Break Cake

 Break Cake

My mom made this. It was delicious. Below is a picture of the recipe in her hand. I made it today, November 3rd in her honor. I have added a few more details.

Step 1: Activate the yeast. Scald 2 cups of milk with 1/2 cup butter. Then let the milk cool to between 100 - 110 degrees F. I pour it into another bowl.

Step 2: While the milk is cooling, assemble the other ingredients.

• Measure 5 cups of flour in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 t. salt and mix together.
• Combine the sugar, cinnamon and nut mixture.
• Chop 1 cup nuts
• Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Add 1 t. cinnamon
• Beat the eggs
• 5 whole eggs
• 3 egg whites
• Grease the bundt or angel food cake pan.

Step 3: Once the milk has cooled, add 2 T granulated sugar and 2 packages of yeast. Mix this together and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes. The mixture will rise to the top.

Step 4: Add the eggs, flour, sugar and salt mixture and mix well together. You may need to add more flour if the mixture is too soupy.

Step 5: Let rise for 1 - 2 hours. Cover with a towel and place in a warm area. The dough will double in size.

Step 6: Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a floured surface.  It will be rather sticky. Cut into strips and then small squares. Melt a stick of butter and roll the squared in butter. Place the dough squares in a greased bundt pan. Sprinkle each layer with the cinnamon, sugar and nut mixture.  I like to also add shredded apple, I used 2 apples. Continue layering until the pan is 2/3 full. The dough will continue to rise when baking.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 - 60 minutes

Thanksgiving 2024

Thanksgiving 2024 - Cabin

DRAFT

To make or do ahead:

• 6 - 7 weeks before Thanksgiving - order Turkey from Borderland Specialty Meats, Foods & Smokehouse. NOTE: tell them you want the gizzards to use to make a stock for the gravy. They will also brine and season the turkey!!!!! Fabulous!
• 1 week prior. This year I purchased white bread for the stuffing and 3 different apple varieties from Pleasant View Orchard & Bakery
• Turkey or chicken stock. You will need this for the dressing and the gravy. I plan to try this recipe. Roasted Turkey Stock. This recipe is fantastic!!!
• The Cranberry Salsa and Cranberry Compote can also be made ahead. While you are at it, make this as well. Cranberry Barbeque Sauce. The link will take you to 2 fun things to do with left over turkey.
• NOTE: the dressing is VERY time consuming.
• 2 days prior, make the pie crusts.
• One day before: make the pies. This year I made the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving morning, not a good idea.

The Menu

Aperitif - The Art of the Aperitif  Bienvenue! Bienvenue!

• Kir Royale

Appetizers

• Three Cheese Walnut Spread. Serve with apple or pear slices and assorted crackers.
• Pumpkin Hummus Serve with pita bread, bell pepper strips, carrots, and celery
• Cranberry Salsa over cream cheese

Dressing

Cranberry, Sausage and Apple Stuffing. This year I purchased chestnuts from Golden Harvest in Rhinelander. I followed this recipe for roasting the chestnuts and then ground them. This was by far THE best dressing I have EVER made!!!! My mom always added chestnuts to her dressing, now I know why!

Cranberries (Yes, 3 kinds of cranberries)

• Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce (for Mike)
• Mama Parsley's Cranberry Compote
• Cranberry Salsa

Potatoes

• Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
• Mashed potatoes, use Yukon gold. Don't peel before boiling. The peels just about fall off after cooking.

Gravy - 

John usually makes the gravy but just in case. Here is a recipe. I don't plan to make this ahead. I like to use the drippings from the turkey. My Mom also made a stock using the giblets from the turkey.

Make-Ahead Gravy NOTE: John added sliced fresh mushrooms, sliced onion and the can of cream of mushroom soup to the bottom of the roasting pan 1 hour into cooking.  I also added about 2 cups of red wine. We used 4 cups of the turkey stock thickened with cornstarch which was then added to the pan drippings plus. John's gravy was to die for.

Rolls/Biscuits - I discovered that many people like rolls or biscuits with dinner. I thought I would try this recipe. Sweet Potato Biscuits. 

Vegetable - I struggle with this one. 

• I made this one. It was good and great as a left over. Tangy Green Bean Salad.
• I want to make this next year, Gulliver's Corn. Ann Hughson use to make this when we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Hughson and Moran families
• I am thinking about trying this.  BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALAD or PEAR POMEGRANATE SALAD. (NOTE: Claire made the pear pomegranate salad for the McGlynn's and it was a big hit).

Dessert

• There have been requests to change this up. Hmmm.. Maybe cherry pie?
• Pumpkin pie with  whipped cream. I am going to try this recipe. The Ultimate Pumpkin Pie from New York Cooking. I actually used my regular recipe but adjusted the spices and added 1 Tablespoon rum.

Leftover Ideas

• I make a turkey stock and use that for soup. Roasted Turkey Stock
• I tried this Chicken Wild Rice Soup recipe this year. Yum! You need a lot of heavy cream and milk which I happened to have on hand.
• Cranberry Barbeque Turkey Pizza. I make the pizza crust in my bread machine but you can use premade pizza crust.

 

Fall Sheet Pan Soup

 Fall Sheet Pan Soup

I found this recipe on Instagram from Crowded Kitchen, 10/2/2024

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups diced butternut squash
• 5 large carrots
• 1 1/2 cups peeled and diced apple
• 1/2 of a yellow onion cut into wedges
• 1 small head of garlic
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 1/4 t. ginger
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. tumeric
• 1 t. paprika
• 3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable) heated
• 3T lemon juice
• 1 T maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 F

Slice the top off the head of garlic.

Place the squash, carrots, onion, apple and garlic on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with seasonings and gently toss.

