Thanksgiving Dressing

Don't you love those people who make great food, but when you ask for the recipe, they can only tell you they threw in this and that with no measurements? That is the case here. I love the dressing my in-laws make, and after quizzing one of my sisters-in-law and looking at a couple sites online, I came up with this recipe. I tried it out, and will say it's easy and bursting with great flavor. I recommend adding the browned sausage - Yum! I used Jimmy Dean's sage sausage. This dish will be quick to do a disappearing act on Thanksgiving Day, so be sure to have plenty on hand to serve to the guests!
Ingredients:
2 loaves French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. butter to grease pans
1-2 onion, chopped
5-8 stalks celery, sliced in 1/4-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. butter, to saute veggies
2 tsp. celery salt
1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. dried sage
2 eggs, beaten
2 C. chicken broth (can use 2 bouillon cubes boiled with 2 C. water)
1/4 C. butter, melted
1 lb. ground sausage, browned (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two cookie sheets and set aside. Cut bread into small pieces, and place in a single layer on the baking sheets. Stir occasionally as it bakes until dried out – about 30 minutes. Allow the bread crumbs to cool and add to an extra-large bowl.
Preheat over to 350 degrees.
While the bread is in the oven, melt 1/4 C. butter in a skillet and saute onions and celery. Stir often, about 10 minutes. If you’d like to add it, brown the sausage at this point.
Add all ingredients to the bowl and stir until all ingredients are combined.
Grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour the mixture in, covering tightly with tin foil.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes and serve immediately. Makes 15+ servings.
Angel's Tip: Add onion and celery according to taste - I like to add more.

Focaccia Bread

This is a mouth-watering bread recipe that I made for my husband for Father's Day. I love the focaccia bread sandwiches at a local restaurant, and a couple years ago a friend of mine brought some of the bread, homemade, to a potluck lunch. I hadn't thought of making it myself. My friend said she found the recipe online. Here's one I found online which I altered to make my own. It makes a soft bread that is perfect for sandwiches - it's baked like pizza, somewhat flat then cut into squares and each square is sliced in half, horizontally (think hamburger bun). Adding toppings to the bread really makes it special – the focaccia bread I made, which is pictured here, had no toppings. Since it is a bit of work – a labor of love, really – I suggest doubling or tripling the batch. The triple batch I made was gone in no time.
Ingredients:
2 tsp. yeast
1 C. warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 1/2-4 C. flour
1 Tbsp. coarse or regular salt
1/4 olive oil, or vegetable oil
Toppings:
2 Tbsp. olive oil, or vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
10 olives, sliced thinly
1/4 C. Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. coarse salt or regular
ground pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
(all optional)
Directions:
In a bowl proof yeast, combining with the warm water and sugar. Stir gently to dissolve. Let stand a couple minutes until foamy. Use mixer on low or stir by hand with wooden spoon, slowly adding the flour. Dissolve salt in 2 Tbsp warm water and add. Also add 1/4 C. oil. Continue mixing. If hand stirring, place dough on a lightly floured surface with extra flour on hand. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding flour as needed.
Form dough into a ball. Set it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap in a warm place until doubled in size – about 30 minutes or more. (I like to turn on the oven to lowest setting for one minute, shut off, and place dough in the oven – make sure the oven is turned off!)
Add a light coat of oil to a cookie sheet and spread around (you can sprinkle with cornmeal if desired).
Once dough is ready, turn it out on counter and roll and stretch the dough into an rectangular shape about 1/2-inch thick. Lay the dough in the pan covered with plastic wrap, and let rest 15 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Saute onion in the oil on low heat for 10-15 minutes until caramelized.
Uncover dough and make dimples (about an inch apart) with fingertip. Brush dough with oil and add onions, garlic, olives, cheese, salt, pepper and rosemary. Bake on the bottom rack for 15-20 minutes. Makes one loaf for about 6-8 servings, depending on sandwich sizes.
The bread is great with any type of sandwich. I last used it with shredded chicken. It's also great with soup – just about anything!
Enjoy!
Angel's Tip: Using olive oil and coarse sea salt makes everything just a bit nicer, but if you don't have these on hand go with what you have in your cupboards, it will still turn out great!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Danish

My Blue Mountain Eagle co-worker Winnie Browning of Seneca shared this Cinnamon Cream Cheese Danish recipe after making it for her family – she said it was a hit! Her version is an adaptation of a Cheese Danish recipe she found on Pinterest. These would be great for breakfast or dessert, but I’m fairly certain they’ll disappear soon after they come out of the oven, no matter the time!

