cinnamon rolls

My wonderful friend Becky sent my the Pioneer women's cookbook for my birthday. Honest it is like the best gift i have been given all year. The pictures are amazing. I could not wait to make the cinnamon rolls. The best part is that after you make the dough it can be kept in the fridge for THREE days before making or you can make them right then. I actually left mine in for 3 days and they were amazing. we did not make the frosting she did because i can not stand anything that taste like coffee but if i was going to take these anywhere i would have. i just can not get over how easy they were. I am not listing the recipe because I would love you to visit her blog and follow her recipe www.thepioneerwoman.com

peanut butter candy-cookies

these are how they are supose to look,




At our last moms night a friend brought these wonderful cookies. OOOH they were so good. So I harassed her until she shared the recipe. Made them and WOW, so easy and so yummy. Then I lost the recipe and had to harass her again. She has been so wonderful to me. When I was asked if I wanted to be in a cookie swap I of course said yes and knew exactly what I would make. There was just one problem the first batch came out flat, so I made it again and PERFECT. So I made another batch and they flopped and again, flopped and again perfect. In all I made 16 batches and got 11 dozen decent ones. I think I was not paying attention.
Here is the recipe
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 stick butter (thanks to my neighbors who let me borrow them last night)
1 stack ritz crackers (crushed)
1t vanilla
1cup peanut butter

1. boil butter, sugar and milk in sauce pan for 5 minutes (although i think 4 minutes worked best for my stove)
2. take off heat, add peanut butter, vanilla and crushed ritz crackers.
3. drop by spoonful onto wax paper and let cool.

can I just say that these are the best tasting cookies. no baking. sweat and salty and crunchy all in one.
I will definitely be making them again. Especially since I did not leave extra for my own family

mile high apple pie

I just love the name of it. Jump over and find some new fun recipes
I found a new blog, have I said how much I love blogging. Honestly I stole this idea from the today show. So for Thanksgiving I decided I could do it and it turned out great.




Presented by
Mile High Apple Pie
by: Martha Stewart
INGREDIENTS
Pate Brisee
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
Mile High Apple Pie
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
Deep-Dish Pate Brisee
5 1/2 pounds firm tart apples (about 14), such as Empire or Granny Smith
Juice of 2 lemons
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk



DIRECTIONS
Pate Brisee (makes enough for 6 double-crust 4-inch pies):

Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add water in a slow, steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into 2 disks. Wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate 1 hour to 2 days (or freeze for up to 1 month; thaw in refrigerator before using).

Mile High Apple Pie:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the smaller piece of pate brisee into a 15-inch round about 1/8-inch thick, dusting surface with flour to prevent sticking, as needed. Brush off excess flour. Roll dough around rolling pin, and place over a deep-dish 9-inch pie plate. Line plate with dough, pressing it into the corners. Trim dough to within 1 inch of the pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into an 18-inch round. Transfer round to a baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Peel and core apples, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices in a large bowl; sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon; toss with apple slices.

Remove remaining dough from refrigerator; place apple mixture into prepared pie plate, mounding it in a tall pile. Dot filling with butter. Place dough round over the apples. Tuck edge of top dough between edge of bottom dough and rim of pan. Using your fingers, gently press both layers of dough along the edge to seal, and crimp as desired.

Using a paring knife, cut several vents in top of dough to allow steam to escape. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk with 2 tablespoons water to make a glaze. Brush surface with egg glaze; sprinkle with sugar. Place on a baking sheet; this will catch any juices that may overflow during baking. Bake until crust is golden, about 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool completely before serving

zucchini bread

I just love the name of it. Jump over and find some new fun recipes
I found a new blog, have I said how much I love blogging.

I have never made it before. A friend asked if I could and I am always up for a challange. It was honestly quite easy. My friend Becky who always comes to my baking rescue gave me her recipe.
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/4 t. shredded lemon peel
1/2 cup cup chopped walnuts

Mix flour, cinnamon, soda, salt, b. powder and nutmeg.

In another bowl combine sugar, zucchini, oil, egg and lemon peel, mix
well. Add flour mixture; stir till just combined. Stir in walnuts.
Pour into greased 8 x 4 x 2 inch loaf pan
Bake 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes

pumpkin bread

For the first time ever I have cut and cooked pumpkin instead of using canned pumpkin. I tried my friend melly's www.proverbs31homemaking.com
the second is from allrecipes and the third is my friend angies.
Angies is Angie Allen Clark November 3 at 7:54am
3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 c. pumpkin (1-15 oz can)

dissolve baking soda in a few drops of water

cook on 350 for 1 hr
makes approx 3 loaves

(you can freeze the bread too)
good luck!

