Cinnamon Twists

My sisters and I made these a lot a few years ago... but we got out of the habit. So, when I suddenly thought of them the other day, they almost seemed legendary: all I could remember was that they were wonderful and the dough had a special ingredient. Since my husband loves cinnamon, I decided to call my mom up and see if she could remember the recipe. At first, she didn't but as we prodded old memories to life, she found the recipe in our 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook. I love that cookbook!

Today, I made them and I discovered that I simply must share the recipe with you. It is so easy and the result of your labor is really, really good. :-)

Cinnamon Twists

1 C. Sour Cream

Heat in saucepan until lukewarm. Take off heat and add:

 3 TBSP sugar

1/8 tsp . soda

1 tsp. salt

2 ½ tsp yeast

1 large egg

2 tbsp shortening (butter)

3 cups flour (add one cup at a time)

Mix until you have a smooth dough. (I mix by hand, then put dough out on counter and knead until smooth.) Lightly flour counter and roll into a 12" x 24" rectangle. 

Mix together: 

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Cinnamon 

Spread dough with butter, then sprinkle sugar mixture over half of dough. Then, fold dough over itself. Cut into 24 strips. Twist each strip a couple of times and place on greased cookie sheet, pressing ends down (so the twists don't untwist...). Allow twists to rise for an hour in a warm place. 

Bake at 375* for 12 - 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Glaze when cool. 

Glaze: 

2 TBSP boiling milk

1 tsp soft butter/shortening

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 C. icing sugar

Mix until smooth and drizzle over twists. 

Chicken and Lemon

There is a site that I always go to when I'm looking for good recipes and it is... http://www.tammysrecipes.com/. Today, I wanted to find a recipe for chicken breasts. Believe it or not, I've never cooked/baked/created deliciousness with just whole chicken breasts, so I needed some help. I found this recipe: http://www.tammysrecipes.com/grilled_lemon_garlic_pepper_chicken and loved the idea of marinating chicken in lemon juice. But I am not that experienced with the grill and being as the temperature was in it's normal frostbitten state, I decided that I shouldn't be that brave today.

So I went and talked to Michele. :-) Here is the recipe that she gave me and the one I intend to rave about to everyone I come into contact with in the next two weeks.

1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 TBSP chopped garlic
1 TBSP oregano
1 tsp salt
dash of cayenne
4 thawed chicken breasts

Combine the first six ingredients in large bowl with lid or bag. Pierce chicken breasts with knife and place in bowl or bag. Make sure the chicken breasts are coated with mixture, then seal it up and place in refrigerator for at least an hour (my schedule dictated 6 hours). When ready to cook chicken, cut each breast into thirds and place on a broiler pan. Broil approx. 4-5 minutes on each side, or until meat is cooked through.

I have never had chicken like this before. It was tangy and a little spicy and Greek all at once. We ate it with Basmati rice (which is, in my humble opinion, the best rice in the whole entire world) and green beans. I think I'm going to cut up the leftover chicken tomorrow and put it in a pasta dish. That sounds rather yummy to me. :-)

Mom's Cheese Cake

Mom's Cheese Cake

a 2 day dessert

2 pounds cream cheese

1 ¾ C. honey

¼ C. flour (finely ground whole wheat or just use all – purpose)

2 tsp. vanilla

6 whole eggs

2 pounds sour cream

Cream honey, cream cheese, flour and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Add sour cream.

Butter well the whole interior of 10” spring form pan and coat with crushed graham cracker crumbs. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 325* for 1 hour. Turn off oven without opening door; let sit undisturbed for 2 hours. Refrigerate overnight or until cold.

Serve with your favorite toppings or plain. Also lovely frozen. This is a very rich dessert... one of my favorites. I could eat it more often than I've occasion to. ;-)

Hints:

leave ingredients out at room temperature before mixing cake.

Mix on high while creaming cheese, honey, flour and vanilla.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Taste of Home's

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

a 2 day dessert

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter or margarine

1 tsp. salt

2 pkgs (¼ oz. each) active dry yeast

½ cup warm water (110* to 115* F.)

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

1 pkgs (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Glaze:

2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

¼ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine sour cream, sugar, butter and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 5 - 10 minutes or until well blended. Cool to room temperature. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add sour cream mixture and eggs; mix well. Gradually stir in flour. (Dough will be very soft.) Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, combine filling ingredients in a mixing bowl until well blended. Turn dough onto a floured board; knead 5 – 6 times. Divide into four equal portions. Roll each portion into a 12-in. by 8-in. rectangle. Spread ¼ of the filling on each to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style from long side; pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam side down, on greased baking sheet. Cut six X's on top of loaves. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Combine the first three glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves. Sprinkle with almonds if desired. Store in refrigerator. Yield: 20 – 24 servings.

