Mashed potato yeast rolls

This is a recipe you must try.  Yesterday was cold and gloomy so I cooked all day and last, of all, I found this recipe using leftover mashed potatoes from Pinterest called Amish potato rolls. I had heard of using potato water, so I was not surprised when that was included in the recipe too.  But a cup of leftover mashed potatoes???  I didn't have leftover mashed potatoes so I made some in a hurry and to tell the truth, they were lumpy AND IT STILL WORKED.  You cannot fail at this, it makes itself work no matter the mistakes.  You throw all the ingredients into a mixer with a dough hook and let it do the work. You can do it by hand, but why?The oven is at 350 and the rolls, when finished, bake for about 24 minutes depending on your oven.  Tomorrow I am turning these into mini sliders.  We have some roast beef, cheese, and grainy mustard.  I've given you that recipe before and actually, you can use any deli meat and throw on whatever pleases you and stick them in the oven to melt the cheese and toast the tops a bit. We also used Kings Hawaiian rolls but I am eager to try these in place of them.

The rolls
Into a mixing bowl:
2eggs, 1/3 cup sugar,2 teaspoons. salt, 6 tablespoons butter (soft), 1 cup unseasoned mashed potatoes, 2  1.2 teaspoons yeast (1 package dry yeast), 3/4 cup of potato water, 4 1/4 cups flour.  MIX until a ball forms; dough will be sticky. Place dough in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise for 90 minutes.  Gently deflate and make 16 round balls.  Place them in a greased pan and put lightly greased saran wrap on top; let rise another 2  1/2 hours.  350 for 24 minutes and Bob's your uncle.

These with Balsamic salmon fillets (the post before this one) and roasted vegetables make a lovely dinner.

It's salmon today

Valentina's Corner (blog) has mouth watering salmon recipes and pictures which I hope can stay here along with some of her salmon recipes.  I have such a craving for salmon today for some strange reason.  So, I started searching Pinterest and they have done everything to salmon that can be done.  The recipes are easy and the pictures are glorious.  This recipe from Valentina's is one I want to try today, if possible.

2 pounds salmon
2 tablespoons Ranch mix dressing
2/3 cups Hellman's mayo
2 tablespoons parmesan
1  1/2 tablsp milk
garlin (if you want)
pepper
3/4 cups mozzarella cheese
Bake on parchment 12-14 minutes in 425 oven and then 2-3 minutes under the broiler to brown the cheese a bit.

What could be easier, I ask?
I'll search some more and put on more salmon recipes, hopefully.

I was able to get salmon so I am debating between the above and Balsamic glazed salmon.


Balsamic glazed salmon
In a sauce pan put: 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon diijon mustard
 1 garlic clove diced, if you wish.   Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat to simmer until the mixture becomes syrupy. Set aside to drizzle over the pan fried salmon.

Oil in a skillet
 four, 6 ounce fillets with skin off
 salt and pepper both sides
brown both sides in the skillet for three to four minutes
Serve them warm with the drizzle and fresh herbs on top
This may win because it would be wonderful with oven roasted crispy potatoes and roasted glazed carrots.  We have a winner!

Here it comes

After a brilliant October, today the 23rd, brings about a change.  It is dark and gloomy, but a good time to bake brownies in my new copper divided pan.  It is the second go-around for that little device and I like it still.

Today I took several new outfits to the alteration lady.  Finally found one close to home.   I also saw, just down the way from alterations, a new nail salon that I am going to try. I liked the salon I had been going to for a few years, but something happened I didn't like and rather than try to get it fixed I am simply moving on. I am getting too old to fight battles that mean nothing in the end.I just don't like to be short-changed.

I made a nice pot of Amish noodles with lovely chunks of chicken and fresh herbs. I will miss stepping outside to cut a handful of fresh herbs now that fall has taken over.  I can still get fresh rosemary out in the conservatory because it winters over beautifully; sage does well out there too.

It's 18 more days until we leave for New Orleans. Hence, the trip to alterations.  Beth and I are looking forward to merging families in a fun and festive time together. The men will be feeding dogs and 'doing' for themselves for four days.  I think they'll make it. I hope they don't enjoy it too much, however. 

Then when we come home it will be less than two weeks until Thanksgiving.  We are expecting a crowd as usual and looking forward to it.  I wish it would be nice so we could eat outside like the Pilgrims did and some years it is possible.  But, I think our grace period is over and it will probably be nippy. Nonetheless, we will have a good time.

Soon, very soon

October has been the prettiest month I can remember for a long time.  Today, it still is and so we are working to get all the outdoor furniture stored for the winter and the plants that can be saved into the conservatory.  Mike, Beth, Andy and I have worked all morning to get this done while I have been getting all the vines off the pergola for its paint job happening in the spring.  I have it spray painted every three years and now it needs it more than ever because our morning glories have gone wild this year and nearly covered it completely--not quite, but almost.  In between my job of vine cutting and dealing with the seeds I managed a pot of Trader Joe's medley rice with his New Zealand shrimp.  Yesterday I got the refrigerator completely cleaned and purged of what needs to go, so I am feeling accomplished today.