we actually enjoyed all three. i think i have made about 15 loaves this week. next we are making pumpkin pie.
the bread that is collapsed is because i forgot to add pumpkin. i know i think i have lost it, who would forget pumpkin in pumpkin bread

dish soap

I got this recipe from :
www.frugalhomeliving.blogspot.com
Homemade Liquid Dish Washing Soap
1 (7-oz) bar ZOTE or Octagon soap (or 1-2-3 brand soap) {Or cut a 14-oz bar in half}
5 qts. water
1 c. baking soda
1/4 c. washing soda
1/4 c. lemon juice

Grate bar soap and place into a heavy stockpot. Pour in water & stir. Heat over medium heat, stirring often until soap is melted. Remove pot from heat and add in baking soda, washing soda & lemon juice. Stir to mix well. Allow mixture to cool then pour into a seal-able container or reuse your store bought soap bottle.

(As the mixture cools in the pot it may begin to gel up and separate itself from the water. This is ok. Simply mix with whisk before filling containers and it will be fine.) This batch makes enough to fill a gallon milk container and (2) 16-oz soap bottles. So you certainly get your money's worth from it.


To use: Use as you would any store bought detergent. It cleans well, but you will notice that you don't get a lot of suds from it as you do with commercial brands. So don't let the lack of suds and bubbles fool you.

*Note about the 1-2-3 brand soap. I saw this soap next to the ZOTE at the store and thought why not give it a try. It was a few cents cheaper than ZOTE but is only 12+ ounces unlike ZOTE that is 14 ounces. But either way, I thought it would be worth a try.
Pam's notes:
i usedd half a bar of regular soap and it turned out great. she is right it does not really suds up, but after washing my glasses it really does clean well. the recipe made three juice bottles full and i pour the extra bit in my current soap bottle that had a couple tablespoons of soap left in it.

loave pans

a friend gave me a gift this week. i tried making wheat bread in it, i need practice on how much dough to put in each one. it was amazing to put it in my oven

pumpkin bread

this is one of the pumpkin bread recipes i made this week, can you guess what is missing and why it fell this way.

you would think it was yeast or baking powder. NOPE I forgot the pumpkin

pumpkin biscuits and syrup

I have really enjoyed cutting up, cooking and freezing pumpkin this week. I may end up giving away part of it before we move but it looks beautiful in the freezer. I wish pumpkin was something that canned well and I wish I knew how to can. To date I think I have made 15 loaves of pumpkin bread. okay, I am off topic. Here is the recipe, just for crystal who reminded me I had it a month ago.
Pumpkin Biscuits
2.5 cup all purpose baking mix (bisquick)
1/3 cup dry milk (can someone tell me how to buy this cheaper)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin
1 T water
1 1/4 pumpkin spice
Preheat 435
COMBINE baking mix, dry milk, sugar and pumpkin pie spice in medium bowl. Stir in pumpkin and water until just moistened
KNEAD dough 10 times on lightly floured surface. roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness. cut into 12 biscuits. place on ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart.
BAKE 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. spoon sauce over

Pumpkin maple syrup
mix 1 cup pumpkin, 1 cup maple syrup (pancake syrup), 1/4 t cinnamon in saucepan until warm

MY NOTES:
love it but a little pricey because of the milk
I did not roll out my biscuits, just used the large pampered chef scoop and did drop biscuits.
I also doubled both recipes and it was great.
The biscuits did seem a little moist when being dropped on baking stone but they cooked perfectly

pumpkin patch cake

Thursday was Hope and her art teachers birthday. So I decided to make them a cake for co-op. Then Rob got involved. So what ended up happening was I iced a sheet cake with homemade chocolate icing and then we took ground up chocolate grahm crackers and sprinkled on top to look like dirt. Then we took two bundt cakes and iced them with homemade orange frosting to look like a pumpkin. I made rice krispy treats for the stem and iced them with green icing. We then layed candy corn pumpkins all over the top.
Everyone enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday Rob

pumpkin patch cake

Thursday was Hope and her art teachers birthday. So I decided to make them a cake for co-op. Then Rob got involved. So what ended up happening was I iced a sheet cake with homemade chocolate icing and then we took ground up chocolate grahm crackers and sprinkled on top to look like dirt. Then we took two bundt cakes and iced them with homemade orange frosting to look like a pumpkin. I made rice krispy treats for the stem and iced them with green icing. We then layed candy corn pumpkins all over the top.
Everyone enjoyed it.

mudd

After watching the little couple on TV Rob asked me to make MUDD. So I took chocolate grahm crackers (left overs from the pumpkin cake) and layered into the bowl with pudding (mixed with cool whip) then more grahm crackers and more pudding, after each layer I added a few gummy worms. They all loved it.

