Recipes

Vanilla

Homemade vanilla is so easy and so delicious.  Once I discovered how easy it is to make your own vanilla I won’t use anything else.  The one thing to keep in mind is that it takes three (3) months to brew.  I try to make a new batch as soon as the previous one is done brewing.  That way I never run out!

Ingredients for Vanilla Extract, Titos vodka, natural vanilla beans
Ingredients for Vanilla Extract

Here are the ingredients:

2 cups vodka – I use Tito’s – it is my absolute favorite vodka for all purposes.
24 Madagascar Vanilla Beans

Pour vodka in a Ball jar.  Slice the vanilla beans down the center and scrape out the caviar.  Put the caviar and the remainder of the bean in the Ball jar.  This process is a tad tedious, but so worth it!

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Once you have finished, seal the Ball jar and shake.  Put in your cupboard and shake once a week.

In three months pour the brewed vanilla through a coffee filter and store in an air tight container.

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After three months your vanilla will turn into this beautiful, rich liquid.  It smells heavenly and adds great depth to your recipes.  Once you make this, you will be like me, it will be the only vanilla you will use.

ENJOY!!

Dinner for Garrus

My sweet Garrus has epilepsy.  We have been working for two years to get his meds figured out.  In August, he had horrific cluster seizures.  They were very scary and he had to be pheno loaded.  It took him over three weeks to recover.  He couldn’t walk during that time and had to be carried up and downstairs.  We almost lost him.  Fortunately by adjusting his meds he was able to rebound and is currently doing incredibly well.  He is peppy, getting into trouble, and chasing his ball.  In looking back at his seizures, it seems as though food, or something he has gotten into, has been a trigger.  I started researching homemade dog food and pieced together this recipe.  It is all good, healthy food.  It freezes well and will last for most dogs two weeks.

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Ingredients:

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2 lbs ground chicken
1 1/2 cups brown rice
1 (15 oz.) can low sodium red kidney beans, drained
1 1/2 cups butternut squash
1 1/2 cups carrots
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups frozen green beans
4 cups water

I put everything in a 6-quart crock pot

and cook on low for 6 hours.  Be sure to stir it several times during the cooking process.

Cool and refrigerate or freeze.

This recipe is Garrus approved!!

 

Deb’s Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

 

I am known for my cinnamon rolls. The boys who hang at my house constantly request that I make cinnamon rolls.  Each year on Easter I bring these to church for the parking crew.  Over the years I have been asked many times to share my recipe, but I have been a tad selfish with it.  I’ve decided it’s time to play nice and share!

 

DOUGH:

Ingredients for Deb's Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients for Deb’s Cinnamon Rolls
  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 ¼ tsp salt
  • 7 ½ tsp active dry yeast
  • ½ cup warm water
  • 5 large eggs
  • 9 cups all-purpose flour

 

Heat the butter, milk, ¾ cup sugar and salt in a small saucepan until the butter is melted.  Don’t let the mixture get too hot.  Set aside to cool.  In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over warm water, add the remaining 2 tsp. sugar, stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes until bubbly.  Add the cooled milk mixture, the eggs and mix until combined.  Add the flour one cup at a time until it forms a stiff dough.  Knead by hand or with the dough hook on your mixer until the dough is satiny.  Butter a large bowl to put the dough in.  Turn the dough in the bowl until all sides are buttery.  Cover the bowl with a dish towel or plastic and let sit for an hour until the dough has doubled.  Punch down the dough and roll out into a 24” X 36” square.  (My boys make fun of me because I use tape to mark of the dimensions!)

Before, Unrisen dough
Before, Unrisen dough

 

After, Risen Dough
After, Risen Dough

 

Rolled Dough, Ready for cinnamon!
Rolled Dough, Ready for cinnamon!

