Dinner rolls {the best ever}

Here is a recipe we used the other night - these rolls turned out AMAZING - perfect for Sunday dinner. The rolls were so good that I ate way too many. They were so good that wanted to share the recipe with you & everyone else who loves bread. 

BUTTERMILK & HONEY REFRIGERATOR ROLLS 

PREP TIME: 45 MINUTES, PLUS 1 1/2 HOURS RISING, PLUS OVERNIGHT IN THE REFRIGERATOR  // COOK TIME 20-25 MINUTES // MAKES: 18 ROLLS 

Recipe & image via Mary Janes Farm  magazine  ~ 

What you need: 

• 3 cups white flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour 
• 2 pkgs. active dry yeast 
• 1/2 cup warm water 
• 1/2 t sugar 
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 1/2 cup honey 
• 10 T butter, divided 
• 1 1/2 t salt 
• 2 eggs 

1. In large bowl, combine white & wheat flours; set aside. 

2. In another large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine yeast, warm water & sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until yeast is foamy. 

3. Meanwhile in a small saucepan, combine buttermilk, 8 T butter, honey & salt. Heat over low, stirring frequently, until the honey is dissolved & butter begins to melt; remove from heat. 

4. Test the milk to make sure it isn't too hot for the yeast— it shouldn't feel hot on the inside of your wrist. Pour the milk mixture into the yeast mixture; add eggs & about 2 cups of flour. Stir (or mix, using stand mixer) until combined. Slowly work in remaining flour. After all of the flour has been added, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. 

5. Form the dough into a ball & place it back into the large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is more then doubled in size. 

6. Test the rise; poke the bread with your finger - if the indentation stays, it is ready, if the dough bounces back, let it rise a little longer. 

7. Once the dough has risen, press it down completely. Melt remaining 2 T butter & lightly grease a cookie sheet. (Save the extra butter for brushing on top of the rolls.) 

8. Divide the dough into 18 pieces & shape each into a ball. Place rolls on cookie sheet 1/2 inch apart, brush butter on top, cover loosely with plastic & refrigerate overnight. 

9. An hour before serving remove from fridge, let them warm for about 30 min, preheat oven to 350'f  & bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Serve warm with butter. They melt in your mouth. Mmm.

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Enjoy & leave me a comment if you tried them!  I'd love to hear from you! 

The garden in August

         

                 Eggplants: here's how I like to cook them!  

Gardneing this year has been good, for the most part. Between thunderstorms & insainly strong wind, it has been very hot and dry. We've run the sprinklers regularly every night for the past 3 months. But I have actually been able to stay on top of things a bit more, then in years past. (Even then, there are many weeds.) It's been a constant battle: me vs. weeds.

Here's what growing this summer:
Eggplants, green beans, amazingly sweet corn, deliciously crunchy carrots, red onions, squash, zucchinis, watermelons, & several varieties of tomatoes & peppers. There are also lots of flowers in the garden & yard blooming.

My back is sore from all the beans I've been picking!
So far, I've picked over 70 pounds! We have canned 72 quarts of beans.
(There's still some beans out there...)
I had never canned anything before - but it's really not hard to do.
It's just an all-day-stay-by-the-stove process.
The kitchen gets hot. 

Here's another post from last year; it has my favorite recipe for green beans. Check it out! 

My garden.

What's for lunch?

From Haystack Mountain, it can be found at select Natural Grocer stores. My favorite kind of cheese in particular is called Bolder Chѐvre. Haystack Mountain is located in Colorado; its farm fresh & all natural.

It's crumbly, moist, & slightly bitter, but mild at the same time. This cheese adds an elegant note to a cheese palate, especially when paired with fresh or dried fruit. I eat mine crumbled on top of salads & pasta, or on burgers & sandwiches. I think it would taste good with a crisp white or sparkling wine.  But my favorite way to eat the cheese in on a piece of rich multi grain bread toasted with strawberries. Mmm..

~GB

Triple Layer Stout Cake

Ingredients: 2 cups stout beer (I used Guinness) ⦁ 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter ⦁
1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder ⦁ 4 cups all purpose unbleached flour ⦁
4 cups sugar ⦁ 1 Tbsp. baking soda ⦁ 1½ tsp. salt ⦁ 4 eggs ⦁ 1½ cups sour cream  

First: preheat oven to 350℉. Grease three 9x9 cake pans. Simmer butter in beer on
low heat, until butter is just melted. Add cocoa, & mix well.  Cool slightly. 

Beat eggs, vanilla  & sour cream. Then add melted butter mixture. In a separate bowl, mix all remaining dry goods, then slowly add dry ingredients to the wets. 

The batter was bubbling & fizzy. Tasted really good. ;)_  

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cakes cool on rack for about 20 minuets, or until completely cooled. 

I made chocolate icing. Ingredients: 9 Tbsp. butter, softened ⦁ ¾cup cocoa powder ⦁ 3 or 4 cups powdered sugar-(depending on how thick ya want your icing to be) ⦁ 6 tablespoons milk ⦁ 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ⦁ sift sugar & cocoa slowly into mixed wet goods. Beat well. You know the drill. 

It serves 16. The pieces are big & tall. Very rich, but not too sweet.
Could taste the beer in it. 

Zucchini-Carrott Bars:

Hi there! Here's an amazing recipe, taken from a fun cookbook called Fat Witch Brownies.
If you have a garden & are overrun with giant zucchinis - this recipe is for you!

