Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - Recipe

During our recent blizzard I had a sudden hankering for hot cinnamon rolls.  Unfortunately I hadn't planned for this hankering, so there were no pre-made rolls in a tube in the fridge.   Google truly is a lovely thing.  Finding that most cinnamon rolls require all-purpose flour and yeast is not so lovely.  But, Google didn't let me down and I finally found a recipe which used self rising flour.  Insert angelic choir voices here, grins.

Here's the recipe I found.

1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp. shortening
3 cups self rising flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine/butter softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp. cinnamon

Place flour in bowl and cut the shortening into the flour.  Then add the milk and stir well.  When a soft dough has formed, place the dough on a lightly floured counter top and knead briefly.   Roll out your dough into a 20X14 inch rectangle.  Spread butter/margarine evenly over dough.

Combine sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter.  Roll the dough up, jelly roll style and slice into 1/2  inch thick slices.  Place slides side by side in a greased 13X9 baking dish.  If any of your sugar/cinnamon mix fell out of the edges, just dump it back on top at this point.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

While the rolls bake, make a simple glaze.

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Pour the glaze onto the rolls while warm and serve.  

Since this recipe uses self rising flour, these rolls have a more dense, biscuit consistency...but they still taste amazing on a cold winter morning.  These rolls also rewarm nicely in the microwave. 

You could also add cream cheese to your glaze mixture....and a little vanilla to the dough mixture.y

Enjoy!

Corn-Flake Cookies

Every now and then I find myself with things in my pantry that I don’t normally buy.   Sometimes, I find myself needing to create a “food to share” at an event, and when the planets align and I have unusual things on the pantry, I make the best of it.

Such was the case this week, and I found out on Tuesday morning that the kids needed to take finger foods to their 4-H club meeting…on Tuesday evening.   (Gah!)  I whipped up a tasty batch of corn-flake cookies and amazed the children with it’s simplicity and taste.  I thought I’d share with you, in case you happen to have extra corn flakes to use up, ahem.

Ingredients:

1 cup corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
6 cups of cornflakes (or Cheerios, or other cereal)

Pour the cereal in a large bowl and lay out a couple of sheets of waxed paper or parchment paper.  Trust me, you want to have this step ready and waiting.

In a saucepan, combine the corn syrup and white sugar and bring to full rolling boil (stirring constantly).   Add the peanut butter and stir until well blended.

Pour the hot mixture over the cereal and stir to combine and coat all the cereal pieces.   Try not to crush the cereal, but you do need to work pretty quickly.

Drop by the spoonful onto waxed or parchment paper.   Allow to cool completely before putting in containers.    

You can tweak this to make it your own.  Vary the cereal, add chocolate chips, or nuts or mini-marshmallows and see what you come up with !

Using Up All Those Tomatoes–Bruschetta Recipe

Fresh, vine ripe tomatoes are one of my favorite things about the summer.  Tomatoes are great with any meal, or nice as a stand alone snack.   However, there are times when tomatoes are coming in faster than you can eat them.   Your choices are to can the excess (salsa, spaghetti sauce) give them to neighbors and strangers alike and then you still have.more.tomatoes.

Here’s a yummy dish that can accompany a meal, or be used as an appetizer or snack.   Behold, the Bruschetta!

Ingredients:

1 loaf of French or Italian bread
olive oil
fresh tomatoes
basil (fresh or dried)
garlic (fresh or in the jar)
shredded mozzarella

Wash and core your tomatoes, then cut them up into bite size pieces.  Place in a bowl, add a generous amount of olive oil, a clove or two of garlic and some basil.   Stir and then set aside and allow the tomatoes to release their natural juices.

Slice the bread into 1-inch thick slices.  (I buy these loaves for 50-60 cents on clearance and throw them in the freezer.)

Brush each slice of bread with olive oil, then place a spoonful of the tomato mixture on top of each slice.

Top with grated mozzarella and sprinkle with a bit more basil.    The pop the cookie sheet into the oven for 5-8 minutes (at 350) until the cheese begins to melt.

Serve alongside pasta dishes, salad or with a little extra olive oil dipping sauce.

We may have had this several times in the last two weeks.  We have more tomatoes, so it looks like I need more bread!

