I've heard stories about how the economy is, shall we say, not so good, but it really hasn't affected me personally until about a week ago. My company is struggling and has done lay-offs the last three years. While that was pretty terrible for those laid-off and those of us left behind, it didn't hit home too much. However, last week they announced they were closing the office on Fridays (yay!) and cutting everyone's pay significantly (boo!). We are all part-time employees now. They are hopeful that things will come around and we can return to full-time work, but you just never know. So, what does this mean for me? Some good, some bad. Not working on Fridays means more time to work on the blog and my bakery business. While that's nice, it means a lot less money, which means that people are going to be getting a lot of homemade gifts this year for Christmas.
 
I actually love giving homemade food gifts, and while it does save money, I think it's a nice way to show people that you love them and were thinking of them while you were making and packaging their gift. I also love making gifts for other people to give to their friends, but that's another story. This hot cocoa gift is perfect for a gift. It's simple to make, it lasts a long time, it has two kinds of chocolate plus cocoa and vanilla sugar, and it makes a bulk quantity, so you can give it to many people. I made this last spring and gave it to my mom for her birthday. She's still enjoying it. And, if you don't like to share, and you drink a lot of hot cocoa, please make this and use it yourself. It's so much better than the packets you can buy or any of the standard mixes/syrups. My personal favorite way to drink this is with warm milk and a shot of Bailey's. Now that hits the spot, especially on Fridays when I don't have to go to work! 

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
Makes about 19 cups of mix, about 75 mugs of cocoa.
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If you have vanilla sugar on hand, use that. If not, you can easily make your own. I highly recommend making a lot of it and storing it in your pantry. It lasts for a long time, and you can easily refill the canister with more sugar to make more. My new favorite use for it is in pie crust.

2 vanilla beans
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 pounds good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
9 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa powder 

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the middle out. Place the sugar in a large container that has a lid. Use your fingers to work the beans and middle filling into the sugar. Cover and let sit at least overnight. Remove the bean pods (you can use these to make more vanilla sugar).  

Combine the chopped chocolates in your food processor and process for four second pulses until the chocolate is very finely ground. If you don't process this until it's very fine, the chocolate won't dissolve in the milk. Add in the cocoa powder and vanilla sugar and process until combined. Store in an airtight container for up to six months. 
 
Serving instructions: Stir two tablespoons of the mix with 8 ounces of milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until the milk is warm and the cocoa is dissolved. Serve immediately.

Smaller Batch (2 1/2 cups):
To make a more manageable personal size, use the following quantities and the same instructions above. I recommend you make the 4 cups of vanilla sugar as above, but you'll only need to use 1 cup of it. Use the rest of the sugar for cookies, cakes, pies or anything where you want extra vanilla flavor.
1 cup vanilla sugar
6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

Source: Annie's Eats who got it from Confections of a Foodie Bride

You know those soft sugar cookies in grocery stores with the bright frosting and lots of sprinkles? They come in the plastic containers, and they always look so appetizing. They are very deceitful in my opinion. I always want to like them. They look like they should be amazing, and they taste like nothing. Seriously, every time I bite into one (and I have tried them many times), I am bitterly disappointed. Well, friends, we have found the solution. These cookies are just as large and soft, but they taste like real butter and vanilla. They have a great texture, and the frosting is so much more than just a typical powdered sugar glaze because there's more butter in it. 

I made my frosting a little thinner than it should have been, so there's not as much frosting on my cookies as the store-bought kind. I was okay with that because there is a lot of butter in these cookies. Since there was less frosting, I had double the amount and threw away half of it. Next time I'll cut the frosting recipe in half, but I'm leaving it as is below in case you want to make thicker frosting to slather on the cookies. 

The best thing about these is that, just like the store-bought ones, you can make them for any holiday or party. You can color the frosting how you want and use seasonal sprinkles. I guarantee that when you bring them to a party, people will devour them and be thrilled with how good they are. No bitter disappointment here!  

