It's not pizza, but it was good

I was really hungry for homemade pizza. The sauce had been made previously and frozen in useable portions so, out of the freezer came the ground meat and Italian sausage along with the sauce.  

Do you remember years ago Pizza Hut (or Pizza Inn, I can never remember which) had that crust that had all the seasonings in it?  It was delicious as a pizza crust.  The kids and I tried to replicate that dough and came up with something that was acceptable, but not exact.  That was going to be the crust that I would make for our pizza.  

All we did was add some extra spices to the bread dough.  Some onion, garlic, oregano, and thyme seemed to do the trick.  It may not have been the crust from years ago, but it was good anyway. 

The only thing I had not considered was that I had used the last of the mozzarella cheese for another dinner project several days before and had failed to pick more up from the grocery!!  After getting over the frustration of not having everything I needed to make pizza AND all the meat cooked, the dough risen, I had to come up with something.  

Pastry cutters! Oh what a way to save the day.  To make dinner out of a catastrophe ..

The dough was rolled out to a thin dough.  Pastries were cut.  The sauce was added to the meat mixture.  I added several spoons of the sauce and meat mixture to the middle of the dough, folded it over and pinched it closed.  I baked them in the oven on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes until the dough was a nice brown.  Viola! 

We were both surprised how easy and delicious .  This is definitely something we will make again.  It may be just as good with cheese - that is something I will try next time I make it.  

This is an easy dinner (once the dough is made) that can be filled with just about anything... sauteed vegetables, meat, cheese....  It did need a sauce with it to keep it from being dry.  

We also found these to be even better the next day.  I believe these would be good made ahead and possibly frozen to be reheated later.  Why not make your own frozen dinners?  

Definitely a keeper!

Happy cooking!

Buttery Rolls

I absolutely love the rolls from Golden Corral.  For Thanksgiving I thought it would be a really good idea to bring these as my contribution to dinner.  I searched the internet for "the" recipe and found that the recipe was not much different than the one that I have used for years.  The biggest difference was the amount of butter that was used to make them.  WOW, if I had only known that smothering my rolls with butter would have made that much difference in the taste.  

Making yeast rolls from scratch takes about 3.5 hours from start to delicious finish, so it is not something to start late in the evening (unless you are a nightowl).  

For the recipe:
1 package of yeast ( this is 2 teaspoons if you buy it in something other that packages)
1/4 cup warm water (this is judged by dropping a drop of the water on your wrist and testing it like you would baby's milk. If it is warm on your wrist it is good to use)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup  butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk - scalding hot
1 lightly beaten egg
4 1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing rolls

Sprinkle yeast over the warm water and stir until the yeast melts.  (the bowl you use is the bowl that will be used to mix the dough, so make sure it is large enough to accommodate the flour).  Add the butter and salt to the scalded milk and stir to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter.   Add this mixture to the yeast add egg and beat.  Add 4 cups flour 1 cup at a time to make a soft dough.  

I usually use my kitchenaid for this process and mix it until the dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl.  Be careful not to add to much flour above the 4.5 cups.  This is a common mistake many people make.  Trying to get the dough to feel dry enough not to stick to the counter.  This only makes the rolls dryer than you will be happy with.  

Use the 1/2 cup of flour on the counter to knead the dough on.  Knead the dough into a ball and place into a large glass bowl that has been coated with oil.  Turn the ball of dough to coat all the sides in the oil and cover the bowl with a towel.  Set this in a place free from draft. (the oven is a good place to keep it).  Let it rise for about an hour.  If after about 45 minutes it does not seem to be rising as much as you would like you can place a pan of hot water in the oven with it.  This will help to warm the oven and encourage the yeast to rise.  

When the dough is risen punch it down.  I pour it onto the counter and roll it into a log.  At this point you can put the extra 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan and place it in the oven to melt the butter. (or melt it before hand and pour it into the pan.)  Pinch off pieces of the dough (about the size of a large egg) roll it into the butter and place in the pan.  Do this to all of the dough.

Let this rise covered in the oven for about 30 minutes.  

These will bake in a 375 degree oven for about 18 - 20 minutes.  

NOTE:  depending on the amount of rolls you would like - if the recipe makes too many rolls for you I have some extra ideas.  
1.  use the remainder of the dough and make cinnamon rolls
2.  or doughnuts
3.  crescent rolls
4.  or just make the rolls and freeze the extra.  (frozen rolls can be warmed in the oven very easily.  I have found placing frozen rolls in a pan adding about 1=2 tablespoons of water and covering/sealing with foil makes the rolls as fresh reheated as if they had just come out of the oven.  

