Cinnamon Rolls

Welcome fellow chicks.  Pull up a box or haybale and have one our fantastic cinnamon rolls!  These are so easy because the first kneading is done in the bread machine.  Of course, you can do it the regular way if you prefer, but the bread machine sure makes the process a lot smoother.  Here’s the recipe.

In a small bowl add 1/2 cup warm water and a package of yeast.  If you have canned yeast, add 2 and 1/4 tsp yeast.  Stir together with 1 tsp sugar and let sit while you put these ingredients into the bread machine.

Into the bread machine in this order put:

1/2 cup scalded milk (I pop it into the microwave and set it for 1 minute)

6 T butter softened (leave it out overnight)

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3 and 1/4 cups flour  (some people put more flour, but I think it’s better to err on the side of less, otherwise your dough can become tough.  Besides, you’ll add more during the second kneading.)

Pour the yeast mixture over all and start your machine on the dough cycle.  When it’s done it will look like this:

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and begin to knead the dough.  It will appear sticky and slightly formless.

Knead the dough into a smooth ball adding flour as needed.  When you are finished, it should look like this:

  

Now, roll into a 15 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick or so.  When you are finished, it should look like this:

Spread the rest of the softened butter over the surface of the dough.  Some people melt it and brush it, but I prefer the softened method because granny chick used to do it that way.

Sprinkle sugar (about 1/4 cup or more if you prefer) and cinnamon (about 1 T or more if you prefer) over the buttered surface.

Starting at the wide side, roll into a tube and pinch sides to seal.

Slice to the width you want keeping in mind that rolls will rise to double in size.  I slice about 9 rolls from this tube.  Put in a dish to rise and cover with a cloth in a warm place or cover with plastic wrap.  (about 45 minutes to 1 hour)

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.  While the rolls cool, make the icing for the top.  Pour icing over top while rolls are still warm.

Icing:  Mix 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 T butter with an electric mixer.  Add 1 T of hot water at a time until icing reaches desired consistency.

Enjoy your warm-from-the-oven cinnamon rolls!

 

Christmas Cookies!

There’s only one way to really enjoy the holiday season and that’s with Christmas cookies and a good cup of hot chocolate.  Here are the cookies we made here at the henhouse this year.  There are some old favorites and a couple of new treats. Enjoy!

Molasses Krinkles and Snickerdoodles

Here are a couple of old standards that we enjoy year after year.

Old Fashioned Molasses Krinkles

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 tsp. soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ginger
• 4 1/2 to 5 cups flour

Cream shrotening, brown sugar, eggs and molasses.  Sift flour, soda, salt and spices together.  Stir into first mixture.  Chill 3 hours or overnight.  Form dough into 1-inch balls; rollin sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  I like to do two pans at a time so I put one on the top rack and one on the bottom rack and then switch them after 5 minutes.

Snickerdoodles

• 1/2 c. soft shortening
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 c. sugar 
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 c. sifted flour
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix shortening, sugar and eggs.  Sift flour, cream of tartar, salt and stir in.  Form dough into balls size of walnuts. Roll in mixture of the 2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon.  Place about 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes.  They puff during baking but settle down and look sugary and crunch.  

You can’t have a nice assortment of cookies without a few bars and here are the two choices we pecked at this year.

Club Cracker Bars and Hip Padder Bars

Hip Padder Bars are an old favorite and Club Cracker Bars are a new treat.  Which do you prefer?

Club Cracker Bars

• 1 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 box club crackers

Bring butter, milk and sugars to a boil.  Set the timer for 5 minutes and stir constantly.  Line the bottom of a 9X13 inch pan with club crackers.  Pour cooked filling over crackers and top with another layer of crackers.  (You will not use the whole box).  Set aside and prepare topping.

Topping:

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Melt ingredients together in microwave at 30 second intervals stirring until completely melted.  Pour over top of bars and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.

Hip Padder Bars

1 cup butter melted in 9X13 pan.
Sprinking 1 cup graham cracker crumbs on top.
Layer these in order:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup toffee pieces
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Top with one can Eagle Brand Milk
Bake for 30 minutes.

Black-eyed Susans–at least that’s what Granny Hen used to call them.  I think they’ve been since renamed Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies.

This is an old Pillsbury Bake Off winning recipe from the 30′s originally won by Freda Smith. It’s definitely a winner in our book.

Black-eyed Susans

• 1 1/3 c. shortening
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 2 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. flour (I sometimes add a little more depending on consistency)

Cream shortening and peanut butter.  Gradually add brown sugar.  Beat eggs and vanilla well and add.  Add and blend gradually salt, baking powder and flour. Shape dough into balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  Top each cookie with a Hershey’s kiss; press down into cookie dough.

Cherry Oatmeal Cookies–an old recipe with a new twist

We tried a similar recipe when we were in Boston at Crema Cafe.  Those cookies inspired these.

Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 c. butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 c. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 lg. eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
• 2 Tbs cherry jelly
• 1 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter with sugars and beat until well blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat for several minutes until light and fluffy.  Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon, add them to butter mixture and beat until well blended.  Stir in oatmeal and cherries.  Drop batter by tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheets and bake until edges just turn brown, about 12 minutes.  Let cookies cool in the pan for a minute or two, then remove them to racks to cool completely.

One last recipe to inspire you.  So easy to make, but very messy to clean up.

Cherry Roll-ups

This recipe has been around a long time at the henhouse and we think it will be for a long time to come.  Plenty here to share and enjoy!

