cinnamon rolls

ok, so paula deen is the matriarch of all things butter and big hair - and i love her for that.
i did change a bit in this recipe of hers, though - less sugar and butter - but not too much less!

these are the first cinnamon rolls i have ever attempted, and they are SO easy and really actually quite fun to prepare and make! 

firstly, heat your oven to 350, and dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small bowl.

Cinnamon Rolls

dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour



filling:
1/3 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for pan
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon


glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water





in a giant bowl, mix together your scalded milk, sugar, melted butter, egg, and salt. this is also the first time i have ever scalded milk, and it wasn't too difficult - yes!

ok, so now that you're an expert milk scalder, you can add the flour into the giant bowl and mix everything together until it's all lump free and glorious. add your bowl of dissolved yeast/water, and add the rest of the remaining flour until you feel like your dough is going to be a good consistency for you to work with.

place your dough on a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes.
get out a medium sized bowl and grease it up with some butter and place the dough in it, cover, and let it rise for a good 1 1/2 hours.


after the dough is doubled in size, punch it down and roll it out into a rectangle that is about 15in by 9in. 
spread the melted butter out and evenly coat the dough. then mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle all over the dough. at this point, you can sprinkle on some raisins, walnuts, or whatever else you think would taste good inside these delicious rolls!

here comes the fun part - rolling the dough!
start at the 15in side (hot dog style, not hamburger!) and roll up the dough; pinching together the edges to seal it up. if the ends are a little ugly, just trim them off, or let your kids destroy play with them!
to finish up, slice your dough to make 12 - 15 rolls.

almost done! now grease your pan (i used a 9 by 13in) with some more butter (butter!!) and place your rolls in it. they can totally be close together. then they need to rise some more, so let them sit for about 45 minutes.

finally, bake for 25-30 minutes, or until slightly brown on top.
let the rolls cool just a little bit before glazing them.

for the glaze, mix up the vanilla, powdered sugar, and butter (butter!!) until smooth, then add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until it is the consistency you desire.

enjoy!

honey and sweet basil pizza dough

so i am a 2/3 stay at home mom, and 1/3 working mom. i work fridays and saturdays, but am home with the kids mon-thurs until 4pm when my husband gets home. he takes the car (unless i feel like being a crazy person and getting up hella early to drop him off) and then it's just me and the monsters munchkins all day!
now don't get me wrong - i absolutely cherish and adore my alone time with the kids. i think i am indescribably lucky to be able to have the best of both worlds, (plus, right when i've totally had enough of one, it's over for the week, and the other one starts!) but it is a bit trying at times to find things to DO all day. i have been feeling guilty lately about how much tv we watch, but come on - oregon wintertime is hardly appropriate for walks and outside exploring.
so i have started baking a lot more. the kids LOVE helping me! i let elsa pour in a scoop of flour, and xander gets to mix for a while, etc.

more recently, i have started including them in cooking, too! they have been loving it! especially x. they both loved making their own mini pizzas! i let them knead their own dough, watch it rise, punch it down, let it rest, make it into a pizza shape, and add toppings - the whole deal! i think they felt really satisfied eating something they made and waited so long for. it was a super special day!

yesterday, we didn't have much in the way of "easy" meals to whip up, and i really just wanted pizza...and it totally wouldn't have been unheard of for me to order delivery, buuuuuut i was also pretty bored, and so it was then decided - we were gonna make our OWN pizza!

for the dough, i didn't want to use white sugar, so i used honey. you can use sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar- whatever! you can also use oregano, thyme, red pepper - anything in place of, or in addition to, the sweet basil i used in my dough.

here's what you need (makes one large or two small crusts):

2 1/4 c. flour, sifted
1 heaping tsp. active, dry yeast
1  tsp. honey
2 tblsp. grapeseed oil (you can use olive oil)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. sweet basil
3/4 cup warm (110 degrees) water

in a small bowl, stir with a fork to dissolve the yeast in the warm water. set aside.


in a large bowl, sift the flour. add the honey, sea salt, and basil.

pour the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients, and with clean hands, form a dough. you might need to add more warm water, and that's totally fine.

after you have a good dough going, place it on a lightly floured, flat surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. when you've finished, form the dough into a ball, and place it in a large bowl with that grapeseed oil. if you're making two small pizzas, then divide the dough into two balls and use two separate bowls with oil at the bottom.
loosely cover the bowls in plastic wrap or a warm kitchen towel, and let rise for 2 hours.

when that time is up, gently punch the dough down (it should be roughly double it's size by now)  and re-form it into a ball, and turn it so the whole thing is covered in oil. re-cover and let rest for 1 hour.

take your ball of dough and rustle up your inner italian. make the best pizza shape ever! mine morphed into a rectangle, but i still ate it....all.
i buttered a sheet pan and it worked great for cooking the pizza.

for toppings on my pizza:

1/4 c. tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. mozzarella
1/2 c. parmesan
1 c. fresh organic spinach
1 small, sliced organic tomato


after assembling your pizza toppings atop the dough, place sheet tray in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes. if you made your crust a little thicker, you may need to add a few minutes - whatever works!

enjoy!