Pineapple Casserole

Truthfully, when I first saw this and heard that it had pineapple and cheese in it, I thought “YUCK”.   I tried a teeny little spoonful, and then proceeded to have two HUGE helpings.  It’s absolutely delish.   You could serve this as a side dish to a ham dinner, but honestly, I now serve it as a dessert.

Recipe:

2-15oz. chunk pineapple – drained
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
25 Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 cup melted butter

Place drained pineapple in 13X9 (or smaller) baking dish.   In separate bowl mix sugar, flour and cheese.  Pour this mixture over pineapple.   Top with Ritz crumbs.  Pour melted butter over the top.

Bake at 350 fro 30 minutes.

Delish!

Mock Egg-Custard Pie

This pie is delish, helps use up an over abundance of squash and helps get a veggie into those who aren’t big veggie fans.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo to share, as our squash plants have quit producing and I just didn’t think about taking a photo on my first pie.

Recipe:

4 eggs, separated
1-1/2 cup yellow squash (cooked/drained)
1-1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 stick butter
1tsp. vanilla

Puree cooked squash, mix in sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and egg yolks.

Beat egg whites until stiff and foamy and folk into first mixture, adding a little at a time.   Pour in deep dish pie shell, sprinkle with nutmeg.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Hummingbird Cake

Sometimes it’s nice to have a made from scratch cake to take to a potluck meal.   This makes a very flavorful cake that is sure to please the pickiest of crowds.  It does take a bit of time to prepare, so my suggestion is you make a day ahead, and then refrigerate it.

Cake Recipe:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1tsp. baking soda
1tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups applesauce (or oil)
3 eggs
1-8oz can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups mashed bananas (3-4)
1 cup walnuts (or pecans) chopped

Preheat your oven to 350, then flour and grease either a 13X9 inch pan, or THREE round cake pans.

Combine the dry ingredients (first 6 in the recipe) and set aside.   Chop the nuts, drain the pineapple and mash the bananas.






Mix all of your wet ingredients (last 5 on list) until well blended.   Combine dry mixture with wet mixture and blend well.  Stir in chopped nuts last.

Pour into greased pan or pans and bake for 30-35 minutes for round pans, 45-50 minutes for 13X9 pan.   Time will vary, so check by toothpick at the earliest time and add a few minutes as you go.   Cool cake completely before frosting.

Frosting Recipe:
8oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
1tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients and mix until blended.    For the layer cakes you may need to double your frosting recipe.

 

Enjoy!!

Crockpot Applesauce

The apples that we picked in October were starting to get a little wrinkly already. I decided to make homemade applesauce so that we wouldn’t lose the investment of time and money that was already in the apples.

I gathered a good amount of apples in my basket, hoping it was about four pounds, I’m sure it was more.

The amount of apples above, filled up my crockpot pretty well.

Which in turn cooked down to one large serving bowl and a smaller bowl full of warm, yummy applesauce.

The original recipe is as follows:

4 pounds tart apples
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup water
1tbsp. lemon juice

Peel, core and slice apples thinly, or cube.   Place all ingredients in the crockpot on high for 3 hours.  For smoother applesauce, blend/mix after cooking.

I tweaked the recipe a bit adding some nutmeg and brown sugar as well.    

The goal was to eat some, and freeze the rest.  Unfortunately, it was devoured pretty quickly. The whole batch lasted 2 days.  Yummy!

What Do I Do With All This Leftover Turkey?

Come on, admit it, you’ve thought that in the days following Thanksgiving.  Haven’t you?

Well, here’s the thing you just freeze it and use it whenever, because it’s paid for, it’s cooked, and it’s good….but after a week of leftovers it’s hard to remember any of that.

We had our official Thanksgiving meal the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  By that Monday the husband announced “I’m done with the turkey".   Well, ok, but you’ll eat it at some point, we’re certainly not throwing it out!

So here’s what I did.  I pulled all the meat of the bones and froze it in quart size freezer bags.  I did the same with the leftover giblet gravy (yes gravy freezes well).

This week it was cold and rainy and I wanted some comfort food that stuck with you.   So I pulled out a bag of turkey and a bag of gravy and threw it in a pot…followed be chopping the left over celery and a good sized onion.  Then I threw in about a teaspoon of rubbed sage.

