Ground Beef Taco Meat
I use this Ground Beef Taco Meat for many Mexican-style dishes at our house.
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Skip to contentThis summer, I’ve had the pleasure of receiving boxes filled with fruits and vegetables from a community food program due to the Covid-19 virus. One of those was a package of purple plums. Of course, we could have eaten them fresh, but I decided to …
Here’s an easy recipe for homemade French Bread with Dipping Oil. It’s delicious alone or if you’re going for a more elegant dining experience, try making the dipping oil.
Our family loves this bread and dipping it in spiced oils. Buttery tender bread with a golden crust. And it makes two loaves, so there is plenty for everyone or to take to a potluck dinner.
For the Dipping Spice and Oil
In a large mixing bowl, stir together 3 cups of all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, and salt.
In a small saucepan or microwavable bowl, combine milk, water, and butter. Heat until butter starts to melt (between 110-115 degrees).
Add liquids to the flour mixture. With a kneading hook, beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough.
Hand Kneading will Make a More Tender Dough
Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Or if you’d prefer, continue kneading with a mixer and kneading hook. For this bread, I prefer hand kneading, as it seems to make a more tender dough. But it’s your choice.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and allow to rise for 50-60 minutes.
At the end of the rising period, gently punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half.
With a rolling pin, shape each into a 10 x 12″ rectangle. Roll up jelly roll style, pinching edges and ends to seal. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, placing sealed edges down.
Using a sharp knife or bread lame, score each loaf with 3-4 diagonal cuts in each. Allow to rise for 20-30 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Serve warm. This recipe will make two loaves. You may freeze the extra loaf if desired, by wrapping the cooled loaf in plastic wrap and then storing it in a 2 gallon freezer bag.
In a small bowl, combine dried minced onion, crushed rosemary, oregano, parsley, basil, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Store in airtight container to use as needed. This will make more than 1/4 cup.
For dipping, combine a high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 teaspoon dipping spice, and a good balsamic vinegar in a small serving dish. Sometimes I will also add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to the oil.
Serve with warm French bread. Your family will love you and think that you’ve slaved all day in your kitchen!
See more Yeast Breads Here. See more French Recipes Here.
Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting is a delicious, old-fashioned cake with a delightful, yummy frosting. Flavorful spices: Cinnamon, Allspice, and Cloves. Nuts. And that wonderful frosting. Penuche is actually an Italian word that means fudge-like candy that is tan in color. Similar to caramel. Or …
I use this recipe for Homemade Chili Sauce when I don’t have any of this condiment in my pantry. It’s very easy to make and most people will have these ingredients on hand. Do-It-Yourself Food Projects can give a person such a sense of accomplishment. …
Applesauce Spice Cake reminds me of the little boxes of snack cake mix my mom used to buy when I was a girl.
In my years growing up, my folks would have other couples over on weekends to play pitch. My mom would almost always make a batch of popcorn or homemade ice cream. Sometimes we’d bake a snack cake to go with it. Like this recipe.
In looking back and pondering this, it seems that my mom came from a generation when quick and easy was the “in” thing to do. No longer was baking from scratch, like what her mother and grandmother did before her, sought after. Why bake from scratch when you can save yourself time and effort by buying a baking mix at the grocery store?
And it wasn’t just baking products. It extended into quick and easy meal packages. Frozen Dinners, Hamburger Helper, Spaghetti Mix Packages. This may also have been about the time when sweetened processed cereals became all the rage.
Plus, there was the advent of television commercials boasting the wonderful taste and ease of their products. So we’re roughly talking of around 1946-1966. My mom’s generation.
So, all of this leads me to ask “Where are we today?”
While “boxed” baking and dinner products are certainly still available in large numbers, I see the trend coming back for “home cooked” meals made from scratch. As proof, look at all the recipe blogs available online. Or the cooking shows on television. Or the recipe magazines being sold. And on top of that, we have an amazing variety of ingredients available to most everyone at the grocery store.
Whatever the case, I hope you will enjoy this made-from-scratch Applesauce Spice Snack Cake recipe. Here’s how to make it.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with baking spray.
Using a nut chopper or knife, chop English walnuts or pecans into small pieces. If desired, you may also chop the raisins into small pieces.
Our middle daughter is not overly wild about raisins, but she seems to be okay with them if they are chopped. I try to do this for any recipe that includes raisins, but do as you desire.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter and granulated sugar for about thirty seconds.
Add large eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
In a small bowl combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground cloves.
Add the flour to the creamed butter alternately with the cinnamon applesauce until mixed well.
Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir in the chopped raisins and nuts.
Pour cake batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Because this is such a dense cake, it may take a bit longer, depending on your oven setting. You want to be sure the center is fully cooked before removing the cake from the oven or the middle might sink.
See more Cake Recipes Here. Browse Applesauce Recipes Here.
Use Cajun Spice in side dishes or as a rub on steaks, shrimp, or fish.
In my years of baking and cooking, I have made many DIY seasonings and mixes. You can usually count on two things when you make your own: it will be less expensive and more tasty.
Making your own spices or seasoning blends requires that you have a well-stocked pantry. Below I’ve listed my top spices and herbs that I like to keep in my cabinet. Of course, you might want more or less, depending on how much you cook and your preferences. But this is a nice start for the recipes you’ll find on this site, including Cajun Spice.