Mandy and Jace

I made these back at Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. They are soft and buttery and so tasty.

Just like any other yeast bread recipe though, patience is required in the baking process. They need several hours to rise and they need a lot of attention. I promise your patience will be rewarded. If you want to just make the dough and not bake the rolls yet that is perfectly fine. Just refrigerate the dough for up to two days and bake them whenever you want to. I always take an afternoon and bake all the rolls then wrap them up really well and freeze them. Then whenever we need bread for a meal I just pull them out a couple hours ahead of time and pop them in the oven for a couple of minutes before serving to warm them through. You’d never know they were in the freezer.

Yeast Rolls
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
4 cups milk (I used 2% and it worked fine)
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
9 cups of flour
4 1/2 tsp dry active yeast or 2 packages
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons salt

Pour 4 cups of milk into a large pot. Add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil and stir to combine. Turn on the burner to medium and warm until little bubbles start to appear around the edge of the pot. Do not let it come to a boil. Turn off the burner.

Leave the pot on the stove and let it cool. Hot water kills yeast so we need it to come to lukewarm. It took mine about 45 minutes or so to cool off.

When it is cool add in 4 cups of flour and 4 1/2 tsp of yeast. Stir to combine. Add another 4 cups of flour and stir to combine. Place the pot in your oven (TURNED OFF) to stay warm and let it sit covered with a towel for an hour. It should double in size, if it doesn’t look like it has risen enough let it sit for another 30 minutes. When you are happy with how it has risen add another cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until combined.

If you are not ready to bake the rolls then put the pot of dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. When you are ready pull it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before you use it so it can come back to room temperature.

If you are ready to bake now, spray 3 sheet pans with non-stick spray. Form the rolls by pulling small portions of the dough out and forming them into about egg sized balls. Fill the sheet pans and let them sit covered with a towel for an hour to rise.

After an hour bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Throw them in a basket and serve or wrap them in plastic wrap and foil and freeze.

We first discovered these delicious potato cakes at one of our favorite restaurants here in town called The Garlic Press. They beautifully place these beside a juicy steak and perfectly cooked vegetables. We have been trying to recreate these for a long time now and just couldn’t seem to get them quite right. I think after lots of tweaks and changes we finally have a killer recipe.

One really cool thing about these cakes is they use leftover mashed potatoes. We always have leftover mashed potatoes and I really hate to throw them away, but they just really aren’t that tasty reheated. However, when you bread and fry them they are as good as fresh. Of course almost anything breaded and fried is great but that’s a different post.

For obvious high calorie reasons I don’t make these very often, but when we do splurge it is well worth it. I really don’t have measurements for this recipe because it really depends on how much leftover mashed potatoes you have and how many cakes you want to end up with.

Potato Cakes

leftover cold mashed potatoes
grated raw potato
chopped chives
a couple of eggs, beaten
panko bread crumbs
garlic salt
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Pour your oil into your frying pan until it is about 1/3 of the way up the pan. Heat on medium high heat.

To prepare your frying ingredients beat a couple of eggs and add some salt and garlic salt. Also pour some Panko bread crumbs into a plate and mix with some salt.

In a bowl combine your mashed potatoes with some of the grated potato and some chopped chives. I made eight potato cakes and it took 1/2 a potato. If you plan on making more depending on how much mashed potatoes you have leftover you may use a whole potato. Shape into small cakes or patties making sure they come together tightly.

One at a time drop your potato cake into the beaten eggs, remove and place them into the Panko bread crumbs. Coat the entire potato cake with the bread crumbs and place into hot oil.

Cook until both sides are golden brown and remove onto a plate with paper towels to soak up the extra oil.

Salt the cakes and enjoy.

Any time I think about hot cocoa I think about being in New Mexico at a ranch we used to always go to with our youth group. We would sit around the fire in the most comfortable couches and drink the best hot cocoa ever. I think it was just package hot cocoa but for some reason it tasted so much better by the fire in the mountains.

We came across this recipe one night while we were watching tv. There wasn’t anything on and we had food network on. I don’t think either of us were actucaly paying attention to the tv but as soon as AB started making this he had our attention.

Hot Cocoa
adapted from Alton Brown



2 cups powdered sugar (if you like your’s really sweet you may add a little more)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste (trust me it’s good)
Hot water

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well with a whisk. In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.

Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water. Stir to combine.

Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps forever in the pantry. This also works great with warm milk.

WARNING…these are fattening and delicious. Proceed with caution

I was introduced to these little balls of deliciousness a couple of years ago at a friends bridal shower. I remember having one and falling in love. Since you can’t eat just one I kept sneaking back up to the table pretending that I was talking or looking at photos and grabbing more. I probably had 5 or 6 by the end of the night.



I knew that night that I had to learn to make these. I just can’t make them very often or I would be in very LARGE trouble (pun intended).

The cool thing about these is they are cheap to make and you can make them into any cake flavor you want. White…delicious, strawberry…refreshing, red velvet…oh my!

Cake balls
1 box of your favorite cake mix
1 carton of white or buttercream icing
1 package of chocolate or vanilla almond bark
extra icing for decoration



Make the cake according to the directions on the box. Cool fully.

Crumble the whole cake into a large bowl. Pour the entire carton of icing into the crumbled cake mix and stir together.

Roll the cake mix/icing mixture into small balls. You may have to get your hands wet to keep the cake mix from sticking to your hands. Place onto sheet trays and put in the freezer for 1 hour to harden.

After an hour melt several squares of the almond bark into a bowl. Dip the cake balls into the bark using a fork to coat them completely. Heat more almond bark as needed. Place on a sheet tray lined with wax paper.

If desired drizzle a different colored icing on top. Let them sit for 20-30 minutes to harden. Store in an air tight container.

Here’s another one of our faithful recipes. We make fajitas all the time. It is another must have recipe, especially if you live in West Texas or if you don’t and need a Mexican food fix.



You can also make the chicken in bulk and put it in the fridge. It keep well and makes killer nachos or on-the-go burritos.



Chicken Fajitas
makes enough for 2 people

2 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, julienned
1/2 bell pepper, julienned
1/2 serrano pepper, minced
your favorite fajita seasoning
1 lime
6 corn or flour tortillas
extras:
rice, refried or pinto beans
chopped cilantro
sour cream

Season the chicken breasts liberally with your favorite fajita seasoning.

Put some oil or butter into a saute pan and heat on medium high heat. When hot add your chicken breasts and cook for 3 1/2-4 minutes on each side until fully cooked. Set aside to rest.

Pour your onion, bell pepper and serrano pepper into the pan with the chicken juices and cook until soft. Remove from pan.

Squeeze lime juice over both the chicken and onion/pepper mix

Cut the chicken into cubes or strips however you prefer.

Warm 2-3 tortillas in the microwave for about 10 seconds and fill with the chicken, peppers and onion, and any extras that sound good to you.

Serve immediately with a side of rice and beans.