Kolaches, the recipe

Yesterday her nose looked like she didn't like them, but really I caught her in a 'snifff'.
She couldn't wait for her treat!

Sorry I didn't take pictures as we worked. I will do my best to explain clearly what we did.

Kolaches

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
  
• 3 T sugar, rounded
• 1 cup milk, heat to simmering and cool enough so it won't kill your yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast (1 pkg) I use SAF Instant Red in all my baking
  
• 1/8 cup warm water
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 - 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• fruit filling*
• thinned icing
  

Mix butter, sugar, milk, and salt in a mixing bowl (I used my Bosch mixer with the dough hook). In a separate bowl, soften yeast in warm water. Add yeast mixture and eggs to butter mixture. With the dough hook, mix in 3 cups flour. Add up to 1/2 cup more flour to create a very soft, smooth, sightly sticky dough. Knead 3 - 4 minutes. Place dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let rise for 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Using greased hands, break off walnut sized portions of dough. Roll into a ball, place on a parchment lined cookie sheet (or a greased cookie sheet), and flatten into a 2 1/2 to 3 inch circle. Repeat with remaining dough. Dough will begin to slightly puff up. Using your fingers, make an indent in the center with a lip around the edge. Generously fill the centers with fruit filling. Gently cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 - 2 hours. Brush edges with butter. (The edges will grow a lot in the oven.) Bake at 400* for 8 - 10 minutes. Let cool.

Drizzle with thinned icing.

My kiddo's loved helping me make these!

Homemade Chocolate...

Ding Dong?
Or is it a Twinkie?
Maybe it's a HoHo.
Really I have no clue.
I can't remember the last time I bought a Hostess product. No offense Mrs. Hostess, I am sure your products taste good. However, some of those things you put in you food... what are they and how do you pronounce them?
And really, Mrs. Hostess, couldn't you come up with better names?

Anyway, on to a treat with real ingredients, ones you can pronounce. I have a thing against eating food with ingredients I can't pronounce, but that is for another day. I promise you, these will melt in your mouth and your taste buds will be begging you for another bite!

These cupcakes are delicious!
Sinfully good.
And very easy.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk, I use 2%
  
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt.
   
2. Stir in the eggs, milk, water, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
   
3. Fill each muffin cup half to three quarters full.
4. Bake @ 375* for 15 to 20 minutes for regular sized muffins and 10-15 minutes for mini muffins The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not over bake! Let me repeat, Do not over bake!The top of your muffins should look moist.

Filling

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 3-4 T milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
  

Beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Mix in 3 cups powdered sugar and pinch of salt. Gradually beat in 3 T milk and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to create a thick and creamy filling. You are going for the consistency of the filling in a cream filled donut. Scoop filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium tip. Insert the tip into the top of a cooled cupcake and squeeze gently until your cupcake puffs up, but don't squeeze too much or your cupcake will burst and filling will be oozing out the cracks. Not really a bad thing, but they won't look pretty. And in my kitchen, looks count :)

My cupcakes were ever so slightly warm when I filled them, I was in a hurry. But they still turned out great!

After you have filled them, frost with a chocolate butter-cream icing.
I wanted mine to look pretty so I varied the design.

And I couldn't leave them plain, so I added some color.
Delicious!

So delicious in fact, my daughter was caught, frosting fingered, eating one in the basement of our friends house while we were watching the football game.
That good I'm telling you.
But what I won't tell you is where I hid to eat my 2nd er a 3rd one :)
Enjoy!

Homemade Marshmallows

Who knew you could make marshmallows? Not me until a couple of years ago. Once you feel comfortable making the recipe, the ways to tweak it are endless. Add food coloring to create colored marshmallows. Change up the flavoring, use peppermint,almond, lemon... instead of vanilla. Spread it on a jellyroll pan and use greased cookie cutters to cut out shapes, roll them in hot cocoa mix...
These are just plain delicious!
Ingredients:
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
3/4 hot water
1 cup light corn syrup, divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar to roll marshmallows in

Butter an 11x8 pan, set aside

In a large mixing bowl (stand mixer bowl works best) soften gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water.

In a 2 qt saucepan, combine hot water, 1/2 cup syrup and sugar. Heat over high heat, while stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Clip on a candy thermometer and cook until the mixture reaches 238-244*. Do not stir mixture after it comes to a boil.

Remove syrup from heat and stir in remaining 1/2 cup syrup.
Using an electric mixer on low speed(stand mixer is easiest), slowly and carefully pour hot cooked syrup into the gelatin mixture. Once all of the syrup has been added, increase mixer speed to high. Beat for 10 - 15 minutes.

Taste some to make sure it is good.

Spoon marshmallow mixture into buttered pan.

Let cool approx 3 hours.
Flip out onto a powdered sugared surface.
Cut marshmallows with a knife dipped in hot water.

Roll marshmallows in powdered sugar to prevent sticking.

Store in an air tight container to prevent drying out.

I am so making this...

for a Christmas appetizer. I found it at MarilynMoll.

"The BLT Bruschetta recipe below is a simple gourmet delight, very delicious, you must try it!"

BLT Bruschetta

5 Slices Maple flavored Bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ C. finely chopped seeded tomato
½ C. finely chopped leaf lettuce
½ C. prepared pesto, divided
½ C. shredded Mozzerella, optional
2 Tbsp minced fresh basil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 10 ½ oz loaf French Bread, sliced thin
3 Tbsp Olive oil

Brush French Bread with olive oil and toast by baking at 400° F 9-10 minutes – watch closely- until golden brown. Mix crumbled bacon with finely chopped tomato. Spread pesto mixture on each slice.
Sprinkle with a little Mozzerella. Heat until cheese is melted and garnish with chopped lettuce and basil.

pickle wraps

It's not a Celebration without Pickle Wraps at our house...

What you need:

• Corned Beef, thin sliced but not shaved
• Dill Pickles
• Cream Cheese
  

*Lay Out Corned Beef, spread with softened cream cheese.
Lay pickle on top.

Roll up into a log.

Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.

Cut off end extras. Cutremaining into bite size slices.

Chill until ready to serve.

Simple Gingerbread Houses

We Love making 'Gingerbread' Houses in the winter. We use graham crackers, instead of baking our own.
The secret is in the icing.
Royal Icing
3 egg whites
1# powdered sugar
*Whip together for 8-12 minutes. Icing will get fluffy and fairly stiff, but not dry. It should look like this...

Keep your icing covered with a damp cloth or it will begin to harden.
Gather odds and ends of dry food items and candy, and you are all set.

I rubber band the decorating bags closed so the icing doesn't squirt out the back for the children.

Start by spreading icing on a plate or piece of card board. Place two of your graham cracker walls on the icing, then ice the cracks. Repeat with the other walls. Wait 10 - 15 minutes and then do the roof.

Let the houses sit for 10 or so minutes before decorating to harden. When the icing is dry, the houses will be very solid and stable.

You can use... sugar cones and dyed coconut flakes/sprinkles to make trees, beans for side walks, rice chex and golden grahams for shingles, noodles for mailbox posts, gum drops for shrubs, pretzels for fences, brown sugar for dirt, pretzel rods for a log cabin, animal crackers for animals, Keebler Elves for people...
Let your imaginations run wild!
It's so much fun!

Homemade Twinkies

This is a process, however, it is easier than it may look...

1. BROWNIE ~ make two recipes
2 c flour

2 c sugar

4 T cocoa

* mix well, set aside.

1 c water

½ c butter

½ c oil

Bring water, butter and oil to a boil.

Add to flour mixture. Beat until creamy.

Add:

½ c buttermilk

1 tsp soda

2 eggs

Beat until well mixed. Pour into a greased jellyroll pan.

Bake at 400* for 18 - 20 minutes.

2. CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1 c sugar

6 T butter

½ + c milk

Boil for 1 minute.

Add:

1 ½ c chocolate chips

Beat until thick . Add additional milk if needed to create a thick, spreadable frosting. Spread on one of the chocolate brownie pans

3. CREAM FILLING
2 c shortening

2 c powdered sugar

12 oz marshmallow crème

½ tsp salt dissolved in 1 T water

1 T vanilla

*Mix all ingredients.

