A Bit of Summer Baking

Several months ago I was reading a few blogs about Once a Month Cooking. I am not really into it, other than freezing a few choice foods such as taco meat, but what caught my eye while reading was a discussion about Butter Horns.My mom has a recipe for these and I decided to give it a try. Once the recipe is made up you simply place the bread on a cookie sheet until it is frozen solid then store in a large bag.

When you want fresh hot bread set out the frozen sections on a greased pan and cover with clear wrap. It usually takes a few hours for it to thaw and rise and is surprisingly "fresh tasting".

The best part about this frozen bread was the baking; I was able to cook it in the toaster over without heating up the whole house.

Butter Horns

2 cups milk, scalded

2 packages yeast

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

6 beaten eggs

8 cups flour

Add yeast to cooled milk. Combine shortening, sugar and salt in mixer on low. Add the milk/yeast solution and then the eggs. Add half the flour and mix well for 2-minutes; stir in the remaining flour by hand. Knead lightly and place in a well greased bowl; cover and allow to rise until double in size. Divide into 6 equal sections; roll each section into a 9-inch circles and cut into "pie" sections; 16 sections for small butter horns or 8 sections for large butter horns. Roll each cut section like a crescent roll and place on cookie sheet; freeze.

Bake thawed and risen bread at 400-degrees until brown.

One Final Activity

Before leaving the big, big city we took a little trip further east of Dallas to Tyler.
Our destination was the Tyler Zoo.

We met up with Jonathan's friend Curtis and Curtis' son Benjamin.

The Tyler Zoo is very small but so amazing.

It was so pretty with wood walk ways and bamboo plants.

There was water and trees everywhere.

After touring the zoo we headed to El Mejicano Restaurant for a Mexican buffet. The food was amazing! Everything tasted homemade and the selection was the largest I have ever seen; there were 4 buffets set up with everything you can imagine.

Here is Jonathan holding Benjamin, who is so cute and sweet. This is the only picture that came out fine because Benjamin wiggled so much and was blurry in most of the photos.

We are now back at home and totally exhausted. There is so much to do and so much to catch up on but for now I am planning to relax and sleep for the rest of the weekend. I have had enough travel and swimming to last me for quite sometime!

Nearing The End

So far my favorite place to see/visit has been downtown Plano; it's so charming. I was very surprised to see apartment buildings everywhere. This building reminded me so much of an apartment building you might see in a movie. I loved how it felt standing near it and walking down the street. It would have been fun to go in and see what one of the apartments looked like.Many years ago, more than 20, we lived in Carrollton; what I remembered the most was downtown. It still has the gazebo with shops outlining the square.
During one of our sightseeing drives I spotted a business with the word "bread" in the title. Hum, bread...yum, I just had to go check it out.
For presentation I give it an A+ but for taste...a big fat F...I was so disappointed! We ordered a cinnamon roll but it had too much cinnamon and wasn't fluffy like I expected. We also ordered an orange flavored scone; it was dry and flavorless. Both items ended up being thrown away...such a waist of money!
We learned about a museum that sounded very exciting. I pictured spending the morning walking around looking at fun old antiques and exploring buildings. Nope, it was very small. While the place had several buildings to look at most of it didn't make since. We spent less than 30-minutes checking everything out.
Our trip to the big, big city is almost over and I am looking forward to getting back home. I have really enjoyed being so close to everything; a quick run to here or there only takes 5-minutes! But no matter how nice it is having so much nearby, I still like country living the most.

Halloween Orange

Last week we learned about the What A Burger 60th Anniversary Free Burger Celebration and wanted to participate. I just happened to have an orange shirt with me but Jonathan and Elizabeth didn't have one; so off to the Goodwill I headed. My mission was to find each shirt for no more than 1-dollar each.First thing I noticed was a sign that said "50-percent off all blue tags" and sure enough I found 2-orange shirts for 1-dollar each after the discount.
On the big day the restaurant was all decorated and everyone was wearing orange. There were so many people the line wrapped around the tables inside the building.
I had ordered large fries, one drink and one water but the cashier charged me for 2 drinks so my total out of pocket was 6-dollars for the food and 2-dollars for the shirts; (I didn't want to get back in line to correct the overcharge).
It still amazes me that Elizabeth can eat such a big burger, plus fries and a drink!
We had so much fun, especially watching how some people were not willing to stand in a long line for a free burger. The teen boy in front of us was not willing to put on his shirt until he was at the counter. I don't see what was so embarrassing about wearing an orange shirt, especially since everyone was wearing orange!

Lake Trip

We took a break from the big, big city and drove out to the lake where the kids got to see two sets of aunts and uncles plus several cousins. Swimming was a must, it was so hot.Jonathan added to my gray hair by jumping off the top of the boat house. Elizabeth wanted to do this as well but I said "NO WAY'!
Elizabeth did a little fishing with the cousins and caught a catfish.
Thank goodness Uncle Max was there to take the fish off the hook.
We had such a nice day visiting, eating good food and having fun.

The Train

So far our biggest adventure has been riding the Dart Train. It was very much like a bus only faster.
We had fun getting off and on at various stops.
And I loved seeing the sights without having to drive in all the traffic.
We went all the way to downtown Dallas and got out to walk around a little.
One of the first things I noticed was a man selling hot dogs from a push cart. I always see these in movies but seldom do I see them in person. It was tempting to go buy some of his food but the area we were in was a little intimidating so we decided to wait.
After riding the train all morning we went back to our car and collected a lunch I had packed. Then we got back on the train and headed for downtown Plano where there was a very pretty park.
Eating outdoors under a big shade tree sure makes the food taste so much better.
After eating and playing for a bit we headed back to our hotel and spent some time in the pool.
The water felt so good and refreshing, especially since we are not used to humid weather.
What a day we had and the best part was the price...6-dollars! The train was such a bargain.

The Big...Really Big City

Elizabeth and I are on an adventure in the big big city of Dallas/Ft. Worth living it up with lots of swimming and sight seeing. For the first time ever we are staying in an extended stay hotel. Our room has sliding doors with a lovely view of the pool.We are cooking in a miniature kitchen which has been fun and a little like camping.
We have had to improvise and make do with what we have. While making pancakes I had to use a pot as a mixing bowl for pancake batter.
Why are we on this adventure? Well, it's a long story but basically Jonathan needed me while he finishes up his internship/job; so Elizabeth and I are taking in local attractions and having a blast.