Taste of Home and SUPER AUNTIE to the rescue!

Well, there really hasn't been all that much to report on lately. The most recent happening is that my best friend Daughn's little sister (Danae) got married last weekend. So, there have been a LOT of things going on during May leading up to that event. Also the end of school has come and gone... I helped my friend April chaperone a 2nd grade field trip to the Witte Museum here in town, and then the following week I had made a yummy sheet cake for their "2nd grade graduation." I've been doing a LOT of cake baking... Complete with homemade buttercream icing and decorating with piping bags and the whole lot... I'm strongly considering doing cakes as a side-hobby for low prices... probably mostly only for friends/family/church people... etc.

Anyhow, I've also been doing a great deal of cooking and experimenting with recipes new to me. At Christmas my G-ma got me a Taste of Home Cookbook and I have just recently begun making recipes out of it. I had found a recipe for a basic pizza crust, and I had been longing for "real" pizza since I've been dieting (started in Jan. remember... still doing okay... haven't gained anything... haven't really lost a WHOLE lot more, though... but largely because I need to get back in the gym on a more regular basis!!!) Anyhow, I made pizza a couple weeks ago and it was really good... It was a yeast dough... and I haven't worked with active dry yeast all that much... but I knew I wanted to try some other yeast-requiring recipes... so I got extra.

Well, yesterday I got ambitious and had found this recipe for a Raspberry Coffee Cake... it sounded SO good... I had to try it out. The recipe is below.

Raspberry Coffee Cakes:

1 TB active dry yeast
1/3 C. warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1/2 C. warm sour cream (110-115 degrees F)
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/4 C. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
2-1/4 to 2-1/2 C. All Purpose Flour

Filling:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 C. raspberry (or your favorite) jam

Glaze:
1-1/4 C. confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 TB milk

1- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sour cream, butter, sugar, salt and egg. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

2-Turn onto a floured surface; knead 20 times or until smooth. Place in a greased bwol, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. (The cookbook suggests turning your oven onto its lowest setting just for 45-50 seconds and then turning off and shoving your covered dough to rise in there. It worked well for me!)

3- In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth; set aside. Punch dough down (you know that it's ready for this by poking your 1st and 2nd finger into the middle of the risen dough... if the indention stays, it's ready to be punched). Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half.

4- Roll each piece into a 12 in. x 8in. rectangle. Spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Spoon jam lenghtwise over half of the filling. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side with the jam. Pinch seams to seal; tuck ends under.

5- Place loaves seam side down on a greased baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut shallow slashes across the top of each. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

6- Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm coffee cakes.

Yields: 2 loaves (10 slices each)
**Reheating options**
If you make a coffee cake in advance but want fresh-from-the-oven flavor when you serve it to guests, try this trick: Wrap an unfrosted coffee cake in foil. Reheat at 350 degrees for a few minutes or until warm.


Now... during all this fun, I had gotten a call from my brother. He had called a few nights ago to let us know that my sis-in-law's grandpa had passed away. He lived in Utah, and we figured she'd probably be going to the funeral... Rob had called me to see if I... or my Mom and I could come over to Spring, TX to help him with my nephew Conner b/c she wasn't taking him with her. And my brother really needs to work so that he doesn't fall behind on all his paperwork and such. SO... I'm going to be there from tomorrow to Weds. I'm taking the other coffee cake with me for all of us to have for breakfast/dessert... whatever. Anyhow... I will possibly update from there... but will likely wait until my return. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Some really good recipes

If you're watching your fat and calorie intake... here's a couple recipes that are REALLY yummy!

BURRITO PIE-- This one is 7 Weight Watchers points a serving (Serves 8). It's REALLY yummy... note that if you're not watching your fat/calorie intake, then you could most certainly use different meat and could use regular refried beans and tortillas; also if you're eating vegetarian then others have substituted Boca meatless ground burger for the meat. Also note that this makes quite a bit... so you may want to half the recipe and use a smaller baking pan if you're only feeding 2-3 people. I was only serving my parents and myself and we are STILL eating leftovers!

1. 1 pounds lean ground turkey (season with salt/pepper and season-all if you like)
   
2. 1 onion, chopped
3. 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves chopped very finely)
   
4. 1 (2 ounce) can black olives, sliced
5. 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chili peppers (I only used about 1/3 of the can)
   
6. 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
7. 1 (16 ounce) jar taco sauce (this is near the salsas... I used Old El Paso Taco Sauce... it's in a squeeze bottle)
   
8. 2 (16 ounce) cans refried beans (I used non-fat refried beans)
   
9. 12 (8 inch) flour tortillas (I used 6 Heart Healthy Mission Flour Tortillas... they're big enough that you only need 2 tortillas per layer)
   
10. 9 ounces Reduced Fat (or Fat-Free) Shredded Cheese
    

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the meat until cooked through. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, green chile peppers, tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco sauce and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan/cake pan (I lined mine with foil so there's less clean up). Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.
5. I cut it into eight servings (this is important if you're counting points so that you are getting a correct serving)... this recipe makes a lot but the leftovers are REALLY good (in fact, they taste better when the flavors come together a bit more).

Chocolate Muffins

If you're a chocoholic you'll LOVE this one! If you're counting Weight Watchers points, one muffin is 3 points.


Ingredients:
1 Box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 Can Solid Packed Pumpkin (Not pumpkin pie filling... there's a difference...)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together... it will be VERY thick and seem like you should thin it out with something.... DON'T! Mix half the cake mix with the pumpkin and blend well... then add the rest of the cake mix to make sure it's thoroughly blended. Fill lined cupcake tins ALL THE WAY full of the mix.... this should make 12 cupcake sized muffins (you may have just a little 'batter' leftover). I placed a cookie sheet on the rack under my tins b/c I was afraid they may bake over and spill out... but mine didn't... Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. They're REALLY good... even without icing... and you can't taste any pumpkin... all you taste is chocolate... they're also quite filling (would be great for a quick breakfast).