{family recipe} aunt karen's potato rolls

My Aunt Karen has always been a great baker. I fondly remember her family bringing in multiple trays of rolls as they'd walk into our house for our Christmas Eve celebration. Her rolls are wonderful, heavenly almost (much like her pear crumb pie). Somehow, my Mom got a hold of her roll recipe and she shared it with me! Hooray! (I love that it uses powdered milk and potato flakes from our food storage.) 

Ingredients:
2 c. warm water
2/3 c. powdered milk
1/2 c. instant potato flakes
1/4 c. shortening, melted or softened
1/4 c. butter, melted or softened
1/2 T. salt
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 T. instant yeast (or other with warm water)
5 - 5 1/2 c. flour

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients & half the flour in mixer bowl until well mixed. 
2. Use dough hook and add other flour until soft dough (until a wooden spoon just stands up in center of dough).
3. Knead by hand or in mixer. Let rise until double. 
4. Punch down. Shape into rolls- crescents (2 circles, 16" each) or balls (32) or parker house style. 
5. Raise again until double.
6. Bake @ 375* for 15 minutes or 'til browned.

pb banana bread

I made this Reese's pb banana bread before, and it was good, but needed better overall flavor. (Don't get me wrong- the mini pb cups are wonderful! The bread was a little lacking, I thought.) 

So I set out to find another pb banana bread recipe. I found this one and it turned out delicious!

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Description

Classic banana bread with a generous helping of peanut butter makes this easy loaf a delicious breakfast treat or snack.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 cup mashed very ripe banana
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1-2 c. chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 4x8-inch loaf pan.
2. Beat peanut butter and shortening in a bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Beat one egg into peanut butter mixture until completely blended before beating in the second egg. Stir in mashed banana.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing until batter is just blended. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

reese's pb banana bread

This recipe was flying around Pinterest when I first came into the Pinterest world, possibly 2+ years ago (?). It looked like it'd be an instant sucess, and it WAS very good, but the overall flavor of the bread was not all I'd hoped it'd be, and it kind of crumbled and fell apart.

But, it was in fact delicious so it earns a spot here on my blog.

Reese's pb banana bread

Recipe from cookiesandcups.com

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup Canola or Vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz bag of Reese’s Mini cups

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease your loaf pan (I used an 8 x 4 pan) with butter or shortening.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
4. In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.
5. Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be lumpy. DO NOT OVER-STIR.
6. Fold in your Reese’s Mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and remove from loaf pan, transferring bread to a cooling rack.

Author's Notes:

*I bake my breads in a stone loaf pan, but certainly you don’t have to. BUT if you notice the bread browning too fast, lower the temperature down to 325° and loosely tent it with foil.

**Also, some readers have noticed that if you over-stir the batter the texture will be crumbly, so make sure not to over-stir!

{our best bites} spaghetti & meatballs

I've been trying some new recipes in the cookbooks I love looking through here at my house. They always look so delicious and pretty.  I decided I'd try this spaghetti & meatballs recipe and see how it holds up to my old stand-by of Ultimate Spaghetti & Meatballs. This recipe was yummy and I think it had a few less ingredients than my other recipe. I'll definitely put this on on our list. ;)

Recipe & Pictures from Our Best Bites

Italian Meatballs:
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. Italian sausage
1/4 c. dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. dehydrated onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. parsley
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt*
*If you want, you could substitute all the Italicized ingredients with 3 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning found here.

Directions: 

1. Gently combine meatball ingredients in a medium bowl. Shape into balls, whatever size you like, but I prefer using my standard cookie scoop (about 1 Tbsp.) to shape meat into balls and then rolling it between my hands to make them even more round. 
2. Place on a broiler pan and broil until the meatballs start to brown–I actually use my toaster oven. Just because I can. ;) Remove from oven and set aside until ready to use (or freeze for later use).

