Aunt Margaret’s Dilly Bread
Not sure why this is called Aunt Margaret’s Dilly Bread, I don’t have an Aunt Margaret, but here is what I know – my mom made this every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas and it is delicious!! I now make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas and everyone LOVES it!! It is so incredibly easy to prepare and it always turns out great.
AUNT MARGARET’S DILLY BREAD
- Combine 1 package of dry yeast and 2 tbls. sugar in 1/4 c. lukewarm water. Let sit until bubbly – 5 to 10 minutes.
- While waiting for yeast to activate, combine the following ingredients:
- 1 c. cottage cheese – room temperature
- 1 tbls. minced onion – I used dried
- 1 tbls. butter – room temperature
- 2 tsp. dill seed
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 egg
- Mix together until combined. Add yeast mixture and combine.
- Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix
Put in a bread pan and let rise in a warm area for 2 hours.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.
Serve warm with butter! Yummy!
Enjoy!
Sweet Potato Casserole
I HATE sweet potatoes, but apparently I make that best sweet potato casserole ever made. I wouldn’t know because I have never tried it!! When I first started making it, it was way too sweet. With my husband’s help I altered my original recipe to make it what it is today. Instead of the traditional marshmallow topping, which my husband HATES, this has a crumbly, nutty topping. We celebrate Thanksgiving Day with our dear friends and I am required to bring this every year!!
SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes, fresh or canned (I always use canned)
1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1/2 t. cinnamon (Saigon cinnamon is my favorite)
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
TOPPING:
2/3 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar (I like dk. brown, but this is to your taste)
2 c. pecans
2/3 c. melted butter
Beat sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, cinnamon, vanilla and eggs. They should be the consistency of brownie mix. Try to get all of the lumps out of the sweet potatoes. Pour into a buttered, 9X13 baking dish.
For the topping, stir dry ingredients together. Add the melted butter & stir. Spread on top of the sweet potato layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm!
Enjoy!
Apple Cranberry Pie
I have been making this pie for years! There are homes I’m not allowed to enter if I don’t have this pie with me. I buy pie plates at Goodwill so that I can just leave the plate. Sometimes I get them back, sometimes I don’t – it just doesn’t matter!! I love cooking and baking for my friends.
APPLE CRANBERRY PIE
You will need pastry for a 9″ two-crust pie. You can buy the frozen pie crust, but trust me when I tell you pie crust is SO easy to make. Here is the recipe I use and it has never let me down.
PIE CRUST
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. cold butter, cut into pieces
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor and give it a quick pulse to blend the ingredients. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add 6 tbsp. ice cold water and pulse until mixed. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
PIE FILLING
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 c. sliced Granny Smith apples
2. cranberries – whole
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugars, flour & cinnamon. Add fruit and mix well. Pour into a pastry lined pie plate. Dot the tops with butter. Cover with pastry and cut slits in the top crust. Seal the edges. I like to use tiny cookie cutters to cut holiday themed designs out of left over pie crust and decorate the edges of the pie. Brush an egg wash over the crust and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. (I use a pie shield on the edges of the pie for the first 30 minutes of baking. Keeps the edges from getting too brown.)
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Enjoy!
Quilted Pumpkins
These wonderful pumpkins were made for my by my Aunt Sue. I have learned so many things from her over the years. We share a love of decorating, cooking, flowers and sarcastic humor. I am so blessed to have her in my life.
Pumpkin & Raven Picture
My mother in law is an amazing artist. I have one of these darling little canvases for each season. I have a hook on my wall that is used just for these and I rotate them out with the season. I especially like this one because of the colors.
“Go To” Dinner
We all have that one dinner that is our “Go To” dinner. Mine is parmesan/breaded chicken breasts and orzo & rice pilaf. Add a salad to that and you have a great dinner that is quick and easy to prepare. My family never complains when I make this meal. This is also the meal I make to take to friends when they need meals. Again, never any complaints.
Crispy Baked Chicken
3/4 c. bread crumbs or panko
1/4 c. grated parmesan
3 T. butter
1 egg, beaten
3 chicken breasts
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Grease baking pan.
Melt butter in microwave and add bread crumbs and parmesan.
Dip chicken in the beaten egg, then dredge in bread crumb/parmesan mixture.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until done. Will depend on the thickness of your chicken.