I have several batches to make and the weather is perfect for baking today.  If you come to visit just follow the smell of the baking bread.  As Toucan Sam always said, "follow your nose, it always knows."   :)  

 

Thanksgiving 2011

For Thanksgiving this year we have been invited to my cousins house to get together with family we have not seen in several years.  As you know I love to cook and large gatherings are a wonderful time to cook the amount of food that I am used to.  (Growing up in a family of 5 children - all big eaters! you learn to cook large amounts of food.)  

If for some reason my typing jumps off into some foreign language or skips all around it is because my puppy has come to "sit" with me on the couch as I write this.  She seems to be most curious with the noise the keys make as I type.  

For our contribution to Thanksgiving I thought I would make homemade rolls, what we always called "special veggies", and a cake.  I want to try a new recipe for rolls that I found on the internet.  It is supposed to be the rolls like they make at the Golden Corral, which I LOVE!  I will try it on Jimmy before I put it out there for others to sample.  Maybe that would be a good undertaking for the day.  

As for my cake I could be open to ideas.  I am considering a fall theme for the cake which would have leaves and maybe pumpkins... ohhhh maybe even a scarecrow!  Must give this more thought.   It can not be too elaborate since it will have to travel from East Texas to Houston.   Maybe scheming ideas for my cake contribution is something I can work on today as well.  

OK, homework for today, try to make rolls.  I will keep you informed on how they turn out.  

Bananas anyone

Even with as much as I love bananas, there are times when we have bananas that are too ripe to eat.  I love that too.  We always make banana bread with our leftover bananas, but this time I decided to try something different.  Banana cake is what came to mind this time.  Sounded good to me, so cake it was.  The cake recipe was basically the same as making bread only with the addition of sour milk or buttermilk.  I took 2/3 cup of milk and added 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to make the milk sour.  Sift together 2 1/3 cups of flour, 1 2/3 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Add 2/3 cup of shortening, 2/3 cup of mashed bananas and the milk; mix.  Add 2 eggs and beat for 2 minutes to aerate the cake mix.  Put this into two greased and floured cake pans and cook for about 35 minutes.

This is how I did it, I think next time I will grease and flower the pans and line each pan with waxed paper.  Whenever I  make a cake that I intend to be a showcase I always line the pan with wax paper.  This helps the cake come out without sticking and tearing.  Most times a cake will come out without sticking anyway, but there are times when it does not and if there is no time to try again wax paper is used.  Wax paper is a MUST when making this cake.  It fell apart coming out of the pan.  I am hoping the wax paper will help keep it together long enough to ice it.

I love cream cheese icing and used it on the banana cake.  Good choice for sure.  The two flavors were great together.

There are no pictures of this cake, it looked like a mountainous heap of  some kind white lumpy substance unrecognizable as cake.  But it was so moist and delicious I wish I had taken a picture of it.  Now all that I have to photograph is the crumbs on an empty plate.  My mom had to hide it from my nephew so that she could have another piece later when she was ready for her coffee.

If you try this cake you will not be disappointed with the flavor and the moistness.  I have not remade it using wax paper, but give the wax paper a try.  I am hoping that it will hold it together so that the finished product at lease resembles cake.

Marshmallows

Wow, with the incredible heat of the summer it has been a long time since I have been able to enjoy cooking.  So, with the onset of the cooler weather the stove can be fired up once again without the fear of overheating the kitchen and thus the house.  In fact any heat from the stove this week will be  welcome in the kitchen.  :)

Last weekend we had our family/friend annual Octoberfest tradition.  We usually have a chili cookoff and a desert contest.  My daughter usually purchases ribbons for first, second and third place winners.  Last year she just happened to have a ribbon for the "thanks for trying but you did not win ANYTHING" entry.  Which I was lucky enough to "win" with my (as my family called it) Pie Soup.  This year I was hoping to get at least 3rd place, but with no new dessert ideas as yet I decided to make marshmallows.  Yes, good idea.  Something everyone could snack on without being filled up and not able to eat the chili I brought.  :)

This year there were 10 entries for chili (wow) a record for us so far!  With 6 entries for dessert hey!, my chances of placing are looking promising.  I flavored my marshmallows with banana and strawberry flavorings.  Even with all my efforts, the poor marshmallows did not place even for the "booby" prize!  I believe it was due to a mix-up on the dessert table and who ever had the #3 place originally got the votes for the marshmallows and eventually won the contest.  That is OK though, next year Laura Beldon.... Look out!  :)

Too Hot To Cook

With the temperatures well over 100 degrees for over a month it has been difficult, to say the least, to keep the house cool.  My little home is cooled by window units and unfortunately running the stove counteracts any cooling the air conditioner manages to accomplish.  

