Healthy Eating for 2012 - are you geared up for it yet?

50% Off All Titles - Ho Ho Ho! Annual Holiday Sale

It's That Time Of Year Again! 

For all your festive holiday meals and family gatherings, we've got just what YOU need...cookbooks! And don't forget they make excellent gifts as well - never the wrong size, or color.

For full offer details, check out here !  Order by Dec 15th to insure holiday gift giving.

Mother's Day - All Cookbooks 45% Off to Celebrate Mom

Also, here's a great recipe that your mom is sure to love....make it for her Mother's Day breakfast in bed!
Comes from the Henderson Park Inn new cookbook Exceptional Taste.

Cinnamon Roll French Toast 

6 eggs, beaten 

2 cups whole milk 

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

12 baked cinnamon rolls, split into halves

(You can bake your own or buy your favorites)

1 stick butter, sliced, for cooking

Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Toppings of choice

Combine the first six ingredients in a shallow bowl and mix well. Dip each cinnamon roll slice into the egg mixture. Cook in batches in melted butter in a skillet over medium heat for about 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar and your choice of toppings such as fresh fruit or chopped pecans. Makes 6 to 8 servings. 

 

Seasoned to Taste - Available April 2nd!

This wonderful new cookbook from the Junior League of Chattanooga is a testament to history which has occurred in and around the surrounding areas.

A scrumptious balance of modern day recipes, along with homespun goodies from the past, and even features the "best of the best" recipes from their first cookbook DINNER ON THE DINER which is now out of print.

Lots of great local-lore stories, such as...Did you know that Moon Pies were created in Chattanooga during the coal-mining days? Read how that now famous snack came about, plus experience the wonderful seasonal settings, as this book is composed by season with menus for special events scattered throughout.

I can't wait to start cooking out of this one!

2011 FRP Cookbook University - Registration Now Open

The Comfort of a Cookbook

This article really says it all!  Amen...and....Amen....in this digital age, may the printed cookbook never die!

Holiday Meal - Yeast Roll From Grandma's Table

Yeast Rolls - A True Southern Tradition

Now that the holidays are just around the corner, and this is going to be our last holiday season in our current home, I'm wanting to pull all the stops out and make a fab dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas!

In talking to a vendor friend of mine (Neal Warnick in Seattle, WA) we realized how very very different our growing up eating styles were. No real surprise - Neal grew up in Tacoma, WA just outside of Seattle and I grew up in Dixieland (Memphis, TN).

What really amazed me was that Neal had NEVER heard of "yeast rolls". We were discussing the printed Lunch Menus for school when we were kids which were posted in the Sunday newspaper for the upcoming week. I asked him if his schools also served the awesome yeast rolls like I enjoyed from First Grade to Graduation Day. Color Me Amazed when Neal replied "what are yeast rolls?" To a southern, that's like saying "Who Are The Beatles?" (although there are plenty of 20 somethings that really don't know who the Beatles are these days)....but I digress...

Back to the yeast rolls - Neal said his mom, Saralee, grew up in Norfolk, Virginia (which is SOUTHERN Virginia) and that she'd probably know what they were. (Hello, with a name like Saralee, you can almost bet she knows a bit about baking with yeast!) I challenged him to "find a yeast roll recipe" in the Home Ec Series of cookbooks that I had sent him to review....and then I said NO WAIT! I'll send you my Grandma's Callie Yeast Roll recipe - which is da bombdigitty!! We had it every major holiday we visited at Grandma Musa's home in Memphis, TN, circa 1960's.

I remember her putting the dough in a big 'ol bowl and placing it on the bottom of the stairs leading up to her attic, as that was the warmest place in her house, at that time of year, for them to rise. My sister and I just couldn't resist opening the door to sniff that wonderful aroma that only yeast-based-bread can give you. And then we'd get yelled at...You Girls Close That Door Or They'll Never Rise!  (whatever that meant - we didn't know or care - just that they smelled so yummy!)

So, I typed up the recipe and emailed it onto Neal and having done that, I decided why not share it with as many people as possible!

I'd love to hear what YOUR favorite bread memory is - this is def mine - and if you try the rolls, tell me how they turn out for you too!

Enjoy....


Callie Yeast Rolls
Musa Argo (my grandmother) got it from Rebecca Matthews
Vintage 1940’s - Makes 3 dozen
40 Minutes to prep
2 hours to rise (depends on how warm the house is – the warmer the faster it will rise)
10 minutes to roll/cut
2 hours to rise (again, depends on how warm house is)
15 minutes to bake


Ingredients:
¾ Cup solid shortening (like Crisco)
¾ Cup white sugar
1 Cup boiling water
2 Yeast Packets
1 Cut tepid water (lukewarm)
2 eggs
6 Cups All Purpose Flour (UNSIFTED) She always used Dixie brand, but I doubt you have that around up where you are)
1 tsp Salt

Prep:
Mix shortening and sugar, then add cup of boiling water and let cool to lukewarm.
Meanwhile, dissolve the yeast in the cup of tepid water, then add to the shortening, sugar water after it’s cooled to lukewarm.
Beat eggs well and add to mixture.
Sift flour completely one time and then add salt and the rest of the ingredients into the flour.
Stir flour with all ingredients to mix well, but don’t beat excessively.

1st Rising:
Great a large mixing bowl (I like steel) and pour mixture into the bowl. Be sure to grease up to the very top of the bowl, which will help the dough rise better.
Cover with a hand towel, and place in a warm spot in the house to rise.
Work down after 2 hours (should have almost doubled in size) by removing from the bowl and beating and pounding the air out of the dough.


2nd Rising:
Roll out on a very lightly flour dusted surface – the less flour the better.
Cut into biscuits and place on a lightly greased pan to let rise again another 2 hours, or until the biscuits rise to twice the height of the cut.

Baking:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a thin layer of melted Crisco (OR I prefer brushing with real butter) on top of raw biscuits.

Bake for 15 minutes. Watch closely for browning as some ovens cook faster than others.

I only serve them at the table with REAL Butter too…