Orange Cinnamon Rolls

I am not a huge cinnamon rolls except for Pillsbury Orange cinnamon rolls, I LOVE them, I wanted to make Adam and I a special Easter breakfast so I found this recipe and mixed them up.

I also have been wanting to buy a microplane and finally bought one to participate in the blogging event Joelen is hosting called Tasty Tools. I used it for the orange for this recipe, but plan to get lots of use out of it in the coming months.

These were not as good as I was hoping, but I will try them again maybe using some frosting to top with.

Sticky Orange Cinnamon Rolls (Razzle Dazzle Recipes)

• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp active dry yeast

Orange Spread:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tbsp grated orange zest
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup almonds or pecans, toasted

Combine all ingredients except orange spread ingredients and nuts in bread pan.

Process on dough setting.

Prepare orange spread by placing butter I bowl of heavy duty electric mixer fitted with flat beater.

Add sugar, honey, orange juice, orange zest and cinnamon.

Cream together for 3 to 4 minutes or until completely incorporated and set aside.

When cycle is complete on dough, turn dough out onto well floured surface.

With rolling pin, roll dough out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Using spatula, spread half of the orange spread evenly over dough. Sprinkle nuts over the spread.

Line 10 inch square baking pan with foil and spread remaining orange spread over the foil.

Beginning with long bottom edge, roll up dough jelly roll style and pinch seam together firmly to seal.

Using serrated knife, but dough into 6 rolls. Evenly space rolls in foil lined pan and cover with plastic wrap.

Let rolls rise in warm place for 40 minutes or till doubled.

Place baking stone on middle rack of oven and preheat to 375. Bake rolls for 30 to 35 minutes or till spread in pan is bubbling and dark and the tops of the rolls are dark brown.

Let rolls cool in pan for 5 minutes.

Place another pan over rolls and invert baking pan so the rolls re resting in second pan and the orange spread on the foil is on top of them. Remove the foil. Serve warm from pan.

Biscuits

No meal is complete without some biscuits, these seemed too easy to mess up, but I was wrong. I will try these again because I am pretty sure I did not knead them long enough because I was trying to get other things going at the same time. They had excellent flavor just were a little more cookie like then biscuit like :-)

Cream Biscuits (From: Delish, I saw them on Dish it up)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a 2 or 2-1/2″ biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet. The baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Yields: 1 dozen 2″ biscuits

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Yes, you read that right, chocolate chips + peanut butter + bananas to make a yummy banana bread.

For Valentines day Adam and I went and stayed downtown Minneapolis, the next morning we are the front desk for breakfast ideas, they suggested Hells Kitchen, we were not disappoint and walked away with there very yummy peanut butter.

I couldn't find a recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread so I added the chocolate chips in place of the nuts in this recipe. I am bring these to my grandma as well :)

I didn't get to try these yet as I am saving them for tomorrow, I will post back tomorrow on how we liked them :-) The batter tasted great though!

Banana Peanut Butter Bread (From: Allrecipes)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs; beat well. Stir in peanut butter, bananas, flour and baking soda until blended. Fold in walnuts. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Hawiian Rolls

As soon as I saw this recipe on Nikkis Blog Pennies on a Platter, I saved it to my google reader, I love Hawaiian rolls, but Adam loves them even more then I do. I was excited to make these with our chicken. They are ok, but I don't know if they are as good as the store bought ones

Hawaiian Rolls (From: Hallmark Magazine)

• 1-1/4 cups pineapple juice
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups flour

In a very small saucepan or in the microwave, heat 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice to lukewarm. Sprinkle the yeast over the juice and set aside until bubbling, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and butter. Beat in the yeast mixture and the remaining 1 cup pineapple juice. Beat in 3 of the eggs, the vanilla, salt and ginger until well combined. Add 3 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour (about 2-1/2 cups) to make the dough easy to handle.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, using up to 1/2 cup more flour if necessary. Place the dough in a greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. (Dough is ready if you poke it and the indentation remains.)

