Mini Rolls

These are just in time for holiday entertaining.  They are versatile, simple to make and oh so good.

(2 on the left side of the plate are Cinnamon Minis
The other 4 are Sausage Mini Rolls)

For the Cinnamon Mini Rolls I used:
1 tube of Crescent Creations
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup fine chopped pecans
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Unroll the crescent onto a sheet of waxed paper/foil/parchment paper lightly sprinkled with flour.  With a knife cut the crescent in half.  On another sheet of waxed paper/foil/parchment paper lightly sprinkled with flour, place one half of the crescent.  Gently rub a light sprinkle of flour on each side.  With a rolling pin, roll out the crescent, keeping it as square as possible, until it's about 1/4" thick.  Brush with melted butter.  Mix brown sugar, pecans and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  Sprinkle over crescent dough.  Carefully roll creating a log.  Cut into slices about 3/4" thick.  Place into muffin tins lined with papers.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Mix powdered sugar, cinnamon and milk, start with 1 tsp. You want your glaze to be the consistency of cake icing.  You can actually use cake icing for this if you like.  Drizzle over rolls while still hot.

For the Sausage Mini Rolls I used:
1 tube Crescent Creations
1 lb. cooked, crumbled sausage, well drained
Shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Follow the directions above for preparing your crescent.  Brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle with cheese and sausage.  Roll into a log.  Cut into 3/4" slices.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

Both of these are delicious.  You can easily change both recipes.  For the sausage you can change to bacon bits, you can spread with soft spread cheese instead of shredded.  You can spice it up with sauted onions and/or peppers, well drained.  For the Cinnamon Minis you can spread a thin layer of apple sauce or apple butter instead of the butter.  You might want to add some raisins or change the flavor completely by using other spices such as nutmeg, cloves or apple/pumpkin pie spices. 

Brownie Cupcakes - A Kiss Dish

These cupcakes make a wonderful, tasty gift for teachers, friends, neighbors, etc.  They are so simple!

1 box brownie mix
1 cup mini-marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350.  Fill muffin tins with liners.  Mix brownie mix according to package directions.  Add marshmallows and nuts.  Spoon into tins filling them 1/2 full.  Bake 20 minutes.  Makes 24

Changes - use coconut instead of nuts. 

A Review for Stir, Laugh, Repeat all the way from Las Vegas!

This is a review that was just posted to Amazon for my book Stir, Laugh, Repeat

Stir, Laugh, Repeat (Perfect Paperback)
I highly enjoyed this book. The stories accompanying the recipes add a special flavor, making them even more delicious. It's a non-conventional cooking book, a little gem to be read and treasured.

By Liliana Badd (Las Vegas)

Pesto Tortellini - Another KISS Recipe

1 pkg (9 oz.) Sweet Italian Sausage Tortellini (I used Buitoni)
1 pkg (.5 oz.) dry Pesto Sauce Mix

Cook Tortellini according to package directions.  Make Pesto according to directions.  Drain Tortellini.  Pour pesto over Tortellini.  Serves 2.

You can't get any simpler than this.  Serve with a little garlic bread, a salad and maybe a glass of wine and you have dinner.  When I came up with this idea I wasn't sure I would like the end results.  Turns out that I did but if I had found this something distasteful I did have an alternative plan.  Simply pour the pesto sauce off the Tortellini (you could even rinse it off with hot water if you wanted).  Put the Tortellini in a baking dish, cover with spaghetti sauce, a little cheese and bake until hot.  This was a win-win dish either way.

Root Beer Sundae

For those of you who enjoy a good old root beer floats, you are going to simply love this one.

Vanilla Ice cream
root beer (I used Uncle Scott's all natural)
caramel topping
copped nuts

So simple!  Spoon your ice cream into a bowl.  Drizzle with caramel topping.  Add root beer and sprinkle with nuts.  The proportions are up to you and your own taste buds.

Banana Bread - Sugar vs No Calorie Sweetener

Today I made 8 loaves of Banana Bread to take to our Veteran Housing near my home.  Since I know that there are some of these wonderful men and women who are diabetics I decided to make half using Ideal sweetener instead of sugar.  I followed my recipe for Brown Sugar Banana Nut Bread (found in my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat) and substituted the sugar and brown sugar using Ideal's no calorie "sugar" and brown "sugar." 

Above you will see the finished products.  The bread on the left is made with sugar and brown sugar.  The one on the right is made with Ideal.  The one on the left does have more of a golden brown color and it is a bit moister than the one on the right.  But, not only does the one on the right have no sugar added, it came out with more of a bread texture which great as it is but it is also perfect for slicing, adding a touch of butter and toasting.  As for flavor, I found no difference.  Both breads are delicious.

Simple Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner's sugar
food coloring (optional)

Combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl and beat well with an electric mixer until smooth and spreadable. Add a drop of food coloring and blend well into your frosting.

This is a good frosting to sprinkle with coconut. When I make a coconut cake using this frosting I frost the top of my bottom layer, add a heavy amount of coconut, frost the bottom of the next layer and place it on top of the coconut. This "glues" the two together and keeps it from slipping due to the amount of coconut.

Stir, Laugh, Repeat review by Deborah S. Hockenberry

Move over Rachel. Move over Paula. Make room for Martha Cheves! In her new cookbook, `Stir, Laugh, Repeat: Finding Joy While Playing In The Kitchen' there are easy meals for everybody and every tastebud.

In each recipe you'll find helpful tips plus stories about Martha's family, food testers and about Martha herself. Because of these humorous stories and kitchen tips, not only is `Stir, Laugh, Repeat: Finding Joy While Playing In The Kitchen' is also a great book to read!

All of Martha's recipes can be converted to any kind of diet that you might be on easily. I even found some that look like they would work in my crockpot. This cookbook is a must-have for anyone who either likes to cook or just eat!

Granola

3 cups old fashion oats
1 cup Bran Buds
3 Cups Honey Nut Cherrios
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
3 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 pkg (6 oz.) dried cranberies
1 pkg (10.5 oz.) mini marshmallows
3/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  In a large bowl combine oats, bran buds, cherrios, brown sugar and coconut.  In a small bowl combine oil and syrup.  Pour over dry mixture and stir (I use my hands for this).  Pour onto 2 large cookie sheets with sides.  Bake 1 1/2 hrs. stirring every 15 minutes.  You want the coconut and pecans to become slightly toasted and pecans.  Pour 1 pan back into large bowl.  Sprinkle with the marshmallows.  Pour other the other pan on top of the marshmallows and toss while still warm.  Cool and break into pieces.  Store in covered dish or in plastic storage bags.

Changes - Add a few milk chocolate, peanut butter or white chocolate chips.  Change the nuts.  Add a little cinnamon to the mix. 

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Mini Pizza Cups

This is another dish from my Hormel Early Christmas Party.  These are made simply from using the following:

Wontons
Pizza Sauce
Hormel Turkey Pepperoni
Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place your wontons in small muffin tins.  Add 1 tsp. of pizza sauce, pepperoni and then cheese.  Bake about 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and wontons have browned lightly.

The list of changes to this dish is as long as your imagination.  You can add mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers, just about anything that you might enjoy eating on your pizza.  These are perfect served hot as well as at room temperature.

Cheese Spreads using Hormel Bacon and Ham

The cheese spreads I made for my Hormel Christmas Party were very simple and can be changed in a number of ways to fit your own taste.  Here is the basic recipe:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
Hot sauce, to taste, optional
8-10 butter crackers, crumbled
Hormel Ham or Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix mayonnaise, shredded cheese, cream cheese and hot sauce.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.  Spread mixture into dish.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until cheese has melted and dish is bubbly.  Sprinkle with crumbs and ham or bacon.  Serve hot or room temperature.

Changes can be made by thinking with your taste buds.  Add dehydrated, chopped onions; garlic; mushrooms; dill weed; or maybe some chopped green onions.  Change up the topping by using crushed cheese crackers instead of butter crackers.  You can even add the ham or bacon in with the cheese instead of sprinkling over the crackers.  Or leave the crackers off completely and decorate with chopped olives for a holiday look.  A Fun Recipe!

Iron Foodie 2010 Contest

                                         I'm entering the Iron Foodie 201 contest sponsored by Marx Foods and Foodie BlogRoll.  This sounds like a really fun contest.  There will be 25 challengers selected to participate and I plan to be one of them.  Here is what I have to do 1st.

