This crusty white bread is delicious, that's all there is to it. Paired with a little bit of my mom's muscadine jelly, it's absolutely addictive. It's the best thing since, well, sliced bread!
~Crusty White Bread
2 Envelopes of active dry yeast
2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees)
1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 T. salt
1 T. lemon juice
6 c. bread flour
1. Combine yeast, warm water, and 2 t. sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand five minutes Stir in eggs and next three ingredients, 3 c. flour, and remaining sugar. Beat dough at medium speed using paddle attachment until smooth. Gradually, beat in remaining 3 c. flour until soft dough forms.
2. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes), sprinkling surface with flour as needed. Spray bowl with Pam spray and place dough in turning to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap and place in microwave for about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down; turn out onto lightly-floured surface. Divide dough into thirds.
4. Roll each third into a rectangle. Starting at one short end, tightly roll up each rectangle jelly-roll fashion, pressing to seal edges as you roll. Pinch ends of dough to seal, and tuck ends under dough. Place each roll, seam side down, in a lightly greased loaf pan. Spray tops with Pam. Cover and let rise in microwave for about an hour or until doubled in bulk.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack and brush the tops with butter. Let cool for an hour before slicing.
When I first heard about butternut squash soup, I wasn't sure what to think. Would it be bland? Would it be slimy? Or would it be great? Something just kept telling me to give it a chance. So, with the assistance of my lovely mom, we jumped head first into a new recipe adventure. Now, let me just say, I my assumptions were completely wrong when it came to this odd looking squash. This soup is delicious!
~Butternut Squash Soup~
3 T butter
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
2 medium skinned potatoes , diced
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
¼ cup orange juice
1 T orange zest
3 cups vegetable stock
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
½ cup dried cranberries
Melt the butter in a large pot on medium, then add the onion. Stir to coat the onion in the butter and let cook until it starts to soften. Add the diced potatoes and squash and stir again. Let cook another 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
Add orange juice, zest and vegetable stock. Stir and cover the pot. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
Use an immersion blender or a Cuisinart to blend the vegetables into a nice thick and creamy soup. Once blended, add salt and pepper, tasting as you go.
Ladle soup into individual mugs or bowls and sprinkle with dried cranberries.
Makes 5-7 servings
This has been a craft that my family and I have made as long as I can remember. These turkeys are so easy and fun to make for kids and adults alike. Parent's will especially like them because there is virtually no mess... oh, and you can eat the chocolate icing along the way!
Ingredients:
1 can of chocolate icing
1 bag of candy corn
1 bag of chocolate covered cream drops
1 package of fudge striped cookies
Directions:
1. Spread icing on the bottom of the cream drops and place them on edge of the cookies, with the cookies stripes going vertically.
2. Turn a candy corn on its side and apply a thin layer of icing. Place on top of the cream drop.
3. Cut of the white tips of two candy corn and spread icing on them. Place them on the underside of the cream drop.
4. Allow the icing to dry before standing the turkeys upright.
5. Enjoy!
1 Bag of Kraft Caramels
5 medium apples
Popsicle Sticks
Wax paper
Wash, dry, remove the stems, and insert a popsicle stick into the apples. Combine 1 tablespoon of water and the bag of caramels in a saucepan, stirring often, until all caramels are melted. Dip and spoon the caramel over apples.
When I was little I used to think that the pulp and seeds of the pumpkin were just hindrances in the pumpkin carving process. It wasn't until last year that I discovered that the seeds can be roasted into a delicious snack!
2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds, cleaned and dried
1 teaspoon of sea salt
Non-stick cooking spray
1. Rinse and then spread seeds on a paper towel to dry overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
3. Make sure that all of the pulp is off of the seeds and then place them on the baking sheet.
4. Spray them with the cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.
5. Bake for 22-25 minutes (or until golden brown), turning the seeds after 12 minutes and letting them finish baking.
So on my never ending search for simple, delicious, and healthy food I created a fun recipe. I love anything caprese-- salads, sandwiches, etc. but I wanted to find an easier way to make it, thus the revamped caprese topping was born.
Ingredients
4 mozzarella cheese sticks
1 large tomato
A few leaves of fresh basil
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Directions
Slice the cheese stick into small rounds. Dice the tomato. Chop the basil finely. Combine mozzarella rounds, tomato, and basil. Pour balsamic vinaigrette over the mixture to coat thoroughly. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight to marinate. Place on top of grilled chicken, or just eat on its own!
For my wonderful sister's birthday, my Dad and Mom made her a beautiful Corn Hole set from scratch. So to continue on this theme, I decided to decorate her cake to look like a Corn Hole game. Needless to say, it didn't look nearly as good as the real set, but it sure was fun to do!
Ingredients:
1 Pound Cake
White icing
Green icing
Graham Crackers
M&Ms
Pretzel rods
Beige icing
Directions:
Ice the sides of the cake with white icing. Pipe the green icing on top of the cake with a star icing tip. Wet the rim of a small cookie cutter and gently press it through two graham crackers. Once the holes are in place, ice the crackers with the beige icing and place the M&Ms on top to resemble the corn hole bags. Push two pretzel rods into the cake and lean a cracker on top of it. Repeat with the other cracker. It's almost too cute to eat... but not quite!
