Sweet Tea

I LOVE the sweet tea  they serve at Cracker Barrel and I finally decided to make some. I found this recipe and it’s really good. The baking soda kind of scared me but it works. Trust me!

• just under 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups boiling water
• 6 regular tea bags (or 4 big ones)
• 3/4 cup white sugar (or some honey to taste)
• 6 cups cool water (or less depending on how strong you like it. I found 6 diluted it too much)

Directions

1. Boil water and sugar together.
2. Sprinkle baking soda into a 64-ounce pitcher, add tea bags and boiling sugar water. Cover, and allow to steep for 15 minutes.
3. Remove tea bags, and discard; Pour in cool water, then refrigerate until cold.
4. I recommend tasting it as you put the cold water in so you don’t over dilute!

Crock Pot Mac &Cheese

My sister hosted a recipe exchange on Friday night and everyone brought copies of seven or more recipes to give to everyone else who was there. I made use of the recipes to make Crock Pot Mac&Cheese last night and it was SO good! I doubled the recipe and changed a couple of things but I’ll give you the original and then my version.

• 8oz of your favorite pasta
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter (melted)
• 12oz can evaporated milk
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups Milk

1. Cook the pasta
2. Place all the ingredients in the crock pot on low for 3 hours

I doubled the recipe as I like pasta as my main dish, not my side dish. I used 3 eggs because there were three eggs left and I didn’t want one to feel lonely. I didn’t melt my butter before hand, I figured the heat of the freshly cooked pasta would melt it for me. I only had one 14oz can of evaporated milk. I used 4 cups of cheese as 6 cups seemed like way too much. I used slightly less than 3 cups of milk. I also didn’t have enough time to cook it for 3 hours so I cooked it for 1.5 hours on low and .5hours on high. It turned out quite nicely. :)

Almond Cinnamon Rolls

I was making cinnamon rolls the other day and thought I’d switch them up a bit. So I made Almond Cinnamon Rolls. I used sour dough bread for the rolls but they didn’t turn out as light as I like them, so I’m just going to cover the filling and you can choose your own dough recipe.

• 4TBS of butter
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg

 

1. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick rectangle.
2. Melt butter and add almond extract to it.
3. Drizzle butter mixture onto rolled out dough
4. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle on top of the dough
5. Roll dough into a long log and cut into pieces as big as you’d like.
6.  
7. Place in greased baking dish, cover and let it rise for an hour or two
8. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 350 for 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top (more or less depending on your choice of dough)
9. Let cool for about 5 minutes then flip the rolls onto a plate.

For the icing you will need

• Icing sugar
• Milk
• Almond extract

I don’t remember how much I used of any of those. But just keep adding until the taste and consistency are how you like them, then drizzle the icing on the rolls. Yum!
 

I have a feeling these would taste great with Almond pieces in them, but I didn't have any when I was baking...

Olive Oil Dip

I made Ciabatta Bread for dinner tonight and my sister suggested I make an oil based dip for it. So I looked up a few recipes and invented!

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 cup mixed herbs I  used a mixture of chives, rosemary, basil, thyme and Italian seasoning.
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1/8 cup Parmesan Cheese

1. Pour the olive oil into a bowl and mix in the herbs, balsamic vinegar and minced garlic (I put everything in a food processor for a few seconds)
2. Refrigerate until ready to serve (make at least 30 minutes ahead of time but not more than two hours ahead of time, I read that's not a good idea)
3. Right before serving mix in the Parmesan

Everything can be adjusted to your taste. My sister added some salt to hers and I think it tastes better with a bit of salt in it.

Ciabatta Bread

A couple of days ago whilst Stumbling I came across a recipe for One-Minute Bread. The titled had me intrigued and I had to know just how one can make bread in 60 seconds. Well, obviously you can't have the finished product in 60 seconds, but you can mix all the ingredients in that amount of time.

You will need:

• 2 cups warm water
• 1/4 tsp dry yeast
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt

1. Mix the yeast and warm water in a large bowl.
2. Add the flour and salt and mix with a spoon until well mixed.
3. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and place somewhere safe for 8-12 hours. I left mine for 5 hours and it turned out nicely.
4. Preheat the oven to 400
5. Gently pour the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle the top with dried oregano, basil, and rosemary.
6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes depending on how crisp you like the crust.

 We ate this bread for dinner with an Olive Oil dip. It was rather tasty!

*I just have to add a note, my sister, her two boys and I ate half the loaf at dinner. Jessica's husband came in from work and ate the other half. If he eats that much of something, it's good.