1) - I have to answer a few questions.

 Q. Why do I want to compete in this challenge?
 A.  I love a good challenge, especially when it comes to food.  One of my favorite things to do is create new dishes or take complicated recipes and make them simple.

 Q.  Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would I like to spend the day in and why?  Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria, James Beard, Marie-Antonie Careme or The Swedish Chef?
 A.  This is a tough one to answer.  I admire Julia Child for her determination to break into a world normally dominated by men.  Thomas Keller who started as a cook and followed his dream to own some of the best restaurants in America.  Ferran Adria for his application of science to the culinary world.  James Beard for awarding the best of the best.  Marie-Antoine Careme for her contribution to the dessert world and The Swedish Chef for adding humor that sparks the interest of cooking in children.  Now for my answer.  I would choose Julia Child.  She strikes me as one who would laugh at mistakes I might make while being taught by someone as great as she was.  She is what I would call a "real person."

 Q.  What morsel am I most likely to swipe form family and friends' plates when they aren't looking?
 A.   There are actually several answers to this one.  If you have anything coconut on your plate you better guard it from me.  If you have shrimp on your plate you better guard it.  And if you have anything with melted cheese on your plate you better take the plate with you wherever you go.

 Q.  Sum up your childhood in one meal.
 A.  Thanksgiving dinner!  My mother would spend the week before making cakes and pies.  I would see them sitting around the kitchen wanting so badly to pinch a bite.  When the day would finally come I would spend the whole day "balancing" my food so I could eat all day.  The dressing and gravy were my favorite.  And the potato salad, green beans and sweet potatoes.  That was the favorite time of the year for me when it came to food.  

 Q.  The one mainstream food I can't stand.
 A.  No problem answering this question.  I HATE LIVER!  If someone wanted to torture me, feed me liver.  I actually sat at the kitchen table for a whole day because I wouldn't eat my liver.  No matter how you prepare it, I don't want it!

So, cross your fingers and say a prayer or two and hope I'll be one of the 25 chosen to participate in the Iron Foodie 2010 Contest.  I've tried and even worked up a few recipes for Marx Foods' mushrooms.  Through the contest, Marx Foods will send 8 secret ingredients of which 3 must be used to create my signature dish.

Wish me luck!  And while you're at it, visit the Marx Foods and the Foodie Blogroll sites.
                                         

Root Beer Float Cake

Ok, here is the recipe for the Root Beer Float Cake that I made for my Hormel Christmas party. 

1 yellow cake mix (18 1/4 oz.)
1 1/2 cups root beer (I used Uncle Scott's Root Beer)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients and beat with electric mixer until smooth.  Pour into your choice of pans that have been sprayed with non-stick spray.  (I used 2 small rectangle pans making 2 small sheet type cakes but you can use a Bundt pan.  Just make sure you adjust the cooking time for the pan.  You can find use the suggested time listed on the cake mix box.)

Icing:

1 carton (7 oz.) marshmallow cream
1/4 cup root beer

Mix together until smooth.  I iced my cakes while they were barely warm allowing a little of the icing to soak into the cake.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This recipe was sent to me by Suzanne Ramsey from Uncle Scott's Root Beer.  The only change I made was to the icing.  Her icing called for 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, 3 Tbsp. root beer and 2-3 drops of vanilla.  She made hers in a Bundt can and poked holes in the top of the cake allowing the glaze to seep into the cake.  When I made up my icing I thought about the flavors in a root beer float. You have the vanilla as well as the root beer.  Since marshmallow cream has a vanilla flavor I decided to use that as my icing base hoping the root beer would give me the flavor I was looking for.  It worked!  When you take a bite of this cake you can pick up both flavors... vanilla and root beer.  For the Christmas theme I sprinkled one cake with red and green sprinkles.  The other cake I sprinkled with finely chopped pecans. 

One of the authors I done reviews for, Aggie Villanueva, sent her favorite Root Beer Float recipe to go with one of her reviews.  In her recipe she added chopped pecans, a little cinnamon and chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla.  This sounds like a delicious combination and can easily be added to this cake by adding just a little cocoa powder to the marshmallow icing and then sprinkling the iced cake with a little cinnamon and the chopped pecans.