kale, bacon, and white cheddar macaroni

there's this place in downtown portland called the montage, and they are pretty famous for their unique and exquisitely rich variations of macaroni and cheese. the main sauce they use for most of their mac is  heavy cream based and SO good! my husband has almost perfected the sauce, and we have done all sorts of things with it, including this awesome recipe! kale is one of those superfoods that is entirely versataille and  i can't stop using it in everything.

here's what you need:

1 lb. pasta (we like to use regular large elbow macaroni, or something similar)

2/3 c. shredded fresh parmesan

3-5 pieces cooked bacon

8 oz. heavy cream

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

4 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. flour

2/3 c. white cheddar, shredded

1/2 bunch organic kale, washed and chopped very small 

dash red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

start off by cooking your pasta according the the directions on the package, and mix in 2 tbsp of butter.

heat up a medium sized saucepan, and cook up your strips of bacon, then crumble them, and set them aside, keeping the grease in the pan. immediately add the 2 tbsp of butter, kale, and the garlic. 

once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk until clumps form, and continue to whisk for about 3-5 minutes. slowly begin to add the heavy cream, and keep whisking until your sauce is at a low boil. 

add the spices and cheeses, and when everything is hot and melty, pour over the cooked macaroni, and stir together. add bacon. 

to serve, sprinkle more fresh parm on top!

enjoy!

the soft pink cookie

this cookie has been my favorite thing since i was a little kid! there's something about waiting in the grocery line and spying that giant, soft, sprinkled, pink frosted goodness.

i tried to find a recipe that captured that excitement and possibility of sweetness and a rush of sugar that is the giant, soft, pink sugar cookie!

i have slightly adapted this recipe from annie's eats. 

you can make them as large or as small as you want, and in any shape. for valentine's day, i am definitely whippin' out my heart shaped cookie cutter and buying some more red food coloring and sprinkles!

for this specific incident, i used blue food coloring, and the kids loved them!

The Soft Pink Cookie

• [for the cookies]:
• 4½ cups all-purpose flour
• 4½ tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature (save wrappers for greasing cookie sheets)
• 1½ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 tsp. vanilla extract

• [for the frosting]:
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
• 1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
• food coloring
• sprinkles

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease two cookie sheets with butter wrappers. 

sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium sized bowl. set aside.

in a large bowl (or in the bowl of your kitchenaid mixer) beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy (2-4 minutes) 

add vanilla and eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl with a spatula after each addition.

turn your electric mixer down to low speed, and slowly add the dry ingredients that you set aside, into the large bowl of wet ingredients. 

blend just until incorporated.

cover your ball of dough in plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for one hour, or up until the next day. 

once your dough is chilled,  take a tablespoon and scoop out dough to the size of cookies you want. roll into a ball and use your other hand to flatten it into a perfectly round cookie shape!

repeat with the rest of the dough.

line the flattened dough balls onto your buttered cookie sheets, and spread 3 inches apart, just to be safe.

bake for around 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE! this will ruin the whole point of recreating my your childhood dreams!

to make the frosting, put the powdered sugar in a medium sized bowl, and add the vanilla, melted butter, food coloring, and milk. beat until semi-stiff peaks are revealed. if you need to add more milk, do so a tablespoon at a time.

when they are cool, frost those lovelies, and sprinkle them! store them in an airtight tupperware of sorts. enjoy!!

babies.

 how cute are my kids?!

i know, so cute.

asparagus and ham frittata

one of the most easy and economical/cost effective ways to use up every single leftover in your fridge (besides making a weirdy/nasty casserole that no one will eat) is to make a frittata!
easier and much healthier than a quiche (no buttery crust) and ready in like...20 minutes tops. amazing!

the best part about a frittata, is that you  can keep using the same base of eggs and milk and cheese, and sub in whatever veggies and meats you want. forever! and always. ok, i got no sleep last night, guys! getting up at3 am is a huge change for me. i am ok with being delirious and crazy-ish for a while, until i adjust.
wow, anyway!
here's what you need:

10 eggs
3 tbsp  butter
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups diced ham
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 potatoes (of any variety), cubed
1/3 cup milk
1 heaping tsp mustard powder
1 tsp sea salt
6-7 asparagus spears, cut into strips --->     like so    ---->



place asparagus spears into an oven-safe skillet, cover with water, and bring to a boil, and cook about 3 minutes. drain, douse with cold water to stop it from cooking
more, and drain again. set aside.

using same oven-safe skillet, melt butter, add red onion and ham, cooking for about 5 minutes. then add potatoes and asparagus, and cook for two minutes more.

next, whisk up your eggs, milk, and spices. turn the skillet to medium, and let the eggs set without stirring or touching the pan at all, for about 8 minutes. then, put the oven on broil, and depending on oven times, it could be in there for anywhere from 4-8 minutes. mine was 8.

pull her outta there! (WITH A HOT PAD)

ENJOY!

classic blueberry pancakes

some things are so simple, yet bring so much joy. one of these things is hot pancakes with lots of butter and syrup on a weekend morning!
my kids looove fruit, and i'm always dishing it out to them like crazy, so i thought why not add some to my classic pancake recipe! you can add any fruit: apples, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, pears, bananas - what ever!
here's what you need:

1 egg

1 cup flour

2 tbsp melted butter

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or any fruit)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp raw sugar

1 cup milk

place tablespoon - sized globs of dough in your greased, heated pan (put the burner on medium)

cook until golden brown on each side!