Ingredients:
1 12 oz. Big & Flaky Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (or equivalent of different brand)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 C. white sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Roll out two rectangles of crescent roll dough, and press one into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese with 1/2 C. sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough in the pan. Place the remaining crescent roll dough on top of the cream cheese layer. Spread melted butter over the top, and sprinkle the top with a mixture of 1/2 C. sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until top is lightly toasted. Cool, and refrigerate before serving.
Makes 9 servings.

Blueberry Zuchinni Bread

I can attest, this recipe is golden! Marissa Williams of Canyon City – publisher of the Blue Mountain Eagle – had some extra zucchini on her hands and adapted this recipe found at allrecipes.com.
The texture is moist with a light crunchy crust, the blueberries bursting with flavor – you might want to double the recipe to be sure there is enough to go around!
Thanks Marissa for sharing this recipe!
If you have a recipe you’d like to share, don’t hesitate to email it to me at angel@bmeagle.com – pictures of the dish are appreciated. Please include your name and the city you’re from.

Ingredients:
* 3 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 C. vegetable oil
* 3 tsp. vanilla extract
* 2 1/4 C. white sugar
* 2 C. shredded unpeeled zucchini, use large side of shredder
* 3 C. all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1 tsp. baking powder
* 1/4 tsp. baking soda
* 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
* 1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in shredded zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Angel’s tip: For an extra wow-factor add a crumble topping to the bread mixture before baking.

Ingredients:
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter

Directions:
Mix first three ingredients in a small bowl, cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over the bread mixture that has been poured into the mini-loaf pans.

Crescent Rolls

I begged this recipe from a friend in Ashland after eating a dinner at their home. They’re tasty and have a nice look to them also. My sister-in-law who recently attended a Cooking With Beans class said she tried substituting the butter with 1/2 c. of mashed or blended white beans, drained, and it tastes the same, very good.



1 Tbsp. yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. lukewarm water

Mix.

1 C. milk

3/4 teas. salt

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. sugar

4 C. flour

3 eggs, beaten

Scald milk, add butter, cool to lukewarm. Add other ingredients, cover and let rise 5-6 hours (double in size). Knead one or two times. Divide in half. Roll into a circle, 1/8" thick, 12-15" across. Cut circle into 16 pieces (in pizza fashion). Roll each from the large to the small end and shape like a crescent. Place on cookie sheet, 16 to a sheet, 1" apart. Let rise 2-3 hours. Bake 5-6 minutes at 375.

Makes 32 rolls.

Marie Callender’s Famous Golden Cornbread

This recipe is a family favorite from Todd Wilbur’s book “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes.” This cornbread has a cake-like texture, and tastes great with or without the honey butter. Sometimes our family enjoys having this cornbread with chili.



1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour

3/4 C. cornmeal

2 Teas. baking powder

1/3 C. sugar

3/4 Teas. salt

1 1/4 C. whole milk

1/4 C. shortening

1 egg



Honey Butter:

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, softened

1/3 C. honey

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Add the milk, shortening and egg and mix only until all the ingredients are well combined.

4. Pour batter into a greased 8X8-inch pan.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let the cornbread cool slightly before slicing it with a sharp knife into 9 pieces.

6. For the honey butter, use a mixer on high speed to whip the butter and honey together until smooth and fluffy.

Aunt Annie's Soft Pretzels

From cdkitchen.com

Ready in: 30-60 minutes
Serves/Makes:   12

Ingredients:
1-1/2 C. warm water
1-1/8 tsp. active dry yeast
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1-1/8 tsp. salt
1 C. bread flour
3 C. regular flour
2 C. warm water
2 Tbs. baking soda
To taste coarse salt
4 Tbs. butter (melted)

Directions:
Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.
While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!
Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!