If you don't like these, you're a scrooge!

Cinnamon Rolls

Prepare dough as directed on back of package adding 2 tablespoons sugar to flour mixture.  Grease 13x9-inch pan.  To shape, roll dough to 15x10-inch rectangle.  Spread 1/4 cup softened margarine evenly over dough.  Sprinkle with mixture of 1/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.  Starting with 10-inch side, roll up tightly, pressing edges to seal.  Cut into 12 slices; place cut side down, in greased pan.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel.  Let rise in warm place 30 minutes.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Uncover rolls.  Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool 1 minute; remove from pan. 

To glaze, combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.  Blend until smooth.  Spoon over warm rolls.  Makes 12 rolls. 

Did anyone read the first line of this recipe?  I did.  Are you confused?  I was.  Here is what the recipe card actually looked like:

"Prepare dough as directed on back of package."  Uh, and what package would that be exactly?  This little 2x2-inch cardboard square doesn't really specify.  So, being the true problem-solving genius that I am, I started to think.  My grandma and my aunt both buy this specific hot roll mix to make runzas (if you don't know what a runza is, you need to find out because it is one of the best foods of all time).  So I went to the grocery store (Walmart) with my mom to hunt for the hot roll mix, but we couldn't find it (even after asking an employee who said they didn't sell anything like that).  So we called my aunt to see where we could buy it.  Turns out she buys it at Walmart!  So we went back to the baking aisle and found it hiding on the top shelf.  We should have found that employee and showed her.  With all of the clues I pieced together I could be a detective.  Scooby Doo and the gang ain't got nothin' on me!  And why do most of the recipes I pull from the shoebox require some ingredient that is difficult to find?  It's like the shoebox thinks I have time for difficult.  Here is the mix you will need for this recipe:

And guess what is on the side of the box?

Ok, to make a long story short, you need Pilsbury Hot Roll Mix to make this recipe.  I used butter in place of all the margarine the recipe called for because I don't like to buy extra ingredients when I have perfectly good substitutes at home (except when it comes to subbing Miracle Whip for mayonnaise, seriously, just get the mayo when the recipe calls for it).  And as Paula Deen would say, butter makes it better!  These were yummy, especially right out of the oven.  I took some over to my parents house after I baked them and they both thought they were delicious.  My mom told me so as she was using her finger to scoop up the extra icing from the plate.  I take that as a sign that they must have been good.  Sometimes actions speak much louder than words.  She told me I wasn't allowed to put that in the blog.  Sorry Mom! 

When life gives you lemons . . .

Lemon Cheese Bars


1 (18.25-ounce) package plain lemon cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower
2 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place rack in center of oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees.  Set aside un-greased 13x9 inch pan.  Place cake mix, oil, and 1 egg in large mixing bowl.  Blend with electric mixer on low speed 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula.  Mixture should be crumbly.  Reserve 1 cup for the topping.  Transfer remaining crust mixture to pan.  Using your fingertips, press mixture evenly over bottom of pan so it reaches all sides.  Bake crust until light brown, 13-15 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and set aside.  Leave oven on.

For filling, place cream cheese in same mixing bowl used to prepare crust and, with same beaters (no need to clean either), blend with electric mixer on low speed until creamy, 30 seconds.  Stop machine and add sugar, lemon juice, and remaining egg.  Beat on low speed until well combined, 1-2 minutes.

Use rubber spatula to spread filling over baked crust so that it covers the entire surface.  Scatter reserved crust mixture over filling.  Place pan in oven.  Bake until crust is golden brown and filling just starts to set, 14-15 minutes.  Remove pan to wire rack to cool 30 minutes.  Cut cake into 24 bars.  Remove bars from pan with metal spatula and serve.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade . . . I mean Lemon Cheese Bars!  This was the easiest recipe so far and I am thankful for that since I am still trying to write my final paper for my class (which I was hoping to have finished today; so much for that).  These are very tasty, which makes how easy they are to make even better!  Although I baked it the second time for 15 minutes and I'm not sure that was long enough.  The topping wasn't very golden brown in color. Oh well, still tastes good.  Get excited, coworkers, because these are coming to work tomorrow!