Looks disgusting, doesn’t it?

But hang with me folks.  Then I added some broth and let it cook for a couple of hours, and added a bit of salt and pepper.   The house smelled INCREDIBLE!

Just as the husband walked through the door I mixed up a batch of dumplings.  I made the fat fluffy dumplings.   Simply use self rising flour and water and stir until it reaches the consistency of biscuit dough, then drop by spoonful's into your boiling liquid and cover for about 10 minutes.

Then you have this…

Some of the absolute BEST turkey ‘n dumplings I’ve ever tasted.   Try this on a cold, dreary winter evening and believe me, you’ll be glad you did!

Pickled Squash–Recipe

I planted 4 yellow squash plants this year and they have completely taken over my garden!  I’m giving away several bags of squash each week.   One of my neighbors gave me this recipe, and I thought I’d share it.  I have not given it a try yet, as I don’t really like pickled anything, but I thought my readers may be interested.

Combine:

9 cups squash sliced thin
2 cups sliced or diced onion
1 tbsp. salt

Let sit 1 hour, then drain.

In a saucepan:

1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sliced green pepper
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

Bring to a boil, add squash, return to boil.  Cook 3 minutes, covered.

Put in jars, process in boiling water bath 15 minutes.

Simple Cheese Ball Recipe

Back at Christmas I stumbled across a delish cheese ball at a family gathering and just HAD to get the recipe.   We’ve already made one and it was a big hit.

Ingredients:

3 blocks of cream cheese
5oz. can of cooked chicken, drained and shredded
1 pk. Hidden Valley Ranch DIP Mix (I used Green Onion)
chopped pecans

Soften cream cheese a bit, then combine all ingredients until well blended.  Form into 3 balls and roll in pecans and chill.    Serve with crackers.

Warning, this stuff is addictive!!

Sugar Cookie Frosting–Recipe

Tis the season to make cookies!!  Why is that?  I mean, we never made cookies when I was a kid and yet every year at December I turn into a cookie making machine.  My sugar cookies rock if I do say so myself, and I DO!

If you like to frost your cookies, but you don’t want them sticking together here’s a great simple recipe for you.

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk
2 tsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
food coloring (optional)

Dump you sugar in a bowl, add 1 tsp. milk and 1 tsp. corn syrup and stir.  It’ll look dry and ugly.  Add another tsp. of milk and another tsp. of corn syrup and stir like wild.  It may still look ugly for a while.  Then suddenly it’ll come together and you’ll have a frosting that you can spread, or pool to make designs.  If by chance it’s still too thick, add a smidge more milk until you reach the consistency you want. 

This dries pretty quickly, so add sprinkles as you go or they may just roll right off.  This recipe is great if you’re making cookies where you are using more than one color because you can get the colors close to each other and then they’ll spread just enough to touch, but not blend into one another.

You can even stack these little gems on each other after the frosting hardens and they won’t turn into a gob o’ mush.  (Appetizing thought there, gob o’ mush.)

Merry Christmas!

Potato Candy 101–Tutorial

Right about now some of you are thinking “what in the world IS potato candy?”   You know you are, admit it.  If you’ve never heard of it don’t worry, you’re probably in the majority on this one.  Most people who know of this delicacy are older folks or those of us who were raised by their grandparents.  It’s one of those things we had when times were tight, and then it turned into a tradition.

First, you need a SMALL potato.  By small I mean the size of a tangelo or golf ball.  The one pictured here (in my lovely hand for size comparison) is about right.

Peel the potato and boil it until its done (dur).   Then drain all the water off and mash the potato with a fork.  Once it’s mashed, add 1 tsp. of vanilla and 1 tsp. of butter.  Mix well and then dump in 1 pound of powdered sugar and stir like wild.  Don’t use the electric mixer, trust me on this one. 

It will be dry and crumbly at first, sort of like in this photo.

Add a smidge of water if needed.  (Smidge meaning a teaspoon or less).  You can always add more if you need it, but if you get too much then you have to add more sugar and it just gets out of control.

You want your candy paste to be thick, like this.