(This recipe is one of my favorites. Very rich, so you won't need much to satisfy that sweet tooth... Why is it that cream cheese is always an ingredient in the best desserts?)

Cheesy Spaghetti Bake

Cheesy Spaghetti Bake

½ lb ground beef (we used venison)

¼ cup chopped onion

1 2/3 c. spaghetti sauce

2 oz. Spaghetti

2 T. butter

4 tsp. flour

¼ tsp. salt

¾ cup evaporated milk (we used whole milk)

1/3 cup water

10 – 12 slices American Cheese

2 TBSP Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef and onion in frying pan. Drain off fat. Add spaghetti sauce, simmer for 10 minutes. Break spaghetti into thirds. Cook according to package directions. Rinse and drain. Add spaghetti and sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in flour and salt. Slowly add milk and water. Cook over med. heat, stir constantly, until thickened. Add 5 slices American cheese and Parmesan cheese. Stir until melted. Spread ½ Spaghetti in bottom of 10” by 6” by 2” baking dish. Spoon all of cheese sauce over spaghetti. Top with remaining Spaghetti mixture and remaining 5 slices of American Cheese. Bake at 350* for 15 – 20 minutes.

Note: We used 8 oz. of grated cheddar on top and melted all the American cheese in the sauce. :-)

I think this is one of the best recipes of all time. We had it on Ellie's birthday (May 3rd) and everyone liked it so well, I decided that I should share it with you. :-)

Btw, we quadrupled the recipe and didn't have very many leftovers.

Cookie-Dough Fudge

This is a dessert from our own creativity that we've actually made a couple times. :-) It's so good. It's like eating fudge that's frozen. And the great thing about it is, it's healthy. So enjoy with pure and unstained conscience!

Cookie-dough Fudge

for the Peanut Butter layer:

mix together:

1 1/3 cups honey

1 cup soft butter

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs *

1 tsp vanilla

combine and add to above mixture:

2 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

for the Chocolate layer:

cream together:

1 cup soft butter

1 ½ cups honey

add and mix thoroughly:

3 eggs *

1 tsp vanilla

combine and add to above mixture:

1 cup cocoa

3 ½ cups flour

½ tsp bk powder

1 tsp bk soda

½ tsp salt

mix until thoroughly combined.

In a 9” by 13” pan, put a layer of half the chocolate dough. Spread half of the peanut butter dough over that. Freeze for 20 – 30 minutes, or when firm. When it is, spread the other half of the chocolate over the peanut butter layer and spread the final half the peanut butter dough over that. Freeze until firm... or over night.

It takes a lot of muscle to cut it up. I had to get help. :-)

*if you aren't sure your eggs are completely sanitary and safe to eat, this recipe might not be a good idea. However, raw eggs raised on the farm and pasture are very good for you. I actually prefer to eat them in the uncooked form if I can. :-) See, what did I tell you? This recipe is healthy. ;-)

Italian Cheese Bread

Last night, we had one of my favorite snacks. It's called “Italian Cheese Bread”. We don't have it often since cheese is so very expensive, but when we do have it, it disappears very quickly! :-)

I got this recipe from my friends Erin and Lindsey S. The latter sent the recipe to Tammy Luna, who posted it on her cooking website. That being said, I changed the recipe a little when I made it (due to not having their recipe on hand) but the idea is the same. I'll post my version but I'll also post the link to the original.

Italian Cheese Bread

1 C. water (70* - 80*)

1 ½ tsp dry instant yeast

2 TBSP melted butter/olive or canola oil

1 TBSP sugar/honey

1 tsp salt

3 C. flour

¼ - 1/3 C. Ranch or Italian dressing

¼ tsp. onion salt

½ tsp. thyme

½ tsp. oregano

1/8 tsp (or less, I just shook the shaker over it a few times) black pepper

1 C. mozzarella, grated

1 C. cheddar, grated

In dough mixer, put water, yeast, butter, sugar and salt. Let sit for a minute. Add a cup of flour and mix. While mixing, add the rest of the flour. The dough should be firm but not stiff. Let knead for five minutes.

Roll dough out into a 12” - 14” circle and place on a greased pizza or cookie sheet.

Spread the dressing evenly over the surface of the dough; sprinkle the onion salt, thyme, oregano and pepper, then spread the cheese over that.

Bake at 400* F. for 14-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and bread is golden brown around the edges.

www.tammysrecipes.com/italian_cheese_bread

Be sure to check out Tammy's website for more excellent recipes!