Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I thought I’d take a moment to repost a recipe for your holiday get-together (sorry Canadians; try it for Christmas).
Hot Taco Dip
* 12 oz jar salsa
* 15 oz can/jar chili
* 8 oz cream cheese
* 16 oz sour cream
* 1-2 bags cheddar & /or jack cheesesDump in a Crockpot & heat until melted, stirring occasionally. You can also layer it and put it in a 13×9″cake pan and heat at 350 degrees until melted but the dumping is way easier & tastier.
Serve w/ tortilla chips, the thicker & “scoopier” the better.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Gay Pride Potatoes recipe is here and I may be making it Thursday as it will be the first time we’ve had Hawk’s family over since I was told, when we all believed Hawk was dying, that they (not I and his children) are his family. Am I still bitter? Me? Ya think?
To add some sweet to my bitter, here’s a Christmastime recipe:
This is a recipe for a St Lucia wreath. It’s not easy to halve b/c it calls for three eggs but I have halved it (I mixed the three eggs and used half that mixture; you could also use egg substitute). You can also make it as a loaf, loaves, braids, etc. Since the wreath is so large, it’s more of an oval if you fit it onto a cookie sheet. Try a big pizza pan.
Bread/wreath:
* 6 1/2-7 c all purpose flour
* 1/2 c sugar
* 2 tsp salt
* 3/4 tsp cardamom
* 2 pkg active dry yeast
* 3/4 c milk
* 1/2 c water
* 1/2 c butter
* 3 eggs
* 1 tbsp milk
* 1 eggGlaze:
* 3/4 c powdered sugar
* 1/4 tsp vanilla
* 1 1/2-2 1/2 tsp milk1. Grease cookie sheet or 14″ pizza pan. Combine 2 c of the flour, sugar, salt, cardamom and yeast. Blend well.
2. In small saucepan, heat 3/4 c milk, water and butter until very warm (steaming but not boiling).
3. Add warm liquid and eggs to flour mixture. Blend well on low speed until moistened. Beat about 3 more minutes on medium.
4. Stir in additional flour (4 1/4 c – 4 1/2 c) until dough starts to pull away cleanly from the side of the bowl.
5. On a floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 c flour until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 min (the cooler the surface, the better).
6. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a cloth towel. Let it rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until light and about double in size, about 60-75 minutes.
7. Punch bubbles out of dough. Divide in half or thirds, depending on your preference. Form balls of dough and roll into ropes. Don’t overwork dough; as soon as rope is formed, stop playing w/ the dough.
8. Twist (or braid, if you have three ropes) the ropes together somewhat loosely and join ends to make a ring [you could instead make a pair of loaves side-by-side, if you don’t want to make the wreath. I don’t know the cooking time for that so you’ll have to experiment w/ that.]. Cover your wreath. Let rise in a warm place until doubled again, about 30-45 min.
9. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1 T milk and egg for baking glaze. Brush over wreath. Bake for 25-35 min until golden brown. If it begins to get too brown, cover with foil for last 10 min. Cool on wire rack. When bread (all bread) is finished baking, a tap on the bottom makes a hollow sound.
10. Drizzle with sugar glaze. For best results, drip along top of wreath slowly. The glaze will settle nicely over the wreath.
11. To make a St Lucia wreath, decorate with ribbons & candles (about 6 candles).Note: this is a sweet bread, like a dessert, but is not overly sweet. IE: You’re not going to make sandwiches with this but it’s nice with coffee. It also freezes fairly well.
Side benefit: Your house will smell fantastic when you make this b/c of the cardamom.
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