Cinnamon Rolls

These were sooooo yummy! Follow the jump if you want the recipe. Scott also made a macro-studio box to help take better pictures of some of our posted items. It turned out great and I think this photo did too.

Samoas

We were recently invited to contribute to life a la mode and are excited to post some of our food adventures.
Just about everyone likes a good girl scout cookie. We happen to really like Samoas.
We found a recipe for Samoa bars at baking bites and so we made them today and they are awesome!!

Hotdogs Eli's Way!!

Our cousin Eli who now lives in ETHIOPIA just turned 7. For his birthday dinner he asked for "Octopuse Hot Dogs" We thought that was so cute that we made it for dinner in honor of cousin Eli.

Of course we did make a few normal ones to go onto our famous homemade hot dog buns!! We also pulled out a jar of our favorite zucchini sweet relish (recipe from the Willeys).

Recipe
1 ½ cups warm water
5 tsp yeast
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp salt
5 cups flour

1. Place water, yeast and pinch or sugar in bread machine and let stand for a couple of minutes. Add in remaining ingredients. Place machine on dough mode. When complete remove dough and divide in 10 portions.
2. Shape each portion into a ball and place evenly spaced apart and cover.
3. Allow to rise until puffy, around 20-30 minutes. Then flatten & shape each roll gently to the desired size.
4. Preheat oven to 375.
Bake until nicely browned (about 15 minutes).

Dutch Baby!!

We haven't had this for a long time. It is always fun to see it grow in the oven and it tastes yummy! We made two because the kids ate it up so fast.


From our Family Favorites Cookbook
Recipe
4 to 6 servings
6 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 cup sifted bread flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
5 tbsp butter
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees & place cast-iron skillet (I like to use my 10-inch cast-iron skillet), in the oven until hot and sizzling. While pan is heating, prepare your batter.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy; add milk, flour, vanilla extract, and cinnamon; beat for 5 minutes more. The batter will be thin, but very smooth and creamy.
3. Using a potholder, remove hot skillet from the oven; add the butter; tilting the pan to coat the skillet. Pour the prepared batter into the skillet, all at once, and immediately return to the oven.
4. Bake approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and serve.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

We took our favorite bread dough and cut it up into a pull-apart loaf... add cinnamon and sugar... bake for 30 minutes and pour a cold glass of milk!

REALLY GOOD!!!!

National Cookie Day...

December 4th is National Cookie Day....so tonight we are going to make cookies....
I just don't know what kind to make. Any ideas?

Update....Grandma Harmon's Carrot Cookies w/ Orange glaze.
Scott grew up eating these every Thanksgiving or any other dinner at Grandma Harmon's.
Yummmm!

What's in a muffin....

So I wanted to try a recipe we had for orange pistachio muffins but I also wanted pancakes so I had both! Kinda.

I took the muffin recipe and cut out most of the sugar (all but a tablespoon) I also increased the water by about a cup so it would be the thickness of pancake batter. They turned out perfect. Light and fluffy and great orange flavor. I am not sure it would work with all muffin recipes but I don't know why it wouldn't. Try it with your favorite muffin recipe and let me know!

French Bread Rolls

For those that don't know we have created a recipe book of our favorite foods. We are working on the 2009 Edition which should be out before the end of summer. Come by the house and most likely we are cooking something out of the book or something we are thinking of adding to it.

We had roast for sunday dinner. YUM! I made these rolls and they were great. These would be great for french dip sandwiches, meatball sandwiches, BBQ beef sandwiches. Firm crust and light and fluffy inside. Of course they were also good with butter and strawberry jam. Dang I should have made a double order cause Grandma & Grandpa M and Grandma & Grandpa H came over and ate them all!



French Bread Rolls
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400º F.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cafe Rio

Cafe Rio Pork

3 pounds pork roast
3/4 cup coca cola
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3/4 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
2 limes, juice only
1 cups tomatilla sauce (see recipe)


Place the pork in a crock pot. Top with garlic and coca cola. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or until you can shred it with a fork. When pork is tender, remove it from crock pot and shred. Return meat to crock pot and mix in the remaining ingredients for the sauce. Cover and simmer on low until ready to serve.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

2 large jalapeño peppers
3 cloves garlic
2 tamatillos
1 handful cilantro
2 limes, juice only
2 cups milk
2 cups mayonnaise
2 packages Hidden Valley ranch salad dressing mix


Blend all ingredients except mayonnaise in blender until smooth. Whisk in the mayonnaise and chill until ready to serve.