April 2, 2013 is National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day

April 2, 2013 is

National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day

It's National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day! Did you know that the average American consumes 1,500 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches by the age of 18? The combination of sweet jelly & salty peanut butter has been a staple in school lunchboxes for over fifty years. According to one story, American soldiers invented the peanut butter&  jelly sandwich during World War II. They decided to combine their bread, jelly, and peanut butter rations into a fabulous new treat. When the soldiers returned home after the war, peanut butter and jelly sales soared. To celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, make this iconic American sandwich for lunch! 

Make some DeLish DeMaria Peanut Butter Bread & serve w/ Jelly! 

<3 Lishie

Happy National French Bread Day!

March 21, 2013 is

National French Bread Day

Today is National French Bread Day! French bread, also known as a baguette, is a crusty loaf baked in a long, thin shape. The French have been making long sticks of bread since at least the mid-eighteenth century, but the baguette didn’t become an iconic symbol of French cuisine until the twentieth century. A new law passed in 1920 banned workers from beginning their shift before 4am, which made it difficult for French bakers to have fresh bread ready for their customers in the morning. They turned to the fast-baking baguette for a solution, and soon it became a part of daily life. While the baguette claims the title of “French bread,” France produces many other famous types of bread including: croissants, brioche, pain de campagne, batard, pain de mie, and fougasse. To celebrate National French Bread Day, buy or bake a delicious loaf of fresh French bread to share with your family!

Or make this from DeLish DeMaria:

French Bread Pizza

<3 Lishie

Breakfast Swap ~ Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

So exciting!!! I love swaps & I love breakfast. I got a sweet breakfast assigned to me from Amy's Kitchen Creations: Homemade Caramel Rolls. Mine turned out to be more cinnamon than caramel so I made a quick cream cheese frosting. OMGoodness, so tasty!!! And like Amy's, mine were not uniform nor were they rolled tight enough (see photo). But WHO CARES? They were DELISH!!! It was the perfect Sunday breakfast treat. I have had Amy's blog before & was thrilled to get it again! Thank you so much, Amy!!! And thank you to Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking for putting this swap together as always.

Amy gave the link where she got the recipe: Food .com

Mom's Caramel Rolls

• 2 cups warm water ( not hot)
• 2 (1/4 ounce) package yeast ( 2 T bulk)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons butter ( let sit out until soft)
• 1 eggs
• 6 1/2 cups flour
• cinnamon-sugar mixture

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons water

1. Mix water and yeast and wait 5 minutes.
2. Stir in sugar, salt and 2 cups of flour.
3. Add egg and butter and mix.
4. Stir in rest of flour by hand, if dough is still sticky add just enough to make it not sticky anymore.
5. Let raise until dough is double in size.
6. Sprinkle flour on surface and roll dough out until is approx 18 X 12 inches.
7. Spread a very thin layer of soft butter on dough and sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture on it.
8. Roll dough from the long side, it should look like a log.
9. Cut into 1 inch pieces.
10. Should be 18 pieces.

11. Place brown sugar and butter into microwave dish and heat until butter is just melted; stir well.
12. Stir in 3 T water.
13. Divide mixture into 3 pans (8-inch cake pans).
14. Place 6 pieces in each pan.
15. Let raise for about 45 minutes.
16. Bake for 20 minutes in a 325°F oven.
17. When you take out of oven, turn each pan of rolls over on a plate, otherwise you will have a hard time getting them out when they cool.
18. If you can, let them cool slightly and enjoy them when they are still warm.

And if you'd also like to make the cream cheese frosting, here's my input:

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 1/4 c butter, room temp
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine all of the ingredients together, pour over rolls.

More Nostalgia

Like I said, I am on a nostalgia kick. Do you know what a Fluffernutter is? No!?! Let me tell you- a peanut butter & Fluff sandwich. It is so good. And the epitome of a childhood treat... It's peanut butter & jelly one notch up. Fluff is "marshmallow creme". It's childish yet decadent. And I had me one for dinner last night. Yep, that's right. And I had it on Wonder White bread with Jif peanut Butter to boot!

Have a Fluffernutter if you have never tried one! 

<3 Lishie

And do not forget to enter my OXO Giveaway... It ENDS today, at midnight!

Instant Bread Bowl

May Day! This concept is a little too easy & a little too awesome... Need a yummy bread bowl for a hot oven meal? Or a thick chicken stew? Or even an oven roasted salad? Look no further, my love of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls shines here...

<3 Lishie

Instant Bread Bowl

• 1 package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Take a 9" round cake pan or a medium, oven-safe bowl & form a crust by patting the crescent dough softly into the un-greased pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes until it is golden brown.

The dough rises a little in the middle & tastes so good!!!

Easy Parmesan Knots

Happy "Monday-after-Thanksgiving" people! :) Now you may be surprised at this but, my family is not a good leftovers type family. So we don't live off Thanksgiving for days to come. We don't waste it, we just do not morph the turkey into new creations because, for one thing, turkey is great but not every day. So I made new things over the weekend & decided to try these easier than easy garlic knots I had seen on Pinterest. If you are not on Pinterest- go look now: 

Pinterest (Lishie's)

If you need an invite, comment below with your email & I will send you one!

The garlic knots were so tasty I cannot wait to make them again!

Easy Parmesan Knots

adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

• 1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1. Roll each biscuit into a 12-in. rope & tie into a knot; tuck ends under. Place 2 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
2. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; brush the warm knots with the mixture. Yield: 8 knots.

For another Pillsbury-type creation, a sweet, try my Cinnamon-Sugar Knots, 

&/or Mini Cinnamon~Walnut Pinwheels .

 
<3 Lishie

"Quick" bread, my blog! (Cinnamon Bread)

So the other day (for those of you in the NE, you know, the day it snowed? What, you say- It keeps snowing? Yes, yes, it does) it heavily snowed & I was "stuck" at home. Best.thing.do.inside? Bake, of course! The house gets warmer & smells outrageously delicious especially when cinnamon is involved. I made one of my favorites, something I knew my Mother-in-Law would love getting a loaf of & something I could bring into work the next day to share: Cinnamon Bread! YUM... Now it's called a quick bread because instead of waiting for yeast to rise, the baking soda & powder combine to do their stuff & puff up the bread "scientifically". Well, other than that reason it's certainly not quick to make from scratch but that's where the fun comes in... that & in eating it... Wish there were scratch n sniff apps for blogs:


Cinnamon Bread

Bread:
4 C flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 C shortening (1 stick!)
2 C sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 C whole milk OR buttermilk

Cinnamon-y goodness- the inside swirl:
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1. Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.


Preheat oven to 350. Butter two Loaf pans.
Combine shortening and sugar. Mix together, then add eggs and vanilla. Stir in sifted flour mixture and buttermilk. (add in thirds, 1/3 flour and 1/3 buttermilk; mix in then add the next third.) Mix until smooth. Pour 1/3 into a greased loaf pan.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar. Swirl 1/3 of the sugar mixture into each layer or batter with a knife. Repeat. Don't swirl the cinnamon into the top layer of batter. Lightly dust it over the top for a crusted effect.

Bake at 350º for one hour.