.sweet potato bread.

It feels great to be back in business!!! My new lens is going to take some getting use to. I have already decided I need another one, but for now this works.

Years ago when my husband and I went to Ohio to visit his family, his dad took us to Young's Dairy for dinner. It's an actual dairy farm with a petting area and ice creamery and a restaurant. When you sit down, they bring out a loaf of warm sweet potato bread and cinnamon honey butter. We loved it so much that I wanted to try and recreate this for us to enjoy whenever we wanted.

After much trial and error, I came up with this recipe. I even made it everyday at the bakery and it was a big hit. We even made it up as french toast and drizzled with a little honey. Delicious! I'm sure this will be a hit in your own homes as it is in ours.


In a sieve, sift 3 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp cloves.









I sifted right onto a piece of parchment paper because I didn't want to dirty up another bowl.
















Sorry blurry picture! In a mixing bowl, put 2/3 cup shortening, 2 cups sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar.










Mix until it's crumbly.

Add 3 eggs and mix until nice and creamy. Sorry for these blurry pictures! They look so clear on my little lcd screen.

I like to make a bunch of sweet potato mash ahead of time. I divide it into ziplocs and freeze so all I have to do is pull one bag out of the freezer and thaw and it's ready for use. To make your sweet potato mash, cut up sweet potatoes (with the skins on). Put them in a big ol pot and fill up with water. Boil until they're soft. Dump into a colander and let strain until they are dry. Pull the skins off and mash the flesh in a bowl. I have found that if you fill one of those plastic produce bags at the grocery store full of sweet potatoes, you'll have enough for about 8 loaves of bread.



Add 2 cups sweet potatoes to the mixing bowl and mix well.
















Dump in the dry ingredients all at once.


















Turn the mixer onto the lowest speed setting and mix only until the wet and dry are combined. Don't overmix this. The batter will be slightly thick.















Spray two medium sized bread pans with Pam and divide the batter between the two. See how lumpy I put it in there? One of the gals at my bakery used to try and make it so nice and smooth on top and I told her to not do that. It all works out on its own in the oven and you actually do want a little peak in the center.

Put these into a hot 400* oven. As soon as you put the loaves in, turn the heat down to 350* and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.








See how beautiful these turn out? When you pull these out of the oven, remove them from the pans and let cool on baking racks.

Serve with whipped cinnamon honey butter.




To make this honey butter, put 2 semi soft sticks of butter in a bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Begin mixing on low speed to incorporate the butter and sugar. Drizzle honey in and turn onto high speed. Keep drizzling until the butter becomes nice and fluffy.

Transfer to a tupperware bowl and hold in the fridge when not using.



Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_123dnj9tvcc

.cherry enchilades.

I came across this recipe not too long ago while searching for something. I'm a big fan of cherries, especially cherry pie. Remember when McDonalds used to sell cherry pie? Not sure why they decided to do away with it because I don't like their apple pies. Blech. There's something about the tartness and the sweetness that makes me go, "ooooooooooh!"


This recipe is rather easy and I really mean that. I know I say things are easy, but my idea of easy is often very different than someone elses. The *only* thing about this dish, is you have to start the night before. But really... it is *SO* easy!!!!!



Take some fajita size tortillas. The recipe calls for 8, but you can make as many of these bad boys as you see fit.

For every 8 tortillas, you need 1 can pie filling.

Put cherries down the center and carefully roll up.

Once you fill up your pan, cover tightly with foil and put in the fridge. Keep it in there overnight.

About 1 hour before serving, take the enchilades out of the fridge. Leave them covered.


In a saucepan, put 1/3 cup butter.....

1/2 cup brown sugar.....

1/2 cup sugar.....

and 1/2 cup water.

Bring to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the enchilades and let sit for 30 minutes.



While that's sitting, we're going to toast some almonds.

Preheat oven to 450*. Put 1/2 cup blanched, slivered almonds in a pie plate. Put in the oven and keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't burn. Once toasted, pull from oven and set aside.

Reduce heat on oven to 350* as soon as almonds are out.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. This is what the enchilades will look like when they come out. Nice and golden and caramelized on top. Yummy!



