The Food Network, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways, well let me just count to one; Alton Brown.  Thank you, thank you a million times over Alton Brown for giving us this creation we call the Cinnamon Roll.  Seriously, if I could give each and every one of you one of these cinnamon rolls I would. Given that I can’t, you really and I mean really have to make these.  I know, some of you may have a recipe that is tried and true but do me this one favour and give these a chance.

There are so many things that I love about this recipe, first and foremost, they can be made the night before and baked in the morning.  Now tell me what’s better than the smell of baking cinnamon buns in the morning….can’t think of anything can you?  This is another first for me, I’ve never made cinnamon buns before thinking that it was too labour intensive ..well yet again I was wrong.  This recipe rocked in its simplicity.  Most of the time spent on it was during the first rise, a little over two hours.  You just have to remember to bring your eggs and buttermilk to room temperature and really, you’re ready to go.

The dough comes together rather quickly in no time.  Please follow the recipe carefully, and if you have a scale I do recommend you use it.  The more reading I do on baking the more I learn that baking with ingredients by weight is actually the most accurate.  Scales are rather inexpensive and if you do a lot of baking it’s well work the investment. Now where was I, ah yes the dough.  Be sure not to add too much flour, otherwise you’ll end up with tough dough.  You can always add too little and if you need more add it in at the end.  You should end up with a soft and smooth dough once kneaded.

And you better have butter on hand, as you will use it thrice.  The first time in the dough itself, secondly in the filling and last brushing it on the dough once rolled out.  Now to you get why these are so good, add butter to anything and it will just taste better.  Which reminds me, I’m running a little low on my supply…I better replenish.

The most difficult thing about this recipe is the waiting, the first rise and then the overnight rise.  I was so anxious during the first rise, worrying that it wouldn’t rise at all given how cold the weather has gotten.  Paranoid me swaddled the bowl that held the dough in a table cloth and one blanket and place it near a chair by the radiator. 

Well I think I have said just about enough, I’ll get to the recipe which I hope you will make….and if you do please come back and let me know how much you loved them.

And if you’re still wondering how good these are, just take a look at the picture below.

Now the only problem…..how can I top this breakfast?

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Alton Brown; Good Eats

Dough

4 large egg yolks, room temperature

1 large whole egg, room temperature

2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup

3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons

6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature

20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting

1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Vegetable oil or cooking spray

Filling:

8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons

Icing:

2 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened, approximately 1/4 cup

3 tablespoons milk

5 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

Directions

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish or use vegetable spray, such as Pam. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.

(Prepare Potato Refrigerator Dough in advance)

Divide the dough into halves (it makes it easier to work with). Divide remaining half of dough into halves. Roll 1 half into rectangle, 13 x 9 inches. Cut into 3-inch circles; brush with margarine or butter, softened. Fold each so top half overlaps slightly. Press edges together. Place close together in greased round baking pan, 9 x 1 1/2 inches. Brush with margarine or butter, softened.

Repeat with remaining dough. Let rise until double, 45 to 60 minutes. Heat oven to 400º. Bake until light brown, 13 to 15 minutes. 20 rolls.

Note: Repeat with remaining dough that you originally set aside because these are so good and the smell is so awesome that one batch is not enough.

For Friendsgiving this year I made these Buttermilk Fantails that were in Gourmet last February. They were ravished at the table. Our good pal Dave was unable to make it to our celebration, but came the next day. As Dave missed the great dinner and the rolls I decided to make them again and he decided to film it.

Here is the recipe from Gourmet (foodpunk version below )

* 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
* 1/4 cup warm water (105–115°F)
* 1 tablespoon mild honey or sugar
* 3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/3- to 1/2-cup) muffin cups

Butter muffin cups with 1 Tbsp melted butter.

Stir together yeast, warm water, and honey in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.) Mix flour, salt, buttermilk, and 6 Tbsp melted butter into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a soft dough forms. Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and knead, dusting surface and your hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is elastic and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball.

Put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Roll out half of dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch square (about 1/8 inch thick; keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap). Brush dough with 1/2 Tbsp butter and cut into 6 equal strips. Stack strips, buttered sides up, and cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces. Turn each piece on a side and put into a muffin cup. Make more rolls with remaining dough in same manner. Separate outer layers of each roll to fan outward. Cover rolls with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and dough fills cups, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Bake rolls until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush tops with remaining 2 Tbsp butter, then transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.

And here is the Food Punk version:

Mmmm steak.  Just the thought of it can make your mouth water.  With winter upon us, nothing fills you up like a nice, juicy, flavorful steak.  As I was cooking these, the whole house filled with the aroma of garlic, wine, and steak.  Even as I am writing this I can smell it if I close my eyes   While this looks complicated, trust me you will be surprised at how easy it is!

I made this meal for my au pair family and it was a big hit.  I mean, how can  you go wrong with steak filled with delicious accompaniments? 

Steak Roulades

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of steak escalope (these are long, thin slices of steak made easy for rolling)

2 shallots, chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup of thick cut bacon pieces

1 cup of mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup of shredded emmental cheese

1/4 cup of beef or vegetable stock

3 tsp. dijon mustard

a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup of red wine

salt and pepper

toothpicks

Directions:

In large pan, sauté shallots, bacon, and mushrooms until mostly cooked.   Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add cheese, parsely, and mustard.  Lightly salt and pepper.

Lay out each slice of beef flat.   Salt and pepper each side.  Spread a layer of the filling onto each slice.

Then gently roll shut and secure with toothpicks.  Repeat until all steaks are used.  Set any remaining filling aside (do not throw out!).

In a large pan, heat oil on medium/high – high heat.   Place roulades into pan and brown for about 2 minutes.  Flip steaks to brown other side for 2 minutes.  Add red wine and let cook for 5 minutes.  Set heat to medium/low and pour any remaining filling into the pan.  Add the beef or vegetable stock.  Cover and let simmer for 2 hours.  Half way through, flip roulades over.

