MEIER & FRANK BEER ROLLS

I was inspired by Em at Sugar Plum Sweets when she made her beer buttermilk biscuits. I have had this recipe in my 'to try' files for years. I've made beer bread lots in the past but never thought of making it into rolls. This recipe calls for a beer that I had not seen before. My son brews his own beer and I was thinking I could use some of his home brew, but he gave me this beer to use and I think it worked well. In the past I could always taste the beer in the bread, this is very subtle. I tried to do some research on what Meier & Frank was and it points to a department store in Portland, Oregon that was kind of a precursor to Macy's. Apparently there was a restaurant there called the Georgian Room that served these rolls. I think they would be a nice addition to any meal and they go together really quickly and are easy.

MEIER & FRANK BEER ROLLS

1 12-ounce bottle hefeweizen beer
1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 tablespoons granulated sugar (I only used 3)
3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups self-rising flour
Melted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the beer, oil, and sugar. Add 3 1/4 cups flour and stir until just combined. If the mixture is too wet, add an additional 1/4 cup flour and just barely mix in. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and knead 4 or 5 times. Pat or roll the dough 3/4 inch. Cut rolls with a 3-inch biscuit cutter and arrange the rolls in the greased pan. Reroll and recut dough scraps as necessary. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Makes 12 rolls.

Pecan Pralines

It's not often that Paula Deen lets a guest come into her kitchen. On a recent episode she had "The Candy Man", Stan Strickland of Savannah's Candy Kitchen on and he made his pecan pralines. I happened to have the ingredients so I gave them a try. I've made pralines before and sometimes they turn out, and sometimes not. This recipe was easy and worked like a charm. These pralines are not gritty like some. I didn't quite let them cool down enough before I spooned them onto the paper, so they spread a little too much. Next time I will wait until they are a bit more 'cloudy' before I spoon them out. One of my 'taste testers' said it was better than a praline she ate in New Orleans, so I think that was a good compliment.

PECAN PRALINES

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup half-and-half
1/3 stick butter
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole pecans (I used large pieces)

Combine all ingredients except the pecans in a heavy saucepan. Over medium heat stir mixture until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-low and continue to stir. Spoon mixture up on sides of pan to melt any sugar that hasn't melted. Cook until mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees) on a candy thermometer. Stir in the pecans. Remove from heat. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken and becomes creamy and cloudy. Drop onto parchment paper, or buttered pan using a spoon or ice cream scoop. Let cool.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Probably because I love hearts. I am taking treats to the office (wellness will have to be held for one day).

The mini-cheesecakes are a nice little treat and you can jazz them up any way you like. The brownies are from a recipe I tried a few years ago when we had a brownie bake-off at our company picnic. I didn't win, but I think they are a great brownie.

MINI-CHEESECAKES

2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Vanilla wafers
Cherry pie filling (or topping of your choice)

In a bowl mix cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with mixer until smooth. Place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of a cupcake liner. Spoon filling into liners, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes. Chill. Garnish with pie filling. Recipe said it made 12, but I got 16 out of this recipe.

ULTIMATE BROWNIES

8 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter
5 eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups toasted chopped pecans

In a saucepan on low heat, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool. In a bowl mix eggs, sugar, and vanilla on high for 10 minutes. Mixture will be light and creamy. Slowly add chocolate and butter to egg mixture. Blend in flour. Do not over mix. Add pecans. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. I baked these in individual heart pans that had been sprayed with Pam at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cappuccino Cheesecake Bars

Boring Sunday. Looking through old recipe files and came across this recipe. I'm going to have to find a homeless shelter or someone to bake for!

CAPPUCCINO CHEESECAKE SQUARES

Crust:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Filling:
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 tablespoon Kahlua or brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Line 13x9 pan with foil. Crust: Beat butter and powdered sugar until blended with mixer on low speed. Gradually add flour. Press into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 until light golden brown (don't overcook!)

