Cornbread Recipe without Buttermilk

This Cornbread Recipe without Buttermilk will be your GO-TO, easy cornbread recipe. It is an easy recipe using simple ingredients you may already have on hand. No need to make a run to the store to pick up special ingredients!

This cornbread recipe is a little less dense than traditional southern cornbread, and a touch of honey adds just the right amount of sweetness. I recommend making this cornbread recipe in a cast-iron skillet for a nice crispy outside with a tender crumb and delicious inside that is cornbread perfection!

Honey Cornbread Muffins

My Honey Cornbread Muffins are a mix of both southern and northern cornbread variations. The texture leans towards a traditional southern cornbread, however, the flavor is slightly sweet adding that northern twist and making these muffins deliciously addicting, in my opinion. For whatever that's worth <smile>

Skillet French Onion Soup Dip

Compensation was provided on behalf of Lipton® Recipe Secrets. The recipe, photos, and opinions are my own.

Creamy, cheesy, and savory, my Skillet French Onion Soup Dip tastes like classic French Onion Soup and is so easy to make! Mixing the ingredients all in one skillet, while heating, is the key to having it hot and ready in just 10 minutes! This delicious appetizer is a real crowd pleaser!

Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese #SundaySupper

Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese is the classic dip in sandwich form and totally tasty! This Grilled Cheese sandwich is loaded with fresh spinach, artichokes, and lots of ooey gooey, melty cheese! It's a classic flavor combo, and I'm excited to share it with you in this tasty sandwich recipe!

Apple Cinnamon French Toast

Apple Cinnamon French Toast is a real crowd pleaser. The tender cooked apples paired with the cinnamon-y goodness of the french toast and topped with pure maple syrup is so comforting and delicious! It's a tasty way to start the day or end it. 

Breakfast for dinner anyone?

Butternut Squash Dinner Rolls

Butternut Squash Dinner Rolls are the softest, most delicious dinner rolls I have ever made. I am a little ashamed to admit that Don and I devoured 12 of these beauties in no time! They are that good!

These Butternut Squash Dinner Rolls are perfect or Thanksgiving dinner! Check out my Small Thanksgiving Dinner Menu with Recipes and a Printable Grocery list. I show you step-by-step how to make Thanksgiving dinner.

Vietnamese Pork Sandwich Recipe Banh Mi

This is my new favorite sandwich recipe! Have you ever had a Vietnamese Pork Sandwich? The Banh Mi is a baguette filled with various ingredients, but typically meat and pickled vegetables. 

 

Vietnamese Baguette: Banh Mi Bread Recipe

This recipe for a Vietnamese Baguette is the start of my quest to recreate a delicious sandwich I experienced at the Food Wine Conference in Orlando recently. This fabulously soft bread with a slightly crispy thin crust is the perfect wrap for the Banh Mi sandwich.

Pumpkin Pie Bread Recipe

posted by Marion@Life Tastes Good on 2013-10-18

Forget the pie on Thanksgiving! Take the easy way out and make this Pumpkin Pie Bread!! 

Squish all the smooth, wonderful goodness of a pumpkin pie into a bread pan and, voila, out comes a moist, sweet, and spice filled burst of happiness! It is love at first bite! 

This recipe is the perfect combo of spices to pumpkin to sweetness, and when you have this bread in the oven it fills the entire house, and probably your whole neighborhood, with aromas that are hard to resist! 

If you aren't prepared for unexpected neighbors dropping by to "borrow" something you might get caught in your curlers and pj's. The heavenly aromas will bring all the neighbors to your door!

Meatball Sub Casserole

Easy to make, saucy, and cheesy, this Meatball Sub Casserole is a family favorite dinner that's on the table in just 30 minutes!

Homemade Burger Buns

posted by Marion@Life Tastes Good on 2013-06-22

Homemade Burger Buns - I was planning Pan Seared Turkey Patties for dinner last night, but when I got to the store they didn't have any ground turkey! GASP! When the shock wore off, I decided we'd have burgers and picked up some ground round (85/15).  It wasn't until I got home that I realized I forgot to pick up burger buns (sigh). I had several options... I could go back to the store (not going to happen), we could enjoy burger patties (Don would gripe), or I could attempt to make my own homemade buns! I decided to go with the 3rd option and pray... Pray because I'm not the best bread maker, so if they didn't turn out we'd be eating chopped steak and seeing as we still have all our teeth that wasn't too appealing. I had an experience with chopped steak before...

