Strawberry Loaf & Feta Eggs

I have to be honest...  as I'm sure EVERYONE knows... moving is a TASK!!!  We spent three and half full days packing, loading the truck, three days driving to the East Coast, and then three whole days looking for a place to live.  PHEW!!!  Hence, if anybody had noticed, it has been a full TWO weeks since I have posted something.

I have managed to make a few tasty meals between everything that has been going on, but this is something I actually made a few months back.  It was one of those crazy evenings where we didn't have much and I was using all of our resources to scrounge up a dinner.  I accompanied these with feta topped eggs.  It's all up to your taste buds!  :)

Strawberry Loaf

1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (thinly sliced)

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour a loaf pan and set aside for later.

In a stand mixer on medium speed , cream butter and sugar together until it becomes light and fluffy.  Add salt and vanilla and mix.  Turn speed up to medium-high to high and add in eggs one at a time, allowing the mixture to become very light.  After about four minutes, turn off the mixer, add in the flour and strawberries and mix on low just until ingredients come together (careful not to over-mix the batter).

Scoop batter into the loaf pan (evening it out so it is proportioned and no strawberries are sticking-up.  Sprinkle with a little brown sugar (to desired sweetness, as the batter itself isn't too sweet, but your strawberries may be sweet enough to not want too much).

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean.

Feta Eggs

eggs
butter
salt & pepper
feta cheese

Heat the skillet with butter (about 1 tbs of butter per egg) on medium heat.  Once butter has fully melted, crack eggs into skillet, season with salt and pepper and allow the first side to cook.  Flip eggs, reseason with salt and pepper and top with feta cheese.  Cook fully and serve!

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Generally I don't get a negative reaction when I say the words "cinnamon rolls" around people.  Today was no exception.  :)

I have decided that for the last three Wednesdays of teaching, I will be bringing my students goodies.  I have some ideas for next week and the following week, so we'll see if those materialize, but today was Cinnamon Roll Day!

There's something so wonderful about a homemade cinnamon roll.  They're so different than store bought, and really, in my opinion, they can't be beat!  (Maybe I'm biased?)  I decided to go with my "mini rolls" today for ease of preparation and portability, not to mention that the bigger they are, the messier they are - and with many small hands... well, let's just say that's less mess to deal with!  (And less sugar to detox from).

This 24 hour recipe of mine (adapted... well, evolved is probably better... from many a recipe hunt and trial and error) has proved to be a success so far.  I'm not planning on changing it anytime soon!  ;)  These ooey-gooey buns, with their buttery bottoms, are quite delectable.  Haha!

Cinnamon Rolls

1 package yeast
2-4 melted butter (for dough)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar (for dough)
1 cup milk (110 degrees F)
4 tbs melted butter (for brushing the rolls)
cinnamon and sugar (for the filling)
flour

In a stand mixer, combine milk, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Allow to sit for 10-20 minutes to allow the yeast to react with the heated milk.  You'll see the nice little action it gets once it has had a good amount of time to react.  At this time, add in the melted butter and stir.  On a low - medium speed, begin adding flour.  You'll want to get the dough to a consistency that is slightly elastic, yet fully formed.  At this point, if you have a dough-hook, attach that and allow the dough to kneed on high for 10-15 minutes.  If you don't have that luxury, well... it's time to get those hands moving!  Kneed the dough for approximately 10-15 minutes (if you can make it that long!).

Set dough aside.  Cover, in a bowl, with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm, dry location (such as the oven).  Let sit at least 12 hours.

Once those first 12 hours have past, it's time to construct the rolls!  Lightly flour your work surface.  Take the dough and dust lightly with flour.  For regularly sized rolls, begin by rolling out the dough into a symmetrical piece about 12" tall (and as wide as neceesary).  If you desire thicker layers, roll the dough out to about 1/4" thick.  For mini rolls, roll about 12" tall as well (and as wide as necessary), but roll the dough so it is about 1/10" thick - nice and thin, yet thick enough to still roll!

Take the 4 tbs melted butter and brush (with a pastry brush if you have one), on the dough to create a nice layer of butter.  Make sure to butter ALL the way to the edges!  Cinnamon and sugar as desired.  :)

Now, begin to roll the dough so it forms a long, long roll (you're rolling the long side, not the 12" thick side!).  Cut into 1 to 1 1/2" rounds.  Place in buttered pans (I use glass, but metal would work as well - such as a cake pan), spacing slightly apart so they have room to expand.  Brush extra butter on top of the rolls.

Cover again and set aside for another 12 hours or so (overnight is good!).

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for 15- 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown for the mini rolls, and 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown, for the regularly sized rolls.  (Your oven might vary greatly, but that's the tendency in ours.  Watch carefully, though.  NO ONE wants a burnt cinnamon roll!!)  :)

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 stick butter (room temp)
juice of one lemon
zest (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar

In a mixer, combine butter and cream cheese and blend until light and fluffy.  Add in lemon juice and vanilla (zest at this point as well if you desire) and mix for a few seconds.  Begin adding powdered sugar until desire texture and flavor is reached.  Pour over cinnamon rolls and enjoy!