Let's Play a Game

Shall we?

If you were trapped on a desert island, or it was the end of the world, or there was a culinary world disaster...

What kitchen item would you take with you? What can you not live without, or would have to have with you in order to survive.

Mine would be my spices. I can cook on just about anything, with or without utensils. But I need my spices. I can't live without my spices. Life would be so horribly boring. At the very least I would need salt.

So what about you? What would you need? A food item? An appliance? A certain cookbook?

What kitchen/food related item would you not be able to leave behind?

What's Cookin': Fancy Pants Pumpkin Seeds

Remember Once Upon a Time when you were a kid and sometime around Halloween there was the frenzy of pumpkin carving? Blood and Slimy pumpkin guts everywhere. Chunks of pumpkin flying every which way. And the mess of pumpkin seeds that your mom and/or you would take, de-goop, wash, dry and roast?... Only to be tossed with some salt. Boring.

These ain't yo momma's pumpkin seeds.

I'm generally not a big pumpkin seed fan. They stick in my teeth and usually make me choke at least once while eating them. I think pumpkins have a vendetta against Megs. But I got pumpkins from my Mom-in-love and decided that since I was going to be pureeing the flesh for freezing and future use, I might as well use the whole thing and roast the seeds. Use it up, remember? Waste not, want not.

I looked online for a general temperature at which to roast the seeds and came across a sight that had that info, as well as some flavoring options. Well. I saw "butter" and knew what I had to do.

My goodness, these are delicious punkin' seeds. I, who is the aforementioned non-pumpkin-seed-fan, have been grabbing a few bites every time I walk by them. They taste like they should be served in some fancy restaurant, or packaged and sold in a high-falutin' cooking shop. Savory, spiced, hot... Make these. You won't regret it.

Momma's Notes:
-A layer of tin foil on your cooking sheet will make clean up a bajillion times easier.
-Depending on the amount of seeds, you might not need all the butter. Start with the 2 and work up to 4 as needed.
- If you don't wish to use or don't have butter, you can use olive oil or vegetable oil.
-The spicy version is quite spicy. Or "Picy" and Ty would say. If you're not sure you want a ton of heat, try less cayenne. You can always add more.
- None of these sound good? Experiment and try your own!
-I'm trying to take better pictures, especially of food. Pretty good ones, eh? It's ok, you don't have to lie. I've been reading through Pioneer Woman's photography sections... And now I want a DSLR.

Fancy Pants Pumpkin Seeds
Seeds of one pumpkin, de-gooped, washed and dried
2-4 Tbs butter, melted

Savory Flavor:
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Spiced (or "Halloween") Flavor:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice

Spicy Flavor:
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Mix together seeds, butter and applicable spices for flavor you would like. Roast in the oven for 10-25 minutes. It's a big range because it will depend on your oven. Just watch them and pull them out when done. It was about 20 for me.

Sprinkle with a bit more salt, toss and serve!

Happy Eating,

Feed Me Monday

(This was Saturday, when it was warm and humid. A dough that normally takes an hour or more to double, did this in about 45 minutes. )

 Good Monday Morning to you! It is a beautifully cool, crisp, and cloudy October day here. We have chances of showers today and I very much hope it happens. I love rain and it would just make today wonderful.

It's Feed Me Monday! Here is the menu plan for the week. I have to tell you, if you are in a menu planning rut, just ask the hubby for ideas. Ben always comes up with good stuff.

Menu Plan:
Monday - Bean Soup and Biscuits
Tuesday -Bean Soup leftovers (even better the next day!)
Wednesday -Breakfast (eggs, pancakes, etc.)
Thursday -Meatloaf, mashed taters, bread
Friday -Meatloaf leftovers
Saturday - Pizza (homemade, of course)
Sunday - Either leftovers or hot dogs

And here's some foodie links for you!

