Cranberry Honey Nut Bread

The filling:
1c. chopped nuts
3/4c. honey
1/3c. cranberries

Heat honey, nuts, and cranberries till thickened in a saucepan. Cool then use as you would cinnamon roll filling ( see our how to make cinnamon bread for instructions on shaping your loaf in your favorite bread recipe! We used the wheat bread recipe on our site. Be prepared for very pleased taste buds:o)

Sweet Potato Casserole

They look so innocent don't they!

What ya trying to do? Scald me!?!?!?

Poor things! Didn't even get used!

The Juicy Red Culprits!

TWD~ Summer Fruit Galette

Summer Fruit Galette? Looks pretty simple, so we thought!

Well, I think this was our first flop recipe in a while! It all started out when my sister and I looked at the recipe and saw.......................8 peaches, 9-10 plums, etc................one of the sisters said " I think we're supposed to pick one of those fruits. the other one said "No I think we're suppossed to use all the fruits named" We asked our mother, and she said that the recipe looked as if you should use all the fruits. So she went grocery shopping for us, and got our desired fruits. pluots, peaches, apricots, and we had rhubarb. Great! We thought now we'll just have to try it out...................well, after halving the fruit, and "trying to fit it into the pie crust, we came to the conclusion that we were only supposed to use 1 of the fruits. It was hilarious. Trying to see how much of this fruit we could fit into the crust...............we ended us cutting it into slices, and using all pluots, and apricots. The peaches that we took all the effort to blanch, and de-skin, we ended up freezing for another use sometime. ( we didn't even pull out our imported rhubarb from the freezer!) After getting all the fruit cut and into the crust, Mr. Crust decided that there was a little to much liquid on him, and started to stretch and get a little mushy:) Wonderful! We quickly popped it into the oven and watched it bake....................as one other person commented, pluots are a little to juicy for this dessert...........well we can vouch for that! It was a little soupy, and much tarter then I expected, but pretty good for all our catastrophes! I would love to try this recipe again "properly"

Hopefully next recipe will be a little less eventful:)

Till next time......................

Be sure to come back and see the Banana Chocolate Marble Loaf! We've got some really cool ideas on what we want to do with it!

Cinnamon Orange Coffee Cake

This recipe is a take off a Dorie Greenspans Cardamom Crumb Cake. Every Saturday the Boys in our house get to make breakfast, they really wanted to make this but we had no cardamom. So Sam my 13 year old brother got creative and added cinnamon and a little nutmeg instead. The flavor was really good. I enjoyed the orange zest a lot, also the coffee flavor was not really that noticeable to me.



For the Crumb:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. orange zest
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 stick butter

For the Cake:
1/4tsp.nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 c. flour
2tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
2/3 c. sugar
2 T. grated orange zest
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 cold strong coffee
11/2 tsp. vanilla

For the Crumb:
Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 8 inch pan(we used a 9in. round cake pan) and dust with flour. Put all the ingredients together except the butter toss to mix. Add the butter and using your finger or a spatula, mix everything together until till you have crumbs of different sizes. Don't over do it. Set aside.

For the Cake:
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and espresso powder in a bowl. Mix together the sugar and zest. Rub them together with fingers until sugar is moist and the orange fragrance strong, mix the dry ingredients in with the sugar mixture. Mix the wet ingredients together. Add the wet to the dry and stir do not beat to mix Stir until you have it evenly moistened.Scrape into prepared pan and top with crumb mixture. Pat the crumbs ever so gently into the batter. Bake for 30-35 min. or until cake has risen, the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve at room temp. or warm. Serves 8.

Eggplant Eggventures:o)

Esther and I have always wanted to try eggplant, but just never had....................until yesterday evening. At our local grocery store, eggplant was one of the lucky items on sale. So guess what? We of course got some, and tried for the first time, "Eggplant Parmesan"

It was so delicious! definitely a keeper recipe! You should try it if you haven't already........

Hannah

Look at that lovely color!

Slice it up

Roasted Garlic Grilled Flatbread

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 cup water, slightly warm (100-110F)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, or wheat plus more for dusting

1/2 cup barley flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp dried, minced roasted garlic (or fresh roasted)

olive oil and sea salt, for topping

In a small bowl, combine yeast and water. Stir to dissolve.In the bowl of a food processor, combine flours, salt, sugar and garlic and pulse to blend. Then, turn on the motor and gradually stream in the water/yeast mixture. Continue to whizz dough for 1-2 minutes, until dough becomes very smooth and satiny (feel free to stop the motor and check the texture with a touch). Add an extra tablespoon or two of all purpose flour if the dough becomes too sticky or if the humidity is very high in your area.Divide dough into four pieces and shape each into a tight ball. Place on a very lightly floured surface and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap or a slightly damp, clean dish towel. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.Working with one ball of dough at a time, place on a lightly floured surface.Flatten the dough into a thin disk, stretching the edges gently until the dough is about 1/4-inch thick. Shape is unimportant, but rustic breads look a bit prettier!Place dough on a tray and repeat with remaining dough balls.Turn on your grill, heating it up to 500F (or “high” if yours doesn’t have a reliable temperature gauge).Grease grill lightly with oil or cooking spray. Place each piece on the grill and close the top of the bbq. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, cooking until browned.Keep the grill closed for the first minute or so to help jump-start the cooking process (so all the heat doesn’t escape). Brush second side with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt before removing from the grill to serve.
Makes 4 flatbreads; serves 4-8.

I did not have a food processor, so I just used out mixer.

