Texas Road House Rolls

OK It has been a few years since I have been to Texas Road House, but I still know the reason why many of us go there.... for the rolls. They are hot, fluffy, melt in you mouth with a hint of honey, when you take a bite Last night for dinner we had over a group of Texas guys that are here helping rebuild a house that was destroyed last year in the flood. We had my Pecan Crusted Salmon, Keith made some Puerto Rican rice with beans, and I tried these rolls. I was afraid I messed up the recipe at first but they turned out GREAT and everyone loved them! My only addition to the recipe would be instead of just spreading butter on top make a mixture of honey butter and you have a roll pretty close to the famous Texas Road House ones! I will be making these again! Oh and you want to make sure these have time to rise. I was a bit rushed last night and didn't give them the full time to rise. If I would have I think they would have been even MORE fluffy and delicious. I also halved the recipe because my mixer can not handle 9 cups of flour with out struggling.

Texas Road House Rolls (48 rolls)
4 1/2 tsp yeast
2 1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup honey
6 TBSP butter melted
2 eggs
1 TBSP Kosher salt
8-9 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in milk. Add honey and disslove, then let it sit about 10 minutes till frothy.
Add butter, eggs and 4 cup flour. Mix till smooth. Add more flour to gather the dough together. Add salt and knead 7-9 minutes. (I used my mixer) Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise for about an hour till doubled. Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Turn dough out on to floured surface. Roll into a rectangle. About 1 inch thick. Cut in 48 pieces. Place on cookie sheet. Let rise till doubled about another hour. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake 12-15 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, spread butter on top. I suggest you make a butter honey mixture and top it. It would be delicious!

Indian/ Eskimo/Puerto Rican/ African........Worldly Fry bread! =)

This meal has become a favorite for our family. I don't know where the recipe is officially from and it changes depending on who you ask. Fry bread is a  flat tortilla like bread that you fry and it gets a bit puff and makes wonderful tacos. I first had Fry bread in New Mexico and they used it for a dessert with cinnamon and sugar on top. Then when we moved here, fry bread tacos were sold at many community events. The Athabaskan people(who mostly live in our village) say they were the ones to invent fry bread. Their people group are distantly related to the Indian people groups of the Lower 48. So I could see how fry bread would have spread to New Mexico as well as interior Alaska. The Eskimos on the coast also claim to have invented Fry Bread. So who know where it REALLY came from but I am glad all the different people groups and tribes eat it, that way we can see different ways to eat it. I was amazed to see how easy they were to make at home! So now a Puerto Rican and a Zambian have adopted it into our house and declared this World bread. No I did not invent it but I have experimented with different ways to use it. Fry Bread can be adapted to what you like. I love it as a taco but also love it as a dessert! Here is the recipe and a few ways we like to eat it!

Indian/ Eskimo/Puerto Rican/ African........Worldly Fry bread!  =)
3 cups Flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup milk
1/4-1/2 cup water.(enough to make dough come together)
Oil or Crisco for Frying

Stir Flour, Baking Powder, Salt together. Stir in Milk till it comes together as much as possible. Then add water to get it to come together well to form a ball. Cover in a bowl and rest 30-40 minutes. Heat 1-2 inches of oil in skillet over medium high heat. Grab a plumb size ball of dough and press flat with fingers. (what I have found is you press it down and let it rest while you do the other balls and then when you come back to it it will spread better.) Press into about a 8 inch circle. It doesn't have to be perfect. Heat oil in a skillet or pan or even deep fryer.  Then fry it on each side till they are golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel. These do not reheat to well. You can but they don't taste as great. So if you are making these, fresh is best!

For Tacos top bread with:
Meat
Beans
sour cream
cheese,
lettuce
tomatoes
salsa
guacamole
ANYTHING you like in a taco!

For Dessert:
~Dust it with Powder sugar
~Drizzle Honey and Cinnamon
~ Or Dust it with Cinnamon, Sugar, Honey and Powder sugar =)
~ Make a Fruit Taco
~ serve with Jam or Nutella!! OH YEAH!!