The whole enchilada

Chicken Enchiladas


10 flour tortillas
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chiles
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
3 - 4 cups cooked chicken
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Mix all except tortillas, 1 cup of cheese, and chicken.  Heat ingredients in saucepan.  Mix chicken with half of the sauce, fill tortillas, roll up, place in lightly greased 9x13-inch pan.  Top with remaining sauce and cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until hot.

It's snowing this evening and hot and cheesy enchiladas were perfect for the weather.  I used raw tortillas that I fried up myself (the brand is Tortilla Land and they are sold at Walmart if you are interested) and they really made this dish.  They are my favorite tortillas.  I also used an entire 4-ounce can of chopped green chiles, not just 2 tablespoons.  The sauce was a little soupy because of the chicken broth, but it tasted great.  They took a little while to put together only because I had to cook up all the chicken first; I would recommend doing that ahead of time if you plan on making these.  

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts

Buttermilk Coconut Cake


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 egg whites
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
Butter Frosting (recipe follows)
1 cup flaked coconut (toasted, if you like)

Grease and flour two 8" x 1 1/2" or two 9" x 1 1/2" round baking pans.  Set pans aside.  Stir together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  In a mixing bowl, beat the shortening and butter or margarine for 30 seconds.  Add the sugar and vanilla and beat til fluffy.  Add egg whites and beat till smooth (2 minutes at medium speed).  Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition till mixture is just combined.  Turn batter into prepared pans.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.  Prepare the Butter Frosting.  Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides.  Sprinkle top and sides with coconut.  Makes 12 servings.

Note: If using 13x9x2-inch baking pans, bake for about 30 minutes or till cakes test done.  Cool cakes completely and spread with Butter Frosting, refrigerating any leftover frosting, or use a smaller frosting recipe.

To make sour milk, place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a glass measuring cup.  Pour in enough milk to make 1 cup liquid.  Stir and let stand for 5 minutes.

Butter Frosting: In a small mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter or margarine till light.  Gradually add 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating well.  Beat in 1/3 cup milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla.  Gradually beat in 3 3/4 to 4 cups sifted powdered sugar to make a spreadable frosting.  Makes 3 cups.

The Butter Frosting recipe was very tasty would be great on any cake.  I think I'll have to use the frosting recipe for future cake endeavors.  The cake itself was a little dry and had almost an angel food cake consistency and not a whole lot of flavor.  The cake wasn't very sweet either, but the frosting was plenty sweet to make up for that and the coconut added a nice flavor.  If I were to make this recipe again, I would use a different cake recipe, but keep the Butter Frosting. Does anyone out there ever use parchment circles in the bottom of their cake pans when they bake?  Every time I bake a cake it never releases from the pan very well and I always have chunks of cake at the bottom of the pan even when I grease and flour them.  at least frosting covers all cake mistakes.  I'm just wondering how well the parchment circles work.  If anyone has any insight, please let me know.  Like the last couple of recipes, this one is headed to work tomorrow.  Hopefully the coworkers like it!

Olé!

Taco Pinwheels


4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup seasoned taco meat
1/4 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup salsa
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped ripe olives
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
5 flour tortillas (7")
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
additional salsa

In small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese.  Stir in taco meat, cheese, salsa, mayonnaise, olives, and onions.  Spread over tortillas, top with lettuce, roll up tightly.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.  Unwrap and cut in 1" pieces.  Serve with salsa.

You would think I would learn.  Miracle Whip is not a substitute for mayonnaise.  But I used it anyone for this recipe because I didn't want to buy a $2.50 jar of mayonnaise just for 2 tablespoons.  If you plan on making these, actually spring for the mayonnaise.  Other than the tangy zip of Miracle Whip, the recipe was good and easy to make.  Would make a good appetizer.  I skipped using the olives because I think olives are gross and I didn't use any onion either because my salsa had onion in it (and I didn't want to buy a whole onion for only 2 tablespoons).  The tortillas kind of flaked apart when I cut them, not sure how to fix that.  If anyone knows the secret to tortillas not tearing or flaking apart when you roll them or cut them, please let me know.  

