Kitty's Kozy Kitchen: vignettes

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Monday, August 19, 2019

How about some wonderful Blueberry Crisp to enjoy this summer day? I have a Jim Shore angel that my friend, Pat, gave me years ago, and a Norfolk Island Pine in an old crock that I've had since Christmas.

My friend, Joy, gave this beautifully embroidered luncheon cloth that she found while shopping with her sister. Isn't the detail so pretty?

Both of my blue teacups were from Stephanie's teacup exchange, and we are going to have some blueberry tea. Another friend, Pat, brought back this Canadian tea while she was on vacation, along with some maple tea, and ice wine tea, which are all very tasty.

Yield: Around 6-8

Author: Kitty

Blueberry Crisp

I love that crisps are so easy to put together, and every bit as good as pie, in my opinion. This crisp keeps well in the fridge, and reheats well in the microwave, even though it won't be as crispy, but it's still wonderful!

ingredients:

4 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
juice of half of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/8 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup flour
6 tablespoons butter, melted

instructions:

How to cook Blueberry Crisp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" pie pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, add the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Toss all to combine until you no longer see any traces of cornstarch.
In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oats, flour and the melted butter. Stir together evenly, and set mixture aside for 5 minutes, and then use your fingertips to break the mixture into crumbs; set aside.
Turn the blueberry mixture into the prepared dish, scraping out all the juices.
Evenly sprinkle the crumbs over the berries.
Place the pie dish onto a cookie sheet in case of bubbling over in the oven, and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
Cool for 15 minutes before serving with ice cream or whipped cream.

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Monday, May 20, 2019

60 Minute Yeast Rolls

We had quite the stormy weather yesterday afternoon, but today it is sunshine-y and beautiful! Please join my for a favorite roll recipe and a cup of tea, won't you?

My son, Tim, and his daughter, Avery, picked me this pretty teacup orchid for Mother's Day. I hope I can keep it going! If you have any tips, please let me know.

This cast iron Grapevine teapot is from World Market, a favorite store of mine. Grapevines are a Japanese symbol that represents the blessings of nature. That's a beautiful thought, don't you agree?

My late beloved Mom sent me home one year with this pretty Royal Albert teacup. There isn't a pattern name on the back, but it has such a pretty Springtime pattern.

My daughter, Molly, and her kids gave me this pretty topiary azalea plant for Mother's Day. I hope I can keep it going, too!

Here's Cissy with her baked rolls that she took home for her family. We actually doubled the recipe for us each to have a dozen rolls. Cissy made her mom and me some sugar scrub for a Mother's Day gift. Wasn't that sweet of her? My son, Kevin and his wife, and little girls were out of town for Mother's Day, and he has been making me something for Mother's Day.

I'm leaving for the Texas Hill Country this week, and driving with a friend to visit one of our friends that moved there to her lake house. I won't be around to visit as much.

Yield: 1 dozen

Author: Kitty and Cissy, and taken from Fleischmann's

60 Minute Yeast Rolls

ingredients:

2 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (2-1/4 tsp.) envelope Rapid Rise Yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter

instructions:

How to cook 60 Minute Yeast Rolls

Combine 3/4 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (120° to 130°F). Add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1/4 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes, or knead in mixer with a dough hook, for about 4 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
Divide dough into 12 equal pieces; shape into balls. Place in greased 8-inch round pan. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; brush with additional melted butter, if desired. Serve warm.
To Freeze (unbaked rolls): Follow recipe as recommended up to and including when rolls are shaped and placed in pan. Tightly wrap rolls and pan with plastic wrap and foil. For best flavor, thaw and bake within one week of freezing.
To Thaw: Place pan of rolls covered in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator and continue the thaw and rise process at room temperature. When thawing at room temperature, allow at least 2 hours for rolls to rise after removing from the refrigerator. If rolls are not rising, boil a pot of water, remove from heat, cover the pot with a wire rack and place pan of rolls, covered with a cloth on top of rack. The steam will warm the dough to speed the rising process. Once the rolls have doubled in size, bake according to recipe.

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Monday, March 18, 2019

French Bread

Let's break bread together for tea time! Isn't the potted rose plant that my neighbor gifted me for my birthday, so pretty? The sweet cherub is hoping for Spring to arrive soon!

My friend, Colleen, gave me this March Royal Albert trio set, and I think it's such a pretty one.

I had four of my grandchildren over during Spring break and I was one happy Nana!!! It was so nice to see these cousins together in my home. We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, which is always a favorite. However, before we went to lunch, we prepared the dough for the French Bread, and let is rise while we were gone. Here they are rolling out their dough to make their twisted green and white St. Patrick's Day breads to take home.

Here are their finished loaves! They took nibbles of their bread because it was hard to resist that warm bread from the oven, especially with Irish butter.

Yield: 2 -3 large, or 4-8 small size loavesAuthor: Kitty

French Bread

This bread is a cinch to make because it's done in the food processor. I often use this recipe for pizza dough, or I'll use the French Bread for French Bread pizza. I hope you'll try it.

ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water
1 T. yeast
1 T. sugar
4 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. butter
1 cup ice water

instructions:

Mix sugar & warm water together in a small bowl. Sprinkle on the yeast & let proof for about 5 minutes.
Put flour, salt & butter in food processor & mix with the plastic blade. Pour the warm water mixture down the food tube while running & let run until well mixed.
While running, slowly pour the ice water down the tube & let the processor run (and knead) until the mixture balls up. After it balls up, let it run another 45 seconds.
Put dough in a greased bowl, cover loosely & let rise several hours until it has quit rising. Punch down on a clean, dry counter & roll out into a rectangle about 12 x 16 inches. Now you can either cut it lengthwise into 2, for larger loaves, or 3 for baguette size loaves. You can also make 6-8 sub-style "hard" rolls. Cut 4-6 slits slits on the diagonal on the top. Cover & let rise until double.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. I usually moisten the top of the bread. If you want a very shiny crust, you can brush with a beaten egg white. You can sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, if you wish. Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until golden.
Let cool on wire racks.
Makes 2-3 large loaves, or 6-8 small loaves (these are great for meatball or Italian subs)

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The kids also make bunnies from socks, which turned out so cute! They love doing crafty things.

I had lunch with my daughter, and her three boys. Cissy was busy with friends.

I had my two youngest grands over for a Saturday visit. Don't these sweet sisters look cute in their St. Patrick's Day outfits?

Thank you for your visit! xo

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Monday, March 11, 2019

Irish Brown Bread

I made some bread over the weekend to remind me of my dream vacation to Ireland that my late beloved and I took back in September, 2009. Let's have a slice and some Irish tea, shall we?

Of course, we must use some Kerrygold butter on our bread. The teacup's design reminds me of Celtic knots. The little harp vase was gifted to me several years ago.

My County Cork, Ireland teapot was a $1.50 thrifty find, and I think of my Great Grandmother Hannah that was born in that county. Aren't my shamrock lights from the Dollar Tree a fun decor piece?

My scruffy leprechaun was sent to me by my sister several years ago. He has his pot of gold and a lucky bird by his side. Maybe he was out and about harvesting potatoes? My shamrock plant made it through the winter, a little unkempt, but will perk up soon.

Here are my mini loaves of Irish Brown Bread fresh from the oven. When I worked at Frito-Lay years ago, I would bring loaves of my homemade bread that is made from a starter to my co-workers, on a rotating basis. Sometimes I would send home a loaf to my friend, and co-worker, Cindy's mom, who dearly loved the bread. One Christmas, her mom bought me these darling loaf pans that I use so often. I always think of Cindy and her late mom whenever I use them.

Yield: 1 9 x 5" loaf, or 4 mini loavesAuthor: Kitty

Irish Brown Bread

When my late beloved and I visited Ireland, the most delicious brown bread was served in tearooms, and restaurants. I've tried and tried to find the perfect recipe, and FINALLY stumbled upon The Barefoot Contessa's recipe. It is SO GOOD, full of hardy flavor, and has a moist texture. It took me back to memories of our dream vacation. I don't think I'll ever serve Irish Soda Bread again, after finding this recipe. I hope you try it!

ingredients:

1 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant), plus extra for sprinkling ( I used old fashioned oats and pulsed them in the food processor a bit)
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (I used light brown because that's what I had), lightly packed
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 (11- to 12-ounce) bottle Guinness extra stout beer, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, shaken (I used 4 T. powdered buttermilk + 1 cup water )
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (I added the dry buttermilk powder at this point). In a separate bowl, whisk together the beer, buttermilk ( I added the water), melted butter, and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir the batter from the middle of the bowl to the outside, until it's well mixed. It will look more like cake batter than bread dough.
Brush a 9 x 5 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pan, or 4 mini loaf pans, with melted butter, or use a cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the top with oats. Put the bread in the oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 400 degrees, and bake for 45 minutes, or 30 minutes for the mini loaves, until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn the bread out onto a baking rack and allow to cool completely. Slice and serve with salted butter. You will be in Irish heaven!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Monday, March 4, 2019

Mardi Gras Spritz Cookies

My friend Lynn over at Happier Than A Pig In Mud recently shared some quick and easy Mardi Gras Monkey Bread, and I thought that I'd make some Mardi Gras Spritz to join in on the fun.

It's really been record breaking cold here in the Dallas, Texas area, so we are going to enjoy some tea and cookies by the fire. I find any excuse to use fairy lights for a little sparkle. Aldi has flowers so expensively and I thought this bunch looked pretty for my cookies.

One of my favorite Spritz cookies, which are melt-in-your-mouth wonderful, can be found here. The only thing that I did differently was adding 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the recipe, which added a hint of spice. I thought the disk shape looked like mini King Cakes, which are famous cakes baked before Mardi Gras. I had never heard of them before moving to Texas. On some of the cookies, I sprinkled the sugars before baking them. On the other half, I baked them plain, and then made a simple powdered sugar glaze, and then sprinkled the sugars on. You can choose which one you'd like. I think they both turned out pretty.

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Monday, February 18, 2019

Chocolate Molten Cake

Would you care to join me for some chocolate molten cake? This dessert is so easy and incredibly fabulous! I'm using a Vera Bradley blanket that my oldest son, DIL, and granddaughters gave me for Christmas. Aren't the colors so pretty? The roses are from my three grandsons who brought them on Valentine's Day, along with my daughter and Cissy, who brought a balloon, and a box of candy.

My youngest son and DIL gave me a set of Royal Albert teacups one year for Christmas, and this is one of them.

Cissy made these beautiful tuxedo strawberries this week.

Harper and Hayden came and spent the night with me, and we had fun!

Avery and Ella came over to do some crafts. We made the snowmen, and below, we made the vintage Valentine girls.

What a great Valentine week it was!

Yield: 4Author: Kitty, adapted from Kraft

Chocolate Molten Cakes

These little cakes are so easy and I perfect way to satisfy your chocolate cravings.

ingredients:

1 pkg. (4 ounces) Semi-Sweet Chocolate (I weighed out 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. flour

instructions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. (I used the convection setting, and lowered the temperature to 400 degrees.)
Butter 4 small custard cups; place on baking sheet.
Microwave chocolate and butter in medium microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted; whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Add whole eggs and egg yolks; mix well. Stir in flour. Spoon into prepared cups.
Bake 13 to 14 min. or until edges of desserts are firm but centers are still soft. Let stand 1 min. Carefully run knife around cakes to loosen; invert into dessert plates. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

NOTES:

Make Ahead:
Prepare batter as directed; pour into prepared custard cups, and cover. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before baking as directed.

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