This is my husbands favorite sweet treat! I usually make it around fall and winter time when the holidays come around! You can always adjust this to your liking but in our house we like it extra nutty!!!!

Ingredients for sweet dough:

(makes 2 rolls)

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 packets of dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 stick of softened butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 1/2 – 5 cups flour

Ingredients for Nut filling:

(This is completely up to you to use as much or as little as you like this is just my preference)

• 3 cups ground walnuts
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk

Directions:

Let’s start with the dough. In a mixer bowl add warm water and active yeast packets and  a little sugar. Mix it and let it sit for 5-8 minutes or until yeast activates and rises. Once you see the yeast bubbly and foamy it’s time to add milk, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, sugar and wisk together. Then add a pinch of salt and a cup of flour and mix again. Add the flour gradually a cup at a time until it forms a dough. I used an electric standing mixer with a dough hook if you don’t have one you can mix with a wooden spoon until it forms into a dough then place it on a prepared clean surface and knead for 7-10 minutes. Since I used my electric mixer I just let it kneed by itself for 8 minutes. When it forms a beautiful slightly sticky dough, spray some vegetables oil on top and leave it in the bowl covered with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 – 1 1/2 hour or until dough has doubled in size. While the dough rises you can make the filling. I use a food processor to ground up the walnuts. You can ground them as chunky or a fine as you prefer. Once you have the walnuts grouned, place a sauce pan on your burner and add the walnuts, sugar, vanilla and milk. Let it heat up and mix it. Just keep mixing until everything is incorporated and it becomes a thick paste like consistency. Set aside and let it cool down. Take out a baking pan and line it with wax paper. When the dough has risen beautifully take it out of the bowl and place it on a clean cooking surface sprayed with cooking(vegetable oil) spray to prevent sticking. Divide the dough in half and set aside one and spread out the other. Get a rolling pin and roll it out about 18in by 12in. Then take half of the nut filling and spread it on evenly. Once that’s done, start rolling the dough upwards and pinch at the ends to seal it together then place it on the baking sheet seam side down. Repeat the same thing to the second peice of dough and place the roll next to the other on the baking sheet. Put the baking sheet aside in a warm place to rise once again for 30 minutes. When the rolls have risen make a little egg wash (an egg yolk mixed with water) and brush it on top of the rolls. Place in a 350 degrees F preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Take the rolls out and let it cool before you cut into them! ENJOY these amazing walnut rolls!

Perfect for the holidays or any special occasion!

I was feeling a little under the weather lately so I made myself my favorite Chicken and dumplings soup! This definitely cured me and it’s the best comfort food of all time!

Ingredients for soup:

• 1 whole chicken
• 4 chopped carrots
• 5 celery stalks chopped
• 1 chopped onion
• 5 cups of chicken stock
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp of poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for dumping:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp fresh chopped thyme leaves
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a Dutch oven pot add 5 cups of chicken broth and add 1 whole chicken to the pot. Then add the chopped carrots, celery, and onion. Throw in the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme and the poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil and as soon as it starts boiling, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and let cook for 1 hour. An hour later take out the cooked chicken out of the pot and set aside to cool. Turn the heat back up and when it starts simmering take a ladle and skim the fat from the top and reserve in a bowl. At this point you want to taste your soup and add salt and pepper as desired. To the bowl that you reserved the chicken fat, add 2 table spoons of flour and mix till all incorporated. Then gradually add soup to the mixture little by little, then just dump it all into the soup and mix. This will thicken up the soup a bit. Let the soup simmer a bit and while the soup is simmering start taking apart the chicken at this point the chicken should have cooled enough, pick out all the meat and discard the rest. Add the chicken to the soup and let simmer some more. While its simmering you  can finally move on to the last step, making the dumplings. In a large bowl add sour cream, milk, eggs, chopped thyme and pinch of salt and pepper and mix it all together. Then gradually add the flour and mix it in but DO NOT over mix. Once the flour is all incorporated take 2 large spoons and pick up  the batter with one spoon and with the other help push the dumpling on top of the soup. Form all the dumpling on top and once your done, cover the pot with a lid and let simmer for 15 minutes. Do not take off the lid until 15 minutes has passed. Afterward when you take off the lid you will see the beautiful and fluffy dumplings

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. They will be perfectly cooked if you followed the exact directions.

You can now serve and enjoy this amazing comfort food that is proved to cure many sicknesses. ENJOY!

This has become a favorite in our household. I pretty much created this myself because we have too many tomatoes in our garden so I needed to come up with more food ideas to include tomatoes. This turned out amazing and has been a favorite since! I usually use shrimp but this time I had scallops. You can also use chicken, which ever you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Scallops (or you can use shrimp or chicken)
• 12oz spaghetti pasta
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (or basil)
• half stick of butter
• 1 large tomatoe(or 2 medium tomatoes) chopped
• splash of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of chicken stock
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a sauté pan heat up a splash of olive oil till almost smoking. You’re going to want to sear the scallops on both sides really well in the pan. In a pot boil some water and salt. Add pasta and cook as package instructed. Once both sides of scallops are seared to a golden brown color, take them out and put on a plate and reserve for later. In that same pan you’re going to add the butter and garlic and mix for 30 sec. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and mix for another minute. Now time to add the white wine and let simmer till alcohol is evaporated and sauce is reduced by half. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer and let it reduce again. After the sauce reduced a bit more and thickened a little, you can add the parsley and mix. At this point you want to taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as much or as little as you desire. Turn the stove off and add heavy cream and mix the beautiful sauce. Add the reserved scallops to the sauce. By this time the pasta should be ready to add to the sauce. Mix In the pasta with the scallops and the lovely sauce! Add grated Parmesan cheese for extra flavor and SERVE!!!!

This amazing pasta dish can be made in so many different ways and you can use whatever you like! It’s so full of flavor and I asure you that if you try this it will become one of you’re favorite as well!

ENJOY! 🙂

Starting this Fall off with one of my favorite sweet treat! You can make this just plain or you can add whatever you like. I added walnuts because I personally love nutty sweets!

Dough Ingredients:

• 1 packet of instant dry yeast
• 1/4 cup of warm water
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• splash of vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 2-3 cups of flour

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• melted butter to spread on dough
• (optional) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup softened cream cheese
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• splash of milk as needed for desired consistency

Directions:

In a mixer bowl add warm water and packet of yeast and pinch of sugar, let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is foamy and activated. Then add melted butter, egg, whipping cream, sugar, salt and splash of vanilla. Mix together then gradually add flour until it becomes into a slightly sticky dough. Kneed the dough for 6-7 minutes then oil it with a little bit of vegetable oil and let it sit in the bowl for 1-2 hour or until doubled in size.

While the dough rises you can make the filling. Just mix together brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside until needed.

After the dough rises, take it out of the bowl and spread it out on a clean table. Get a rolling pin and roll it out about 18in by 12in, brush melted butter all over, then sprinkle the sugar filling evenly. At this point if you want you can sprinkle whatever else you may like , I used walnuts.

Then you’re  going to start rolling it tightly all the way and pinch the ends so that it doesn’t open. Afterwards just cut the ends then cut in half then cut those halves in have and so on until you get 8 rolls. Place them on a baking sheet and put it in a warm place to rise once again. About 30 min – 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl mix cream cheese and powdered sugar and add milk gradually until it reaches you’re preferred consistency.

Once the cinnamon rolls rised beautifully, place it in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes!

and…… ENJOY these fluffy, beautiful, delicious, indulging TREAT!!!