Ingredients: 1¼ cups shredded carrots, boiling water,  1¼ shredded zucchini, 1 stick unsalted softened butter, 1 cup natural cane sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract, 1½ cups unbleached flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon. 

Preheat oven to 350℉ & heat up a small pot of water.  
When it's boiling, pour into a colander, over shredded carrots.
 Let everything sit for a while, to cook/tenderize the carrots. Drain well. 

Mix the shredded (& drained) zucchini throughly with all other ingredients. 
 I added ½ cup chopped walnuts,  a few raisons, & chocolate chips,  for good measure.  

Blend everything well; batter will be thickish. Pour into a greased 9 by 9 dish. 
(Sometimes my batter is thiner, but it doesn't make a difference when baking. )

Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in dish. Your house will smell like autumn, while it bakes.  Mhmm…  I whipped up a cream-cheese frosting & spread it over the cake, just before serving. It was really good, & turned the flat bread into more of a dessert. I like eating dessert for breakfast. Or really any time of the day.

Cream Cheese Frosting:  

☙ 4 oz. cream cheese,  room temperature
☙ 3 Tsb. unsalted butter,  room temperature
☙ 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
☙ 1¼ cups confectioner's sugar
☙ 1 tsp lemon zest (optional) Beat cream cheese & butter until smooth. Add vanilla,  sift sugar directly into the bowl, mix until smooth. Add zest. Spread on cool brownies or bars. Store in refrigerator. 

notes: When I make zucchini bread, I usually quadruple the recipe - the bread is so good that it all gets eaten quickly. It freezes great too.  

Taste the goodness.

 -GB

How to eat (oversized) Zucchini:

I enjoy cooking, & I love eating. Don't you? Food is just amazing. All the different smells & flavors. The gift of taste is such a blessing. God didn't have to give us taste buds, but He did. God likes us to enjoy the different textures & flavors He created.  Just imagine life without taste buds. It would be rather bland.  (haha) Making healthy decisions with what we consume is really important.  Whenever able, go organic & whole grain.  In a sense, we are what we eat. Mhmm… I could go on & on about FOOD.  It's just so awesome. A friend shared an idea with me for cooking zucchini, & I decided to try it. I've been getting monster-sized (10lbs) zucchinis from the garden all season long.  Having fresh food is fantastic, but you have to eat it up fast.

Here's the idea, it's for veggie pizza; it's fairly fast to make, tastes realllly good & different, & its low-carb since there isn't any bread crust. My "zucchini pizza" fed five, with two large pieces leftover. 

I sliced the zucchini in halves, & removed the seeds. I pan seared the 

zucchini in olive oil, garlic & pepper, for about 5 minutes on each side. 

Fried some bacon. 

Picked some sweat corn from my garden! (I wrapped in saran wrap, 
& cooked it in the microwave. Probably really unhealthy.)

Mozzarella, tomato sauce, bacon, sweet peppers, & fresh basil were the toppings
 I chose. Then I baked 'em at 375℉ for 15 minutes, or until the cheese was golden. 

Ta-da! Everything was quite satisfactory.  :)_

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" -Psalm 34:8 

Here is a link for zucchini carrot bread - my favorite way to use those oversized zucchinis. Check it out! :) 

How to eat Eggplant:

  

For supper tonight I fried freshly picked Eggplants. Dipped 'em in beaten egg, added a dash of pepper & battered them in panko breadcrumbs.  Once they were cooked, golden & crispy, I dunked them in finely grated parmesan cheese. 

DELICIOUS.

They melt in your mouth! 

pickin' veggies

This evening I picked 10lbs of green beans, a large spaghetti squash, 
HOT salsa peppers, sweet corn & a couple large zucchinis. 

Okay, so I had a little fun  editing this picture.  :)

These dry & dusty summer months have flown by too quickly! Oh dear, where has time gone? Can you believe it's September? My summer was filled with spice, adventure, family & friends. A beautiful summer haze, with memories that are golden… 

I planted a garden, but it sadly got neglected. As morning-glory infested as it is, I've gotten, (& am still getting), lots of produce from it. It's been such a blessing. Take the beans for instance: Ordered from Burpee Organics, a pack of bush bean seeds cost $3.95. That pack of seeds (with a little TLC, water, sunshine & hard work), so far has yielded 25lbs of plump & tasty beans!
 Here's my favorite homemade recipe for cookin' green beans:
Crunchy Vinegar Green Beans & Bacon ❧

■ A heaping pan full of washed & snapped green beans
■ One pack bacon; fried flat & crispy, chopped into large pieces
■ One medium red onion; thinly sliced, slightly sautéed in butter 
■ Apple cider vinegar 
■ Sugar, salt, pepper 

Set aside cooked bacon & sautéed onion. 
Add a little water to beans, cook until just tinder, or still slightly chewy, with lid on pan, stirring occasionally. Cooked al dente is best! 

Once the beans are tinder, add enough apple cider vinegar to cover the bottom of saucepan. Simmer on low for a bit, adding more vinegar if desired. Cook by smell. You want it to smell strong. 

Then add salt/pepper to taste & sprinkle sugar over beans. (Be generous with the sugar!) Lastly add sautéed onion slices & stir in bacon pieces, just before serving. Enjoy! 

It's the best way to eat green beans in my opinion. If by chance you try it, leave a comment for me to see! I'd love to hear from you!!