Punch down the dough and divide in half. Divide half the dough into nine equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball and pull the surface taut by tucking the dough in at the bottom of the ball. Place in a greased 9-inch round cake pan, tucked side down. Continue until the pan is filled. Repeat with the other dough half. Cover the rolls and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, lightly beat the remaining egg. Brush over the rolls and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of sugar. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Bread Pudding

Tonight I wanted a comforting dessert to go with our milk gravy pork chops. I was talking with my mom and came to the conclusion bread pudding would go great. I have tried a few recipes but was in the mood to try a new recipe. So I pulled out my new cookbook and sure enough there was one in there :-)

I added white chocolate chips and cherry chips to the bread pudding. I also like to serve it with some half and half over the top.

Old-fashion Bread Pudding (From: Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen)

• 3 to 4 packed cups cubed bread (ok if stale or frozen)
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 1/3 c. sugar (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Have ready a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Spread the bread in the pan.

Beat together remaining ingredients. Pour this custard over the bread.

Baked about 35 minutes, or until firm but not dry.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Rosemary Bread

Also known as Macaroni Grill bread, how can you not love the yummy bread at Macaroni Grill, I found this recipe over the summer but never had the right time to make it. When we had company over on Tuesday night and I made chicken Parmesan I decided to make this bread to go with it. For the 6 of us, the bread was GONE very quick! It was VERY good, and tasted just like Macaroni Grill.

Macaroni Grill Bread (From: Recipelink)

• 1 tbsp. dry yeast
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
• 2 1/2 cup white flour, divided use
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, divided use
• 1 tbsp. canola oil, peanut oil or olive oil
• nonstick cooking spray
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted

Place yeast, sugar, and warm water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.

Mix in 2 cups of flour and the salt. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 30 seconds until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide in half. Let dough rest about 5-10 minutes.

Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.

Melt margarine or butter. Brush over the top of the loaves. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tabelspoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Lightly sprinkle course salt over the loaves. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

This makes 2 loaves. Since there is only the two of us, I always put one loaf in the freezer then it's ready anytime when we want more of the bread. I just take it out an hour or so before dinner. About 5 minutes before dinner is ready, I pop it in a 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes or so to warm it a bit and WahLah! Bread!

Pumpkin Bread

Adam loves pumpkin and I still had 3 cans up in the cupboard. So I decide to make him some pumpkin goodies today.

Adam said this bread was very good.

Pumpkin Bread (From: Amber)

• 1 1/3 cp sugar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup pmpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup shortening

Preheat overn to 350.

Grease bottom of 9x5x3 loaf pan 8 1/2x4 1/2x 3 loaf pan.

Measure all ingredients into a bowl

Beat by hand or electric mixer for 1 minute.

Pour into pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes.

Homegrown Gourmet

I have wanted to participate in Homegrown Gourmet since it started a few months ago, but I never could think of a recipe that screamed MINNESOTA. But since I heard of the details I was waiting for soup to be the theme. This month is soup. I knew the perfect recipe!

Northern wild rice is an annual plant native to the Great Lakes region of North America. Northern wild rice is the state grain of Minnesota.

Wild Rice Soup (From: My Mom)

• 6 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp. minced onion
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans chicken broth
• 2 c. cooked wild rice
• 1/2 c. finely grated carrots
• 1/3 c. minced ham or 1/2 c. cooked chicken
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped silvered almonds
• 1 c. half and half
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Snipped parsley or chives for garnish

In a large saucepan, melt butter and saute onion until tender. Blend in flour and then gradually add broth. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and boil for 1 minute.

Stir in wild rice, carrots, ham (or chicken), almonds, and salt. Simmer about 5 minutes, blend in half and half and heat to serving temperature. If too thick, you may thin with chicken broth.

Garnish with snipped parsley or chives.

