Dinner Rolls

We had these the other night for dinner, and I think they are my favorite rolls now! Suzy-this is one of the best bites recipes that isn't on the blog.

• 2 c whole milk


• 1/2 c plus 1 tbs sugar, divided


• 1/2 c butter


• 2 tsp salt 2 package (4 1/2 tsp) yeast


• 2/3 c warm water


• 8-9 c flour


• 3 beaten eggs

• Combine milk, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts.


• Remove from heat, allow to cool to luke warm. I usually rub some ice cubes along the side of the pan, or pop the entire pan into the sink full of ice cubes to cool the mixture faster. This step is really important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.


• While the milk mixture is cooling, disolve the yeast and 1 tbs sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. If yeast hasn't bubbled, repeat this step with new yeast.


• In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 c flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes. Add beaten eggs.


• Stir in as much of the remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough. This dough should be very soft. It will be coming away from the side of the bowl, but it will stick to your finger when you touch it. Don't worry it will firm up during the rising process.


• Place bowl in warm place and cover with a towel. Allow to rise 1 hour.


• Punch down dough, lightly flour your work surface and turn dough out onto surface. Divide in half. Spray two 9X13 inch glass pans with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle. Cut into 12 equal size pieces. This dough should be very easy to work with, almost like playdough. Shape each piece into a ball and place into prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough into second pan.


• Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. When dough has 15-20 minutes to go, preheat oven to 375. Bake 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Strawberry Lime Shortcake with Coconut Cream

Pound cake:

1 1/2 c flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 c butter, softened

1 c sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 c sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine the flour, bakind soda, and salt. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Continue beating and add eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and sour cream. Slowly add the flour mixture while beating, and beat just until combined.

Pour the batter into a greased 8-inch or 9-inch loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

Strawberries:

4 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 c sugar

4 tablespoons lime juice

3/4 c toasted coconut

Mix sliced strawberries, sugar, and lime juice. Stir well and set aside. Stir occasionally over about 15 minutes. You want the sugar to dissolve and form a light syrup.

Coconut Whipped Cream:

1 c heavy whipping cream

1/2 c powdered sugar

2 tsp coconut extract

1 tsp vanilla

Pour cream into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 1 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar and both extracts. Continue beating until soft peaks form.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

• 1 c real butter


• 2/3 c honey


• 3/4 c powdered sugar


• 1-2 tsp cinnamon

1. remove butter fro the refrigerator adn allow to stand on the counter for about 20 minutes.

2. Place the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add honey and powdered sugar and beat with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds or until everything is light and fluffy. Serve at room temperature.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

Cake

• 1 Pkg devils food cake mix


• 3 eggs


• 1 c water


• 1/2 c sour cream


• 1/3 c vegetable oil

Filling

• 1/2 c butter softened


• 3 1/2 c confectioners sugar


• 1/2 c light cream


• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate

Glaze

• 4 squares semi sweet chocolate


• 3 tbs butter, softened


• 2 tbs water

1. Cake: In a large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water, sour cream, and oil. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spread in prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack, then remove layers and cool completely.

2. Filling: Beat all ingredients together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add more confectioners sugar or cream to make it a soft, creamy spreading consistency.

3. Assembly: Place 1 cake layer top-side down on a serving plate. Spread with generous amount of filling. Place second layer on top. Spread remaining filling on sides of cake, leaving top unfrosted. chill 30 minutes.

4. Glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and water, stirring until smooth. remove from heat. Gradually add butter, stirring until smooth. Spread over top of cake letting it drip down sides.

Cabbage Salad

We ate this salad at Tanner’s cousin Britney’s wedding. His aunt Anita gave us the recipe and it is totally our new favorite.