Remove from heat and serve with roasted potatoes, pasta, rice or whatever you choose!  These are great with a glass a nice red wine as well

Bon Ap!

Julie

This Baby Totally Looks Like The Michelin Man

» Think you can do better? Make your own!

Pictures by: dunno source Look-alike by: dunno source via Totally Looks Like Builder

If you can’t tell by now, I love soy cheese. You could put it on pretty much anything and I’ll most likely eat it. So, when I saw this recipe for pizza rolls from Bittersweet Blog I knew that I needed to make these. Hannah’s pizza rolls look all nice and pretty, while mine look like… Well, I’ll just show you a picture.

Not too pretty, but soooo good. Good enough that my cheese-loving vegetarian sister ate three of them! My sister usually thinks that soy cheese is really gross. So if she says they’re tasty, trust me, they’re tasty. The cheese (I used Follow Your Heart) got all melty inside the soft roll and the pizza sauce just pulled everything together.

Here I served one of the rolls with a side of pinwheel mini pasta mixed with spaghetti sauce and a chopped up Boca chick’n patty.

Seriously people, go make these.

The government always seems to be making up new excusing when creating tolls for roads. But I think that I have found a good way of explaining it in simple terms.

A tolls a toll

A rolls a roll

And if we don’t get no toll

Then we don’t eat no roll

(Littl’ John, Robin Hood: men in tights)

Clever hey! Well at least it makes sense compared to what the governments dish out for excuses.

Udah lama wira wiri blognya KBB, antara kepengen dan ‘ngeri’ kira-kira bisa ngerjain tantangan-tantangannya gak yah.. Sepertinya lebih setahun atau bahkan dua tahun, sejak aku baru pindah dari Pekanbaru ke Balikpapan.
Sampai akhirnya 12 Agustus 2009 (pas aku dah pindah lagi ke Pekanbaru !) aku membulatkan tekad untuk melayangkan e-mail pendaftaran..

Dan….. duh, kok gak ada respond yah… sampai agak-agak desperado gitu, ini e-mail ada efeknya gak yahhh…???
Kemudian pada 26 Oktober 2009 ada ‘tanda-tanda kehidupan’ dapat balasan dari mbak Arfie…
Sebagai salah satu ‘waiting list’ kami diberi kesempatan untuk mengikuti KBB#14 dan KBB#15 dan setelah itu memberikan konfirmasi apabila masih berkeinginan untuk menjadi anggota KBB…
Fiuhhh genderang mulai ditabuh!

Tiga hari kemudian, 29 Oktober 2009, akhirnya surat cinta itu datang!
Wuih, jadi inget lagu jadulnya Vina Panduwinata :
“Hari ini ku gembira, melayang di udara, inboxku berisi berita yang kudamba…!”
It’s KBB#14 !!! And it’s White Bread...!!!!!!!!!

Gubraksss, to tell you the truth aku paling ngeper sama per-roti an….!
Haduh, kok yaaaa tega-teganyaaaaaa……!
Kubaca bolak-balik material yang di kirim ke inboxku…
Aku sambil nanya2…. Ehhhh gak dijawab sama sekali sodara-sodara!
Aku bingung…, ya wes aku kerjain ajah…sesuai dengan “serapan otakku atas materi yang bisa jadi kesimpulannya dodol habis”
Saking ngeper nya, aku gak juga kerjain…
Padahal bolak balik kubaca..!
Akhirnya, entah mengapa aku mulai ngerjain jam 9 malem! What a timing!!!
Karena sudah dari awal jiper, maka aku gak berniat bikin sejumlah satu resep White Bread yang dikirimkan..
Akhirnya aku memakai standard patokan berat satu butir telur tanpa kulit untuk mendapatkan komposisi berat bahan lainnya sesuai Baker’s percentage yang diberikan…
Inilah komposisi teoritis dari White Bread ala Lukie
575 gr Terigu protein tinggi
10.35 gr Garam
44.275 gr Gula Pasir
35.65 gr Susu Bubuk Full Cream
5.75 gr gist
44.275 gr telur
44.275 gr butter
361.1 gr air

Ngantuk-ngantuk, berusaha ambil foto.. Ohh myyy Battery camdig ku abes… gak punya backup, tapi ada camera pocket lainnya… foto2 ehhhh habis juga battnya… nasib ya nasib… Ini lah dokumentasi proses alakadarnya … maaf

Di saat menguleni aku pakai mixer ngantuk bo, si bungsu minta ditidurkan… ehhh aku tertidur… terbangun jam 11 malem! Hiyaaaa itu mixer masih idup! Hasil adonannya kalis deh ditanggung, tapi kok lembek bener yaaa ?? Kelamaan kali ?
Btw belum sampai seluruh air aku campurkan, aku dah merasa adonan ini sangat lemas, jadi aku hentikan pas air masih 50cc

Berikutnya waktu proofing pertama… Dannnn aku ketiduran hahahahaha… Bangun jam 2 pagi
Ngantuk-ngantuk aku bulatkan kecil2 kira2 58 gr deh, dan ada sisa sedikit aku masukkan paper cupnya muffin…

Proofing ke 2… tidur lagiiii hihihihihi
Jam 4 kebangun dan aku oleh susu evaporated yg kucampur sama kuning telur, panggang… Dan… aku tertidur lagi….. ngantuk bo’! Jadinya terlalu kecoklatan..
Trus kurang lemas. Ini krn air tadi atau kelamaan manggang ya ??
Dan ini lah hasilnya…

Ga papa deh not bad lah ya, yang penting aku dapet tanda LULUS buat Tantangan KBB#14 ini… Yuhuuuu…

Alhamdulillah, selesai sudah tantangan white Bread ini… walaupun total pengerjaan dari jam 9 malam sampai pagi, suhu ruangan yang ber AC tidak membuat roti over fermented…
Dari awal aku milih bentuk rolls, karena mbayangin makan sama Minestrone Soup mengenang jaman masih bisa order Crab Florentine seharga Rp 2.500,- di kota kecil Duri dan saat masih blum punya buntut…

We don’t do a formal Thanksgiving thing, we don’t really celebrate it. We just love turkey and having permission to overstuff ourselves, so we do.