Roast 40 - 50 minutes until veggies are fork tender and lightly browned.

Remove the veggies from the oven and add to blender (squeeze out the garlic) then add in the heated broth, lemon juice and maple syrup and blend until smooth.

I like to serve this with basil pesto on top. I also think it would also be good with blue cheese crumbles.

The recipe calls for making grilled cheese crouton.  This was very good as well

Grilled Cheese

2 slices sourdough bread

butter

3 slices smoked or regular Cheddar cheese

2T bacon & onion jam (I used fig jam)

Make this like a grilled cheese sandwich and then cut into cubes to top the soup

Apple Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

 

Apple Bread with Cinnamon Swirl - 

Once Upon a Chef

Penny Kuckkahn made this for a wine get together on September 9th. It is incredibly moist with delicious cinnamon and apple flavors.

Penny doubles the apples. I made it just as the recipe suggested and it turned out great!

Link to recipe

Adapted from Erhardts Eat 

This lovely apple bread has a generous cinnamon swirl and crisp sugared top.

Servings: 12 slices

Prep Time: 30minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55minutes minutes

Total Time: 1hour hour 25minutes minutes

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup light brown sugar packed
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• ½ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup peeled cored, and finely diced tart baking apples, from 1 apple (preferably Granny Smith)

DIRECTIONS    

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Spray an 8½ x 4½-inch (22 x 11-cm) loaf pan lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Line the long side of the pan with a parchment paper “sling” and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray again.
• In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly combined. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the eggs and granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the melted butter followed by the milk and vanilla, and mix just until evenly combined.
• Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the batter and mix on low speed until evenly combined.
• Add the apples to the batter and fold with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated.
• Spoon about ⅔ of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle about ⅔ of the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture on top of the batter. Spoon the remaining batter over top, followed by the remaining brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. Using a butter knife, swirl the layers by making a zig-zag motion through the batter once in each direction (don't overdo it!).
• Bake for about 50 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then use the parchment sling to lift the bread out of the pan and onto the rack. Let cool completely before slicing, a few hours or overnight. Store loosely covered with aluminum foil on the countertop for up to 4 days.

 

Mexican Street Corn Salad

Claire made this in August for our family taco event.  It was a BIG hit.

https://www.loveandlemons.com/mexican-street-corn-salad/

another variation Mexican Street Corn Risotto Recipe & Wine Pairing

Spinach and Tomato Quiche

 I cut this out of The Milwaukee Journal on May 1, 1994. It is one of my favorites. The section was called "The Sunday Cook" and the author us Grace Howaniec.

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked (9inch - diameter) pie shell, homemade or commercial refrigerated crust. I make my own and prebake it.
• 1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed. (one 10 oz. frozen, thawed, uncooked drained chopped spinach may be substituted. I use fresh.
• 4 green onions, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
• 2 T. butter or margarine
• 6 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cup)
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten or 3/4 cup egg substitute
• 3/4 cup skim or low fat milk
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. leaf basil, crumbled. I use fresh basil
• 1/2 celery salt
• 33 medium fresh plum or Roma, tomatoes, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 T. dry bread crumbs
• 1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Line ungreased pie plate with crust fluting the edges as desired. (I use a quiche dish. I also precook the crust at 425 degree F using pie weights. This makes the crust a little crispy.) NOTE: use a glass pie plate for crisper crust

Cook the spinach and drain well. (should make 1 cup. I often don't make this much.) Squeeze out excess water, chop fine.

In a 10 inch skillet, saute green onion and garlic in butter until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add reserved spinach; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until all excess moisture evaporates, remove from heat.

In large bowl, blend together spinach mixture, Swiss cheese (i often use other cheeses but Swiss is the best.) eggs, milk, salt, basil and celery salt; mixture will be dense. Pour into prepared pie shell. Arrange tomato slices around the outer edge with slices overlapping. Bake at 425 degree 15 minutes; lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in a cup, mix bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, When quiche has cooked 25 minutes, open oven and sprinkle the crumb mixture over the tomato slices. Make 10 minutes more (a total of 35 minutes), or until the top is puffy and center quivers slightly when quiche is removed.

Makes 8 servings.

I like to serve this with blueberry muffins, though any muffin will do. along with fresh fruit.

Picture taken in 2024, 30 years later.

Basic Crustless Quiche & Garden Quiche

 Basic Crustless Quiche

This recipe is from “The Frugal Gourmet” by Jeff Smith @1984. Serves 8 - 10. I usually make half for Mike and I and a few guests. This is one of my favorites.

½ cup (¼ pound butter)

10 eggs

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 pound large curd cottage cheese

1 pound jack cheese, shredded (I use whatever cheese I have on hand and usually a combination of different cheeses.

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter. Whip the eggs until fluffy, and add the flour, baking powder, salt, cheese, melted butter, and half of the cheese. (At this point I add the ingredients from the Garden Quiche, Crustless recipe, see below.)

Place the mixture in a greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. (When I half the recipe I use an 8 X 8 baking dish.)  Top with the remaining cheese, Make at 400° for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350° and continue to bake for 35 minutes to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. 

Cool, and cut into squares for serving.

Garden Quiche, Crustless

Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Add some oregano to give some Italian flavor.

2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped

Butter

8 green onions chopped or sliced leeks

Mushrooms (optional)

4 small zucchini, sliced

½ cup parsley, chopped

3 tomatoes, sliced very thin

DIRECTIONS

Sauté the yellow onions and mushrooms in butter. Add to the crustless quiche filling along with the green onions, zucchini and parsley. Top with the remaining jack cheese and then the tomato slices. Bake as per Crustless Quiche recipe.