5/30/12

1 Doughnut Day: A Collection of My Faves!

Yeast doughnut with chocolate glaze

June 1st is National Doughnut Day.  

Baked vanilla doughnut with toasted coconut

Yeasted or baked doughnuts ~ Which do YOU like?

Baked chocolate mini doughnut

Regular size or mini .... which size would you pick?

Yeast doughnuts: Maple glaze with toasted coconut, chocolate glaze, vanilla glaze, doughnut holes

You're still here?  

Baked Mini Doughnuts:  chocolate, coconut crunch and cinnamon sugar


Go on a doughnut run ~ with a mixer, doughnut cutter and a doughnut pan!

Happy Baking!   ... frying, and dunking!


5/25/12

2 A Cake Too Cool to Cut Into...


My husband is a wonder with tools and wood.  He has carved wood for a fireplace mantel and finished our entire basement with a hammer, chop saw, and info from the library to complete electrical and plumbing.

Our neighbor Sharla makes these fabulous cakes and asks my husband occasionally to cut the base or parts for her cakes.  A piano cake, anyone?

For my hubby's birthday, she made this cake, a perfect tribute to his talents and efforts.  The detail is incredible, from the hammer to the edible saw blade and the graham cracker "saw dust."


It's one of those cakes that are too perfect, too pretty, to cut into and eat.

Here's hubby, taking a bite from the saw blade ...


... and here's one of my boys, having some fun with it.


All the tools were carefully removed ...


He even tested hammering one of the nails to see if it would go into the cake, and it did!


He thought about using a real SAW to cut the cake, but thought better of it. 


Inside was a dark chocolate cake filled with creamy frosting and toffee bits.


Thank you, Sharla, for your talented and yummy cake!

5/23/12

0 Slider Burger Bar with Kraft Singles


I'm always grabbing Kraft Cheese Singles and eating them as a snack.  Cold and creamy, they hit the spot on a hot day, especially in a bologna and cheese sandwich.  Did you know that throwing a couple of slices into your favorite mac N cheese recipe makes it even creamier? Oh, yeah.  Gotta try that!

Did you know that Kraft Singles comes in Swiss?  I didn't. 


These cheeses were the inspiration for designing my Slider Burger Bar.  If you haven't heard of "sliders," in the food world, they are essentially a "mini burger."

These sliders are perfect for little kids and little fingers ... it doesn't make sense to give a child a full sized hamburger that they are only going to take a bite or two.  Making their own burger is even better ... they get to put what they want on it.

Sliders are perfect for pot luck gatherings, especially if they are filled with indecisive people.
"Should I have a Chicken Teriyaki burger or a Mushroom Swiss burger?

Here, you can have both or any combination your heart desires; the sky's the limit!

I'm in love with all things bite sized and mini.  There's something about having your very own mini doughnut, mini pie, bundt or even a mini meat loaf.  Now, I'm in love with sliders!

Let's get started, shall we?

I used my French Bread hambuger bun recipe and divided the dough into 24 (1.3 ounce) portions.

Perfect size for a slider! Aren't they cute??


I wanted to give my guests another bun option, so I chose my Feather Wheat hamburger bun recipe, tied them into cute knots and sprinkled them with chopped rolled oats.


I used my favorite hamburger patty recipe that uses bread crumbs, milk, an egg, and seasonings.

A large two tablespoon cookie scoop worked perfectly in a plastic wrap lined 3 inch sippy cup lid.


I covered the scooped meat with more plastic wrap and smooshed it to form a patty.  The shaped patties are put onto a plastic wrap lined baking sheet to put into a freezer for a couple of hours.  Freezing the patties makes them easier to grill without falling apart.


For the chicken, I sliced each partially frozen chicken breast length-wise in half (to make two thin cutlets) and then cut eat cutlet in half, forming 4 pieces from each chicken breast.

I marinated half the chicken in Teriyaki sauce and the other half in BBQ sauce.

Putting the frozen patties worked GREAT on the hot grill.  Make sure they cook up on one side before flipping them over; otherwise, they will fall apart.

