Week 18 - Maple Granola

This recipe is from my Aunt Tami. My mom made it and I LOVED it. I am not a big breakfast person or cereal eater, but I love this in a bowl with milk. It is also good with icecream and yogurt and berries!

I have made one change to the original recipe -- which is adding Rice Crispies -- it makes the granola just a tad lighter in texture and feel.

12 cups rolled oats (I used quick rolled oats) -- this is exactly the amount in a #10 can)
8 cups of chopped nuts (in this case I did 2 2/3 cup chopped walnuts, 2 2/3 cup chopped pecans, and 2 2/3 cup slivered almonds)
4 cups Rice Krispies (I used a generic brand of puffed rice cereal)

Mix all of these in a very large bowl.

In a small bowl combine the following

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups maple syrup (I don't use the REAL maple syrup, just maple flavored breakfast syrup)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp salt

Pour the sauce over the dry ingredients until they are all slightly damp from it. Then spread over jelly roll pans (or 9X13 pans) to place in a 250 degree oven for about one hour and 15 minutes. Take out the pans and stir every 20 minutes or so. When they are crunchy and not wet they are done. The picture is of 2 batches of this recipe.

If you would like to start small-- here is the recipe in small amounts
3 cups oats
2 cups nuts
6 Tbs brown sugar
6 Tbs maple syrup
1/4 cup oil
3/4 tsp salt

Week 13 - Imitation Vanilla Scones

So on pioneerwomancooks.com I saw these Petite Vanilla Bean Scones.  I don't know exactly why . . .but I had to make them.  They looked so good and yet they seemed so different from my "traditional" understanding of scones (think fried bread - more like a doughnut bread). 

So I went to the store and looked for vanilla beans.  HOLY EXPENSIVE STUFF!  Since the recipe called for 2 of them this would have cost me $32.  At my store they were $15.99 each.  OUCH!

So I made them without, using my vanilla extract (subbing 1 1/2 tsp for each bean).  It was not as vanilla-ey as I wanted so next time I would use 2 tsp.  (but there will probably not be a next time)

They were so very cookie like.  Just thicker.  Not the doughnut bread I thought of when I thought of scones. 

They were very good with Hot chocolate (and I am sure that is why they sell them at Starbucks because they are probably good with coffe -- but I wouldn't know as I am not a coffee drinker). 

SCONES


3 cups All-purpose Flour
⅔ cups Sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled
1 whole Large Egg
¾ cups Heavy Cream (more If Needed)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or more if you'd like

GLAZE
3 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
½ cups Whole Milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Dash Of Salt

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add vanilla to cream. 
Sift together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cut cold butter into pats, then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs.

Mix vanilla cream with egg, then combine with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork just until it comes together.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary.

Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles.

Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

VANILLA GLAZE

Add vanilla to milk. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

Week 11 -- Egg in the Hole

Today at the Library, my neighbor was reading the Food Network Magazine.  She showed me the cover and said, "Doesn't that look delicious?"  I laughed -- given that we eat "egg in the hole" several times a week.

Honestly, I hardly think it warrants a recipe.  It is very easy.

It does have some advantages I thought I would share.  

1.  It is "eggseptionally" quick to make.

2.  You don't need utensils to eat it. 

3.  You can wrap a paper towel around it and head out for the bus.

Using a cookie cutter or whatever you have on hand (the top of a glass) cut a hole in the bread.  At our house we always use a heart cookie cutter.  

Heat a skillet (or griddle).  Spray on some non-stick spray and lay the bread down.  Crack an egg in the hole.  Two of my kids do not like the yolk -- so for them I immediately take a fork and scramble the egg in the middle of the hole.    Wait 2-3 minutes and turn.  (Unlike the photo where they didn't turn it) but I like mine cooked nearly all the way through. 

With a large griddle I can cook 4 at a time (one for each kid), I put them on paper towels and they either eat them at the table or take them and head out the door for the bus.  Either way . . .  NO DISHES!  And that is really what makes a successsful breakfast at our house.

