Winter Village- gingerbread Houses?

This was just a great shot of Natures Gingerbread House with icing on the roofs.
I have never seen anything like this. Now when I build a gingerbread house I can use this Natures model. All the house roofs were like this.

Now I thought is would be time for a Sticky bun recipe. Some how cinnamon and Hot cocoa are a must in this kind of weather. I use to make these in Germany when it snowed, they were always a hit. Everyone in the neighborhood knew,so when it snowed they would be asking, " Sticky buns Yet?"

Philadelphia Sticky Buns.
for the dough you will need;

1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup organic raw fine sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup Unsalted butter
1/4 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 egg
2 and 1/2 cups unsifted unbleached all purpose flour

For the Filling you will need;

Butter or Margarine
Light and Dark brown sugar
1/2 cups Pecans halves
1/2 cup raisins, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

Making the dough:
Put the yeast in the warm water(105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit). set aside.
In small sauce pan put in milk , heat until bubbles form around edges, remove for heat add sugar, salt and 1/4 cup butter, stirring until butter is melted. cool to 105 degrees F. use a thermometer to measure temp.
Add your yeast mixture to the cooled, 105 degree F, milk mixture, stir.
Add the egg and 2 cups of flour, beat with electric mixture until smooth and leaves the side of the bowl.
At the point I change to the Bread kneader Hook attachment and continue kneading for about 3 to 5 minutes on Low setting ( no.1), you can add the rest of the flour as needed, until it is smooth and blisters(pockets of air) appears.
Place into a light greased large bowl, set in a warm place(about 85 degrees F), free of drafts to rise. About 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until double in size.
Now to the sticky bun part:
Mix with a wooden spoon, 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup of light brown sugar together til creamy. spread on botton of a 9x9 inch baking pan, spinkle top with Pecans halves.
Back to the dough:
Once dough has risen, turn out onto Pastry cloth and roll into a 16x12 inch rectangle.
Spread with soft butter, at this point you can use "I can't believe it's not butter spread". However I like the butter, I only make this once a year so butter is okay. use about 1/4 cup for the softened butter/spread.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup dark Brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon.
Roll up jelly roll fashion, starting with the long 16" side. pinch to seal edge
Cut into 12 pieces; place cut side down into in 9x9 inch prepared pan.

cover and let rise in warm place(85 degrees F) for 1 to 11/2 hour until double in size

Bake in preheated 375 degrees F oven for 25 to 30 minutes til golden brown.
Invert on the platter and let stand for 1 minute; remove pan. Serve warm.

Oh those Aprons....

I started collecting aprons while in Germany. It just happen, people gave me aprons as gifts. Perhaps they thought I loved to cook, because I always wanted to know how the food was made.
A follower asked if I would post photos of my Apron collection,I speak about them often on other sites. For the next few months I will post some with information of how I received it. Hope you enjoy the memory lane and the aprons.

The first one I received from a friend who went to England. She thought of me and brought back this one of the Tube. That's what they called their underground subway system,according to Kathy. She knew I always wanted to go to London England. Rent a flat and eat at the pubs. Now I have a map of all the stops. Have had this one since 1985. Have study it well all these years and am now ready to go ride the Tube in London. I always remember Kathy when I wear it.

First stop will be.....
What do you think?

Click on photo to enlarge

Southern Pimiento Cheese Spread.

As a child I remember eating Pimiento spread Sandwiches. I really like them. About twice a year I get the yearning for them. You know the kind, on White bread with no Crust and cut into four pieces.It is easy to make, but taste like it took hours make. I make it much more healthier for today's lifestyle.

Southern Pimiento Cheese Spread.

1 (16oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
1 (8oz) package of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (4oz) jar diced Pimientos-Drained
1/4 cup sliced dill pickles
1 small garlic clove, sliced.
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil Mayo.

In a Processor put in first five ingredients, Process by pulsing on and off for about 10 seconds. Be sure not to puree, just mix until pickles and are no longer noticed .The ingredient will be dry.
Remove and transfer to bowl add Olive Oil Mayo and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving .
I like to make it the night before and refrigerate overnight. but of course sometimes I can not wait and make a sandwich right away.

Southern Almond Scones

Southern Almond Scones.

2 and1/2 cups of Cake flour (divided).
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup Raw fine sugar(divided).I use "Wholesome" Organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoon cold unsalted butter
1 egg,beaten
10 oz Buttermilk
8 oz can Pure Almond Paste, I use SOLO brand.
some melted butter
a pastry cloth.