This year, five of us got together at our place to overindulge. It was Linz and I, Dodo, Danny and Cindy. Dodo and Cindy are my friendsters-I’ve known them since I moved to the US. That makes them my oldest friends and the family I have here in Houston. Danny and Dorothy (Dodo) have been married forEVAH!

Entertaining should be fun for all involved. That means your guests and YOU. Really. Think about the last time you went to someone’s home, if the hosts seemed to be frazzled and tense, didn’t that take away a bit of the fun? I like entertaining and used to be a bit anal about everything being perfect. These days, I just kinda roll with it and I have to say, I have SO much more fun now. I love being able to enjoy my friends in the intimate setting of my home.

For Thanksgiving, I got some flowers and pulled out the folding table since our dining table is so small. I keep a tablecloth and napkins I bought on eBay for less than I could buy paper ones. Linz and I made the turkey, gravy and potatoes. Cindy and Dodo helped finish the cocktail and rolls. We ate and ate and talked and talked. It was perfect!

That's me lighting candles and finishing touches

Friends are always happy to help finish things up.

The Friendsters rule!

And the spread… Yah, it WAS 5 of us.

On the menu for the day, we had:
Brined Turkey with Gravy
Pesto Rolls
Cranberry Cooler
Mashed Potatoes with Onion Butter Sauce
Cindy’s Traditional Green Bean Casserole
Dodo’s Cornbread Dressing
Dodo’s Strawberry Pizza Pie (aka MY favorite dessert in the world!)

Thanks go to Dodo and Cindy for being photographers on this day. Thanks chicas!

We had 20 people over for Thanksgiving.  Somehow it devolved into charades.  I was overall pleased with 5 out of the 7 dished I made, so I wanted to post a few of the more-winning recipes (so I can find them next year).

Farm Rolls:  According to my mother, who made them every Thanksgiving, these rolls were a specialty of Florence Harms, a Home Economics teacher who was a “distant relative of [her] mother’s family.”  Makes me wish they still taught Home Ec.  Who do you know who can make rolls this amazing?  The rolls are sweet, yeasty, and a little dense.

Farm Roll

• 1 cup milk (I have used 1 or 2% without noticing the difference)
• 2 tsp (1 packet) yeast
• .5 cups shortening
• .5 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 5-7 cups flour

Boil 1 cup water.  Remove from heat and add 1 cup refrigerated milk.  When lukewarm add yeast and proof.  Cream the next three ingredients with a mixer.  Add yeast liquid to creamed ingredients.  Begin adding flour (I get 3-4 cups in with a dough hook before turning out to a floured board and kneading in the rest).  Stop adding flour when it becomes difficult to incorporate any more (no one has a good measure for this).  Dough should be slightly sticky but elastic when pulled.   Let dough barely double in a greased bowl (~30-45 minutes).  Punch dough down.

Grease two cookie sheets (I find light metal works best).  Form rolls somewhere between the size of a racquetball and a tennis ball.  We traditionally roll though piece of dough into a rope and tie an overhand know with it.  Should make about 12-20 rolls.  Let rise for another 30 minutes while preheating oven to 350 with racks about 8-12 inches from top heating element.  Bake until you first see browning on the top of rolls (start checking at 13 minutes).  Throw the rolls in a bowl, cover the bowl with a towel, and let them steam and cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

There are two tricks to these rolls: don’t let the dough rise too much (or the rolls aren’t as sweet) and don’t overcook the rolls.

Cranberry Sauce with Port and Tangerine: I’ve pretty much stolen this from the Thanksgiving 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine (recently deceased, sadly).  It is simple and significantly better than ribbed-cranberry-jelly-from-a-can, despite peoples’ nostalgic attachments.

• 1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries
• .75 cup sugar
• .5 cup port (original recipe called for ruby port, but experiment and don’t spend too much money)
• 3 (3 x .5 inch) strips tangerine zest
• 1/3 cup tangerine juice (from 1-2 ripe normal tangerines or 3-4 clementines)

Bring everything but the juice to a simmer in a 4 quart (or bigger) saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Simmer uncovered until you can’t find any unburst cranberries (12-20 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in juice.  Chill.

I recommend making this a week in advance so all the flavors blend.  I experimented with adding a single slice of candied ginger (minced).  It wasn’t enough for me to taste, but I think there’s room in the recipe for one more flavor, so experiment with winter spices or other fruits.

Some Notes on Turkey: The actual recipe for the turkey I made this year is too long to include, but basic turkey recipes are ubiquitous.  Here’s how this year’s was different:

• I love putting butter under the turkey’s skin.  I makes the skin delicious and keeps the meat moist.  To do this: cream 1 stick up butter with several tablespoons of herbs, 2-3 tablespoons of salt, and whatever other dry ingredients you fancy.  Spoon on to wax paper and roll into a tight log about 3/4 of an inch thick.  Refrigerate overnight.  The next part is disgusting the first time you do it.  Starting from the neck cavity, work your hands in between the skin and flesh of the turkey, breaking any membranes connecting the two.  Try to completely separate skin near breast, back and upper legs.  Cut butter log into 1/3 inch slices, and place slices between skin and flesh of the breast side of the turkey (and the legs).  Cook the turkey as you normally would, and enjoy the result.  Visually appealing, since the transparent skin allows you to see the herbs trapped underneath.
• This year I poured some cider on the turkey about an hour before it was done.  Then I poured some more cider into the pan when degreasing for gravy.  I’m not sure I could taste the gravy on the turkey, but the gravy was amazing (I put two splashes of Calvados in the gravy after removing it from the heat).  Next year I need to remember to reduce the gravy a little longer than usual to thicken it.

