Cranberry Salsa

My neighbor, Cliss, dropped by a neighborhood gift to us. We got a bag of chips and a container of something I couldn't identify. Upon opening the card I found a recipe for Cranberry Salsa. Thus discovering what was in the container. So we tried it and it is pretty tasty. Reminds me of a tangy Mango Salsa (I'm thinking of Costco here.) I think we are going to use it for Christmas Eve.

1 bag cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1-2 Tablespoons cilantro
1 medium sized jalapeno 3" (remove seeds)
2 Green onion with whites
juice of 1 lime

Blend.

That's it. Pretty simple. Matt had some major objections to the removal of the jalpeno seeds. (He didn't say anything about the onion interestingly enough.) But for sure he wanted it spicier. :)

Orange Rolls

I got these from my friend Heidi's food blog, Food Glorious Food. They are pretty tasty.

2 large oranges
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 TBSP yeast
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
5 cups flour

Frosting:
Juice from 1 orange
2 TBSP butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Put warm water in mixer and add the yeast. Add the zest from one of the orange rinds (I took Heidi's suggestion and zested both rinds. This turned out well.) and 1/4 cup of juice from the orange. Add eggs, sugar, salt, and flour. Knead well. Let stand 10 min. Knead again. Let rise for 2 hours. Make dough into ropes (from 6-8 inches long and 1/2 to 1 inch thick) and TIE INTO A KNOT. Let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden on top.

Mix frosting ingredients and brush onto warm rolls. (I like my frosting really gooey. I think I would do the frosting differently. I would making it thicker or brush more on after it is cooled down. But otherwise, these were a huge hit. Well, Ally didn't like them. But she's crazy.)

Dill Rolls

As long as I'm sitting here typing in recipes, I should put this one in. It's great on it's own or with hamburgers or sandwiches. This has to be to most requested roll recipe I have from my family. It's very tasty.

5 cups flour
4 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. minced onion
4 tsp. dill weed
2 1/2 tsp. salt scant (meaning not quite 2 1/2 tsp, slightly less)
1/2 tsp. soda
2 Tbsp. (Or packages) of yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups cottage cheese
2 Tbsp. butter
2/3 cup water
2 eggs

--Dissolve yeast in the first 1/2 cup warm water. Add the other ingredients. Mix well, using dough hook on mixer. Let rise until double in bulk. Knead and roll to about 1/2 or 2/3-inch, cut with a 2 1/2-inch cutter. Place on buttered cookie sheet, with at least 1 1/2 inches between rolls on all sides. Let rise 1 hour. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.

Note: Cu with a tuna fish can and use rolls for hamburger buns.

Mari's Dinner Rolls

I actually love eating baked goods. I just have one problem. I always have trouble baking because I hate allowing for rise time. I'm lame, I know. But I have been determined to make some baked goods, if for nothing else than to use up the mega pack of yeast I've had in my fridge FOREVER. I started with these. I made them to go with Ellee's Cheesy Potato Soup Recipe that is also on this blog. And they went together well. I enjoyed making these rolls.

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
5 cups flour

--Note: You can apparently shorten the rise time the second time to less than 10 minutes. I tried it and it was true. A shorter rise time didn't hurt anything.

--Dissolve yeast in water. Add all ingredients except flour and mix. Add 1/2 of the flour and beat until smooth. Add rest of flour until soften or cleans sides of bowl. Knead 5 minutes. Raise one hour, shape, put on greased pan and raise again (about 1/2 hour). Bake @ 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 dozen.

Low-Carb Breakfast Casserole

Another recipe from Jamie Duncan. This time it's her breakfast casserole.

• 12 large eggs
• 1/2-1 yellow onion
• 1 lb ground sausage or beef
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup diced ham
• Green Onions/Mushrooms (optional) (just to visible preference)
• salt and pepper to desired amount (1/2 t salt & just shook the pepper in..)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown your ground sausage, yellow onions, mushrooms in a saute pan.

Spray a 9x13 glass casserole dish with nonstick spray. Beat eggs and heavy cream together, add in browned sausage, diced ham, green onions and mushrooms(opt). Add 1-2 cups of cheese. Mix together well.

Pour mixture into casserole dish and cover the top with 1-2 cups of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for aprox. 20 -25 minutes. Check when mixture is set and glossy. Do not overcook.

Allow to cool slightly after cooking is complete. You can eat it now, or cut into squares and freeze or refrigerate for the week ahead. ENJOY!

Feel free to add anything else that suits your fancy, tomatoes, jalapenos, green chilis, garlic, etc.

I don't think you can mess this one up! It's really amazingly good!

German Apple Cake

Jamie Duncan posted this recipe on facebook. Looks delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups apples - peeled, cored and diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl; beat oil and eggs with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well.
3. Combine the flour salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Let cake cool on a wire rack. Once cake is cool serve with a dusting of confectioners' sugar or with a Cream Cheese Frosting.

Honey Pancake Puff

Kerri Stoddard made this for the ward breakfast. It was yummy. It was the best thing there!

3T butter or margarine

1 cup milk

6 eggs

3T honey

1 pkg. (3oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease the Deep Dish Baker with 1 tablespoon butter. Add remaining butter and place in oven until butter sizzles. While Deep Dish Baker is in oven, place remaining ingredients in blender. Blend at high speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides and blend at high speed 1 additional minute. Remove Deep Dish Baker from oven and immediately pour in batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and dark golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice if desired. Serve immediately with powdered sugar, syrup or fresh fruit. (I used some strawberry jam that didn't set well for the topping on mine today.)

Yield: 6-8 servings