Burnt Peanuts

Every year at Christmas time, my daddy loves burnt peanuts. It's a treat I never quite liked...I'd eat them, but it wasn't a favorite of mine. So, this year Tim found a recipe to make them. They are SUPER easy to make, too! YAY! Pack them in a pint jar with a pretty lid and you are good to go for gift giving, too! They'd make great teacher/bus driver/postal worker/etc gifts! Enjoy!

Burnt Peanuts

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
red food coloring (I use coloring paste so I only used a couple drops, but if you use the regular food coloring from the spice aisle, then you'll probably need about a tsp)

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in:

2 cups RAW spanish peanuts WITH THE SKINS ON!

Cook until coated and no syrup remains. (About 12 minutes) Spread in an UNgreased 15x10x1 pan. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool before packing in jars.
(Sorry the picture is so dark!)

Ethan's BBQ Chicken

My BIL Ethan made chicken drummies for Tim when he was in Indiana visiting. Tim fell in love with them and made them again for us when he got home. We've had them once a week since his return. THEY ARE THAT GOOD! So, trust me on the brand names specified, they do make a difference....we've tried.

BBQ Chicken

Chicken Drummies or thighs (we make a family pack for the 6 of us) placed on A FOIL LINED BAKING SHEET with an edge. (I use my jelly roll pan and a cake pan)

Sprinkle generously with:
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
FRANK'S RED HOT SAUCE

Dot around the pan with butter like this:

Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours. Then, drizzle with SWEET BABY RAY'S BBQ SAUCE. Turn heat up to 425 and bake another 10-15 or so. Enjoy!

OH MY Chai!

I made some of this today as a test batch. Really yummy, and I think I'll use it as a teachers gift.


Chai Tea Mix

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup instant tea (unsweetened instant iced tea works)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup dry milk
* 1 cup dry creamer

* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger

* ½ teaspoon salt
* ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Put in a food processor for 2 minutes to mix and make the dry milk chunks go away. It makes it a really nice, fine powder. To serve, add a heaping tablespoon of mix to 6 oz hot water. Stir and enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie

This weekend, Tim asked me to make Shepherd's Pie...like his sister Steph makes it. Many of you know that Shepherd's Pie is on Tim's all-time favorite list. So, I did like any good wife would. I called his sister, got the recipe and then modified it. lol! I told you that I can not make a recipe as written! And after all that, it needs more tweaking, but it did taste good. I just didn't go for the pureed carrots. So, here's the recipe for anyone who's interested. I've written it as I would tweak it for the next time I make it. Enjoy!

8-10 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 a large onion, diced fine
1/4-1/2 cup butter
milk or half and half

Bring potatoes and onion to a boil and cook until tender. Drain and mash with butter and milk or half and half to taste. Set aside until ready to spread over the meat.

While you are waiting for the potatoes to boil.........cook the meat....

2 lbs meat....ground beef, chicken, turkey, venison (I used half beef and half venison)
10+ carrots, chopped and lightly steamed (still want them a little crunchy, but not like they'd be fresh)
salt and pepper, to taste
3+ cloves minced garlic
2 cans tomato soup
1/2 a large onion, chopped (I chop mine pretty fine so the kids don't complain too loudly)

Preheat oven to 375. Then, fry meat with a little butter and some onion and the garlic. Stir in the cooked carrots and tomato soup. Spread in a 3 qt casserole dish.

Spread potatoes over the meat. Top with cheese if desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.

This makes a pretty big pan, but it's enough for all of us (Tucker had seconds!!) and for Tim and me to have lunch the next day.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

1 c. water
2 T. yeast
2 t. honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
4 t. sea salt
8 cups whole wheat flour
butter
salt

Filling:

1/2 cup butter
white or brown sugar
Ground cinnamon

Melt your butter and set it aside. Have the cinnamon and sugar ready.

Frosting

1/4 cup butter
3 T milk
1/2 t. vanilla
1-2 cups powdered sugar to make the consistency you like

Melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, milk and powdered sugar. Whisk together until smooth.

Okay, here’s how to make the dough…

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup very warm water, 2 T. yeast and 2 t. honey. Stir this together. Let this sit for a few minutes while you do the next step.

Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 cup honey, 4 t. salt and 2 1/2 cups of milk. Heat this to 120 degrees. (A candy thermometer comes in very handy....otherwise, get it warm but not too hot)

Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir. Stir in 8 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time. (add more if you need it)

Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Plop it into a bowl, cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.

After dough rises, punch it down and knead out all it’s bubbles. Cut the dough in half, setting one half aside.

On a well floured surface, roll dough into a nice big rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.

Use a pastry brush to spread 1/2 of the melted butter all over the rectangle. Sprinkle this with sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up the dough.

Cut into thin slices, about 1/2 inch thick.

Place rolls side by side on baking pan.

Repeat process with other 1/2 of dough.

Allow dough to rise about 30 minutes.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees.

Allow rolls to cool a bit, then drizzle lots and lots of ooey-gooey frosting all over them.

Happy cinnamon roll baking!! I got this recipe from Heavenly Homemakers and they are baking right now. I can't wait to taste them!! The kids tested the "scraps" of dough and they were really good!