Yummy morning breakfast...

DO YOU EVER get your kids involved in your breakfast making? I like to encourage as much help in the kitchen as I can get! Breakfast is one of those easy meals that kids usually like, you can have many helpers, and at least in my home gets our day off to a better start!

Until I married my husband I had never had 'Dutch Baby'. In my family we had 'Popovers', which I think are similar. However, I like the idea of making them sweet rather than savory. Although I do love popovers! I my home we've taken it one step further by adding cinnamon sugar at the end. So here we go...

Your Mom's Dutch Baby

1/4 cup butter

3 eggs

3/4 cups flour

3/4 cups milk

 

 

 

Turn on your oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 2-3 quart casserole dish. Place the 1/4 cup of butter in the casserole and place it in the oven as it pre-heats.

 

 

While the butter is melting I put all the ingredients into a mason jar.

 

 

Then I let my helpers shake...

 

 

Once your batter is 'shaken up' remove the pan from the oven and pour batter into the melted butter.

 

 

Put it back in to bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until 'puffed' and golden brown.

 

 

Then we sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the whole thing and dig in! Some like maple syrup too!

 

 

Yummmmmmmmm....!

 

Enjoy your day!!

 

Just a note... here are your ratios if you have a larger crowd.

 

3 - 4 qt pan 1/3 cup butter, 4 eggs, 1 cup flour and milk

4 - 4 1/2 qt pan 1/2 cup butter, 5 eggs, 1 1/4 cup flour and milk

4 1/2 - 5 qt pan  1/2 cup butter, 6 eggs, 1 1/2 cup flour and milk.

 

 

 

 

 

Apple Blackberry Cobbler!!

EVERY WHERE YOU look you can begin to see signs that autumn is just around the corner. The other day on our nature walk we looked for signs of autumns approach. It was so fun to pick apples and berries! After we got home we had a family baking session. I think that it made it taste all the better! Here's our recipe, it may be a unique combination but it was pretty tasty!

                    Apple Blackberry Cobbler
4 small/medium apples      2 cups of blackberries

2 Tbsp instant tapioca        2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp melted butter

                             Shortcake Topping

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour         2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup packed brown sugar        1/4 cup melted butter (4 Tbsp)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a 3qt casserole and set aside.

Peel and slice the apples and then place them in the casserole. After washing the berries place them in a medium/large mixing bowl and gentle toss with the sugar and tapioca. Pour the berries over the apples, then drizzle with melted butter.

In another bowl whisk the dry ingredients together for the topping. When dry ingredients are evenly distributed add the cream and melted butter. Mix into a stiff dough.

Spoon dough on the fruit in a 'cobbled' fashion. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

Just because cookies...

TODAY IN THE KITCHEN we made sugar cookies. It's always fun to make them, but it always seems we only make them at the holidays. So today we made just because. The kiddos love to make things in the kitchen so today this was our project!

The Recipe
1 1/4 cups sugar                       3 cups all-purpose flour (plus some for sprinkling)
1 cup  of shortening                 3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs                                       1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup light corn syrup            1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla

First I cream all the sugar and shortening together until it's light an fluffy. Next I add the eggs, vanilla and syrup. When this is well mixed I add my dry ingredients. I usually whisk them in a separate bowl before adding them to my wet ingredients. Once the dough is combined and able to be formed into a ball I place it into a piece of plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.

Once the dough is well chilled I use my shaker of flour to dust my work surface and roll out the dough. Then the fun begins and we start cutting. Bake for 5 - 9 minutes, depending on size, at 375. I cool my cookies on a sheet of foil on the counter. Then decorate if you choose and eat! Enjoy!!

Yummy Coconut Cream Pie...

ANOTHER THING I love about summer holidays is all the pies! Can there ever be enough pie? I, for one don't think so!! Pie is my weakness. Fruit pies, cream pies, meat pies, put it in pastry and you've got me! So when I came across this recipe on Dough Puncher for a coconut cream pie in an 11 x 17 pan I was right there!! I mean a whole 11 x 17 pan of pie, I was like Garfield and lasagna. You know what I mean, and while my favorite pies are apple and strawberry-rhubarb, coconut cream is right up there.

So here's our creation from the Dough Puncher's blog. I did make a couple of tweaks.

First, as with any pie, you make the dough. If you have crust phobia, you can always purchase a store bought crust, so don't let this step intimidate you from making this! Since I made my dough I added a little coconut extract to the crust.

Once you have your crust you need to bake it off as this is a cream pie and is not baked. Then you make your filling. The recipe called for whole milk, but I didn't have any on hand, so I substituted a combination of 2% and heavy cream. It worked just fine. Once you've made your custard and poured it in the crust, then you'll need to chill it before you put on the whipped cream.

**Just a note if you've not used corn starch before to thicken something. It seems like it takes forever, but then once the custard gets to a certain temp it thickens real fast. So be patient.