Skyline Apple Muffins

I LOVE these muffins! Mom used to make these growing up and I remember the crunchy sugary top with the soft, moist muffin. These are some of my favorites to make when company come over or when I have apples that need to be used. They make quite a few muffins that are pretty BIG. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Skyline Apple Muffins
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup sour milk or buttermilk( I use milk with a little vinegar in it)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup grated apples
1/2 cup pecans
Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp butter, melted

Combine brown sugar, oil, egg, milk, baking soda, salt, vanilla, flour. Mix well.  After mixed fold in apples and pecans. Pour into muffin tins or greased muffin pans.  Mix topping ingredients together. Sprinkle muffins with toppings. Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Makes about 15 muffins.

Sweet Cornbread.

I have never been good at making homemade cornbread. Mine always ends up dry, crumbly and not that tasty. But that has changed! The other day we had a dinner with a mission team from Texas. Some of them stayed at our house and some stayed at our pastor Chris' and his families house. For dinner Shell and I decided we would have a get together at my house. Chris made his delicious gumbo and I provided the rice and dessert. But going into the day I decided that we really needed some good cornbread to go with it. I like my cornbread a bit sweet and I love when you actually put real corn and other yummy additions into it. When we lived in Florida, Keith and I loved the sweet cornbread from Sonny's BBQ. It is so good I could eat it for dessert! So in my mind I had this vision of sweet cornbread. As I said before I am NOT a great cornbread maker. Usually I cheat and make a box of Jiffy because it is easy and usually turns out edible. But we are halfway into our year and into our years worth of groceries for the year, which means I have used up my Jiffy boxes up. As I climbed the stairs from my pantry I made a mental note to add more Jiffy boxes to my "To Buy" list for this summers shopping trip. After making that mental note, I decided to try my hand at a new recipe for a sweet cornbread. So to Google I went, researching different recipes and checking out all the reviews for each one. So bravely I decided to try the one with 5 stars and tons of good reviews about it. I am definitely putting this one in my recipe book. It turned out great! Everyone eating it commented on how delicious it was and I was very happy with how it turned out. I won't be cheating anymore with Jiffy but will be making this one. I like how you can add different things to it to change the flavor.

Sweet Cornbread
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk ( the recipe called for Half & Half but I didn't have this)
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
4 TBSP melted butter
1 can corn drained ( I put these in my chopper and chopped them good)

Optional add ins: Any or all can be added to your taste
A pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Grated cheese (cheddar, pepper Jack, Montery Jack)
Green Chillies
Chopped Jalepeno

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Butter an 8X8 pan (I doubled the recipe and made this in a 13X9)
In a large bowl mix together flour sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl whisk together milk, eggs, oil, melted butter. when mixed add to the flour mixture and stir till combined. Mix in corn and any other add-ins. Transfer to greased pan. Bake 35+ minutes till done. (the 13X9 pan took close to 50 minutes.) Stick knife tip in and see if it is done. 

Cappuccino muffins

Here is a yummy muffin that I like to make. I am not big on coffee but these are not heavy on the coffee flavor.

Cappuccino Muffins
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP instant coffee
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cooled melted butter
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients. Pour into greased muffin pans. Make about 18-24 muffins. Bake in preheated oven 375 degrees. 10 -12 minutes.

Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Thanksgiving Week! I can not say how excited I am to watch the Macy's Day Parade. There is just something festive about a parade with a giant turkey and Santa Clause! Plus the whole thing about having a wonderful dinner with food and friends, makes this holiday one of my favorite! And to celebrate Thanksgiving week I am cooking up some of my favorite bread. Ginger Pumpkin Bread. This sweet bread is absolutely wonderful. You get the pumpkin pie and ginger flavor rolled all together in a loaf! I LOVE IT!! I make this one all year round just because it is so tasty! I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

 Ginger Pumpkin Bread
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs (this bread works great with Egg Replacer)
2/3 cup water
1 can Pumpkin Puree
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2  cup flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 (You can add nuts or even Chocolate chips to this too and make it even more yummlisious!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat till smooth. Add water and beat till well blended. Stir in Pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, and All spice.

In Medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture blend till all mixed. Divide into pans Bake about 1 hour till toothpick comes out clean.

Overnight Coffee Cake

This is a delicious coffee cake recipe that is easy and you can make it the night before, when you have guest over. Then you can stick it in the oven and have breakfast. I remember mom would bake this when we were growing up. She would make these for Sunday mornings. It has been a favorite of mine. I like to take these to potluck breakfasts. I don't make this to often in Galena because sour cream is hard to get out here. You might could use yogurt. But I have not tried it with yogurt.  I hope you enjoy this yummy recipe!

Overnight Coffee Cake
 3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream (you probably could use yogurt, though I have not tried it)
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 brown sugar

Cream together butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs. Mix dry flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Mix with creamed mixture. Add sour cream and nuts. Pour into greased 9X13 baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar on top( you can add more nuts if you want) Cover and refrigerate over night. Bake 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Serve warm or cool.

Scones

This is a wonderful recipe for light fluffy scones. I love having teatime and these are wonderful to add to your afternoon tea. They are delicious and are usually gone very fast! This is one of my most asked for recipe. There are many variations that you can do to these. I will give you some of my favorites!


Scones
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 TBSP butter
1/2 raisins(I use craisins)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla ( i usually use Almond flavoring)
1 egg
Preheat oven 375 degrees.
Mix Flour, sugar,Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt. Cut in butter till it is mixed well till crumbly. Stir in Craisins, In a separate bowl mix sour cream , vanilla, egg till smooth. Mix into flour mixture. Mix well. divide into 2 portions. Place on a floured surface and roll into circles. Sprinkle with brown sugar on top. Cut into triangles. Bake 12-17 minutes.

Variations:
Cranberry Orange- Add 1 tsp orange zest and cranberries
Cherry Almond- Add Almond flavoring and Dried Cherries.
Chocolate chips

Cranberry Orange Butter.
1 1/2 Cup butter (no substitutes)
1/2 cup frozen cranberries
2 TBSP powder sugar
1/2 tsp Orange zest
Cream butter, add berries, sugar, orange mix well. refrigerate 1 hour

Spiced Cake Doughnuts

This recipe is from a sweet missionary friend that was with us in Zambia for a few years. We had a lot of good times together and I loved going to visit them. Uncle Mark is one of the BEST story tellers I have ever heard. Most of the time I don't know if the story is true or made up but he holds you captive in his stories that is for sure. He has served in many branches of the military and has been deploy a few times. Aunt Stacey is an awesome mom and has held down the fort with 5 kids while Uncle Mark was deployed. They are now missionaries in Kenya.

Aunt Stacey has a great recipe for Cake doughnuts! I am usually a fluffy yeast dough kind of a doughnut eater but these are really good! I love the flavor of the nutmeg and cinnamon that these give and they are super easy to make.  They also make a good Fall kind of doughnut to eat. So if you are looking for a sweet cake like doughnut to eat. Try these!

 Spiced Cake Doughnuts
3 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted margarine
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 milk

Mix 2 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg. In another bowl mix eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add milk and butter to the flour mixture and then add the egg mixture. Mix all together. stir in remaining flour. Mix well. cover and chill for 2 hours. Roll out dough on flour surface. Cut into doughnuts. Fry in HOT(350 degrees) oil till golden on each side. Drain on Paper towel. Dust with powder sugar or make a icing glaze to drizzle on top.

Glaze: ( I don't really measure this so I don't have the exact quantities)
about 1 cup powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla or almond flavoring
a little milk to make the glaze to the right constancy.
Mix together well and dip top of doughnuts in glaze.

Pumpkin Roll~ Ryan Maier's Recipe

These Pumpkin Rolls are from my friend Ryan Maier. He was a co-worker of Keith's in Florida and would make these in the Fall and bring them to work. I would try to time my visits to the office for when he had these! When we moved to Alaska he gave me the recipe so that I could make them too. They are so delicious!  I am making these today for a Ladies Night Out that we are having tomorrow. They are a special treat and after the "eventful" Summer we had this year we needed a night out with special treats! (You can read about it all in my family blog http://ramostribeadventures.blogspot.com/ in the months of May, June, and July of 2013) So for tomorrow I am cooking up these and a few other Fall treats to have. I love pumpkin rolls! Thanks Ryan for the recipe!

