Fresh Strawberry-Peach Bread

I found this recipe on another blog & thought this would be a great use of fruit we buy at the market in little italy each week! This bread came out delicious...definitely the perfect dessert for a summer evening. Of course, since I'm 9 1/2 months pregnant, I also needed a few chocolate chip cookies along with this bread to complete my dessert...



Fresh Strawberry-Peach Bread

1/4 cup butter (half a stick), softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup strawberries, chopped
3/4 cup fresh peaches, chopped

Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
With electric mixer cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.

In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk and only stir until just combined; do not over mix.
Carefully fold in strawberries. Dough mixture will be thick.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

Source: Sing For Your Supper

Buffalo Chicken Stromboli

Dan created this recipe after a stromboli we order from our favorite pizza place. He has re-created it perfectly & it's really easy!



Ingredients:
Pizza Crust (We use Pillsbury)
Mozzarella Cheese
Buffalo sauce
Grilled chicken

Preheat oven to 425. Cook chicken on the grill, about 2-3 pieces. Roll out the pizza dough on a greased cookie pan. Cut chicken & mix with desired amount of buffalo sauce. Pour chicken mixture onto crust, and top with mozzarella cheese. Brush top with melted butter. Roll up & place in oven! All done! Cook for about 15-18 minutes.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

This really is the BEST pancake recipe ever. Too much for 2 people, but we just save the rest & make the next morning. Happy Easter!



Buttermilk Pancakes
Source: Martha Stewart Living, January 2001

Ingredients:

Makes nine 6-inch pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 teaspoon for griddle

1.Heat griddle to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons butter; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps.

2.Heat oven to 175 degrees. Test griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If water bounces and spatters off griddle, it is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush remaining 1/2 teaspoon of butter or reserved bacon fat onto griddle. Wipe off excess.

3.Using a 4-ounce ladle, about 1/2 cup, pour pancake batter, in pools 2 inches away from one other. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

4.Repeat with remaining batter, keeping finished pancakes on a heatproof plate in oven. Serve warm.

Grilled Chicken Salad

Grilled Chicken Salad



Ingredients:
Chicken
Cherry tomatoes
Avocado
Feta cheese
Lettuce, mixed greens

Grill chicken until no longer pink. To season, rub in oil and season with salt & pepper. We used 1/2 pound of chicken for 2 people to make it a meal!

Meanwhile, whisk 2 tbps. lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tbps. fresh oregano and 1/2 tsp. black pepper. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix chicken, mixed greens, avocado, tomatoes & feta cheese. Toss with salad dressing.

Source: Adapted from Sunset Magazine, April 2010 issue

Buffalo Chicken Wontons

This is a really time consuming recipe but worth it! We made these for Superbowl today, amazing!



Buffalo Chicken Wontons
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup hot sauce or buffalo sauce
Wontons

Directions:
Boil chicken breasts & shred. Mix chicken with hot sauce. Mix in cream cheese. Place about a teaspoon of filling into each wonton & seal the edges of the wonton with water. Fry the wontons in a pan with oil until each side is lightly brown. Serve with extra hot sauce for dipping.

Pretzel Bits

We just changed our pretzel design! Bits instead of humongous pretzels - DELICIOUS!

Dinner Rolls

This recipe is amazing, but it can definitely be scaled down a bit. We had more rolls than we knew what to do with! But they were delicious. Better than anything you can buy at the store!



DINNER ROLLS

Ingredients
4 cups Milk
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil
9 cups Flour
2 packages (4 1/2 Tsp.) Active Dry Yeast
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons Salt

Preparation Instructions
Pour 4 cups of milk into a stock pot or Dutch oven. Add one cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Stir to combine. Now, turn the burner on medium to medium-low and “scald” the mixture/lukewarm (between 90 and 110 degrees).

When the mixture is the right temperature add in 4 cups of flour and 2 packages of (4-1/2 teaspoons) of active dry yeast. After the yeast and flour are nicely incorporated, add another 4 cups of flour. Stir together and allow to sit, covered with a tea towel or lid, for an hour.

After about an hour it should have almost doubled in size. If it hasn’t changed much, put it in a warm (but turned off ) oven for 45 minutes or so. When it had risen sufficiently add 1 more cup of flour, 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon of baking soda and about 2 tablespoons of salt. Stir (or knead just a bit) until combined.

Butter 1 or 2 muffin pans. Form the rolls by pinching off a walnut sized piece of dough and rolling it into a little ball. Repeat and tuck three balls of dough into each buttered muffin cup. Continue until pan is full. Cover and allow to rise for about 1 to 2 hours.

Bake in a 400-degree oven until golden brown, about 17 to 20 minutes.

Source: Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Homemade Manicotti

We have homemade manicotti each year at Christmas & I wanted to attempt to make it myself on New Year's Eve. It was a success! I also made Grandma's homemade gravy & meatballs, all was delicious.

Manicotti
2 cups flour
2 cups milk
6 eggs

This makes about 30-40 patties so I cut this in half.





Source: Grandma