Cinnamon Breadsticks with Glaze

 

It has been a long time but things have happened in my life that I have thought of restarting the blog again. I found this mostly completed post so I thought why not?

Readers of this blog are probably familiar with our enjoyment of pizza and cheesy breadsticks.  It is something that works really well for us.  I make a couple of pizzas using Tyler Florence's very reliable pizza dough recipe and set aside some dough in the refrigerator for breadsticks later.

The cheesy breadsticks do certainly rock but my wife suggested that we branch out into cinnamon breadsticks and I thought that was an awesome idea.

I started out with some dough I set aside in the fridge and rolled it out to about the same thickness I use for   pizza.  I think slathered it with some melted Kerrygold butter.

Then we give it a hearty sprinkle of a mix of 1 part cinnamon/3 parts sugar.  We use the wonderful and affordable Saigon Cinnamon from Costco

My lovely and smart wife suggested instead of slicing and then moving the breadsticks to the cookie sheet that we just slice it on the cookie sheet and pull the pieces apart later.

My wife is a very smart woman and it made the job much easier and made the breadsticks prettier.

These are very tasty, very easy and very affordable. They are great as a treat or for breakfast.  If you like cinnamon these are definitely worth making.

Enjoy!

Costco In Warehouse Hot Buys for 6/13 to 6/20

Costco is again running a weeklong Hot Buy Sale.  Below is a summary of food, beverage and cooking related items.

Kerrygold Salted or Unsalted Butter, $4 off, Limit 3.  Here is a link to various posts involving Kerrygold Butter.

Beyond Meat The Beyond Burger, 8/4oz patties, $3 off, Limit 3. While I have not had these burgers yet, we have enjoyed meatless burgers and burgers in general.

Trident Alaska Salmon Burgers, 12 count, $4 off, limit 3

San Pellegrino 24/15.9 fl oz bottles, $4.50 off, Limit 5

Cheetos Crunchy, 28.8 oz bag, $1.50 off, Limit 4

Mini Watermelon, Organic or Conventional, $1 off, Limit 10

Sonoma Creamery Bacon Cheddar Crisps, 10 oz, $2.90 off, No Limit

Kind Bars Nuts and Spices Variety Pack, 20 count, $5 off, Limit 5

Sabatier 10 Piece Cutlery Set with Acacia Wood Block, $15 off, Limit 5

GoGurt, 32/2.25oz, $3.20 off, Limit 10

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie, 60 count, $1.50 off, No Limit

Raisin Bran Crunch, 2/28.3 oz bags, $2.40 off, Limit 10

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Keurig K-Cup Pods, Hazelnut Flavored, 54 count, $19.99, Limit 5

A Family Tradition-Sunday Waffles with Kirkland Signature Maple Syrup and a Link to Kerrygold Recipes

When I met my wife she informed that her family had a major tradition of Sunday brunch with the main course being waffles.  Alas, as some family members have moved or passed away those brunches have become more of an anomaly versus a regularity.  We do go through changes in life and I appreciate that but I do feel a sense of loss of such a righteous family activity.

With the Coronavirus we don't currently can't attend a live church service although we do watch ours (which is performed in an empty church) via a live stream.  As part of connecting to family and food we have started the tradition of Sunday morning waffles before we watch church.  

The waffle recipe below is a core part of my wife's family.  They have been using it for decades. It was created by my wife's grandfather when he took her uncles on scouting/camping trips. (That is why it has powdered milk  in it.) Later, they started using at the family cabin and that is why it is called the Cabin Recipe.

This recipe  will also work for pancakes, the kind that grandpas make for their grandkids with their initials or other shapes.  Also, the recipe scales down very effectively.  The version below is for eight servings but we scale it down for four servings.  With four servings my wife and I each get two waffles on Sunday and another two as leftovers on Monday.  Leftover waffles are definitely a great way to start the week!

I would like to thank my wife for two things. The first is for sharing this recipe and the second is for translating this recipe.  Grandpa was a mechanical engineer and the way he wrote the recipe reflects that with most measurements in decimal format (example- 0.61 C Powdered Milk)!  My wife converted the quantities and other things so that it would make sense to a non-engineer.


Cabin Waffle Recipe

Eggs	4	Each
Sugar	¼	Cup
Vanilla	1	Teaspoon
Powdered Milk	¾	Cup
Water	2 ½	Cup
Oil	½	Cup
Salt	1	Teaspoon
Flour	4	Cup
Baking Powder	2	Tablespoon

Whip the eggs until fluffy, add the rest of the ingredients in order.  Incorporate the flour and baking powder until just barely mixed.  The batter should still appear lumpy.  Do not overmix.

Substitutions: 3 cups milk for powdered milk & water.  This recipe was created to allow for use while camping.

While the waffle recipe is excellent, there are two things that really put the waffles over the top.  The first one is Kerrygold Butter. Speaking of Kerrygold, I have added a link to their recipe page.

The second is Kirkland Signature Maple Syrup. This is definitely another great Costco product at an excellent price.