To serve: Plate one or two enchilades on a plate. Put a large dollop of whipped cream in the center. Put a maraschino cherry on top. Sprinkle the top lightly with cinnamon. Take a small handful of toasted almonds and sprinkle those around as well.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_55fhk9gcz7

.aunt vivian's carrot cake.

This recipe was added to our family cookbook from my mom, Carolyn. As children, we used to have carrot cake a lot... I think it was my mom's way of getting vegetables into us. This recipe was given to my mom from my great aunt Vivian. Preserving family recipes is a lot like preserving your family history. Food tells a lot about a person and I love having these to make for my family.



In a bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 2 cups sugar.









The key to this recipe is crushed pineapple. It gives the cake sweetness and makes it really moist. This can is huge. I only used a little over half of it and froze the rest. Make sure you either use a smaller can or only use half or so. Make sure you drain the juice out first. SAVE THE JUICE! We're going to need it later.













In a bowl, put 2 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups shredded carrot, a little over 1 cup of crushed pineapple (8.5oz), 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Mix together well with a fork.

Dump the wet into the dry and mix together using a whisk or spatula.

Pour into a prepared 13x9" cake pan. Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted will come out clean.

Doesn't that look yummy? Set the entire cake on a cooling rack so air can flow over and under it. Once the cake is cooled, slather on the cream cheese frosting.

In a mixing bowl, put 1/4 cup butter and 1 8oz pkg cream cheese. Use the beater attachment and mix well.

Add 5-6 cups powdered sugar slowly, one scoop at a time. Don't dump it all in otherwise when you turn the mixer on you'll get a huge mushroom cloud of powdered sugar. lol

Alternate adding powdered sugar and the pineapple juice you reserved.

When you reach the consistency you want, add a tsp of vanilla and mix well. Spread all over your cooled cake.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_53k2t94nc5

.fruit salsa w/ cinnamon tortilla chips.

I went to a party once when I lived in Virginia where this dish was served. My friend, Jenna, said she got it out of the Better Homes and Garden cookbook. Well, I looked in mine and it's not in there.... but she's a lot younger than I am so she probably had a newer addition. I loved it. Not only was it a really light, fresh appetizer, it was really pretty and tasty! Good food is usually very visually pretty. ;)



This is also a very low-fat/low-cal recipe so you can't go wrong with this dish! Here's how we make it.



Take 10 fajita sized tortillas. Cut in half, then in half again. Then in half again. We're quartering them to make our baked cinnamon tortilla chips.

Arrange the tortilla wedges on a baking sheet. You'll need to use about 3 sheets, or just keep cranking them out using one. You don't want them to overlap or else they won't get crispy in the oven.

Melt 1/4 c. butter in the microwave.

Brush the wedges lightly with some of the melted butter.

Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. Put in a 350* oven for 10 minutes. After those 10 minutes are up, turn the oven to 400* and bake another minute. This will crisp up those chips!








Pull chips from the oven and let cool. These can be made the night before and put in a ziploc to keep fresh.


[TIP: Instead of throwing out your spice jars, clean one up and put some sugar and cinnamon in it. Shake well. Mark the lid with a STAR for easy finding. You'll always have cinnamon/sugar ready for toast or other things like this!]



While the tortilla wedges are in the oven we're going to make the salsa.

Peel and finely dice one mango.

Peel, slice, then finely dice 2 kiwi.



Make sure when you buy the kiwi that they aren't too squishy. They need to be firmer or else they will be nothing but mush when you go to dice.

Dice about 2 cups strawberries.



Put all the fruit in a bowl and mix together.

Using the small grate on your cheese grater, zest one lemon. Only grate once or twice in the same spot. You don't want any of the pith (the white stuff under the pretty yellow skin). Add to the bowl.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze into the bowl. Take any seeds out that might have fallen from the lemon into the bowl.

Sprinkle in about 1 Tbsp shredded coconut. Stir everything together.



This salsa is adaptable for anyone's taste. Pineapple would be a wonderful compliment to this, but my husband doesn't care for pineapple. I added a little diced banana to my bowl. If you use banana, make sure you add it at the very last minute because they brown quickly.



You can also add plum, peaches, and some chopped mint!





[TIP: When you only need half of a lemon, use the other half to bleach and sanitize your cutting boards. Sprinkle some salt on the flat side of the lemon and then rub in a circular motion. Let sit for 1/2 hour before washing.]