Fresh Rolls

I love bread, anything and everything bread. I actually found this recipe yesterday while looking for a bread bowl recipe. I was originally going to serve our soup in bread bowls. I made these but they didn't rise enough to make a bowl... So I made them tonight as smaller rolls and made them more Italian style. They were VERY GOOD!!!

"Crispy on the outside, and soft and tasty on the inside"

I changed the recipe around to our liking and how I want them, but the original recipe can be found at the link below.

Super Bowl Bread Bowls (From: Allrecipes)

• 1/2 cup water (70 to 80 degrees F)
• 1 cup warm milk (70 to 80 degrees F)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 egg white, beaten

Place all ingredients but the egg into the bread machine.

Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).

When the cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into portions; and shape into balls. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Brush with egg white.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Corn Casserole

I can't have chili without corn bread. I saw this recipe on Two novice chefs, one tiny kitchen. This recipe is actually from Cooking Light. I thought this would be a different kind of corn bread then the normal muffins I make.

Easy Corn Casserole (From: Cooking Light)

• 1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 large egg)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 (8 3/4 oz) can no-salt added whole-kernal corn, drained
• 1 (8 3/4 oz) can no-salt added cream-style corn
• 1 (8 1/2 oz) package corn muffin mix
• 1 (8-oz) carton plain fat free yogurt

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Combine ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray (or a deep dish pie plate or other medium sized casserole dish).

Bake for 45 minutes or until set.

Clone of the Cinnabon

"YUMMMM.... Care, you really out did yourself."

This was the first comment out of my mom's mouth as she took a bite of these. I was suppose to make these last week but had forgot my bread machine, when we came down to stay the night I knew I had to make them as I have been waiting, and this way they can sit at my moms and they can eat them :-)

After sitting on the couch and enjoying the cinnabon, this was the next comment out of her mouth. I thought it was blog worthy. "I don't really remember sex, but I'll bet this is better!"

These are SUPER sweet, but are very good, and taste just like the cinnabons at Cinnabon. Adam put the dough in the bread maker about 4 am, he put on dough cycle, then we let it rise in there until around 9 am. This worked REALLY good, if you have a night owl in the home :-)

Clone of the Cinnabon (From: Allrecipes)

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
  
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Flip rolls over on cookie sheet before frosting. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Garlic Bread

What goes better with Spaghetti with roasted garlic then Garlic bread. My friend Amber actually sent me this recipe yesterday. It looks so good I saved it and thought it would pair perfectly with this meal.

This was GREAT tasting bread, very flavorful, fresh, soft and YUMMY!!! Definitely worth a try!

Bread Machine Garlic Bread (From: Allrecipes)

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon dry milk powder (I substituted about 4 T. milk)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Basic Bread cycle; press Start.

Stuffed French Toast

Adam and I had a HORRIBLE I-hop experience a few months ago and have vowed not to go back. I love I-hop for their stuffed french toast. When it we decided we wouldn't go back, I started searching for a recipe. I found this one and wanted to try it. This morning when we finally had time to try it, I realized I used the last of my powdered sugar to make the cake. I googled how to make powdered sugar, and actually found a quick way.

This was good, but VERY sugary, the filling tasted just like the I-hop stuff, but the bread was a little mushier. We didn't serve with fruit or syrup just the french toast. Overall it was a good breakfast.

Powdered Sugar (From: Gourmet Sleuth)

• 1 c. sugar
• 1 T. corn starch

Blend in blender until fine and powdery.

I-hop Stuffed French Toast (From: Kitchen Link)

• Texas Toast1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon extract (I used vanilla)
• 1 egg, beaten (I used 2 eggs)
• 1/2 can evaporated milk (I used whole 5 oz can)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Cinnamon to taste

Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and extract till spreading consistency. Spread between 2 pieces of texas toast until desired amount of toast is prepared.

In a shallow dish, beat together eggs, milk, sugar and cinnamon.

