Mini Chocolate Donuts

Invited a friend over early Sunday.  She asked, "Will there be coffee?"  I said, "Of course."  Then I got to thinking wouldn't mini donuts be fun.  Ever since I bought my pan from a yard sale a few months ago I've been having fun with it.  This time I made chocolate donuts.  These were made from a mix I got from King Arthur Flour.  I was already placing an order for some bread making items and thought I'd try the mix for fun.  It was VERY good.  Don't know that I'd spend the money to order it again when I can whip up a batch myself using this recipe.

Chocolate Mini Donuts

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup milk

2 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325˚F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  In separate bowl mix eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick. 

Combine milk and butter.  Alternately combine egg mixture with flour mixture and mix until smooth and soft.

Spray pan lightly with cooking oil.  Fill with batter 2/3 full.  Bake 8 minutes.  Cool.  Carefully remove.  Repeat with rest of batter. 

What made these donuts extra delicious was the glaze.  Not your typical powdered sugar and water coating, but a glaze made with real chocolate chips.  It really had a rich chocolate taste to go with the richness of the donuts.

Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt the ingredients together over low heat or in the microwave, stirring often. Add extra corn syrup if needed to make a smooth, shiny glaze. Yield: about ½ cup glaze.

OK these were so good I probably would order the mix again all by itself!  And I think what really made them special were the Valentine's Day Sprinkles.

Funny Craigslist "Free Yarn" Ad

Free Yarn (Sackets Harbor)

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Date: 2012-01-25, 4:38PM EST
Reply to: sale-4n2pf-2817981201@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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I have three skeins of Red Heart Baby Clouds yarn that I am never, ever, ever going to use. They can be yours for free! Two of them are in the color "Pink Lemonade," which I'm sure you can imagine, and the third is "Peaceful Dreams," which is a blend of purple and blue and pink. They look adorable together for baby items for a little girl. This yarn is size 6 (Super Bulky), 100% acrylic, and machine wash and dry. Each skein is 6 oz/140 yards.

One caveat, though: This yarn is NOT good for knitting.

These skeins are taking up space in my small home and I want them gone, as they have already given me both heartache and finger-aches and now they are also making me feel guilty because I don't want to use them for anything ever again. This yarn will tangle and split and make you crazy. Your spouse might consider hauling you to the doctor for anger issues and depression if you try to use it as Red Heart intended. Perhaps it's possible to crochet with this yarn; I don't know since I can't crochet, but I suspect you'd run into the same problems as I did with knitting.

HOWEVER, there are still many uses to which you might be able to put this yarn if you want to (I don't!). For instance, you could:
1. Give it as a gift to a knitter whom you secretly hate.
2. Let your cat play with it.
3. Give it to your kids for arts and crafts - or just give it to your kids to play with and then have them untangle it afterwards. They will be occupied for hours.
4. Use it as stuffing for some other object (it is very fluffy and soft).
5. If you are moving, use it instead of bubble wrap for cushioning delicate objects.
6. Maybe you like a challenge? Embark upon the most painful knitting project you've ever done.
7. Use it in place of ribbons for gift wrapping.
8. Play a practical joke on someone by wrapping one of their valued possessions in this yarn. This will be a great joke as it will take ages to remove whatever you put in there.

You get the idea. There's lots of opportunity here if you are creative.

If you are planning to do something extra cool with this yarn and if I like you, I will even consider knitting something (NOT with this yarn!) just for you as a thank you for taking it off my hands.

Pickup only, please.

• Location: Sackets Harbor
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 2817981201

Crocheting!

That's what I've been doing lately.  I've been working on an afghan that has been hanging around for years now.  I don't know when I'll ever finish it.  I seem to bring it out in football season to work on it.  Maybe that's why it's taken so long.  The 49ers haven't been doing well until this year.  So, I've actually gotten more done on it this year.  I even watched the Steelers/Broncos game to see who would move on in the playoffs.  That's how much I'm enjoying football this year.

I just spread this afghan out on my bed to measure it and it's looking SO NICE.  The afghan now measures 29"X67".  According to the pattern in it's finished state it's supposed to be 45"X65".  So, I'm getting close.  I've wondered though if I should stop at 45" or just crochet until I run out of yarn.  Since it is a scrap yarn pattern I'm not relegated to stop at a certain point because of a pattern.  Intellectually, I'm thinking use up the yarn so as not to waste any.  Emotionally, I'm getting pretty darn tired of this project and just want it done.

This project can be viewed here.

I also made an adorable beret while I was recuperating from a cold last week.  I had a day where I just didn't want to leave my bed.  It required too much effort to breath.  On the other hand I was losing my mind laying in bed, so out came a hat pattern to crochet.  After several hours of "Anne of Green Gables" on DVD I came up with an adorable pink beret.  Unfortunately it was tiny.  The pattern was created by tiny Asian woman.  I don't know if it was sized to fit a tiny woman or it was my crocheting.  I'd bet on the latter.  Anyhow it will fit a toddler probably.  I don't have any around to try it on.  So, tried it on my daughter's bear.

