Christmas GNO

Lora showed us how to make these very cute Christmas cards. We used her stamps and enjoyed picking from the many little Christmas options the perfect stamp for each present. The cards turned out great!

For little Christmas gifts we made these "to do list" magnet cards. Everyone's ended up so different and fun. We all enjoyed sitting and talking all night as we worked on these projects and enjoyed all the yummy food that people brought. It definately felt like the holidays sitting with a group of friends and forgetting all our worries.

Katie's Ham and Potato Soup

Emily's Asian Salad

Oriental Chicken salad
1 head of cabbage and 1 head of lettuce or 1/2 and 1/2 shred
1 box sesame seeds
1 pkg slivered almonds
2 pkg top ramen soup-chicken or sesame
8 green onions-sliced
3 chicken breasts-cooked and diced

Amanda's Rolls

Grandma Ellis Rolls
Let 1 cup milk warm to room temperature
Add:
1 Tbsp Yeast (1 envelope)
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 egg
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp salt
Mix together and then add flour little by little until your mixer doesn't want to mix it any more. (You should add around 3 cups depending on how dry your flour is)
Knead until do in not totally sticky anymore (my grandma says that this is about 100 good "kneads")
Let dough raise to double size.Roll dough out about 3/8 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut into circles. Place rolls on cookie sheet w/ greased syran wrap on top (to keep them moist)Let them raise to double size.
Bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes.
You can put the scraps of dough in a bowl and save for another day or roll them out again for more rolls).

Raenie's Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Bake your favorite chocolate cake. I just used a milk chocolate cake mix. Frost it with chocolate frosting. Again, I went the easy way and used store bought chocolate frosting. Cut the cake. Place each serving on a dessert plate and drizzle raspberry sauce over the top...be generous.

Raspberry Sauce
1/3 cup water
3 tbl sugar
2 tbl flour
1 package frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
Mix all into saucepan. Cook on med. heat, stir continuously until thick and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Strain sauce through sieve.

Whole Wheat Bread (Lora)

2 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil + extra for kneading and rising
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1-2 eggs
7 cups flour, about 4 cups whole wheat and 3 cups bread flour

(Makes about 3 loaves of bread)

Combine water, yeast, sugar and whisk. Add the oil and eggs and whisk thoroughly. Add the wheat flour in 1-cup portions, whisking/stirring to ensure all the flour is well combined with the wet ingredients before adding the next portion. Add the bread flour and salt, whisk. Continue adding flour until it is too difficult to combine with a whisk.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and gently knead until dough comes together, adding more flour each time the dough gets sticky to handle. After the dough is well combined, switch to oil on the counter-top and continue kneading, about 10 minutes.

Oil the mixing bowl up the sides then work the dough into a tight ball and place back in the bowl. Rub the top of the dough with a little oil, cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm dark place to rise, about one hour, till doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and form into loaves or rolls, etc, and let rise another hour.

For Loaves: Bake 350, for 30 minutes until brown and it sounds hollow

For Rolls: Bake 375 for about 20 minutes

For Scones: heat oil to 350 and fry on both sides.


Tips:
If you think you’re working in too much flour but the dough still needs to be kneaded, don’t flour your counter tops – just pour a little oil on the counter and continue kneading.
Bake your bread so that the top of it is in the middle of the oven
Add the whole wheat flour before the white flour, since whole wheat absorbs more water.
For rolls, add a little extra yeast to give them extra fluffiness.
Do not add salt until after all the wet ingredients and ½ of the flour are thoroughly combined. Salt kills yeast and the other ingredients provide a buffer.
You can make the bread without eggs, but it will go stale faster. Eggs, powdered milk and lemon juice are all dough conditioners and allow the baked bread to stay fresh and soft longer. For this recipe, you could add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and/or ¼ cup powdered milk.
If you grind your own wheat, do it just before adding to the dough. The warmth from grinding helps the dough rise.

Our Favorites

At our last GNO we decided that with Thanksgiving and holiday parties coming up we would share our favorite side dishes and fall-time desserts. We didn't even think about taking pictures so I stole some from google images! Here are our delicious, and I mean de-lic-ious recipes.

Cornbread Stuffing

1 9x13 pan of cornbread

1 medium onion, chopped

5-6 stalks celery, chopped

1 lb. regular sausage (I recommend Jimmy Dean, NOT Italian style)

fresh rosemary and either thyme or sage, maybe 1-2 tbl worth, chopped

1-2 cups chicken stock

1. The night before, make the cornbread.  Let it set out, uncovered so it dries out.

2. The day of, chop the onion and celery.  Saute in a little butter till tender.  Remove from pan.

3. Saute sausage until browned.

4. Break up the cornbread to bite-sized pieces combine with the veggies and sausage.

5. Add the chopped fresh herbs.

6. Put everything back in the 9x13 pan and pour the chicken stock over the top.  1 cup for less-moist and 2 cups for more moist, however you like.

7. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy! 

From Lora Jones

Pumpkin Roll (Katie's and Amanda's)

Broccoli Salad

Chop and place in a large bowl

1 bunch broccoli crowns
1/4 pkg. green onion
1 8oz can water chestnuts
10 slices cooked bacon
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Mix and put on salad

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

Roasted Green Beans With Peppers & Onion

When I made this I totally forgot to add the cheese to the top...now I 'm bummed because I know it would have been even that much better. This such a fast and easy side dish recipe.

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 53 min
Makes: 6 servings, about 1 cup each

What You Need:
1 lb. whole frozen or fresh green beans, ends trimmed
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
1 large onion, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Make It:
PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Toss vegetables with dressing in large roasting pan.
BAKE 30 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring after 15 min.
SPRINKLE with cheese. Bake an additional 2 to 3 min. or until cheese is melted.