True Story: a long time ago, Don and I were at a local restaurant - the waitress came over to take our order, and because I was eating low-carb, I ordered the chopped steak with a salad. Apparently, the waitress thought this odd and (true story) asked me if I was having problems with my teeth, because (she explained) only the "old people" (her words) "with no teeth order that"!! I still can't believe she actually said all that, but we got a good laugh from it, and I have never ordered chopped steak ever again... Don has never let me live that down. Madison insists our life is like a series of Seinfeld episodes - I can't disagree...

Anyhooo, back to bread making... There is something about making your own bread! The aroma, the warmth, the taste... oooohhhh  it is so good! Then there's all the work and the mess it makes that tends to turn me off, but you gotta take the bad with the good right?! Right-O!

This was our first time eating burgers on homemade buns and we liked it! A lot! Not only do they taste so much better, but they cost next to nothing to make! I like that! I see many more homemade buns in our future :)

So here is my version of allrecipes.com Burger or Hot Dog Buns

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
4.5 - 5 cups all-purpose flour (I like King Arthur flour)
1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast (1 scant tablespoon)
2 tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 egg

Directions
In a small saucepan heat 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup water, and 1/4 cup butter until very warm. If you are using a thermometer you want to get between 100 and 115 degrees F. The butter will not melt all the way and it should feel very warm when you put drops on the inside of your wrist. If it feels too hot for you then it is too hot for your yeast! If the liquid is too hot it will kill the yeast and that would be bad. If it is too cold it won't activate the yeast and that would be bad too.

When the mixture is heated sufficiently, pour into your mixing bowl and dissolve the 2 tablespoons sugar in the heated liquid. Add the package of yeast or 1 scant tablespoon. Let sit for about 6 minutes. This will activate the yeast and it will get all foamy. If it doesn't foam then something went wrong - either the yeast is old or the liquid was too hot or cold and you need to start over (sorry).

Add in 1 cup flour and mix well. Add in 1.5 teaspoons salt and 3.5 cups flour and stir to combine. Add in 1 egg and mix well. Once it is a sticky dough, I turn the work over to my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook. I turn the mixer on to the 2nd from the lowest setting and let it mix for about 5 minutes, but I don't walk away.  After about a minute if the dough is still pooling in the bottom of the mixer I add about a 1/4 cup of flour and let it mix another minute. You should start to see the dough pulling away from the sides of the bowl and coming up onto the dough hook. If you don't live in a humid climate you won't need extra flour, but you might need a little extra water. Add what you need to get a smooth and elastic dough. When the dough is all pretty much up on the hook, I turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for about 3-5 minutes.

At this time you'll want to grease a large bowl. Return to the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface (lightly flour your hands too) and knead the dough until smooth and elastic.  Then plop the dough into the greased bowl turning it over to grease all sides. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and put in your cold oven with the oven light on. Let it rise about 30-40 minutes.

After rising, your dough should be at least doubled in size. Take out some aggression and punch it down several times. Then turn it out onto a flat surface and knead it for a few minutes to pop all the air bubbles. Form it into a smooth ball and put the bowl on top of it to let it rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough is resting go ahead and get your baking pans ready. Line 2 large baking pans with parchment paper. Once the dough has rested, shape it into 12 smooth balls and place 6 on each baking sheet - space them nicely so they can rise again. Place the baking sheets in the cold oven with the light on and let rise for about 30 minutes (I try to fit both trays on the top rack so they can both benefit from the heat of the lamp). NOTE: To make hot dog buns separate the dough into 16 pieces. Roll out each piece to 6x4". Starting on the long side, roll up each piece and pinch the seam and edges to seal. Place on baking sheets and proceed with the remaining directions.

Remove the trays from the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Whisk 1 large egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush that onto the first tray of buns you will be baking. Wait to do the 2nd tray until they are ready to go in the oven.

Now this next step is optional. While the oven is preheating, put a roaster pan on the bottom rack so it can heat up with the oven. When the oven is preheated, put one pan of rolls on the middle oven rack and pour 2 cups hot water into the pan on the bottom rack (Be careful you don't burn yourself - it will steam). The steam will help get a nice crust on the bread, but I do have to caution you, some folks have had the steam damage the electronics in their ovens. If you don't want to risk damaging your oven, then proceed with baking the buns on the middle oven rack.

Bake the buns for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown. When bread is done it should have a hollow sound when you tap on the bottom. Remove buns to a wire rack for cooling. This helps to keep from getting soggy bottoms. Proceed with egg washing the 2nd tray of buns and baking until golden brown.

