Peanut Butter Blossoms

This is an all time favorite cookie recipe.

1 c oleo
1 c peanut butter
     
1 c sugar
1 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs
1/4 c milk
2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

1 bag of Hershey Kisses.


Cream oleo and peanut butter. Add both sugars and cream throughly. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually add dry ingredients.

Chill dough- if needed.

Shape into 1" balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2" apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes till edges are firm.
Immediately press chocolate kiss atop each cookie.

French Croissants

These croissants are absolutely delicious!!!  They are a bit time consuming and are best if the dough is made the night before. These are great with apple butter, nutella or your favorite jam. Bet you can't eat just one!!!!!!!
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the butter and mix it together with your hands in a mixing bowl or on a work surface. Transfer the butter to a length of foil or parchment paper and pat it into a 6 inch square. Fold up the foil to make a packet and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
2. Combine 2 cups of the flour with the salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water (100 degrees F/38 degrees C) and set aside until frothy, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the milk and the heavy cream to lukewarm. Add the yeast, milk, and cream to the flour mixture and stir well. The dough will have a batter-like consistency.
3. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of flour 1/4 cup at a time to form a soft dough. It should no longer be sticky. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. To begin the rolling and folding process, both the butter and the dough should be at a cool room temperature. [See Cook's Note.] Place the dough on a floured surface and roll it into a 10-inch square. Set the block of butter diagonally on the square dough. Bring each point of dough to the center of the butter square; the edges of the dough should overlap. Pinch the edges together to seal.
5. Starting from the center of the square and working outward, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a rectangle. The butter should be pliable enough to roll smoothly with the dough; if it's too soft and starts to ooze out the corners, wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate before proceeding. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, approximately 8 by 18 inches. Fold the length of dough into thirds, like a business letter.
6. If the dough is still cool, you can continue with another fold. Otherwise, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up for about 10 minutes before you begin rolling it out again.
7. Position the dough so that the open ends are at 12 and 6 o'clock. Roll the dough into a rectangle, working from the center of the dough and pressing outwards. Reposition the dough as necessary to fit your work space. You should have a long rectangle for the "book fold." Fold both ends of the dough into the middle; the ends don't have to be touching, but should be close. Fold the already-folded dough in half; it will look like a thick book. Wrap the dough well with plastic and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
8. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Roll the dough into a rectangle again and fold it into thirds, like a business letter. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
9. To shape the croissants, roll the dough into a 10- by 38-inch rectangle on a lightly floured work surface. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza wheel or sharp paring knife to trim the edges of the dough. Divide the rectangle in half so that you have two 5-inch wide strips of dough. Use a clean yardstick to mark each strip into triangles that are 5 inches wide at their bases. Cut the triangles and place them onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes, if necessary.
10. Starting at the base of the triangle, roll the dough up into a log; the tip of the triangle should be under the body of the croissant to prevent it from unraveling. Bend in the corners to form the traditional crescent shape. Repeat with the remaining dough.
11. Arrange the croissants on the parchment-lined baking sheets and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
12. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Beat the egg with the tablespoon of water to make the egg wash. Brush the croissants with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until deep brown, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving.

Cook's Note

The key to rolling out the butter and dough layers is to have them both at the same temperature when you begin. The butter should be bendable but not greasy; if it's too cold, it will be prone to cracking. Tip: take the butter square out of the refrigerator about an hour before you start laminating

Footnotes

Breakfast Scones

This is an excellent and easy recipe for Scones. I found the original recipe on Allrecipes.com and made a couple changes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon

 8 TBSP unsalted butter-cold
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c sour cream
1 large egg

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Grate the butter into flour mixture. Use your fingers to work in the butter. (Mixture should resemble coarse meal ) . Mix in raisins.

In a small bowl whisk together the egg and sour cream until smooth.

Use a fork to stir sour cream/egg mixture  into flour mixture until a large dough clump forms. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)               

Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.               

Orange/Cranberry Scones-- Replace raisins with fresh chopped or dried cranberries and 1 1/2tsp orange zest.