Soft Frosted Sugar (Lofthouse) Cookies Recipe
Makes 24 large cookies
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For the cookies: 
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
 
For the frosting:
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
7-8 tablespoons milk
Food coloring and sprinkles (optional)

To make the cookies, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder until combined. Add in the flour, one cup at a time, until incorporated. When everything is mixed together, cover the dough and chill for one hour. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Take a scant 1/4 cup of cookie dough and roll into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and press down slightly. Place the balls about 2-3 inches apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. Do not overbake or they won't stay soft. You want the edges to be barely brown if at all. Let rest on the baking sheets for three minutes and then remove to a flat surface to cool.

To make the frosting, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting is the consistency you like. Frost the cookies using the back of a spoon or an offset spatula and add the sprinkles if using. Store in an airtight container.

Source: Annie's Eats, who adapted it from Hostess with the Mostess

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I've never liked fish or seafood. In fact, the only fish I really will eat is tuna in the can...which I don't think even counts. Therefore, I never went to Red Lobster growing up. Thankfully, my parents knew that I would love the cheese biscuits that they served, so they would always bring me home some. And thus began my love affair. Ever since I moved out of my parents house, I've been making my own cheese biscuits (since I couldn't get my fix through them anymore). Until last year, I had been making them with Bisquick, milk, cheese, and some garlic powder. While I have nothing against Bisquick, it started to taste funny to me. So I decided to find my own recipe.

These are one of my husband's favorite breads. Sometimes I can even convince him to eat pasta if I serve these with it...which is pretty huge since he abhors pasta. Weirdo. When it's just the two of us, I make half of this recipe, and we have leftover biscuits. I love the fact that while they don't come out of a yellow box, they're pretty much just as easy to make. And I think they taste better, too.

Cheese Biscuits Recipe
Makes about 12 medium size biscuits
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Notes: I use butter-flavored shortening, but use regular if that's all you have. If you don't have buttermilk (I usually don't), pour a scant 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into the 3/4 measuring cup and then fill it up with milk. Let it sit while you get the rest of your ingredients together and then pour it in at the end. The butter topping makes quite a bit, so if you know that you won’t want to slather your biscuits with it, you can cut it down some. My husband likes a lot of butter! 

For the biscuits:
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup buttermilk

For the topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and garlic powder. Using a fork, mix in the shortening until it is broken down and resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the cheese. Add in the milk and then stir until combined. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, leaving a couple of inches between the biscuits. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the tops are brown. 

While the biscuits are baking, melt the butter. Stir in the garlic powder and parsley and then brush over the tops of the hot baked biscuits. Serve immediately. 

Adapted from AllRecipes 

I realize that October isn't exactly prime outdoor grilling season for most people, Colorado included. However, we still grill...or perhaps I should say that my husband still grills. That's what coats and grill lights are for, right? Just because it's getting darker and colder doesn't mean that our craving and love for hamburgers and steaks goes dormant. To spice things up a bit, I wanted to try a variation on my favorite homemade hamburger bun. I added some jalapeno and sharp cheddar cheese and devoured them with a juicy cheeseburger. Oh my. They are fantastic. We use hamburger buns for more than just burgers, too, so I'm looking forward to having these with sloppy joes and chicken sandwiches.

I only used one large seeded jalapeno in this recipe, and it looked like way too much for the batch. However, once I plopped 1/3 of a pound of meat on the buns, I realized that there wasn't enough jalapeno. You could barely taste the kick. So realize that while it seems like a lot, you won't be eating the bun plain. If you really like spicy food, you could add three jalapenos. I won't tell.

Cheddar Jalapeno Hamburger Buns Recipe
Makes 8 buns
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3 tablespoons warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoon butter, softened
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced

In a mixing bowl, combine your warm milk, warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about 5 minutes or until your yeast is bubbly. Add the egg and mix with the paddle attachment on low until the egg has broken. Add the flours and salt and mix. Once the flours are mixed in, add the butter, jalapenos, and cheese and mix for about 1 minute. Switch to the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 5-7 minutes until the dough is slightly tacky. If it's sticky, you'll want to add more flour (1 tablespoon at a time) while it's kneading.  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size. If you're using a bread machine to make these, add all the ingredients into the pan according to the manufacturer's instructions, and start the dough cycle.

