Biscuit Dough Powdered Donuts

This recipe comes with a warning: You will find yourself dreaming of ways to somehow make and eat these, a whole recipe of them, without your family members finding out.  I haven't figured out how yet, let me know if you have any ideas.

A can, or 2, 5, 8, of those tiny baby biscuits (usually 10 per can).
oil
powdered sugar or icing


Flatten a biscuit on your hand and tear a small hole in the center.

Place in hot oil (between 4 and 6 on my burner).  When you can tell the oil side is becoming toasty (around the edges) flip the donut.  You do not want them to be dark-at all!

Place yummy donuts on paper towels.

Variation of colors: the middle one on the left column is way too brown.  I think the perfect one is the bottom right corner :)

 Cover in powdered sugar or your favorite icings.

Incandescently perfect.

Mexican Chicken Alfredo

The alfredo sauce is what makes this pasta!  I've tried many mexican pastas hoping they would be delicious but they usually aren't creamy enough-this one is perfect!

1-16 oz. package of spiral pasta
2-3 pieces of cubed chicken breast
1/2 a medium, chopped onion
1 Tbsp. canola oil
2 jars (15 oz. each) alfredo sauce
1 C grated Parmesean cheese
1 C medium salsa
1/4 C milk
2 tsp. taco seasoning

Cook pasta.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken and onion in oil.  When chicken is no longer pink stir in alfredo sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in cheese, salsa, milk and taco seasoning.

Drain pasta and toss with chicken mixture.

You can divide the recipe into 2-8 in. square dishes and freeze one up to 3 months.  Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.  For the frozen casserole, thaw overnight then let it thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Cover and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

I combined the whole recipe and cooked it in a 9x13 for 35 minutes and I thought it was fine since the chicken was completely cooked.  YUM!

Now this doesn't look very good, my yellow plates and the dish wash everything out-don't go by the picture!!!

Homemade Funnel Cakes

These taste just like the delicious treats you'll find overpriced at the fair!

oil
3 eggs
1/4 C sugar
2 C whole milk
3 2/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
powdered sugar

On low heat, cook your oil.  It is best to start out with a lower temp oil (I set my burner between 4 and 6) and figure out how quickly you can work with your cakes.  The oil will continue to heat up no matter what temp you leave it on, you will have to gain speed as you go.

Beat your eggs and sugar, then slowly add milk.  Throw in your dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Unless you're fancy, use a gallon ziploc bag to squeeze out your batter.  Clip your corner fairly small and widen it as needed.  You want the batter to come out more slow than quick so you're able to get "streams" more thin than thick.  Make sense?  You'll learn as you go...

This is waaay too thick.  The hole in my bag corner was too big.

I think it is best to make smaller cakes, don't try to attempt the size you buy at the fair; otherwise, you'll end up splashing hot oil all over yourself and breaking your cakes!

When you see the toasty brown color creeping up the edges of your streams you can flip your cakes.  They cook quickly!

Once a light, toasty brown, set on some paper towels, add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

I found this original recipe on food.com, recipe number 8445.

Pecan Caramels

2 tsp. plus 1 C butter, divided
1 1/4 C sugar
1 1/4 C packed brown sugar
1 C dark corn syrup
2 C heavy whipping cream, divided
1 bag of chopped pecans
1 tsp. vanilla

Line a 9x13 in. pan with foil, grease foil with 2 tsp of butter and set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine sugars, corn syrup, 1 C cream and the remaining butter.

Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to a boil.  Slowly stir in the remaining cream.  Cook without stirring until a candy thermometer reads 245.

It is best to have a thermometer that will hang off the side of your pan without touching the pan (you can adjust the depth of your thermometer as well).  

Remove from ehat and stir in pecans and vanilla.  Pour into your prepared pan and let stand until firm.  Lift the candy out with the foil then discard foil.  You can go ahead and cut it or, I found it easier to chill in the refrigerator then cut with a butcher's knife when the candy is harder.  You can then wrap with wax paper and either devour yourself or give away as a gift :)

Classic Apple Pie

I love making pies.  One of my favorite cookbooks is Farm Journal's Best-Ever Pies.  If there is ever a pie you need a recipe for and you've never heard of it before that person asked for it, you'll find it there. 

But now that you've googled it and found that you can only order used copies from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, understand that this recipe cannot be found there, only on this blog and whatever recipe book my highschool homec teacher had.  May dad asks for it every birthday!