Extra, Extra! Read all about it!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Graham-cracker crust

2 cups graham-cracker crumbs (from about 15 double crackers)

1/3 cups reduced-calorie margarine, softened

Pumpkin filling

1 container (24 ounces) nonfat cottage cheese (3 cups)

1 tub (12 ounces) light process cream-cheese product

1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

Whites from 2 large eggs

1 can (16 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish: caramelized pecan halves (see Note)

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease bottom and sides of 9x3-inch springform pan.  

Crust:  Mix graham cracker crumbs and margarine in a medium-size bowl until even moistened.  Press over bottom and 2 inches up side of prepared pan.

Filling:  Process cottage cheese and cream-cheese product in a food processor or blender about 2 minutes, scraping down sides 2 or 3 times, until think and smooth.  Add brown sugar and process until sugar dissolves.  Add eggs and egg whites; process just until blended.  Scrape mixture into a large bowl.  Stir in pumpkin, cornstarch, spice, and vanilla until well blended and smooth.  Pour into prepared crust.  

Bake 1 hour 20 minutes or until top of cake looks set (center may jiggle and top crack).  Turn oven off.  Let cake cool in oven 2 hours.  Remove cake from oven.  Place on a wire rack to cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate in pan at least 6 hours or up to 4 days.  To serve, run a knife around inside edge of cake pan.  Remove pan sides.  Place cake on a serving plate.  Garnish with pecans.  

Note:  To caramelize pecans arrange 20 pecan halves 1 inch apart on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  Cook 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and dark amber in color.  Slowly pour over pecans.  Let cool until hard.  Break apart.

Due to the big Thanksgiving potluck lunch this past week, I made an extra recipe.  This one wasn't randomly pulled from the box, however.  Before I started this little foodie experiment, I was looking through some of the shoebox recipes and came across this one and set it aside.  I have never made cheesecake before so I was a little worried but this was a great recipe!  Everyone at work like it too.  The consistency was light and fluffy with the low-fat cream cheese and cottage cheese and the pumpkin flavor was great.  It was fairly easy to make, I used a food processor to mix the filling so make sure you have one or a blender I think would work too.  While the recipe was easy, it did take quiet a while to bake and let it cool.  Make sure you don't have any plans outside of your house for about 6 hours when you start this process.  Seriously.


One more note, I tried making the caramelized pecans, but they didn't turn out.  I tasted one and it just tasted like burned sugar.  Which is completely gross if you are wondering.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to make caramelized pecans, I would be happy to hear them.  

This one is a few days late

Garden Potato Salad


1/2 cup extra vigil olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons salt
8 oz. green beans, trim ends and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
2 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, shallot, and pepper together in large bowl.  Reserve 1/4 cup of dressing in a measuring, cover.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in large saucepan, add green beans and salt.  Cook uncovered into green beans are slightly tender.  Using slotted spoof, transfer beans to a plate lined with paper towels to drain a bit.  Then add to bowl with dressing, toss to coat.  Add potatoes to simmering water, bring to a boil, cook until just tender.  Transfer to colander and drain.  Add hot potatoes to the bowl with beans and dressing.  Toss gently and let sit at least 10 minutes.  Add the parsley, chives, basil, and reserved dressing to bowl.  Blend gently and serve.

You can substitute 3 tablespoons of lemon juice for the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill for basil.

As it was pointed out to me yesterday, I didn't post anything over the weekend.  Sorry for the delay, things have been a little busy this week, but I am making up for it.  This recipe was pretty simple to put together.  I did substitute the lemon juice for the vinegar because that is what I already had at home and I used frozen green beans instead of fresh.  Both worked well.  This is probably my least favorite recipe so far.  Don't get me wrong, this potato salad was good and the fresh herbs add a nice flavor, but I prefer a creamier mayonnaise based potato salad.  I'm taking it to work tomorrow for our Thanksgiving potluck lunch.  Hopefully my co-workers like it!

It's also the name of a movie

Fried Green Tomatoes


1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs. lemon juice
3/4 cup plain, dry breadcrumbs
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
2 lbs unripe tomatoes, sliced 1/2" thick
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
12 cherry tomatoes

Puree garlic, basil, mayonnaise, and juice until smooth.  Cover; refrigerate.

