Rosemary Bread - Yum

I have been feeling like homemade bread for a couple of days.  But, I don't have great recipes, so of course I checked Pinterest.  This Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread sounded yummy. And we had all the ingredients already in our pantry - no special trip to the store requried.

I ate it with goat cheese...amazing.  My husband just slathered butter on his. And days later, this bread was still soft and good.

Please note this bread has to rise twice!

Rosemary Bread

*Makes 2 loaves (not large - about 6 to 8 inch circles)

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon instant yeast or 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary, chopped and divided
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Coarse salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric stand mixer if you have one), combine the yeast, sugar and water. If using active dry yeast, let the mixture stand until foaming and bubbly, about 5 minutes. If using instant yeast, proceed with the recipe. 
2. Add two cups of the flour (half of each kind), salt and 1 tablespoon of the chopped rosemary. Mix. 
3. Continue adding flour, gradually, until a soft dough is formed. Judge the dough based on texture and feel versus how much actual flour you’ve had to add based on the recipe. The dough should be slightly tacky to the touch but should hold its shape while still being soft and smooth. Knead the dough by hand or with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes, adding additional flour only if the dough is overly sticky and not clearing the sides of the bowl.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, approximately 1-2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. I put mine in the oven - no draft and it's off the counters. 
5. Once doubled, gently deflate the dough and divide in half. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, a silpat liner or lightly grease with cooking spray. 
6. Shape the dough into two smooth, oval shaped loaves and place them on the baking sheet, one on each half of the tray so they have room to rise and bake without touching. Use a brush to slather the melted butter over the top of the loaves. 
7. Continue brushing on the butter until it is gone (the loaves will be well-saturated). Sprinkle the remaining chopped rosemary over the top of the loaves, patting down gently to set into the dough, if needed. 
8. Cover the loaves with lightly greased plastic wrap and let them rise again until puffy and nearly doubled, about an hour (again, the exact time will depend on temperature so judge the dough by how it looks).
9. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly sprinkle coarse salt over the top of the loaves. 
10. Bake the loaves for 18-20 minutes until browned and baked through. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Five out of five stars...amazing bread!

Brie and Jam Pops - Amazingly yummy

These Brie and Jam Pops were outstanding. I highly recommend these for anytime of the day.  We snacked on them for several days.  They are best warm.

Brie and Jam Pops

makes 24 squares (which is only 12 pops)

Ingredients

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed but still cold

1/2 wedge of brie (about 4 ounces), cold

1/3 cup blackberry jam (or any flavor you fancy!)

1 large egg, beaten

splash of milk

coarse sea salt

Directions

1. All-butter, store bought puff pastry  usually comes frozen and folded into thirds.  Use these folded thirds to our advantage by cutting the puff pastry into thirds along the creases.  
2. Cut each panel into four pieces.  They’ll be 2 1/4-inch tall and 3-inches wide.  One sheet of puff pastry will yield 12 rectangles.  Cut each rectangle in half.  You’ll have 24 little rectangles that will create 12 little rectangle pockets.
3. Combine beaten egg and splash of milk.  Brush 12 of the small rectangles with egg wash.  If you’d like to make brie bites on sticks, now is the time!  
4. Place a popsicle stick halfway up the puff pastry and press in gently.  
5. Place a small sliver of brie (rind and all) on top of the egg wash (and stick).  Top with about 1/2 teaspoon of  jam.  Take another square of puff pastry and press between your fingers to make the rectangle slightly bigger.  
6. Place puff pastry on top of the cheese and jam.  Use a fork to press the edges together. The egg wash will act as  glue.  Make sure to seal the edges well by crimping with the fork.  Prick the top lightly with a fork.
7. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place prepared brie bites on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush with egg wash.  Sprinkle with a touch of coarsely ground sea salt. (I forgot this and they were still awesome.)
8. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. 
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Brie and Jam Pops

Super Hero Capes - Be Their Hero

I have to show these off.  I made my nephew this amazing two-sided superhero cape.  I followed the directions from here -- Crazy Little Projects. I made one of these -- it took a few hours - maybe 6 all together.  But, that might have been because I had to take the two sides apart and redo it since I didn't measure the center of the cape before the design was attached. I think he loved it.

First, you can get most of the hero symbols from here.  This free, safe font is downloadable to your computer.

Second, follow the Crazy Little Projects tutorial - just be sure to center your design on each side before you sew it together. 

Superhero Symbols for Capes

The Batman Side of the Cape - the yellow material is softer than the felt I used for the capes themselves.

Superman Side of Cape

Superman side of the cape.

Cinnamon Adult Apple Cider Ice Cream

My father-in-law is a huge ice cream fan - has to have a bowl every night.  So, I thought we would try something a little bit different, a little healthier.

So, from Pinterest, I found this recipe for Apple Cider Ice Cream.  Using my handy Kitchen Aid mixer with ice cream maker attachment, it was actually pretty simple and without a lot of "fancy" ingredients.  I, of course, tweaked the directions (see below for my version).

Cool and refreshing - Very apple-y (is that a word?).  I would suggest making it in the fall, as that seems the season for apple dishes.