Recipe & Picture from Our Best Bites

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 italian meatballs recipe, see above
 
Sauce
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Olive oil
2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
16 oz. tomato sauce
1-2 Tbsp. sugar (to taste)
2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of baking soda (to help neutralize the acid)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. 
2. Add remaining sauce ingredients and combine well. Bring to a simmer and add meatballs. 
3. Simmer on low, uncovered, until desired consistency is reached–about 25-30 minutes for a sauce that’s of medium consistency.
4. Serve over hot spaghetti (shhhhh…I used linguine!), maybe with some breadsticks and some freshly grated Parmesan on top. Serves a lot–like probably 12 regular people or 2 teenage boys.

FREEZER MEAL INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare meatballs as directed, but divide the meatballs among two freezer-safe containers. 
2. Prepare sauce through adding all ingredients to the pan, but don’t simmer; rather, divide the sauce among the two containers. Freeze until ready to use. 
3. When ready to use, place in slow cooker and cook on low for about 5-6 hours, although you’ll want to keep an eye on the sauce and make sure it’s not burning if you go for the whole 6 hours.

{our best bites} hot fudge sauce

Our Alivia is not a big CAKE eater, so for her birthday, she requested my Mud Pie in place of cake. I did the same thing for my 8th birthday! Keeping the tradition alive. ;)

 I tried this Hot Fudge recipe from Our Best Bites for the hot fudge portion of my mud pie. It was PHENOMENAL!  I'm keeping this one!

Recipe & picture from Our Best Bites

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:
3oz semi-sweet chocolate* (3 squares of baking chocolate, or about 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 C butter
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

*I wouldn’t use milk chocolate for this, it’s way too sweet, however both dark and bittersweet are awesome.


Instructions:
1. If you’re using baking squares, chop them up into small pieces so they melt easier. I chop the butter up into small chunks too.
2. Okay, it’s not rocket science. Put everything in a pan on medium heat and melt it all together till it’s smooth, creamy, and just looking at it gives you happy thoughts.

3. If you have leftovers (but let’s be honest, you’ll have to quadruple the recipe to have leftovers) then put it in an airtight container in the fridge. It will harden into a soft, gooey fudge like consistency. Then keep a spoon handy on the counter and dip it in every time you pass by. This serves the same purpose as the always-open bags of chocolate chips that Kate and I both have in our pantries. Don’t deny it Kate. << These girls and I have so much in common. ;)

{our best bites} apple cider floats

I found this yummy new drink in my Savoring the Seasons cookbook. It has been added to our FALL foods rotation!

Recipe & Pic from Our Best Bites

Apple Cider Floats
Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup ginger ale
2 scoops vanilla ice cream, or any seasonal flavor such as cinnamon or apple pie
ground cinnamon and nutmeg for sprinkling
1-2 tablespoons jarred caramel sauce, optional

Directions:
Pour apple cider and ginger ale into a glass.  Add vanilla ice cream.  Sprinkle on nutmeg and cinnamon to taste and drizzle caramel sauce on top.  Serve immediately with a straw and a spoon.

Yield: one serving in a tall glass

*If you want a snack-size or smaller portion, here's the ratios I use:
1/2 c. apple cider
1/4 c. ginger ale
1 scoop vanilla ice cream

ENJOY!! Such a tasty treat to find!

best steak marinade in existence!

No foolin'! That's the name of this recipe we found on All Recipes. com. It.is.awesome! Write this one down and save it!

Picture & recipe found here.

Ingredients

1/3 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. olive oil
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c. worchestershire sauce
3 T. dried basil
1 1/2 T. garlic powder
1 1/2 T. dried parsley flakes
1 t. ground white pepper (we used black pepper)
1 t. dried minced garlic, optional
1/4 t. hot pepper sauce, optional

Directions

1. Place the soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, basil, parsley, and pepper in a blender. Add hot pepper sauce and garlic, if desired. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds until thoroughly mixed.
2. Pour marinade over desired type of meat. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Cook meat as desired.