Deviled Eggs

Yesterday I watched Julie & Julia. I. LOVED. IT! It’s an amazing movie and I found it inspiring – although I couldn’t stand Meryl Streep’s annoying high pitched voice. But it does add to her character. I was inspired to cook yesterday but I didn’t think a drippy nose belonged in the kitchen, so I stayed out. But here’s a recipe I tweaked Friday night.  I only used one egg and I didn’t measure anything. I think something like this should be made for your own taste.

Deviled Eggs

• 1 hard boiled egg
• Mayo
• Shredded Cheese (I used Kraft Mexican something or other)
• Cajun Seasoning

1. Cut your previously hard boiled egg length wise.
2. Scoop out the yolk and place in a bowl
3. Add mayo and cheese to the yolk and mash together
4. Divide the yolk between the two egg halves and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning.

Jelly and Cream Cheese Shells

Almost a year ago my dear friend Michelle and I went to Arizona together in search of an adventure. We certainly had an adventure! We hiked a mountain, I almost stepped on a rattlesnake, we spent a day in Sedona and at the Grand Canyon and Michelle broke her leg. But none of that has to do with cooking, and this is a blog of food. While I was in Sedona, I picked up a jar of Prickly Pear Jelly and I just opened it today. IT'S SO GOOD! It's rather sweet but that's how I like my Jelly. I decided to make something but I didn't know what so I wandered into the kitchen for inspiration. I ended up making some jelly and cream cheese filled biscuits.  

• 2 1/4 cups Bisquick mix
• 2/3 cup milk
• 4oz cream cheese
• 8 tsp Jam/Jelly

1. Preheat oven to 405
2. Mix together Bisquick mix and milk
3. Knead and add a bit more mix so the dough is no longer sticky
4. Roll into a log and cut into 8 pieces

5. Roll each piece into a thin circle

6. Place each circle into a cupcake pan

7. Put 1/2 oz of cream cheese in each shell

8. Place 1tsp of jelly on top of cream cheese

9. Pinch the extra dough together

10. Bake for 12-15 minutes

I want to try these again but with pastry as I think a lighter dough may go better.

Sausage and Beef Meatballs

• 1lb tube of sausage
• 1lb ground beef
• Spices - I only used a bit of garlic as the sausage was already spiced
• 1 egg
• Bread crumbs - I only had about 1/3 of a cup
• 1/3 cup creamy salad dressing - optional. I used Caesar and I couldn't taste it in the meatballs
• Butter for the baking dish - I used just over 1/8 of a cup in each dish

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Put about 1/8 cup of butter in the bottom of a casserole dish
3. Mix the sausage and beef together
4.  Add the egg, spices, breadcrumbs, and salad dressing
5. Form into balls and place in casserole dish
6. Bake for 20 minutes
7. Place meatballs on paper towel to drain the butter off so they don't become too greasy

Poached Eggs

I made poached eggs for the first time last night. I also ate them for the first time last night. They are super easy to make and I think I will experiment with them in the future.

You need:

• As many eggs as you will eat (keep them cold)
• 3 inches boiling water (I didn't really measure)
• 2 Chicken or Beef Stock cubes

1. Bring the water to a boil and stir in the flavor cubes
2. Reduce the water to a simmer
3. Doing one egg at a time crack into a bowl and pour into simmering water. I was able to cook 4 eggs at a time in the pot I used.
4. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the yolk is as soft or hard as you want it. I found that a little hard to figure out and just stuck to the 5 minutes.
5. Using a slotted spoon scoop the eggs out of the water and drain on the spoon or place on paper towel. 

I've read that you can use tomato juice, wine, plain water, milk, broth, or other liquids to poach the eggs. I may try it in tomato juice one day but that just seems like a waste of tomato juice!

Buttermilk Bicuits

A couple of weeks ago I was craving Cracker Barrel biscuits and I found a recipe for them on CopyKat and having just made them, I'm quite pleased with the recipe.

• 2 1/4 C. Bisquick Mix
• 2/3 C. Buttermilk
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (I think that is too hot, I did this and the bottoms browned before the middle was done cooking, I'd say do it at 350 or 400 for about 15 minutes)
2. Mix first three ingredients together, add melted butter and stir ingredients until soft dough forms. 
3. Knead 20 times on a surface lightly dusted with flour then form into 9 balls. 
4. Place biscuits in a 8x8 baking dish and slightly flatten
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. *see note on step one

I like to put melted butter on my biscuits as soon as they are done baking.