Anyway, since I had to work today, I had my Thanksgiving on Saturday. I made four delicious dishes and then I told everyone about them. And neglected to post them in time for you all to make them for today. But in my defense, it's been a chaotic week between work and trying to cram in my final papers, projects, and assignments. The end of the semester is coming (hooray!) and I'm waaaaaay behind (gulp). So the blogging, much to my dismay, had to be postponed. And to be honest, I really should be working on homework right this second. So let's get the show on the road since the homework doesn't seem to want to finish itself. Jerk.
So the bad news is that I didn't get the recipes out before Thanksgiving, but the good news is that they're so good that who cares?! Make them anyway! Especially the rolls and sweet potato dish.
Dinner Rolls (Pioneer Woman)
* 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
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).
Before the mixture boils, turn off the heat. NOW. Very important stuff here: walk away. Walk away and allow this mixture to cool to warm/lukewarm. The mixture will need to be warm enough to be a hospitable environment for the yeast, but not so hot that it kills the yeast and makes it inactive. I don’t usually use a thermometer, but if you’d like to, a good temperature is between 90 and 110 degrees. I usually feel the side of the pan with the palm of my hand. If it’s hot at all, I wait another 20 minutes or so. The pan should feel comfortably warm.
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.
*** I actually baked mine for 10 minutes.
Soul Sweet 'Taters (Pioneer Woman)
* 4 whole Medium Sweet Potatoes
* 1 cup Sugar
* 1 cup Milk
* 2 whole Eggs
* 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 1 cup Brown Sugar
* 1 cup Pecans
* 1/2 cups Flour
* 3/4 sticks Butter
Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-35 minutes. When they are finished cooking slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl.
Add 1 cup of (regular grandulated) sugar, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of salt. With a potato masher, mash them up just enough—you don’t want to be perfectly smooth.
Now, in a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup pecans, chopped (that means measure a cup of pecans, then chop them), ½ cup flour, and ¾ stick of butter. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined.
Spread the sweet potato mixture into a regular baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Make these!!!!!!!! This was my FAVORITE.
Pumpkin Cream Pie (Pioneer Woman)
FOR THE CRUST:
* 1 1/2 package Graham Crackers (about 15 Cookie Sheets)
* 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
* 1 stick Butter, Melted
FOR THE FILLING:
* 1 box (3 Oz. Box) Vanilla Pudding (Cook And Serve Variety)
* 1 cup Half-and-half
* 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
* Pinch Of Cinnamon
* Pinch Of Nutmeg
* Pinch Of Ground Cloves
* 2 Tablespoons Whiskey (optional)
* 1/2 cups (plus 3 Tablespoons) Pumpkin Puree
* 1/2 cups (additional) Heavy Cream
* 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
* Extra Graham Cracker Crumbs, For Garnish
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Grind graham crackers in a food processor (or, if you don’t have a food processor, place them in a large ziploc and pound ‘em with a rolling pin.) Add powdered sugar and melted butter and process until totally combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan until nice and firm. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until warm and “set.” Remove from oven and allow crust to cool completely.
In a medium saucepan, mix dry pudding mix with half-and-half and cream. Add spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly and thick. Remove from heat and stir in whiskey, if using. Add pumpkin and stir to combine. Place lid on pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough, place pot in the fridge to cool completely.
When mixture is cool, remove from the fridge. In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and brown sugar. Beat until very light and fluffy. Fold in pumpkin cream mixture until combined. Pour into cooled crust.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with graham crackers crumbled on top.
*** I threw in a pinch of nutmeg too because I looooooove nutmeg.
Pumpkin Roll (Tasty Kitchen...a Pioneer Woman site)
FOR THE ROLL:
* 3/4 cups Flour
* 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
* 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
* 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoons Cloves
* 1/4 teaspoons Salt
* 3 whole Eggs
* 1 cup White Sugar
* 2/3 cups Pure Pumpkin
* Powdered Sugar (for Powdering Your Kitchen Towel)
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING:
* 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
* 6 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
* 1 cup Sifted Powdered Sugar
* 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For Cake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 17 x 11 jelly-roll pan. Line with wax paper; grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.
In a bowl combine: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
In a separate bowl mix the eggs and white sugar until thick. Beat in the canned pumpkin. Stir into the flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
Bake for 13 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately turn cake onto prepared towel. Slowly peel off the wax paper. Roll the cake up in the towel, starting with narrow end. Cool on a wire rack.
For the filling: Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Unroll cake and remove towel. Spread cream cheese filling over cake. Reroll cake. Store in a container with a lid. Keep refrigerated.
If you can refrain from eating the deliciousness of this roll right away it’s better when it’s been refrigerated for at least an hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if you like.
My aunt Gail told me I needed to try a pumpkin roll since I've never made one. I'd like to point out a couple things.
1. See that finger print? Yup. The cake did not spring back. Whoopsie. (I left it in the oven and it all worked out fine.)
2. The rolling pictures were taken by Stalena. My hands were a little occupied in case you didn't notice.
Final note, all recipes are copied from the sites as they're written. If you have specific questions about what I did, let me know. I followed most of them pretty closely.
