Carrots and LOTS of them is what I was faced with recently. We decided to pull ALL of our carrots from the garden at once. We ended up with about 500 or 600 carrots. I was faced with the dilemma of what to do with them. Dale doesn't liked cooked carrots, so canning them was not an option. So, I froze some for soups and stews. I gave some away. However, I still had a lot of carrots. I turned to my trusty cook books and Internet, and decided to try this cookie recipe.
Supposedly you bake the cookies, make frosting, and then sandwich them together like an oreo. For me though, that was WAY too much sugar. I did end up just frosting the tops of the cookies (in the picture), but I think next time I am going to either drizzle the frosting in a "s" or "z" form or leave it off completely. I just really liked the cookie itself. So, after you bake them, taste them and decide for yourself which way you prefer.
Here is what you need:
6 Tbsp veg oil
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Egg
1/4 Cup sour cream
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 Cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 Cup shredded/grated carrots
1/4 Cup coconut, optional
~frosting~
3 Tbsp soft butter
5 oz cream cheese
2/3 Cup powdered sugar
splash vanilla or orange extract
splash of milk (maybe depending on if your frosting is too thick)
1) Mix oil, brown sugar, egg, sour cream, and vanilla.
2) Add in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger and mix until well blended.
3) Add in carrots and coconut.
4) Drop by 1 Tbsp drops onto a greased cookie. Bake 14-18 minutes or until brown.
5) Cool.
6) Mix frosting ingredients and frost/sandwich the cooled cookies.
*Notes: I doubled the recipe. I had to add a little bit more flour then what was called for. I had WAY too much frosting by doubling, so next time I will double the cookies and keep the frosting single recipe, if I even use the frosting. I only had to bake my cookies 12 minutes...14 was too long and made them too brown. I added a bit more cinnamon...base it on your own taste buds. :)
~A little place to share my hobbies and "free" time thoughts and a whole lot of recipes~
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Great Listen
Another big interest and hobby of mine is music. I used to dream of playing the piano fabulously and singing wonderfully. Well, I never made it very far in either respect, but I LOVE any great music. With all the challenges, stress, and depression that I have been experiencing lately, I could not have come upon this song from a friend's blog at a more opportune time. When I listened to it yesterday, it was like the cloud over my life lifted and disappeared and the sun shone again.
Since listening to this song, I have looked up and listened to several of her other songs. Each of them just leave me feeling so uplifted and happy.
I LOVE LOVE it!!!
Since listening to this song, I have looked up and listened to several of her other songs. Each of them just leave me feeling so uplifted and happy.
I LOVE LOVE it!!!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Bierrocks
These are probably the only "German" dish that existed in my home growing up. I admit, that though I have strong German veins running through almost all sides of my family lines, German cuisine died out by the time it reached my family.
Bierrocks are the exception. I was raised wtih them; I LOVE them; my family now LOVES them...including my 3 year-old. It is one dish that I am sure my family has "Americanized" though. I know there are several variations of them. The following "recipe" is the version that I was raised with complete with my homemade dough recipe that I use. Note: If making completely from scratch, by yourself, this is a very time-consuming meal.
DOUGH:
1 Egg + enough water to equal 1 1/3 Cups
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Margarine or butter, softened
4 Cups (roughly) Flour
2 tsp yeast
FILLING:
1 lb ground meat (hamburger, sausage, ground pork, etc...your choice)
Small head of cabbage, chopped (or half a large...the cabbage and meat should be about equal portion once cooked)
1 small onion diced or chopped
Cheese
1) In a large bowl or kitchen aid with dough hook, mix all the dough ingredients until the dough is soft and easy to work with. Cover and allow to raise about 1 hour or until doubled in size. If mixing by hand, knead the dough about 10 minutes before letting raise. (I use the dough setting on my braed machine...allows my hands to be free to cook the meat and chop the cabbage.)
2) In a large skillet (I use my electric skillet because I double the quantities and need LOTS of space), cook and crumble meat. Drain. Add chopped cabbage and onions. Cover and allow to cook until the onions and cabbage are tender.
3) When the dough is ready, pinch off dough balls about the size of a small tomato or slightly larger than a golf ball. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin and roll out the dough balls out into a circle. (They don't need to be real thick because the dough will raise more in the oven, but too thin will cause them to break when folding.)
4) Place rolled dough on a greased cookie sheet. Fill 1/2 of it with a spoon full of meat mixture. Sprinkle with a little cheese. Fold the top over and pinch closed.
5) Repeat 3 & 4 until the cookie sheet is full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. (While the first pan is baking, I keep the process going and have a second pan ready by the time the first pan comes out.)
