rolled pizza...

These are absolutley a new favorite at our house!!

Bread dough purchased from the bakery (16oz)

Roll out to 12-14 inches in diameter.

Sprinkle on toppings (no sauce) & roll up as tightly as possible.

Tuck the ends under, place seam side down on a lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with a little olive oil & sprinkle with a little salt (or oregano)

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 min until golden brown.

Slice & eat!

You can serve these with pizza sauce on the side, but it really doesn't need it.

The recicpe was adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' Venetian Rolled Pizza. I cut the amount of cheese in half & used 1 tsp olive oil per roll instead of 1 Tbsp. Any pizza topping would be wonderful in these...I just stuck with the tried & true (& what I had on hand!!) The word from the dinner table tonight was "AWESOME!!" I'll take it!

TWD apple cheddar & apple cinnamon scones...

This really is my kind of recipe...simple, delicious, quick...you get where I'm going with this. The original recipe calls for dried apples & cheddar cheese. While those are wonderful on their own, I thought a little cinnamon and nutmeg in place of the cheddar would make a nice sweet option. I was right. I made half with apples and cheddar & half with apples, cinnamon & nutmeg. The apples in both scones are really just a subtle hint of sweetness that really was tasty.

I have made scones many times before, and I found this to be the easiest recipe yet, and with the same wonderful results as other, more time consuming recipes.

Thanks Karina for the excellent choice! For the complete recipe you can visit Karina at The Floured Apron, or for all of Dorie Greenspan's amazing recipe's, her book , Baking: From My Home to Yours would be a fabulous addition to any kitchen!!

grilled pizza...

WOW! I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. There have been quite a few recipe repeats, BBQ's & even a little eating out...

We first fell in love with this pizza on Father's Day & I couldn't wait to make it again.

All you need is pizza dough, store bought or homemade (I lucked out & found balls of dough in the bakery at my grocery store for...$1.50...LOVE IT!!)

Divide dough into individual servings & roll out on a well floured counter. Place dough on the grill (I brushed the grill with a little olive oil first) and cook over med-med low heat on one side. Turn over & partially cook the other side. Have all of your toppings ready to go, remove dough & assemble pizza toppings on the first/fully cooked side. Put pizza back on the grill & cook until the cheese melts.

This really couldn't be easier and is so very, very delicious!

Give this a try this Summer...you'll be hooked!

*to make this even easier just use pita pockets or flat bread instead of dough*

peach raspberry shortcake...

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

12 Tbsp cold butter (1 1/2 sticks), diced

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled

sweetened, whipped cream

ripe peaches; diced

raspberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, the baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Blend in the butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add to the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will be sticky.
Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Flour your hands and pat the dough out 3/4-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough.
Cut biscuits with any size or shape cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or lightly greased.
Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (depending on size of biscuits), until the outsides are crisp and the insides are fully baked. Let cool on a wire rack.

Split each shortcake in half crosswise and place the bottom half on a plate. Spoon whipped cream on top, then place the sliced peaches and raspberries on the whipped cream, then place the other half of the shortcake on top and serve.

This is a very elegant take on shortcake. They are very biscuit-like, and very rich. The sugar sprinkled on the top created an extra sweetness that was really tasty. You could add a little more sugar to the dough for extra sweetness, but try it, as is, first. Also, milk could very easily be substituted for the heavy cream in the dough. The cream made it extremely rich.

When patting out, stick to the 3/4 in to 1 in thickness. Any thinner than that and you will end up with hockey pucks. Try not to handle the dough too much before cutting out. You want the butter to stay cold so they will be light and fluffy.

It would be very cute to cut out with a star, heart, etc. Just remember to keep the dough on the thick side. I used a 2 inch in diameter biscuit cutter that made about 20 servings.

recipe adapted from The Barefoot Contessa...LOVE her!!

corn...

*corn pudding*

1/2 cup butter; melted

1 can creamed corn

1 can corn; drained

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (8.5 oz size)

1 16oz container sour cream

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl & transfer to a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 min. or until lightly golden on the top & set.

I have cut this in half (the full recipe makes A LOT for a side dish) and I have also used fat free sour cream (NO difference in the taste). This is sooooo easy and really tasty!

*creamy corn*

2 tsp butter
1/4 cup green onions, minced
2 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, or fresh corn (no need to thaw frozen corn)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/8 tsp salt, or more to taste
1/8 tsp pepper, or to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add scallions and sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add corn and sauté 1 minute to heat through (or slightly longer if using frozen corn). Add flour and stir to coat corn and scallions. Add milk and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, until mixture thickens, about 10 to 12 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper.

This was so much better than the canned stuff. I didn't have any green onions on hand so I just used a little chopped onion & it worked fine. Although a little green color in there would be nice!

TWD peppermint cream puffs...

Absolutely divine!

This recipe, chosen by Caroline from A Consuming Passion, was amazing. It was originally supposed to be a cream puff ring. I read that other TWD bakers were having problems with their "rings" collapsing, so I took the petite cream puff route.

I have made pate a choux (or choux paste...or cream puff dough...) many times before, and was anxious to try Dorie's recipe. LOVED it. The cream puffs had the exact flavor a cream puff should have, and were also the perfect consistency...crisp on the outside, moist on the inside.

It was also relatively easy to pull together.

The chocolate on the outside & the crunch of the almonds just added an extra wonderful flavor and texture.

This will definitely be made in my kitchen again, and again, and again...!!

pesto...

Have you tried this??? I've been wanting to try my hand at homemade pesto for a while, but my friend/neighbor introduced me to this little baby & I see no reason to make my own. It is fabulous with multi grain crackers (also from Costco), or...

...mix it in with pasta, add a little grated parmesan cheese (NOT the kind in the green can...) and dive in. This is seriously goooood!

Pesto can be a little rich, and has a quick expiration date because of the fresh basil, so if you don't think you will use it all up before then just freeze half for later (a little olive oil drizzled over the top before freezing helps retain the color.)