Filling: Combine instant coffee & Kahlua or brewed coffee in a bowl, stir and let sit 5 minutes to dissolve. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. Take 1 1/2 cups of batter and stir into coffee mixture. Spoon plain filling onto crust. Top with coffee batter. Run a knife through to marbleize. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until puffed around the edges firm in the middle. Cool on wire rack (in the pan) and then cover & chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is better). Remove from pan by lifting foil ends. Cut into squares.

Tag and Tag Again

I've been tagged twice now with memes that are generally the same, one by Val at More than Burnt Toast and one by Emiline at Sugar Plum who told me I had no excuses. My biggest excuse is that my life is pretty much an open book and quite boring and there is not much that people don't know about me (well, there was that one time...........). So here is a feeble attempt at completing the meme task.

1. I was born on President Lyndon Baynes Johnson's birthday (not the same year!) He was from Texas (like me)

2. When I was 14 I had my gallbladder removed. At the time I was one of the youngest people to have it done. Oddly, it was on the same day as Lyndon Baynes Johnson had his gallbladder removed.

3. I went to New York City with a friend once and we got a $40.00 ticket for parking in front of Macy's. (The sign said 'no STANDING' -- who knew that meant parking???) In thinking back, I realize why would one be able to just pull up in front of Macy's in Manhattan and park anyway?

4. The first recipe I ever baked on my own was for Texas Sheet Cake. I have to wonder if this same recipe is called Arkansas Sheet Cake or whatever other state a person lives in?

5. And lastly, if you haven't dozed off just yet. Zzzzzzz.....sorry, I dozed off myself. I have upon occasion broken chain letters, so I will end this meme with saying that most all of the blogs in my circle of reading have been tagged, so I will just stop here.

Thanks ladies, for including me. The blog world really puts you in touch with some fascinating people that is for sure.

Cheese Ball

My grandson turned 2 last week. Gosh, where does the time go, seems we were just celebrating his arrival into the world! We had a family party on Saturday. This is a quick and easy recipe if ever you need something to take to a party.

CHEESE BALL

2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
2 green onions diced real fine, tops and all
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix
Dried parsley
Crushed pecans

Mix the softened cream cheese and all other ingredients until well incorporated. Roll in pecans to make a ball (can also make a loaf or log if you choose). Chill until firm. Serve with crackers. I've also made this with chopped black olives or bacon bits mixed in. You can also use dill if you like. Use your imagination for whatever things you like. It's a good base for a cheese ball.

Pineapple Angel Food Cake

This is an old Weight Watchers recipe that has only 2 ingredients. I served it with some Light Cool Whip.

PINEAPPLE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

1 box Pillsbury Angel Food cake mix

1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice

Mix cake mix with pineapple (do not drain). Mix with a mixer until smooth. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Can also make cupcakes.

Healthy Pot Luck

At the beginning of the year we began a wellness initiative at work. Each facility is doing their own thing with a wellness coordinator to help us along. We are lucky to have our wellness coordinator be a young lady who has lost 30 pounds recently. She puts out a wellness newsletter each week. We started bringing healthy snacks and fruit in order to stay away from the vending machine. Also, when our schedules allow we have been doing a 7 minute workout in the mornings and afternoons. It doesn't sound like much but it really is quite a focused muscle on muscle toning DVD we do. Once a month we are going to have a pot luck of healthy foods and sit at lunch time and discuss different options of staying healthy. This week was our first pot luck and brought this salad. I also brought a recipe for a pineapple angel food cake that is an old Weight Watchers recipe.



BROCCOLI SALAD

There are many, many recipes for this salad with variations being sunflower seeds, raisins, green onions, bacon, and even cheese. In an effort to make it healthy, this is my version.


