Homemade croissants!

So, croissants are pretty involved! But I found a recipe that wasn't as hard as others and they turned out GREAT. We ate them with chicken salad, and Andy loved it! The dough reminded me of a tougher cinnamon roll dough when I got it out of the fridge. It was interesting. But they turned out, and that's ALL that matters. :) Quick & Easy Croissants
Makes 24

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup evaporated milk
3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
*3 cups flour
2-1/4 teaspoons yeast

*(I usually only do breads with whole wheat, but since I wasn't sure about these I did 1/2 & 1/2, & it worked good.)

Combine yeast, 1 cup flour and other dry ingredients. Combine water and milk; heat to 120 to 130 degrees F.

Combine dry mixture, liquid ingredients, and butter in mixing bowl with paddle or beaters for 4 minutes on medium speed. Add egg; beat 1 minute. Gradually add remaining flour and knead with dough hook(s) 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Place dough on floured surface and knead about 6 times to release air bubbles. Divide into 3 parts. Roll each part into a 14-inch circle. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Starting with wide edge, roll each wedge toward the point. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, point side down, and curve into crescent shape. Cover; let rise until indentation remains after touching (45-60 mins.)

Combine 1 slightly beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush croissants with egg mixture. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from cookie sheets and cool.
Michele

::{Broccoli and Cheese Soup AND Quick Rolls}::

::{BROCCOLI AND CHEESE SOUP}::

The pictures really don't do this soup justice! It was fabulous and I have to put in a disclaimer: Get a small bowl the first time around so you won't feel like such a pig when you load up your second bowl! Even CLINT had seconds on this {and those of you who have ever eaten with him know that he is A: a picky eater and B: eats like a bird so I was very impressed!} :0)

4 c water

2 c diced potatoes

20 oz frozen chopped broccoli {or thereabouts}

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 c diced onion {again, I prefer the taste and convenience of dried minced onions. I used about 1 1/2 Tbs}

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 lb cubed Velveeta cheese

Ok, mix first 5 ingredients together and simmer for about 30 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Stir often. Add cream of chicken soup and Velveeta and simmer for another 15 minutes. Keep stirring often to prevent scalding. If you want to {I didn't} you can add a head of chopped cauliflower. If the soup ends up too thick, add another cup of water and one more bouillon cube.

::{QUICK ROLLS}::

3 1/4 - 3 3/4 c flour

1 pkg quick rise yeast

1 c milk

1/4 c sugar

1/3 c butter

3/4 tsp salt

1 beaten egg

Ok, stir together 1 1/4 c flour and the yeast. In a small sauce pan, heat and stir milk, sugar, butter and salt until WARM and butter just starts to melt. Add to flour mixture along with egg. Beat with mixer on low for 30 sec, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high 3 min. Add remaining flour, and only mix until combined.

Turn dough onto floured surface and knead into a smooth, elastic dough {a few minutes, be careful not to over-knead!}. Divide dough in half, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease pan{s}. You can put them in a glass dish for traditional rolls, but I prefer to make Cloverleaf Rolls.

For traditional rolls, divide dough into 20 - 24 balls, pulling edges under to make a smooth top and place in prepared pan.

For Cloverleafs, divide dough into 36 balls, pulling the edges under to make a smooth top and place 3 per greased muffin cup. {Obviously you will be using a muffin pan} :0)

Cover and let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes. I like to let mine rise on top of the stove cuz it's nice and warm.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until rolls sound hollow when lightly tapped. Cool on wire rack.

::If you want a glossy, crisp top crust, brush with milk or a beaten egg before baking. If you want a soft, shiny crust, brush the baked rolls with butter when you take them out of the oven::

Tiffany

Crumble-top Pumpkin Bread or Muffins!

1 can (15 ounces) Pumpkin

1 2/3 c. sugar

2/3 c. vegetable oil

4 large eggs

3 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves ( I didn't have that, so I used pumpkin pie spice!)

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 c. raisins (optional)

1. Move oven rack to low postiiton so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of 2 pans or put muffin cups in muffin pan.

2. Mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining engredients except nuts & raisins. Add nuts & raisins. Divide batter evenly between pans. Sprinkle with Streusel Topping.

3. Bake regular size loaves 50-60 mins., mini loaves 30-35 mins. or muffins 18-20 mins. Enjoy!

Streusel Topping:

3 Tbls. Flour

3 Tbls. Sugar

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbls. butter

Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until mixture is crumbly.

Michele Peterson