We/I have had to really get inventive in order to eat and still manage to keep the house cool enough to be bearable.  There are always good crock pot ideas.  Jimmy and I found a NuWave portable type oven/cooker kinda thing at a garage sale.  The lady said that it worked perfectly and would cook without heating up the kitchen.  OH Happy Day, was my first thought, solid, unsoggy, non-bean meal!  So we bought it and brought it home.  In my opinion it has been a god-send.  It cooks the whole meal (veggies and meat) at the same time and usually within or around 30 minutes AND without heating the kitchen.  Love the taste of the food - it is like roasting. 

Perfect, I can still cook and have a variety of food to provide dinner for my dear husband upon his return from his long day at work.  The problem, and not that he has complained, was that I have not been able to bake anything in quite a long time.  I am having withdrawals. 

While having a bowl of Choc-Chunks, the delicious part of a nutritious breakfast, a thought came to my mind.  These would make a great base for rice krispies treats.   (man I am really missing emoticons right now)

Anyway.... I used the cheap chocolate rice krispies from Wal-Mart as the base, bought some marshmallow fluff and off to the kitchen i was to see if I could at least make something sweet without heating up the whole house to the unbearable point.  

I put 6 cups of the cereal in a large bowl (which turned out to be a little too much I think), greased a small rectangle pan, put 1/2 a stick of butter in a pot and started it to melt.  Then I added the marshmallow to heat and mix.  After heating add a teaspoon of vanilla.  Pour this mixture over the krispies and stir.  (It was at this point that I began to think 6 cups may be too much.  Next time I will try 5 cups)  Mix the marshmallow mixture into the cereal until all the cereal is coated and then press the mixture into the pan.  It needs to be pressed tightly into the pan so that it stays together.  With 6 cups it was still a little crumbly.  I am hoping with 5 cups it will hold together much better.  I will see anyway.

Just as I had imagined, the end product was delicious!  Husband was most happy to have something sweet to finish off dinner.  He really loved them, as did I.  Can't wait to try them again with the modified recipe.

I think I will use my new NuWave Oven thing and see if by chance I could actually bake in it.  *I think I feel another blog coming on*  :)

The Evolution of a Cake

The day has finally arrived to make the Easter Cake.  The cake has been baked, leveled, sliced in layers and iced. But, that is just the beginning. :)

I have the idea to make this an Easter basket.  The white icing is just the base layer, or crumb layer.  The crumb layer of icing is to hold the crumbs in place so that they do not appear on the outer layer of icing.  This layer of icing is usually thin and is allowed to set for about an hour til it is air dried.  Does not look like much at this stage, but it gets better. 

The basket-weave pattern is used to ice the side of the cake.  This gives the appearance of the basket.  It takes a little more time than just "throwing" icing on a cake with a knife, but not as much time as you would think and the results are really nice. 

You can not have an Easter basket without the grass!  Icing colored green and using a ribbon tip the grass has been put "in" the basket. 

The gum paste handle completes the look for the basket.  Chocolate Eggs added, sugar flowers and butterflies add eye appeal. 

In preparation for Easter

Today I will make the cake I plan to make for Easter.  The White Chocolate Whisper Cake is totally a favorite, but it has been hard to find an icing that compliments it properly.  We have tried just about every combination for an icing that I know and nothing seems to taste just right.  It was easier to leave it uniced and eat it plain.  Well I have an idea that I am going to try and if it does not work, then I will have to make a different cake for Easter. As I was melting the chocolate for the cake I had the idea to use the same chocolate for the icing.  So, I melted more chocolate, added butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and started mixing.  The icing actually tastes really good, the test comes when the cake and icing are put together.  Poor Jimmy has to be my test dummy for this experiment.  I know he will hate the job, but someone has to do it. 

(time lapses)

Yay,  Jimmy says that the cake and icing are "probably the best I have ever tasted". :)  I have to admit after tasting it I really like the combination.  It will not be so "scary" to try it for Easter.  Now to see what Rachel has to say about it. 

Sorry Rach---- no cake tops this time. 

Manicotti MAN I GOTTA be crazy!

