Thanksgiving Ideas for Stale Rolls

Went to the store today and came out with a pickup truck load of groceries. I was doing my part to help the economy–at least the grocer’s bottom line.

Now to begin The Cooking Marathon. Let the Baking Begin!!

So, I began with making several batches of Refrigerator Rolls.

Now, normally, in our house, a leftover dinner roll has a life expectancy of about 24 hours, if it is lucky. But last week, I baked up some extra rolls, stored them in one of those Tupperware thingies, and forgot all about them for four days. They probably would have reheated okay in the microwave, but I wasn’t in the hot roll mood.

Then I remembered this thing my mother used to do with old rolls. So, on Sunday morning we had juice, sausage and Cinnamon Crunch Delights (Okay, I added the Delights to the name.) Nobody guessed that they were leftovers and youngest son gave them a 9 ½ out of 10 for taste.

These are actually worth saving back a few rolls to go stale just to serve this Delight.

Cinnamon Crunch Delights:

Baked Dinner Rolls, at least a day old and up to a week old–staler the better
Butter
Cinnamon Sugar
1 cup white sugar (brown sugar makes a richer taste)
2 teaspoons cinnamon

With a serrated knife cut the rolls into 3 or 4 pieces. Spread generously with butter on all cut surfaces. Cover tops well with Cinnamon Sugar. Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 450 degrees until crispy. Ten minutes or so. Serve hot.

Celebrate Fall with Apples

Dearest Max, it has finally cooled down, and I am beginning to feel human again. Well, I’m never exactly human, but as human as I can be. It must be old age, but the extended heat has been a real trial for me–not to mention my poor yard and garden.

We haven’t a single apple on any of our trees, so I had to break down and buy some Jonathon Apples Saturday so I could make some apple recipes. It bothers my frugal Scotch soul to have to BUY apples, there are supposed to be free on my trees!!

I made the French Apple Pie with the Nutmeg Sauce from last week and it was delicious.

With Halloween coming, I also start thinking of pumpkins and doughnuts. As you know, I really don’t like the popular glazed doughnuts. My favorites are the cake type doughnuts. A Saturday afternoon treat would be to go to the hole-in-the wall Ward’s Bakery and buy one of their crunchy cake doughnuts dusted in powdered sugar. For Halloween, my mother could sometimes be persuaded to make up a big batch of our nutmeg flavored cake doughnuts. Alas, all the calories and fats in deep frying have made those treats a rare occasion.

Apple Doughnut Muffins are a compromise. They taste like a good cake type doughnut, but are baked. Calorie Enhanced they still are, but not quite a bad as deep fried. Problem is that they are so good, that one tends to eat more than one of them at a time. Diet Disaster.

Apple Doughnut Muffins:

2/3 cups soft butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of salt
½ cup oil
1 cup, chopped, peeled apple
Melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar in the mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs. Mix the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt in a small mixing bowl. Alternate blending in the flour mixture with the milk. Stir in the finely grated apple.

Spoon into greased or silicone muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. As soon as you remove the muffins from the oven, dip them into the melted butter and then roll (or shake in a paper bag) in a mixture of the remaining cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Coat well.

Quick and easy Fresh Coffeecake from the Midwest

Yep, Erma, it definitely is Fall gingerbread weather.

Here is another quick and fool proof “cake” recipe that you, the clueless cake decorator, can use. No frosting, or decorating at all.

Coffeecakes like this were a staple of every household when I was growing up. We used to make them up in the morning and as soon as they came out of the oven, we drove them out to the fields for a midmorning coffee break where the men were harvesting the corn or soybeans.

Like a lot of my other favorite foods, this kind of coffee cake seems to have gone out of style, and I can’t understand why. They are so easy to make. And, heaven knows, fresher and better than the bear claws on the grocery shelves. Thirty minutes, thirty-five tops, and you have a fresh from the oven, home made coffeecake!

As this cake bakes, some of the crumb topping “flops” down into the coffee cake, giving it a great flavor and a marbleized look. I think Flops were a New England thing.

Midwest Cinnamon Flop Coffeecake:

1 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup butter
2 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons solid shortening
1 ½ cups sugar, white
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

In small mixing bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in the butter with a fork until you have crumbs.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Cream the shortening in a mixer, and gradually beat in the white sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. On low speed alternate mixing in the flour and milk. Pour into an 8” square greased baking pan. Sprinkle on the brown sugar crumbs. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Yields 8 servings. And yes, you can dress it up with a few chopped nuts.