Cinnamon Adult Apple Cider Sorbet

Makes 1 1/2 quarts

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fresh apple cider
2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon whole cloves
5 whole cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cups cranberry juice cocktail (make sure it's 100% juice)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons dark rum or other alcohol

Directions

1. Stir together apple cider, sugar, cloves and cinnamon sticks in saucepan. 
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat , stirring occasionally. 
3. Simmer for about 15 minutes. 
4. Remove from heat. 
5. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon; discard.
6. Give it 10 minutes to cool.
7. Add the above mentioned mixed ingredients to your ice cream maker attachment.
8. Add in applesauce, cranberry and lemon juices and rum. 
9. Let it run for 15 to 20 minutes - you'll be able to see if start to form up like ice cream.
10. Enjoy! 

You can cover and refrigerate overnight. Freeze as directed in the instructions for your particular ice cream maker. We ate it right out of the ice cream maker.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles

Originally found on Pinterest... Here's the original post. We used essentially the same ingredients, just a different kind of chocolate and peanut butter.  We thought it was the perfect combo of sweet and salty.

Ingredients

• 1 (7.5 oz) bag of Bugles
• 2 bags of candy melting discs (we had leftovers from Halloween)
• 1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2+ Tbsp of milk

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine your peanut butter and powdered sugar. Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time until it's smooth. (I used 2 Tbsp)
2. Beat until smooth.
3. Using a piping bag or a ziplock with the edge snipped off pipe the peanut butter into the Bugle.
4. Melt your chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, stir and repeat for 15 seconds until melted. Only melt about 1/4 of the chocolate at a time.  You will find that easier and won't have to rush through before the chocolate re-hardens.
5. Swirl the peanut butter end of the Bugle into the melted chocolate and set on a wax paper lined baking sheet.
6. When all are dipped put in freezer until set and ready to eat.

Notes

The original poster indicated she liked to eat these frozen, but we didn't try that. These are best if eaten the same day you make them.

We used three kinds of melting discs - brown and lime green milk chocolate and dark cocoa.  Gave some variety to the colors in the bowl.

These were a huge hit at the party we took them to.  We give them a 4 out of 5 stars, because honestly you have to be patient as it takes so much time to pipe the peanut butter in.  We did this together, so that helped.  By yourself, it would be too time consuming.  One piper, one swirler.  Enjoy.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

I took two lemon desserts with me to "Friends-Giving" a few weekends ago. I made these first, but I was afraid that they wouldn't serve enough people. Beware - it only makes like 12 cookies - you have to use 2 cookies for each sandwich, so it takes lot of cookies!  I was surprised how few it made, but they were worth every second in the kitchen.

Inspired by this pin, this recipe comes from itty bitty kitchen.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies:

• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (this is important!)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of one lemon

Filling:

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• juice of one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. In a large bowl cream the butter, salt and sugar until light and fluffy on a medium setting, roughly 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and  incorporate the vanilla and lemon zest, scraping down the sides as you go. Sift the flower and cornstarch into the mixture and beat on a low setting until just combined.
3. Take small portions of the mixture and roll into balls, continue until you have 25-30 (I made mine quite large, I ended up with roughly 23) pieces. If you want them to be as even as possible, roll out the mixture until it forms a log then use a clean knife to section into 30 pieces.
4. Place them on a baking tray lined with wax paper, gently press on each piece with a fork until it has left an imprint. You can also press on them gently with your fingers, if you do not wish to leave an imprint.  (I used the criss-cross look like a peanut butter cookie because I thought they were cute.)
5. Bake for 20 minutes. let them cool completely.
6. For the filling beat the sugar, butter and lemon juice on a medium setting until incorporated. Keep adding sugar until you get a thicker consistency - you don't want the filling to squish out all over, but rather support the top cookie.
7. Use the back of a spoon, or a knife to ice one side of the cookie then sandwich them together. Try to find two which are similar sizes.  The biscuits can be kept for up to 5 days in an air tight container.

All I can say is WOW - these were awesome.  A 5 out of 5.  Totally worth every minute.  I loved them and so did others.  I hope you do, too!



Chicken Parm Bake - My Way

Inspire by this pin... by the Food Wishes blogger  .  I didn't like having to watch the video to get all the directions.  But, I like the idea of a healthy, baked version of Chicken Parmesan.  I did downsize the recipe, so it wouldn't be so much food - we're only feeding two at our house most of the time.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

hot red pepper flakes, to taste 
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 
1 can tomato sauce
oregano (a few tsps)

basil (a few tsps)
thyme leaves (one tsp, as DH is not a fan)
8 oz mozzarella, shredded

4 oz Parmesan, grated

1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons (Used Arnold brand)

Directions

1. Prepare the 9x9 pan by pouring the olive oil into the bottom and then coat it with garlic and hot red pepper flakes.
2. Put the chicken breasts on top.
3. Pour can of tomato sauce on top. Season with basil, oregano, and thyme leaves.
4. Add about 1/2 the cheese.
5. Add the croutons.
6. Put the other 1/2 of the cheese.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I'll be honest - I didn't really measure most of the ingredients, just added what I thought looked like enough to cover the chicken breasts.  So, the ingredient list is not exact.  Use what you like.   NOTE: My chicken finished after 30 minutes (plus resting for 10 - do not underestimate the resting period which will allow the chicken to cook more). Your cooking time may be up to an hour depending on the size, shape, and temperature of your chicken. Please use a meat thermometer to check doneness (155 degree F.)   We gave this dish a 4 out of 5.  We both enjoyed it.  Hope you do, too.