This Thanksgiving was great. I was able to spend it with my brother, his wife, his three kids, and my in-law. It was great to be able to escape from Provo and go up to the University of Utah. Playing with the kids and talking with Rich and Marci was awesome.

Logan.

Gavin strikes up a "scary pose."

Elisabeth playing with the now departed Sea Monkeys.

Although I was a little late on getting it to them, I was finally able to give the kids a combined gift for all of them: Triops. We weren’t able to see them hatch by the time I left, but the kids were sure excited about them. The sea monkeys they had died, so maybe the triops would be a welcome replacement. When they came in the mail, I felt stupid for not ordering some for me. Regardless, I hope the kids have a blast with them.

Gavin is getting a little brown spot of hair on the back of his head. He can’t see it yet, but among the swarm of blond, there is a touch of brown.

This reminds me of Jeff when he was younger. Apparently, when Jeff had a set of blond hair, my parents told him something along the lines of, “If you aren’t good ( or was it: if you don’t take a shower?), then your hair will turn brown!” His hair did turn brown. Gavin doesn’t realize his hair is turning brown yet, but I wonder what he’ll think when it turns brown all the way.

Marci made a stellar Thanksgiving dinner. It was complete with a basil-seasoned turkey, a ham, green bean casserole, rolls, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, noodles, and delectable pumpkin pie.

The tryptophan from the turkey hit me real hard on Thanksgiving. Maybe it’s because I’m so old. After eating turkey, I just got real tired real fast. Maybe it was because I’m a poor college student who finally got to eat a real meal. Maybe the satisfaction of a good, full, tasty meal made me so happy that I became happy. That’s probably the case.

The story of the death of my laptop

Right before I left for SLC, my computer crashed. I say “crashed” because this is what happened:

The new computer. It's a Toshiba.

• The computer wouldn’t move past the “Gateway” screen
• When it did, it said there was a disk read error
• Subsequent attempts to boot the computer from the LAN, hard drive, etc. resulted in nothing
• I was unable to do a system restore
• Tried to upload Linux, and the computer refused to recognize it.
• When I tried to boot it, the computer would oftentimes turn off on its own
• Attempts to “restore” the computer with F11 resulted in obnoxious beeping.
• Essential files, like “setupreg.hiv” were missing.

I was left with spending $300 to get it fixed, or to spend $300 to get a new one. So, I bought a new computer. And it’s a Toshiba. Let’s pray I can recover my data. All my notes and files were on that laptop. Finals are two weeks away, so I don’t feel too great right now.

Ode to the first laptop I ever owned

It wasn’t too long ago when you and I met.

You were a shiny, new laptop, and I was a young high school girl.

When we paired up, we conquered all the years of high school, all the piles of AP papers, all the troves of research for class.

We went through NHS together, with Excel spreadsheets with thousands of data points together.

We barely survived PLSC328 together.

We started Facebook, Twitter, and blogging together.

Yet, things changed when we came to “The Lord’s University” together.

Malware was dripping from the BYU server.

After several battles with bouts of viruses, you came off conqueror.

Yet, you met your match when I left a video streaming site open overnight.

I thought we could have survived through both high school and college together.

Yet, now you won’t be there with me when I graduate, even though it’s only eight months away.

Dearest Gateway laptop, I’ll miss you.

These Honey Yeast Rolls are all the rage among food bloggers lately.  Have you tried them yet? With such great reviews, I knew I had to bookmark these from Amber’s Delectable Delights.  Although it took me a while to finally make them again from the first time back in February (I’ll blame the pregnancy), I’ll be making these more often now.  They’re easy and I love the sweet taste.  I did make a mistake and punched down the dough a step too early, so my rolls were a little more dense this time around.  Also, I made two batches and baked 16 rolls in just one bigger baking dish, then the other 8 rolls in a round cake pan, which I wouldn’t suggest.  Next time I’ll probably use two round cake pans and make 7 rolls in each (for one batch).  This should allow the rolls to expand more with a little more of the fluff I like.  Also, I’ll wait to brush the butter/honey on top until 5 minutes into baking as a tip I saw on …A Cookie A Day.  I added it before baking so my rolls didn’t have the shiny gloss I wanted. These changes are reflected below.

If you’re scared of using yeast, or need conversion measurements, I found this site helpful.

The day after Thanksgiving, BG and I ate leftover ham sandwiches using these rolls.  Now, there’s only one roll left.  I better go eat it before BG gets to it!

Honey Yeast Rolls

Printable Recipe

1 (1/4 oz) package fast rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast)
1 cup warm water (105°-115° F)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 cups bread flour, separated
cooking spray or oil
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Add the honey, oil, salt, and egg and mix well. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. With the mixer on low speed, add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix until it is incorporated into the dough. Switch to the dough hook, and continue kneading on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 30 seconds. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Punch the dough down and divide into 12 – 14 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Place into two round, lightly greased cake pans, spacing evenly. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes.  Bake at 400° for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Mix together the melted butter and honey.  Five minutes into baking, brush the butter/honey mixture on top of rolls.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Adapted from Amber’s Delectable Delights

Other food bloggers that I’ve seen use this recipe:

…and a Cookie for Dessert
Anissa’s Kitchen
Annie’s Eats
The Cynical Chef
Kaitlyn in the Kitchen
Jackie Connelly
Laura’s Recipe Collection
Made by Melissa
Plan Chicken
The Repressed Pastry Chef
Smells Like Home
Sweet Tea in Texas
Yummy in my Tummy

Thanksgiving was really different this year. After deciding that I couldn’t go home to see the fam, my plans changed daily. FIrst I was going to spend the day with co-worker friends, then I was going out to Thanksgiving dinner with my cousin who was coming to town. Then my roommate was staying home and we were going to cook a feast together. When she cancelled on me I thought about serving dinner at a shelter. Then my brother called and said he had no plans either.. so at the end of the day it tuned out to be me and my younger brother Robby. And we had a really nice time. Both of us really wanted to be with the rest of the family but it was still nice that we had eachother to celebrate. So with dinner for two I felt like a turkey might have been overkill. I even contemplated just making a tuna casserole (his favorite) and calling it good. But that just wouldn’t be my style. Even if I was only cooking for two I love to cook. It absolutely made my day to be able to cook for someone other than myself. So I made the rib roast that I’d been drooling over ever since the Cooking Light holiday magazine came out. It was every bit of delicious that I hoped it would be.