The final step is to just whip the cream and toast your coconut. I tweaked my version a bit from her recipe. I added coconut extract to the cream instead of vanilla. Also, I bloomed some Knox Gelatin in my cream before I whipped it. This step prevents your cream from becoming "weepy" and it hold up better. So whip your cream, toast your coconut and you're good to go! Enjoy!

For the full recipe click here....

Happy Independence Day!!!

WHAT A DAY! Hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating our nations independence!! One of the many wonderful things about holiday is all of the foods we get to eat. Loads of BBQs, salads, desserts, etc. This year I introduced a couple new recipes to my repertoire and they were yummy indeed! The first one I want to share is from a blog I came across called Brandy's Baking. The recipe is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake bars, can you say YUMMMO?!!!

Here's our creation of the recipe. It was a hit!!

First you make and bake the graham cracker crust.

Then make the cookie dough "crumble" topping and set aside. Next make the cheese cake and spread it over your crust.

Then add the cookie dough topping and bake. Cool and refrigerate! It's so yummy I'm sure it won't last long! Enjoy!

For the full recipe click here....

Homemade Pretzles...

IN THE KITCHEN today we made homemade pretzels! They are the best! My oldest grew up making them, but this is the first time I've made them with my little guys. It was great fun. What a great way to spend a wet day, by playing with dough you can eat!

I used the recipe from Catholic Traditions in Cooking, by Ann Ball and have used it for years. It's a wonderful easy recipe that we all enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

1 pkg dry yeast                          4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup warm water                1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp salt                                     1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp sugar

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Then add the sugar and salt, stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Then add the flour and melted butter. Stir until it starts to become stiff and then move to the counter and kneed until elastic. Divide dough into small equal pieces. Roll into "snakes" and twist. Place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg wash and add corse salt (if desired) and bake at 375 for 15 minutes, until golden.

**A note for my fellow Orthodox. We have had these a lot during the fast. In that case I have used lenten margerine and used almond milk for a wash and seems to be fine to help the salt stick to the pretzels.

Did you know that pretzels have a spiritual and historical significance? During the early years of Christianity pretzels were a lenten snack. Lenten bread made of water, flour and salt accompanied simple lenten meals of veggies and fruit and on certain days fish. In the west, as a sign for lent being a time of prayer, bakers shaped their bread in the form of arms crossed in prayer. Bracellae, the Latin word for "little arms", eventually became the Germanic "pretzel".

Enjoy your day!

Learning Ops Everywhere...

IT'S FUNNY NOW THAT I have this blog I'm always taking photos with my phone. Whenever we're on an outing or doing project around the house out comes the camera. I find learning opportunities every where!! With little ones it's so easy to "school" without sitting at a desk.

This week was shopping week so the little boys got to come along and help mom doing the shopping. When my oldest was little we had a garden in our back yard so we planted and grew much of our produce. Unfortunately these kids don't get that experience because we don't currently have a garden. In my attempt to get them to eat a greater variety of foods our shopping trips have become a learning time that then leads to our cooking lessons later. My only rule is that if you're going to help make something for someone to eat then the "cook" has to taste everything prepared. They wouldn't want to serve something that tastes terrible, right? These two are my most picky eaters so it's my attempt to covert them! So we go through the produce section learning about all the different kinds of fruits and veg.

We also took a trip to dad's favorite store, Cabela's. Another learning opportunity. If you've never been to a Cabela's it's quite a store. Not only do they have all the hunting, fishing, and all the things that go with that, that you'd want. They also have a large collection of taxidermy with all kinds of information about the animals and conservation. They even have an aquarium of native fish, in our region that includes salmon, among others. It's quite a treat for kids.

So where ever you go, no matter what you're doing there's probably something that can be educational. Therefore, the next time you go through your day and feel you've not accomplished anything "educational". Think again. Maybe you have!

Enjoy your day!!

Yummy Chicken Enchiladas

IN THE KITCHEN today my cute little helper and I are whipping up some yummy Chicken Enchiladas! After roasting the chickens earlier in the week we now have a basis for a quick meal. I am all about quick fix meals!! Move over Rachel Ray, I can whip together these Chicken Enchiladas with a helper in 20 minutes or less! Plus the fact it's so economical to get several meals out of two chickens. Genius! Wouldn't you say!!

Here's my quick fix recipe, caution I usually make things "by gosh and by golly" so feel free to improvise or go with your families taste.

Yummy Enchiladas
2 cups of cooked chicken                   3/4 cups your favorite salsa
1 cup sour cream                                1/2 cup grated cheese
1 pkg of flour tortillas                         2+ cups of grated cheese to cover

Mix the chicken, salsa, sour cream and 1/2 cup grated cheese in a large bowl until evenly mixed. Spray a 11 x 17 pan with a non-stick spray. Then spoon some salsa in the bottom of the pan to make a thin layer. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture and place in a sprayed 11x 17 pan. When the pan is filled with enchiladas cover with grated cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until heated through. Serve with a fresh green salad and or some fresh fruit for the kiddos and you're good to go!Enjoy!

Sampling the cheese from our creation!