White BBQ Sauce recipe

Did you watch Good Morning America today?

Christy from Southern Plate made her peach pies for Al...they looked awesome! I'm a fan of hers and have tried several of her recipes. This is just a quick white BBQ dipping sauce I made to go with our fries for supper. It was tangy and delicious. I can't wait to get her book and try some more of her recipes!

English Toffee Recipe

A few years ago, Brent came home with a recipe for toffee that his boss made for an office Christmas party. He raved and raved about how wonderful it was. I already had a pretty good recipe I liked for toffee, but he said this one was much better. I didn't really think it would be, but I gave it a go.

It's awesome... buttery, crunchy, with a thick layer of milk chocolate...it's melt in your mouth good! I have made it every Christmas since. I don't even know where my old recipe is!

Brent was right again.{but we don't need to let him know}

Peter's Toffee

1 lb. of butter at room temperature
1 c. sugar
small package of crushed almonds
1 pkg. milk chocolate chips

In a large skillet, melt the butter and sugar on low heat. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture turns to a peanut butter brown color. Add 2/3 of the almonds and stir while it is still boiling. Remove from eat and pour into a jelly roll pan. Let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let melt. Spread and add remaining crushed almonds. Cool and break into pieces.

Have a

Peanut Brittle

This is one of my favorite Christmas recipes. It's super easy to make, stores well, and everyone loves it. I got the recipe a few years ago from one of my friends and have made it every Christmas since. I make about 4 batches as it disappears so fast!


Peanut Brittle
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. white corn syrup
1/4 c. water
1 c. raw peanuts
1 T. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. soda

Cook the sugar, corn syrup, and water until boiling, then add the raw peanuts. Continue to cook until caramel colored. Mix together the butter, vanilla and soda. Add to the syrup mixture. Pour onto a buttered and salted cookie sheet. As it cools, spread out with a spatula and flip over, keep spreading thin. When cool, brake into small pieces.

Dark Chocolate Haystacks

Whenever we go traveling we often stop at a candy store. I like to browse through all the wonderful treats. We always think we will try something new, but we never do. Brent gets a turtle, and I get a dark chocolate haystack. I love haystacks.

I had a half a bag of coconut left in my pantry so I thought I'd use it up and make myself some. I toasted the coconut, let it cool, and mixed it with a bag of semisweet chocolate chips that I melted in the microwave. I had a hard time not eating all the toasted coconut before I mixed it with the chocolate!

They'll make a nice addition to my Christmas tray...if I don't eat them all!


Haystacks

1/2 bag coconut, toasted and cooled
1 bag chocolate chips, melted
Mix and drop onto waxed paper. Let set until firm.

Grandma's Cinnamon Thumbs

When I was a little girl I used to love to go into my grandma's pantry around Christmas time and snitch these cookies. She kept them in large ceramic crocks. I'd sneak in and grab a handful. She also kept fatigmon in the crocks, and covered them with a fresh white cloth. I'd snitch a few of those,too. Here's one of her crocks...I still have it!

But my favorite cookie were these thumb shaped shortbread cookies covered in cinnamon and sugar. They just melt in your mouth!

Grandma's Cinnamon Thumbs

5 T. sugar
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix and roll into ladyfinger shapes. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  While hot, roll in a mixture of 1/2 c. sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon.

Mamie's Million Dollar Fudge Recipe

I tried a new fudge recipe this year. Usually I make my old standby, Fantasy Fudge, but this time I tried Mamie's Million Dollar Fudge. I found the recipe here on Food Network.

It's delicious...so rich and creamy! I love sinking my teeth into a thick chocolaty piece.

The recipe is easy and makes a ton....which is good as I plan to give it as gifts. I put a couple pieces a long with some of the caramels I made the other day in these cute little boxes:

They're all ready to go!

Baking with Dorie, Sables

Today's recipe can be found on page 131 of Baking with Dorie, from my Home to Yours. You can check out the other bakers here.

Today was my turn to choose! I wanted a cookie that would be good for Christmas baking. I love shortbread and this is wonderful. I rolled some in pecans, and some in sugar. I think I liked the pecans the best!

They were rich and buttery...and easy to make, which is always a bonus!


