Kitchen Adventures 6.3

If I've said ti once, I've said it a thousand times: some of the best recipes you can find come from church cookbooks. One of my favorite cookbooks is from my youth group fundraiser years ago. Each year we took a mission trip, usually to a GROUP workcamp or local mission. I had wonderful opportunities to serve people in South Dakota (twice!), New Mexico, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Colorado, and Tennessee. For each trip we did several fundraisers, and one year this cookbook was a big one for us. What makes this cookbook different from your regular church cookbook is that we had several different people to draw from as our youth group was actually three churches combined along with several others that attended different churches, so we had quite a variety of recipes. I always check this first if I'm looking for a good recipe. Thanks, Mom, for getting this for me! This recipe was contributed by Kim Hsgue, one of my mom's good friends. Thanks, Kim!

I had to amend one of the key ingredients in this recipe as I could not find it at the store. luckily, my friend Shaye, aka my grocery shopping buddy, suggested a good alternate. I could not find a loaf of frozen bread at Target, so instead I used a refrigerated pizza crust. It was not one of the circle ones but one you roll out. This worked pretty well for what I needed to do, and it took much less time as i did not have to wait for the bread to rise. If you choose to use a pizza crust instead, make sure you cook it according to the pizza cooking directions, not necessarily the recipe cooking times and temperatures. You could also add whatever you want inside, but I liked the original ingredients so did not change them.

Stromboli

Ingredients:

1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread (or pizza crust)
ham
hard salami
provolone cheese
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
1 egg yolk
Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Let bread defrost and rise on cookie sheet. Roll out around the cookie sheet. Layer ham, salami, and provolone cheese. Sprinkle on garlic powder and Italian seasoning, to taste. Roll up jelly-roll style and seal all edges. Brush on egg yolk and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Kitchen Adventures 3.5

Baking is one of my main stress relievers. After the crazy week at work, I needed to destress before the weekend and all the fun it holds. Plus, I needed to bake for the youth group cookout Sunday evening, so I killed two birds with one stone.
I tried two new recipes, but they are versions of other recipes I have used or have eaten before. The first came from mixingbowl.com, which has provided some good ones for me. The second one came from the handy Triple T youth group cookbook and it's a recipe my mom has made many times, so I knew it would be good. They both smelled delicious, so hopefully everyone will enjoy them tomorrow evening!

Brown Sugar Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 c. mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in single layer in shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until nuts are toasted and fragrant. Beat butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir together mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat on low speed just until blended after each addition. Don't overbeat. Spoon batter into lightly greased 12 cup muffin pan, filling 2/3 full. Sprinkle with roasted pecans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan to wire racks and cool 10 minutes. Makes 1 dozen muffins.
*If you don't have buttermilk, stir 3/4 t. lemon juice or vinegar into 1/4 c. milk.



Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. unsifted flour
2/3 c. cocoa
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. peanut butter chips

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips. Chill until firm enough to handle. Shape small amounts of dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes six dozen.

Here are a couple pics: