Cheese Stuffed Pizza Crust

Who doesn't love cheese stuffed pizza crust? It's like a little prize at the end. It's also a big hit with the kids. They love it when I make my home made pizza with stuffed crust. And it's EASY to do.

Ingredients:

4-5 mozzarella cheese sticks

Pizza dough (try this one: http://theyankeesouthernbelle.blogspot.com/2010/05/whole-wheat-pizza-crust.html)

Directions:

(1) Shape your pizza dough onto your pan, making sure to allow the dough to hang over the edge of the pan.

(2) Take a cheese stick and slice in half lengthwise. Place cheese stick halves around the edge of the crust. Continue to do this until the entire circumference of the pizza dough is filled.

(3) Take the dough that is off the pan and wrap around each cheese stick to form the crust. Seal edges.

(4) Begin to preheat oven to 425. While oven is preheating bake the pizza crust for 5-7 minutes to firm up.

(5) Top with sauce and other toppings. Bake for 15 minutes longer.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Two of my favorite things. Chocolate and strawberries. Enough said.

Ingredients:

Red ripe strawberries

Good chocolate

Directions:

(1) Wash and thoroughly dry strawberries.

(2) Melt chocolate

(3) Dip strawberries in melted chocolate

(4) Place on wax paper and allow chocolate to cool at room temperature

(5) Place chocolate covered strawberries in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

(6) Eat

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

These are hubbster's FAVORITE sugar cookies. Not that I blame him - they are super soft but still able to hold a good amount of butter cream frosting. So easy to make for holiday decorating too.

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs & milk to make 1 cup

1 tsp. soda - dissolved in 1/2 cup milk

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

6 cups flour

Directions:

(1) In a large mixing bowl cream the shortening and sugar.

(2) Beat in the egg and milk mixture.

(3) Beat in the soda and milk mixture. Add the baking powder, salt and nutmeg until well incorporated.

(4) Beat in 6 cups flour. Dough will be a little sticky.

(5) Roll dough onto a generously floured surface. Cut into shapes.

(6) On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes or until the edges are just golden.

(7) Cool on wire racks before frosting with http://theyankeesouthernbelle.blogspot.com/2012/02/butter-cream-frosting.html Butter Cream Frosting.

Butter Cream Frosting

This frosting is GREAT for frosting those super soft sugar cookies.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter - softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

2 Tbsp. milk

Directions:

(1) In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter until fluffy.

(2) Add powdered sugar, almond extract and milk. Beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. If needed add additional milk by 1 tsp. until desired consistency is reached.

Nana's Butter Horns

These rolls speak for themselves. My sweet mother-in-love, Nana makes these rolls for every special occasion. She has to hide them from her grown children who try to sneak the dough or rolls. They are pretty wonderful fresh out of the oven smeared with butter all over them.

Ingredients:
2 envelopes of active dry yeast
1 Tbs. sugar
1 cup warm milk
1/2 scant cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 well beaten eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
5-6 cups flour

Directions:
(1) In a large mixing bowl combine the yeast, 1 Tbs. sugar and warm milk.
(2) Add remaining ingredients until well blended. Knead until smooth and elastic.
(3) Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.
(4) Punch down. Divide dough into 4 pieces/sections.
(5) Roll a circle from a section of dough. Using a knife cut into pie slices and roll from the edge to the center so it has the shape of a crescent roll.
(6) Let rolls rise to double.
(7) Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until rolls just begin to turn golden.
(8) Smooth butter on top of rolls while still warm.

Helpful Hints:
(1) Nana's original recipe calls for only 1 envelope of yeast. The rolls never turned out like hers when I did that. Then I learned that she lets hers rise for some 4+ hours! I don't have time like that with two little kids running around so I added an extra envelope of yeast and it turns out just like Nana's (well almost as good).
(2) These can be frozen too until you're ready to use them.

Milk Bone Dog Biscuits

You know you're a mother of 3 when you find it creative to make homemade dog biscuits just for the fun of it.
Today, we plan to celebrate our little mutt's third birthday. It's all of 8 degrees outside and we have nothing better to do. So in her honor the girls thought it would be 'so much fun' to make her a cake. I am not making the dog a cake. But after finding a recipe where I had all the ingredients I decided on biscuits.
The mutt loves them too! She has not left the kitchen since we began.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup hot water
1/3 cup natural applesauce (no sugar added)
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:
(1) In a large bowl mix all ingredients. Knead until dough comes together.
(2) Pat or roll on flour surface to 1/2" thickness. Cut into shapes.
(3) Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool.
(4) They will dry out and become hard.

Orange Twirls

About once a year I would hear my dad mention something about his Aunt Pearl's orange rolls. He raved about how soft they were. He went on about how smooth the frosting was. However, the recipe was no where to be found....or so I thought.

Enter my cousin's bridal shower where the guests were encouraged to bring a favorite family recipe. Guess which one my grandma brought with her?

Ingredients:

2 pkg. yeast

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup warm water

3/4 cup warm milk

1/2 cup shortning

2 large eggs

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup orange juice

5 cups flour

(1) Soak yeast in warm water for 5 minutes.

(2) Combine warm milk, shortning, sugar, salt, eggs, orange juice and half the flour into yeast mixture.

(3) Beat 2 minutes with electric mixture until smooth.

(4) Add remaining flour and beat for two additional minutes.

(5) Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead into a smooth and elastic ball.

(6) Turn into buttered bowl. Cover and let rise until double in size.

(7) Punch down and turn into floured surface. Roll out and cut into strips.

(8) Make a figure 8 with each strip.

(9) Line figure 8's in a greased 9x13" pan - just like you would with cinnamon rolls.

(10) Cover and let rise until double in size.

(11) Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes

Frosting:

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup shortning

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

(1) Beat egg whites until stiff.

(2) Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and shortning. Beat.

(3) Add the rest of the 3 cups of powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until very smooth.

(4) Spread on rolls.