2 heads broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 of a small purple onion sliced thinly
1 cup thawed frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 to 1 cup Craisins


Dressing:
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup Ken's Steakhouse Light Raspberry/Walnut Vinaigrette



Mix broccoli with peas and onions. Blend dressing together. Pour over and mix. Add Craisins and almonds.

Chili Weather Finally

I don't know why I think it needs to be cold to make chili, it just seems to go better with cold weather. We finally had some cold, rainy weather today so I took advantage and made chili. Everyone makes their chili different ways and serve it with different things too. Wick Fowler won the cook-off in the renowned chili cook-off in Terlingua, Texas back in the 60's. His chili mix comes in 'False Alarm', 1-alarm, 2-alarm, and even 3-alarm, getting hotter and hotter which each version. I think his seasoning mix makes the best chili by far.

CHILI MY WAY
1 pound ground meat
1/2 onion chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package Wick Fowler's Texas-Style 1-Alarm Chili Seasoning Mix
1 can Ro-Tel original tomatoes and diced chilies
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 small can tomato sauce
1 can water
1 can pinto beans (optional)

Place meat in a dutch oven and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook meat with onion until crumbly and no longer pink. Drain off fat. Add fire-roasted tomatoes and smash with a potato masher to get tomatoes crushed. Add Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies and mash until crushed. Add chili seasoning packet. Simmer on low for about an hour. Serve with rice or cornbread or Frito's or flour tortillas. Can add cheese or sour cream to your liking.

What is a MeMe?

I've seen MeMe's on blogs before and thought them very interesting. I thought they stood for 'Me Me -- I'll talk about Me here'. So I looked up the definition and came across this:

Meme (pron. meem): A contagious information pattern that replicates by parasitically infecting human minds and altering their behavior, causing them to propagate the pattern. (Term coined by Dawkins, by analogy with "gene".) Individual slogans, catch-phrases, melodies, icons, inventions, and fashions are typical memes. An idea or information pattern is not a meme until it causes someone to replicate it, to repeat it to someone else. All transmitted knowledge is memetic.

While I don't think I like the word parasitically infecting, it's a fun thing to do. I was tagged by Carla at Chocolate Moosey. I don't live the biggest life, so it might be a bit boring, but here is my MeMe.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago my son was away at college at the University of Texas at Austin and I was trying to figure out what to do with my spare time. I took a distance learning course in Medical Transcription. It certainly kept me busy and turned into a nice little job at home.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Just a little over a year ago I decided to go back to my job that I 'retired' from for a few years. I had taken a little 'side journey' in life out to California. When I got back to Texas I found that I missed my 'family' and they welcomed me back.

Five snacks you enjoy?
Fruit, nuts, cereal, yogurt, popcorn.

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to?
We have laws in my area that prohibit me from singing!

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire.
I would make sure everyone who is close to me was out of debt. I'd buy a house in a climate that is COOL and away from hurricanes. I'd take all my close friends and family on a cruise. I'd make sure my grandson had a college education paid for. I'd stock the local food pantry with lots and lots of goodies.

Five bad habits
1. Too much artificial sweetener. I think I am going to glow in the dark someday from too many diet sodas and 'pink and blue' stuff.
2. Forgetting to have my cell phone where I can hear it ring.
3. Not recycling enough.
4. Eating too many carbs.
5. Not taking my hanging clothes from the laundry room to the closet.

Five things you like doing
1. Baking
2. Travel
3. Reading
4. Computer time.
5. Watching television.

Five things you would never wear again
1. Polyester (do they even make the stuff anymore?)
2. I guess the blue eye shadow and blue mascara are definitely things of the past.
3. Artificial nails -- too hard to maintain and get in the way of typing.
4. Anything lime green.
5. Long, dangly earrings.

Five favorite toys
1. Computer
2. DVD
3. Digital camera
4. My new Honda
5. My new oven

Now I am tagging Emiline

New York Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping

It's birthday week at work, we have 3 of them to celebrate. This is my offering. I like this style of cheesecake because it is not quite as creamy but dense. Even though I know all the tricks of a water bath, cooling it slowly, not mixing the eggs too much, this cheesecake always cracks on me, so I have to cover it up with a topping.

NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE
Crust:
1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 stick melted butter
(I added some finely chopped pecans)

Mix together and press into a 9 inch springform pan that has been buttered. Set aside.

Filling:
4 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened at room temperature, beat until creamy
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, add slowly while mixing cream cheese
Add 1 tablespoon vanilla
Add 4 eggs one at a time while still mixing
Add 1 cup sour cream
Add 1/2 cup milk and while mixing that in add 4 tablespoons flour one at a time.

Pour into crust. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes and then reduce oven to 370 (do not open door). Bake for one hour. Remove and cool to room temperature. Add 1 can pie filling or fruit of your choice. Refrigerate overnight.

Crisp Oatmeal Cookies

Yesterday was New Employee Orientation at work. The new employees come around for a facility tour. On their stop by our office we had some goodies for them. A good opportunity to bake some cookies. The left over cookies were eaten by our staff after some 'encouragement'. This basic recipe was enhanced by some more cleaning out the pantry with some left over mini-chocolate chips. I also only had the quick cooking oatmeal instead of old-fashioned rolled oats. I think the rolled oats makes the cookies a bit more crisp, but I think they didn't suffer much and were all gone at the end of the day.

CRISP OATMEAL COOKIES
1 cup butter softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups rolled oats (again, I used quick cooking oatmeal and the cookies were not quite as crisp)
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)

Cream butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and add. Add coconut, nuts, and chocolate chips. Roll or drop onto baking sheet and flatten with your fingertips. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes.

Quick Cheddar Bread

I've always been yeast challenged when baking bread. I even took a bread baking class once but it wasn't 'hands-on' enough for me to really learn. I am going to challenge myself this year to try some yeast breads, but in the mean time here is a recipe that I've had in my files to try that doesn't require yeast. It calls for baking in a 9 inch loaf pan, but I think it might be better to try a smaller one so it's not so 'short'. In either case, it has a nice consistency.

QUICK CHEDDAR BREAD

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 finely diced green onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9" loaf pan. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in the cheese, onion, garlic, and parsley; mix well. Combine the milk and egg; pour into the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Turn into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the loaf shrinks slightly away from the sides of the pan. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Cleaning Out the Pantry

I was cleaning out the pantry in anticipation of the new year and better eating with the holiday behind me. I kind of threw these little tarts together.

APPLE/CRANBERRY TARTS

I had some frozen tart shells in the freezer and I took them out and baked them for just a few minutes at 375 -- about 5 minutes -- not quite done. In a saucepan I took 1 apple that I peeled and cut into small pieces. I added about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Craisins, 2 tablespoons butter, about 1/2 cup of apple juice, and about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. I added about 1/4 cup of chopped pecans and heck I even through in a little bit of coconut. I simmered that on the stove top until the apples were just tender. I put the mixture into the partially cooked tart shells and then baked them another 5 minutes or so until golden brown. That helped with a little bit of getting the pantry back in order.

Christmas Breakfast Casserole

I always make a breakfast casserole on Christmas Eve so that it can be popped in the oven on Christmas morning while opening presents. I usually make one that you use bread in, but this year tried a new one that uses frozen hashbrowns, I think we like it better than the bread one.

CHRISTMAS CASSEROLE

8 frozen hashbrown patties (or you could use a package of shredded ones I think)
1 pound bulk sausage
2-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
10 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the sausage until it crumbles. Drain and set aside. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with Pam and lay the 8 frozen hashbrown patties down. Sprinkle with 2 cups cheddar cheese. Add the crumbled sausage. In a bowl whisk eggs with milk, add salt and pepper. Pour over sausage. Cover with foil and place in the fridge overnight. The next morning bake the casserole covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Remove the foil and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Cut into squares.