Aunt Mabel's Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 pkg yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup melted shortening
• 3 1/2 cups AP flour

Directions:

1. Pour warm water into large bowl with yeast.
2. Add sugar, egg, vanilla, salt, and melted shortening. Mix with mixer.
3. Add flour and continue to mix with mixer.
4. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour.
5. Shape into rolls or buns of desired shape and size, let rise again for 1 more hour.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until browned as desired.

Hint: We made these very small to use as sliders, and later my husband told me his Aunt used this recipe for making buns - like hamburger buns.  These are sweeter than most hamburgers buns, and I topped them with butter and Italian seasoning.  A great way to prepare the dough for the second rise, is to use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into portions.  Enjoy!

Conquering the Pomegranate

1 - Cut the crown off, exposing the fruit inside.
2 - Score the fruit down to the pith down the sides all the way around the fruit.
3 - Soak in a bowl of cool water for at least 5 minutes.
4 -Work under the water to separate the fruit from the membrane.
5 - Remove the skin and larger chunks of membrane, allowing the fruit to sink to the bottom. * The membrane will float and can be easily removed from the top of the water. *
6 - Drain the excess water and any additional membrane pieces.
7 - Lay the fruit out on a paper towel to dry.
8 - Enjoy!!

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

marinade

1 TBS sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cornstarch

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenders

1 tsp sesame seeds

sauce

1/4 cup water
1 bouillon cube
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS honey
1 tsp white rice vinegar
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup frozen peas

Directions...

1.   Prepare marinade.  Combine marinade ingredients in a small mixing bowl or large Ziploc bag.  (sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, cornstarch)  Mix well, add chicken tenders.  Refrigerate a minimum of 20 minutes.

2.  Toast sesame seeds.  To toast the sesame seeds, use a small DRY skillet.  Toast for approximately 1-2 minutes until seeds begin to brown.  Set aside to cool.

3.  Combine the sauce ingredients (water, bouillon, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, chili flakes, cornstarch) in a small bowl or measuring cup.

4.  In a HOT skillet, add oil and garlic and begin to stir-fry.  Moving the garlic quickly - add the chicken tenders and continue to cook until no longer pink.  Next top the chicken with the peas and cook for about a minute before adding the sauce blend.  Allow the ingredients to simmer and thicken.

5.  Serve with rice or noodles, top with toasted sesame seeds.

HINT: Next time we will use sugar snap peas instead of regular peas.  The additional or removal of the red chili flakes can be adjusted for personal preference.  Here, we like it hot!  Enjoy!!

Salsa Bread

**Bread Machine Recipe**

1.5 lb recipe:

1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup salsa
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS sugar
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 2/3 cup all-purpose bread flour
1 1/2 tsp breach machine yeast or instant yeast

- put ingredients into bread machine pan in the order listed above.

- use the basic cycle of the bread machine for mixing and baking


Hints:  We made this tasty bread to have with chili this week.  Be mindful about the water content of the salsa you use for this recipe.  Thinner salsa may require additional flour.  Want a little extra kick?  How about adding some chopped green chilies or jalepeno's?  Enjoy!!

Bountiful Banana Bread

One of my favorite sites to look up recipes is AllRecipes.  They list such a large variety of recipes that I seem to always be able to find an interesting recipe (or two) to try.

Last Saturday, I had some very ripe bananas that I wanted to use up before they were no good.  So, I visited AllRecipes and decided to try these two recipes:

Banana Peanut Butter Bread

and

Janet's Rich Banana Bread.

I made two small modifications to the recipes, and they both turned out so well!

I didn't have any walnuts for Janet's Rich Banana Bread - so I used pecans instead.

Then I added a sugar-cinnamon sprinkle to the top of both loaves before baking for extra texture and taste.

My thought was we would have enough banana bread to stretch for a couple mornings for breakfast.  No such luck!  The guys ate every last drop!!

Try these recipes at your house and see if your family enjoys them as much as mine did!