Once you’ve gotten it to the point that you can no longer stir it with a spoon it’s ready.   Place the candy between two sheets of wax paper and roll it out thin, like shown in the photo below.

Remove the top layer of wax paper and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on top of the candy mixture.

Roll the candy up like a jelly roll.  At this point, it looks like a big burrito (or a grub, but that doesn’t sound appetizing).

Place your candy in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill, or even several days.  Then slice it really thin and enjoy.

Mmm Muffins!

I’ve been looking for recipes to use up some of the “older” things in my pantry.  I found a very simple recipe on Pinterest last week and thought I’d give it a try since I have all the ingredients on hand.

1 chocolate cake mix
1 29 oz. can of pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix well, put in muffin cups and bake according to the cupcake directions on the cake mix you used.  It’s that simple, and it’s THAT yummy!!

Even my girls love these muffins.  They don’t need to know they were eating a vegetable.

If the thought of chocolate and pumpkin together doesn’t sound appealing, you can use a spice cake mix and pumpkin and just omit the chocolate chips.  But really, you can’t taste the pumpkin once it baked.

Mmmm….Pumpkin

You know, I bet we could rename fall as “Pumpkin” and nobody would mind.   It’s THAT important to the season.  I love pumpkin in anything – cake, pie, Blizzards from Dairy Queen, bread, coffee. 

Last year I did a series where I shared all kinds of yummy recipes.  This year, I’ll just bring those posts back up to the top for your reading pleasure.  These are recipes that I use and love.  I hope you find something here that lands on your “must do” list every fall.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Breakfast Rolls

Pumpkin Pie Dessert

Pumpkin Bread

Cooking With Fresh Pumpkin

Pumpkin Seeds

If you are baking challenged, or just strapped for time, you might try the Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights.  Spread cream cheese frosting on those little darlings and nobody will know it’s not homemade.  Trust me!   That little tip is a little something that works for me when I’m pressed for time and need to appear very “Suzy Homemaker”.

Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is coming up fast, so I thought I’d share a few of my favorite recipes.  These are actual recipes that I use regularly, and that my family loves.   I know there are a lot of carbs here, but I don’t fix all four things each Thanksgiving (some wait until Christmas…or are added to stretch the leftovers a bit longer).

Dressing Balls:

1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup of butter
16 oz. Pepperidge Farms Herb Stuffing Cubes
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten
broth or water

Cook onion and celery in butter until Tender.  Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Add enough broth/water to make moist (enough that it holds its shape, but not soggy).

Shape into balls and bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until crisp on the outside.

Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes:

5 lbs. potatoes
1 tbs. garlic
3 cubes chicken bullion
1 8oz. package cream cheese
1 8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup butter
salt to taste

Peel and boil potatoes, garlic and bullion cubes until potatoes are done.   Drain well, blend in sour cream and cream cheese.  Put in crock pot on low for 2-3 hours.  Stir in butter just before serving.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese:

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
8 crackers crushed
2 cups shredded cheddar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Cook macaroni in salted water, drain well.  Grease 8X8 baking dish with butter.   Combine macaroni, butter, cheese and cracker and place in baking dish.  Combine milk and eggs and pour over top of macaroni (do not stir).  Top with additional cheese.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Corn Pudding:

1 can creamed corn
1 can whole corn
8 oz. sour cream
1 small box Jiffy corn bread mix.
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs

Combine all ingredients and mix well.   Pour in a  buttered 9X13 baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (or until set in the middle).

Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Breakfast Rolls

I love hot sweet rolls for breakfast on Sunday when there’s no time for “real breakfast food”.   My friend Michelle posted this recipe on Face Book and I had to share it!  

Ingredients:
2 (8-count cans) of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls 
4 0z cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
1/4 Cup canned pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On parchment or wax paper, unroll each can of crescent rolls to form 4 rectangles placed side by side. Pinch seams together to form one long rectangle. Place cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixer; beat until well combined. Spread mixture over your two crescent-roll rectangles, leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges. Starting at long end, roll up then cut into 1 inch pieces. Place around 2 9 inch cake pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for 30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting recipe below.

Frosting:
4 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin

Directions: Mix all ingredients into a large bowl until smooth. Spread over warm rolls. Serve rolls warm.