I’ve also really been looking forward to making these herb and Asagio rolls. I think this was my first experience with yeast. They tasted good but really didn’t rise as much as I had expected. They also seemed a little tough on the outside (but soft inside). So I was disappointed, but I do want to bake bread again soon. I won’t give up so easy.

I had to throw in some roasted brussels sprouts because I absolutely love them even if nobody else does! I’m convinced that anyone who doesn’t like their greens just hasn’t had them prepared the right way. (I didn’t change Rob’s mind, but then again he didn’t even try them!! Oh well, I’m sister, not mother). Lets face it, a lot of people just cook the heck out of veggies until their soggy, limp, and bland tasting. Yuck! I like my greens with a little crunch and a lot of flavor. Brussel sprouts cooked under the broiler is one of my favorites because they’re so naturally nutty tasting. For dinner I just quartered them, tossed in olive oil, sprayed with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with salt and pepper. They were awesome!

The only other thing we really needed was a good salad. I tossed some mixed greens with olive oil, salt and pepper, and added cherry tomatoes. Oh, but I can’t forget… Robby’s favorite dish is tuna casserole. I know what you’re thinking, “Really? Tuna?” I know. I couldn’t agree more. But it’s one of those comfort foods that reminds us kids of growing up. Tuna casserole was a staple in our house. Although my favorite food as a kid was lasagna. Mmmmm…

So here’s the spread. Tuna casserole and all.

Dinner  really was just a spread of some good old down-home cookin’. We didn’t over stuff ourselves either so there was plenty of room for dessert. Now that I had some extra hands in the kitchen I put Rob to work peeling and coring apples. Dessert was supposed to be a pear crisp but the pears at the market were hard as rocks. So I improvised. We had an apple crisp. I do believe that was a good call.

Do you love the pink apron? I sometimes wear it when all of us girls are cooking together. I wasn’t going to yesterday but I thought Rob would get a kick out of it. He did, and then he took pictures of me being Martha Stewart.

Apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Mmm!! Sweet, yet light. I had to improvise with the crisp portion of the recipe as well. It called for 6 amaretti cookies. Well I didn’t know what that was, and neither did the gal at the bakery. So I looked around and decided macaroons would make a good substitute. The macaroons were pretty cakey though. I’m not sure if amarettis are cakey or hard cookies, but it worked. I added a tad extra flour to the crumble to soak up the moisture.

I have to tell you what happened before my brother got to the house. I still can’t believe I did this. Okay, so his special request was for english toffee. Well, I’m all about making that happen so while in the middle of cooking everything else I throw a pot on the burner: butter, sugar, we’re on our way..

I’m chopping the brussels sprouts, tossing a salad, mixing the toffee. It’s finally ready and I go to pour the 310 degree candy onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. The kitchen timer is going off. Hot pot in the sink and I put the 310 degree candy coated spatula in my mouth!!!! Aaahahhhhhh is right! OMG it hurt so bad. The toffee stuck to the roof of my mouth and sizzled. I tried to spit it out which is how I burnt my tongue and lower lip too. Worse burn ever. I couldn’t feel my lip all night. Today it’s blistered and my tongue and palate are missing a layer of skin. I’m on a mush, room temperature food, diet. Lesson learned the hard way: when you’re making candy, just. make. candy. Too many things going on at once and it was just too natural to lick the spatula before throwing it in the sink.
Fortunately the batch turned out nicely..

After we ate as much as we could eat we vegged out in pj’s to Christmas movies. An all time favorite: Elf, and a newbie favorite: Four Christmases. Are Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon just the cutest movie couple?! I think so. And the part where they’re at his mom’s house playing Taboo.. it makes me laugh out loud. The way the couples who really know eachother can practically read eachother’s mind to win the game. I’ve played with friends who are siblings before, and one time the word was meatloaf. The hint given was “that thing mom always made growing up that we all hated”. In unicem they all said “meatloaf”! Haha.. its things like that that bring you closer as you get older.

Betcha thought I missed going on a run with all this kitchen chaos. Well guess again. I got 6 miles in before the real nitty-gritty came. I planned to do 8, but apparently the parks and recreations bathrooms are closed on THanksgiving. Good to know. There was no way I was going any further without a pit stop. Had I been home in eastern Washington I could have run with Sara Palin. My brother ran the Turkey Trot 5k that we all do every year together, and apparently Sara Palin has family in my hometown and my brother passed her in the race. How random is that? I did have a leisurely run though (until I realized I was without a BR), packed my camera, counted 19 other runners on the trail. Everyone was extra friendly today it seemed. Maybe because we were all excited to get home and carb load afterwards!

This “&” is in the Seattle Sculpture Park. Is this art?

This is where my running long jump skills come in handy. I’m telling you.. this rain is nothing to mess with.

Me and Robby here cheesin’ in front of the fireplace. We tried to take a self-portrait for mom. I don’t know about this. Might have to wait until next year for descent pics. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving this year, we of course made classics, like pumpkin pie, but we decided to change it up a little, too. Instead of mashed potatoes, we made Frankenmuth-style buttered noodles, and in addition to homemade rolls we made homemade Arabian pocket bread – like pita bread, but better. It’s a staple in our house, and I found a recipe for it in my school library on a fluke! The bread usually needs a special oven, but the recipe we used works with normal ovens!

Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie:

Grandma’s Cherry Pie!

