Big Sky, Montana

 

I spent the earlier part of this week in Big Sky, Montana.  It was a fabulous vacation and I would love to share all 300 of my pictures with you.  You will be happy to know that I managed to narrow it down to only a few.









I started to get a little nervous when we landed in Bozeman, Montana in 52 degree weather.  Lucky for us, there was plenty of snow when we reached Big Sky.

 
The mountains were absolutely breathtaking.

We shared a cabin with my parents, my brother and my niece. 

 The kids jumped in the hot tub outside the cabin within hours of arriving in Big Sky.

 Of course the reason that we went to Montana was for the skiing.

 

I didn't ski because of my wimpy ankle and my mom didn't ski this year because of a knee injury.  We didn't have any trouble finding things to do off the slopes at Big Sky though.  We spent an afternoon at the spa and we did some boutique shopping.

We also spent some time in the heath club and followed our workout with a swim in the pool.  (An outdoor pool!)  It's hard to describe what it's like be swimming in the pool while snow is gently falling on your head. 

We had a lot of fun walking around the village at Big Sky.

There was always a fire to warm us up when we got cold.

We watched the New Year's Eve fireworks on the mountain.

Then we headed back to the cabin for a New Year's Eve party.

Even though my skiing days are over, I was able to join everyone on the slopes for snow tubing.  It was really cold but really fun.

Of course there were countless snowballs thrown over the 4 days that were in Montana.

 And I'm pretty sure it wasn't the kids throwing all the snowballs.

I am happy to report that despite some minor aches and pains, we all arrived home accident free.  We all had a great time in Montana.

I have no recipe to post today because I'm still catching up from vacation but I will be back to blogging recipes tomorrow.  Have a great Thursday.

Bon Appetit!

Simple Side Dish

Sometimes I need a simple side dish to complete my dinner menu.  I make these roasted fingerling potatoes when I don't have a lot of extra time to prepare a starchy side dish.  Even though they're simple to prepare, they were elegant enough to serve for Christmas dinner this year.  The fresh rosemary from the Dekalb Farmer's Market made all the difference in these little potato gems.

Herb Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Whole Grain Mustard
1 pound fingerling potatoes
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
salt and pepper

Combine rosemary, oil, mustard, salt and pepper in bowl.

Add potatoes and toss to coat.

Spread on a foil lined baking sheet and roast 40 minutes at 400. 

The roasted potatoes were a big hit with the beef tenderloin that I served for dinner on Christmas.  Everyone really seemed to like these little potatoes.  They were nearly gone by the time dinner was over.  Fingerling potatoes are readily available at supermarkets all over the states.  Don't be afraid to pick some up and roast them for your next family dinner.

Bon Appetit!

From freezer to oven

This year we hosted some of our family over Christmas and everyone pitched in to help with meals.  These pictures are from the night that we all made homemade pasta.

One afternoon, my mom helped the kids make nut roll also. 

I served the nut roll for breakfast along with some cinnamon rolls.  I like to serve these cinnamon rolls when we have overnight guests because I can put them together ahead of time - pull them out of the freezer and put them right into the oven - FROZEN!  There is no waiting for the dough to rise or getting the counter all covered with flour while trying to entertain guests.

Freezer Cinnamon Rolls
Dough                                                  Filling
3/4 cup buttermilk                             1 Tablespoon butter, melted
6 Tablespoons butter, melted          3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs                                                    2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 1/4 cups flour                                   1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast                         Icing
1 1/4 teaspoons salt                            1 1/2 ounces cream cheese
                                                               3 Tablespoons buttermilk
                                                               1 1/2 cups powdered sugar





 
Whisk buttermilk, butter and eggs together.





 









Mix 4 c. flour, sugar, yeast and salt in mixer.












Add buttermilk and knead with dough hook.  Knead until smooth.  Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise 2-2 1/2 hours.




 








Butter a 9x13 pan.  Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.












Roll dough to 12x16 rectangle.  Brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle with filling ingredients.

















Roll to a cylinder and stretch to 18”.


















Slice into 12 even slices and arrange in pan.   Wrap dish with plastic wrap and then cover with foil and freeze.









I like to write the baking instruction on the foil before I put it in the freezer so that I don't have to look up my recipe again when I am ready to bake them. 

Remove from freezer, remove plastic wrap and rewrap dish with foil.  Bake 20 minutes.  Remove foil  and bake another 30 minutes.

Frosting:  Flip rolls immediately onto rack and let cool 5 minutes.  Whisk together cream cheese and buttermilk.  Stir in powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. 
Drizzle over rolls.







Of course if you don't want to bother with cooking breakfast - there's always Waffle House.  Yes - that is really a picture of me in a Waffle House.








Bon Appetit!

Applesauce

 

I think I may have overestimated the number of apples that we needed when we were in the apple orchard last October.  I must have gotten caught up in the excitement of picking and forgotten that there are only 4 apple eaters in our house.  When we got down to just a few apples left in the fruit basket and they started to look a little wrinkled, I decided it was time to use them up.  I thought about making an apple pie but I had a lot of other baking projects on my plate so I opted for the easier applesauce recipe instead.

We picked Rome Beauty apples this year which are perfect for applesauce.  (They break down nicely.)
I peeled and sliced my apples and took out all of the imperfections. 

I had a bigger bowl of apples than I thought I would when I was finished.

I put my apples into a pot and added some cinnamon and sugar.  (I didn't measure these out but I would guess about 1/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.)

I put a lid on my pot and simmered the apples on low for about 3 hours.  The smell of apples and cinnamon lofting through the house was heavenly.

The apples really cooked down nicely.

I served some of the applesauce with dinner and it was a big hit.  Homemade applesauce is one of my families favorite things.  The leftover applesauce, I put into a tupperware container and put into the freezer to save for later. 

Homemade applesauce is a great way to get another serving of fruit in your kids.  Get the kids involved in the peeling and chopping and they will be much more likely to take ownership of the applesauce and eat it.  Homemade applesauce will be a hit with your family - trust me.

Bon Appetit!

Happy New Year Blog Friends

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe but this is my 200th blog post already.  I thought I would start the New Year off right by sharing some of my favorite blog posts from 2011.  (Click on the word to be directed to the post.)

Bagels

Brownies

Caramel Pecan Twists

Cherry Almond Biscotti

Chicken Verde Stew

Cream Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes

 

Eggplant Meatballs

French Toast Bites

Glazed Roast Chicken 

Greek Salad

Lemon Twist Loaves

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

Shrimp Cobb Salad

Steak Burgers

Stuffed Mushrooms

Turkey Pot Pie

Thank you to all of my blog followers and I hope that you enjoyed looking at some of my favorite posts.   I'm already looking forward to more delicious blog posts in 2012.

Bon Appetit!