Feeling full of energy and industrious this morning I decided to make manicotti.  Italian food has always been my favorite and I have been wanting some really good lasagne lately soooooo......  Hey, I had all the ingredients except the manicotti noodles.  How hard can that be, right?  The kids and I had made our own noodles years ago, right?  The big difference this time was that I did not have the luxury of little helpers (or any helpers for that matter).  But I put that thought aside and decided that I could do this, I had the time.  

So, after Jimmy left for work this morning (at 6:00) I took the ingredients out of the fridge so that the could soften.  I sat down to enjoy my coffee and dig out my recipes.  After all the ingredients had time to soften it was time to begin.  I started at 9:00 this morning and was done by 2:00 this afternoon.  

I started my spaghetti sauce recipe and let it simmer while I made the pasta.  The sauce is a mixture of tomato paste, water, oregano, basil, salt, a little sugar and a bay leaf.  It simmers to thicken and yum and I am hungry already, but still have a while to go before it is ready to eat.  While the pasta was "resting" it was time to put the stuffing together.  Simple concoction of cream cheese, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese, and an egg along with some spices.  

After rolling out the pasta dough in the pasta machine it was cut into lengths and the stuffing was rolled inside.  Four pans later!!! Manicotti is covered with sauce, sprinkled with cheese and ready to bake.  If I had had my wits about me I would have made lasagne, it would have been so much easier.  The noodles could have been larger and it would have been a whole heck of a lot less work putting it all together.  BUUTTTT NOOOO!  I started the morning out with manicotti on the mind and manicotti it was going to be.  

If I had had some help it could have been easier, rolling out the pasta dough alone is rather cumbersome and difficult for someone that does not do it very often.  Fortunately for me it is done and ready to bake.  I am quite proud of my accomplishment and can not wait for Jimmy to head home for dinner of manicotti and homemade rolls.   


OH!  Susie, that is Chocolate Dumpling for dessert in the background.  :)

One Egg, One Cup of Milk and a Sweet Tooth

Put that title to music and you could be singing the blues!  But I am about to set out on an experiment adventure to turn the blues into a jazz remix.

Well, I tweaked the recipe for the White Chocolate Whisper cake.  I left out the eggs, baking powder and (sadly) the white chocolate (only because I STILL do not have any!).  Added 4 ounces of applesauce in place of the eggs.   Increased the flour to 4 cups, cut the milk to 1/2 cup and added 1/2 teaspoon of almond -with only 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Rolled the cookies into balls and rolled them in sugar.  Viola!  Just my luck my nephew came over and was able to test the cookies for me.  Half a cookie jar later I am told that they were not any good and he would gladly take the rest of them off my hands. :)   I would have taken a picture of them, but with only 2-3 left it would not make a very appetizing picture.  Poor Jimmy... if I hurry up and eat the rest of them, he will never even know what he missed.  hehehehe.... luckily I saved some of the dough and can make another pan and my dear hubby will be able to have his dessert after our supper of "Clean Out The Fridge Stew". 

These need to be cooked on a greased cookie sheet.  Otherwise they will scorch on the bottom.   

Easter Suggestions

Easter will be here before you know it.  Time to have the family and friends over for some Easter fun.  We usually get together the Saturday before and visit, hunt eggs, play games and EAT!  This year I would like to create a cake, but am having a hard time coming up with an idea or theme.  Seems I have the desire to create something, but the creativity is missing this time.  Anyone have any suggestions on a theme for a cake for Easter??

White Chocolate Whisper Cake

**If you even think you might need to try this yourself... go ahead and take a stick of butter out of the fridge and let it soften!~~

Many years ago I was give the Cake Bible, which is a great compilation of recipes and great ideas for cake baking.  One of the kids favorites has been the White Chocolate Whisper Cake.  It truly has a very special, unique taste that comes from the melted white chocolate that is added to the batter at the last minute.  

I have had a desire for this cake for several weeks so I thought today would be a good day to put one together.  After getting my taste buds all set for the chocolaty taste of this cake I realized I had used the white chocolate for something else and had forgotten to replace it!!!  So, I just substituted the white chocolate for some milk chocolate.  This changed the flavor of the batter only slightly.  I am about to taste the actual cake and see if it is worth repeating.  

***Well, the texture is still light and fluffy.  The color is the color of spice cake, yet the flavor has a hint of chocolate. Not bad, but I think the original is still my favorite.  So, to make the original best:

Melt 6 ounces of white chocolate in a double boiler.  Can use white chocolate chips. 

combine together 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

In your mixing bowl combine 3 cups of flour, slightly heaping cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoon of  baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. After this is mixed add that softened butter that I reminded you take out earlier and 3/4 cup of milk.  Mix this well.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture in three batches.  Otherwise there could be a big mess on the counter. :)  Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the melted white chocolate.  Mix to incorporate.  