Let all the buns cool completely before cutting. If you won't be using all the buns, be sure to place them in an airtight freezer bag or container as soon as they are cooled and seal. Freeze until ready to use. If you freeze them as soon as they are completely cool they should taste fresh when you are ready to use them.

Roasted Vege Sandwich

Allrecipes.com California Grilled Vege Sandwich

In an effort to add healthier meals to our diet, I decided to add in a vegetarian meal once a week.  I really liked this sandwich and all of the yummy summer veges on top of a delicious piece of Tuscan Garlic Bread from the Publix Bakery.

Don, on the other hand, was not too thrilled with my idea of adding in more healthful meals. He kept asking "where's the beef?" Not that he doesn't want to eat healthy - he just didn't like this sandwich.  He LOVED the veges - we both agree the roasted veges are delicious and we should include them more often.  He did not like the garlicky spread and the Feta cheese on this sandwich. The once a week vege meals might be too much for him - I will have to ease into that a little slower and maybe do once every other week for now...

What does he know - the garlic was yummy and the feta added a nice touch.  I told him there was leftover pizza in the fridge he could eat if he preferred, but he suffered through and gobbled up all of his sandwich.  Usually he'll finish my meal for me, but lucky for him I was really hungry and didn't have any leftovers for him.

Of course, I can't leave well enough alone and made some changes to this recipe. I only made the changes because I don't have a grill right now - still researching which one I want to buy.  Also, I was originally planning to make homemade Foccacia Bread, but I got busy and ended up buying a Tuscan Garlic Loaf I found at the Publix Bakery - I think it was a fine substitution!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup sliced red bell peppers
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 small yellow squash, sliced
• • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • pinch of sugar
  • salt and pepper
• 1/2 loaf of Tuscan Garlic Bread from the Publix Bakery or your favorite bread
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (F). Place veges on a foil lined baking sheet. Salt and pepper veges. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil over veges and add a pinch of sugar. Toss the veges around to coat well with the olive oil and sugar. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until tender and the onions begin to caramelize. Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and place in oven for about 5 minutes or until bread is warmed and cheese begins to melt. Watch carefully so as not to burn. Remove from oven and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced sandwiches.

Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue

The girls in this house LOVE the Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue from the Melting Pot.  A night out can be a bit of a splurge, so we decided to try it at home.

Grandma gave Madison a portable Induction Cook-top for use at college, and we decided to make sure it works before she hauls it all the way to Savannah (we just really wanted to have some fondue, but making sure it works sounded like a good excuse).  Seeing as my stove has an induction cook-top we are very familiar with the technology and thought it would be perfect for a fondue night. Because it's portable, we could do the cooking right at the table just like being at the Melting Pot!

Here is the recipe that inspired us and the following is how we ended up making it...

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 to 1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped

1/4 cup artichoke hearts, chopped (we bought the ones in the jar, because getting to the heart of an artichoke is quite a task)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (it was more like 1.5 tablespoons, but it was a bit too much - even for me)

4 oz Butterkase Cheese (Publix did not have this, so I found it at Petty's, and yes, it was worth it)

4 oz Fontina Cheese

1/4 cup grated Paremsan

flour

dash of Rooster Sauce

Dippers

Tortilla Chips

Various breads cut into bite sized cubes

Apples cut into bite sized cubes (coat with a little lemon juice so the don't turn brown)

Various veges cut into bite sized pieces

Directions

We used one of my regular sauce pans because we needed a magnetic bottomed pan to work on the induction top (love that technology!).  We heated the vege broth in the sauce pan and mixed in the spinach, artichoke hearts, and the garlic.  Turn down the heat before adding in the cheeese

I grated the Butterkase and the Fontina and lightly floured it.  I added it to the vege broth mixture a little bit at a time. Being sure to melt it as I go.  

Tips for working with cheese:  It is important to treat the cheese kindly during cooking.  Too high a temperature or too much heating time can make the proteins tighten up resulting in rubbery globs of cheese in a pool of grease - yuck!  If this happens you can't fix it and your fondue is ruined.  To lessen the chance your cheese will succumb to this sad fate be sure to grate your cheese to increase the surface area that is in contact with the heat source - this will ensure a quicker melting time. Always be sure your cheese is at room temperature before you heat it - again this will reduce the time and heat needed to melt it.  Melt cheese at a lower heat to prevent it seizing up.  Bottom line - Be kind to your cheese and your cheese will be kind to you

With induction technology you really can use a paper towel between the pot and the heat source! Don't try this at home with an electric or gas stove though!

