Kitchen Tip

Not sure if this is a well know tip, but no one has ever told me, so I thought there might be a few of you out there that might not know!
I am not a huge meat eater, and I really really don't like chunky ground beef.  I like my ground beef to be soft and small pieces, so what I do to get this is make sure my meat is completely thawed, then I break it up with a wooden spoon and then add about a cup of water per pound.  I don't know scientifically what it does, but every time I do this my meat comes out soft, moist and small, usually the water just cooks out, but if you have some leftover after cooking then just drain it off.



Mom's Quick Breadsticks

My mom has this great recipe for bread sticks, they are fast and easy and very delicious.

Mix together:

2 cups Flour

2T sugar

1tsp salt

1T yeast (I use the rapid rise)

Add:

1 1/2 cups hot water

slowly add 1 1/2 cups of flour

I mix mine in my Kitchen Aid, and so after the flour is mixed I let the mixer knead it for me, but if you are using just a bowl, you will need to knead it for a few minutes. After kneading this bread is perfectly fine to be rolled out immediately, if you want to let it rise that is fine, but there is no need.

Next I add butter,and cheese and a little sprinkle of garlic salt with parsley. Just put the cheese on the bottom half because you will be folding it in the next step. 

Next you will fold it in half and using a pizza cutter cut it in strips.  Then you take the top and bottom of each strip and twist in opposite directions to give it a spiral look. Place them on a cookie sheet or stone to rise. I then let them rise for 15-20 in a warm place, and then cook them at 400 for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

I completely forgot to take a picture of them all done, and my kids gobbled them up so fast there weren't any leftovers, so you will have to make them to find out what they look like all cooked!!

Pumpkin Bread

Now that Halloween is over fall is really going to start moving.  I went into Wal-Mart today and they already had a Christmas tree up!!!  I wanted to share the Pumpkin Bread recipe I used the other day.  I actually used a recipe on line so click HERE for the link.

The recipe is for 36 people I believe, but it gives you a little spot to type in the number of people to serve and it changes the recipe for you.  I used my pumpkin I cooked the other day, and it was yummy!!  Please excuse the fact that they have no bottoms, I am in need of new bread pans.

How to cook a pumpkin

I love the taste and smell of fresh pumpkin.  Most of us use the stuff in the can, but here is instructions on how to get the "real" pumpkin taste in your recipes.

First you'll need to buy pie pumpkins.  They are the littler ones, and should be labeled as such at the store.  When you get home pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Then cut them in half, I was able to bend the stem off after cutting them, this makes it easier to fit them all on the pan.  After cutting them in half scrape out the seeds and goo.  Lay them face down on a pan.  I used my biggest cookie sheet.  Put the cookie sheet in the oven and add water to the bottom of the pan.  I put in about 4-5 cups of water. (Just put in enough to cover the bottom, but not coming over the sides.   

Cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the pumpkins.  I usually feel the pumpkins.  When the are soft and squishy to the touch the are done.

Pull them out of the oven and turn over to let them cool down.  When the are cool enough to touch peel off the skin and put the pumpkin into a blender.

Blend it up nice and smooth.  I divided mine out into little Tupperware, and freeze mine. My two pumpkins I bought made 8 cups of pumpkin.  So each pumpkin makes about 4 cups, if you buy the size I did.   I used real pumpkin in my pumpkin pies last year and they tasted great!  You can also use this in pancakes, Cinnamon rolls, and I am going to make some pumpkin bread in a few days. . .enjoy!