Orzo & Rice Pilaf
2 T. butter
1/4 c. orzo
1 very small white onion, minced
3/4 c. white rice
1 can chicken broth
1/8 tsp. black pepper, or to taste
In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter. Add orzo & cook, stirring occasionally until orzo is browned. Add onion & cook until onion is soft. About 5 minutes.
Add rice & pepper, stirring to coat. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Rice should be soft and fluffy.
Enjoy!
Cookies for Garrus & Tali
Because my sweet Garrus has issues with his food, I try to make treats for my puppies. They love these biscuits! All of the ingredients are good for dogs and the pumpkin is great for their tummies! I store mine in the freezer because these biscuits tend to mold quickly – no preservatives!! Garrus & Tali don’t mind at all that their treats are frozen!
I hope your dogs will love them as much as mine do!
Treats for My Puppies
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
4 tablespoons dry milk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 cups brown rice flour
2 teaspoon dried parsley
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin. Stir in dry milk, sea salt, and dried parsley. Add brown rice flour gradually, combining with spatula or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. Turn out onto floured surface and if dough is still rough, briefly knead and press to combine. This dough is very sticky, so you will need to keep flouring your surface and rolling pin.
Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ and cut out with a cute cookie cutter. I use a bone. Place shapes on cookie sheet, no greasing or paper necessary. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Enjoy!
My French Rolling Pin
I LOVE my French rolling pin. For years I used my Grandma Grace’s rolling pin, that she gave me. It was the rolling pin she & I used to roll cookies when I was a little girl. While her rolling pin holds so many sweet memories, my French rolling pin is “the bomb!” It makes rolling cookies, bread dough and everything so much easier. If you have never tried one, I encourage you to get one. You will love it.
My grandma’s rolling pin and her recipe box with recipes in her handwriting. These things are two of the most precious items I have.
Spooky Halloween Cookies
I love decorating sugar cookies for all seasons. Here are a couple of my go to cookies for Halloween. See my Fruit Pizza Cookies for my go to sugar cookie recipe. It is tried, true and delicious! Easy to make and won’t crumble when packed and transported. It took me awhile to perfect this recipe, but numerous incidents with crumbled cookies, this seems to work.
I love this royal icing recipe!
ROYAL ICING
1/2 cup meringue powder
2 lbs powdered sugar
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 c. water
Beat meringue powder with water to soft peaks. DO NOT OVERBEAT!! Add powdered sugar and lemon juice. Beat on high until shiny. Use paste food coloring to tint.
Making spider web cookies is so simple.
Start with a base coat of white.
Use black icing and make a spiral starting in the center. I use a #2 piping tip.
While the icing is still wet, use a toothpick, starting in the center drag the toothpick out to each point. This creates the spider web effect.
Seriously, so easy peasy!!! I added a fun purple spider to my cookies!
I also made this fun spooky faces. Beware!!! Eating these cookies will make your teeth turn black – eeeek!!
ENJOY!!
Mini Fruit Pizzas
I love entertaining! When my girlfriends come over I pull out my Great Aunt Marie’s violet china luncheon plates and my silver dessert forks. I love using white linen napkins and my great grandmother Hilliard’s crystal water goblets. It is so much fun to pamper my friends.
I had a small gathering at my house this weeks and I made these cute dessert pizzas. My guests assembled them to their taste.
Making them is as easy as making sugar cookies, cream cheese frosting and cutting up fruit. Then displaying everything on pretty dishes.
This recipe is great for sugar cookies that hold their shape during baking and hold up after being decorated. My favorite sugar cookie recipe tastes better, but crumbles easily when decorated 🙁
COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamed and smooth – about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes.
2. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and beat on high until fully combined, about 2 minutes.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Turn the mixer down to low and add about half of the flour mixture, beating until just barely combined. Add the rest of the flour and continue mixing until just combined.
4. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Don’t skip this step. Chill up to 2 days.
5. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut in shapes.
6. Bake for 9 – 10 minutes. Do not over bake. Makes 36 3″ round cookies.
Unfrosted cookies freeze well, you can also freeze the uncooked cookies dough.
FROSTING:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 heaving whipping cream
4 tsp. vanilla
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar.
Beat the cream cheese, cream and vanilla together. Add powdered sugar and beat until creamy.
