A Meeting Without Breakfast is Boring

Good Morning! 

I suppose I am still trying to get in your good graces because I'm giving you a recipe before Friday so that you will forgive me for the two Fridays when I didn't post. 


In grad school it is important that your committee like you. I mean REALLY like you. After all, they hold your graduation in their hands. I decided that for our first unofficial committee meeting we needed breakfast! I made a mix between a cinnamon roll and sticky bun. Please, y'all, help me name them??

I hope you enjoy them! (I forgot to start taking pictures until I was about half way done.)

Untitled Breakfast Rolls

 Rolls

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 pkg. active yeast
3 cups flour, divided
2 TBSP shortening
4 TBSP sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a big bowl. Add half of the flour and the rest of the ingredients. Mix it up really well. Add the other half of the flour. Now, cover it, and just let it rise. I let mine rise in a warm oven (about 80 degrees) with a pot of boiling water in the oven with it. Breads rise better when it is really humid and warm. Let the dough rise until it doubles in size. (It's less than an hour.)

Filling

1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
5/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
fistfull of cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp + shake of black pepper
shake of salt
half of a capfull of vanilla
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp. cocoa powder

Melt the butter in a saucepan. It will start to boil. Let it boil for a bit. Add the brown sugar while it is still on the heat. Cook it a bit more. It will get thick and wonderful. Add all of the other ingredients except for vanilla. Add the vanilla once you take the pan off of the heat. Let it cool completely. When it cools, it will become pretty stiff and tacky. This is good. 

By now, it should be about time to take a gander at your dough. If it is bigger, you did good. Take it out of the warm, humid place it was hanging out, and dump it out on a floured surface. Knead it. Add as much flour as you need to add to make it less sticky. It is quite a sticky dough, but it is a delicate little dough so be sweet to it. Knead it until it is elastic and soft as a baby's bottom.

 Roll it out in a square. I rolled mine to be about 1/2" thick. 

Now, sprinkle the dough with cinnamon, then add the filling.

It is tough but spread it out all over the dough. You won't regret it. 

Roll the dough like you would for a jelly roll. If you don't make jelly rolls, roll it so that you have a long log (start rolling from the long side). Wrap it up and throw it in the freezer until you need it again. 

Now the good part.

Caramel Pecan Topping

1 stick butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
Milk
Pecans

Melt a stick of butter in the same saucepan as before. Rinse it out a bit first! 

Once it is melted turn the eye temperature to high and add about 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Stir this stuff constantly. 

It will eventually turn a pretty golden color and until it does, keep stirring. Basically you're burning sugar. Just a light burn like a crispy overcooked state on the bottom of the dinner rolls. When it gets to the lovely golden shade, take it off of the heat. Start adding a big of milk or cream or whatever you have. Slow is the key. You just want to add a bit and stir. Add a bit and stir. Let it hang out off the heat for a bit while you start chopping a couple handfuls of pecans. 

Chop the pecans. They don't have to be pretty. I left mine in pretty big chunks. 

In a glass dish, add the pecans and pour the caramel topping in the bottom. No need to really grease the pan. Get your big roll of dough. Cut it into chunks. I probably made about 7 gigantic rolls. You can make more of less. It's up to you. Add the rolls on top of the caramel sauce. 

Here's where you make these things your own.

Overnight directions: 
Cover your dish. Throw it in the fridge overnight. It will do its second rise in there. In the morning, take it out and let it come to room temperature. This takes about 30 minutes. 

Now directions:
Put the pan back inside your delightfully humid and warm oven for the rolls to rise a second time. Take them out of the oven once they have gotten nice and fluffy. 



No matter how you let them do their second rise, preheat your oven to 375. Cook the rolls for about 20 minutes if they are gigantic like mine or until they brown on top. For smaller rolls, cook for about 15 minutes or until they are golden. 

When you take them out, flip them over and serve! Yumm!!

God bless those families who lost loved ones on this day so many years ago.


Remember that pretty is as pretty does. 


-McKenzie 








9/20/12-Update: 

To make this a bit simpler, buy frozen bread dough. Let it thaw, and follow the instructions from rolling out the dough. This will cut the time down by a lot for those of you on the go.

You Are What You Eat

Where does your food come from? 

Did you know that most people haven't the faintest clue as to where they get the food that sustains them? As long as I have consciously been a part of agriculture, I have tried to understand why there is such a disconnect between people and agriculture and implicitly food. I once read an article that dealt with kids living in some large city or another who were so many generations removed from the farm that they thought that chocolate milk came from brown cows. You may think I am joking but it is true. Where we get our food just doesn't register with kids anymore. For the parents out there, how many times have you had a talk with them about where food comes from? If you haven't, chances are good they honestly think it came from the grocery store. That makes some sense right? When you, as a parent, go to the grocery store and come home again, you have food in tow. 

Lovely readers, I want to believe that you do know that food comes from the ground and God's hands. Most of the time in America we do not have to worry about finding food like some other countries. We can go out and buy it pretty easily. It is something that most of do about once a week. But how often have you thought about what would happen if we regressed to the point where every family had to have a farm to be able to eat. Could you survive? 

Our farmers do not get enough credit for all that they do. Did you know that American farmers are producing more food now on less land than they did just fifty years ago when they had more land on which to produce food?

Lately I've been thinking about why people do not know as much as they should about agriculture and the food they eat. There are tons of books and publications and people whose jobs are to talk about food. There was a best selling book by Michael Pollan called The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals that gives a truly one sided version of the way the food gets from the ground to your plate. This example is taken from the section called "The Feedlot: Making Meat."  (page 80)

I told myself not to take it personally; 534 [Pollan's steer] and his pen 

mates have been bred for their marbling, after all, not their 

ability to form attachments.I noticed that 534's eyes looked a little bloodshot. 