Breakfast sausage bake

I always make 2 casseroles dishes of this at a time.

What you need
6 cups cubed stuffing
1 pound sausage
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
16 eggs
2 tsp dry mustard
3 cups milk
1 family size cream of mushroom soup (or 2 regular cans)

Get out 2 casserole pans (9 x 13)

Spray with non-stick spray.

Measure 3 cups of cubed seasoned stuffing (I always used the Pepperidge farm) into each pan.

Brown a 1 pound roll of sausage. I get it really browned. Sprinkle 1/2 of the sausage into each pan.

Put 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese into each pan.

In 2 separate bowls mix the following - 8 eggs, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 can cream of mushroom soup (or 1/2 the family size one)

Mix well and then pour each bowl over each pan.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning bake at 300 for 1 1/2 hours uncovered.

(I take the second pan and move it to the freezer for another day!)

The Only reason I have a bread machine

• I love my bread machine. I have never made bread in my bread machine. I only use it for roll dough, but I probably use it 2-3 times each week. I always use the same recipe and it never fails me. So go find a bread machine with a dough cycle (i saw several on EBAy for less than 15 bucks including shipping) or get out your own bread machine that you NEVER use. And remember, rolls make the meal. It doesn't matter what else you serve for dinner, if you have homemade rolls that is all anyone will talk about. The cast of characters:
  
• 1 egg plus enough water to make 1 1/3 cups
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups flour (often I use 3 cups all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat)
• 1 Tbs yeast

Add them to the bread machine in that order

Hint : Crack the egg into the measuring cup and then add the water until you reach 1 1/3 cup. Now, press the dough cycle, hit start and wait til it beeps. Then it will look like this.
Isn't it beautiful. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and shape your rolls and place them on the baking sheet. (I almost always stick with round balls, but you can get creative.)
It makes somewhere between 18 and 24 rolls depending on the size.

They can rise for another hour or 2 before you bake them. If you are in a hurry (which I always am) you can let them rise for 30 minutes and then place them in your oven (which has not been turned on yet) and then turn the oven on. As the ovens temperature rises, they finish rising.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or so.

Option #1 : Make your own "Rhodes rolls" -- Sometimes I make the dough and shape it and put them close together in a 9 x 13 pan and stick them straight in the freezer. After several hours, I transfer them all to a ziplock bag in the freezer. Now they are ready to go whenever you need them. On a Sunday morning place the frozen balls on a baking sheet, go to church and when you come home pop them in the oven! (they need about 4-5 hours to unthaw and rise)

Option #2 : Have them nearly ready. Make them, shape them, let them rise and bake them for 6-7 minutes. Then let them cool and 5 minutes before you want to serve put them in the oven to brown. I also have frozen them at this stage. (like the one time I was in charge of a women's conference luncheon. I think I did 10 batches and had them in the freezer nearly done, then the morning of the conference we browned them at the church and served, fresh homemade rolls -- but all the hard work had been done nearly a month before!)

Option # 3: Use the dough for cinnamon rolls. Make the dough and when it comes out of the machine divide it in half. Roll out each half flat. I then take a butter spread and spread a thin layer of it on the dough using a spatula. (no measurement for how much -- just enough to thinly coat it. Then grab a handful of brown sugar and crumple it on top. Then sprinkle with cinnamon. Using a pizza cutter, cut it into thin strips and roll them up and place them in a 9 x 13 pan. Let them rise. (At this point, you can freeze the whole pan -- and it is ready for a breakfast morning) Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. In a small bowl take powdered sugar and add a teeny amount of milk. Stir and adjust to the right consistency and drizzle over the top to serve!

Retro meal

My kids had home-made egg mcmuffins (toasted english muffins, bacon, cheese, and a poached egg) and for dessert Orange Julius. I hadn't had one in years. It was delicious and the perfect complement to a breakfasty dinner.

Orange Julius
1 can orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk (I used some half and half cuz I had it and I am sure it helped make it so creamy)
2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla
16 cubes of ice

BLEND.

Add more ice if necessary