Yum!  The only way to make a cherry pie is to use true cherry juice, not from concentrate. It’s worth it! =)

Who knew that fancy pie crust was so hard to make? Snow White always made it look so easy…..

A little tip: Cherry juice is great for people with arthritis, because it relieves the pain.

Frankenmuth-Style Cranberry Relish!

For those of you not lucky enough to stop by Frankenmuth’s Zehnder’s restaurant to try the real deal relish, try this recipe here on their website!

Beautiful table, by mom:

Puff Pita Bread!

You can find the recipe for this in Middle Eastern Cooking by Rose Dosti, but there are plenty of recipes like it you can easily find online!

Homemade Overnight Dinner Rolls

My parents LOVED these!

You can find this recipe here on this blog!

Frankenmuth Butter Noodles

My parents go crazy for Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Inn restaurant noodles!  These were pretty close, but they need a little tweaking. The recipe can be found here!

How did you all celebrate Thanksgiving? Comment and tell me about your favorite foods that you made, I’d love to hear about them!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We did.  Since I no longer had rookie status – this being my second year hosting the family dinner, the nerves were not there that were there last year. If you go back over my posts last year, starting here, you’ll see I was a hot mess!

The prep I did this year – only two consecutive days beforehand – made for a stress free day. I was pretty much done, except for the last minute stuff, by 10:30 that morning!

So, without further adieu,  on to the food!

Of course the star of the day was turkey!

I decided to have Turkey Breast: Three Ways.

Going left to right on the above platter:

Breast #1: Cooked in the crockpot with a can of chicken broth, 1/2 stick of butter and 6 cloves of garlic. I skinned the breast before putting it in the broth and cooked it on low overnight. It fell right off of the bone!

Breast #2: My first brine! I made a brine of: water, orange juice, low sodium Teriyaki, cloves of garlic, whole anise seed, whole coriander seed,  salt and a banana pepper split down the middle. I let it sit in that mixture overnight and then rotisseried it.

Breast #3: I marinated it overnight in a mix of: Harissa, blueberry jalapeno jelly, thai chili paste, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil and malt vinegar. It also got rotisseried. It was by far my favorite!

- the only dish of which I had no leftovers!

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

• 6-8 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 16 oz container of reduced fat sour cream
• 1 stick light buttery spread
• 1/4 c. fresh dill, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 7 oz bag 2% milk shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 slices country ham, sliced thin
• 1 bunch green onions

boil potatoes until tender and mash with a mixer with sour cream, spread and seasonings

place in a casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray

sprinkle cheese on top

cook ham until crisp like bacon and crumble, sprinkle over cheese

chop green onions – both white and green portions and sprinkle on top of ham

bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until cheese is golden brown and melted

Stuffing: which I made with my harvest stuffing bread, diced celery, carrots, onions, one banana pepper and zucchini,  and chicken broth, along with shredded chicken breast. Also salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, garlic powder and sage. I baked one dish with an added mix of fat free half and half and a beaten egg, the rest I assembled into 1/5 cup balls and baked to a golden brown.

Cranberry Sauce

adapted from allrecipes

• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
• 1 tangerine, peeled andchopped
• 1 apple – peeled, cored and diced
• 1 cup chopped dried mixed fruit - I used prunes, apricots & raisins
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, boil water and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to simmer, and stir in cranberries, apple, dried fruit, pecans, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.

Rich (Yet Lowfat!) Pumpkin Custard, as made here.

And Blueberry Pie – this was my first lattice crust and I must say I am pretty darn proud! The pie went over well with my nephews – I used a tangerine for the zest and juice instead of a lemon and it gave it such a wonderful flavor! This is probably going to be my standard now!

We also had Pumpkin Crescent Dinner Rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, broccoli slaw and a sweet potato casserole that I will be talking about in the next few posts!

Thanks for sharing our meal with us! Hope you enjoyed!

This was a great meal! I started brining the turkey a few years ago, and will never go back. The turkey always turns out juicy. It’s wonderful, definitely worth the extra effort. The recipe I use is from Martha Stewart.

The turkey needs to soak in the brine for about 24 hours, so plan accordingly.  You will also need to make room for a large container in your fridge.  I use a 5-gallon bucket lined with a brining bag.  This recipe makes enough brine for one 18- to 20-pound turkey.

Brine

7 quarts (28 cups) water

1 1/2 cups coarse salt

6 bay leaves

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

1 tablespoon dried juniper berries

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds

1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock

1 bottle dry Riesling

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch fresh thyme

Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Line a 5-gallon container with a large brining or oven-roasting bag. Place turkey in bag. Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) water, and the other ingredients. Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate. Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey once.

Giblet Stock

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Neck, heart, and gizzard from turkey

3 celery stalks, halved crosswise

3 carrots, halved crosswise

1 medium onion, quartered

8 ounces white mushrooms, halved

4 quarts (16 cups) water

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1/2 bunch fresh thyme

12 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

1 tablespoon coarse salt

Heat oil in a stockpot on high. Add turkey parts, and cook until browned, about 8 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover partially. Simmer gently, skimming foam from surface as needed, for two hours.

Pour stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.  Stock can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Baking the Turkey

Remove turkey from brine. Discard brine (remember this has raw turkey juice in it, think food safety). Pat turkey dry inside and out with paper towels. Place, breast side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan. Let stand at room temperature for up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Tuck wings underneath the turkey, and tie legs together with kitchen twine. Brush turkey all over with butter, and season generously with pepper.

Roast turkey, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes and rotating the pan after 2 hours, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Transfer turkey to a platter, reserving pan juices for gravy. Let turkey stand for 30 minutes before carving.

Riesling Gravy

1 cup dry Riesling

4 1/2 cups Giblet Stock

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pour pan juices into a glass measuring cup or a gravy separator, and let stand until separated, 10 minutes. Pour off fat.

