What you've been waiting for!!! A Few New Recipes!!!

Hey, all! First off, I'd like to apologize for being gone for so long, but as you'll agree, school needed to come first. (And if you don't agree, at least you're back for more recipes!)

Secondly, I need to apologize for not having any pictures to go with these recipes. That is mostly due to the fact that my family ate most of the final product before I thought about taking pictures! Sorry! But at least you know they were good, right! Or at least you will once you try them!

Homemade Barbecue Sauce!!!

Okay, so for those of you who don't know my methods of creation, I'm about to reveal it to you here and now with how I came up with my barbecue sauce recipe.

I got a hankerin' for a bit of barbecue chicken one night, and I wanted to make my own sauce. At first I was going to use an easy ketchup recipe that I had tucked away, but I couldn't find it in the mess that is called my cookbook. (Literally, stacks of recipes shoved into my once nicely handwritten recipe journal.) So, I did what any other person would do: I researched sauces on the internet. After I found about five sauces that closely resembled what I was trying to concoct, I printed them off and went to work.

I pulled out a small pot and began glancing at the recipes. I took a little of something from each recipe that sounded like it would go good together and I mixed them in the pot.

Daring, I know! But for some reason, I have this blessing of a great memory for what things taste like, and if I concentrate, I can imagine different things together and voila! That's how I decide what goes good together!

Okay, okay! Back to the recipe...

In the long run, I added a teaspoon of salt (something none of the other recipes called for) to the sauce because it was too sweet and it turned out great!

Step 1:
Put all the ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 2:
Clean up the splatter mess before your spouse gets angry at you!

Step 3:
Cut chicken into strips. Rinse pieces and pat them dry.

Step 4:
Dip them in sauce and put on a broiler pan. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes (depending on how thick your strips are- they could take longer).

Step 5:
Fend off your family as you devour them! Don't forget to let the pan cool before you lick the sauce off of it, or you'll end up in the emergency room with a rather sore tongue and an embarrassing story to tell. =)

Ingredients

1/2 cup Ketchup (not to be confused with Catsup- but that's another post)
6 oz. Tomato Paste
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Dried Ground Mustard
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
Dash of Cayenne
(For those of you wondering what a dash is- Just shake it once or twice over the pot- more if you want it hotter!)
Dash of Ground Black Pepper
2 Tbs Honey (give or take)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Salt


Now, I saved the best for last! Who wants....

Cinnamon Rolls!!!! With a to-die-for-melt-in-your-mouth-Frosting!!!

For those of you who don't know, I've been on the trail to find the elusive Cinnabon recipe for cinnamon rolls. I've tried every other recipe out there that promised delivery, only to be let down time and again. I've since decided to abandon others false promises and strike out on my own walkabout for this infamous recipe (or one to top it!!!). What I've come up with is a great sweetbread recipe and an awesome frosting recipe that is worth every second of it's time-consuming creation!

This dough recipe is best used in a bread machine. Sorry to those of you who don't have one, but they take all the work of worrying about temperatures out of my hands and I enjoy it! I highly recommend you look into one. I use mine mostly for dough making. I think I've only really made bread in it like 3-4 times in the 6 years we've owned it. Enough about that! you want the recipes! Well, here they are!

Sweet Bread Dough

1 cup Milk (Room Temp- RT for the future)
1 stick of butter RT
1/3 cup sugar
3 large Eggs
1/4 tsp Salt
3 tsp Yeast
4 3/4 cups Flour

1
Add all ingredients to the machine and let it work its magic!

2
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix about a cup of brown sugar with 3 Tbs of cinnamon. To that, gradually add butter until it is just spreadable. This is important for the caramelizing process to occur properly!

3
Roll out dough into a rough rectangle shape. Spread the sugar mixture from step 2 evenly across it and then be generous with the raisins!

4
Carefully take one of the long sides and roll it towards you. Cut the dough with a string- I find that dental floss works best as it comes pre-waxed. That and it's cheaper! I have a roll that I use only for cutting cinnamon rolls.

5
Spray 2 9"X13" pans with cooking spray. Arrange rolls 12 to a pan. Let rise for a few minutes in a warm place.

6
Cook rolls for 10 minutes and then rotate and cook for 10 more minutes- or until just golden on the tops!

7
Let cool for a few minutes and then ice them individually for the best flavor extravaganza! =)


Icing

1 stick Salted Butter (or Margarine) RT
1- 8 oz. pkg. Cream Cheese RT
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 package Powdered Sugar

1
Take the first 3 ingredients and CREAM THEM GOOD!!! And I mean, until there is not a lump to be seen!

2
Add the whipping cream and whip that stuff till you are just this side of butter!

3
Slowly add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you reach desired sweetness and texture (I added about 1 1/2 to 2 cups myself before calling it good).

4
Chill in the fridge.

5
Spread generously across a warm cinnamon roll (recipe above), sit in a cozy chair and revel in the fact that you deserve that delectable little treat- and that you hid the rest from those who would dare try to rob you of your little treats!

Remember! Keep on cookin!