These mini burgers cook up quickly; about 3 minutes per side.  The chicken took slightly longer, about 5 minutes per side.  Brush teriyaki sauce on sliced pineapple ~ it will taste amazing!


Introducing the Slider Burger Bar


Each tray has all the fixins' for a particular burger ...

HAWAIIAN CHICKEN BURGER
Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

BACON CHEESEBURGER
Classic Burger Sauce Recipe

BBQ CHICKEN BURGER
BBQ Sauce Recipe

MUSHROOM SWISS BURGER*



TACO BURGER**
**The taco mayo for this burger is mayo with a little bit of homemade taco seasoning.
*Sliced mushrooms were sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

Everyone had a great time building their own sliders, creating a sample from each burger bar and then designing their own creation ...



Did you love Kraft Singles as a kid?  Do you enjoy them as an adult?  Share your story on the Kraft Singles FaceBook page!

A slider burger bar would be perfect for a graduation party, don't you think?






As part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for free Kraft Singles and a stipend.

5/21/12

27 Yes, There is a Fairy Hobmother!


Have you seen any posts about the Fairy Hobmother?

Did you know that the Fairy Hobmother's job is to sprinkle fairy dust from Appliances Online into the blogosphere and grant wishes to our readers?

I've left a wish or two on other blogs, but quickly forgot about it.

One day, I saw this subject line in my email:

Greetings from the Fairy Hobmother!

I quickly opened the email to find this message:

Hi Frieda!

I'm the Fairy Hobmother!  Spreading joy and happiness through the blogosphere and your blog drew my eye.

I was particularly entranced by the White Texas Sheet Cake  - I must create some of this!  All other concerns are secondary!  I just have to hope I'm up to the task.  I'm hardly a prodigy in the kitchen...

I was thrilled!

Did you know that if you leave comment on this post, the Fairy Hobmother may pay you a visit as well?

Answer this question in the comments below and hope some fairy dust comes your way:

What is your favorite dessert?








Fairy Hobmother on Twitter

I received an Amazon gift card  from the Fairy Hobmother.  All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine and not influenced in any way.

5/18/12

11 Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate -Can or Freeze

Mason Jar Mug

This... is summer in a bottle.

Imagine grabbing a bottle of this glorious ruby red liquid off your shelf and adding ice cold water.

Yes, you heard right ...  from the shelf!  It tastes amazingly good!

This is a simple beginner canning project that anyone can do.  If you don't have the canning equipment, you can freeze this concentrate in freezer safe containers.

It starts with fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled.  Hulled simply means coring the top part of the strawberry. I like to wash and rinse my strawberries in my OXO salad spinner.


In batches, puree the strawberries in a food processor, stand or immersion blender.


This part is OPTIONAL.  I do not like seeds of any berry and choose to push the strawberry pulp through a fine mesh strainer.  If you don't mind seeds, you will be able to save some work and time!


TIPS for  Freshly squeezed lemon juice (here)  is added to the strawberry pulp.


An insane amount of sugar is added to the fruit juice mixture. It can be made with as little as 4 cups of sugar instead of 6...


Make this recipe as written the first time.  If you think it is too sweet, you can reduce it by two cups.  I made a batch using Splenda and it tasted great!


Use a candy or digital food thermometer and bring the concentrate to 190°F.  Do not boil.  You want to get it to a steaming point, where the sugar is dissolved and the ingredients are hot enough to put into the water bath canner.


Hot juice is poured into HOT, clean pint size canning jars.


The jar rims are cleaned with a wet paper towel to ensure a good seal.


The canning lids are in a small pot of simmering water and I have a water bath canner filled half way with hot water, ready to go. UPDATE: Did you know you don't have to warm up the canning lids? Yay! 

A canning lid is put onto a clean, filled jar and a ring is screwed on finger tip tight.  Each jar is carefully placed into the hot water.


Water needs to be 1-2" above the jars and brought to boiling. Pu the canning lid on and reduce the heat to medium to continue the boiling.

