Povitica (Croatian / Polish Filled Sweet Bread) Recipe October 10, 2007

Sweet Dough:
1-1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup soft butter
2 pkgs Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast
1/2 cup warm water
7-1/2 to 8 cups flour

Filling:
1 can evaporated milk
1 heaping cup sugar
2 sticks margarine
1-1/2 pounds pecans (ground fine)4 eggs
Pinch salt
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp cinnamon

Sweet Dough preparation:
Combine warm milk, sugar, salt, softened butter, and beaten eggs.
Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to other ingredients. Add half
of flour, mix well until smooth. Add flour to handle easily. Knead
dough on lightly floured board. Put dough in greased bowl, cover
and place in warm, draft free place until doubled in size. Punch
down and let double again. Divide dough in three parts. Roll each
part until very thin in rectangular shape. Spread filling, roll and
twist
in circular shape like a snail or cinnamon roll. Place in greased 8-
inch or 9-inch cake pans. Cover, put in warm place and let rise.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

Filling preparation:
In heavy pan, over medium heat, combine sugar, milk and
margarine and heat. Add nuts, then beaten eggs and mix well. Boil
one minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add pinch of
salt, cocoa and cinnamon and mix well. Let cool till just warm
enough to spread.

Yield: 3 loaves

Baked Apple French Toast October 8, 2007

Baked Apple French Toast3 large green apples
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup or more brown sugar
12 ounces cream cheese
12 slices firm bread; your choice plain white, wheat French, sourdough,
cinnamon or your favorite
8 eggs
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vanilla
cinnamon

Set rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Core and cut the apples into thin wedges, leaving the skin on or you may remove skin. In a skillet, melt butter with brown sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Add the apples and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the baking dish and let cool. Cut cream cheese into cubes and arrange evenly over the apples. cut the slices of bread in half diagonally and layer over the apples to cover the whole dish. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, taking care to dampen all the bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until golden and puffed. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

This reheats beautifully.

French toast recipes

Blueberry French Toast September 11, 2007

12 slices day-old-white bread, crust removed
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
12 eggs
2 c. milk
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

SAUCE:

1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Cut bread into 1-in. cubes; place half in a grease 13-in. x 9-in.x 2-in.
baking dish. Cut cream cheese into 1 –in. cubes; place over bread. Top
with blueberries and remaining read. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk
and syrup; mix well. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours or
overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and
bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes more or
until golden brown and the center is set. In a saucepan, combine sugar and
cornstarch; add water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 3
minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for
8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted.
Serve over French toast. Yield: 6-8 servings (1 ¾ cups sauce).

Christmas In July – Christmas Recipes July 22, 2007

This Week’s Christmas in July Edition of the Carnival of the Recipes is being hosted at Christmas Recipes

This very special Christmas-themed Recipe Carnival provides some absolutely amazing Holiday Recipes.

While you still have some time to plan for the Christmas Holiday and Thanksgiving Holidays you should try some of these that sound especially good and decide whether they should be added to your menu plans for your holiday meals and become a part of your family’s holiday traditions or should become a staple of your regular cooking all year ’round.

The Carnival is divided up into categories of Recipes for Christmas below:

Let’s get the Carnival under way with this Recipe for Christmas Joy submitted by the Christmas Weblog

And now for the cooking recipes.

Christmas Appetizers and Appetizer Recipes for Christmas

DHM presents The Common Room: Cheese Fondue posted at The Common Room.

Chinese Chicken Rolls is up at Chicken Recipes as a possible appetizer for your Christmas party.

Main Dishes

Annette Berlin presents Roasted Potatoes posted at Frugal Journey.

Christmas Turkey Tips at Turkey Recipes

Kevin Menard at techno gypsy also submits Chicken Corden Bleu

Chicken Corden Bleu

Stephanie presents Manhattan Style Seafood Stew posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Mama Squirrel presents Christmas Day Lunch posted at Dewey’s Treehouse. She had this to say about these recipes “Some people don’t really eat lunch on Christmas Day, but we eat breakfast early enough that we’re hungry again by lunchtime.”

From the Christmas Recipes page on World Famous Recipes we get this recipe for Christmas Bread

Christmas Bread

1 c Nonfat milk
1/2 c Sugar
2 pk Yeast
1/2 c Warm water (105 115’F.)
1/2 c Nonfat egg substitute
1 ts Vanilla
1 1/2 ts Salt
6 c Flour
1 Grated lemon zest
1 c Mixed candied fruit
1 c Golden raisins
1 tb Butter, melted
Powdered sugar
Red candied pineapple

Heat milk and sugar in saucepan to scalding, then cool to lukewarm.

Combine yeast and warm water in mixing bowl, stirring until yeast is dissolved.

Add cooled milk mixture to yeast mixture in mixing bowl.

Stir in egg substitute, vanilla and salt. Beat in 3 cups of flour and lemon zest.

Beat in remaining flour to make soft dough.

Knead in mixed candied fruit and raisins.

Knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Put dough in greased bowl and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down. Divide dough in half. Roll first half of dough on lightly floured surface into oval about 1/4″ thick.

Fold in half lengthwise. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush with half of melted butter.

Repeat with second half of dough.

Cover loaves and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 375’F. 25 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool to warm.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and decorate with candied pineapple or cherries.

Makes 2 loaves, or 16 servings.

Dawn presents STUFFING! posted at My Tasty Space.

Another alternative to traditional turkey and mashed potatoes or baked ham comes from Famous Recipes who brings us a succulent Cajun Roast Pork.

