Sunday Muffins: Homemade Donuts!

Good Morning!

Matt. Loves. Doughnuts. I don't think I have ever met someone who likes them as much as he does, except maybe my Uncle Jack. At some point last week Matt decided that his next yeast recipe adventure was going to be doughnuts. Well, who doesn't like fresh, warm doughnuts? I gladly agreed to help him make these. In fact, I think they came out pretty darn good!

Doughnuts (makes 18ish)
1 1/8 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 large eggs
1 1/4 stick butter
4 cups AP flour
Shortening/Oil to fry the donuts in

     Warm the milk in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Heat the milk until it is JUST BARELY WARM, if it is too warm it will kill the yeast. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Now add the yeast and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Melt butter in another bowl, again just barely so it isn't too hot. Crack the eggs and beat until a uniform color in another small bowl. Now, slowly whisk the butter into the egg mixture. Add the egg/butter mixture to a electric mixing bowl, attach the bread hook. Add the yeast mixture and turn the mixer on to speed level 3. Once the mixture is fully combined start adding the flour in 1/2 cup increments until it has all been added. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides if needed, now let the mixer run on level 3 for 5 more minutes. After 5 minutes let the dough rest in the bowl for 10 minutes then transfer it to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.
     Once the dough has been allowed to rise roll it out on a floured surface, you want it to be about a third of an inch thick. Now cut out the doughnut shapes. You could probably make them any shape but we made them the normal doughnut shape. To do this we used a larger glass to cut the outside shape and then something with a much smaller diameter (we used the top of an old prescription bottle, but a shot glass would work too). Once you have cut all of the doughnuts out you can re-roll the excess dough if you want. Place the shapes on parchment lined cookie sheets and let rise until they are almost double in size (about an hour in a warm place).

Now it's time to heat your oil, if you have a counter top fryer use that, I just used a pot that had about 3 inches of oil in it. Be careful if you are using an oil filled pot, you will need to check the temp to make sure it isn't too hot. Heat the oil until it is 375˚F, once it is hot you can start frying the doughnuts. Place 2-3 in the oil and flip after 1 minute. Cook 1 more minute on the other side and remove and let cool on a cookie sheet lined with a paper towel. Repeat until all of the doughnuts have been cooked. To cook doughnut holes follow the same procedure but cook each side for 30 seconds instead of a minute.

Glaze
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup water
1 tbs. milk

Combine all of the ingredients and whisk until the mixture is lump-free and smooth.

To glaze doughnuts: dip the top of the doughnuts into the glaze, wait two seconds, and transfer to a wire rack to allow excess glaze to drip off. Glaze will harden in 2-3 minutes.

For the doughnut holes we tossed them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture while they were still hot, they were delicious!

Enjoy (just don't eat to many!)

xxC

 

*this recipe was adapted from Pioneer Woman

Welcome to Snowlandia!

Happy Saturday everyone-

On Thursday evening something magical happened, it snowed! Not the normal Portland "there are a few flurries falling from the sky, everyone take cover!" type of deal that we normally experience. It really snowed!
Like it hasn't stopped snowing for more than a few hours for the past three days.
Like there are MULTIPLE inches of snow on the ground.
Like I had a for-real snow day on Friday.
Like I'm happy I have a Subaru currently.
It's feeling very winter-wonderlandy here currently, and I love it! These past few days have been made of very happy memories
     -being snowed in at Matts and celebrating by walking to the closest grocery store to get supplies for dinner
     -brunch with my best friends on Friday morning (don't worry mom, I drove very slowly!)
     -going for snowy walks with Matt
     -teaching him how to make snow angels
     -finally having time to cook a few recipes that I have been meaning to try (why is it that being snowed in makes you constantly hungry?).
Either way this weekend has been perfect. It has given me a break from reality in all of its snow covered glory. Here are some snapshots from the past few days:

-xxC  

Sweet Potato Casserole

Hello!

Sorry about the silence over the last week over here on the blog, I was really busy for the first part of the week (finals and other school stuff) and then I was super sick for the second part of the week. Good news is that I am feeling much better now and I have a few posts lined up for this week!

I made this sweet potato casserole about a week and a half ago - it's a dish that Matt always talks about. Personally I have never seen the appeal of sweet potatoes topped with toasted marshmallows but since he loves it so much I decided to give in especially since he was really sick over thanksgiving and wasn't able to eat any of his Mom's. Leading up to Thanksgiving he talked about how he was looking forward to it pretty frequently, I felt so bad when I found out that he got sick as soon as he arrived at home. Once we were both back in Portland - and he was feeling better - I decided to surprise him with a semi-Thanksgiving, meaning I roasted some chicken breasts in the oven, made some mashed potatoes, and made the sweet potato casserole.

 Sweet Potato Casserole (makes 2 servings)
1 large sweet potato
A couple of handfuls of mini-marshmallows
Salt
Butter
Pepper

To make:
Cut the sweet potato into uniform pieces (the smaller the pieces, the quicker it will cook). Place in salted, cold water - just enough water to cover the sweet potato. Bring the water up to a simmer - don't let it boil or the potato will start to break up. Cook for ~10-20 minutes (depending on the size), until a fork will insert easily into the pieces. Drain them and return them to the pot, now mash them. I used a fork but you could also use a masher, ricer, or an electric mixer. Add about a tablespoon of butter and season them with salt and pepper. Once they are seasoned split the mash between two small baking dishes. Top with marshmallows and bake in a 350˚F oven until the marshmallows are melty and golden brown (or you can just pop them under the broiler if you are in a time crunch!) Serve hot.