Sables

2 sticks {8 ounces} unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. salt, preferably fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 c. flour
decorating {coarse} sugar

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and very creamy. Add the sugars and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. The mixture should be smooth and velvety, not fluffy and airy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the eggs yolks, again beating until the mixture is homogeneous.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over he stand mixer to protect yourself from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed 5 times, a second or tow each time. Take a peek- if there is still a lot of lour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple more times: if not remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 0 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough and the dough looks uni formally moist. If most of the flour is incorporated, but you've;e still got some in the bottom of the bowl, use a rubber spatula to work the rest of the flour into the dough.} The dough will not clean the sides of the bowl, nor will it come together in a ball-and it shouldn't. You want to work the dough as little as possible. What you're aiming for is a soft,moist,clumpy{rather than smooth} dough. Pinch it, and it will feel a little like Play-Dough.

Scrape the dough out onto a smooth work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long: it's easiest to work on a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the log. Wrap the logs well and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours, preferably longer.{ The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.}

Getting ready to bake:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Remove a log of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and place it o a piece of parchment paper or wax paper. Whisk the egg yolk until smooth, and brush some of the yolk all over the sides of the dough-this is the glue-then sprinkle the entire surface of the log with decorating sugar.

Trim the ends of the roll if they're ragged, and slice the log into 1/3 inch thick cookies. {You can make these as thick as 1/2 inch or as thin as-bit no thinner- than 1/4 inch." Place the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving an inch of space between them.

Bake one sheet at a time for 17 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the midway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on the top: they may feel tender when you touch the top gently,a nd that's fine. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest a minute or two before carefully lifting them onto a rack with a wide metal spatula to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining log of dough, making sure the baking sheets are cool before the second batch.



Lefsa Recipe

I finished this years lefsa! It takes me all afternoon to make a batch, but it's worth it. We love it with butter and sugar or just plain....but I do NOT eat it with lutefisk! That's one thing I could never learn to eat. The smell alone is enough to turn me off! Every year we had lutefisk and lefsa for Christmas Dinner. My Dad would  take a lefsa and pile on some lutefisk, pour melted butter on it before rolling it up to eat it. He made me take a bite each year..hoping I'd grow to like it. It never worked!

BUT..... I do LOVE lefsa!

I make my lefsa a small, round, plate sized shape, that when rolled up looks like this:

My recipe makes about 70 and we eat every one! I don't have a lefsa grill, but I do use a lefsa stick, board, and rolling pin. I just fry them in a non stick pan.

I was taught how to make lefsa when I was a kid and I have made it every year since I learned how. A few years ago, I got this book for Christmas...it's a fun read..and also has some great hints and helps on making lefsa. It also has alot of recipes for lefsa.

Lefsa recipes can be very controversial. Everyone has an opinion and of course, and thinks theirs is the best. I like em all! But after trying alot of lefsa recipes over the years, this one is my favorite. I like using real potatoes...I think it gives a better flavor.

{Here's a link to my post last year on lefsa.}

Lefsa

12 c. boiled and riced potatoes {7-8 lb. white russets}
1 c. whipping cream
1 and 1/2 sticks butter
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. salt

Melt butter,add sugar,salt and cream. Mix into riced potatoes while they are still warm. Cool over night. Mix half at a time..2 cups flour with each half. Roll out and fry.

Caramels

I love caramels. Especially homemade ones.

But.... I couldn't find my old recipe. So, I tried a new one that I found here at sisters cafe. It was a good choice.  They turned out wonderful. Soft and chewy, buttery and delicious, I think they're even better than my recipe!

I cut them into 1 inch squares and wrapped them in wax paper. I plan to give some as gifts. I found some cute little boxes I want to decorate and fill. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do that tomorrow afternoon!

Cardamom Bread

 I love the taste of cardamom! This bread is one we really enjoy. It makes 3 loaves, perfect for freezing or giving as gifts. I like to top it off with some almond flavored icing and sprinkle it with sliced almonds.

This Christmas I had a hard time finding cardamom. One grocery store said it was just too expensive to carry. Wally's had the already ground kind..pretty expensive too. So I checked our other grocery store and they had fresh cardamom  for a decent price. I was beginning to get worried we wouldn't have our bread this year!

Here's the recipe:

Cardamom Bread

2 pkgs. dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1/3 c. warm water

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. oil

1 c. warm milk

3 beaten eggs {save 1 T.to mix with 1 T water for egg wash over bread}

3 heaping tsp. freshly ground cardamom

5 1/2 -6 c. flour

decorative or pearl sugar

Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in warm water. Mix yeast with 1/2 c. sugar, salt. oil, milk, eggs, cardamom, and 2 c. flour. Let stand 15 minutes.

Stir in 3 1/2-4 c. flour.Knead 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl. let rise 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Divide each part into three 18" long strands and braid together. Place each braid on a greased cookie sheet and let rise 30 minutes. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with decorative or pearl sugar. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

When cooled, frost with almond flavored icing and top with sliced almonds.