Pumpkin Roll~ Ryan Maier's Recipe
Mix:
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin pie mix(if I don't have the mix I use pumpkin with cinnamon and all spice.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup flour

Spray a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with a edge pan with pam. Line pan with parchment paper. Spray parchment paper with pam. Pour pumpkin mixture in pan. Spread evenly around pan. It will be a thin layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and  Immediately roll into a log. then let it cool completely. I refrigerate it for a while. When cool mix up filling.

Filling:
2 Tablespoons soft margarine
1 8oz pk cream cheese
1 cup powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together. Carefully unroll log and remove Parchment paper. spread filling on cake and re-roll. Wrap in foil or saran wrap. I use saran wrap. Chill or freeze. Freezing makes it more solid and easier to cut in slices. ENJOY!

Maandazi

Today is my beloved Zambia's Independence day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAMBIA!! They got their independence from Britain in 1964. To make today even more fun, I get to go talk about Zambia in Ms. Debbie's Geography club! I am super excited. Maybe because I love Zambia so much and for one hour kids are required to listen to stories about something near and dear to my heart. That kind of sounds like they are trapped in the class, but hopefully with the food and cool artifacts they get to touch and hold that they get some excitement about the world around them.  I hope they enjoy it.  Anyway, this has NOTHING to do with my recipe but I wanted to wish Zambia a happy birthday!

Today in Geography Club I am bringing a Kenyan doughnut called a Mandazi. Zambian food would be a little hard to transport and a bit messy to eat in class so  even though Mandazis are not eaten in Zambia we do have a similar thing called a Frita and that is what I am bringing. They are easy to make and wonderful to dunk in Kenyan Chai, which I am also bringing. Basically Chai is REALLY sweet tea that is made with milk instead of water. I add a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon to give  more flavor. My friend, Michelle, was the inspiration for todays recipe since she is making a Kenyan meal for dinner and asked else to make with it. I suggested Mandazis so here is the Recipe. Mine have been sampled and approved but my husband and my boys.

Mandazis
2 cups flour(or more if it is sticky)
2 tsp Baking Powder
3 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients together. Add eggs and milk and mix well. If it is sticky, which mine have been every time I add about 1/2 a cup to 1 cup more of flour. You want it to be a soft dough ball but not to sticky and easy to handle. On a floured surface roll out dough to about 1/2 inch. I use a pizza cutter and cut the dough into rows and then into squares. The fry in 350 degree oil till golden brown. After they cool a bit sprinkle with powder sugar.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala & Naan Bread

Indian food is one of my favorite kinds of food to eat. I love the spice and flavor of each dish. One of my favorite dishes to eat is Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan Bread. I have a few recipes for Chicken Tikka Masala but this one is a Slow Cooker one which you can put it in the pot in the morning and eat it for dinner. I love slow cooking. So today I am going to share the slow cooker version that I have enjoyed. And the Naan bread is DELICIOUS!!

Slow Cooker Tikka Masala
8 boneless chicken tenders(I think chicken thighs would be more juicy)
4 cloves garlic minced
1 onion diced
2 TBSP ginger
1 can tomato puree(29 oz)
1 1/2 cup yogurt( I used sour cream because I don't have yogurt)
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Graham Masala
1 TBSP cumin
1/2 TBSP parika
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp black pepper
1-3 tsp cayene pepper.( I omit this because my boys don't like it too spicy)
2 bay leaves
1 cup heavy cream
3 TBSP corn starch

Cut chicken in cubes. Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT Bay leaf, Heavy cream and Corn Starch. Coat the chicken well. Put in crock pot, sprinkle the remaining spices on top of the chicken. Add bay leaves. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. (4 hours on High) When done whisk together cream and corn starch. Pour in pot and stir gently. Cook 20 minutes more. Serve over Rice