Once the dough has risen, divide it into 8 equal pieces, and form each piece into a ball. Place each ball on a large sheet pan that has been lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Press down slightly on the ball because you want it to be wider rather than taller. Let these proof for 30 minutes to an hour or until almost doubled. After the buns have finished proofing, you could brush these with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
 
Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats, who adapted it from Smitten Kitchen

Queso is my kryptonite. I will go off a diet so fast if queso is put in front of me. And I'm not super picky about my queso, either. Velveeta and rotel? Sure. I can eat the crap out of that stuff. But I wanted to be a good food blogger and create my own. I tried another homemade queso recipe about a year ago, but I wasn't overly thrilled with it. While it was good, it was missing something. So I decided to experiment with it. Thankfully it only took one try so my hips didn't get too big! This makes a good size batch, but if you're having it at a party, I'd double or triple it. It reheats nicely thanks to the no roux part, and it freezes well. That's how I kept myself from devouring it. I hid it in the depths of my freezer. Next week, I'll show you an amazing meal to make with this stuff: quesochangas!

Homemade Queso Recipe
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*Note: Please do not use individually wrapped American cheese slices. Go to the deli and ask for a chunk of American cheese. If it's a chunk, you can grate it. If it's already sliced, you can tear it into pieces so it will melt faster. If you like spicier food, leave some of the seeds in the jalapeno.

1 tablespoon butter
Half of a white onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeds removed
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large Roma tomato, chopped
About 10 ounces yellow American cheese, shredded*
1 cup Monterey jack, shredded
1/2-3/4 cup milk

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook the onion, jalapeno, and garlic until soft, about 5-10 minutes.

Add in one quarter of the American cheese and 1/4 cup milk. Stir until the cheese has melted. Add in half of the Monterey jack and stir until melted. Keep adding the cheese and milk until incorporated and melted. Use as much milk as desired for consistency. If you want your queso thick, you'll need about 1/2 cup of milk. If you like it thinner, you'll want about 3/4 cup of milk. Add in the chopped tomato and salt to taste. Serve immediately, and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

Source: A She Makes and Bakes creation

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Have you checked out my new What We're Eating page? I've been pretty terrible lately about meal planning, so I figured I would be more motivated to do it if I posted it online. And then you guys get to share in the love with us. Maybe you'll get some good dinner ideas, too! I hate playing the what's for dinner game so check it out if you're curious or looking for ideas.

I first tried these polenta crackers last fall when I took a bread class, and I loved them. The polenta in them gives great flavor and texture, and you can sprinkle whatever seasonings you want on top of them. The original recipe calls for fennel, salt, and pepper. I'm not a fan of fennel so I use garlic powder, fresh cracked pepper, and lots of kosher salt.

There is yeast in these crackers but it's really for the flavor. So if you're one of those people who are scared of yeast, don't worry. It's not meant to work as a leavener. The dough does rise but again, that's to develop the flavor. When I was taught to make these crackers, we rolled them using a pasta roller, which made it super easy. My pasta roller has settings 1-7. I started rolling it at 7 and went down to 3. You want to roll it thin but not too thin. If you don't have a pasta roller, I think you could hand roll it out just fine...it might just require a little more elbow grease. You also don't have to cut the crackers into the typical square shape, either. I roll the dough out with my pasta roller and leave it in that long thin shape. I just make sure that it fits on a pan. Once they're baked, I break them into large pieces. 

These crackers taste great with cheese but one of my favorite things is to make tuna salad and put that on top of them...instead of using bread in a sandwich. I love them plain, too. You can think about what you want to use them for and then adjust which seasonings you want on top of it. These are fun for a dinner party because you can place these large crackers on the table and let people break off how much they want. Rustic is a good thing!
 