Heat a oiled griddle on med-high heat until water sizzles when dropped on it. Dredge toast through egg mix one at a time and cook on griddle till golden brown then flip and repeat.

Serve with whipped cream or your choice of fruit toppings. (The canned fruit in heavy syrup always works best.)

Cheddar Biscuits

Whats the best part of going to Red Lobster???? The cheddar biscuits of course. I found this recipe online and wanted to try it, but was unsure, I like the tried and true recipes. Someone on the nest board made them and said they were awesome. So I made sure to buy Bisquik the last time we were at the store.

Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits (From: PDF Top Secret Recipe Cookbook)

Dough:

• 1 1/4 lbs. Bisquik
• 3 Oz. freshly shredded cheddar cheese
• 11 Oz. cold water

Garlic Spread:

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 teas. garlic powder
• 1/4 teas. salt
• 1/8 teas. onion powder
• 1/8 teas. dried parsley

To cold water, add Bisquik and cheese, blending in a mixing bowl.

Mix until dough is firm.

Using a small scoop, place the dough on a baking pan lined with baking paper. Bake in 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. While biscuits bake, combine spread ingredients.

Brush baked biscuits with the garlic topping.

Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits 37

Pretzel Dogs

Adam has a new schedule at work, so he leaves about 10:45 and isn't home until around 7:45, I like to make sure he has breakfast or lunch before he leaves. This is closer to my lunch time so I made some lunch today. I saw pretzel dogs on Amber's blog, they looked lunch worthy so I whipped some up... They were SUPER good!

I used the single batch pretzel recipe and ended up with a little extra and 4 pretzel dogs, 2 dogs I did plain, and 2 dogs I added a slice of cheese. I preferred the ones with cheese, so next time it will be those!

Pretzels (From: Krashed24)

• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 2 tbls and 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2+ cups flour
• coarse kosher salt
• baking soda
• shortening or butter

In large mixing bowl mix 1 tbls HOT water and 1 tsp yeast. Mix until yeast dissolves completely.

Stir in 2/3 cup WARM water.

Stir in 2 tbls and 2 tsp brown sugar.

Slowly add 2 cups flour, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

Lightly flour counter. Dip your hands into extra flour. Knead the dough until it is stretchy and smooth. (Push it down and away from you with the palms of your hands, turning the dough as you work)

Grease cookie sheet(s) well with butter or shortening. Sprinkle greased cookie sheet(s) with kosher salt. Preheat oven to 475.

Using liquid measuring cup fill a large saucepan at least 1/2 full of water. For each 1 cup of water, add 1 tbls baking soda.

Wrap around hot dogs and cheese and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Mini Banana Cupcakes

Yesterday I got in the mood to bake, I was searching for recipes, which is normally easy; but when you don't have butter it makes it harder. I found this recipe and another, I polled the WC Board on the nest, and this was the chosen recipe, I am SO happy it was, it's SOOO good. It's like a little piece of banana bread in the form of a cookie. I left off the frosting recipe after reading the reviews that says it was too sweet, etc. I think they are great without!

Banana Cake Cookies (From: Allrecipes)

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I used allspice)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Cream shortening; add brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs and banana; beat well.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to creamed mixture; mix well. Stir in pecans.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto greased cookies sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Dip half of cooled cookies into Powdered Sugar Icing.

To Make Icing: Combine 3 cups confectioner's sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine, and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add milk to yield desired consistency (you may need to add a little extra), beating until smooth.

Sour Cream and Vanilla Bread

When I first bought my bread maker I went to the Betty Crocker Website to find bread recipes and this one pulled my eye right away. I couldn't wait to make it. And after a long day at work, this was the perfect cure to my baking mood. This wasn't a regular bread, it was a very sweet pound cake type bread.

Bread Machine Sour Cream and Vanilla Bread (From: Betty Crocker)

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened
• 3 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons bread machine or quick active dry yeast

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients in bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

Select Sweet or Basic/White cycle. Use Light crust color. Do not use delay cycle. Remove baked bread from pan, and cool on wire rack.

