New Halloween Tradition - Homemade Donuts

We started a new Halloween tradition this year...homemade donuts. I forgot to take pictures of making the dough and cooking them, but the recipe is easy to follow. I cooked the donuts and then had a tray with bowls of different toppings...glaze, chocolate glaze, sprinkles, nuts and coconut.  Everyone was able to create their own donut.  The kids had fun dipping and the adults said they were the best donuts ever!

Homemade Donuts

2 tablespoons yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups scalded milk, cooled to lukewarm (I used 1/2 cup powdered milk in 1 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups flour

Measure yeast and water in small bowl and let sit while assembling remaining ingredients.  In mixing bowl, combine milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups flour.  Beat on low speed until smooth.  Stir in remaining flour and yeast.  Beat for 2 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.  Lightly flour counter and roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut with donut cutter or I didn't care about having the hole in the middle so used a round cookie cutter.  You could also use an empty can.  Let rise for 30 minutes.  Heat oil in a deep fryer or electric frying pan to 350.  Carefully place donuts into hot oil.  Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes until golden brown.  Carefully turn over and cook on other side.  Remove from oil with tongs or large slotted spoon and place on platter lined with paper towels to drain.  Dip in glaze and other toppings as desired.

Glaze

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

5 tablespoons hot water

Stir together until smooth. 

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa

1/3 cup milk

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

Melt butter and add cocoa.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minutes.  Stir in milk, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.

Dip in glaze.

Then in topping.

Then EAT!  YUM!

Don't throw those pumpkins away.  I'll show you why tomorrow!

Yummy Peanut Butter Popcorn

I needed to take a recipe using honey to a meeting tonight so I called my daughter who uses honey for everything.  She gave me this peanut butter and honey popcorn recipe:

10 cups air popped popcorn

1 cup honey

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

I didn't measure the popcorn, but used 1/2 cup whole kernals that filled a large bowl when popped.

Combine honey, peanut butter and butter in saucepan and heat until butter is melted.  Stir well.

Pour over popcorn and stir until well coated.  Stir in peanuts if desired.

This was so yummy that my family (okay, mainly me) kept picking at it until it was half eaten so I had to make another batch to take to my meeting!



Grandkids Love Play Dough

A couple of my sweet little granddaughters came over to play for a couple hours.  Avery let me know yesterday she wanted to make play dough.  Here are all the ingredients:  

2 cups water

3 tablespoons oil

food coloring

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup salt

1 tablespoon alum

 Lilly poured the water in a saucepan along with the oil. 

While we waited for the water to boil, they added flour, salt and alum  in a large bowl and stirred it up.

 We added food coloring to the water.  Avery wanted pink so we added some red to the water and poured it into the flour mixture. 

It was hot, so I stirred it in and then dumped it on the counter.

 Avery and Lilly used their hands to mix it in.  They had to be careful at first because it was still hot.

Now it is all ready and they had so much fun playing with it.  After they left, I put it in a plastic storage bag so it will be ready for them next time they come to play.

How About Some Caramel Apple Pancakes??

So my neighbor told me about some apple pancakes that were made on one of the television food shows recently.  She knows I am on the lookout for different breakfast recipes.  I decided to try my own version so here it is....and they were so so good!

I started out making the batter.  I didn't take pictures making the batter or the syrup, but you will see the pictures of the fnished products in the pictures below. Also, the recipe for the batter includes freshly ground wheat flour, which is all I use, but white flour can be substituted.

Here is the recipe:

Caramel Apple Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon oil

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

6 apples (I used Golden Delicious)

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl.  Add honey, oil, egg and buttermilk.  Whisk until smooth. 

Caramel Sauce: 

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter and cornsyrup in large saucepan and bring to boil.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Stir in soda and vanilla.  Soda will make the mixture foam up so make sure you use a large enough pan to avoid it bubbling over the edges. 

Cut apples in 1/4 inch slices. 

   If you have an apple corer, remove core before slicing.  I didn't have one so I used a cake decorate tip to cut out the center.  (An apple corer would have been much easier).

 Dip apples in batter and place on hot griddle sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until bubbles form around edges and turn and cook on other side.

                                           Serve with Caramel Sauce and enjoy!  Yum!



Tomatoes = Salsa

I love homemade salsa!  Years ago a neighbor and I spent years trying to create the perfect salsa.  After many different recipes and adjustments, we finally came up with one we liked the best.  Salsa is the first thing I bottle with my tomatoes.  When I get as much as I need, then I use the tomatoes for other things.  With that said,  let's get canning!

Here is the recipe:

30 large tomatoes
4 green peppers
3 onions
5 - 7 jalapeno peppers or a combination of other hot peppers
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon pepper


Fill a large pot 1/3 full of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add enough tomatoes to cover bottom of pan.  Add more water if necessary to have tomatoes covered.  Let boil or simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove tomatoes from pot and place in sink filled with cold water.  Repeat, until all tomatoes have been blanched.  This process will help the skins slide right off.



Using a paring knife, cut out stem and remove the skin.  It should slide right off.  If not, then you need to keep them in the boiling water a little longer.

Quarter the tomato and place in large pot.  When pan is full, place on stove and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat while you continue to skin the remaining tomatoes.  This process will bring the juices out of the tomatoes.

Using a measuring cup, press down on the tomatoes, allowing the juices to run into the cup.  Pour into a clean, hot quart jar.  Continue in this manner until most of the juice is removed.  I can usually fill 2 or 3 quarts with juice.  This step eliminates hours of cooking the salsa down until it is thick.  It also gives you a bonus of tomato juice that can be added to soups or recipes calling for tomato juice.

Fill  jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Wipe rim with a clean cloth, place hot lid on and screw on the ring.  Set aside to process with the salsa.

Trim green peppers and onions and cut in pieces.  Cut stems off of hot peppers.  You can remove the seeds if desired, but I like to leave them because we like it HOT!

Add a couple cups of tomatoes from simmering pot to a food processor, along with 1/3 of the veggies.  Process until desired consistency.  We don't like big chunks, so I leave it for about a minute until the veggies are fine.

Pour into large pot and continue processing the remaining tomatoes and veggies.  The pot should be filled to the top so add more tomatoes if needed.  Notice how the salsa is thick and just the right consistency.  Add the salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil on medium high heat, stirring frequently so it doesn't scorch.  Lower heat and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes.

Pour salsa into clean, hot pint jars.

Wipe rims with clean, wet cloth.

Position hot lids onto bottles (follow instructions on package of lids) and screw on rings.

Place jars in pressure cooker and follow instructions, processing at 10 pounds pressure for 25 minutes.

For tomato juice process at 15 pounds for 15 minutes.

There we go...15 jars of yummy salsa in addition to the 7 bottles of tomato juice...

I PROMISE it is worth the time and effort!!!



LOVE Summer Produce!!!

Last year, I finally came up with a quick, easy way to cut watermelon.

Place the watermelon in a large cookie sheet to prevent a mess all over the counter.

Using a long knife, cut the watermelon in fourths, lengthwise.

For each section, slice from the top to the bottom every inch or so.

Cut several slices from end to end.  Turn to other side and slice again from end to end.

Starting at top of melon, cut along the rind on both sides.  ( Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that step)
Hold melon over large bowl and let the pieces fall in.  You may have to loosen it a bit with the knife.
Easy and fast!  (There will be some fruit left on the bottom of the rind...scoop it out with a spoon and eat!)

Repeat with other three sections.

Finally....SUN!!

This is the first day of no rain for a long time...It has been so rainy this spring, I haven't been able to get my garden planted. Today is the day!