Eggplant Parmesan

INGREDIENTS
2 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
4-6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1T. fresh basil



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

TWD~Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

Well I would have to say we really enjoyed this weeks recipe much better then last week! The rhubarb and cherries were excellent together, the tart rhubarb with the sweet cherries, perfect! It also worked out well because my Moms birthday was this week and her favorite fruits are cherries and rhubarb. We did add a zest of one orange to the dough and added some more fruit as it seemed to need more filling. We also cut the cobbler dough into hearts for a more girly feel for her party! All together I really liked it but would have to say I enjoyed the mixed berry cobbler we made a few weeks ago better. (for TWD) Oh, I almost forgot since we are living in Texas we have not been able to find any rhubarb, the last week when we found out that we were supposed to make this we realized that our parents were going to Michigan for a surprise anniversary party for some friends so we asked our Mom to try and find some, she returned with lots of rhubarb and fresh cherries! Perfect for our cobbler! So we had imported fruit:)

Esther

Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler with Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream !

We also mad some rhubarb crumble ice cream to go along with our cobbler, WOW is all I can say! It was really amazing. To get the recipe go to http://www.mevrouwcupcake.com/ .

Chewy Chunky Blonde Brownies

I just realized but we have no blondie brownies on our website. In fact I have only made them one other time and they did not turn out, so I was a little leary on trying this recipe. But this recipe turned out fabulous, I changed the recipe a little and put macadamia nuts instead of walnuts, I really love walnuts but macadamia nuts are also one of my favorites and my Mom just bought a huge bag because they were on sale so I decided use those instead, and I'm glad I did.

Esther

2c. flour
3/4t. baking powder
1/2t. baking soda
1/2t. salt
1c. softened butter
1 1/2c. brown sugar
1/2c. sugar
2 eggs
1t. vanilla
6oz. chopped semisweet chocolate
1c. Heath toffee bits or butterscotch chips
1c. coarsely chopped macadamia
1c. sweetened shredded coconut

Heat oven to 325. Butter a 13x9 in. pan. Whisk together the dry ingredients, set aside. In a mixer beat butter on medium speed till smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 min. or until well incorporated. Add eggs one by one, beating for 1min. after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best as you can. Bake for about 40 min., or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to rack and cool 15 min. before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temp. Cut into 32 bars.

PB Granola

2T. butter

1/3c. honey

1/3c. PB

1t. vanilla

1/2t. salt

3c. oats

1/2c. raisins opt. or chocolate chips!

1/3c. peanuts opt.

Melt the butter, and peanut butter in a saucepan. Then stir in the vanilla, salt, and honey. Finally after they are all mixed together well, add the oats! Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10min. It will be crunchy. Let cool completely, then break apart and stir in addin's if desired!

Serving suggestions:

With milk

Over ice cream or mix in homemade ice cream!

Plain:)

Strawberry Shortbread

These dainty little cookies are great for a tea or with strawberry ice cream! You may not need as many as this makes, so feel free to cut the recipe in half!

Shortbread Cookie

2T. strawberry preserves

1c. butter softened

1/2t. almond extract

2 2/3c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/8t. salt

Strawberry Glaze

2T. strawberry jam

2c. powdered sugar

1/4t. almond extract

1T. milk

To make the cookie: Mix together the preserves, extract and butter till creamed. Drop onto film wrap, and shape into a log about 6in. long (using a spatula works great for the shaping) refrigerate 1-2hrs. or till firm.

Cut the butter mixture into the rest of the cookie ingredients. Just till mixture starts to cling together. Knead with you hands till dough is smooth. Form into a ball.

Roll out into 1/4in. thickness. Cut into desires shapes. Bake at 325 for 12-16min. Or till edges are slightly browned. Cool completely then icing them.

To make icing: MIcrowave the jam for 30sec. in the microwave. Then whisk in the powdered sugar, 1T. milk, and extract. You may need to add more powdered sugar, or milk to form your desired consistantcy.

Yields 76- 11/2 in. cookies; 54-2in or 30 2 1/2 in.

Mmmmmmmm Homemade Vanilla Ice cream!

TWD Chocolate pudding!

Well, unfortunately, Esther and I are not pudding fans. We made it and gave it to our family who liked it very much.....................we both had a bite, but decided that we're still not pudding girls :)

Sorry Dorie :( We had some fun thinking of different toppings to serve the pudding though.

The Cranberry Macadamia nut one was for Dad, and the peanut one we gave to the kids.

Looking really forward to next week's "Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler"

Pumpkin Pound Cake

1 1/2c. butter softened
2 3/4c. sugar
6 eggs
1 t.vanilla
3c. flour
3/4t. cinnamon
1/2t. baking powder
1/2t. salt
1/2t. ginger
1/4t. cloves
1c. canned pumpkin

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Then mix in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with the pumpkin. Just till blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9x5 in. loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 65-80 min. Or till toothpick inserted comes out clean.

You can 1/2 the recipe to make 1 loaf if 2 is too much.................

Big Daddy Biscuits

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup milk



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Mexalian Dinner

We had lots of bell peppers, onions, chicken, and pasta, so what do you do with those. Hum?!?!

Have Mexalian! (unique name!?!?)

It was a first time Hannah experiment that tasted, pretty good I think. Well everyone else liked it as well, so don't think I'm bragging ;o)

To have a Mexalian dinner yourself, here's what to do...................

Char grill some chicken, ( marinating it first with some Mexican spices such as chili powder, salt, cumin, and red pepper is great, but you could also use Italian dressing!) and cut juline style, or chunks. Your preference. Then slice bell peppers, any color will work, yellow, red, green, orange................and a few cloves of garlic. Oh and don't forget those lovely onions that make you cry :)

Saute those in a bit of olive oil till El dente.

Cook up however many noodles you want. Drain them.

Then the final step is to throw it all together! And whala! You've got Mexalian!

To give your meal more of an Mexican feel, bake up those Honey Wheat rolls with a Crunch posted below..........................or just whip together a salad if you don't have enough time.........

Um, nothing beats grilled chicken!