Combine breadcrumbs, 1 tsp. salt, pepper, and cumin.  Sprinkle tomato slices with remaining salt.  Coat tomatoes with flour, shake off excess.  Dip in egg; coat with breadcrumb mixture.  In nonstick skillet heat oil over medium heat.  Cook tomato slices in batches, turning once, until golden brown, 3 minutes per side.  Drain on paper towels; serve with cherry tomatoes and basil mayonnaise.

For the second week in a row, I picked a recipe involving rhubarb and then had to pick again.  After my last post about trying to find rhubarb my best friend texted me to let me know that even though rhubarb isn't in season in the groceries stores, her mom is currently growing it in her garden.  While it is great to know that I can get rhubarb out of season I can't just go driving up to Johnstown every time I need it.  So I picked another recipe from the shoebox.  


Green tomatoes are a little difficult to find in the grocery store.  My best friend also informed me that her mom has bags and bags of green tomatoes in her garage.  I clearly need to be her next door neighbor.  She has everything I need for any cooking conundrum.  Luckily, while I was at the store, the produce was being restocked so I picked through the crates that hadn't been put on the tomato display stand and found unripe tomatoes.  They weren't very green, but they weren't very red either.  The key to finding tomatoes for frying is that they need to be very firm.  That way they don't fall apart when you slice them.  While I was able to find unripe tomatoes at the store, they were completely out of fresh basil.  So I had to used dried basil for the sauce.  In case you were wondering, you cannot substitute the same amount of dry basil for fresh basil.  Dry herbs are more potent than fresh so use the substitution of 1 teaspoon of dry for 1 tablespoon of fresh.  


Overall, a pretty tasty recipe.  The cumin in the breadcrumb mix added a nice flavor.  However, when I made the sauce I used miracle whip instead of mayonnaise since that is what I had in the refrigerator.  The zip of miracle whip was a little overkill with the garlic.  Too many competing flavors going on.  Next time, I'll use actual mayonnaise.  

Perfect for the season

Ginger Cookies


2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, at room temperature
1 cup firmly backed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease baking sheets.  Mix together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a medium-size bowl.  Beat together butter, brown sugar, honey, and egg in large bowl until smooth.  Beat in flour mixture just until a dough forms.  Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart.  Lightly moisten the bottom of a water glass with water and dip in granulated sugar; flatten each cookie, recoating glass after each.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 12 minutes until lightly golden.  Remove cookies to racks to cool.

Well, I have to admit that this was not the first recipe I pulled out of the shoebox this week.  The first recipe I pulled was called Rhubarb-Cherry Crunch.  And even though I have never eaten rhubarb and have no idea what it tastes like, the recipe still sounded pretty good.  So I trekked off to the grocery store to buy my ingredients.  However, the grocery store was out of rhubarb.  Did you know that standing in the middle of King Soopers calling two other grocery stores to see if they have rhubarb doesn't change the fact that rhubarb isn't in season in October?  Who knew?  I obviously didn't.  So I had to pull out another recipe.


These cookies were delicious!  Good flavor without being completely overwhelmed by the ginger or cinnamon.  This was a great recipe to pull for this time of year with these great fall flavors.  And they were super easy to make!  Baking them for 12 minutes wasn't quite long enough, you might want to add another minute or two.  I also used parchment paper instead of greasing the pans, makes for much easier clean up.  Although my mom and I were wondering why parchment paper is made so wide.  You could make a lot of money if you invented parchment paper the same width as a cookie sheet.  I would buy it.  I made these cookies at my parents' house and my mom had the best tool to use.  It's a cookie scoop and it makes perfectly shaped cookies.  I took a picture so I could post it below in case you need to know what it looks like.  It is genius!  I'm not quite sure how I have gone this long without one.  I will now be getting one of my own.  No one should make cookies without it!

Aloha!

Waikiki Meatballs


1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tbsp shortening

Sauce:
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 (13.5 oz) can pineapple chunks
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce

Mix beef, crackers crumbs, onion, egg, milk, salt, ginger, and shortening.  Form into meatballs.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until done (test one).  Cover with foil to keep warm.

Sauce: Mix cornstarch and brown sugar, drain pineapple and add juice to brown sugar mix.  Add vinegar and soy sauce.  Cook, stir constantly until thickened and boiling.  Boil 1 minute, remove from the heat, and add pineapple chunks and meatballs.  Heat and serve.