Add wine or stock to the roasting pan and scrape off anything left on the pan. Pour this into a medium size pot, add the reserved juices and stock, and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 1/2 cup stock and the flour in a bowl until smooth. Whisking constantly, slowly add flour mixture to the pan. Simmer until gravy is reduced by half and coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from heat, add butter, and swirl pan until it has melted. Pour through a fine sieve, discarding solids. Serve immediately or keep warm over low heat. (Gravy can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Classic Cranberry Sauce

This is my favorite cranberry sauce, simple but with hints of ginger and orange. This is from Cooking Light November 2008.

1 1/2  cups  sugar

3/4  cup  fresh orange juice (about 3 oranges)

1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

1/4  teaspoon  ground ginger

Dash of ground cloves

1  (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries

1  tablespoon  grated orange rind

Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 12 minutes or until cranberries pop. Remove from heat; stir in rind. Cool completely. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Grandmas Rolls

These are called Grandmas Rolls because this is the recipe my grandma always made on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The best rolls!

1 ¾ c warm water

2 pkg active dry yeast

½ cup sugar

1 Tbsp salt

1 egg

¼ cup butter

6 cups unbleached flour

1 Tbsp butter

Pour warm water into large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water, add sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve.

Add egg, butter, and 3 cups flour.  Beat very hard for 2 minutes.  Add 1 cup flour beat hard. Add last 2 cups by hand, knead until smooth and elastic.

Brush top of dough with melted butter. Cover and let rise in fridge for 2 hours or until double.

Punch down. Can make ahead and punch down once per day up to 3 days.

Butter your baking pans and roll the dough into small balls, place in baking sheet. When all the dough is gone (typically I will fill a 13 x9 pan and a 8 x 6 pan).  Bake at 350-375 for 10-15 min until golden brown.

Carrots with Ginger and Honey

2 pounds baby carrots

Salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or less)

2 two-inch pieces fresh ginger, grated

3 tablespoons honey

Trim stems of carrots to 1/2 inch. Scrub carrots well.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Salt water, add carrots, and reduce heat. Simmer until carrots are almost tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove carrots from heat, and drain. (Carrots can be prepared earlier in the day to this point.)

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, and saute, stirring, until transparent, about 2 minutes. Add carrots and honey, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until carrots are glazed. Serve immediately.

Roasted Brussel’s Sprouts

If you think you don’t like brussels sprouts, try them this way.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Oil a large baking sheet (olive or canola). Cut each brussels sprout in half and remove the outer leaves. Place each one face down on the sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour 1-2 Tbsp water or stock over the top. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir or shake them around and continue to roast until they are very well browned.

I also made mashed potatoes, and baked winter squash. Both are very simple. Simple mashed potatoes are my favorite (butter, milk, salt, pepper. yum). The baked squash only had a little salt on it.

And of course, dessert…

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:
8 ounces ginger snaps (Trader Joe’s are my favorite)
1 1/2 tablespoon butter, melted 
 
Filling:

2 ½ pounds cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
 Dash of allspice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare crust, place ginger snaps in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until finely ground. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

To prepare filling, beat cheese with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and next 8 ingredients (granulated sugar through vanilla), beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin; beat well.

Pour cheese mixture into prepared crust; bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours or until almost set. (Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched.) Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill at least 8 hours.  

Happy Thanksgiving! (yesterday)

As I had a sore throat, I was banned from food prep, so I self-designated myself the official photographer/chronicler.

So much prep goes into the meal – and we had lots of help!

What would be Thanksgiving without the turkey?

Molly and Sophie were exiled to the basketball goal for the meal.

Nor what would it be without the famous and beloved Smith Rolls?

Sitting down for the meal all together. Pass the rolls please.

We ended the day later with your choice of pie: pumpkin, pecan or apple.

“Give thanks to Lord for He is good. His love endures forever.”

Nikko Nikko Roll and Sushi
20 King Street East, Kitchener
Monday- Saturday: 11:30 a.m. -10p.m

The fact that I haven’t reviewed this place is insane. There are weeks when I eat at this place two or three times. I eat a lot of sushi. And when I eat sushi in KW, 99 out of 100 times, it’s at Nikko Nikko. This place has the best rolls in Waterloo Region by far and probably the best sushi/sashimi as well. Everything always tastes very fresh. Most rolls and sushi are served in really creative ways, the Caterpillar Roll, actually kind of looks like a caterpillar.

There are over a dozen rolls, so the variety is great, but not so overwhelming that I get depressed or always order the exact same thing. As an avid watcher of Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares, I think that the size of a menu is a very important thing in a restaurant. When I get to a restaurant, I’ve already made a choice, to eat whatever type of cuisine that restaurant serves. Don’t try to have everyone’s favorite dish as well as try to have numerous items which appeal to those with all type of dietary restrictions. Nikko Nikko serves sushi, rolls, sashimi, and a few dishes that complement these things, as well as a couple of choices for non-sushi-eaters, and vegetarians/vegans.

This place also has a special place in my heart, since this is the place where my sweetheart learned to like sushi, a staple in my diet.

I do have two comments about this place. First of all the service is very spotty. Sometimes the server is on the ball, attentive and friendly. Other times, it they don’t know seem to know the difference between a chopstick and sashimi! Secondly, I really don’t understand why they never seat people by the window. I like sitting by the window and I think it’s generally good for business as it makes the restaurant look fuller and more lively to those outside. Since this place is on King Street in downtown Kitchener, I think looking lively and full is a good thing. There are not enough restaurants in downtown Kitchener that look lively and full. By not enough, I basically mean there are none. (Let me know if I’m mistaken.)

If anyone knows a comparable or better place for sushi in KW, let me know, I’d love to try it out. But for now this is my go-to place for sushi.