Kringlar

I was first introduced to Kringlar by Brent's Grandma Anne. She was a sweet, kind and gentle person that we loved so much. I can't tell you how many times I still think of her, especially when I am baking, as she loved to bake,too. She shared many of her recipes with me that I use quite often.  Over this past Thanksgiving,  Brent's Aunt let me go through Grandma's recipe boxes. I LOVED looking through them, and found several I plan to try.

The first Christmas after Brent and I were married, Grandma brought over a special wooden board and canvas cover that she had made herself, especially to use for Kringlar. She gave me the recipe and showed me how to make the dough, sifting the dry ingredients 3 times before adding the cream and buttermilk. Then she patiently showed me how to roll them pencil thin, and shape them into the figure 8. Hers were PERFECT!

Although mine never turn out as wonderful as hers, I still make a batch every year. I think if she spent that much time showing me how, that it meant alot to her for me to carry on the family tradition. So I do. Of course Brent loves them, and eats them no matter how they look!

They take a bit of time to make, but they are worth it! I am not sure how to describe them, as they are not really a cookie, yet not really a bread. Brent's family likes to slather them with butter and eat them any time of day...while I like them for breakfast. They are soft, slightly sweet, and the cardamom flavor shines in every bite!

Grandma Anne's Kringlar
1 c.buttermilk
1 c. sweet cream
1 c. sugar
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. crushed cardamon seed

Sift dry ingredients 3 times. Add the liquid and stir well. Taking a tsp.of dough, roll out on a floured board pencil thin, shaping into a figure 8. Place on a greased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 until lightly browned.

Sandbakkel Cookie Recipe

I dug out my sandbakkel tins and made a batch to freeze for Christmas. It's been a few years since I've made these. I forgot how good they are!

Sandbakkel are a Scandinavian type shortbread cookie baked in special tins. You can find the tins here. I got my tins from my mom. They are a bit battered, but seasoned well after so many uses. When you first get them, you need to butter them and put them in the oven for awhile. You aren't supposed to wash them after use....just wipe them clean.

These cookies are a bit putsy. First you have to spread the dough evenly in the tins with your fingers, bake them, cool them a bit, then tap them until the cookie falls out. I only have about a dozen tins, so the process takes a few hours before they are all baked. But once they are done, you have a delicious almond shortbread type cookie!

They are good plain, or used as a tart and filled with cream and berries. I love them both ways!

Tasty Tuesdays

It's a blog party

Tuesdays at the Table

Tempt My tummy Tuesday

Sandbakkel

1/2 c. sugar
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. powdered sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c.butter
1 egg
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour

Mix well. Press into tins and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Mondays with Mom, 4H Bread Recipe

Every Saturday when I was growing up, we had chores to do. We either had to scrub the kitchen and dining room floors or help with the bread baking.

I remember getting paid 35cents for the kitchen floor and 50 cents for the dining room floor. We used a scrub brush and Fells Naptha bar soap, scrubbing on our hands and knees. By the way, that soap really works. When my son was in baseball I used it to take off agralime and grass stains from his uniforms. Check out the link for it's many uses!

Anyway, I don't remember how much we got for making the bread. I hardly ever got too. My second oldest brother always chose that. {He made really good bread,too.} So I was stuck with the floor. When I was really little I could hardly wait to be old enough to earn the money. After scrubbing them a few times I wasn't so excited anymore!

I am the youngest in my family, in fact my youngest brother is 7 years older than I am. So when he got older, involved in school activities and summer jobs, AND we got carpet in the dining room...which meant less scrubbing...I learned how to bake the bread! It was alot better than scrubbing!

This recipe is one my older sister started baking during 4H. Mom, or whoever did the baking that week, always made a 9x 13 pan of cinnamon rolls and the rest into buns. We ate the rolls for Sunday breakfast and the buns for Sunday dinner. We had a beef pot roast every Sunday after church....never fail...and I loved dunking the rolls into mom's rich beef gravy!

I really like this recipe, but of course I had to change it a bit. Mom usually just sprinkled brown sugar in the bottom of the 9x13 pan for the cinnamon rolls. She added a bit of milk, a few dots of butter too.

But after making Pioneer Woman's rolls several times, I knew her Maple frosting would taste wonderful on this bread,too.

In fact, it's awesome!

4H Bread

2 packages dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water

1 1/2 c. lukewarm milk, scalded and cooled

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

7 c. flour

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the cooled milk and shortening. Stir well and add the rest of the ingredients. Knead for 5-10 minutes. Let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and let rise again, about 30 minutes. Punch down and shape into rolls. Let rise again and bake at 350 until lightly browned.