Naan (Indian bread)
1 pk active dry ingredients
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP milk
1 egg beaten ( I use egg replacer and it works great!)
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup bread flour
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes till frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt. Add cups of  flour till forms soft dough. Knead 6-8 minutes till smooth. Place dough in well oiled bowl, cover with damp cloth, set aside to rise. 1 hour. Punch down dough and knead in garlic. Pinch off handfuls of dough about the size of golf balls. Roll into balls and place on tray. Cover with a towel and allow to rise. double in size about 30 minutes. Preheat the grill to medium high heat. (I use the Pancake griddle)After 30 minutes. Roll out balls into thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, cook 2-3 minutes on one side till puffy and light brown. Brush uncooked side with butter and turn over and cook. Brush cooked side with butter. Remove from grill.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken and Sweet Coconut Curry Bread

Even though I grew up in Zambia, went to a boarding school in Kenya, and traveled around many countries there are many places I have never been. So I am not the best one to judge an authentic dish unless I have been there, but I do judge my dishes by how many people think something is delicious. I am always up for new dishes and I love to try different foods from around the world. This year I decided to home school my son Kaden, who is in Kindergarten. So with school added to the list of things that have to be done in the day I went on a quest for easy slow cooker recipes. Something I can throw in the pot in the morning and let it be done by dinner. I am not big on testing out new recipes on friends until I have tried them myself, but so far it has worked out every time I have a new recipe to try,  someone show up for dinner. That is a common occurrence at my house. I usually even throw in extra just in case someone might drop by for dinner. Totally fine with me. I love having people over. Maybe that is because that  is the way my Mom and Dad raised me. My house is always open and I like it that way. But with people dropping by, I don't have a lot of time to try out my new recipes, so my friends become my guinea pigs. So far I have quite a few that my family and friends have said "Wow this is good!" When my husband says "Add this to your favorite recipes and make it again" I do!  This recipe is one of the added to my favorites. Super easy and super tasty. Again I have never been to Morocco or tasted food from there so I can' not tell you if it is authentic or not, but it is delicious! I also made this Coconut Curry Bread that was gobbled up fast! I love the curry flavor that is baked into the bread. These two recipes compliment each other really well. Hope you enjoy this recipe.  

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken

Carrots- Sliced (I used about 4 big ones)
1 onion chopped
3-4 pounds chicken cut up  (I used chicken breast because that is what I have but thighs would work great and be more moist then just chicken breast.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins (I didn't have these so I used craisins)
2 TBSP flour
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp black pepper
Put carrots and onions in crock pot. Sprinkle chicken with salt add to slow cooker. Top with apricots and raisins. In a small bowl combine flour and broth till smooth.whisk in tomato paste, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours till chicken is tender. Serve with couscous or rice. Serves about 6 people.


Coconut Curry Bread( FYI this is not a very sweet bread)

1 cup warm water
2 tsp yeast
2 cups bread flour
1 TBSP dry milk
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP butter
1/3 cup Raisins (Again I used Craisins because I don't have raisins)
1/3 cup coconut
2 tsp curry powder
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add remaining ingredients mix well. I use my Kitchen Aid. cover and Let rise in a oil coated pan till double in size. Then Put in greased loaf and let rise again. Bake at 375 till golden brown. I think this was about 15 minutes.

Flour Tortillas

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mexican food! It has been a staple in our house growing up. Since Turkeys were not easy to find when we first moved to Zambia, every year on Christmas, Mom would have a HUGE get together and everyone would bring Mexican food. It was awesome! Enchiladas, soft tacos, queso, Soppapillas, or whatever people wanted to bring. And of course, everything was made from scratch. One of the things we were always in charge of making was tortillas. We had an electric press that would flatten and cook the tortilla dough all at the same time.  What I would do for a H.E.B. to go pick up a fresh pack of hot tortillas. But since I can't, I have added one of those to my kitchen appliances and use it quite often myself. It does make it a bit easier but rolling them out works OK too. Mom would make a lot of batches at one time and freeze them. I do the same because tortillas do freeze well. Plus the moment my husband and sons catch on to that fact that tortillas are being made in the kitchen it becomes a made dash to grab some. So in order to have some available for dinner, I have to double the batch. Plus we need a few for dessert. Hot tortillas with honey and cinnamon drizzled on top.... YUM can't be beat! So I am giving you the recipe from my mom, that has been tested in the bush for about 30 years!

