Salt Dough Ornaments and Packing Cookies

Today has been any day but, Saturday…

I don’t know how many times… it has run through my mind…

“This can’t be Saturday!”…

But, it is…

and Grandkids are coming to spend the night…

I’ve decided to make Salt Dough Ornaments with them…

I made them with my own boys when they were young…

and are still popular to make with kids today…

A batch is made from:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup water

Stir and knead it like a dough… (NOT Edible)

Need:

Rolling Pin

Cookie Sheet (I’m covering mine with Parchment Paper)

Toothpick or any object that will make a hole to hang the ornament with…

I usually use a straw… Makes a perfect hole for the hanger…

Miniature Cookie Cutters or any shaped object that will cut like a cookie cutter…

After baking in a 250 degree – 300 degree oven for 2 hours…

Let cool completely and paint with acrylic paints …

Glitter Glue or Glitter Paint can also be used…

I also spray mine with a clear acrylic to make them shiny and lasting…

Ribbon… twine… string for hanging…

Will post our creations tomorrow…

Today… after deciding it IS Saturday…

I decided to pack cookies for mailing next week…

This post shows my baking…

https://babyjill7.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/making-christmas-cookies/

I had bought containers for the ones going out of town…

Neighbors were put on pretty Christmas Paper Plates…

I layered the containers… with the cookies… parchment paper… more cookies… paper… more cookies… and a last layer of tissue paper to keep them from breaking in their journey out-of-town…

I will put them in another box… so hopefully they will reach their destination with little breakage…

I’ve been doing this for many years…

so I think I’ve got it pretty much in control…

With mailing them next week… I feel they will get to enjoy them before Christmas when people come by to visit…

I even had some left for my own cookie jar!

Related articles

• DIY Christmas Ornaments w/ Salt Dough (thediyshow.com)
• Salt dough ornaments (sarahstaebler.wordpress.com)
• Salt Dough Ornaments: (sarahmoumblow.wordpress.com)
• Salt Dough Mickey Snowman Ornaments (dolledupdesign.wordpress.com)

Easy “Sweet” Breakfast

We are going to eat lunch today at my sister’s… so I figured a lite breakfast would be fine…

I had bought these turnovers to make sometime this week… so that’s what I was “tempted” to bake…

Just 6 in the package… so no indulging here…

They come in apple and cherry… but, really like cherry

Dough comes in a roll like canned biscuits…

a plastic packet of fruit filling and one of white frosting…

Got coffee started where it would be ready when turnovers came out of the oven…

“timing” here is essential… ha, ha!

Coffee mug ready!

After placing squares of dough on a cookie sheet ( in my case… a pizza pan )…

squirt out filling into center of dough…

Fold over dough into a triangle… pressing edges to seal with fingers…

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes…

Come out golden brown and so flaky!

Cut corner of frosting glaze…

and zig zag it over the warm turnovers…

Kinda pretty aren’t they… and so yummy!

Oh, yes… my coffee with half/half… my way!

Related articles

• Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls (thecookingbug.wordpress.com)
• New habits: Day 2! Pancakes for breakfast! (missdreier.wordpress.com)

Pretzel Making Time!

I try to do some kind of activity with my Grandkids when they come over…

Fall break had started… and I was lucky enough to get them for a day and night…

They are quite busy… with football practice, basketball practice, school… and friends…

We had planned on making these once before but, ran out of time…

So tonight we decided we would make the pretzels from a kit I had bought…

Everything included… Loved that!..,

Yeast- Flour-Baking Soda- Cinnamon Sugar- Coarse Salt

Just a little mixing…

Carson taking a turn at mixing…

Kennedy’s turn…

kneading… rising of the dough…

I got the kneading part!

and then cutting into strips to make the pretzels… Instructions included…

You start with a U shape…

Twist at the top… then fold down… making the shape of a heart almost!

They caught on fast of course!

A pan ready for oven…

You dip the pretzels in baking soda water before baking…

 

First Batch ready!

 

Second Batch ready with Carson’s special one!

They wanted just the course salt sprinkled on them…

Carson got that job!… and as you can tell…

They did good! 

We all agreed they were delicious!

Related articles

• Copycat Auntie Anne’s Pretzels (teantidbits.wordpress.com)
• Aunt Laura’s Soft Pretzels (livinglifewithlaura.wordpress.com)

Fresh Baked Bread the Easy Way!

