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

You Can't Fool Mother Nature...or Can you?

We've had some crazy cold snowy and rainy weather lately. So when we had a couple of sunny days I was feeling a little cooped up watching it from my office window, so I decided to use my lunch break to maximize the sunshine. It was still pretty chilly and as you can see from the trees still very much winter.


So I decided to go somewhere I knew it would feel and look just like summer. The Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park in Tacoma is a beautiful Victorian structure built in 1908 and luckily its not very far from downtown where I work


It's really an oasis in winter. Even the palm tree gives an illusion of semi tropicalness


As you step in the front door you are hit with a wonderful smell from the many orchids and a floral scene that currently screams spring.


Potted azaleas


And spring bulbs give me hope for whats to come in the next couple of months.

Aren't you ready for daffodils?


I loved this bulb too...not sure what kind it is. Maybe some kind of crinum?


The foliage in the conservatory is so lush and a perfect backdrop to all of the gorgeous orchids


There are many different varieties..I love this one


And this beauty


This begonia is pretty happy in the warm humid air


And this clivia is so pretty. I have one like this in my house, but it hasn't bloomed for us.


There are so really unique things in the conservatory including spanish moss..reminds me of home in Louisiana


Or how about these cool pitcher plants


At the end of the "path"


is a bench to rest a bit and take it all in


From this spot I admired this enormous fiddly fig


And these pretty yellow orchids...check out the scary tiger lurking in the background


After a little rest I headed back up the path into the main domed room


to see the fishies and waterfall


And to admire the cute little mushrooms


Amazingly in all of this lushness they have also created a little mini arid zone


Check out this papyrus



There is a great gift shop to visit before you leave. I love those tiny little Adirondack chairs right in front of the counter. I bought a cute plant for my desk at work and a pretty little enamel heart box.


Loved these drawings on the door to the shop


The kids are as inspired as I am! This spot in particular makes me wish I was an artist


With my lunch time coming to a close I figured it was time to head out but took the time to be jealous of the gorgeous Ponderosa lemons


Back out into the sunny but 40ish temps


Love the outside of the building too though especially up against that blue sky.


Some day I'll take you on a walk around the park itself. There are some great old trees - its great in fall. Today the Monkey Puzzle tree caught my eye...do you know it?


I think its supposed to look like a bunch of monkey tails


So......if maybe you can fool mother nature at least part of the time I wonder if you can fool a cinnamon roll lover ? This is my quickie version of cinnamon rolls. They are really cinnamon biscuits and super quick, but fun to make. I used to make these with my sister on Saturday mornings. And by the way...my cinnamon roll lover may not have been fooled but he went back for seconds :-)



Cinnamon Biscuits

1 can biscuits - the cheapest brand you can find work just fine, but something like Grands works even better
1/2 stick margarine or butter, melted
1 cup Sugar
cinnamon ( a couple of teaspoons or more depending on how cinnamony you like it)

Coat each biscuit with melted butter. Dip and roll each biscuit in cinnamon sugar. Place in a round cake pan. Drizzle tops with extra butter and cinnamon. Cook at 350° for about 15 mins or until cinnamon begins to get browner and forms a little crust. You just want to make sure the biscuits are cooked through.

Now give it a try and see if you can fool them too!


Joining in for Mosaic Monday at Little Red House & Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

Mosaic Monday ~ Can't Wait for Spring

Late winter is looking good here. Although we have had freezing temps at night the plants seem to be marching on to spring.

If you are looking for winter color hellebores are a great choice. They are also called Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose. I'd say Lenten is more appropriate for my location.



They come in a variety of colors


Their only drawback is that they tend to point their little heads down. But that's not all bad. It makes you stop and take notice of them and gets you squatting close to the ground to turn them upright. Exercise!


It seems that most late winter, early spring flowers are very low to the ground. Like these pretty snow drops.


And Crackpots little primroses


The crocus are really going to town now.


Even the white ones which are always the last to bloom in my yard are opening up.


I am always happy to see the primroses blooming yet again. They are perennial here and bloom several times a year.


Randy has been helping with weeding when we have a spot of sunshine. The front bed is looking nice. You can see the new leaves sprouting up a lot easier than when there are pesky weeds around!


Here's another addition to your garden you need if you want early color. These Tete a Tete daffodils are tiny, but they sure do bloom early!!!!


I was excited to see that the Camellias are getting close to blooming. Those on the side of the bush closest to the house are looking like this.


So even though spring seems to be close, the temperatures are still saying winter and I'm still craving comfort food. I made stuffed bell peppers this weekend to satisfy that!



I think stuffed bellpeppers are kind of like meatloaf. The recipe changes based on your mood and what you have on hand. For these I used

Ground Beef (about 1 lb)
chopped onion
chopped mushrooms
cooked white rice (about 2 cups)
Worcestershire sauce (1 T)
Seasoning to taste (garlic salt, onion powder, Tony Chachere's Seasoning)
Tomato paste (about 1 T)
2 eggs
Spaghetti Sauce 1/2 cup for stuffing and about 2 cups for cooking
6 bell peppers with tops sliced off and insides cleaned out and rinsed.(Cook peppers in boiling water for about 3 minutes to soften)

Mix all ingredients including the 1/2 cup of sauce. Stuff into softened peppers . Put peppers in a casserole dish. Pour rest of sauce over and around the peppers. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. You can sprinkle cheese on them but they are good without. I served with some fresh corn. No idea where the cobs came from, but there were fresh ears at the grocery store the other day, so had to buy a couple. It was good!

I'm joining in over at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday...a little late but its still Monday here!