The first is for a bread machine Pepperoni and Cheese bread, which came out quite fabulous. Mom gave it the thumbs up and I felt it was good too. I'll definitely be making it again...
Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tbsp warm water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder (though fresh garlic would be yummy)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
3 1/4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup diced pepperoni
Directions:
In bread machine pan, place all ingredients, in order listed, except the pepperoni, which you should set aside. This recipe makes a 1 1/2 lb. loaf, so I selected the "Large Light" bread setting. Depending on your machine, choose something similar. Just before the final kneading, add the pepperoni. Do not use the delay timer for this recipe.
When finished, the loaf is soft and chewy on the inside, and crisp and crusty on the outside. Yum!
On the same evening, I wanted to make a pasta with some sort of cream sauce, but I had no heavy cream, so I hunted around for a recipe which would use something else I had in the kitchen instead. I ended up with a wonderful Garlic Alfredo Sauce recipe, using cream cheese as the base. I was a little unsure of how it would come out (cream cheese?), but it was delicious!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder (decrease to 1 if you aren't a super garlic fan)
2 cups milk
6 oz. grated parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. If you're not using a non-stick pan you need to pay attention! Be continuously stirring and trying to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, still stirring until smooth. Here is where things aren't so exact. Add milk, a little bit at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stop adding milk when sauce is smooth. Stir in parmesan and pepper. Continue to add milk slowly if sauce is too thick, and remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Toss with hot pasta to serve. You can serve alone, or add cooked pork, chicken, or seafood to the sauce.
I used a handful of cooked seafood, and thought it tasted wonderful.
Now, for all of you who are looking down your nose at me in sheer disguist that I would use a bread machine rather than an oven...fine, go ahead. Smirk away. But, let me say, for the record, that I would never stop making bread in the oven and strictly make bread by machine, because it's really just not the same. Bread from the oven is much higher in quality. There is, though, something to be said for the convenience of a bread machine and it's assistance in the kneeding and rising process, which makes things go so much faster, especially if you are super busy. Sometimes people even use the bread machine to kneed and rise, and then transfer the dough into a pan and pop it straight into the oven. So, even if you'd never stoop to making a whole loaf by machine, it's still a nice little gadget to own, if only for that little feature.
Cranberry Nut Bread
Dala Horse-shaped Rolled Dutch Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Frosting and Chocolate Sprinkles:
White Chocolate Peppermint Bark:
White Chocolate Bark with Dark Chocolate Chips:
Snowflake-shaped Sugar Cookies, Dipped in White Chocolate with Almonds:
Leaf-shaped Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies:
Pineapple Cookies with Lemon Glaze and Walnuts: (My Favorite!)
Tree-shaped Traditional Shortbread:
And here are the cookie piles each person was given, ready to be packed up:
