Epiphany Burgers

New Year...New Leaf. It's been a while since I've blogged and I miss it. I love using my blog as a way to catalog the things I make in my kitchen or have growing in my yard. So here we go again :-)

There's not much going on in the yard at the moment although I do see little bulbs already trying to poke their way through the dirt. Yay! So the kitchen is where its at for me right now. I got a Panasonic bread machine from my sweet hubby Randy for Christmas so I'm getting to know it and enjoying every minute!

 I've made a couple of loaves..one good..one not so great but I figure a little trial and error is to be expected. The best so far has been this homemade hamburger bun.

Its a bun I've seen around the web for awhile and has gotten rave reviews so I knew it would be a good one to try. Although it may look crusty, it wasn't. Soft on the the outside and inside just like a hamburger bun should be! Randy said it held up great..less mess, which is important to him! Give these a try..super easy with the machine.

Moomie's Beautiful Burger Buns

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 eggs
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in your bread machine following the order given in the manual for your machine. Select dough. Allow to run cycle.
2. Dump out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 pieces (I did this with a sharp knife). With each piece, slap into a bun shape. Usually four or five slaps will do it. Place on greased cookie sheets or your bun pans, cover; rise about 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Bake in preheated 375°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes till golden. Cool on wire racks.
4. You can add a teaspoon of onion powder and about 1/2 teaspoon dried onion to the dough in the bread machine. Suzy's note: I didn't try it this time, but I will in the future. Sounds good!

 Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and Epiphany!

Linking up with On the Menu Mondays

Flashback Friday ~Late Summer

Summer is fluttering away


The daylilies are nearly finished


And the raspberries are nearing their end


I did really enjoy them this year though. I had an abundance so of course I was looking for recipes. I came across this one for Raspberry Bread Pudding that is to die for. I think Kneaders is a restaurant. If I made it again I would skip the cream sauce although it was really good. I think the pudding was awesome on its own.

Kneaders Raspberry Bread Pudding

Cream Mix

1 1/2 loaves aged, white bread

1 quart heavy cream

3 cups sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

In large bowl combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Cut bread into 1 1/2″ cubes and add to cream mixture, coating bread well. Let stand 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes to allow cream to absorb completely.

Fruit Filling
5 cups frozen or fresh raspberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

Combine raspberries, sugar and apple juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Layer a 9×13 dark baking dish 3/4 full with bread mixture, pour fruit filling over bread mixture, spreading evenly, top with remaining bread. Bake 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm. Top with vanilla sauce.

Vanilla Sauce (Totally optional - it was almost overkill)
1 1/3 cup butter

5 tablespoons flour

3 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup sugar

Over medium heat melt butter, and add flour stir 10 minutes until it has a nutty aroma, do not brown. Add cream and sugar and boil till mixture is thick, remove from heat adding vanilla. Serve this wonderful sauce cold.

My flashback today is a pic of my friend Allison and me being silly at the beach in Biloxi circa 1980 right before we started junior high. It's not the best picture and you can't really make out our faces but it makes me smile!


We met when we were both in 4th grade and have been close ever since. She is coming to visit me tomorrow for a week and I'm so excited. Kitchen Bouquet will be on vacation as well from now until after Labor Day. I may send some postcards in the interim, but will definitely have some fun things to share when Kitchen Bouquet is back in business.

If you have a Flashback you'd like to share add your link below.



Joining in for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum and
Flaunt your Flowers at Tootsie Time

Flashback Friday ~School Days

I'm planning on attending my 25th High School reunion in a few weeks so thought I might show you some random school pics my niece found in a photo album at my parents house recently. My how time has flown!


And a few shots from my spring flowers


My roses (that survived) are far away from blooming. This is a bloom on a little mini I bought at the grocery store.


I love these little fuzzy pasque flowers.


My little mini path all freshened up with new dirt. Thanks honey!


Snowflake and red primrose


The bleeding hearts are starting to bloom


Daffodils enjoying a minute of sunshine


For my Foodie Friday contribution I'm showing Chocolate Milk French Toast. It was as yummy as it sounds.



Chocolate Milk French Toast

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup chocolate milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
8-10 pieces bread - french or brioche would work best.
butter for pan

Combine beaten eggs, milk, sugar, and extracts in a shallow pan (like a pie plate). Lay bread in pan to soak up liquid. Flip to get both sides. You can poke your bread with a fork to make sure it soaks in. Transfer bread to butter pan and cook on stove over medium high heat until done on each side. Repeat until bread is used up.