Flour Tortillas
4-5 cups Flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 big Tablespoon shortening.( I use butter flavored)
2 cups warm water.
Mix 4 cups flour with salt, baking powder. Then cut in shortening till blended in good. then add water. Mix well. Roll into balls (about 20-30 )and let sit 10 minutes(this is very important). Roll out and cook. I have an electric tortilla press that presses and cooks them all at the same time. Works great!
~These freeze Great, with wax paper between about every 5.
~Our favorite way to eat these is with honey and cinnamon on them for dessert

Apple Bread

Growing up in Zambia, and my parents being Church developers, meant we traveled to where the churches needed to be. That meant we were in the car A LOT! Sunday mornings usually started around 7 am and we would drive 1-4 hours depending on the church we were going to. Many times we would go and stay the weekend at places because it was to far to drive in one day. But those are some of the best memories I have. The roads were terrible or non existent. I remember many times my brother and I siting on top of the car driving through grass that was taller then an Elephant, following a cattle trail to get to the church. Jesse(my brother) and I would tell dad the direction we would see any hut or person or any sign of life out in the bush. When we got high tech, dad bought a GPS. YAY! So we would mark the church and then the next time we came all we would have to do is make a trail to the point on the screen and HOPE your point of reference weren't off by any measurement. Those memories were so wonderful! Except for maybe the SPAM sandwiches my mom would make us....YUCK! I don't know how I survived eating that stuff! But Even with the SPAM sandwiches, Mom would bring a bag of snacks to eat along the way. Peanuts, chips, Granola bars, whatever she put in the basket. But my hope was always that she would put one of her sweet breads in the basket. Banana Bread, Zucchini bread, Pumpkin bread. They are delicious! When we go to visit them in Zambia, I STILL hope she puts breads in the snack basket. My boys are catching on to this sweet bread idea. They love it for breakfasts and snack time, tea time and dessert. Most of them freeze really well. Last months I spent a day baking different sweet breads and then wrapping them and freezing them. Keith could grab them when he went hunting.

This recipe is for Apple bread but it works GREAT for Zucchini or pears! I love this recipe!! I like to add chocolate chips, Craisins, Cranberries, blueberries, Pecans, or any other chopped nuts. It makes two 8x4 loafs. But these are also fun to make in mini loafs and wrap and give as gifts to someone's birthday or to anyone who needs a "pick me up"! Like the Post Office Lady.  They make great welcome to the neighborhood gifts and thank you gifts. Growing up Mom would make a bunch and we would deliver them to our neighbors at Christmas time! It is a great way to make someones day. Who wouldn't want a nice loaf of sweet bread? I hope you enjoy this recipe and I hope you share some to those people around you!

Apple Bread
3 cups all purpose Flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs ( I use Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups Shredded Apples, pears, or Zucchini or a combination of these
1 cup chopped walnuts or Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt. Set aside. In a mixing bowl place oil, sugar, eggs (I add the powder to the dry ingredients and the water to the wet ingredients) vanilla, and apples. mix well. Stir in the flour mixture. add nuts and mix well. Divide between 2 greased loaf pans. 8x4 Bake for 40-45 minutes. till done. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack before you removing from pan.

English Muffins

Yesterday I gave you the recipe for Bagels that are delicious, but today I am giving you the recipe for English Muffins that is SOOOOOO easy and delicious that you may never buy them in the supermarket again! I mean it these are very easy to make! And you can add Craisins, raisins, cinnamon, chopped onions or whatever ingredients you like to have in your English Muffins. I love to cut them in half and toast these then spread with cream cheese and jam.  YUM!! These freeze really well and so I make a big batch and put them in ziplocks in the freezer so my husband can take a bag with him to work to warm up when he wants one.Though he likes to also turn these little muffins into a egg, bacon, cheese Muffin that can beat any that you can buy at an restaurant!Trust me you need to t try these! Like I said you may never want to buy store bought ones again! Enjoy!