Food Bites:
Pumpkin Spice Bagels :: From Apples to Zucchini. I have pumpkin now, so I think these will be coming out of my kitchen soon!
Alea's Bierocks :: $5 Dinners. This looks like an awesomely cheap and filling dinner. I have these on my "when I have the ingredients" list.
The Frugal-Recipes Daily - Erin from $5 Dinners has put together a new site featuring various frugal foodstuffs and crafty things. Check it out, it's pretty cool!

What are y'all eating this week?

What's Cookin': Yeast Rolls

Once upon a time, before my great-grandmother Lola was too terribly crazy and senile, she would make yeast rolls. And they weren't just yeast rolls. These were Bust-Your-Gut-From-Eating-So-Many-Because-You-Just-Had-To-Have-One-More Yeast Rolls. And you generally were too full to eat dinner once the yeast rolls came out of the oven.

I remember many times when I was a girl and she would let me make them with her. It's one of the few nice memories I have of her. (She's still alive, she's just a little... grumpier.) They were buttery and delicious, warm from the oven. I loved making rolls with her.

When I got married she gave me a mish mash of a few items. An old measuring cup (that is my favorite) and a used cutting board, some random knives, a few cookbooks... And the recipe for her wonderful yeast rolls. In the year before we had our babies, I didn't really cook much from scratch, and sort of had a fear of making bread. So the recipe was put away, and it stayed put away through three babies and two moves. I would think about it every once in awhile in a "Hmm, I should make those one day" sort of way, but never really got around to digging it out.

This last Wednesday my baby brother turned 15. (He's going to hate me for calling him "baby brother", hehe). Ben and I did a BBQ for him, which involves Tri-tip (I think y'all in other places call it brisket), marinated veggies, and usually a loaf or two of french bread simply dressed up with butter, garlic powder and seasoning.

Well, this time I had forgotten to get the French bread and I wasn't going back to the store for just that. So I thought I would make some french bread. No, too much work and I had too much cleaning to do. So then thought, biscuits. Eh. I do them a lot. Dinner rolls? Yeah, that would work... Hey! I have that recipe for Grandma's Yeast Rolls!

So the recipe was dug out. It's a commercial printed card, but it's the same recipe she used. They tasted just as I remember. Warm, buttery and soft. Melt in your mouth goodness. I've changed the recipe slightly from it's printed version to fit the way in which I bake. For example, the recipe says to proof the yeast in the bowl and add the other ingredients into it. I prefer proof my yeast in a separate bowl and pour it into the other ingredients. But they turned out the same either way.

A note on using a mixer verses your hands/arms: The part that says "beat in flour until dough is too stiff to mix" is hard to tell in a mixer. I've made these rolls twice in the past two days, both with my mixer, and both times they turned out well with the 4 1/2 C. It will be a sticky dough. If you are unsure, you could add 3 cups with the mixer and do the last bit by hand.

So here, for you, is the recipe passed from my Great Grandmother Lola to me. Enjoy!

Yeast Rolls - makes 24
1 C warm water
5 tsp yeast
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp salt (original calls for 1 tsp, but I like the extra flavor)
4 -4 1/2 C AP flour
Additional melted butter for tops, if desired

Combine the yeast, warm water and 1 Tbs of the sugar in a bowl or measuring cup. Allow to soften and foam, about 5 minutes.

In another large bowl, or in your mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Pour in yeast mixture. Beat in flour, one cup at a time, until dough is too stiff to mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 4 days. (This makes them a great make ahead recipe.)

Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. (Or just use whatever pans you have. We used to use pizza pans too.) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 24 equal pieces. Roll them, place into the baking pan, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Brush warm rolls with butter if desired.


Happy Eating!

Fiber Friday and Happy October!

Remember these pics?

Yeah. I haven't really gotten much farther. It's been a pretty slow knitting week. I did cast on for the second Endpaper and have gotten through one and a half pattern repeats. And the third and final clue for the Honey Quartet finally came out yesterday, so I started working on that but it's really just more of the same and the end cuff.

But! Today is October first and in honor of the month, I think it's time to make some more Pumpkins!

Happy Knitting!