Bread Braid

This is one way to enjoy Homemade Sloppy Joe's when you don't have hamburger buns.

1/2 cup Milk
3 tbs. Sugar
2 tsp. Salt
3 tbs. Butter or Margarine
1 tbs. Active Dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm Water
5 to 6 cups All-Purpose Flour

Place milk, sugar, salt and butter in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour. Use dough hook and use speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.
Place dough on clean counter top and cut in half.
Use a rolling pin to flatten dough into a rectangle shape. Put the dough on a greased cookie sheet. Use a pizza cutter to cut strips into the dough but leaving the middle untouched. Place cooked Sloppy Joe mix in the middle and braid the dough over the mix.
Bake on 400 until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Brush margarine or butter on top and serve.

For the rest of the bread dough I let it raise in a bread pan till it's doubled in size and bake it in the oven on 400 degrees till golden brown.

Carbonara - Rachael Ray

Elizabeth (SIL) introduced this recipe to me. It's from Rachael Ray's website at http://www.recipezaar.com/
I made this for dinner today and really enjoyed it. I used regular White Cooking Wine instead of Dry White Wine and I didn't add the red pepper flakes because I'm not a fan and it turned out great!

1 lb Spaghetti or Rigatoni Pasta
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
1/4 lb Pancetta, chopped (Italian Bacon)
1 tsp. Red Pepper flakes
5-6 Garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup Dry White Wine
2 large Egg Yolks
Romano Cheese, freshly grated
Fresh Parsley, for garnish

1. Boil pasta.
2. Heat large skillet. Add olive oil and pancetta. Brown pancetta for 2 mins. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook 2-3 mins more. Add wine and stir up all the pan drippings.
3. In a separate bowl beat yolks, then add about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water. This tempers the egg and keeps them from scrambling when added to the pasta.
4. Drain pasta well and add it directly to the skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour egg mixture over pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove pan from heat and add a big handful of cheese, lots of pepper and a little salt to taste. Continue to toss and turn the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and extra grated romano.

Chef Salad

I was asked to make a salad to share for our Families Easter Egg hunt over Easter weekend. I wanted to try something new and I was having cravings for green salad with lots of my favorite ingredients. It tuned into a Chefs Salad because I had left over smoked turkey from a recent dinner that we had with friends and family and I thought it would be fun to put hard boiled eggs because of it being Easter. The ingredients that I put together was:

Romain Lettuce
Iceberg Lettuce
Smoked Turkey
Green Onion
Olives
Swiss Cheese
Colby Jack Cheese
Grape Tomato's
Hard Boiled Eggs

I made the homemade Hidden Valley Ranch to go with it because that stuff is far better then the pre-made bottle ranch. It tasted so good. I wont always have the smoked turkey on hand so ham will be a good substitute. I'm already having cravings for this!

Pulled Pork (Crock Pot)

Matt and I had the pleasure of visiting our Aunt and Uncle in Seattle a couple weeks ago and had amazing food. I wanted to try and re-create the Pulled Pork that she made and I succeeded.

Pork Shoulder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup Water

Add all ingredients in slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours. Serve with your favorite barbecue sauce and rolls to make a full meal. Yummy! :)

My brother Nathan also makes delicious Pulled Pork by smoking it in his smoker outside. It takes almost all day but it's so worth it! I'm excited for summer coming around the corner because he will start doing it again. He's always smoking some kind of meat so our home always has the aroma of meat being smoked.