I served with strawberries sliced and mixed with 1/4 cup sugar & 2 Tablespoons maple syrup plus a sprinkle of powdered sugar. The chocolate flavor is not overwhelming in this but gives it a great taste. For a stronger chocolate flavor you could add cocoa to the milk/egg mixture.

If you have a flashback of your own that you'd like to share please add your link here and LINK back to this blog.


I have thrown out the Great Cooking Magazine Challenge again. The date is May 8th. I'll have Mr. Linky up on the 7th since the 8th is Mother's Day. The idea is to try something new out of a cooking magazine. But rules are made to be broken so if you don't have a magazine any new to you recipe will do. Can't wait to see what you will try!

Flashback Friday ~Amish Friendship Bread Wakes up

One of my most popular posts was my Amish Friendship Bread Coming Out of my Ears post . I still get many hits a week mostly from desperate people, I would imagine, who have starter sitting on their kitchen counter, multiplying like Trebles on Star Trek. I imagine this, because I was one of them a couple of years ago. Instead of sharing with my friends who were Amish Friendship breaded out, I kept the babies and tried raising them myself . It wasn’t pretty! There were plastic bags everywhere. So after making several very tasty bread combinations including this Almond Joy variety

pancakes

and cornbread

I followed some online advice to freeze my babies. Sort of like how they did Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back.

I was really a bit skeptical that I wasn’t in fact killing my bubbly little starters mainly because my freezer is a scary deep dark place and I was afraid I would lose track of them. Those little starters were brave little troopers and hung on though.

It did in fact take me 2 years to rediscover them. Thanks in part to a gal named Darien who contacted me recently to ask if she could use my pictures & recipes on her website which promotes her new book that has an Amish Friendship Bread theme. There are a lot of variations in the recipe section on her site for those of you looking for ways to use your starter. I’m not getting anything for promoting her, but she was really a sweetheart and I like the idea of her book & website. She has a really active Facebook page as well where people have been sharing lots of variations.

So I had a renewed interest and decided to test out the theory that my babies could be awakened from their slumber. I pulled one bag out and pretended it was Day 1 in the 10 day cycle and all proceeded as it should. It was alive! I made the recipe that comes with the instructions which is a very yummy moist cinnamon one and to be different..which of course I am…I found a couple of recipes for scones and tweaked them a bit for what I had on hand. A new version is born! Date and Pecan Amish Friendship Bread Scones!

Date and Pecan Amish Friendship Bread Scones

2 cups starter (after following Day 10 instructions)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups flour (or more if sticky)

1/2 cup dates

1/2 cup pecans

Sift flour, salt, and soda together into a large bowl. Mix starter with oil, and stir into the sifted ingredients. Form into rounded ball and flatten to about an inch and a half then cut into 8 triangles. Bake on cookie sheet at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through in the middle.

* I ate one warm, then another the next day toasted with a little cream cheese spread on. Both were very yum!

If you have a flashback of any kind that you'd like to share please add your link below.

I'm participating in these events this week:
Foodie Friday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Fat Camp Friday

Flashback Friday ~The New Girl No Longer and Some Scones

I'm flashing back to one year ago when I made a big change in my life. On March 1st I started a new job and haven't regretted it for a second. I miss my friends at the old job but as it turns out I've kept in touch and enjoyed lunches with them throughout the past year. I've made new friends at the new job, have a great boss and the work has been a big improvement over what I was doing before. To commemorate the occasion I made Chocolate Chip Scones for the gang at my office. That's another great thing about my current situation. They love baked goodies!

This recipe was a winner with them and with me. I have been eating them for my breakfast this week and will be sad today after it eat the last one and they are all gone!!! I want to try them with apricots and white chocolate - a favorite combination that I used to buy at the deli at my old job. The texture of these scones matches those...just need to get the add ins to match too.

Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

Found on the Food Librian's blog. She's got some great recipes! She adapted from:
Adapted from: Cream Scones from the Art and Soul of Baking (page 152).



2 cups (10 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 oz) granulated sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 stick butter (4 oz) (cold, cut into pieces)
1 cup (8 oz) heavy whipping cream (cold)
1/2 - 3/4 c miniature chocolate chips (depending on preference)

Topping
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T sanding sugar or granulated sugar

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingers (I use my fingers), cut in the butter. (The book uses a food processor, but I like to make scones by hand...less to clean up!)
4. Add whipping cream and chocolate chips. Blend together quickly (I use my hands and/or a spatula). Do not overmix.
5. Shape into a round or square.
6. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar.
7. Cut into shapes. Place on parchment or Silpat covered baking sheet.
8. Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden brown and delicious. I cut my smaller and got 16 scones.