Cook until done?  Seriously?  What does that even mean?  It means you have to Google how long it takes to bake meatballs in a 350 degree oven.  The answer is about 30-35 minutes.  The recipe also didn't specify how big to make the meatballs so I made mine about golf ball size.  I thought I was being really smart when I lined a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.  I thought it would mean throw away the parchment paper and still have a clean pan and eliminate washing it.  Not the case.  The meatballs release all of their grease when baking, which is great because the meatballs aren't greasy when you add them to the sauce, however, the parchment paper was soaked with grease and therefore the pan was completely covered in grease . . . and in case you haven't figured out where this is going, I had to wash it.  


Overall, a pretty good recipe.  I made Waikiki Meatballs Subs and sprinkled a shredded Italian cheese blend on top.  Pretty tasty!  My mom and dad both liked them too, however they were more impressed with how fresh the rolls were I used for the sandwiches.  I got them at Walmart in case you wanted to know.  

Bonus Round

When picking out this week's recipe I also pulled out a card with a small magazine article tapped to it called "Easy Flavor Enhancers."  They sounded pretty good so I thought I would pass them along to you.  Beware, I haven't actually tested these.


Easy Flavor Enhancers:

Caramelized Onions:  Combine 3 lbs. sliced onions, 1 melted stick of butter, and 1 tsp. salt in a 5 qt. slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.  Serve with steaks or add to soups.  Makes 3 cups.  Each 1/4 cup serving: 111 cal., 9 g fat, 1 g protein, 9 g carb.

Roasted Garlic:  Place 6 heads of garlic in one layer on a sheet of aluminum foil; fold foil loosely around garlic.  Place in a slow cooker of any size and cook on low for 8 hours.  Squeeze garlic out of skins and add to mashed potatoes or pasta dishes.  Each head: 45 cal., 0 g fat, 2 g protein, 10 g carb.

The First Recipe

Sticky Date Pudding

2 sticks of butter (cut into 8 pieces) plus extra to butter pan

8 ounces pitted dates, chopped

1 teaspoon baking soda

5 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 tablespoons baking powder

1/4 cup heavy cream

4 ounces brown sugar

1 pint heavy cream, chilled, whipped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch, high-sided baking pan.  Place the dates in a sauce pan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to summer and cook for three minutes.  Add the baking soda and set aside.  In a bowl cream one stick of butter, sugar, and eggs, adding the eggs one at a time.  Gently fold in the flour, the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Slowly stir in the baking powder and 1/4 cup of the date cooking liquid until the cake mixture resembles thick pancake batter.  (Discard the rest.)  Stir in the dates.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked in the center.  

Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining a stick of butter, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, the brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer, and cook for three minutes.  

To serve, drizzle some of the sauce over the cake as it is cooling.  Serve the rest of the sauce separately.  Garnish with whipped cream if desired.  10 servings.

Sticky Date Pudding, doesn't it sound like a recipe a grandma would have?  Well I have to say this recipe was a lesson in learning how to read.  I didn't chop the dates and I didn't add the eggs to the batter one at a time.  But I think everything turned out fine.  The cake was a little dry (I baked it for 35 minutes, probably could have been in the oven for 30 minutes instead) but it tasted good.  And the sauce was delicious!  The most difficult part of the recipe was actually finding pitted dates in the grocery store.  I've eaten dates in food before, but I have never actually seen a whole date and had no idea what I was looking for.  In the event you don't know where to find pitted dates in your local grocery store, they are in a resealable bag in the same aisle as the raisins either on the very top or the very bottom shelf.  

My grandma's name is Virginia!

For as long as I can remember, my grandma has collected recipes.  That's her picture below, isn't she cute!  Some of the recipes are handwritten from her watching cooking shows, others she has cut out of magazines.  All of them have been put onto onto 3" by 5" index cards and placed into shoeboxes.  My grandma has shoeboxes completely full of recipes all over her home that she has collected over the years.  To take my grandma's hobby to the next level, I was given the idea from a friend to take some of the shoeboxes, pick out a recipe at random each week, make it, and then blog about the experience and share the recipe.  Wish me luck!