Sloppy Joes, Cucumbers and Lemon Bars

Last night we had both of our mothers and siblings over, we want to do something simple that didn't take a lot of time to prepare. This was definitely an easy meal. We made sloppy joe's, chips and dip, watermelon, and cucumbers.

While walking through the grocery store on Friday I remember I hadn't planned anything for dessert for our company. We happened to be in the baking aisle. I asked Adam what he wanted, he looked up and saw a box for Lemon Bars and pointed. I was about to make a box mix when I have time, so I came home and found a recipe. These turned out really good! I will admit, my pictures looked horrible, so I took the lemon bar picture from the website.

Ozzies Sloppy Joes (From: My Dad's Recipe )

• 2 lbs mid grade hamburger (you want some fat to hold in the flavor)
• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 1 1/2 c. ketchup
• 1 T. yellow mustard
• 1 t. french brown mustard
• 1/4 tsp. Dill
• 1/4 t. Tarragon
• 1/4 t. Basil
• 1/4 McCormick Cajun seasoning
• 2 T. Parsley

Fry hamburger and onion together. Place in slow cooker with seasoning, cook for 3-4 hrs at least, but for best taste cook for 6-8.

***Tips: I didn't have an cajun seasoning so used steak seasoning, I also added about a tablespoon more of the brown mustard. I mixed it up let it cook for 2 or so hours and tasted and adjusted. This is also not a really BBQ sauce recipe, more of a spice flavored one. My dad adds different seasonings, sometimes Worshershire sauce, etc.

Cucumbers and Onions (From: My Mom)

• 1 cucumber
• 1/4 large onion
• 1 c. mayo
• 1/4-1/2 c. milk
• pepper to taste
• fresh dill

Cut cucumbers and onions in thin pieces, but not paper thin.

Mix mayo, milk, pepper, and dill. You want a heavy cream like texture not a milky like texture, add dill to flavor as you want.

Mix in cucumbers and onions. Let sit for as long as possible so that the flavors will all mix.

***Dips: I mixed this and let it sit for about 8 hours, it is best to do it as long as possible.

Lemon Bars (From: Cooking Light)

Crust:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended.

Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

***I used a blender instead of a food processor. The crust was a little hard, I think next time I would cook them a little less. Also, we omitted the lemon rind, and added 1/2 T. of lemon juice.

My first loaf of bread

I made my first loaf bread in my bread machine today....

It turned out ok, I choose regular loaf of bread, I think I should of picked a different option with a little more rise time, but for the first made from scratch loaf it was VERY good! I made up some honey butter and put that on top of the bread. YUM!

Classic Breadmaker Machine Bread (From: Recipezaar)

• 10-11 ounces warm milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter (melted)
• 3 cups bread flour (I used regular flour)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast (I used active dry yeast, as far as I can see it's the same thing)

Put milk in bread machine, followed by salt, sugar, butter, flour, yeast.

My preference is to process on the dough setting until dough is ready and take out and bake as a normal loaf.

If not follow the instructions on your bread machine for a 1 1/2 lb loaf.

Strawberry Bread

I also have lots of strawberries, this is a recipe I found on a nestie blog a while back and have been eying it since. I finally got to try it!

Strawberry Bread (From: Mrs.A's Blog, original recipe from recipezaar)

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups mashed strawberries
• 1 1/4 cups oil (I used 1/4 cup oil and 1 cup apple sauce)
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup strawberry juice, drained from mashed strawberries (I blended some more)
• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix first five ingredients together.

Make a well in centre of mixture.

Stir strawberries, oil and eggs in by hand.

Pour into two greased 9x5" loaf pans.

Bake at given temperature for 50 to 60 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.

For topping, blend reserved strawberry juice with cream cheese. Drizzle over cooled loaves. This made WAY too much, next time I would cut it down.