I really don't have a serving amount. I double the recipe and then have about 50 that I can freeze and reheat later. Serving size will depend on the size that you roll your dough. We serve ours with ketchup and either fresh veggies or French Fries. I also realize that I made this sound really complicated, but they really are super easy to make just time consuming. I am usually in my kitchen for 4 hours cooking...but that includes making dough and working alone. :)
Cheats:
-If you do not want to use this dough recipe, you can by the frozen dough balls. Just allow them to thaw per package directions, and then roll out and fill with the meat mixture. You may also have to melt a couple tablespoons of butter or margarine and brush the tops of the meat packets before baking to ensure that they brown. The dough recipe that I use has enough butter in the recipe that this step is unnecessary.
-I use my dough setting on the bread machine. When it gets down to 30 minutes, I start the meat mixture. While the cabbage is finishing cooking, the dough usually gets done, and I start rolling the dough circles out.
-If you happen are able to have 2 people, it is super fast and easy to have one person rolling dough and the other person filling the packets and folding them over.
-If you run out of meat before dough, the dough can be filled with fruits for "turnovers" or just baked as a dinner roll.
-If you have more meat and the dough is gone, just save the meat. It is tasty alone too.
Variations:
-Cabbage can be ommitted and saurkraut used in its place.
-Cabbage can be reduced by half and saurkraut can be used to make up the difference.
-Onions and cheese can be ommitted.
Bierrocks are the exception. I was raised wtih them; I LOVE them; my family now LOVES them...including my 3 year-old. It is one dish that I am sure my family has "Americanized" though. I know there are several variations of them. The following "recipe" is the version that I was raised with complete with my homemade dough recipe that I use. Note: If making completely from scratch, by yourself, this is a very time-consuming meal.
DOUGH:
1 Egg + enough water to equal 1 1/3 Cups
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Margarine or butter, softened
4 Cups (roughly) Flour
2 tsp yeast
FILLING:
1 lb ground meat (hamburger, sausage, ground pork, etc...your choice)
Small head of cabbage, chopped (or half a large...the cabbage and meat should be about equal portion once cooked)
1 small onion diced or chopped
Cheese
1) In a large bowl or kitchen aid with dough hook, mix all the dough ingredients until the dough is soft and easy to work with. Cover and allow to raise about 1 hour or until doubled in size. If mixing by hand, knead the dough about 10 minutes before letting raise. (I use the dough setting on my braed machine...allows my hands to be free to cook the meat and chop the cabbage.)
2) In a large skillet (I use my electric skillet because I double the quantities and need LOTS of space), cook and crumble meat. Drain. Add chopped cabbage and onions. Cover and allow to cook until the onions and cabbage are tender.
3) When the dough is ready, pinch off dough balls about the size of a small tomato or slightly larger than a golf ball. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin and roll out the dough balls out into a circle. (They don't need to be real thick because the dough will raise more in the oven, but too thin will cause them to break when folding.)
4) Place rolled dough on a greased cookie sheet. Fill 1/2 of it with a spoon full of meat mixture. Sprinkle with a little cheese. Fold the top over and pinch closed.
5) Repeat 3 & 4 until the cookie sheet is full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. (While the first pan is baking, I keep the process going and have a second pan ready by the time the first pan comes out.)
I really don't have a serving amount. I double the recipe and then have about 50 that I can freeze and reheat later. Serving size will depend on the size that you roll your dough. We serve ours with ketchup and either fresh veggies or French Fries. I also realize that I made this sound really complicated, but they really are super easy to make just time consuming. I am usually in my kitchen for 4 hours cooking...but that includes making dough and working alone. :)
Cheats:
-If you do not want to use this dough recipe, you can by the frozen dough balls. Just allow them to thaw per package directions, and then roll out and fill with the meat mixture. You may also have to melt a couple tablespoons of butter or margarine and brush the tops of the meat packets before baking to ensure that they brown. The dough recipe that I use has enough butter in the recipe that this step is unnecessary.
-I use my dough setting on the bread machine. When it gets down to 30 minutes, I start the meat mixture. While the cabbage is finishing cooking, the dough usually gets done, and I start rolling the dough circles out.
-If you happen are able to have 2 people, it is super fast and easy to have one person rolling dough and the other person filling the packets and folding them over.
-If you run out of meat before dough, the dough can be filled with fruits for "turnovers" or just baked as a dinner roll.
-If you have more meat and the dough is gone, just save the meat. It is tasty alone too.
Variations:
-Cabbage can be ommitted and saurkraut used in its place.
-Cabbage can be reduced by half and saurkraut can be used to make up the difference.
-Onions and cheese can be ommitted.
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