Premade “Mixes in a Jar” make excellent Christmas Gifts for the chefs and foodies on your shopping list and Pancake Recipes has provided an example of one mix in a jar with their CINNAMON PANCAKES IN A JAR Recipe

Thelly at Chicken Recipe gives us Apple and Wild Rice-Stuffed Chicken

Christmas Snacks – Christmas Snack Recipes

Christmas Candy Recipes- Christmas Candies

Christine presents Candied Walnuts posted at Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea.

No list of holiday recipes is complete without a fudge recipe and so we have Strawberry Fudge Balls from Recipes

Cade Krueger presents Hopi Sunflower Bread posted at Write To Right Your Business Opportunity.

Bill at Famous Recipes presents Butter Crunch Candy

Christmas Drinks – Christmas Drink Recipes

Michele from Meanderings Butterbeer – a kid friendly drink recipe using vanila ice cream, apple cider, butterscotch extract, and real butter.

Slow Cooker Recipes presents CROCKPOT MULLED CIDER

Everyday Weekender supplies us with a substantial drink for holiday festivities with Baileys Choclatini and tells about a wild night – beware or you will end up making these all night long.

And what would Christmas and the Holidays be without Egg nog?. – Smarter Dollar Recipes submits a wonderful Eggnog Recipe

Christmas Desserts – Dessert Recipes for Christmas

Diabetic Christmas Recipes

Diabetic Recipes presents Christmas Pudding as a healthy alternatve for those who need to keep their diabetees under control during the holidays.

Online Free Recipes submits Christmas Jello Recipes

Recipes Recipe presents Chocolate Mint Divinity

Christmas Pie Recipes – Christmas Pies

Mommy the Maid presents Chocolate Cream Pie is Christmas in July posted at Mommy the Maid.

wee wifey at Leader Ladies provides us with a great collection of Holiday Pies and includes such delicious treats as Wisconsin Cranberry Pie, Mom’s Lemon Custard Pie, and Pumpkin Mousse Pie.

Christmas Cake Recipes – Christmas Cakes

Shawn Lea at Everything and Nothing presents Hummingbird cake and says:

“My family insists that I make this cake every Thanksgiving AND Christmas. And sometimes Easter. And for birthdays. And just because… ;)”

Christmas Cookie Recipes – Christmas Cookies

Kevin Menard at techno gypsy provides a recipe for Christmas Cookies called Noah’s Ginger Snaps from his 14 year old.

The Grande Finale – Christmas Trifle

Last but not least, the favorite recipes of all time right here on Christmas Recipes are the Trfile recipes that we have posted here in the past. We will include those here again as a fitting finish to the Christmas in July Edition of the Carnival of the Recipes.

Santa’s Christmas Trifle

English Christmas Trifle

Merry Christmas in July and all year ’round.

Christmas Tree Clipart courtesy of Christmas Tree Clipart

Since you now have plenty of Christmas Recipes, here are some other Christmas related sites to get you into the spirit of the “Christmas in July” Season include:

Christmas Quotes

Christmas Carols

Christmas Jokes

and this page with Handmade Christmas Stocking Designs for you to knit.

The next Carnival of the Recipes will be hosted at cehwiedel. The theme will be “Just Say No” (Recipes for restricted diets…low-carb, vegetarian, etc.)

Submit your recipes via email to recipe dot carnival at gmail dot com, or use the Blog Carnival submit form.

The following week, the topic will be Slow Cooker Recipes and it will be hosted at Slow Cooker Recipes

TIMESAVING HELPERS FOR THANKSGIVING & CHRISTMAS December 26, 2006

TIMESAVING HELPERS FOR THANKSGIVING & CHRISTMAS

* Make the dough for your bread or rolls a few weeks ahead  of time. Allow the dough to rise fully once, shape it, wrap it well in freezer-safe plastic wrap or foil and freeze. When ready to bake, thaw the dough in the refrigerator. This will usually take a least a few hours or overnight. Set it in a warm place and give it its second rise and bake.  

* If you have a bread machine use it to mix the dough.  Bake the bread the night before the big day and refresh  it in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes just before serving. 

CHRISTMAS TREE BREAD December 18, 2006

Christmas Recipes – CHRISTMAS TREE BREAD

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, yolk and white separated
3/4 cup (4 ounces) diced dried fruit mix
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
      (or 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon & 3/4 tsp ground cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold, unsalted butter, cut to small pieces
Granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Check to see that one rack is in bottom third of oven and

heat oven to 425 degrees F. Measure milk in a 2-cup measure,
add sugar and egg yolk, stir to mix well.Stir in dried fruit.

Let stand until ready to use.

Put flour, baking powder, spice, and salt into a large bowl, stir to mix well.

Add butter and cut in with pastry blender or rub in with fingers,

until mixture looks like fine granules.

Stir milk mixture and pour over flour mixture.

tir with a fork until a soft dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and give 10 kneads.

(If very sticky, let stand 3 or 4 minutes or add a little more flour.)

Cut off about one-fourth of the dough.

Put remaining dough on an ungreased cookie sheet at

least 16 inches long. Using both rolling pin and fingers, pat and roll
dough into a flat triangle about 12 inches long and

9 inches wide across the bottom. With scissors, make about ten diagonal
cuts down each long side of the triangle, cutting to

within about 1 inch of the center.Shape a small piece of reserved dough

into a trunk at bottom of tree and remaining dough into a “pot.”

Dough may now be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for a

couple of hours or frozen for up to 2 weeks. Bake tree 10 minutes.

Beat egg white with a fork until broken up. Brush over hot bread,

sprinkle with sugar. Bake 5 to 8 minutes longer, until light brown.

With two spatulas, carefully transfer tree to a wire rack.

If possible, cool at least 2 hours before serving.

Let guests break off small pieces.