My daughter-in-law always serves fresh baked bread  when we go out to their house to eat…

She had said, “It’s at Wal-Mart in the frozen foods“…

So, the other day I found it!…

It is made by Rhodes… I believe I had bought some of their dough for rolls a few years back…

I picked up a package of the bread dough… There are three loaves in a package… and it comes to about $1.25 per loaf…

All you have to do is:

Remove dough from wrapper… (I just took out one… all I was going to bake for us)

Spray a loaf pan with cooking oil…

Put in bread…

Spray bread dough… with cooking oil also…

Cover with plastic wrap…

and let sit for about 4-5 hours… (Depending on the heat of your kitchen)

It will rise above the pan…

Carefully remove plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes…

Perfect bread!

and tastes so good warm from the oven…

We had it this morning toasted… Almost didn’t fit in my toaster … it’s such big slices…

Delicious!

     

So if you like the smell of fresh bread baking in your own kitchen… I highly recommend this easy baking project!

Related articles

• Raisin and cinnamon bread (pmetro.wordpress.com)
• Start Experiencing the Fresh Baked Bread Daily With The Cuisinart Bread Maker (neilbreadmachine.wordpress.com)
• Paleo Bread (paleobcn.wordpress.com)

Christmas Tree Bread

I made two low-fat low-calorie foods for my TOPS group Christmas Get-together tonight…

One is a low-calorie Crustless Pumpkin Pie… It is almost like eating pumpkin custard… Fine with me… because I’m more interested in the “filling” than the crust… I know!… You “crust” people will totally hate it… well not maybe… After you taste it… you will be quite impressed…

Crustless Pumpkin Pie (Low-Calorie)

Ingredient

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 (12 ounce) cans evaporated skim milk
• 3/4 cup egg substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 -2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup Splenda sugar substitute

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.
2. Pour into 9-inch pie pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes; reduce temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes more.
4. Pie is done when knife inserted into center comes out clean.

 

Of course I’m taking low-fat Cool Whip to put on top… Yummy!

My other recipe came from Pillsbury… Bread Christmas Trees…

Of course I altered it a little… That’s just me… I couldn’t find the Bread Stick Dough… so I picked up the One Sheet Dough and cut it in strips…Then formed the little “dough” trees with a trunk…Turned out so cute… and quite easy… Great for a Christmas party !…

Related articles

• pumpkin pie bars (tutti-dolci.com)
• Crustless Pumpkin Pie in a Mug (collegiateculinaire.wordpress.com)
• Pumpkin Cream Pie (healthy) (hungrylittlegirl.com)
• Crustless Pumpkin Pie (whattheflicka.com)
• Pumpkin Recipes (hispanicbusiness.com)
• Pumpkin cheesecake mousse (starttobehealthynow.wordpress.com)

“Cornucopia Bread?”… Yes, I’ll Bring It Again!

Keepsake:

I’ve made this neat “cornucopia bread“ for quite a few years now… I don’t even know where I read the recipe…

I looked up the directions… where you could have clearer instructions … Just in case you want to try it…

It isn’t that hard… Just don’t expect perfection… Relax!… It will turn out!…

This year I couldn’t find bread stick dough … so I improvised with crescent dough …

Just pressed it together in sheets… cut in strips… and rolled with fingers a little into longer strips…

The wrapping around the cone is the hardest part… but, just keep pressing dough together as you attach each piece…

The cone is filled with balls of loose foil to keep the shape…

Bread before baking…

Bread brushed with beaten egg…

  

Finished Baked Cornucopia…

They will be easy to remove along with the cone shape after bread cools… I Promise!

I cut up yellow squash, carrots, celery and cucumbers into sticks…

and add a few slices of tomato for color and some broccoli florets…green onions…green pepper… I put the raw veggies  into the opening of the cornucopia and on the plate surrounding  it … Add a pretty bowl or glass filled with your favorite dip…

Makes a really nice appetizer as well as a pretty centerpiece for your guests to munch on before sitting down to Thanksgiving Dinner!…

Instructions

1. Cut a heavy-duty piece of aluminum foil to 30 by 18 inches. Fold it in half to 18 by 15 inches, and roll it into a hollow cone shape about 18 inches long. The open end of the cone (cornucopia) should be about 5 inches in diameter.