Sift together 2 and 1/4 cup of cake flour with baking powder , sugar and salt.
Cut in Cold butter, until it resembles coarse meal.
make well in center, set aside

Mix together Egg, and buttermilk.
Pour into well and fold into flour. mix until wet ingredients are incorporated.

Prepare pastry cloth by spreading 2 tablespoon of cake flour on it. Turn out dough on to cloth.

This is how I knead it;
1. pat down dough
2 pick up cloth and fold dough over dough. then press down and turn cloth repeat two more times.
Doing it this way keep your hands from melting the butter.
Now to add the Paste;
Make 4 almond paste logs, each about 9 inches long. to do this just roll the paste til you make a long rope.
lay first almond paste log on the top of the dough. fold dough over it. and knead as in kneading section above.
Repeat with each Almond Paste log addition(3 more times).

After the last log addition, Add the rest of flour to pastry cloth and roll dough to make a 10x2x11/2 inch log.Wrap in wax paper and the plastic wrap . Place in refrigerator over night.
In the morning cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices and brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

copyright 2010 "AuntieE CookBook/M Dubros"

Friday Weekend Food Plan

The cupboard and refrigerator have spoken. The items I have are Chicken Breast, Fish, lunch meats, croissant rolls, spaghetti, corn, carrots and Brussels sprouts.
This Weekend menu will be an easy one. We will be going Snow tubing on Sunday so we will be eating at the ski area. I was thinking about packing some sandwiches and soup. Have a thermos and cooler, not that I would need the cooler the temps will be cold for sure.
Friday evening;
Chicken Dijon
Potato cakes
Corn
Apple cranberry Cobbler.

Saturday

Breakfast;
Homemade buttermilk biscuit
eggs
bacon
grape jelly
sparkling grape juice

Lunch;
German Ham and Cheese pockets.

Dinner;
Baked fish with lemon pepper
spaghetti with Alfredo sauce
Brussels sprout and carrots

Sunday:
Morning;
Almond scones (I will post this recipe next Tuesday)
Eggs or cereal for the family.

for the rest of the Snow day fun activities;(I will pack)
Turkey and ham sandwiches
Pretzel sticks
Savory chicken and Brown rice soup
Spiced Molasses cookies.
Water
Flavored sport drink packages, to get them hydrated during the snow activities.

Now I must make the cookies. Off to the kitchen to cook......

Weekend Kitchen Gadget-MovieTime

Every ones gathered around the big screen, Where's the Popcorn? This is a Popcorn maker Hubby got for Christmas. My family Loves popcorn, but you know how fattening the Microwave type can be. Not to mention all the chemicals in them. Even the healthier ones have some shelf preservatives in them! So, Popping your own can make sense. It can also save you money. The bagged popcorn kernels is a lot cheaper than the Microwave bags.

This is the Machine.....
What you do is....
Put a little vegetable or canola oil, about a teaspoon, in the well,
then put about 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels.
Plug it in.
In about 3 minutes you have healthier popcorn.

Now one can put their flavoring on the popcorn.
So you like butter, try putting some olive oil butter on it.
Now if you must have salt try Sea salt.
Now you have a healthier snack, preservative free.

The Popcorn machine is called EasyPop Popcorn maker by Cuisinart.
I have not received any compensation for Cuisinart, this is only my opinion on the product I bought myself.

Coffee Time- Meatloaf

It coffee time again, I'm having Black silk with french vanilla Creamer. Over the weekend I made Meatloaf. My daughter is not a fan of meatloaf, so I thought I would ask for your meatloaf recipes. Perhaps I could get her to look at them and fix one. this is how you enter your recipe, Link your recipe post to my MckLinky. Leave your name on "link title" , the name of the recipe in "your answer" and the recipe link in the "link URL". Think teenager You know how picky they are.

Thank you for the link. I will get my daughter to pick one and will blog how it went next week.
My Meatloaf recipe.

El-Paso Roadhouse Meatloaf

1.5 pounds of lean 93% ground beef
1.5 cups three cheese bread, processed in processor til crumbs.
1/4 cup 2 Olive Roasted Garlic salsa, I used "Desert Pepper Trading Co."
2 eggs, beaten.
put all together and mix, I use clean hands, it give a better mix.
put in to a 4x8x2 loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit over for 50 minutes.
let set about 5 minutes before serving.