White castle sliders

Check this recipe out here.

Every night if I get a chance, I'm on the computer reading cooking and stamping blogs. There are so many that I like, that my list of favorites is a mile long. When I see a recipe I want to try, I put it in a folder,which is getting quite long,too.

This recipe has been sitting in my folder. White Castle Sliders.They just look so good and would be so easy to make for a crowd. I wish I would've had this recipe when my kids were still home. It would have been so easy to throw in the oven for their friends!

I cut the recipe in half and made just a 9" pan for us. They were REALLY tasty! So simple and flavorful.

Fun to make and fun to eat!

 

Turkey Pot Pie Recipe

One of my friends makes this pot pie quite often and has passed the recipe along..seems like I am the last one of my friends to give it a try. I had it on my "must try" pile but just haven't made it for one reason or another. After hearing my friends talking about how wonderful it is again, this time I went straight up town and bought the ingredients!

It's IS wonderful! I can see why everyone loves it. Rich, flavorful, thick and creamy are just a few words that come to mind! AND it was so easy. Next time I will take my friends advice and make two....one to eat and one for the freezer.

The only change I made was to use turkey instead of chicken. I used some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving that I had frozen.  I wanted to make my own crust but decided I really didn't have the time...so I used the premade kind. I always have trouble with the bottom crust getting done as it's so thick, so this time I rolled the crust pretty thin. It worked really well.

If you want to give this delicious pot pie a try, you can find the recipe at allrecipes. I know I'll be making this often!

 A Beautiful Mess
Whatcha Makin Wednesdays

Baking with Dorrie, Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake

Today's Baking with Dorrie recipe is Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake and can be found here, or on page 238 of Baking, from My Home to Yours.

I changed the recipe quite a bit. First, I used gingerbread graham crackers for the crust instead of ginger snaps. I had never seen them before and wanted to give them a try. They are awesome for crusts! However just eating them plain...I don't know. The ginger flavor is too strong. I was going to take the leftover packs to school for snacks for the kids but I don't think they would care for them. I 'll still try though and see what they think.

The next thing I did was cut the recipe in half and make just a small cheese cake. I also decided not to do the apple layer. Believe it or not I am not a fan of fruit on my cheese cake. I like it plain.

I love cinnamon and I could really taste it in every rich, creamy bite. This was a fun recipe to try..and we enjoyed it very much!

Easy Chili Recipe

When the weather gets cold I like to make this super easy chili. I always have the ingredients on hand and it goes together quickly. I like to make a big pot and freeze it in small containers for our lunches during the week. I love having something hot for lunch at school as it's always so cold in our classroom, so this is a nice way to warm up!



Easy Chili

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans
1 can tomato soup
2 tsp. chili powder

Brown hamburger and onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 1 hour.

Crunchy Cookies

This recipe is one of many I copied down from a Taste Of Home. One summer I worked in a ticket booth at a local amusement park and often had alot of free time in between sales. Especially on rainy days. I would page through the magazines and copy down all the ones I wanted to try someday.

Someday is here for Crunchy Cookies!! Here they are:

What attracted me to these was the almond flavor. I love anything with almond.  This recipe had plenty of almonds, coconut and chocolate chips! They were kind of like a "kicked up" chocolate chip cookie. They were crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. A nice addition to my cookie jar recipes!

Crunchy Cookies

1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. coconut
2 c. milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. chopped almonds

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and extracts. Add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well. Fold in the coconut, almonds, and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

Oatmeal Bread

I love making bread. I love the smell as it's baking, and the warm cozy feeling it gives the whole house. I love slicing off that first crusty piece, and eating it with some butter while it's still warm! Is there anything better? I don't think so!

I don't make it as often as I used too, though. I think I need to start making it once a week again! This recipe is one of my favorites. The molasses flavor really shines through. I like to put butter and jam on a thick slice for breakfast or even just for a snack.

This time I made some into buns,too. I froze them for the Holidays, but that didn't last long. After a few days I dug them out...I'll have to make some more now!

Oatmeal Bread

1 c. oatmeal
2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. molasses
3 Tbsp. shortening
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. luke warm water
2 packages dry yeast
5 1/2 - 6 c. flour

Combine the first five ingredients, mix and cool. Mix the luke warm water and yeast, dissolving completely. Combine the two mixtures and add the flour. Knead until a smooth ball is formed...about 10 minutes. Put in a greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and form into loaves. Put in well greased pans.Let rise until double in size and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.