Cherry Roll-ups

• 1 c. butter
• 1/2 lb. cream cheese
• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Marachino Cherries
• powdered sugar

Beat together and chill dough.  Roll 1/8 inch thick on board dusted with powdered sugar.  Cut into 1 x 3 inch strips with pastry wheel.  Roll up cherry in each strip.  Put on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  (Yes, I know 15 minutes seems like a long time, but it will need every minute of those 15.)  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MANY DELICIOUS COOKIES TO YOU!

 

Texas Chocolate Dessert

Delicious!

This dessert has it all and on top of that it’s a favorite of every rooster in our henhouse.  It makes a lot if you want to take it to a function, and is a real flock pleaser.  Enjoy!

gather your ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 small boxes cook and serve chocolate pudding
• 3 cups milk
• 1 regular sized package cream cheese
• 1 large container non dairy whipped topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt 1/2 cup butter and combine with flour and pecans.  Press down with fingers into 13×9 inch pan.
2. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Take out and let cool completely.
   

   Bake the crust for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

3. While the crust is baking, cook the pudding in the milk over medium high heat until thickened, stirring frequently.
4. Cool the pudding completely and refrigerate. 
   

   cool pudding completely

5. Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until creamy.
6. Add 1 cup non dairy whipped topping and blend until smooth.
   

   Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Then add 1 cup non-dairy whipped cream.

7. Once the crust is cooled, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the crust.
   

   spread the cream cheese layer over the crust

8. Pour cooled pudding over the top of the cream cheese mixture.
   

   Spread pudding over cream cheese layer

9. Top with remaining whipped topping.
   

   Spread remaining whipped cream over the dessert.

DELICIOUS!

Tuna Macaroni Salad

Here’s a favorite during the summer here at the henhouse.  No kidding, my chicks would beg for this.  Serve it with chips and sun tea.

Tuna Macaroni Salad: 

Ingredients: 

gather your ingredients

1. 16 oz box salad macaroni (I also like small shells or ring macaroni with this recipe)
2. 1 12 oz can white albacore tuna
3. 1 p0und diced ham
4. 1/2 pound diced sharp cheddar cheese
5. 1 12 oz bag frozen peas
6. 1 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
7. 2 Tbs mustard
8. 1 tsp sugar
9. 1 tsp worchestershire sauce
10. Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Bring water and a tsp of salt in a 6 quart pot to a boil.  Add macaroni and boil until just tender (about 9 minutes).  Pour frozen peas into a colander and when the macaroni is done boiling, pour it into the colander over the peas. 

put frozen peas into a colanderPour macaroni over peas in colanderPour macaroni over peas in colanderPour macaroni over peas in colander

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Serve over spaghetti noodles

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE

1 and 1/2 lbs ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

1 medium sized onion

1 small can sliced black olives

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 small cans tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

2 Tbs. basil

1 tsp. oregano

2 bay leaves

1 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. granulated garlic  (of course you can use fresh garlic, but this is the easy version of this recipe)

Gather your ingredients together

Instructions:

Brown the hamburger, salting and peppering to taste, with the onion until the onion is transluscent and the hamburger is no longer pink.  Drain the excess liquid.

brown the hamburger with onion

Add the sliced olives, tomato products and spices .  Stir together and let simmer for 20 minutes

Add olives, tomatoes and spices

Completed spaghetti sauce

Summer Cobb Salad

Here’s a wonderful cobb salad to cool your warm summer days.  It’s delicious.  Even Papa Chick asks for this salad for supper on occasion.  Momma Chick gets her eggs straight from the henhouse, but she’s sure the grocery store will have some that are satisfactory if you’re running low.  Sliced chicken can also be added in true Cobb style, but, of course, Momma Chick prefers it without. 

Ingredients:

Salad greens:  I prefer iceberg

3 green onions sliced in slender circles

2 boiled eggs, quartered

1/2 avocado, cut into 1 inch pieces

8 grape tomatoes, sliced in half

2 pieces crispy bacon, crumbled

blue cheese crumbles (feta will also work)

Cucumber salad dressing

Gather your ingredients

Layer the ingredients on top of the greens in the order given and top with your favorite dressing.  I think blue cheese is traditional, but I like cucumber ranch because it is lighter. 

Finished salad without dressing

Finished salad with cucumber ranch dressing

Shrimp Enchiladas

I’ve had a craving for enchiladas, but not just any enchiladas, something different, something flavorful, something EASY!!!  I hope you find these easy shrimp enchiladas as tasty as we do.  Here’s the recipe:

Easy Shrimp Enchiladas

1 lb large shrimp (deveined and all shell removed)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp ground ginger

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 tsp tabasco sauce

5 eight inch flour tortillas

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups salsa

Begin by mixing the olive oil, ginger, garlic and tobasco in a medium sized bowl or dish.  Mix in the shrimp making sure each one is fully coated with the mixture.  Let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. 

Chill the shrimp for 2 hours

Once the shrimp has marinated and chilled, lay out the tortillas and fill with shrimp.

lay the shrimp on the tortilla

Now add a little cheese and some salsa.

Add cheese and salsa

roll up the tortillas and place in a 9X9 pan.  I put 4 enchiladas across and one across the top.  top with salsa and remaining cheese.  I’m going to freeze mine for baking later, so I’ll add a picture of the baked dish later.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the shrimp is no longer pink. 

Ready to bake!

Serve with a nice garden salad.