We hosted dinner at our house with all the family because Mom and Dad had to spend the day at the conference center and couldn't host at their house. We started with a recital for all of the grandkids to perform and then we ate. The food was great! Ashlee made funeral potatoes, Olivia made roasted red potatoes, Jessica did the dessert and I did the rest. Elizabeth said all the food turned out great. She said she liked everything we made. I tried a bunch of new recipes and Libby said sometimes it doesn't turn out great when I do that, but today it did. I didn't do any changes to most of the recipes because I didn't have time to think about it. So I'm re-posting them here along with links to the originals.
PEA SALAD
First I made Pea Salad. This is one recipe I did my own version. There are lots of them out there. It's pretty much potato salad with peas instead of potatoes.
7 cups frozen peas
14 slices of bacon, crumbled (or just 7 if you don't add more later)
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
5 oz cheddar cheese cut into cubes (about 1 cup)
4 oz Mozzarella cheese cut into cubes (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Ranch powder (the kind used to make dressing)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (I think this was too much - I'll only do 1 Tbsp next time)
Salt and Pepper as desired.
Put the peas in a colander and rinse with warm water to thaw. Allow to drain completely. Meanwhile mix sour cream, mayo, dill, ranch powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the peas, cheeses, onion and half the bacon. Stir to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top with remaining bacon and serve. - I forgot to add the rest of the bacon. It was good anyway- so you could use less bacon slices.
SEED ROLLS
Next I made rolls from Our Best Bites. She named them after the Hunger Games movie - I don't know why. I just called them seed rolls. I doubled the recipe. The rolls are REALLY big. I think next time I might cut more than 8 slices from each round, or make more than 2 rounds from the recipe.
MAKES 16 Rolls
3/4 cup warm (105-115 F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons table salt
3 tablespoons flax seed, divided
3 tablespoons unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds, divided
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, divided (Mine were already toasted, so I didn't toast them again)
2 tablespoons uncooked oats
3 cups wheat flour
2 tablespoons dough enhancer
2-3 cups bread flour
1 egg white
2 tablespoons cold water
In a small bowl or larger liquid measuring cup, combine the warm water and the sugar. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir to combine, and allow to stand for 10 minutes or until frothy.While the yeast is proofing, combine 2 tablespoons of each of the seeds in a small skillet, reserving 1 tablespoon each of sesame, flax, and sunflower seeds and 1/2 tablespoon of poppy seeds (you’ll use these later to top the rolls). Toast over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and the sesame seeds start to turn a light golden color.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, combine the buttermilk, melted butter, honey, and salt. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. In another bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, and the toasted seeds and then add to the yeast mixture and mix well. Add 2-3 cups of bread flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl to the center and it barely sticks to your finger when you touch it. When you reach that point, allow the mixer to mix it for 5 minutes.While the dough is kneading, spray a large glass or metal bowl with non-stick cooking spray. When the dough is done kneading, turn the dough into the bowl and cover with a clean dish cloth. Allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
While the dough is rising, lightly flour a work surface (or spray with non-stick cooking spray). Line 2 baking sheets with Silpat liners or parchment paper and set aside.When the dough is done rising, transfer it to the work surface and divide it in half. Roll each half into a circle about 12″ in diameter and about 1/4″-1/2″ thick. Using a pizza wheel or a dough cutter, cut the dough into 8 equal wedges. Starting with the wide edge of each wedge, roll down to the point. Place on the prepared baking sheet and then form into a slight crescent. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.When the dough has about 10 minutes left to rise, preheat oven to 375. Whisk together the egg white and water. Mix the reserved seeds and the oats in a small bowl. When the rolls are done rising, carefully brush the tops of each of them with the egg white mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the seeds and bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm (if possible) with butter.
ALMOND CRUSTED BAKED HAM WITH APRICOT GLAZE
By this time I was running out of time and had Ryan help me make the ham. It's from A Spicy Perspective. We used a pint of mom's homemade apricot jam to make it. Everyone said they really liked it. - it was a little dryer than some hams and had more of a caramelized, roasted flavor. I learned how to carve it too- but we didn't do that. Stand it on its end and cut around the bone, then cut down the natural breaks where the fat it so- about 3 different places to get nice slices you can put on a serving plate.
10 pound Spiral Sliced Half Ham - ours was about 9.5 lbs
18 ounce jar Apricot Preserves - I used a pint of mom's homemade jam - Yummy!
1/2 cup Crushed Pineapple
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Sliced Almonds - Our was a little skimpy - we ran out.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Unwrap the ham and place it on a large rimmed baking sheet. Place the apricot preserves, crushed pineapple, and Dijon mustard in a microwave safe bowl. Warm in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, until the apricot preserves soften enough to mix evenly into the other ingredients. Stir well.
Brush half the apricot glaze over the surface of the ham. Open and separate the slices here and there to let the glaze seep down between the layers as you brush it. Cover the ham with foil and place it in the oven for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, roughly chop (or crumble) the sliced almonds into smaller pieces. (This helps them stick to the edges of each slice of ham.) Toss the almond pieces with the brown sugar.
After 2 hours, remove the ham from the oven and raise the temperature to 400 degrees F. Brush the remaining glaze over the ham. Then press the almond and brown sugar mixture over the entire surface of the ham. Place it back in the oven for 30 minutes, uncovered, to allow the almond crust to brown. Serve warm.
CANDIED WALNUT SALAD
The last recipe I tried was a salad also from Our Best Bites. The entire meal had nuts in it- so if you don't like nuts and seeds it may not have been what you wanted, but the birthday girl liked it! I doubled the walnuts in the original recipe and I think I added more spinach than it said too. I added some extra cheese as well.
2 heads of leafy greens; 1 can be a bag of spinach - I use 1 head of romaine, and baby spinach - probably more than a bag.
3/4 c. Craisins
2 crisp apples - we used Fuji, mine were really big so I didn't use the last 1/4 piece.
Orange juice from 1 orange (enough to toss apples in to prevent browning and add a little flavor)
2 oz. Gorgonzola - I think I used 3.
1 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. sugar
1 recipe Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette
Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. honey
1 clove garlic (recipe said roughly chopped, but I didn't do it)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 c. canola oil - I used vegetable oil - it was all I had.
In a blender, combine vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place lid on blender and blend on high. While blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. Store in refrigerator for about 2-3 weeks. Shake well before serving. **I just put everything in the Magic Bullet and blended it all together at once. It worked great - chopped up the garlic and incorporated the oil just fine).
Wash and chop lettuce. Set aside to drain.
To candy the nuts, combine walnuts and sugar in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly. After a few minutes, the sugar will look very fine and then a few minutes after that, it will start to liquefy. This is when you have to be absolutely vigilant about scraping the bottom of the skillet and making sure everything gets stirred around. The syrup will begin to darken and will coat the nuts. When they reach a golden brown color, remove from heat. Stir occasionally as the nuts begin to cool. After a few minutes, spread candied nuts onto a greased piece of parchment or wax paper or a greased cookie sheet and allow to cool completely. Set aside.
Chop blue cheese or Gorgonzola very finely. You want crumbles, not chunks.Chop apples and toss in orange juice.When ready to serve, toss lettuce, cranberries, walnuts, apples, and blue cheese in a large bowl. Add dressing if desired (I did!); it really is better all mixed together rather than on top, but the dressing will wilt any leftovers. ** We have left overs and it still tastes great even though it's wilted.
That was it! Olivia and Ashlee and Jess will have to post their own recipes. Jess made cute little sugar cookie bird nests for Easter. Sorry - the only pics I have aren't great. Just one of my own half eaten plate:
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