My Notes: I didn't really change a thing except I DID use my food processor and it made the whole thing a snap.

Do you have a Flashback you'd like to add? Put your link here:


I'm joining in over at Foodie Friday and Sweet Tooth Fridays.

Mosaic Monday ~Early Fall & The Gift that will Keep on Giving

It was kind of a dreary gray weekend, so I wasn't really motivated to do much more than stroll around the yard a few times. I snapped a few shots during one of those strolls. The garden flowers are winding down but there are definitely some things still blooming like this clematis that's having a second wind.



This dahlia is blooming pretty..so bright its almost neon


In the front...the aster ball as I call it is doing its thing! It is such a reliable bloomer and has such a great shape. I tie a piece of twine around it when the branches get tall so they don't flop when it rains, but it really does grow naturally round like that.


Feverfew reseeds itself throughout my garden, but its mostly a welcome reseeder. Very reliable deep into fall. This one is a double variety.


Tiny little rose Magic Carousel is reblooming too


I planted this nasturtium on a little obelisk at Randy's suggestion. Its taken all summer but it is finally climbing all over it and blooming its little heart out.


A volunteer made sure I had cosmos this year! I love these little dainty pretties.


My favorite pink hardy geranium is putting out a few blooms here and there.


The tall sedum is still looking nice


The veggie garden is winding down, so Lemon Queen perennial sunflower is moving in!


My favorite Japanese Anemone, Honorine Jobert


This persicaria Red Dragon is mostly a foliage plant, but in the fall it has cute little white flowers


I can't tell you how many times I've dug this aster up from the spot its blooming :-) Its a hardy little sucker!


And the hydrangeas are hanging in there...most fading, but with new blooms mixed in too.


Since the weather wasn't very inspiring, I spent the weekend enjoying my new Cuisinart food processor that Randy got me for our anniversary. I truly think this is one appliance I will get plenty of use from.

One feature that I love is the dough blade which makes kneading by hand unnecessary and its way quicker and quieter than kneading with my Kitchenaid (which I still love). Randy loves his Mom's cinnamon rolls and I've had mixed success duplicating her recipe, so I thought I would give another dough recipe a try, but still try to come close in flavor to hers.

I think I came pretty close because all I heard during his first cinnamon roll was MMMMM MMMMM MMMM. He is silly and doesn't like icing on his, so I did half and half. Its true though that the filling is sweet enough to enjoy it without. Brown sugar is the secret!



Suzy's Cinnamon Rolls
inspired by my mother in law's recipe, Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Cookbook and the recipe booklet that came with the Cuisinart

1/2 cup whole milk
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter cut in chunks
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

Filling:
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoons cinnamon

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons cream (or 2 tablespoons milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Microwave milk and butter until butter melts - about 1 minute. In a bowl or mixing cup combine 1 pkg yeast and warm water. I also added a teaspoon of the called for sugar to speed up the yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes..it will be bubbly. Place in food processor bowl, along with sugar and eggs. Process for a few seconds until sugar and eggs well blended. Add salt, warm milk mixture and 2 cups of flour. Process until well blended. Then add 1 1/4 flour and process to knead for about 45 seconds (WOW..thats all!) You may need to scrape the sides at some point, but the dough should pull away and clean the sides of the bowl. You will end up with a soft elastic dough. Transfer to a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or one of those shower cap thingies. Let dough rise until double in size, about 2 1/2 hours. Punch down center of dough then turn dough onto a lightly floured countertop and let rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime butter a 13x9 cake pan. In a small bowl combine brown sugar & cinnamon for the filling. Using a floured rolling pin roll dough into a 12 x 16 inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter and then sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture, leaving a 1/2 inch border on one long side. Roll, beginning with the long side that has sugar/cinnamon to the edge. Use fingertips to seal edges. Using a serrated knife, cut dough log into 12 even rolls and arrange in prepared pan. Cover and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350° and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. For icing, whisk powdered sugar, cream and vanilla until smooth. Add more cream a little at a time if necessary to achieve a drizzling consistency. Using a spoon drizzle over slightly cooled rolls.


Besides the cinnamon rolls, I decided to make another recipe in the recipe booklet that came with the processor. It caught my eye and looked simple enough. And boy are they yummy! They are perfect on their own, but I made some sandwich cookies out of them using the blackberry curd that I have one hand. Definitely takes it up a notch!!