 We had trouble getting the cheese and the vege broth to combine to a good consistency, so I added a tablespoon of flour and mixed it all really well. That worked great.  If I were to make this again, I would probably add in a tablespoon of flour with the vege broth at the beginning to thicken it - I think that might work better, but I haven't tried it. 

This was a fun family night! 

The fondue was really delish (although a bit too garlicky - even for me!)

HomeMade Pizza

We love pizza!  We used to order pizza from a nearby pizza place quite often.  That was until Madison made her first homemade pizza!  Madison spoiled us with her culinary creations before she left for college - we weren't quite sure how we would get along without her!  It seems like just last week I was crying my eyes out heading west on I-16 after leaving my only baby alone in a strange city for her first year of college!  Now she's gearing up for finals week and saying goodbye to her Freshman year!
She survived! and, more importantly, so did I

Madison always used Bridgford Ready Dough for her homemade pizza, and it is a very good choice for the dough! Easy to use and very tasty!

Publix carries it in the freezer case

For this recipe I used the the Homemade French Bread.

This is the first time I used this dough to make pizza, and we liked it a lot.  I did not use a breadmaker - I made the dough by hand. After punching down, I spread the dough out on a large pizza pan.  Then I set it aside to rise. I like a thick crust, so I let this rise a couple hours to get it nice and puffy. You can let it rise until it looks good for your tastes.  Here is what mine looked like after rising a couple hours

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. When the dough is nice and puffy, poke some holes in the center of it with a fork. I try to leave the edges nice and puffy, so I don't attack them with the fork! Now you want to mince up some garlic in a small bowl and pour some olive oil over it - about a tablespoon will do - whatever looks good! Use the back of a spoon to crush the garlic a bit, and then gently brush the garlic olive oil all over the pizza!  Then put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. You just want to get it lightly browned.

Once your pizza is a little toasty you are ready to top it as you like. Here's what I did...

While the dough was toasting in the oven, I sauteed some fresh baby spinach in garlic and olive oil.  I used about 1-2 teaspoons olive oil with a clove of garlic (sliced). When that was warmed, I added a 10 oz bag of baby spinach and sauteed until it just started to wilt. It doesn't take long. I also sliced up some fresh plum tomates and set them aside until ready to top the pizza.

I topped the pizza with about 6 slices of Mozzarella first. Then I added the spinach and tomatoes. After that, I topped with about a cup of shredded Mozzarella and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

Now that my pizza is topped just the way I want it, I put it back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven when the cheese is melted and the crust is nicely browned.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing! ENJOY!

Easy Homemade French Bread

Allrecipes French Baguettes

If you have a bread maker then go ahead and follow the directions as printed on the Allrecipes site

If you don't have a bread maker, don't feel left out!  Just keep on reading....

I realize  you might think I'm crazy to say this is easy, but believe me I have tried and tried to make good bread to no avail!  I figured it just wasn't in my wheelhouse and decided to stick with the frozen bread dough...UNTIL I found this recipe.  I don't use a breadmaker, and I still find it easy.  It turns out perfect every time!  Few ingredients, only 1 kneading for about 10 mins, and let rise a couple times.  Sorry to say, but you have to put some muscle into good homemade bread 
 it  IS worth the effort!

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour (I like the King Arthur Brand Bread Flour best)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• 
  

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let sit for bout 15 minutes.  The mixture should look frothy like in this picture...

DO NOT add the salt at this time or you will kill the yeast - that would be sad!

Now add the salt and flour and combine to form a dough...like so (mad rhyming skills haha)

Now it's time to take out some aggression!  Flour your work surface lightly and get some of that flour on your hands too!  Turn your dough out onto your work space and KNEAD. Knead for at least 10 minutes. Think of something (or someone) that frustrates you and take it all out on that dough!  The dough will be a little sticky at first, so keep adding flour as needed to the work surface and your hands, but don't overdo it!  Kneading will work out all that stickiness and aggression too! Multi-tasking - Love it!  If you have a stand mixer and a dough hook you can let that do all the kneading until no longer sticky.

Next place the dough in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the dough with the grease.  Cover and let rise for at least 30 mins or until doubled in size

More aggression?  No worries!  Now that the dough has doubled - give it a good punch!!

On a lightly floured surface, roll your dough into a 16x12 inch rectangle

No need to get a ruler out here!  Just eyeball it - close is good enough - no worries!

Cut dough in half, creating two 8x12 inch (approximately) rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper ends - and now you have 2 baguettes!

Place baguettes at least 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet (I prefer to use parchment paper, but buttering up the cookie sheet works well too). Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. 

Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 

Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.