Making Flowers!

Raenie taught us how to make these really cool tissue paper flowers. Thanks Raenie!!
The food was great and it was really good getting to know Emily and Amanda! We're so glad you moved here! We really missed you Lora! We will definitely make sure that the next GNO will work better with your schedule! Thanks everyone!

Oreo Truffles

Meatballs

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/4 cup original flavor BBQ sauce (not smoke flavor)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
20 frozen Italian style meatballs

Combine sauce ingredients and blend thoroughly. Bring to a boil, then add frozen or precooked meatballs and simmer until they are heated thoroughly.
Serve as an appetizer or over rice as a main dish.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Combine:
2/3 cup butter flavored shortening
2/3 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Mix till creamy

Add:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Mix Well

Stir in:
12 oz pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
Drop rounded dough on ungreased baking sheet & bake in pre-heated (375°) oven for 8-10 min.

Artichoke Dip

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 cup grated cheddar jack with jalepenos cheese
(I sometimes have a hard time finding this particular variety of cheese, in which case I use about a half cup of grated cheddar cheese and about a half cup of pepper jack with jalepenos.)
1 can diced green chiles
1 can artichoke hearts.

Dice Artichoke hearts. Mix all ingredients and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Serve with crackers, bread, veggies or whatever!!!

Chocolate Souffle

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 TBS cocoa powder
5 egg whites

In a saucepan, cook the butter and flour to form a sandy roux. In a separate pan, bring the milk and sugar to a boil, then add them to the roux. Cook until a smooth paste forms. Cool slightly, then whisk in the egg yolks. Add the melted chocolate and cocoa. Whip the egg whites to stiff, glossy peaks and immediately fold them into the base. Pour the mixture into buttered, sugared individual sized ramekins (about 1/2 inch from the top). Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes.

Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar (or fresh whipped cream).

Ice Cream Cupcakes

Before you decide to make these (which you totally should) make sure you give yourself 1-1/2 to 2 days to make them. But these little guys are really good!

Here's what you do:

Start with cupcakes. Some of mine were mini cupcakes in a tiny muffin pan, and I also made regular sized ones.

Make any sort of cupcake batter you like. I used a chocolate cake mix. Spray the muffin tins with nonstick spray. Fill the muffin tins only half as full as you normally would. For the mini muffin tins, this means using a little less than a teaspoon of batter. For the regular muffin tins, this means using about 1 Tablespoon of batter.

Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees F and check them after 8 minutes.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven, let cool in their tins for 15 minutes. Loosen the cupcakes by running a knife along the edges of the muffin cups. Make sure that none of the cupcakes stick to the pan, but keep the cupcakes in the cupcake pan, cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 3 hours, or overnight is best.

Remove the cupcakes from the freezer when you’re ready to use them. Ideally, you’d like to have 1/2-inch little cupcake bottoms.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer to let soften before filling cupcake tins. The picture shows chocolate mint, I used cookies and cream. Leave on the counter for 10 minutes or defrost in the microwave. When ice cream is softened, spoon and flatten ice cream on top of the cake while they are still in the muffin tins. It’s a little messy, but don’t worry about that. When all of the cakes are topped with ice cream, return to the freezer to harden. I left my ice cream cupcakes in the freezer over night, but give them at least 4 hours.

Be creative and top your cupcakes with anything you like. Whipped cream, chocolate ganache or caramel and then throw some sprinkles on top or some mini M&M's.

(by: Raenie)

Fruit Pizza

You can use any pizza crust you want, but for this one I used a simple sugar cookie recipe. For the spread, I used a cream cheese frosting. Then you simply top it with your favorite fruits.

Sugar Cookie/ Pizza crust:

3/4 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or lemon
3 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (don't level)

Mix the first four ingredients together, then sift and stir in the remaining ingredients. Chill the dough for at least one hour. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into desired shape then place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until slightly golden (for the pizza crust, you may want to reduce the temp. to 375 and bake for a little longer).

Temp. 400 Time 6-8 minutes Makes 4 dozen cookies or 1 large crust



Cream Cheese Frosting

1-8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temp.)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Blend the ingredients and spread on cooled pizza crust or cookies.

-Adrien Hintz

Fruit Pizza, Baking Bread, and Card Making

On June 28th we met at Lora's house and she taught us how to bake bread...which was so fun! We needed something for our sweet tooth though and so Adrien brought this fruit pizza and we all supplied a few of the fruit toppings.

Lora has been baking bread for a while now and with some help from a friend she has been able to master the art. She taught us some new tricks and processes that were so helpful. We all had a great time learning the "correct" way to bake bread.

While the bread was rising we made these super easy but really fun cards. Just print the stems and glue on the buttons...it's that easy. They turned out so adorable!

Apple Blossom 10K Race

6.2 miles...ahh yeah baby, we did it!

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 3/4-3 cups flour

Cream shortening, butter, and sugar. Add eggs and mix. Add everything else and mix. It shouldn't be too crumbly or too sticky. Roll balls in mixture of 2 tbs. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees for 7.5-8 minutes (depending on how soft you want them). Makes 3 dozen.

-Raenie Pratt

Welcome to girls night out!

For the past year Lora, Raenie, Katie and Adrien have been getting together once a month for girls night out. Everytime we talked about bringing recipes to share and it just never seemed to happen (at least not all of us). But now we can all share the recipes from the comfort of our own homes, without having to worry about remembering them for that special night. So start adding those recipes!