Doughnuts!

Nothing tastes better on a cool day than a mug full of steaming apple cider and a warm doughnut!  And actually, doughnuts are not that difficult to make!

First, you make the dough, and let it rise till its light and airy

Then roll it out smooth

Cut it into circles with a biscuit cutter 

Then cut little circles in the middle of them. 

The only thing I have that is small enough is a tiny heart cookie cutter.

Lay them on a cookie sheet and let them rise again

Wait for the oil to heat (It takes forever! But mostly because at this point you can start to taste the doughnuts in apprehension of their yummy goodness!)

Now for the fun part!  When the oil is finally ready, carefully drop the dough into the hot oil and watch it bubble :)

Don't forget to flip them over as they brown!

Roll them in spiced sugar

And enjoy the finished product!

You can see the recipe I use here, however I add a bit of vanilla and nutmeg or cloves to the dough to make them that much better.  I would love to hear how yours turn out!

Christmas Cookies!

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programing (i.e. heart wrenching stories of crazy experiences in Oklahoma City) to bring you... my new favorite cookie recipe! These are amazing! Just the right amount of chocolate, soft, quick, and easy! So far, the only complaint is that I didn't make them big enough! While mixing them up, I should have let the dough cool a bit more from the melted butter before adding the chocolate chips, (I used white instead of milk chocolate) as they started melting as I folded them into the dough. A few of the cookies have white chocolate swirls instead of white chocolate chips! The recipe recommends baking for 12-15 minutes, but I found the perfect baking time to be 10-11 minutes, as I prefer a softer cookie. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Beat melted butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Cool slightly and beat in egg and egg yolk. Beat in vanilla.

Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Slowly beat into the butter and sugar mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, or until firm.

Heat oven to 350°.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop mounds of dough onto a silicone-lined or greased baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 to 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until set.

Cool on baking sheet on a rack, then remove cookies to rack to cool completely. Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies.

Zucchini Crecent Pie

I don't even like zucchini... well, usually. We didn't plant any zucchini this year, however a neighbor and a couple friends had bumper crops, leaving Mom and I to stare at the huge pile of zucchinis on our kitchen counter wondering what to do with them all. Mom is on a gluten free diet, so zucchini bread (however yummy it may be) was out of the question. Then I found this recipe from taste of home. I wasn't looking forward to trying it, because, as I've already stated, I'm not a huge fan of zucchini, but it tasted wonderful! We used a gluten free pie crust recipe instead of the crescent roll dough, and used bacon instead of ham. The tomatoes on top added the perfect mix of flavors! If you are tired of zucchini bread, try Zucchini Crescent Pie! (and no, I didn't take the picture, its from Taste of Home!)

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise and quartered
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup cubed fully cooked ham
• 1 medium Roma tomato, thinly sliced

Directions

• Separate crescent dough into eight triangles; place in a greased 9-in. pie plate with points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides to form a crust; seal seams and perforations. Bake at 375° for 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender; stir in seasonings. Spoon into crust. Combine the eggs, cheese and ham; pour over zucchini mixture. Top with tomato slices.
• Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

Dinner!

I haven't done much with cooking lately, so decided to make tonight's dinner a bit more interesting than the last few meals have been. It turned out great! Here is what was on the menu:

Marinade Chicken Basmati Rice Prosciutto Asparagus Fresh salad

My Marinade: 2 tsp. minced Garlic 8 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 6 Tb. lemon juice 1/2 C. oil 1/2 C. apple cider vinigar 4 tsp. stake seasoning 1/2 tsp. sugar 1 small minced onion Makes enough to marinade 1 whole chicken breast I marinaded the chicken for 2 hours, then baked it in the oven for about 30 minutes till done. I wanted to grill it, but alas, there was no charcoal for the grill... grill marks make everything look yummier, and that charred flavor...mmm! Can't beat it! Prosciutto Asparagus I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Garden magazine. As I don't particularly enjoy asparagus, I'm taking my family's word for it that it was good. (judging by the way they ate it, I'm sure it was:) 6 Tb. Cream Cheese, softened 1/2 lb. prosciutto (or ham, I used ham) 2 sheets puff pastry abt. 30 spears of Asparagus Defrost the puff pastry and unroll, spread the cream cheese evenly on the pastry then layer with prosciutto or ham. Cut each sheet into 15 strips (pizza cutter works perfectly for this job) wrap asparagus with pastry strips, place on cookie sheet seam side down, and bake at 400 for 15 minutes (thus says the recipe anyway. I had to bake mine for about 30 minutes to get the pastry done. I was afraid the asparagus would burn, but it turned out ok. Some of the smaller spears were a little crisp but Clay said he liked it...) So to all you asparagus lovers out there, let me know how your's turn out!

Fried PB&J

I have yet to post anything about cooking, and I haven't tried any new recipes recently that are worth posting, so here is a fun way to fix PB&J that my team enjoyed during Character Suite. We didn't have much to cook with; a microwave, a burner, a toaster, and an iron. Yes, the kind you use to get the wrinkles out of clothes. (After three weeks in the same four walls, you learn to be creative with what you have on hand...)

This is the crazy crew who turned an iron into a cooking appliance...

Step One: Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (easy enough...)

Step Two: Cut a piece of tin foil that is big enough to wrap the entire sandwich. (What?)

Step Three: Spread butter on one side of the outside of the sandwich, place face down on the tin foil, and spread butter on the remaining plain side of the sandwich. (I know, we're weird! ...as if the picture didn't clue you in...)
Step Four: Wrap the sandwich in the tin foil so that there is only one or two layers of tin foil on each side. (Wrapping the sandwich like a tootsie roll, or scrunching/rolling the foil up to the crust works well, just make sure the tin foil on the bread side is relatively smooth)
Step Five: Pre-heat iron (yes, the one you use to get wrinkles out of clothes...) to the wool or cotton setting.
Step Six: Place the foil wrapped sandwich on the IRONING BOARD!!! (IMPORTANT STEP!!!)
Step Seven: Place heated iron on top of sandwich (still in the foil!) and leave for approximately 30-45 seconds. Repeat on second side. (you can very carefully place your ear by the sandwich while the iron is still on it and hear the butter crackling!) The bread should have a grilled look when it is done. Step
Eight: Let cool
Step Nine: Carefully unwrap and enjoy!