English Muffins
5 cups White flour
5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
4 cups warm water
1 TBSP salt
4 TBSP honey
2 TBSP yeast
6 TBSP Oil
1 cup Corn meal

Preheat oven 350 Degrees
Mix all ingredients EXCEPT corn meal. I dissolve my yeast in the warm water first. Mix well. Knead 10 minutes. Roll out to 1/2 inch. Cut in circles and dip in Corn meal. Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn over and bake 5-10 minutes.

*can add raisins, Craisins, cinnamon, sugar or any other yummy favorites.

Bagels

Bagels! I love Bagels! Smeared with a little Cream Cheese. YUM! How I wish there was a Lu Lu's Bagels here! Lu Lu's is a store in Fairbanks that has and AMAZING selection of fresh bagels and breads for your breakfast. Delicious! But since I am a expensive plane ride away from any bagel shop, I make my own. Before I ever made these I was a little intimidated by them, thinking they were harder to make then they really are. Once I tried them, I was hooked! So was my husband, who likes to take them frozen to work so he can warm one up for breakfast.  These are delicious! The batch is really big and I have to half the recipe because my mixer can't handle that much flour! So I will give you the half version. This recipe came from my friend Kim Kopp who has lived in Galena from many years. Thanks for teaching me how to get my bagel fix!

Bagels
2 3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup honey
1TBSP +1 tsp salt
4 cup Whole wheat Flour
4 cup Flour
2TBSP yeast

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix all ingredients together. Let rise 20 minutes. Shape into bagels. Let rise 20 minutes. Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a pan. Put bagels in boiling water. Boil on each side for 1 minute. remove from water place on grease cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven 550 degrees. Bake 8 minutes.

I like to mix cream cheese with some of these and spread it on the bagels:
shredded Pineapple
Chives
Chopped peaches
any other yummy things

Fast Pizza Dough

Our family loves to eat Pizza!  Growing up it was the Friday night tradition at least when we were around Aunt Betty and Uncle Dwayne. We eat it quite often at our house but for a while I had a recipe that would take hours to fix. Sometimes Keith would come home from work and call saying "Hey can we have pizza tonight?" My answer normally would be no because it take a few hours to have the dough rise. Well my friend Shell gave me a recipe that takes 10 minutes! Yes 10 minutes! And it makes a delicious, can be crispy, crust. So now when Keith comes home and asks can we have pizza for dinner, I can say. Yes we can!

Shell's Fast Pizza Dough.

1/2 TBSP
1 cup Warm water
2 TBSP oil
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2-2 3/4 cup flour (I use bread flour)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the oil, sugar, and salt. Add flour. Mix well. I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer. Place on a floured surface for 10 minutes covered. Form on greased pizza pan. Put toppings on. Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes.

* I like to add Oregano or a little garlic to the dough to give a little flavor.

For our favorite toppings we like to spread roasted garlic and olive oil on the crust then spread a little pesto on top of that. Put sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, Grilled chicken, spinach, bacon, mushrooms, onions and mozzarella cheese. Boy is it tasty.

Rosebud’s Butter Topped White Bread

I have posted my roll recipe that I go to but this is my Go To recipe for bread loafs. I got this recipe on Pinterest because it LOOKED delicious. Before I got this recipe, seldom ever did my bread loaves turn out delicious. But once I tried this recipe, I have been hooked! It is so soft, fluffy and tasty and it stays pretty moist for a few days to make sandwiches. (if it lasts that long) My kids and husband gobble it up pretty fast. My Kitchen Aid mixer is not big enough to handle 10 cups of flour so I usually half the recipe and mix it up twice. I also like to make one loaf a cinnamon loaf. It makes a good garlic bread loaf too.

 Rosebud's Butter Topped White bread
4 and 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast (or the equivalent of two packets)
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
2 and 2/3 cup additional warm water
9-10 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing the tops of the loaves
Additional butter/cooking spray, for greasing your rising bowl and loaf pans


1. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, dissolve the yeast in 3/4 cup of warm water, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, salt, butter, additional 2 and 2/3 cup warm water, and mix gently to combine.
3.  Slowly add 5 cups of the flour, mixing on low speed until smooth.
4. With the mixer on its lowest speed, slowly add the remaining flour until the dough is smooth.
5. Switch to your dough hook attachment and knead the dough for 10 minutes. Or, alternatively, you can do it the old fashioned way and knead the dough by hand.