2. Fasten the ends of the aluminum foil with clear tape. Fill the entire cone with crumpled up aluminum foil. Bend the tail of the cornucopia up, then down at the end.

3. Spray with cooking spray, and place the aluminum cone on a large baking sheet. Beat the egg and water to make the glaze for the bread cornucopia.

4. Open the can(s) of breadstick dough. Separate the breadsticks, and start by wrapping the first breadstick around the end of the cone.

5. Use the glaze as a glue. Brush the end of the next breadstick with glaze and overlap it with the first breadstick end pressing the two together. Wrap the second bread stick further up the cone slightly overlapping the first.

6. Repeat using all breadsticks. Brush each end with glaze, and press to the previous breadstick making sure there are no open spaces until the entire cone is covered. Leave 3 breadsticks to make a braid for the end.

7. Pinch the ends of the three breadsticks together. Braid them like hair. Glaze the opening of the cornucopia and press the braid around the end, stretching to make it fit the end.

8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes until the bread is golden brown. If some areas start to get to dark, cover them with foil until the rest brown.

Tips & Warnings

• Dough will be pretty slippery, so work quickly and get help if you can.
• Fill the cornucopia with fresh fruits or vegetables.
• Add a dip to the side, and don’t forget to eat the cornucopia too.

http://youtu.be/tc5-JeezRo8   Another way to make the foil cornucopia…

Related articles

• Thanksgiving Recipe Cornucopia (thesurvivalplaceblog.com)
• History of the cornucopia (berries.com)
• Tweaking traditional cornucopia (rep-am.com)

“Pizza”… ANYTIME?

Gift…

Is it ever too late for PIZZA?  … I don’t think so… my family doesn’t think so… I bet you don’t think so…

We really haven’t eaten supper yet… We had a late lunch which was a full meal… but, that’s what I do more and more… because of being home…

Our big meal more in the middle  of the day…

From what I hear… a lot of people have or still do that…

But, when the hours go by… the hungries do come upon us … even at 8:00 pm

So I looked in the pantry and remembered I had bought a Pizza Kit…

My son has always loved these little boxed pizza kits… It comes in cheese or pepperoni… and we always get pepperoni …

And if like tonight… I have some extra ingredients to add to it… I will…

Tonight it’s green pepper , onion and more cheese … PLEASE!…

It comes with a bag of dough mix… You just add warm water and mix until a dough  forms … I spray a little Cooking Spray on the dough itself… and then turn it over and do it on the other side… Then it rests on top of my stove while the oven is pre-heating…

After about 10 minutes… I turn the dough on a sprayed pizza pan… and spread it with my hands  until it is to the edge… I might even spray my hands a little… if sticking to the dough…

The kit comes with a small can of sauce with little pepperoni in it…

Spread it all over the dough… It also come with a small bag of Parmesan Cheese  to sprinkle all over the sauce…

As I said… I chopped up additional ingredients of onion, green pepper and added some shredded cheese on top…

Bake for 20 minutes  … and ou la… that is Italian isn’t it???… Home cooked 12″ pizza… hot… right out of the oven…The Chef responsible for this neat little kit is Ettore Boiardi …

You may recognize the name as Chef Boyardee when you buy kids canned pasta  like ravioli, lasagna, spaghetti/meatballs, etc. …

He was an Italian-American immigrant… Opened up a restaurant called Giardino d’ Italia in Cleveland , Ohio in 1928…

After customers asked for his recipes and ingredients like the TV commercials state… he decided to open up a factory …The company has gone through 3 owners but, the products are now made by …and still depicts the likeness of this wonderful chef…

Now… time to try our late supper… thanks to Mr. Boiardi

… and my love for pizza… ANYTIME! 

Related articles

• PHOTO: World’s Largest Pizza Box (huffingtonpost.com)
• Homemade Pizza and Grandkid Fun (justrestingup.wordpress.com)
• Pizza & Beyond! 15 Recipes for Pizza, Flatbread, and More – Recipe Roundup (thekitchn.com)

One of My Favorites for “Lazy Days of Summer!”