For Christmas I got a crochet book by Twinkie Chan called "Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies."  This book has so many adorable food related patterns.   I bought yarn to make the gingerbread man scarf for myself and the pepperoni pizza slice scarf just because it's so darn cute!  I'm in the middle of the pizza scarf.  I have the cheese, sauce, crust and a couple pepperonis made.  Then sew it all together and I'll have a year to try and part with it at Christmas time.  If you have a minute check out Twinkie's blargh.  She makes some of the most adorable crocheted items.  Right now she has a give away of some of her hand made items.  Check it out here.

Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?  Yep working on my afghan again while I see if the 49ers can move on in the playoffs.  They are playing the Saints tomorrow and my dad says they don't have a prayer against Brees.  I'm going to remain optimistic.  Whether they win or lose my afghan will be a couple more inches wider.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Delights

That's what I'm going to call them.  It's a twist on an old recipe.  They've been called Peanut Butter Balls in the past sans the pretzels, but these don't quite fit that shape anymore. I wanted people to know what was in them.  Not that it really matters.  Anyone seeing these dives right in not knowing anything else about them other than it's something covered in chocolate.  I got the best compliment Saturday.  A friend picked one up and I asked would you like to know what it is.  She said, "Something covered in chocolate made by you?  It's got to be great!"  Why thank you.  They are.

I got the idea to add pretzels from hungrygnomes' blog.  When I saw the circular pretzels at the grocery store I knew they'd be fun to make.

You can find the recipe for the peanut butter filling in a previous post located here.  Once the filling is made it's just a matter of shaping and dipping.

I did find these easier and a bit faster to make, because I didn't have to roll each and every ball by hand.  They went straight from the cookie scoop to the pretzel then add top pretzel and press slightly.

Once all pretzels were used up I placed sheet of Peanut Butter filled pretzels in freezer for 15 minutes.  Then I removed tray to fridge until I was ready to dip in chocolate.

This year I melted chocolate in microwave.  I usually use a double boiler.  I've been working out at the gym this past month.  It's a good tired, but I just wanted to sit down rather than stand at the stove for an hour.

Tap off a bit of the extra chocolate.

I used the bottom of the fork I was dipping with to make the design on the top.  They looked like they needed a little something.

I dipped 80 of these.  That's all I had enough unbroken pretzels for.  Not bad though since each one needed 2 pretzels.  I have enough peanut butter filling for 20 more.  I'll just make them into balls rather than buy more pretzels.

The only thing I'd do different next time is I'd use maybe have as much filling. The delicious peanut butter filling overpowers the pretzels. They are merely a crunch.  Don't get me wrong these are still delightful.

Silly video my daughter made while I was making these.

Delicious Ooey Gooey Monkey Bread

It's Thanksgiving break and my DD wants Monkey Bread.  I'm thinking we have time let's make our own.  I just can't bring myself to buy that frozen one at the grocery store.  I remembered years ago making something that really reminded me of Monkey Bread.

It was a recipe in my "Make A Mix" cookbook called Butterscotch Butter Balls.  The "Make A Mix" part of this recipe is that you make a Hot Roll Mix.  It can be used in many recipes in this book.  So, first I made a batch of Hot Roll Mix.

Hot Roll Mix 

• 5 lbs all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir together to distribute evenly. Pat in a large airtight container. Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 6 to 8 months. Makes about 22 cups of Hot Roll Mix.

I have to admit that the name of this recipe I find quite unappealing.  Especially in this day and age where people like Katherine Heigl are launching websites called IHateBalls.com.  All for a good cause in spaying and neutering pets and the adoption of pets that have been rescued.  But come on I'm really getting sick of talking about balls in the media.  My daughter and I threw a few name ideas around.  Her suggestion was Butterscotch Monkey Balls, which elicited a good natured chase around the kitchen and spanking with a spatula.  We still haven't come up with a name we really like, but we did really like the recipe.

Butterscotch Butter Balls 

• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or 1/2 cup melted margarine
• 5 to 6 cups hot roll mix
• 1 (3 ounce) pkg regular butterscotch pudding
• 1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 (1 1/2 ounce) pkg pecans, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. In a large bowl dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Blend in eggs and oil or margarine. Add 5 cups of Hot Roll Mix. Stir well. Add additional Hot Roll Mix to make a soft, but not too sticky dough. Knead about 5 minutes until dough is smooth. Lightly butter bowl. Put dough in bowl and turn to butter top. Cover dough with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Divide dough in to 48 balls of equal size. Place balls on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. When frozen, transfer to plastic bags for storage in freezer. Use within 1 to 2 months. About 8 hours before serving, or the night before, place 24 frozen balls in each of 2 unbuttered bundt pans. Sprinkle half of the butterscotch pudding on each pan of frozen rolls. Combine melted butter or margarine and brown sugar in a small bowl Pour half the mixture over each pan of rolls. Sprinkle half of pecans and half of cinnamon over each pan. Cover both pans with towels and let rise about 8 hours over night. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 c) Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Makes 2 butterscotch rings.