The recipe states to boil these jars for 15 minutes.  At my altitude of 5,000 feet, I need to add 10 minutes.

At the end of my 25 minutes, the jars are pulled out to cool on a heat safe surface.  You should hear the *ping* from each jar almost immediately or within a few minutes.

The *ping* means your jars have sealed!!

Let the jars cool for 12-24 hours.

Doesn't that look easy?


Label each jar with the name, date and reconstituting instructions:

1 jar concentrate + 3 jars cold water = fabulous strawberry lemonade!


Enjoy!


print recipe

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate - Bottled or freeze
Cool and refreshing, this is a sweet treat that can be enjoyed all year round! You can use freshly squeezed lemons or bottled lemon juice with this recipe. Use the recommended range of sugar for best taste and shelf life. 1 pint jar of concentrate + 3 pint jars of cold water = delicious strawberry lemonade!
Ingredients
  • 6 cups strawberries, rinsed and hulled (2 pounds strawberries = 4 cups puree)
  • 4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (6 pounds lemons; about 20 large lemons)
  • 4-6 cups of granulated sugar
  • Thermometer
Instructions
1. In a food processor or blender, puree strawberries in batches.2. Transfer strawberry puree into a stainless steel pot over medium-high heat.3. Add lemon juice and sugar, stirring well, and bring mixture up to 190°F. DO NOT BOIL. Stir occasionally and keep your eye on your thermometer. Remove from heat.4. Ladle mixture into HOT, clean pint sized jars, to 1/4" from the rim.5. Wipe rims clean, add canning lids, rings, and screw on finger-tip tight.6. Put jars in water bath canner filled half way with HOT water.7. Pour additional HOT water to cover jars by 1". 8. Bring water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat; cover, reduce heat to medium and continue boil for 15 minutes. Add additional time as indicated on the Altitude Chart.9. Using a jar lifter, remove jars and put on a wire rack or heat proof surface to cool for 12-24 hours. Reconstitute as directed above.
ALTITUDE CHART
1,001 - 3,000 add 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 add 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 add 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 add 20 minutes
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: 1Yield: 5 pint jars

5/16/12

1 Orange Cranberry Walnut No Knead Bread


I was asked to teach a no knead bread class in Salt Lake and the night before the class, I thought, "Why not try a new bread?" 

I enjoyed making the Cranberry Walnut Celebration bread from the Bread Baker's Apprentice, and thought this would translate well into a no knead version.

I broke a cardinal rule: Never make a brand new recipe and take it to a group. 

Yes, I made this up the night before the class, baked it the next morning and took it with me to the class.  What was I thinking??

It starts innocently with these four ingredients: walnuts, dried sweetened cranberries, an orange, and pure orange extract.


 The walnuts are coarsely chopped, the cranberries are thrown in, and about 1 tablespoon of the orange is zested into the dry ingredients (bread flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast).

Toss everything so that it is coated with flour.  This will prevent "clumping" of the fruit, nuts, and zest in the bread.


I threw caution to the wind and subbed some of the water for 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice and added 1 teaspoon of pure orange extract. 


I took a whiff of the dough and began to panic.

It smelled really orange-y.  

Maybe I didn't need to add the orange extract.  Oh well.

I let the mixture sit out overnight on the counter, shaped and baked it the next morning.

This is what I brought to my class:


If I had any sense, I should have cut into it before bringing it to the class.

But one of the points I was trying to make about this no knead bread is, "Have fun with this bread.  Add what you like and see what happens."

I cut into it, brought the slice of crusty bread up to my nose and took a deep whiff...

The last slice!

Oh, it smelled so good ~ and tasted even better! Slightly sweet, with chewy cranberries, crunchy walnuts, with the aroma of orange ... perfect by itself or as a roasted turkey sandwich.

In the words of Bob Ross, this bread was a "happy little accident."


Orange Cranberry Walnut No Knead Bread
(4x6 recipe download)     (full page printable recipe)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pin It button on image hover