Croissants

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
1 cup warm mashed potatoes (110° to 115°, prepared without milk and butter)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
7 to 7-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Melted butter
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in potatoes, sugar, shortening, salt, eggs and 5 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; Roll out dough into circle and cut into pie shape, starting with the wider end roll up. Place on cookie sheet and bend to form cresent shape.
or
For cloverleaf rolls, divide one portion into 48 pieces. Shape each piece into a 3/4-in. ball; place three balls each in greased muffin cups.
For four-leaf-clover rolls, divide one portion into 16 pieces. Shape each into a 1-1/2-in. ball; place in greased muffin cups. With scissors, cut each ball into quarters, but not all the way through, leaving dough attached at bottom.
For pan rolls, divide one portion into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a 1-1/2-in. ball. Place in a greased 9-in. square baking pan.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. Bake at 400° for 13-16 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Yield: 4 dozen."

No Knead Rolls

I got this link from Megan and am so glad she shared it. The rolls are in the oven but let me tell you everything so far went perfect. The look like the are going to be really light I cannot wait to try them. OK they are out of the oven and are sooooooo good.
Here is the link where the recipe can be found, go check her blog out you will love it. http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Thank you Megan Pires for sharing

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."

Brussels Sprouts with Vinegar-Glazed Red Onions

Many years ago I was watching Martha Stewart and she made these. I love them. My kids eat them so I would assume they like them also, but then again I have strange kids they like a lot of veggies. :o)

Serves 4.
1 (about 10-ounce) basket brussels sprouts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Directions
Trim outer leaves and stems from brussels sprouts, and discard. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, and add salt. Meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath. Add brussels sprouts to boiling water, and cook until tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and plunge into ice-water bath to cool. Drain well, and cut in half.
Heat 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add brussels sprouts, and cook, tossing occasionally, until they are brown and crisp on the edges, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and transfer to a large bowl. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon each butter and oil to the same pan over medium-low heat. Add onions, and cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted and transparent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add vinegar (stand back to avoid the fumes), and stir to loosen any brown bits on bottom of pan. Cook until vinegar is reduced and the onions are glazed, about 30 seconds.
Add onions to brussels sprouts, and toss well. Serve immediately.
First published"

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown"

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I uses semisweet mixed with mint chocolate chips)

1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2.Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4.Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely"

April's Home cooking: Leftover Turkey

My 18 year old son does not eat meat so I had to mark his veggie potpie with a V so we would know which one it was
I have had these for about eight years now and this is the first time I have used them for what I bought them for.

April's Home cooking: Leftover Turkey:
I added Broccoli to the veggie mixture. I added the broccoli the last 3 minutes of cooking. I think next time i will just added in to the mixture uncooked.

"1 pound skinless, boneless
chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving."

Harvest Night.

We do not celebrate Halloween but we like to have something for the kids, so we have a harvest night. Here are a few pictures. I have a lot more but did not want to put them all up. Most of the adults had a blast playing the games as well. A few people did not want to be there and kept making rude remarks so maybe next time they can leave her home. :o) Hey a lot of work goes into planning this stuff and the last think you want to do is hear someone complain. Thought I would share that with you all for future advise. LOL

Bright eyes

food

Jake, We had nothing to blindfold the kids with so we had to use the Darth Vader mask and tape up all the holes.

The men playing musical chairs

I think this might be a new dance.

Sandwiches

Witches Fingers

I did not like this shortbread recipe so I posted mine right below the recipe I followed for these.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
¾ cup whole blanched almonds (I used almond slices)
1 tube red decorator gel




1. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond and vanilla extracts.




2. Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add to wet mixture and beat just until moistened. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or lightly grease them.)

4. Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping the remainder refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoonful of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into 1 end for nail. Squeeze in center to create “knuckle” shape. Using a small knife, make slashes in several places to complete the look of the knuckle.

5. Place on prepared baking sheets and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond, squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place, so gel oozes out from underneath.

6. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on racks (and let the red gel harden).

Shortbread

1 pound butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
In a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 3-3/4 cups flour; mix well. Turn onto a floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes, adding enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Roll to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut into 3-in. x 1-in. strips. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with fork. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Yield: about 4 dozen"