Dr. Metzin [feedlot's vet] had told me that some animals are irritated by feedlot

 dust. the problem is especially serious in the summer months, when the animals

kick up clouds of the stuff and workers have to spray the pens with water to keep it

 down. I had to remind myself that this is not ordinary dirt dust, inasmuch as the 

dirt in a feedyard is not ordinary dirt; no, this is fecal dust. 

But apart from the air quality, how did feedlot life seem to be agreeing with 534?

 I don't know enough about the emotional life of a steer to say with confidence 

that 534 was miserable, bored, or indifferent, but 

I would not say he looked happy.

This doesn't sound positive to me. Does it to you? Is it the whole story? Is it just half? How is the average Joe supposed to know when this is from a best selling book when there is not an equally popular book giving the other side of the story. Farming is the way that farmers provide for their families, and they love those animals and their jobs more than the general work force here in the U.S. could think about loving their jobs. I challenge you to think about the other side when you read these things and hear about a case of E. coli or BSE (Mad Cow disease).

Off of my soapbox. My point is simple. There really are not books like this best selling book that helps people understand how they get their food from the farmers perspectives. I guess they are too busy feeding the Michael Pollans in the world to have time to sit down to write a book about what they do day in and day out. 

Here's what we do have to AGvocate on behalf of our farmers, ranchers, and producers. 

Thank you for taking time to look at these. Thank you for teaching your children and friends about your food. Thank you, farmers.

-McKenzie 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (and Dump Spaghetti)

Hello again! I do apologize for taking so long since my last post. Unfortunately, grad school got the best of me for the first two weeks. I think I am finally caught up, and I promise I will try my hardest not to let that happen again.

Let's move on to a few more important things. Watch this video and see if you can figure what it is and then we'll get to the food.

That's right, lovely people. It's football time! It is officially week two of SEC football. Tomorrow my Bulldogs take on the Auburn Tigers.

That's the Dawg Pound Rock. Just makes you wanna ring a cowbell, doesn't it? I can't wait to ring my cowbell this weekend. It has been far too long since I've gotten to ring it with the rest of the Bulldog family. 

Before we all push ourselves into the stadium two hours before kick-off (you heard that right... 2 HOURS. We're dedicated.), everybody will be in the Junction. For those of you not familiar with the best tailgating location in the SEC (take that TSUN), it's where the fun happens before and after the games.  Most of us are Southerners and fully understand that there is etiquette that must be followed at events like these...(I'm talking to you Mizzou). So, here are some things you need to know. 

1. On Fridays we wear Maroon. It's not called Maroon Friday so that you can wear lime green. We are proud of our school and proud of our teams. This is how we support them. Even if you aren't lucky enough to be in our Bulldog family, show your support. If you don't wear your colors, how are we supposed to know who you are? Sporting your colors is like declaring your allegiance.

2. Saturdays are not opportunities to show off your shorts and t-shirts. I know you're used to just wearing whatever your team colors are, but let's have some style about it. You're in the SEC now.

 

 3. Tailgating. Goodness knows that one of the golden rules around here is not to show up to a party  i.) without an invitation and ii.) with empty hands. In the world of tailgating, if you're wearing the right colors, you're invited so, stop on by and see us if you're just wondering around. We'd hate for somebody not to have a place to go! If you're planning on attending a particular tailgate, don't show up empty handed.  It's not polite. Show you have some manners, y'all. 

4. Don't be "That Guy". You know who he is... How can you miss him when he is walking around stumbling, yelling obnoxiously, and generally acting ridiculous. Don't be that guy. 

5. Don't forget your Bell. You can't ring it if you don't bring it. Hail State!

6. Remember, Pretty is as Pretty does.

 Sometimes it is hard to hide your affection for your team. Other than today being Maroon Friday here on campus, it is also Foodie Friday here on Pretty is as Pretty Does. Things have been pretty busy around our house with both of us back in the full swing of school and all of the fun it entails. I have been making some pretty quick meals lately. I have named this delightful twist on traditional spaghetti, Dump Spaghetti. I adapted this recipe from my Mama's sweet boyfriend, Mike. (Thank you for the recipe!)

Dump Spaghetti

1 pound of ground turkey (or ground beef) (We go with what's on sale)

1 can Hunt's Zesty and Spicy Sauce

1 can Rotel

1 can of Rotel tomato sauce

Cinnamon

Black Pepper

 

1 box Wheat Noodles

Don't mind the coffee pot :)

This one is simple. Brown and cook the turkey in a deep skillet with a lid. There really isn't a need to drain it because it has such a small amount of fat. Once it is cooked pretty well through, dump in the cans. No need to drain the Rotel. Add a few shakes of ground black pepper and about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. I probably add more though. I don't measure it. (There is no need to add salt to the sauce.)

You may think, oh how odd. Cinnamon in tomato sauce? Just trust me. 

After you get everything added to the sauce, let it come back up to a boil. Turn down the heat, and put the lid most of the way on but leave a bit of a crack. Nobody likes cleaning up the mess it leaves behind without the lid.

Put a pot of water on to boil. I add about 1 TBSP salt to the water right before I add the noodles. Cook them according to the package directions. 

By the time your noodles are done, your sauce is ready to go. If you want to get fancy, add ALMOST done noodles to the sauce and let them finish cooking in the sauce. 

Serve.

This was for lunch. Don't judge.

**Note, if you have small kids eating this or people with temperamental tongues, buy the mild Rotel and maybe switch out the Rotel sauce for a plain ol' tomato sauce. This sauce is a bit spicy, but mighty good. 


Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful Friday, and remember that pretty is as pretty does.


McKenzie