Donuts

Recipe and Photo from Cooking With Carrie

For the donuts
1 refrigerated tube of 10 biscuits (the smaller tubes, not Grands.
Use a small circular cutter (the cap of a 2-liter works well) to cut circles in each biscuit.

For the glaze
1/4 stick butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
Melt the butter in the microwave and add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Stir until combined.

Directions
Start heating the oil. I set my deep fat fryer at 350 degrees.

Place a few donuts in the oil and cook until browned (1-2 minutes). Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until browned.
Pull the donuts out of the oil and set them on a cooling rack (or paper towels) to drain the excess oil. While the donuts are warm, dip them in the glaze or a cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 7
Kiley: 7
Madee: 7
Destrie: good

Cuppa, Cuppa, Cuppa Cake

This is a version of Truvy’s “Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Cake” from Steel Magnolias.

Have you seen that movie? Granted it was a year or two ago ;) or twenty, but who's counting?

To paraphrase Truvy, it’s a cuppa flour, a cuppa sugar, a cuppa fruit cocktail with the juice. Mix it and bake it till brown and bubbly.

*Recipe and Photo from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
1 cup Self-Rising Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 can Fruit Cocktail With Juice
Softened Butter, For Pan
Unsweetened Whipped Cream, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8-inch square baking dish with butter.

Stir together flour, sugar, and fruit cocktail with juice until just combined.

Pour into buttered pan and bake until warm and bubbly, about 35 minutes.

Serve warm with unsweetened whipped cream or ice cream like Truvy did.

Rate It!
Jen: 7.5
Kile: -
Kiley: 8
Madee: 6.5
Destrie: good

Lemon Melts

*Recipe from my cousin, Christa Young

Ingredients:
1 c. soft (not melted butter)
2/3 c. corn starch
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. flour

Directions:
Creme together the butter and sugar, then add the cornstarch and flour. Mix well, drop by teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325 for 7-10 min. Do not brown. Make small..they are rich..Frost when cool.

Frosting Ingredients:
1/4 c. butter
juice of 1 lemon
grated lemon peel
1/2 lb. powdered sugar

Mix butter and powdered sugar, gradually add lemon juice until desired consistency and add lemon peel.

Dutch Oven Cooking

I just spent a week at Girl's Camp-where I participated in a Dutch Oven Cook Off Contest.  I have NEVER cooked using a Dutch Oven.  I figured it was about time I learned.  Following is a chart I found that I thought would be helpful as I begin this quest to learn the art of Dutch Oven Cooking.  Look for several Dutch Oven recipes to come as I embark on this endeavor.

Approximate Number of Briquets For Temperature Control

Temp	10″		12″		14″
°F	Top	Bottom	Top	Bottom	Top	Bottom
300	12	5	14	7	15	9
325	13	6	15	7	17	9
350	14	6	16	8	18	10
375	15	6	17	9	19	11
400	16	7	18	9	21	11
425	17	7	19	10	22	12
450	18	8	21	10	23	13
500	20	9	23	11	26	14

Dutch Oven Potatoes

*Recipe from Kile Fisher

Ingredients
5 lbs. Russet Potatoes-peeled and thinly sliced
1 lb bacon
2 cubes butter
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 of a 2 lb bag of Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions
Prepare your charcoal.  We used 12 coals on bottom and 12 coals on top.
(We were using a #12 Dutch Oven.)

Brown bacon in Dutch Oven.
Add potatoes, butter, salt and pepper.
Keep an eye on the potatoes, stirring often.
When potatoes are cooked, about an hour-add cheese and stir.
Top with more cheese to serve.

Rate It!
Jen: 10
Kile: 10
Kiley: -
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: didn't have any

New Food Finds

The other  night, we were struggling for ideas of what to eat for dinner.  Kile had the idea to take the family to Walmart and let each person choose an item for our meal.  We picked an "International" theme for our dinner menu.  Following is a list of what foods we chose and our rating for each item.

I chose Mexican food:  Sweet Corn Salsa and Queso Dip with Corn Chips

Rate It!

Salsa                                                       Queso
Jen: 8                                                     Jen: 7.5
Kile: 6                                                    Kile: 7.5
Kiley: 4                                                  Kiley: 7
Madee: 7                                               Madee:  6.5
Destrie: didn't have any                  Destrie:  -

Next up was Eggrolls-Madee's choice

Rate It!
Jen:7.5
Kile: 6.5
Kiley: 5
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: didn't have any

Then it was on to Pasta- Kiley's choice

 Rate It!
Jen: 5 - had no flavor
Kile: 5.5
Kiley: 6
Madee: 7
Destrie: good

Kile choose to make fajitas.  Using this...

Rate It!
Jen: 9
Kile:8.5
Kiley: 8
Madee: 7
Destrie: didn't have any

It was fun to try all these different foods.  A few of them we will be buying again.  We would like to find a great recipe to season meat for Fajitas...if anyone has one, send it our way.