Gift…

I decided to make a new twist of one of my favorite things to bake and eat…

Why?… because it is so easy!… and it’s the “Lazy Days of Summer!”

http://youtu.be/AoLogdbVS3U…

We would make them at school for our Special Ed students… where we cooked at least 2-3 times a week… but, the kids did most of the cooking… we just instructed and helped when needed… A favorite of theirs too…

“Pigs In A Blanket“…

Basically… a hotdog… wrapped in a crescent roll dough triangle and baked… We were known to use biscuits if needed…

My family likes the newer “HOT” Dogs… full of spices and peppers … actually more of a sausage…

Lunchtime was getting close… and in the summer I just cook something for whenever anyone wants to eat… no set time or schedule… Kinda on your own… but, with a little help from Mom… Paper plates and napkins are always handy

… Iced tea or soft drinks in the refrigerator… maybe some chips… and a cookie… It’s summer!… isn’t that enough?…

Lay crescent roll triangles on cookie sheet…

I cut each triangle in half which makes 16 total…

 I use different brands… Once baked they all taste good!

I cut the sausages into 3 pieces each…= 18… I just bake the 2 extra pieces without the dough… it’s always eaten!

I cut 2 pieces of American Cheese into 4 triangles… then again which = 16 pieces… Just the right amount!

Place the sausage on dough triangle… add cheese and then just roll up… One thing about these… they don’t have to be perfect… Great for kids!… and still come out looking Yummy!

Place all 16 + the two extra little pieces on the cookie sheet…

Put in preheated oven on 375 degrees…

Bake for 12 minutes… I always set timer because of doing more things than one… and we always did at school… so habits are hard to change…

Mustard and ketchup… all you need!… So good…

As a friend I worked with said, “You just can’t stop eating them!”…

Related articles

• Pigs in a Blanket (cantstayoutofthekitchen.com)
• Vegan Pigs in a Blanket (epicureanvegan.com)
• mini apple pie roll ups (melissahjohnson.typepad.com)
• Bake a Cake Inside an Orange Peel for a Tasty Campfire Treat [Food Hacks] (lifehacker.com)

Fried Pies…Mom Wins!

I was eating chunky applesauce and thought how it would make great fried pies … I usually make them with pie filling… cherry or apple …I also use canned biscuits for the dough … My Mom could whip up fried pies from scratch faster than I ever will with my canned filling and canned dough… She made her own dough… probably like a biscuit dough… Flour, milk…maybe an egg or two … depending on how many she was making… She probably had some real apples she had peeled, cored and cooked down to what I would call homemade applesauce … There would be sugar, cinnamon…maybe some butter in the ingredients… She would roll out her dough on a wood cutting board with her wood rolling pin with green handles… She floured the board so the dough would not stick… Small circles of dough … about 6″ in diameter… She filled the dough with cooled pie filling or in her case… cooked apples… and then folded the dough in half … looking like a crescent… She crimped the edges with a fork… sealing the edges where the filling wouldn’t come out during the frying process… The hot Crisco was heating in her big iron skillet … She carefully dropped the crescents into the hot shortening… waited until they were golden brown and then turned them gently with a spatula… After browning the other side… they were lifted out to cool on crumpled brown paper bags … This absorbed the excess grease… Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar … Oh, they were the best!… Mine are good… but, the trouble she went to for us to have a most delectable treat will always be remembered… Thanks to Mom, I too can make some good treats … just a newer version…

“My Kids!

We made pies in our Bake Shop at school… Usually it was around Thanksgiving … Pumpkin  and Pecan… The closest we ever got to making fried pies was when our male teacher would make fried biscuit dough donuts with the kids… They loved them!… Like me, he grew up with his Mom making them like mine when we were young… Canned biscuits rolled out a little thinner… a hole cut out with anything that would work…about an inch across… I’ve used an empty medicine bottle before… works great!… Of course the holes were saved and fried too… Sometimes I think we liked the holes even better… After frying in cooking oil  and drained on paper towels … Shook in a bag of sugar and cinnamon while still warm…Yummy!… The round doughnuts would get a coating of chocolate or vanilla frosting …maybe even a sprinkle or two with colored sugar crystals …I believe I’ll be making some fried pies today…and maybe another day some fried doughnuts… This cooler weather  makes me hungry!  

Related articles

• Not-So-Pretty Fried Cherry Pies (coffeeworks.blogs.com)

Related articles