6.  While the dough is kneading, lightly grease a large bowl with butter or cooking spray, as well as two loaf pans.
7.  Once the dough is ready, place the dough in the greased bowl and turn over to completely coat the dough with butter/cooking spray.  Cover, and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
8. After an hour, gently punch down the dough and divide it into two portions.
9. Working with one portion at a time, roll (with a rolling pin) the dough out into roughly 12″ x 12″ square, making sure that the thickness of the dough is uniform throughout.(this is where I sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar for a swirl bread)
10.  Slowly and tightly roll up each rectangle, sealing the edges firmly.
11.  Tuck the ends of the roll tightly under the bread and place into your prepared loaf pans.  Repeat with the second loaf.  Cover the loaves, set in a warm place, and let rise until doubled, about another hour.
12.  Place one rack on the lowest position in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
13. Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then cover each loaf with aluminum foil to prevent the tops from browning too much.
14.  Once covered with foil, bake for an additional 15 minutes.
15. Remove the loaves from the oven, place on a wire rack to cool, and lightly brush the loaves with the melted butter.

These are some loafs I made. The recipe makes 2 loafs and I made one into a cinnamon sugar swirl one. When you roll it out to form the loaf, I sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over it and then roll it tight. It is good for breakfast with a little butter. 

 Here is the "French" bread loaf I tried. I was not expecting it to blow up that big! I used both loafs and divided it into 3 portions instead of just 2. Then I hand rolled them in to long snakes and then braided them together. Let it rise for an hour. Make sure you have it on a BIG pan because this one still got bigger in the oven. Since it was so big before I put it in the oven I cooked it on 375 for longer time. I did put the foil on top and then took it off like the instructions said.  It made really good garlic bread and if my friends reactions to eating it is any sign it was a major success. To the point where the left over garlic bread from Isaiah's (my 2 year old) plate was gobbled up after all the other was gone. I will be making this one again but I might just stick with the 2 loafs and then using them to make 2 braided bread loaf since my oven was barely big enough to fit this giant loaf!

Hot Rolls (No Rise)

This is my Go To recipe for quick rolls/cinnamon rolls/doughnuts when I am short on time. This recipe came from my mom and I use it a lot! It is fast mixing together and you can use all of it or it stores well in the fridge for a few weeks. I like to use it for rolls for dinner and then use the leftover dough and roll it out for cinnamon rolls for our breakfast in the morning.  I do let it rise a bit if I have time but you don't need to.  I like to let the cinnamon rolls rise for a while, stick them in the fridge and then pull them out in the morning. They just seem a bit more light and fluffy when you do let them rise a bit. But these are really tasty rolls! I just made them tonight and used the leftover dough for desserts and made hot fresh doughnuts. Wow they were delicious!

Hot Roll Mix- No rise
Dissolve: 1 TBSP yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and 1 TBSP sugar
Add:
1/2 cup oil
2 cups buttermilk, sour milk, yogurt, (if you don't have these which I don't have often I make my own sour milk. Pour 2 cups milk and add 1tsp of vinegar to it. Let it set for a minute so it can get thick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 cups(or more) Flour ( I use bread flour)
Mix and Knead well.  It will be a little bit sticky but that is OK. You want it to be a soft dough. I coat my hands in flour and pull out about a golf ball size and put them in greased muffin pan.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes till golden on top.

For cinnamon rolls: Roll out on a flour surface. spread with soft butter and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over butter. Roll up. Cut into about 1 inch thick slices. Place in greased pan. As I said before, I let these rise so they are really fluffy and delicious! Bake at 425 degrees till golden on top.

For Doughnuts: roll out and cut out. Fry at 350 degrees till golden brown

For left over dough Place in greased container. Refrigerate left over dough. This last for a few weeks. but seldom does this ever last more then a day in my fridge.