Cream until light and fluffy.

Spread cream filling on top of the chocolate frosting. Try to keep it even & level.

4. Flip plain chocolate brownie pan on top of the pan with the frosting & cream filling.

Cut into bars.

Breakfast

Yip, I am one of those mothers who thinks breakfast is a VERY important meal :) My children must eat it everyday! And at our house donuts and pop tarts don't count, even if they are made from organic sugar, eggs and lard. Do we ever have donuts? Yes, but they are a special treat. I will admit, I do make them drink a Probug or a yogurt before we go to the bakery. I want their 'guts' to be full of good bacteria to fight all that sugar!

So, what do we eat for breakfast? My oldest loves smoothies, my middle child loves oatmeal and my baby loves yogurt, avocados (a great brain food for babies) and bananas. We also have Eggs in a Whole and Whole Wheat Pancakes. I keep a homemade Pancake mix in the freezer so they are a snap to make. So here we go, the 'dump' recipes... and a more exact pancake mix recipe:)

Fruit Smoothie ~ 1 big kid serving
1/2 - 1 cup kefir or 1 Probug
1 raw egg for protein
1 banana, for sweetness and a creamy smoothy
1/2-1 cup frozen blueberries/mixed berries, for anti oxidants
1 T ground flax seed for Omega 3's
Blend away ~ and drink

Oatmeal ~ 1 serving
1/2 cup steel cut or old fashioned oats
1 T ground flax seed
mik to cover
*let soak 2-3 hours or overnight in refrigerator
Mircowave 1 - 1 1/2 minutes or cook on stove top until tender. Add more milk, a little Agave Nectar and cinnamon.

Eggs in a Whole
Tear whole in center of bread. Butter both sides. Put in frying pan, break egg into whole. Cook on med/low. Flip when whites are cooked. Watch carefully if you like runny yellows.

Pancake Mix
7 1/2 Cups Fresh Ground White Whole Wheat
6 T Rumford Baking Powder
6 T Sugar
3 tsp sea salt
2 cups powdered milk
*Mix and store in Freezer
To make pancakes mix:
1 1/4 cup mix
3/4 - 1 1/4 cup water or milk *use more liquid for pancakes, less for waffles
2 T oil or melted butter
1 beaten egg
Optional: cinnamon, blueberries, apple chunks, dried fruit or raisins
*Cook on hot griddle of waffle iron. We use Agave Nectar for syrup.

Homemade Marshmallows

Did you know you can make marshmallows? They are 100 times better than the ones you can buy!

Marshmallows

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
½ cup water
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

¼ tsp salt
1-2 tablespoon vanilla extract (I like Watkins)
Confectioner's sugar for coating

1. Butter a 9x13 inch pan and set it aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over ½ cup water. Cover the bowl and set it aside to allow the gelatin to soften until needed.

3. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and the remaining ½ cup water in a heavy saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture comes to a boil.

4. Clip a candy thermometer to the inside of the pan and cook the syrup over high heat without stirring until it reaches 238-240* F (soft ball stage).

5. Slowly add the syrup to the gelatin. When incorporated, turn the mixer on high, beat for 10 minutes, or until the mixture triples in volume and becomes very stiff. Add the vanilla.

6. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Smooth the top as much as. Set aside uncovered for 8 to 10 hours at room temperature or until mixture is cool.

7. Dust a large cutting board with confectioner's sugar. Sift additional confectioner's sugar over the top of the marshmallow. Don't skimp! Run a small knife around the edge of the marshmallow to loosen it from the pan. Invert the pan onto the prepared cutting board. You may need to coax the marshmallow out of the pan with your fingers. It may also be a little sticky. Sift more confectioners' sugar over the marshmallow once you have unmolded it.

Cut the marshmallow into squares using a pizza roller or sharp knife. Dip the cut sides of the marshmallows in additional confectioner's sugar. Shake off the excess sugar and store the marshmallows in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.