And finally, it all comes together in one delicious breakfast.

At some point we will go back to attending church in person and won't have time before church to make waffles and relax eating them.  But we will still have occasional brunch on Sunday and breakfast on Saturday as opportunities to make them.  Now that we have waffles back we aren't going to give them up!

Buttery Cheese Bread Sticks

We like to make pizza at home and we found a great recipe for dough from Tyler Florence.  This is a very straightforward and reliable dough to make although we do reduce the salt by half (for our tastes) and use one cup of whole wheat flour for part of the dried ingredients.  Typically, we have some dough left over after making two pizzas so we put it in the fridge and do something with it a couple of days later.  One thing we like to do is make cheese bread sticks.

We start out by rolling out the dough.

After that, I melt some of that wonderful Kerrygold butter from Costco and brush that on top.  Next comes some garlic powder and I finish it with Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.

I slice it and then move it to a cookie sheet for baking.

I bake it at 425 degrees until golden brown and delicious.  You can have them as a snack by themselves although we made a meal out them with some homemade marinara sauce and a salad on the side.

Easy, quick, delicious and fun these are a tasty snack or a satisfying part of a meal.  They are also very affordable.  Add it all up and you definitely have a winning combination.

Enjoy!

The Best Ham Glaze Ever and Calphalon Cookware from Costco

A couple of years ago I discovered this fabulous ham glaze recipe with apple cider and bourbon from Sunny at the Food Network. It combines some great fruit and sweet flavors with a bit of bourbon to give it some flare. (Don't worry, the alcohol all cooks out.)   I make a triple size batch of it using Kerrygold butter from Costco.

Another great ingredient in this glaze is a good bourbon.  Per my brother John's recommendation, I use Maker's Mark.  Costco definitely has a great price on this fine bourbon.

As I said I make a triple batch of it.  We serve some on top of the ham but it has other uses. For example it is great on vanilla ice cream, apple pie or apple pie with vanilla ice cream!  There are probably other great ways to serve this wonderful glaze but there are certainly already plenty of good reasons for us to make a big batch of it.

There has been one problem with making a big batch and that is that our saucepan was only 2 1/2 quarts and that was a bit on the small size for making a triple sized batch.  Given that situation,  I started looking for a 3 1/2 quart saucepan.

I found some nice Calphalon pans in the $60-80 range online and then I thought to check out Costco since they sometimes carry some individual pans.  They didn't have any single pans like that but the following 12 piece set caught my eye:

The set includes the following:

• 8” Fry Pan
• 10” Fry Pan
• 2.5 Qt. Sauce Pan with Lid
• 3.5 Qt. Sauce Pan with Lid
• 4.5 Qt. Sauce Pan
• 3 Qt. Saute Pan with Lid
• 5 Qt. Dutch Oven with Lid
• 6 Qt. Stock Pot

While we have some nice cookware, this immediately caught our eye since we do have a few random pieces and not a complete set. Also, we noticed how incredibly compact the set is for this much cookware.  And the stacking is very secure due to a thoughtful design of the handles and the pans themselves as seen below.

And finally, the set was on sale for only $300!  Needless to say most of our old cookware is history and we now have this wonderful set that should last us the rest of our lives.

Costco is bigger than ever in our kitchen.  Not only do they give us top quality ingredients at a great prices but we have some outstanding cookware that will be with us for decades.

Maple and Tangerine Glazed Carrots-And Hello Again

It has been a long time since I have blogged and I regret the absence. Other things in my life have been a diversion but I hope that this marks a return to more regular blogging.  I do want to be clear that I have continued to use the wonderful products you find at Costco, it is just that I have not been writing about them.

As for the recipe I am returning with, it was something I decided to make for Christmas dinner.  I wanted something simple, slightly different, colorful and with at least some nutritional value. After looking through some old cooking magazines, I found this recipe for Maple and Tangerine Glazed Carrots. It looked like an ideal recipe for all the previously mentioned reasons and part of the cooking could be done a day ahead, which made it even more practical for a holiday meal.

It had a broad range of sweet flavors from the tangerine juice, the carrots and Maple Syrup from Costco.

Another important ingredient from Costco was the Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter. I am sorry I don't have a better photo, all we have is an open and very thoroughly enjoyed package of it in the fridge.

As I previously mentioned, aside from the various enjoyable flavors, colors and textures of the dish, a great feature of this dish is that you can do most of the prep work ahead of time. Steaming the carrots and making the glaze the day before is a real time saver. Then all you have to do is  add the carrots to the glaze, simmer the  glaze down a bit and then add a little bit of salt, pepper and parsley. This makes it ideal for entertaining. The final dish was pretty as well as tasty.

I got a lot of compliments on this dish. It had a bright flavor from the tangerines, some sweetness and just a little bit of background heat from the pinch of cayenne pepper. The family was very pleased with the dish and I was completely satisfied in how well it met all of my expectations.  If you are looking for a fun, tasty, easy and practical vegetable dish for entertaining, I give a major thumbs up to this one.

Enjoy and I hope you will come back again soon!