 

FILLING:

  • 4 cups firmly packed brown sugar (I like dark brown sugar)
  • 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter
  • 3 T. ground cinnamon (I love high quality Saigon Cinnamon)
Ingredients for Cinnamon Sugar
Ingredients for Cinnamon Sugar

 

Rub, Pat entire rolled out dough surface with cinnamon sugar
Rub, Pat entire rolled out dough surface with cinnamon sugar
Roll dough/cinnamon sugar into tube
Roll dough/cinnamon sugar into tube

 

Sliced cinnamon rolls into baking dish
Sliced cinnamon rolls into baking dish

Butter two 9 X 13 baking dishes.  Beat the brown sugar, butter and Saigon Cinnamon

together until well combined. Evenly spread the filling over the dough.  I use my hands to get it over the entire surface of the dough.  Roll the dough lengthwise and cut in 2 inch sections.  Makes 12 large rolls.  Place 6 rolls in each buttered dish.  Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic and let rise for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for 20 – 30 minutes, until lightly browned.

After baking, spoon icing over each cinnamon roll
After baking, spoon icing over each cinnamon roll

 

ICING:

  • ½ pound cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ cup whipping cream, may need more to thin
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract – (I make my own and will be sharing my recipe)
  • 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
Ingredients for Cinnamon Roll Icing
Ingredients for Cinnamon Roll Icing

Beat the cream cheese, whipping cream and vanilla together until well combined.  Add the powdered sugar until creamy, you do not want stiff icing.  Ice the rolls and serve while warm.

Ice the rolls and serve while warm
Ice the rolls and serve while warm

 These are so big that sometimes I cut them into fourths!

Yummm! You can eat only a quarter of each cinnamon roll
Yummm! You can eat only a quarter of each cinnamon roll

ENJOY!!

Mom’s Monster Cookies

These are my “go to” cookies.  They are so easy to make, I don’t even have to haul out the KitchenAid and you can customize them to your taste or what you have in your cupboard!  The boys who hang out here have never had any complaints!

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 beaten eggs
3 cups flour
2 cups chips (anything you have – I like Snicker bits, Heath bits & chocolate chunks)
2 cups chopped nuts (again, it is anything you prefer)

Melt the butter. When the butter has cooled a bit, mix in the white sugar and the brown sugar.  Add vanilla, baking soda, and salt.  Add the eggs and stir.  Stir in the flour then add the chips and nuts.

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Drop onto a greased cookie sheets – I prefer using a Silpat mat!  Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes.  Don’t over bake.  Let cool then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

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Makes about four (4) dozen cookies.

ENJOY!!  These boys did!!

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Gran’s Pickles

 

My parents grew up in a wonderful town in the High Sierra mountains, Bishop.  I spent many summers in Bishop and have such precious memories of those days; climbing the tree in my Gran and Papa’s front yard, playing in the yard at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house and swimming at Keough’s Hot Springs.  One of my favorite things about Bishop is Mt. Tom!  Bishop has my heart like no other place.

These sweet pickles have such great memories for me.  My Gran always had these in her fridge.  They take nine (9) days to make, but are worth the time and effort.

Start with 14 cucumbers.  Place them in a large bowl.  Cover with boiling water and let stand for 24 hours. Repeat this process for five (5) days.  On day six (6) cut the cucumbers into pickle sized pieces, this is a personal preference.  Return the cucumbers to the bowl.

In a large saucepan boil the following ingredients:

8 c. sugar
2 T. pickling spices
2 T. kosher salt
4 c. apple cider vinegar

Boil these ingredients for 5 minutes being very careful not to let boil over – trust me on this!!

Pour hot liquid over cucumbers.

Let stand for 24 hours then drain off the syrup into a saucepan.  Bring the syrup back to a boil and let boil for five (5) minutes.  Pour the hot syrup back over the cucumbers, almost pickles!  On day nine (9) of the process, pour the syrup into a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Turn down to simmer and add the cucumbers, heat until the cucumbers are warm.

Pack the pickles into jars and top with hot syrup.  I submerge the jars in boiling water to make sure that they are sealed.

ENJOY!!