KW-Insider Points: 4/5

There is hardly anything more fulfilling than making your own bread.  This is an easy recipe for those cafeteria style rolls.  You remember them.  Those tall, buttery rolls that used to come with everything from Country Fried Steak to Turkey and Mashed potatoes at the school cafeteria.  These light, fluffy, wonderful rolls are my favorite recipe right now.  They are simple enough to make, and they taste like bakery quality.  If you follow the directions correctly, these little puppies will tickle your tastebuds and keep you coming back for more.  One problem:  once you start, you can’t stop.  These rolls are dangerous.  I use my Kitchenaid Mixer, with the bread hook attachment. 

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the top, stir, and let it stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.
2. Mix the milk, eggs and salt into the yeast.
3. In a separate bowl, measure the flour, add 2/3 cup sugar, and crumble the softened butter into it using your fingers until it is barely noticeable. You want to basically play in the flour, grinding up the butter with your fingers, mixing it in.  Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Mix in your mixer, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and starts to form a ball around the hook.  
4. Wet a clean kitchen towel, ring it out – and put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  Cover the bowl with the hot towel and set in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in bulk. This should take about an hour.
5. When the dough has risen, pour the melted butter over it, and knead for about 2 minutes.
6. Let the dough rest for a few minutes, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1 inch thick. Use a knife or pizza cutter (this is what I use) to cut into 2 inch squares.  Roll each square into a ball, and place into greased cookie sheets, spacing about 3/4  inch apart. Let them sit for about 45 minutes to rise again.  You could also refrigerate the dough at this point, and let it rise overnight for baking the next day.
7. If you’d like you can melt additional butter – add some honey or garlic, and brush this on the rolls before baking.  This will help them to brown nicely.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden brown.

You can take any scraps, or misshapen pieces of dough that don’t make the roll call – cut them up to about 1/4 inch pieces; toss them in cinnamon sugar, and stuff them into a baking pan.  Cover with a little melted butter and bake for about 20 minutes, for a yummy sweet treat.  Don’t judge me.

By Annie

Thanksgiving is a terribly busy day, and let’s face it, you could use all the help you can get.  Whether this is your first time hosting Thanksgiving, or you’re a seasoned veteran who is also in charge of keeping the kids under control and entertaining your lovely (but demanding) mother-in-law, it never hurts to use a couple of shortcuts when making dinner.

Photo: AP/Boris Grdanoski

For great tips on how to make your Thanksgiving dinner just a little bit easier, view my entire article here.

Are you ready for the rolls? Who needs napkins when you have bread?

Angie’s Perfect Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups warm milk
- 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 7 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
- ½ cup butter, melted

Directions:                            
Pour milk into a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle yeast over the surface. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Beat in the sugar, eggs, ½ cup butter, and salt; blend thoroughly. Gradually stir in the flour to make soft dough. Cover bowl, and set in a warm place until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough, cover the bowl, and allow to rise again. Repeat this step two more times.

Break off 2 to 3 inch size pieces of dough, roll lightly into round shape, and place in prepared baking dish, edges touching. Repeat to make 36 dough balls. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until tops turn golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. When rolls are finished baking, drizzle melted butter over the top, and serve warm.

H., Cristy. “Angie’s Perfect Dinner Rolls.” Allrecipes.com. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. <http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Angies-Perfect-Dinner-Rolls/Detail.aspx>.

True to my word… a wonderful roll recipe from the kitchen of my Grandma. She also makes cinnamon rolls with this recipe and you can freeze these for later use if you want.

2 cups warm milk
2 packages (Tablespoons) yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening/butter
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
5-6 cups flour

1. Mix warm milk, yeast and sugar. (I set these aside for a minute or two so the yeast can be activated.)

2. Add shortening/butter, salt, egg, and 5-6 cups flour and mix.

3. Let raise 1 hour.

4. Roll out half of the dough into a rectangle shape and cut into wedges. I use a pizza cutter to cut wedges, it’s much fast and easier than using a knife.

5. Roll wedges from wide to thin.

6. Warm some butter (about 1/4 stick) and coat dough with it. Let rise for an hour.

7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden or if you have dark non-stick sheets cook at 300 for 25 minutes.

*Note: these rolls cook fast on bottom than the top so once the tops start to get golden take them out or the bottoms will burn.

*For Cinnamon Rolls

Spread butter on rolled-out dough and put a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar and cut into rows. Roll rows and use string or thread to cut into individual rolls.

Welcome to my blog! If you have read the “about me” section you would know that I started this blog recently with the intention of cataloging my cooking exploits / recipes and ideas. To start off I thought of posting one of my favorite appetizers, Spring Rolls. These rolls make great appetizers and party food it  has acquired many forms and names in different countries like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, India etc. It can either be made fresh or deep fried.

Ingredients:

1. Boiled noodles – 1 cup
2. Shredded cabbage – 1 cup
3. Sliced Capsicum – 1
4. Sliced Onion – 1
5. Grated Carrots – 1 cup
6. Bean Sprouts – 1 cup
7. Garlic – 2 cloves
8. Soy Sauce – 1 tsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Pepper – 1 tsp
11. Oil – for deep frying
12. Spring roll wrappers – 1 pack

Method:

1. Place 2 tbs oil in a wok or a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the veggies and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until tender, add soy sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Now add the noodles and cook for a minute. Set aside to cool
4. Thaw the wrappers and spoon in the stuffing and make the rolls according to the package instructions. Seal the edges with egg yolk or water.
5. Pour the oil for deep frying into a frying pan and let it come to the desired temperature, drop the rolls one by one and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels.
6. Serve hot with sweet chili sauce or any dipping sauce.

Bon Appetit !!!

So, no dog walk.  I made some mashed potatoes and took a shower.  When the potatoes cooled, I made roll dough and put them in the refrigerator until tomorrow.   While Doug made up his mind as to what he wanted to bake, I finished the embroidery.

I love my embroidery machine.  This is going to be a label to put on the back.    I’m also doing some applique.

Here’s another picture of the label.

Doug went with cherry almond muffins.  It was a mix that I bought in Intercourse last week.  And they were good, too.  Maybe, I’ll make buckwheat pancakes Thrusday morning.  It’s another mix, too.