Blueberry crumb bars

I've been lazy lately.. usually once or twice a week I get a little panicky when I think about how I should have blogged about this.. or taken that picture to show what peanut butter does to  a clean wall.. but since we’ve gotten our new camera I took a bunch of pictures of food I was cooking and never got around to posting them..

It didn’t help that school started last week and I have been trying to get into the groove of doing chores while helping out the kids and getting dinner on the stove..

This year is so much better… so far.. check back again in December when I am about to tear out my hair because no one has the same gusto they used to have.

But today I am sharing my favorite blueberry bar recipe.. a not too sweet snack that the kids and Adam can stain their teeth with.

I used frozen blueberries.. I am sure that fresh would have been so much better but I just didn’t have time to run outside this morning and pick some fresh off my bushes.. I was busy tending to the peach trees..

AAAAAnnnnnnnddd since I have none of those I use frozen..

We get our ingredients together..

Add our flour, sugar, salt together

Add our butter and start mixing..

Once it breaks down the butter so far I add my egg

Perfect!!!

I don’t have the time or patience to use the pastry blender.. but if you do have at it..

Then come and dust for me..

Pat half of the mixture into your greased pan

In large bowl add sugar and cornstarch

Add and mix your blueberries  

Spoon on top of crust and  then crumble the rest of the crust on top..

Ready to be baked

Ready to be devoured..

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Recipe

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. ( I use my mixer…)Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Pepperoni Rolls

  

A West Virginian walks into a hardware store and asks for a chain saw that will cut 6 trees in one hour. The salesman recommends the top of the line model. The West Virginian is suitably impressed, and buys it. The next day he brings it back, complaining that it would only cut down 1 tree and it took ALL DAY! The salesman takes the chain saw, starts it up to see what's wrong, and the West Virginian says, "What's that noise?"

It’s funny till you remember Papa and chain saws then you have to slow your pulse down…..

That chain saw never had a chance…

Or that one..

That is for a whole other blog post..

Today we are making Pepperoni rolls… it wasn't till this year did I knew that it was West Virginia specialty ……

The pepperoni roll is an unexpected little West Virginia specialty that was reportedly invented in Fairmont in 1927, and was often used as a miner's lunch in early days. It's a soft bread roll with pepperoni baked inside, yielding a moist and spicy snack; variations include slices versus strips of pepperoni, the inclusion of cheese (pepper jack, mozzarella or provolone), tomato sauce and banana peppers. They're popular throughout the state, ubiquitous in convenience stores, and can be found from small family bakeries up through local eateries.

My DH and kids thought I was losing my mind when I  first made rolls for them…

Now I need to double my recipe..

Jerks.

Now let me start off by saying that you can use what ever dough you want.. I personally love this recipe because it makes a soft roll and when your eating these cold you need something that will hold up past 24 hours after you make them. It is also my “hamburger bun” recipe I like to have these around if I am making egg sandwiches for DH or anything that needs a sturdy yet soft bun to hold up..

In bowl add water..

Sugar 

Egg

Yeast

Flour

Salt and butter

Mix well

You want to knead it till it is smooth and stretchy about 7 or 8 minutes..

Let it rise until doubled..

 

Now here is where the arguments start… some people like pepperoni slices.. some like sticks.. and yes… there is a difference in taste.. I think it is the coating they use on the slices to keep them from sticking together that adds a flavoring I don’t care for..  I buy a big roll of pepperoni and slice it how I want

Divide my dough into 16 little lumps.. and the same amount in pepperoni…

 

Flatten ball out like so..

Add a piece of pepperoni

Flip over side…

 

Other side..

Bottom

And then finally top lay seam side down on a greased pan.. ( ignore the dangerous knife in the back ground… laying the wrong side up)

Continue with the rest of the dough and pepperoni and then let raise until doubled in size

 

Yay!! Almost done!

OooOOoOOOo let cool for a few minutes… they are the best fresh out of oven  but I am a food snob so don’t take my word for it…

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Recipe

·         3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         1 large egg

·         3 1/2 cups Flour

·         1/4 cup sugar

·         1 1/4 teaspoons salt

·         1 tablespoon instant yeast

·         *For best results (a smooth, slightly soft dough), use the smaller amount of water in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate); and something in between the rest of the time.

1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk. 

3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into equal pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. If at this point you can fill with pepperoni, sealing well. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.

4) Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.

5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust.  

Horrible Brownies

Not what your thinking…. Like I would share a recipe that doesn’t work HA!!

Ok for those who have NO sense of humor that was sarcasm..

These brownies are for days when everything falls apart, the car blows up… make these brownies.. your mother in law is coming… making these brownies.. the electric bill came… make these brownies..  the mere sound of you breathing sends you into a rage…  make these brownies..

They wont take the bill and make it disappear..  the car wont get fixed if you make these.. your mother in law is still going to criticize you for not doing a good enough job for her perfect son.. but I found it makes it all so much easier to be face planted in a plate of these when life comes at you…

Life lately for me has been coming with a blow torch and a bat,

Brownies were made.

*Note*

The original recipe is pretty tiny so I always triple it. It only calls for 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk ( the smaller personal recipe)   and there is one full cup in a can.. who keeps a half used can  of sweetened condensed milk around?? Ok let me rephrase that… who with kids can keep a open can of anything with sugary liquid inside?

Also if you like light cake like brownies then these will disappoint you..  these are thick… dense ( like me sometimes) and almost fudge like..  to achieve this gooey morsel of belly roll indulgent we don’t want to cook at high heat.. a low heat will allow our brownies to bake but not rise..  this recipe also requires very little stirring since we want the glutens in the flour to stay still.

Ingredients

In pot over low heat add your butter and chocolate in different forms

Closer to adding that third tire to my middle

Melted nicely

Add your sugar, milk and eggs, lightly mix

Add your flour… again lightly mix… put in fridge while you prepare your baking pan

Pour into pan and bake

Mmmmmmmm this was done right at 55 mins.. perfectly gooey..

Print Recipe

Recipe:

 18 tablespoons of butter.. ( or one cup and two tablespoons)

1 cup of cocoa

3 cups of chocolate chips

1 ½ cup of sugar

1 cup of sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

1 cup flour

Directions:

Melt butter, chocolate chips and cocoa powder in large pot over low heat until creamy and smooth. Add sugar, eggs and milk mixing gently. Add flour and only mix till flour is combined. Set in fridge for about 5 mins   grease and flour 13x 9 in pan, bake at 300 for about 50 -55 mins.

Cool and enjoy!

One person recipe:

6 tablespoons of butter              

1/3 cup of cocoa

1 cup of chocolate chips

2/3 cup of sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup of flour