Polenta Crackers Recipe
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1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/4 cups warm water
4 1/4 cups (20 ounces) bread flour
1/3 cup uncooked polenta
2 teaspoons salt
Cracked pepper
Kosher salt
Garlic powder or other spices

Mix honey, olive oil, water, and yeast in a mixing bowl and let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy. Add the bread flour, polenta, and salt and mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined. It's a tough dough, but you'll know that it's well kneaded when you taste a pinch of dough and it doesn't taste really salty. Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and let double in size.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

Divide the dough into smaller pieces and roll it out using a pasta roller or rolling pin. You'll want it to be fairly thin. Place the dough in large pieces on ungreased sheet pans. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle kosher salt, cracked pepper, and garlic powder (or other seasonings) liberally on top of the dough.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crackers are browned on top.

Source: Cook Street Cooking School

Even though I make a lot of things from scratch, I had never made my own ranch dressing. In fact, I had never really made my own salad dressings, period. I think it's because even though it's kind of gross, it's nice how long the bottles last. I'm not really one who eats salads every night or wants the same dressing time after time. I don't dip everything possible in ranch, either. So I like to have a dressing that lasts awhile.

But I finally took the plunge and made my own ranch. It tastes great, and it's nice knowing exactly what's in it. The only downside is that it lasts for only four days. However, I took the leftover dressing and divided it into a mini muffin pan. I stuck that in the freezer and then popped the little dressings out when they were frozen, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and placed them back in the freezer. When I need some ranch, I can pull out a little cup of it, defrost it on the counter, and it's ready to go. It's so much better than having a bottle sit in my fridge for months (or maybe even a year-yikes). This is such a great recipe...the dressing tastes fresh and amazing. I love to add some cayenne pepper for a tiny kick, but that's up to you. 

Homemade Ranch Dressing Recipe
Yield: About 1 1/2 cups
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1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, shallot, parsley, dill, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (if using). Add the buttermilk slowly until it reaches your desired consistency (one half cup will yield a thin dressing). Store it covered for up to four days in the refrigerator; whisk it before using. 

Source: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 

Oh boy are we talking about exciting stuff today. Flour, and more specifically, cake flour. Do you know how expensive cake flour is? It's about $4.50 per box. Yikes! And the annoying thing is that you need it. If a recipe calls for cake flour, it's pretty important that you use it instead of a different kind of flour. The thing about flour is that each type (all purpose, bread, cake, etc.) has a different percentage of gluten. That gluten affects the elasticity and texture of your dough. If you used bread flour in cupcakes, you'd have some pretty tough cupcakes. Likewise, using all purpose flour instead of bread flour isn't going to give you the same chew. So, don't be stingy and use all purpose flour instead of cake flour because you won't get the same results. Especially since now you can make your own, and you don't have to spend the exorbitant amount of money on it.

To make cake flour, you combine two simple and cheap ingredients in a sifter and sift away.

The only "bad" thing about this recipe is that you have to sift it about four times.

But taking the ten minutes to sift and sift and sift is worth the money saved in my opinion. Especially since I buy a 25-pound bag of all purpose flour at Sam's Club for about $10. I go through a lot of flour; therefore, paying a lot of money for any type really isn't an option for me. So take the time to sift two ingredients together and make yourself some cheap cake flour!

Make Your Own Cake Flour Recipe
Makes 4 cups
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Note: If you want a small batch of this, for every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons of the flour and add in two tablespoons of corn starch.

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch

Combine the ingredients in a sifter. Sift together four times. (I like to sift it into one bowl, scoop it out, and sift it back into the same bowl.) Store in a 1970s Tupperware container if you're cool like me. Ha! 

When I took a bread class last fall, I admit that when I saw naan on the course list, my first thought was what is that? I don't eat Indian food, so I had never heard of it, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if there was a fancy way to pronounce it either (there isn't). So imagine my pleasant surprise when I tasted it, and it was incredible. This bread is a garlic lover's dream. It starts with a full head of roasted garlic that gets incorporated into the dough, then you brush the final product with more garlic mixed with clarified butter. Oh yeah...you'll keep people away, but it's so worth it.

I love to use this bread for meatball sandwiches, and it would be awesome with pizza toppings. That's my next use. I cooked this on the grill outside, but you can cook it on a grill pan inside or (though I've never tried it) on a skillet like a tortilla. No oven use for this one, which makes it great when my house is 88 degrees inside!