Fill the prepared cake pans about 1/2 full and bake at 350 for 24 - 30 minutes.  A toothpick will come out clean when inserted into the center.  

I have not found a suitable icing for this cake yet.  Everything I have tried only takes away from the flavor of this cake.  We usually eat it without icing.   

Pizza

Thought I would make homemade pizza today.  Many years ago Pizza "Somebody" had a very tasty crust they had actually put seasonings in.  So, the kids and I started to experiment with making pizza at home to see if we could make a crust that was close (or at least tolerable).  We actually came up with a recipe that we really loved.  I have not actually made this recipe in several years, but Jimmy wanted homemade pizza and I thought of the old recipe.  As I was making the pizza I was brought back in time to when my kids and I would make pizza together in the kitchen.  I would slice the vegetables and they would place them on the pizza.  My son would hide an olive in each corner of the pizza with a folded over piece of the dough.  Every time we made pizza there was always an olive hidden in the corner.  I smiled as I thought of that memory and tucked an olive into the corner for old times sake. 

All we did was add some spices to our regular bread dough.  We used:
1/2 teaspoon of Basil
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of oregano

These (and you could use your favorites) seasonings were put in the pot of milk that we heat on the stove so that the flavors of the seasonings would be awakened.  It turned out quite delicious.  

Chocolate Dumpling

Because of a slight craving for chocolate Jimmy and I made a chocolate dumpling last night for our chocolate "sweet tooth".  Chocolate Dumpling is a dessert that has been around since I can remember.  We always thought that this was a recipe that came from my grandmother.  This is a simple recipe and worth every effort to make at least once.  But like Lays Potato Chips you can not eat just one.  

If you would like to try it for yourself... here is the recipe.  The syrup needs to be cooked so that the sugar melts and the chocolate dissolves.  



The syrup.
1 1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 cups water
6 Tablespoons of sugar (this is about 1/2 cup)
Pour this into an oven proof baking dish or dutch oven.  


The Dumpling
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
6 T cocoa
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
2/3 cup milk
Mix these ingredients together and spoon over the syrup.  Bake in 350 oven for about 30 minutes.


Try it and let me know what you think.

Happy Birthday

Today is the birthday of someone special in my life.  Since I love to bake and decorating cakes is a part of that I could not let the day go by without baking a special cake for that special someone.  So I got up early this morning and while Jimmy was at work I spent the day baking a chocolate cake from scratch.  It is just a simple cake with no major sugar art frills.  He loves blue so blue was used as an accent.  

I made half again as much batter and divided this into 4 pans - two circles for his birthday today and hearts for Valentine's Day tomorrow.  Hiding the Valentine cake between now and then could be a bit tricky.  It would stick out like a sore thumb in the fridge...no room in the cabinets....will need to make cornbread later so the stove is definitely out!....hummm...  Will have to give that some serious thoughts.  It is about 3:30 and he could be home soon so I am running out of time.  

I think my puppy would like for me to leave it some place where he could keep his "eye" on it.  :)

Peanut Butter Fudge

OK, I may be crazy for even thinking about attempting fudge on a day when the chance of snow is 60%.  I am feeling the urge for something sweet, and I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have not had lunch yet. :)

Thought it would be fun to share a recipe along with this blog, just in case you would like to make peanut butter fudge yourself some day.  

When making the fudge it is best to have everything ready to go before you start to cook because there is no time to gather ingredients once the mixture starts to boil.  So.... I sprayed the 9x13 pan with cooking spray, measured out 1 cup of peanut butter, and opened the jar of marshmallow cream then poured 1 tsp vanilla on the top of it.   I put 3 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 stick butter (the recipe calls for 3/4 cup margarine) and 2/3 cups of evaporated milk in my cast iron dutch oven pot and started cooking.  It has to be stirred constantly.  After it comes to a full boil, then cut the heat down to medium and cook it for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes turn off the heat and add the peanut butter.  Stir until it is melted, then add the marshmallow with the vanilla and stir until mixed.  Pour into the pan and allow to cool.  It is OK to take a break and sample the fudge left in the bottom of the heavy pot! :) 

I can see that it is going to set up nicely.  It is still a little warm, but getting firm.  So, if you are interested, it looks like this fudge can be made even if it is humid outside.  OMG that is good! Better taste another one.

OK, one more and that is all.