Lynne's note:  I make one.  Saving the 1/2 butterscotch pudding for another day.  We doubled the pecans, because we like them.

It's best eaten while warm.  If you can't eat it while warm from the oven.  Warm it up in the microwave. 

Ed's Designer Chocolate Birthday Cake

My husband's birthday is right around Thanksgiving.  I couldn't get him to stick a candle in a piece of pumpkin pie and call it a birthday pie.  Can't blame him.  So, many years ago I asked what he'd like his birthday treat to be and he said a chocolate cake.  I've been making the cake for years, but as soon as the kids got old enough I got them involved.  Up till now it's been mostly helping.  This year though my daughter took the project on.  She asked if she could make a designer gourmet cake.  After just a couple suggestions by me for instance it had to be made with things her father liked and steering her back to the fact that this had to be a chocolate cake she did well.

She got out pen and paper and drew out a sketch like she was building a skyscraper and it was her blueprint.  The cake would be chocolate with peanut butter chips baked in.  Then there would be 3 layers of peanut butter fudge.  The whole thing would be coated with a chocolate ganache frosting and pressed into that would be toffee bits.  My husband isn't a big dessert eater.  His main complaint when he has dessert is "it's too sweet."  I didn't know what he was going to think of this cake, but knowing his daughter made it I knew he would be a good sport.

Chocolate Ganache frosting with toffee bits pressed on.

He decided he wanted his cake a day early as to not have to eat a whole chocolate cake practically by himself.  This way he could share it with all who came for Thanksgiving.  This turned out to not be such a good idea for him or me.  Everyone wanted a piece of his beautiful cake.  No one wanted a piece of the pumpkin pie I had baked.
Everyone dove in so heartily into this cake that I barely got a picture before it was all gone!

As you can see there was only 1/4 of the cake left before I realized I wanted to get a picture.

Here you can see the peanut butter fudge layers and the peanut butter chips.

Here's the peanut butter fudge recipe.  My daughter did not chill the peanut butter fudge.  My daughter laid out a piece of plastic wrap and using a rolling pin rolled out some of the fudge.  Using the cake pan as a pattern we then carefully cut away the excess fudge making it the size of the cake round.  Being careful not to cut the plastic wrap.  Picking up the plastic wrap she flipped the fudge layer down on to cake layer.  Then peeled off the plastic wrap and repeated 2 more times.

For the frosting I've been using Mrs. Milman's recipe the last few years.  I hesitate to share it even though delicious, but I've had problems with it every year.  There is even a video where Mrs. Milman talks about how easy it is to make.  My problem is getting it firm enough to frost a cake.  After stirring it for hours in the fridge I ended up leaving the frosting in the fridge overnight.  I figured if it got too hard to spread we'd deal with it in the morning.  Turns out it was perfect spreading consistency.  So, before I call it quits on this recipe I'm going to try making it the day before instead of anxiously waiting for it to firm up the day of.

My Yogurt Craze

First I fell in love with Starbucks Black Cherry Parfait.  I couldn't afford to buy one every day, so I started making them at home with a recipe I found online.  Tweaked it slightly to my personal taste.  I  found using greek yogurt really adds a wonderful flavor, but regular works fine too.  I use a coffee filter and in 8 hours there is 1 cup of whey drained from yogurt.  Right now I throw it away, but feel a bit guilty about it.  I'll have to find a use for it.

Black Cherry Yogurt Parfait

4 cups (32 ounces) reduced-fat plain yogurt
1 cup frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed and quartered
1/2 cup 100% cherry juice
2 T honey
1 1/2 cups of granola

Line a strainer with four layers of cheesecloth or one coffee filter and place over a bowl. Place yogurt in prepared strainer; cover yogurt with edges of cheesecloth. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  Quarter cherries before they thaw for ease of cutting.

Remove yogurt from cheesecloth and discard liquid from bowl. Place yogurt in a small bowl; stir in the cherries and cherry juice. Cover and refrigerate until serving. It will keep in the refrigerator for the week. Before serving add 1/4 cup of granola to yogurt. Yield: 3 cups. 6 Servings.

With fall being here I got a craving for something maple, cinnamon and apple.  I thought the combination would make a great parfait and it did!

Maple Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Parfait

4 cups (32 ounces) reduced-fat plain yogurt
1 diced apple
1/2 cup 100% apple juice
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp maple extract
1 1/2 cups of granola

Line a strainer with four layers of cheesecloth or one coffee filter and place over a bowl. Place yogurt in prepared strainer; cover yogurt with edges of cheesecloth. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove yogurt from cheesecloth and discard liquid from bowl. Place yogurt in a small bowl; stir in apples, apple juice, maple syrup, cinnamon and extract. Cover and refrigerate until serving. It will keep in the refrigerator for the week. Before serving add 1/4 cup of granola to yogurt. Yield: 3 cups. 6 Servings.

Both are absolutely delicious and make a great start to ones day.