Garlic Naan Recipe
Yield: 4-6 breads
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Notes: You can use either yogurt or sour cream in this recipe. I've used both with success. To "bake" the naan, you can use an outdoor grill, a grill pan on the stove, or a skillet on the stove. Avoid brushing the finished naan with melted butter as it gets greasy. Use ghee or clarified butter since it doesn't have the fat in it. This dough is supposed to be really sticky, so make sure you have plenty of flour on hand.

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 head of garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup all purpose flour for dusting
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup clarified butter or ghee

To roast the garlic, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel the outer layers off of the garlic head, and cut the top off so you can see the cloves. Place the head in a square of foil, and drizzle about one teaspoon of olive oil on the top of the garlic. Loosely wrap the foil around the garlic so the oil won't spill out, but you want there to be space around the garlic so it can steam. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cloves are soft. Let cool.
 
In a bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water, and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes until foamy. Mix in the yogurt and oil. Squeeze the head of garlic so that the cloves pop out. You want to get as many of the garlic cloves out, but you don't want the paper/skin. Add all the cloves to the yeast mixture. 

Combine the flour and salt in a food processor. While the motor is running, pour the liquids into the bowl in a thin stream and process until the flour gathers into a ball. The dough will be sticky. Once it's mixed, dump it onto your counter that is dusted with more flour.

Gather it into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover it with plastic and let it sit in a warm place until doubled, about an hour or two.

Divide the dough into 4-6 pieces. Press each piece down to three-quarters of an inch thick. Heat up your grill/grill pan/skillet to medium heat and grease. Grill until the dough is set on one side with grill marks (about 2-3 minutes). Flip it and grill the other side for another 2-3 minutes until there are grill marks. Transfer it to a plate, combine the clarified butter or ghee and garlic powder, and brush it onto the hot naan on both sides.

Source: Cook Street Cooking School 

Pulled pork is such an easy meal, especially when you can throw it in the Crockpot and forget about it for hours. I've made this twice now, and it's a great recipe. The first time I made it, I did it with a three-pound bone-in pork shoulder. When I went to pull it out of the Crockpot after about 10 hours, it literally was falling off the bone. It was absolutely incredible, and we devoured it. The second time, I used a seven-pound boneless pork shoulder when I made it for the hub's 30th birthday party. I didn't have it in the Crockpot quite long enough so it wasn't as tender, but it still was fantastic. Everyone loved it. As a bonus, I made my own BBQ sauce in four different varieties. It was fun having everyone decide which one to slather on top of their meat. Out of regular, spicy, Jack Daniels, and apricot (because I was too lazy to buy peach preserves when I had apricot), the spicy and Jack Daniels variations were the favorites. One of the best things about the BBQ sauce is that it's no cook, so it takes about 5 minutes to whip up. 

Here was some of the birthday spread...pulled pork sandwiches, baked potato bar, corn on the cob, kale chips, buffalo chicken dip, cucumber blueberry salad, caprese puffs, peaches and cream cupcakes, slutty brownies, blueberry pie bars, and cookie cake. Everyone was well fed!

By the way, today I'm participating in Momma's Meals Featured Friday. She's baking my orange creamsicle cookies. I sure hope she likes them...I think they're the perfect summer cookie! Go check out Momma's Meals to see her take on them.

Pulled Pork Recipe (Crockpot)
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3-4 pound boneless pork shoulder
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups water
1 tablespoon hickory flavored liquid smoke

Rinse and pat dry the pork shoulder. Season it with salt and pepper all over and place it in the Crockpot. Pour the water and liquid smoke in the Crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours until very tender. Remove the meat from the Crockpot and shred with two forks. Serve with homemade BBQ sauce (below).

Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe (no cook)
Makes about 3 cups

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Store covered in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Variations:
--Add a few tablespoons of peach or apricot jam for a fruity BBQ sauce
--Add extra hot sauce for a spicy kick
--Add a few tablespoons of Jack Daniels or another whiskey/bourbon for an adult version (just make sure to tell people that it's not cooked)

Pulled pork recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
BBQ sauce recipe from Pink Parsley