I remember hearing years ago about a friend who made her own saltine crackers. I thought she was crazy! You can buy them so cheaply! Why bother? Perhaps you’ll think I’m the crazy lady today when I tell you I made my own hamburger buns last week!
My husband went to the grocery store and found a package of really nice beef patties marked down. When he brought them home, I knew burgers were on the menu for the next day, but I had no buns. I’ve always wanted to try making my own! Soooo, the next morning I went to King Arthur Flour and looked for a recipe! I foundBeautiful Burger Buns on their site and set in to make them. It started out as a necessity and ended up as the best decision I’ve made in the kitchen in a while!
I love Cinnamon Bread and have made it often using my sour dough starter. It’s good, but recently I was flipping through an old bread cookbook of mine, and found a recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread that is out of this world! It’s a little different than any recipe I’ve made or eaten. Each short side is rolled up toward the middle, making the cutest slices!
The filling has brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts in it. When I put a piece of this in the toaster, buttered it a little and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar over the slice, it was heaven! It made a wonderful breakfast, alongside my scrambled eggs. It’s kind of like having a cinnamon roll, only it’s not nearly as fattening!
Our family loves to celebrate, and that is usually interpreted into the meal planning. If it’s someone who is being celebrated, they rightfully get to help select their favorites.”What should we have for dinner for Father’s Day?” was an important question I asked my husband last week. He landed on some old favorites, then I chose one new recipe, and one I hadn’t made in a while. The result was a sumptuous fare that celebrated him and the gift he is to our family.
We missed our son-in-law who had to be out of town for Father’s Day!
In case you need a little inspiration for your upcoming Thanksgiving celebration (or for Christmas), I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes for special holiday meals. That doesn’t mean they’re difficult or fussy, they’re simply delicious!
Everyone needs a great start to the day. What will you serve for breakfast? Here are a couple delicious breads:
Breakfast
Nutty Orange Coffee Cake 3/4 C Sugar 1/2 C chopped pecans 2 tsp grated orange rind 8 oz. pkg reduced-fat cream cheese 2 (11 oz) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits 1/2 C butter or margarine, melted 1 C sifted powdered sugar 1 T orange juice
Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Place about 1 tsp cream cheese on half of each biscuit; fold biscuit over cheese, pressing edges to seal.
Dip biscuits in melted butter, and dredge in sugar mixture; place, curved side down, in a lightly greased 12-cup Bundt pan, spacing evenly. Drizzle any remaining butter over biscuits; sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done. Immediately invert onto a serving plate.
Combine powdered sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle over warm coffee cake. Serve immediately. If you’re fixing this ahead, warm in oven or microwave before serving.
Now some other suggestions for your Thanksgiving Dinner:
Breads:
These are my favorite biscuits. They’re Angel Biscuits done lighter! Now you can have another piece of pie!These are my favorite rolls. You can make them ahead of time and stick them in the freezer to bake on Thanksgiving Day! So easy!!
Salad:
This is a great salad that is also made ahead of time. It has all the cranberry goodness that a Thanksgiving dinner needs!
Another easy Cranberry relish is to simply pour a can of Whole Berry Cranberry sauce into a pretty dish and break it up with a spoon. Top with a drained can of Mandarin oranges, then topped with chopped walnuts. So easy and so good!
Sides:
Here a few of my favorites:
Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes make for an easy way to cook the potatoes while the turkey is in the oven. You’ll mash them after they’ve been in the crockpot and just before it’s time to eat. Leaving mashed potatoes in the slow cooker will make them runny…not the best. But the instructions on the page I’ve linked makes it super simple and delicious! Corn Cheese Bake is the best creamed corn you’ll ever taste! Broccoli Corn Scallop is creamy and a nice change from the usual casserole.
Dessert: Can we talk PIE???? This Peanut Butter Pie is over the top! It’s also really easy! If you want a show-stopper then Peanut Pie with Peanut Crust is for you! Kentucky Derby Pie is our family tradition. Someone might die if this isn’t on the counter when it’s time for dessert!I’ve shared LOTS of pumpkin recipes you can search here on my blog, but among the favorites for most people is the Pumpkin Roll. My recipe shows step by step instructions. You can do it! An easy cake is the Pumpkin Crunch Cake. It comes together in a few minutes and will remind you of a pumpkin pie in cake form! Yum!!
Whether you’re doing the whole meal or just bringing a dish for the meal, you can cook with confidence with any of these recipes! You know what else will help? Pray and ask the Lord to help you make the most of your time, your resources and your heart!Whatever your plans are for Thanksgiving, I pray you will give thanks to the God Who allowed you the blessings you enjoy. He is a God who loves you and has given His Son so you can enjoy more than a happy turkey day – He wants you to enjoy a personal relationship with Him and an eternity in heaven through trusting Christ as your Savior. What joy He brings to my life every day!
So, I had a little accident last week. I decided to make my French Bread recipe for a meal I was preparing for guests that were coming the next day. We were having a Bible Conference at our church and I thought I had plenty of time to get the bread baked before it was time to leave. Well, I misjudged the time and realized after I’d made the dough and had it rising in the bowl for the first rise that I wouldn’t have time to bake the bread and still be on time for the service. Ahhhh! I was frustrated at myself for not calculating the time correctly!
Then I had a thought…
I wonder if I can freeze the dough after it rises in the bowl?
So often when I wonder if something would freeze well, I simply let my mind wander the aisles of the frozen goods at the grocery store. Then I realized, “Yes! I know they sell frozen frozen loaves that are ready to set out and rise, so surely I could shape these loaves and freeze them before I leave for church!”
I took the bread and shaped it into the French loaves and placed them on a greased baking sheet.
I covered them with Syran Wrap and put them in the freezer and headed out for our Bible conference at church. Then before I went to bed that night, I took the loaves out of the freezer and placed them in the fridge to thaw overnight.
When I was ready to bake them, I set them on the counter where they rose for about 30 minutes. Then I finished as the recipe says, and cut the slits on top and baked them as usual.
They rose beautifully and my husband told me they were better than any other time I’ve made them!
This was a really happy accident! Now I know I can work ahead and get the dough made way ahead of time. It’s nice to know I can just have bread loaves hanging out in the freezer until I need them! Working ahead is my favorite way to prep meals!
So, first of all, let me say that this recipe is super easy! Now you know how to prep the first part and freeze them. Then when you’re ready for a hot loaf of homemade French Break all you’ll need is about 45 minutes total to let them rise and bake them! It doesn’t get fresher than that!
Have you tried freezing bread dough? Here’s a roll recipe that freezes great too, and is our favorite for special meals like Thanksgiving!
RefreshHer 