I was surprised that I actually liked these sweet potatoes. For years I remembered disliking the dish from the one time I had tried it (I think I was about 6 or 7). But now I am realizing that I am liking sweet potatoes more and more!

This would be an excellent and easy addition to any Christmas or holiday spread you might be planning this winter!

Have a good night!
xx C

DIY: Radiator Shelves

Happy friday!

This week seems to have flown by especially since one of my friends from home was visiting until yesterday! I will be posting a few photos from her visit tomorrow! A few weeks ago Matt and I made these shelves, they were super easy to make and didn't take all that long either!


Since moving into my house I have realized that 1) there isn't actually that much room and 2) there isn't very much horizontal storage room either. To solve this problem I have been trying to figure out a way to add shelves and utilize space. I have also been wanting to get a few larger house plants that would add some green to my home, especially since we are entering the cold, rainy season in Portland. My house is heated using radiators and they are placed right in front of the two windows in the living and dining rooms. These windows would be the perfect place to put the plants that I have been dreaming of. Unfortunately the window sills aren't wide enough to hold plant pots and since the radiators are right in front of the windows I can't put a shelf or a table in front of the windows either. After a lot of pinteresting I found a picture of a home that had built a shelf above the radiator, in the picture it looked like a pretty simple project so Matt and I decided to give it a try!

You will need:
2 brackets per shelf (I made two shelves so I needed four)
4 3/4 inch screws per shelf
4 screws that will anchor it into the wall (since I have plaster walls I had to use special screws; usually at home improvement places that have a display that will tell you which type of screw to get for each type of wall depending on how much weight you think the screw will need to hold. I think I got screws that can hold up to 80 pounds)
Polyurethane
Foam brushes (one for each coat of polyurethane you are planning on using)
Sand paper
1 wooden board (I got one that still had some bark on the outside and it was 10 inches wide and ~50 inches long)

How to make:

1: We sanded down the boards because they were pretty rough.

2: Once they were smooth we applied our first layer of polyurethane. Then let it dry for 4 hours.

3: We then sanded the board and applied a second coat and let that dry for 4 hours. (We did a total of 3 coats.)

4: We attached the brackets to the boards first since we though it might be difficult to attach the board to the brackets after screwing the brackets to the wall by the radiators.

5: Then we brought them inside and pre drilled the holes in the walls for the brackets.

6: Finally we attached the shelves to the wall. Ta-da!

Over all the project took a few days since we had to let the polyurethane dry between each coat, but the actual hands-on time was minimal. I am super happy with the results and now I want to make a few more of these shelves for the other radiators in my house! Also now that I have my shelves its time to go plant shopping (another one of my favorite hobbies).

xx-C

Sunday Muffins: Coffee Cake Muffins

Happy Weekend!

This morning has been a lazy one - not getting out of bed until 10:30, staying in pajamas, drinking coffee, and making muffins. In a previous post I wrote about how I love the weekends because it gives me time to enjoy breakfast [my favorite meal] and sometimes I even bake something. Welllll I made a goal for myself. I want to try to bake at least one thing every Saturday [or Sunday]. This feature will be called Sunday Muffins (I know, I know this time it was on a Saturday). Anyway, today we decided to make coffee cake muffins. I found a basic recipe here and changed it a little bit.

Coffee Cake Muffins (Makes 12)
Streusel Topping
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. AP flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 stick butter

Muffins
1 stick butter
1 3/4 c. AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. plain yogurt
2 oz. milk
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

For the streusel: Mix brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Cut in the butter and mix with a fork or clean hands (using your hands is easier) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Let sit out the counter until you are ready to use it.

For the muffins: In an electric mixer beat butter, yogurt, milk, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until just combined and almost smooth.

Spoon a small layer of muffin batter into the bottom of the each hole in a paper-lined muffin tin [using about half of the batter]. Then sprinkle a layer of the streusel. Cover that with another layer of the muffin batter [finishing it off] and another layer of the streusel. Bake for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

 Bake for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

xx -c

Baked Feta

Good evening,

The past two days have been really exciting and sort of stressful at school. Monday marked the beginning of individual plate presentations, meaning that instead of just serving food family style on platters we are now making actual plates (such as you would see in a restaurant). We also switched into new groups, and after working with the same people for the past few weeks and getting to know their habits, we now have to figure out how to work with new individuals. It's both fun and challenging. Check back this weekend for photos of my plates from the week.

Now onto the recipe. Matt loves feta, like loves it so much he could eat an entire container plain. I, on the other hand, could take it or leave it. It's far from my least favorite but it is also far from my favorite. This being said, Matt would be happy adding feta to just about anything; pasta, pizza, salad, and so on. Since knowing him, he has mentioned this baked feta dish that he had at a restaurant years ago. This weekend I decided that I was going to try my hand at this "baked feta". Not knowing where to start we found a recipe on one of my favorite blogs and tried it out. I changed a few things such as omitting an onion because Matt hates them and adding extra garlic because I love it. I also used sun-dried tomatoes because it is hard to find good tomatoes in late October but if they were in season I would have used those. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it (I'm pretty sure I ate an obscene amount).

Baked Feta (serves 3-4 if Matt isn't included)
10 oz fresh feta
1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
1/3 c. kalmata olives, chopped
2 big cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
black pepper, to taste
crackers, bread, crostini - for serving

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Fill ramekins half way with feta or place feta in an oven safe dish. Mix sun-dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and black pepper together. Spoon this mixture over the feta and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top starts to brown. Serve hot! If it cheese cools it will firm up, but you can always pop the cheese back in the oven to re-soften it! We ate this by spreading it onto some crostini - it was delicious.

xx
-c