Ingredients:
Pastry for two-crust pie (I don't venture to make my own, I buy Mrs. Smiths)
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of salt
8 C thinly sliced peeled tart apples (8 medium)
2 tbsp stick margarine

Heat oven to 425. Prepare your crusts or thaw according to package directions.

Mix your dry ingredients then add your apples and mix thoroughly. Pour apples into 1st crust.

Cover apples with dotted margarine then cover pie with 2nd crust.  Cut 4 slits in top crust and press edges together.  Cover edges with aluminum foil.

Bake pie for 40-50 minutes.  My oven usually does great for a full 40 minutes max.  If the crust starts browning too much before you've reached 40 minutes, place a sheet of foil over your pie until finished baking (nobody likes gooey bottom crust!)  Enjoy!

Chicken Braid

This is a recipe my mom first got from Pampered Chef but over time I've slightly altered it to our taste!

Ingredients:

2 cans of crescent rolls
2 C chopped/shredded cooked chicken
1 C chopped fresh broccoli
1/2 C chopped red pepper
1 clove of minced garlic
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 C mayonnaise
couple shakes of salt

Preheat oven to 375.

Unroll dough, still sealed, onto ungreased, nonstick cookie sheet, laying it out as a long rectangle.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl.

Place mixture down the center of the dough.

Wrap the remaining dough around the mixture, sealing up the ends.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toasty brown.  Don't undercook, your bottom crust will be gooey ;)

Stuffed Peppers

My sweet sister-in-love Shannon gave me this recipe which she got from her Grandma.  This is the only picture I could find of us that I'm not 8 months pregnant and lookin' like a whale.  It's obviously from my wedding, almost 4 years ago.  She was pregnant with her first baby boy, Jackson :)  Love her!

Ingredients:
4-6 Tri color peppers
1 lb. ground beef, turkey or chicken
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 bags of microwaveable rice (fancy brand, like Old el Paso, not Lipton or Rice a Roni!) apparently it      comes in a can too but I can't find it in Louisville

1 small can of tomato sauce
2 C sharp cheddar shredded cheese
Adobo seasoning (optional-but Adobo makes everything better!)

the essential

the optional

Directions:
-Cut off the tops of your peppers (save for another recipe!).  Clean the inside and outside then boil peppers until "pokeable"  Yes, that is a word.
-Brown meat and onions

-Mix your rice, meat mixture, sauce and cheese (reserve 1/4 C)
-Stuff your peppers and top the with cheese.  Place in a sturdy casserole dish and add a little water to the dish so they don't burn.
Bake on 350 for 25ish minutes, until cheese is melted.  YUM!

The Best Blueberry Scones in the World!

I found this recipe here (source: Ben Millett) a few months ago while I was preparing to host my first extra fancy tea party (I love all things tea parties).  I've modified the instructions a little; feel free to use either mine or his.  They are simply divine.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of frozen, unsalted butter -you actually only use 10 tbsp
1 1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries (or whichever fruit you prefer)
1/2 C whole milk
1/2 C sour cream
2 C unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
1/2 C sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)

1.  Preheat your oven to 450 F
2.  Remove 1/2 the paper from your sticks of butter, grate the unwrapped ends (total of 8 tbsp) into a small bowl.  Freeze grated butter until ready to use.  Melt and set aside an additional 2 tbsp butter.

3.  Whisk together milk and sour cream in bowl, refrigerate until needed.
4.  Whisk flour, 1/2 C sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in large bowl.  Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss by hand until butter is mixed well.

4.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture and fold with spatula until just combined.

5.  Liberally flour a work surface and knead your dough 6 to 8 times.  Add flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Roll dough into a 12 inch square.

6.  Sprinkle blueberries evenly over your dough and press them into the dough.  Loosen the dough from your work surface, you may have to use a metal spatula.

Roll your dough into a tight log then lay it seam-side down and press into a 12 by 4 inch rectangle.
Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles, then cut each diagonally to form 2 triangles.

I actually went back and smushed it all together and followed my directions, made 8 instead of 6.

7.  Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.  Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18-25 minutes.

*Please don't judge that I used my countertop, I do not have a fancy work surface ;)  Also, please forgive that I only edited the last picture-too lazy and excited to finally post this!

*If you are making these ahead, you can freeze them.  Wrap them individually in aluminum foil and skip the butter/sugar sprinkle step and you should do this immediately before baking (freezing the scones with butter on top will make them gooey when they bake).  You can bake frozen scones on 375 F for 25-30 minutes.