chicken and biscuits

This evening I used my wonderful Deep covered baker AGAIN. I Put 4 chicken breast in the pan. Rubbed the chicken breast with olive oil and southwest seasoning. cooked it in the microwave for 12 minutes. WOW, so juicy and yummy.
The biscuits were a new recipe I got from my friend Melly. They are called Amish biscuits. They were really easy to make
2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1 c. milk
1 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth and drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
To look at Melly's recipe look here: http://www.proverbs31homemaking.com

pancake breakfast

Last night the girls and I helped with a pancake breakfast for american heritage girls. I am so proud of the girls. They not only had to sell tickets but they had to show up to help. The parents cooked, the older girls cleaned, faith's age wiped tables and help guest. the little ones greeted and showed people how to get food. I was really impressed with how from the beginning to the end the girls really worked hard. I really think this is due to the wonderful leadership in this group

hot cocoa

Update:
if you read this before today, i changed the amount you use, sorry, i read it wrong but it is still as goodmy friend becky gave me his recipe.
we have always bought store bought hot cocoa. last week i tried the recipe off of the hershey's cocoa and it was good but no where as good as this recipe. we made double the batch this afternoon. honestly, after my boys stood out in the cold for 3 hours selling popcorn they needed it.
so easy


hot cocoa
4 cups dry powdered milk (wow this stuff is more expensive than i realized)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup hershey cocoa
pinch of salt
put all ingredients in blender (food processor for me) to make it more of a powder.
To drink:
add 1/3 cocoa "MIX" to 1 cup water WOW it is so good

chocolate lava cake

OOPS, forgot to take a picture
Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

1 box Devil's Food Cake mix, prepared according to the box directions (add eggs, oil, water)
1 can prepared chocolate/fudge icing (best with Classic Chocolate Frosting)

Follow directions for the cake mix and pour batter into Deep Covered Baker. Using the medium scoop (or a spoon), drop scoops of icing on top of cake batter. Use all the icing... and it'll almost completely cover the batter, but don’t mix with the batter—just drop on top.

This actually works covered or uncovered. Cook 10 minutes in rotating microwave on HIGH or until done. The icing melts to the bottom and the cake cooks on top. Serve directly from Baker with a Bamboo Spoon or the spoon to the Beaded Serving Set with Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream.
WARNING: addicting!
this was so yummy, all the frosting melts to the bottom and is so wonderful.

i recieved this recipe from my pampered chef consultant

pumpkin cake

OOOH this was yummy.
1 box white cake mix
1 large can of pumpkin
mix together (do not add anything to the cake like eggs or water)
pour in deep covered baker and bake 12-18 minutes, it took 16 in mine. serve with cool whip. this is a great breakfast treat or desert.

dishwasher soap

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
4 packs unsweetened lemonade
a dash of salt if you have hard water

I use 2 Tablespoons per load, i also use vinegar in my rinse department

I have to seay we LOVE this. we get gack (as michael calls it)in our cups and after 2 weeks of using homemade we no longer have gac. I also do not rinse my dishes as I should and very often have the kids load the dishwasher

chicken in the deep covered baker

I am loving the pampered chef deep dish baker. Last night we made a chicken in 30 minutes. So easy, I rubbed (okay, okay rob rubbed) butter on the chicken with southwest seasoning (pampered chef). put it in the microwave for 30 minutes. put the thermomenter in and it said 165. we covered and let it set for about 10 minutes. WOW, do juicy, so yummy, so amazing, so easy. The recipe did say you could add potatoes and carrots and change the cooking time to 40 minutes and I might do that next time.
The second thing we had was pumpkin pie. It is actually the extra pumpkin I had from making mini pumpkin pies last week. Then we made (i made, rob rolled) homemade pastry dough and rolled it out. it was yummy, we baked in another piece of stoneware and it was yummy. I let the kids have the left overs for breakfast.

loaded potato soup-pampered chef style

I love this new recipe. I love my new deep covered baker (DCB). So many wonderful meals I can not wait to tell you about. Tonight was the first one. Here is the recipe. It is a pampered chef recipe and you can find it on there site under Loaded Baked Potato chowder.
1. slice 3 potatoes length wise and lay in DCB, pour 1/c cup milk over potatoes
2. bake 11 minutes, rotate potatoes
3. bake 11 more minute
while baking whisk 4 ounces cream cheese, add 3 cups milk
4. pour mixture over potatoes, microwave 3-5 more minutes
5. stir in 4 oz cheddar cheese (we used a little more)
EAT, OOOH YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!! so good that rob said we need to cook it for his parents when they visit. pampered chef suggest adding green onion tops and pepper but i am plain.

pampered chef

I had a pampered chef show a few weeks ago and this is most of the free stuff I got. because some is a birthday gift for my amazing birthday I did not show it. we both LOVE pampered chef. I thought it would be neat to show you the difference between my new stuff and my old stuff. We used the deep covered baker tonight to make the best potato soup ever but i will show that soon.