Stuffed Flank Steak

I made this for Christmas dinner and it was excellent. Served with mashed potatoes, gravy, tossed salad and vegteable. This served 5 people.


2 lb Flank Steak- pounded thin
Bread Stuffing

Pound the Flank Steak thin. Lightly brush  both sides with balsalmic vinegar and olive oil. Spread on bread stuffing. Roll up tightly holding together with toothpicks.

Put in 9" x 13" pan. Put a couple tablespoons of water in pan. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour 30 mins.

Grilled Pineapple Chicken Kabobs

1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 pounds of cut up chicken, chicken tenderloins or strips
Pineapple chunks, peppers chunks, onions, mushrooms, zucchini
skewers

In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix pineapple juice, brown sugar and soy sauce. Remove from heat just before the mixture comes to a boil.

Place chicken in medium bowl. Cover with pineapple marinade and refrigerate for at least 30  minutes.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread chicken alternating with vegetables on skewers. You can use any vegetables you would like.

Lightly oil the grill. Grill skewers for 5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. They cook quickly so watch them closely.

Rice Pilaf with Pignoli nuts (Pine nuts)

2 cups white rice (preferably long grain)
2 teaspoons chicken fat or olive oil
1/2 c chopped onion-scallions or yellow onion
1/2 c chopped celery
up to 4  cups of stock..depends on type of rice you are using (I used chicken base in water)
2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 -1 cups pine nuts


Heat large saute pan and brown pine nuts until toasted. Set aside in bowl

You will cook your rice according to the  directions on your rice box in chicken stock but first you need to brown your rice.

While the stock (in at least a 2 qt. sauce pan) is heating to cook the rice... heat the large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken fat or oil coating the bottom of the pan. Add the uncooked rice and brown it, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes. Add the onions and celery and cook a few minutes longer, until onions begin to soften.
 Add the seasoned salt ( if you are using seasoned broth you may want to add less seasoned salt).
Cook your rice according to directions in at least a 2 qt sauce pan. You want to use primarily stock (chicken or vegetable).
Put the slightly browned rice into the saucepan with stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover and cook according to directions on your rice box. Usually between 15 and 25 minutes. After the set amount of cooking time, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. At no point during the cooking of the rice should you remove lid.

Add pine nuts. Fluff and serve. You may also add peas, chopped parsely, toasted almonds or raisins to make the pilaf more interesting.

Hamburger Hot dog buns

This is an excellent recipe for buns if you are going to use them the same day. I stored some in a plastic bag after they were completely cooled. The next day when we used them for hamburger buns they fell apart.  This would make great pepperoni bread.

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 Tbsp. dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup melted Crisco ( I used butter Flavor)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 -4 cups flour
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp water
• sesame seeds optional
• 1. Proof the yeast in 1 cup warm water with 1 tsp sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.
• 2. In a large mixer bowl, with kneader hooks, put 3 1/2 c flour, 4 Tbsp sugar, melted Crisco, warm milk and salt.
• 3. Add the proofed yeast, mix to creat a soft semi sticky dough that holds around the blade, adding in more flour as needed ( don't add too much as it will create a heavy bun, dough should be semi sticky.
• 4.Knead dough on mixer for 7-8 minutes
• 5. Remove dough and let rest on counter, covered with clean dish towel for 10 mins.
• 6. Knead the dough gently with hands for 30 secs.
• 7.Place dough in large well greased/oiled bowl.
• 8. Cover and let rise in warm place for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. ( I let my dough raise in the oven.. preheat oven to 170-200 degrees and then turn off. ) Takes about 1 hour to raise.
• 9. Punch dough down.
• 10. Shape into large balls for hamburger buns or shape like hot dog buns onto a large greased cookie sheet. You should get about 12 large balls.
• 11. Cover with alight clean tea towel, and let rise in warm place for 30-40 minutes or until almost doubled.
• 12. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• 13. In small bowl mix 1 egg wihte and 1 tsp water and mix well
• 14. Carefully brush the tops and sides of buns with egg/water mixture.
• 15. If desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds
• 16. Bake 15-22 minutes, or until golden brown.