the water, letting the steam cook the pumpkin till it is tender. (the tender pumpkin is pictured on the right)

    

The last way I made the pumpkin puree was by simmer the cubed pumpkin. You simmer the pumpkin until it is fork tender, then drain off the water.

 

Here is the pumpkin!  I had to put the steamed and boiled pumpkin together, cause I ran out of room on my little cutting board. (I need to ask for a new one from Santa), The steamed and boiled pumpkin is on the left and the roasted pumpkin is on the right. After this step, you put the cooked pumpkin in a blender or food processor to puree.

The roasted pumpkin was  more dense than the boiled or steamed pumpkin, but took longer to cook. The boiled and steamed pumpkin took more time to cook, but longer to peel and cube.

At school, we boiled ort pumpkin because overall it took less time and the pumpkin puree turned out great.

Here is a picture of the fresh pumpkin puree. To the left is some of the left over pumpkin pie filling we made from the pumpkin puree.

All the left over pumpkin puree, I put in freezer bags and put in the freezer. I measured out 2 cups of pumpkin puree for each bag, as that is what most recipes using pumpkin call for.

Anywho, if  you decide to do, “the crazy” and buy 50 pie pumpkins, I have given you three ways to easily prepare pumpkin puree, fresh from a pumpkin.

Don’t forget you can roast all those pumpkin seeds too.

Here is a link to a post on how to roast pumpkin seeds.

I am all “pumpkined” out!

Have a GREAT DAY!

Becky

 

Vanilla Rhubarb Jam

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I remember the first time I ever cooked/tasted rhubarb.

While I was in my junior year of  college,  my foods teacher, ( the one with whose shoes made scary clip clip sounds when she walked down the hall), brought in these long, skinny looking, green and red streaky stalks.

This is what rhubarb looks like.

They look delicious right?…pat the time I did not think so.

She walked (with her clip clip shoes) to the front of the classroom and told us…”today class, we will make a spread using rhubarb.”

Being raised around farms my whole life, and with all the church socials I attended growing up, I had never gotten brave enought to eat anything with rhubarb (or gooseberries….really…who would name a berry a goose).

My foods class in college was encouraged but never forced to try the recipes we made, just as long as we made them.

I am SO glad I tried this spread made out of rhubarb.

We cooked down the rhubarb with a little water until it got soft and added enough sugar to make a sweet/tart spread.

I went home and made it again and again…as long as I could find some rhubarb.

This summer I planted some rhubarb, because I love it so much!!!

This is what my rhubarb looked like before I planted it. (one died or was eaten by some critter)

One of my favorites blogs that I read is called One Hundred Dollars a Month, and she posted this great sounding recipe for vanilla rhubarb jam. When I read the recipe and seen that it had earl grey tea in it, I knew I had to at least try it.

All I can say is….lick that spoon clean, it was so good.

Anywho, if you can find some rhubarb, I know it is a little late in the season, (but I did see some at Hyvee over the weekend) try making a little bit of jam. You can save it to eat during the winter months, and it will remind you that spring will come again…if you can wait that long to eat it!

Here are your step by step instructions on making vanilla rhubarb jam.

This is all you need to make your jam!

The first thing you need to do is slice the stalks into one inch pieces.

In a large sauce pan, combine the sliced rhubarb and sugar.

Pour in your earl grey tea to the sauce pan with the rhubarb and sugar.

Bring to a boil.

         

Add the lemon juice, vanila paste (or split vanilla bean) and salt to the jam. Simmer for 10 minutes until the rhubarb is tender.

Add the pectin and cook until the jam thickens and coats  the back of a spoon.

Skim off any foam that forms on top of your jam.

Fill hot sterlized jars with jam (leaving 1/4 inch of head space), screw on sterlized lids and rims. Process in a water bath for ten minutes. (make sure at least one inch of water covers the top of the jars).

Take the hot jars out of the water, and let them cool on towels. You will hear the lids go, ” POP,” when they are sealed.

I have to say a thank you to my foods teacher, with the scary sounding clip clip shoes…..I would have never tried rhubarb if it wasn’t for her!

Here is the recipe!

Adapted from One Hundred Dollars a Month web site.

Vanilla Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients:

10 cups of sliced rhubard stalks, which is about 2 adn 1/2 pounds

5 cups of sugar

1 cup of brewed earl grey tea

1 teaspoons of vanilla paste, or one vanilla bean, split and scraped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

pinch of salt

1 box of pectin (1.75 ounce size)

Directions:

In a large saucepan, bring the rhubarb, sugar and tea to a boil. Add the lemon juice, salt and vanilla. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the pectin and cook for a couple of minutes or until the jam coats the back of a spoon.

Fill sterilized jars with the jam, and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove from the water bath and cool on the counter.

Have a try at making jam with this recipe. It does not take too long and it taste wonderful!

I have two more rhubarb recipes I will be posting this week.

I guess it is time for me to “jam” out!

Enjoy!

Becky

A Corny Dilemma

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As you remember, last week I went to the Amish country with my friend Carol.

This is what I came home with.

The hand pies, lasted less than one day.

The green beans and new potatoes got cooked together in a crock pot over the weekend, seasoning with some crispy bacon and bacon drippings.

All I have left is CORN!

What was I thinking buying so much corn all at once.

In my last post, I told you how I made some super yummy corn soup. For the non corn soup believers out there….you really need to try it.

You can find the recipe here, Creamy Corn Soup.

I gave the Princess around 15 ears of corn. I actually hid them in her refrigerator after church before she came home..hehe.

I gave my good buddy Rachel around 15 ears of corn yesterday. I don’t think she wanted that many, but she could not tell my pleading eyes no, espcially since I had just sewn a patch on her daughters ball uniform..haha

I also froze 20 ears of corn, last week.

I am not officially down to 55 ears of corn.

I really wanted to freeze all the corn, but Daughter you does not cook, told me there was  no more room in the freezer. Let me ask you this…how does she know, if she does not cook???

Anywho, later today I am going to make blue ribbon corn relish with my left over corn instead.

So before I go into the kitchen and turn up a little country music and start taking the husk off the rest of corn, I thought I would give you the freezer corn recipe I used.

First, I need to tell you that I lost my favorite freezer corn recipe.

GRRRRR

So, in my desperation, I got on the internet and started looking for a recipe.

This recipe, keep popping up. I do not who to credit it too, since is was dead Aunt Mables recipe and Uncle Bob’s X wife sister in law…once removed recipe. Do you get my drift?

I changed it up just a bit.

But I still won’t call it my recipe.

I am sure it is in one of the those long used, tattered paged cookbook that has been passed down to family.

Now, I am passing it on to you.

Here is what you will need. 20 cups of fresh cut corn, sugar, salt, water, freezer bags and a large pot.

In a large pot, add the 20 cups of corn and add one cup of sugar.

Next, add in 1/4 cup of salt.

Now, add 5 cups of cold water to the corn, sugar and salt.

With a long handled spoon, stir everything together until the sugar and salt have dissolved.

Put two cups of corn into freezer bags, making sure to get some of the liquid in each bag. I wrote the day I froze it and the cooking instructions on each bag.

Here is the 10 bags of corn that the recipe made.

Here is the recipe.

Sweet Freezer Corn

Ingredients:

20 cups of fresh cut corn off the cob

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of salt

5 cups of cold water.

Directions:

In a large pot, add the corn, sugar, salt and water. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved.

Put two cups into freezer bags and freeze.

When ready to use, take out of the freezer and boil for 10 minutes or until the corn is tender.

I need to peel out and peel husk off of the rest of that corn.

Enjoy your day!

Becky

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