Cinnamon Pull-Aparts

This one is DEFINITELY part of the Hall of Traditions!! It is a concrete part of Christmas, to say the least, and we do it periodically at other points during the year as well. This is something that comes from Steve's family, and is much-anticipated thing for our kids now. I will be posting this in two parts: the original recipe from Steve's mom and our modifications.

Judy's recipe:
1 bag of Rhode's frozen rolls
1-2 cubes butter, melted
2 cups sugar mixed with cinnamon to taste
While still frozen, coat rolls in melted butter and then in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place in a buttered bunt pan or angel food cake pan that doesn't have the removable bottom. Layer the rolls up inside the pan until it's about half full. Allow to sit until doubled in size; usually overnight, because of the rolls being frozen. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. After letting sit for several minutes, turn contents of pan out onto a large plate (hold plate on top of pan and flip quickly and carefully); serve immediately while still hot!
My recipe: (uses a feather roll recipe out of one of Mom's cookbooks, the name of which I have forgotten)
9-10 cups flour
2-3 Tbsp yeast
3 cups warm water
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup honey or sugar
1/2 cup powedered milk (optional)
4 large eggs
4 tsp salt
Dipping and Rolling:
1-2 cubes butter, melted
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
Mix 5 cups of the flour with the dry milk and the yeast. Mix in the water, oil, and honey; let sit for 10 minutes. Mix in the eggs and the salt. Add the flour one cup at a time until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and then knead for 5-6 minutes.
This is a highly versatile dough and can be used for everything from pizza crusts, to dinner rolls, to cinnamon rolls; you name it. For the purposes of this recipe, we will be shaping 1" balls out of the dough. Mix the brown and white sugars with the cinnamon. Dip the balls of dough in the butter and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture before placing in the pan, as stated above. Layer the rolls up inside the pan until it's about half full. Allow to sit until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. After letting sit for several minutes, turn contents of pan out onto a large plate (hold plate on top of pan and flip quickly and carefully); serve immediately while still hot!
Note: the cooking times are different on the two recipes for a reason. Steve's family prefers a slightly doughy center on their pull-aparts, while I prefer my rolls cooked all the way through. Obviously, you can do the Rhode's rolls with a longer cooking time to get an easy pull-apart with fully cooked rolls; I just separated them that way because that's the way the two different households make them :)

Cornbread

For most of us, the recipes that we grew up with will always hold a special place, and that is certainly true with this cornbread recipe. This is the recipe that my mother used all my growing up years, and I have never used any other, although I have tasted others! This is just always going to be my favorite cornbread recipe, bar none!

1/2 cup margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour

Melt margarine, add sugar, beat in eggs and salt - set aside. Combine buttermilk and soda - add to other ingredients. Combine flour and cornmeal. Add to the rest of the ingredients. Stir just until everything is moistened. Do not stir out your lumps or it will affect the texture of your cornbread. Pour into greased pan (I have a 6x10 glass pan that I like) and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the pan (which determines the thickness of your cornbread). You are looking for the cornbread to be golden brown on top and to have pulled away from the sides of the pan. If you are using an 8" square pan, be sure that it's done in the center before you pull it out :)

Bill's Biscuits

Originally, this recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Dad has been making them so long though that, to us, it will always be his recipe. The members of the Edwards Ward even took to calling them Bill's Biscuits, so that's how the recipe is listed.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk

Combine dry ingredients in mid-sized mixing bowl; cut in shortening, either with butter knives or with a pastry cutter. Use a fork to mix milk into flour mixture thoroughly but avoid over-mixing as this will make the dough tough. Press out onto lightly floured surface and use either biscuit cutter or a glass to cut biscuits into uniform circles. Place on a cookie sheet beginning with one biscuit at the center and working out, making sure that all biscuits are touching each other. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe was one of Steve's favorites growing up and he still regularly requests that I make it for him :) When his mother made this recipe, she used small coffee cans instead of loaf pans, giving her pumpkin bread a unique appearance. Steve prefers his pumpkin bread frozen with a swipe of butter on top :)



4 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
5 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
1 large can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat sugar and eggs until smooth like snow; add pumpkin, oil, and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl and add gradually to pumpkin mixture, beating well. Grease loaf pans and fill 1/2 full with batter. Bake at 350 for one hour. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then remove from pans to cooling rack.