We have a few more days to enjoy before the 50s roll in letting us  know what is coming.  Andy has changed the filters in all three furnaces so that job is completed too.  We are on a roll...for once.

The rest of the day we can relax in the sun, read, talk and review the summer and all of its glory.  Our plans are secure for New Orleans  in twenty days.  I don't know why we are so excited about this trip.  Lately I dislike leaving home, but I have hauled out the luggage already for this excursion.  I hope to get enough pictures for the next Chat book.  I'll need sixty so every move will be recorded.  You poor things, you will be bored to death with the pictures but I will be happy to have the memories to look back on and people after me can see what a great family I have had with which to enjoy it.
Soon, very soon.

Doris Lechler

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Soup's on

As you probably know, I am not above talking help when I can get it and this soup is evidence.  Even though I cannot get the picture of my own soup from my own Facebook page over here, I can assure that you will see the picture on my Facebook. Sorry I can't get it to transfer. (Oh, there it is... appeared like magic.)

  Every time Joe and Glenda come to town we make a trip to Plain City to the Amish store.  Like Trader Joe's I enjoy trying their different products.  I saw, in my pantry,  the creamy potato soup mix with made from scratch quality and decided to marry it to Trader Joe's riced cauliflower and riced broccoli. It was a tri-marriage made in heaven.  Those items coupled with pepper bacon sprinkled on as it is being served won the day. Of course the 8 cups of homemade chicken broth (instead of 8 cups of water, helped things along and we had soup in twenty minutes.

I use Stouffer's products enhanced by my own too.  I use their mac and cheese but with pokes of pepperoni crisping on top.  I lay the pepperoni on top and with the end of a wooden spoon I poke it into the creamy mac and cheese and as it browns and becomes crisp the goodness also seeps into the main event.  The top comes out of the oven and looks like a bed of fall flowers.  It's a big hit with kids. I also use their lasagna especially the new one with loads of meat; I forget what it's called...maybe meat lovers.  There is not much you have to do with that product, it is good.  I make my own lasagna sometimes and get creative, but in a pinch and for a big crowd, I take the help, with thanks to the perfected products.

WOW.  There it is, picture and all.

Doris Lechler

31 mins · 

Soup’s on

Trader Joe's fix

I made a trip to Trader Joe's this morning and it was glorious.  No crowd, fresh goods and some new things to try.  I try to buy two or three products that I have never bought before and I am usually very pleased.  Look at this orchid!  Joe has great prices and this was $13. and change.  Dunkers.  If you have not tried these with your tea or coffee you are missing a treat.  (I have bought these many times.) Since I have a new and useful brownie pan I bought Trader Joe's truffle baking mix.  I'll let you know how this is.  Then to go with my recipe for clotted cream I bought pumpkin spice scone mix. These dried orange slices looked delicious so in went the package in my bulging shopping cart. (I only went in for a few things...you know how that goes.)

Have you had Joe's Argentinan red shrimp?  Wonderful.  His langostino tails which I put in my mac and cheese makes a fancy, tasty dish.
Also in the frozen section, I am trying the Thai shrimp gyoza pot stickers...new to me.  I'll let you know. Note:  These are delicious and they go right from the freezer into a skillet--follow the easy directions and lunch was ready in minutes.  There are microwave directions too, but I don't have one of those. (Yep.  I don't have a microwave.)

               

                               

Rosemary's hair cut

Rosemary got a haircut today.  A few years ago Glenda and Joe brought us a small potted Rosemary plant.  We stuck it in this big, and I mean big, pot with some other plants and look what happened.  She got a major haircut this morning because it takes two or three men to get this into the conservatory for the winter.  I have hung bunches of Rosemary everywhere.  It looks like I am warding off evil spells.

Today, another thing I am doing is putting together another Chat book.  It is so much fun.  The books are $8. a book with 60 pictures in each book.  They are raising the prices some time this month and they should because they are worth a bit more.  I can't wait to get the ones that will be from New Orleans (for my birthday celebration) early in November. For some reason we are looking forward to that trip more than usual.  Writing of trips Nate has bought a back pack that is enormous.  You could carry two or three babies in that thing.  He is preparing for his 3 month wander lust trip(S)

We are starting to put the outdoor things away and the pool will close at the end of October.  It's sad then, but there is the joy of spring ahead. Another glorious day at Many Branches today.

Chatbooks...journaling with pictures

This is a new brownie copper baking pan that I got yesterday.  It does a beautiful job.  The brownies slip right out with no grease.  Don't put these copper pans in the dishwasher.  I think that is where the mistakes happen. $9. at Ollie's.

I heard about Chat Books and that very hour I was on the computer looking for the site.  It was found the first try and so easy to use that I had 21 books ready in less than fifteen minutes.  I was flying by the seat of my pants and there are things I will change the next go, but for $8. a book these will be read and reread for years to come.  Once I found out how to choose the covers and how to write the descriptions under the pictures I could not wait to add to the pile that arrived in less than a week. I got soft covers, but hard covers are available too.  Beth and I are taking these to my 80th birthday celebration in New Orleans so the 'girls' can have a look at this new discovery.  My advice is take your time (I did not) and discover all of Chat Books offerings.  They are eager to help and fast on the draw.  I am really impressed.