Cole Slaw 101

Summer has finally arrived and along with that comes cook-outs, pool parties and picnics.   A staple picnic/cookout food is cole slaw.  Who can resist that crunchy, tangy, creamy concoction?

Some people think that cole slaw is hard to make, but nothing could be simpler.   All you need is a head of cabbage (purple cabbage will be fine too), a couple of carrots and dressing (see recipe below).

Some people like their cole slaw chopped really fined, similar to the KFC slaw consistency.   If that is you, use a regular box grater like the one pictured below.  Grate your cabbage and carrots on the side that gives you the desired consistency.   Watch your fingers!  Grating goes quickly and nobody likes to fine part of your knuckles in their dinner plate!

If you like your slaw in bigger pieces just use a really sharp knife.  Pull the outer leaves off the cabbage and then quarter your cabbage.   Cut the core out of all four quarters and then use your REALLY sharp knife to slice the cabbage to the size you like best.    Ditto about watching the fingers.

Then add this yummy dressing, mix and chill. 

Cole Slaw Dressing:

1 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sugar
3 Tablespoons of vinegar

Mix well until sugar is dissolved.   Pour over grated cabbage and carrots.  Stir well to coat evenly.   Add a few shakes of celery seed for garnish if desired.

See how easy that is?   Enjoy!

Easter and Coconut

Have you ever wondered why coconut is associated with Easter?Hershey’s Kisses Coconut are only available at Easter.   There are always coconut cakes and coconut eggs at Easter.  WHY?   If you know, then let me know would ya?  Not that it’s important but it’s one of those crazy things that make you go “hmmmm”.

So keeping with the mindset of coconut and Easter, I thought I’d share a YUMMY recipe for a coconut cake.  Once you make the cake and frost it, you need to let it sit in the fridge for 3 days.  So don’t wait until Saturday night to make this one.

Coconut Sour Cream Cake

1 yellow or white moist cake mix
2 cups sugar (granulated not powdered)
16 oz. sour cream
12 oz. frozen coconut, thawed
1 ½ c. frozen whipped topping, thawed

Prepare cake mix according to directions.  Make 2 (8-inch) layers. 

Bake, cook and split the layers with thread or dental floss. 

Combine sugar, sour cream and coconut.  Blend well and chill. 

Reserve one cup of the sour cream mixture for the frosting.  Spread remainder between layers. 

Combine reserved sour cream mixture with whipped topping.  Blend until smooth. Frost and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days before serving.

Potato Candy Recipe

Potato candy is a funny thing.  Either people look at you like you’re nuts and say “eeeeeeeeww”; or they say “I haven’t had that since I was little”.     So far this year I’ve had more of the favorable responses than the “ewww” one.   So here is a recipe for those in both camps.  You can either make it and decide you don’t like it after all, or make it and reminisce about your childhood.

1 small potato
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. confectioner sugar
peanut butter

 

Peel, boil and mash potato.  Mix in vanilla and butter.  Mix in sugar (using your hands works best).  Mix well.   Place mixture between wax paper and roll it out very thin.  Remove top sheet of wax paper, spread peanut butter on top of mixture.  Roll up like a jelly roll.

Chill and slice in thin slices.  Enjoy!

Left Over Turkey Recipes

By now, you’re tired of turkey.  But you can pull the remaining meat off the bones and freeze it for later.   Here are a couple of recipes for your leftover bird.

Creamed Turkey:

1/4 cup margarine
small onion, chopped
garlic to taste
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
2-3 cups of turkey pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Melt margarine, add onion and garlic and sauté until tender.  Stir in flour until all butter is absorbed.   Add broth, milk, salt, pepper and turkey.   Cook until desired thickness.  Serve over toast, biscuits noodles or potatoes.

Turkey Pot Pie:

9” deep dish pie crust
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (15oz.) mixed veggies
2 cups cooked turkey (or chicken, or ham)
1 can cream of chicken soup (or mushroom if using ham)
1/2 cup milk
sage

Preheat oven to 350.  Drain veggies.  Mix veggies, meat, soup and milk and sage.  Pour into pie crust. Top with 2nd crust.  Poke hole in top to let out steam  Brush with egg.  Bake 30 minutes until golden brown.