• 1 Bag Shredded Cabbage (I used the coleslaw mix)


• ½ Cup chopped green onions


• ½ Cup Sliced Almonds (toasted)


• 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds (toasted)

Dressing

• 1 pkg chicken Ramon flavoring


• 2 Tablespoons sugar


• 3 Tablespoons vinegar


• 1/4 Cup Oil


• Sesame Oil to taste (she uses 5-6 shakes)

The salad tastes best when it has marinated for a couple hours at least. Even better... make it earlier in the day and have a yummy salad to go with dinner. :) It was really good the next day as left overs too.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 C Solid Vegetable Shortening


• 1/2 C Butter Softened


• 2 tbs Lemon Juice


• 1 tsp Lemon Zest


• 4 C Powdered Sugar


• Additional Lemon Juice or Milk (opptional)

In a large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer until light fluffy. Add lemon juice and zest; beat well. Gradually add sugar 1 cup at a time. When all sugar has been mixed in, if icing is dry, add additional juice or milk. Keep covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in the fridge when not in use. Re-whip before using.

Wheat Bread

Mary, sorry it took me a few days to get around to posting this. I've been making all of our bread for the last month and a half or so and this is the recipe that I use. It makes 4 loaves. I use about 2/3 whole wheat flour and 1/3 white flour, but you can vary this ratio however you choose. This bread has turned out soft like store-bought bread every time I've made it. Even when I didn't let it raise quite long enough, it was still very good, just a little bit more dense. I got the recipe off of a forum on pinchingyourpennies.com and it was titled "Dad's Bread". It was posted by dougjenevans, who posted a bunch of other whole wheat recipes too that I am slowly getting around to trying - I'll post those too if I find any great ones. :)

10-12 cups flour (any combination of wheat & white flour will do)

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (I get this at Macey's - I'm not sure where else they sell it)

2 Tbs dry yeast

4 cups warm water (120-130 degrees)

1/3 cup olive oil (I use light tasting olive oil, NOT EXTRA VIRGIN, or sometimes canola oil)

1/3 cup honey

1 Tbs salt

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees.


• Place 6 cups flour into mixer bowl with kneading arm attached. (I do all whole wheat for this part)


• Add 1/2 cup wheat gluten and 2 Tbs dry yeast and mix well.


• Add 4 cups warm water and mix for 1 minute. (Be careful that the water is not too hot or it will kill the yeast and your bread won't rise)


• Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.


• Add 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup honey, and 1 Tbs salt. While mixing these, quickly add remaining flour 1 cup at a time just until the dough cleans itself from the sides of the bowl. (This is where I often just use white flour, but I've used more wheat flour too and it is great. IMPORTANT: YOU PROBABLY WON'T USE ALL 10-12 CUPS FLOUR. I USUALLY ONLY NEED ABOUT 9-10 CUPS TOTAL - also, the sides of my mixer bowl tend to become "clean" too easily I think, so I usually add flour until the dough is soft and just barely sticky)


• Knead for 10 minutes.


• Shape and place dough in 4 non-stick bread pans and put in preheated oven. (I spray my pans with PAM just to make sure the bread comes out easily. Also, if the dough is a bit too sticky to shape, spray your hands quickly with PAM too and that should make it easier. My oven only goes down to 170, so I preheat it to that and then turn it off when I put the bread in.)


• Let bread rise in oven until double in size. (The recipe says this should take about 15 minutes, but mine always take between 30-45 minutes. I seem to have a better result too if, when I check and they look ready, I wait an extra 10-15 minutes. Another way you can tell is if the dough is just above the top of the bread pans - you'll just have to experiment the first time with what works with your pans and your oven.) :)


• With the pans still in the oven, turn the heat to 350 degrees and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. (When I think the bread is ready, I take one out of a pan, turn it over, and test through the bottom of the bread with a meat thermometer - that way the hole is in the bottom, not the top - I let it get to about 195 degrees before I take it out.)Take bread out of the oven and remove from pans immediately by turning onto cooling racks.

Since this makes a lot of bread, I usually freeze 2 of the loaves for later. I've read (and tried) that the best way to freeze fresh bread and have it taste good later is to slice it before you freeze it. Then, if you don't want to defrost the whole loaf, you can just take out a slice or two, heat in the microwave for 20 seconds or so and it tastes like it just came out of the oven. Good luck! I hope you try it out!