Crispy and Creamy Conference Donuts

Crispy and Creamy Donuts

INGREDIENTS

2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Glaze

1/3 cup butter

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons hot water or as needed

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for a few minutes at low speed, or stirring with a wooden spoon. Beat in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a greased bowl, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double. Dough is ready if you touch it, and the indention remains.Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Let doughnuts sit out to rise again until double. Cover loosely with a cloth.Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in hot water one tablespoon at a time until the icing is somewhat thin, but not watery. Set aside.Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy skillet to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slide doughnuts into the hot oil using a wide spatula. Turn doughnuts over as they rise to the surface. Fry doughnuts on each side until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, to drain on a wire rack. Dip doughnuts into the glaze while still hot, and set onto wire racks to drain off excess. Keep a cookie sheet or tray under racks for easier clean up.

Great and Easy Pie Crust

I finally tried out this pie crust that a lady in my ward showed us. It's her grandma's recipe and she swears by it. It's totally different than any other recipe I've seen out there. It works great AND it's made with oil, so it's healthier (somewhat!) and it's flakier. No cutting butter, no waiting 2 hours for the dough to cool. I'm not a pie crust-making kind of gal (Pilsbury's my friend), but this one is worth it and really not much trouble. :) Plus, I froze half the recipe in 2 baggies and just used one last night for a quiche. It thawed just fine and tasted great!

Mary Blanchard's Pie Crust

1 cup Oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup Water
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Mix dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. In a medium-size pan, bring to bubble (NOT BOIL) the oil and water. Take the pan off the heat, add the flour mixture and mix well, until ball of dough forms.

Roll out 1/4 of the dough between two sheets of wax or parchment paper (this is essential!). About an 11 in. circle will make a 9 in. pie crust. The cooler that the dough is, the less sticky it is, but it is a little harder to roll out. Take the top layer of wax paper off. Then flip over the pie crust into your pie pan (carefully). You can mold it into place using the wax paper, then remove the wax paper. Trim off the edge abd decorate as you want.

If baking the pie crust without filling, poke holes in the crust and place a tin pie pan on top to prevent large bubbles. Bake crust at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

For filled pies, bake as directed (usually 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes). Makes 4 pie crusts (2 tops and 2 bottoms).

Caramel Popcorn

So on Sunday for our General Conference treat, we decided to do a taste test of different Caramel popcorn. We had three recipes but only the ingredients for two so we did these two and will do the others another time. The first one was the winner but only by one vote and I believe that was slightly influenced by some older siblings. Anyway, there both great!

Caramel Popcorn

1C Margarine (I use butter)
2C packed brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1C light corn syrup
-melt butter in large saucepan
-add sugar and syrup, bring to a boil
-add milk, boil and stir for 3 minutes
-pour over abt 8 cups of popcorn
notes- we have done this with both microwave and air popped. It's great both ways. It is, of course, best to dump the popcorn out and remove all the "old maids" before you pour on the caramel.

Marshmallow popcorn

2 bags microwave popcorn (we use air popped)
3C mini marshmallows (sometimes we do sometimes we don't)
3C Cinnamon bears cut in halfish (sometimes we do sometimes we don't but definitely like it better with

In a pan melt
1C butter
1 1/3C sugar
1/2C Karo Syrup
boil 3 minutes then add
1t vanilla
pour over popcorn and stir till all is coated

Salmon Marinade

We love salmon and we really liked this marinade.
1 Tbl butter
1 Tbl honey
1Tbl brown sugar
2 Tbl soy sauce
2 Tbl dijon mustard
1 T olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small pan, just until combined. Pour over salmon- marinade for 15 minutes to 1 hour. Grill.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Brigham and I ate dinner at this delicious gourmet restaurant in West Yellowstone. We had a salad with an amazing strawberry vinaigrette on it. I came home and searched online for a good replica. Our whole family thought this was delish. This makes quite a bit. I cut it in half, which was a good amount for our family.

Strawberry Vinaigrette
1 pkg strawberries (160z)
6 Tbl lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbl. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbl olive oil
1/8 tsp poppy seeds

Put it all in your blender and blend. :)

Pizza crust

I normally hate homemade pizza cuz I never like the crust but here is a crust recipe we used last Friday and guess what? I love it!

2-2 1/4 C flour
1pkg (1T) yeast
1t salt
1C warm water
1T olive or canola oil

In a mixing bowl, combine 2C flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and oil. beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4 min. Cover and let rise for 15 min. Coat baking pan with cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough into pan. (I prefer to roll in out and then set it on the pan) prick generously with fork. Put toppings on the pizza and bake at 475 deg. for 8-10 min.

Butter Yakki

I just spent ten minutes trying to find the site that I got this recipe from to give them credit. No can findi. Sorry- but thanks for the great recipe.

Here is the tasty recipe for Butter Yakki.
*butter*thinly sliced chicken, pork, beef*shrimp*shredded cabbage*bean sprouts*mushrooms (sliced)
*onions (sliced)
*zucchini (sliced)
*other veggies of choice
Each person gets a small bowl. You place the items that you want into your bowl, then cook as you like on a grill (we use our pancake griddle). Just melt the butter on the griddle, pile on and cook the items each person chooses. Just keep cooking and eating. Fun! To cook it family style- just pile all the ingredients onto the grill. When it is done cooking just leave it on warm and then everyone can just take off what they want.
Sauce- This is what makes it so delicious!
*3/4 c. soy sauce
*3/4 c. water
*3 tsp. sesame oil
*3 tsp. sesame seeds
*3 garlic cloves (crushed)
*3 slices ginger (smashed)
*3 drops Tabasco
* 2 Tbs. sugar.
Bring ingredients to a boil and then place in small bowls around the grill. Dip vegetables and meat in sauce and enjoy with sticky rice.

White Nacho Sauce

My friend in El Paso brought this to a lot of gatherings. Everyone always loved it. It was their family's "Secret" recipe so she never gave it out. Then finally, she wanted my egg roll recipe which I only agreed to give her for a swap. I changed it a little. I like more green chili flavor.
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. Block of softened cream cheese
1 small can of diced chilis- I like to use a big can of green chili sauce
3 green onions chopped
1 soup can of milk (or thin to the consistency you like)
1 cup grated monterrey jack cheese
stir in saucepan or heat in crockpot.
If you would like
Add 1/2 package of Jimmy Dean Sausage, browned, broken up and cooked well.
Serve warm with tortilla chips. I think it is great with or without the sausage.

Yummy Syrups

My "spoilt" children don't care for pancakes without one of these syrups.

Buttermilk Syrup
1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
*the original recipe called for 1 Tb of corn syrup-I never use it.
In a small saucepan heat butter, sugar, and buttermilk. After sugar is dissolved remove from heat and stir in the soda and vanilla. Mixture will become very bubbly.



Coconut Syrup
7-8 T. butter
¾ c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract
Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir.

Great Syrup Recipe
1 cup sugar
1 cup cream
1 cube butter
Gently boil for 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with a blender 2-3 minutes. I am not sure why you do that last step- but that is what the recipe says. I don't like this as much as buttermilk syrup, but it is very tasty.

Yogurt and Banana Spice Muffins

Spice Cake Mix, 18.25 oz size
6 oz container low fat vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
3 medium overly ripe bananas, mashed with fork
¾ Cup water
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar for garnish if desired
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, yogurt, eggs, bananas and water until well combined. Spoon batter into 24 traditional size muffin cups that have been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 20-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of muffin.
2. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Garnish with powdered sugar if desired.
24 muffins