Hazelnut Butter Cookies


1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups (4 oz) lightly toasted hazelnuts
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla ( I actually forgot this and they were just fine)

In a food processor insert the metal blade. Process flour, hazelnuts and salt using the pulse, 15-20 times until ground and combined. Remove from bowl and reserve. Process butter, powdered sugar and vanilla if using until smooth and creamy. Add flour mixture and process just until dry ingredients are incorporated. Turn out this dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into 2 equal balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 mins until stiff enough to shape into logs. Shape into logs 10 inches long. Wrap well in plastic and refrigerate til firm or freeze until ready to use. When ready to bake preheat oven to 350°. Slice 1/4 in thick and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake ofr 10-14 mins until edges begin to brown. Let cool on baking sheet for 1 minute than transfer to rack to cool.



Besides my processor fun, I also put some end of the season tomatoes to excellent use! Slow roasting them all day was painless...I used olive oil, basil, marjoram, garlic, chili flakes and salt. They cooked at 200 for 8 hours. Now to decide how to use the amazingly tasty morsels!


I'm joining in over at Big Red House for Mosaic Monday...go check out all of the other cool posts HERE and have a great Monday!

Mosaic Monday ~Hello August

Today for Mosaic Monday I'm sharing a few hydrangeas growing in my yard. I love the blue and am thankful my soil keeps them that way :-) I love pink in most other flowers, but blue hydrangeas are close if not at the top of my gardening faves. Go check out all of the other mosaics at Little Red House HERE.


I was inspired by my friend Debbie at Mountain Breaths to try these yummy lemon blueberry biscuits. Check out the recipe at her blog! This was another excuse to use my new pretty blue plates :-)



Tonight with dinner I tried a new little recipe that was pretty tasty. Kind of like Eggplant Parmesan without the breading. Those are green beans from my garden cooked with the potatoes.

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan From EverydayCook.com (4 main dish servings) Ingredients 1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise into 4 slices 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced 2 medium tomatoes, sliced into 4 slices each 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil Directions Lightly brush eggplant slices with oil; season with salt and pepper. Place slices on grill over medium heat; grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender, turn once. While the eggplant is grilling, prepare cheese. In a small bowl, combine mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Top each eggplant slice with tomato slices and cheese mixture. Cover grill and cook 2 minutes, until the cheese melts and the tomato is warm.

Hope everybody's Monday is a good one!

Sweet Saturday

Had a great Saturday nursery hopping with a friend and her two cute little boys. I came home with something I've been admiring for years...a pink dogwood. I had a gift card from my very generous former co-workers for a really nice local nursery called Watson's....so it ended up being free! No pic of it, but hopefully it will look something like this one that I admire every day on my way to work. Don't worry..I was probably stopped for traffic when I snapped this....probably....

We saw this cool arbor that we decided Lynn's husband Ed should build for each of us. Nevermind that Ed knows nothing about our diabolical plans for him.....

I also picked up this Bleeding Heart I've been admiring called Burning Hearts

So what could be sweeter than spending the day with a friend shopping for plants??? Well maybe starting the day with Cinnamon Sugar donuts!



I tried these donuts and was impressed at how quickly they came together. Tasted good too! I didn't have much time in the morning, but next time I'll try some iced or glazed. My friend Lynn's little boys liked them...or at least the cinnamon sugar (imagine licked clean donuts lol). I guess its kind of like eating the Oreo white stuff first :-) Works for me!

Simple Raised Donuts (makes about a dozen donuts and holes)
*inspired by Recipe found on Cully's Kitchen blog (I used substantially more flour than source and my change is reflected below)

1 (8 g) packages fast rising yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 egg, well beaten

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups flour (use More if too sticky)

cooking oil (for frying)

Mix yeast, water and sugar in large bowl. Wait until bubbles form on surface. Add egg, cinnamon, butter, vanilla, salt and flour. Mix together to form dough. Add more flour if too sticky to handle. Knead dough for a minute or two. I kneaded until the dough began to feel more smooth and elastic but not for long. Roll dough out to about 1/2 inch thick and cut out donuts. I used a little donut cutter, but you could use round cookie cutters. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes on a flour surface. I put my silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet, dusted with flour and let them rise on that. Fry donuts and holes in 350° oil until golden brown on each side. Coat in cinnamon sugar or your favorite glaze or icing.