Clotted Cream

When I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman's site, rushes of memories good and bad at the same time rushed in.  After teaching 30 years I went into antiques in a big way.  I had been writing books and collecting heavily since the early seventies but when I got a taste of buying to sell and to research for my books, I started traveling every other month to London and Paris.  Coming home on the plane from London they always gave me a scone, clotted cream, and jam of some sort.  Now I loved this combination with a passion usually reserved for beef stew.  But, there is so much involved in coming home with 15 to 20 boxes and trunks filled with antiques, the thought of customs, the question will all the parcels arrive, and if they arrive how much damage can I assume will be there when I open the container?  That is what kept me from eating the treat right away.  I had no appetite until I was on the connecting flight home. I had nearly the same worries, but being back in America I knew I could get help of some kind. So, I usually carried the scone treat with me until I could eat it in peace.  Now I am not sure I could get in the country with a scone, clotted cream, and jam.  There is certainly a regulation against those dangerous combinations written someplace...let alone get into the country with 15-20 boxes and trunks.  Glad I did it, glad it's over.

Clotted cream  (it's hard to find in the stores and expensive) but this will certainly do.

4 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cut room temperature butter
1/2 cut sour cream

beat the cream cheese first
add butter to cream cheese and beat again
add sour cream to the cream cheese and butter and beat until smooth

How easy will that be?  

Vegetable beef soup

There was just enough stew left last night to turn it into a vegetable beef soup with tiny pasta floating around in the goodness this morning.  I'll send my 82-year-old husband off to school at OSU with a nice bowl of tasty soup.  He is taking two courses this semester, so he goes every day.  Astronomy is one and Christianity is the other. It makes for lively discussions, I can tell you that.

Cook's Corner came this morning and I must say they are not stingy with buying articles from other newspapers.  The Corner was packed with Asian delights today.  Remember the rice pilaf craze?  I served it at nearly every dinner party back then because it was so 'in.'  Well the recipe, which is simple to begin with, is in Cook's Corner today along with one I might try, shrimp meatballs.  Shrimp is a favorite and Asian cuisine does justice to them.

Shrimp meatballs (ebi dango)
1 pound of cleaned and minced (fine) shrimp
2 scallions, chopped equally finely
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons. plus 1 Tsp. soy sauce, divided
1 beaten egg
4 cups chicken or fish stock
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 head Chinese Napa cabbage, about 1 1/2 pounds cut into 1-inch cubes
8 dry mushrooms, reconstituted

In a large bowl, blend together shrimp, scallions, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce and the egg.
In a large pot, season the stock with the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and the sugar, bring to a boil.  Drop spoonfuls of the shrimp mixture into the stock and that will cook into dumplings.  When they rise to the surface, they are done.  Add cabbage and mushrooms.  Cook 7 minutes, covered, and serve with hot rice.

Goody, it's beef stew season

Sam's had the nicest chuck roasts last Wednesday.  I froze them because I was knee deep in fish at the time.  I had a craving for beef stew and got the meat ready last night so that I could bring it to room temperature for the slow cooker.
The herbs are still flourishing and I piled them in with the chuck roasts. I covered both pieces with Lipton's onion dry soup mix, a dry Ranch dressing packet, a few strips of pepper bacon, some red wine (just in the bottom of the cooker because the meat makes the liquid.) However, throughout the hours of slow cooking, I kept adding red wine. I squeezed in some tomato paste for flavor although I like the rich dark brown gravy better than a tomato based stew. So I was careful not to squeeze the tube too much. The meat turned out to be so tender it could not be sliced.  It just melted beautifully.  An hour before the end of the cycle I put in carrots, onions, potatoes and at the last minute frozen peas.  You all know how to make beef stew, it is just comforting to relate its process.

I cannot believe this beautiful weather we are having in October.  It feels like summer.  Bella, our Yorkie, hurt her leg and hip twirling early yesterday morning.  So she has been out baking her body in the last of the summer sunshine. I hate it when my dogs get hurt.  By the way, have you watched Dr. Jeff Rocky Mountain Vet?  I think it is on Animal Planet.  He is so wonderful and a real blessing to those who have little or no money but a strong love of their pets. (He is also battling cancer himself yet he works on.) It's a new season this week and I watched all of his shows last season.  He has 100,000 pet patients and a staff of thirty nurses, doctors, office help, and technicians.  It is such an interesting show.  I agree with him; these people running puppy mills breeding dogs literally to death should be in jail. When they can no longer produce they kill them or call a rescue crew to pick them up, even giving the rescuers a time limit to get them or they shoot the dogs. When they are picked up they are already half dead and in deplorable condition. These dogs have never been out of a cage. I'd say there ought to be a law, but Congress can't get anything done as it is, so why even dream of that.  Well, that's a downer.

Enjoy your October.  It's a slow easy fall here at Many Branches.