January 15th Meeting

This month's meeting is January 8th 15th.  We will be meeting at Holley Cook's house from 6:30 - 9:00 pm.

First and foremost, as always food is welcome!  Drinks will be provided.  Feel free to bring a dessert or appetizer if you can.

The focus of this month's meeting will be "Hospitality and the Home."  Our guest speaker this month will be Niki Lott.  She is the wife of Pastor Brian Lott of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Bessemer, Ohio.  We plan to cover what the Bible says about hospitality and what a woman's role is in the home.  We'd also like to discuss topics such as meal planning, grocery shopping, coupons, and much more.

All women are welcome to join us.  We would encourage seasoned Christians, mothers of teen and older children, widows, and wives who have been married for some time to join us.  There is such a need amongst younger women to learn and fine-tune their homemaking and child rearing skills.  We can certainly use your help and advice.

Hope to see you there!

Breakfast Ring

The inspiration for this recipe came from a recipe (Easy Baked Cheese & Veggie Twist) I found in Kraft Foods Food & Family magazine -- Holiday '09. Food & Family is a magazine that used to be free, and I've been getting it for years. I bought it this year because they offered me a huge discount when it changed over to a subscription. I really like the magazine because it uses "normal people" food like ground meat, chicken, cream cheese, box mac & cheese -- you get the picture. You can access all their recipes online at www.kraftfoods.com/foodandfamily if you'd rather not pay for the subscription.

This recipe would be a good brunch item or just kick breakfast up a notch from cold cereal and frozen waffles! It really doesn't take too much time to put together.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Breakfast Ring

2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls

1/4 c diced onion
6-7 eggs, scrambled
1/2 lb cooked bacon, crumbled or
2/3 c cooked sausage or ham
1 wedge The Laughing Cow garlic & herb cheese spread or
2 Tbsp cream cheese -- flavored or add garlic powder
1/2 c shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. On a large baking pan or cookie sheet, arrange crescent roll triangles around in an 11-inch circle with short sides of triangles overlapping in center and points of triangles toward outside. There should be a 5-inch diameter opening in the center of the circle. (I love using stoneware for even, golden brown baking.)

3. In a medium skillet, saute onions in a little butter or oil. Set aside. (I scrape the onions into a bowl and use the same skillet for the eggs.) Scramble eggs until almost set or just cooked. Add in onions and bacon. (I buy precooked bacon at Aldi and just break it up. You can microwave it according to directions to crisp it up a bit. HUGE time saver!)

4. Apply cheese spread or cream cheese onto dough near center of the circle.(see 1st picture above). Place egg mixture on top of cheese spread. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

5. Wrap points of triangles up over filling toward the center. Pinch down edges or tuck underneath center.

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden brown. Slice and serve warm.

Apple Dumplings

This recipe was given to me by a friend tonight. It was so good I had to make it this week's post . . . my 8 year old helped me and had a great time!

Apple Dumplings

4 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
2 - 10 oz package crescent rolls
1/2 c butter
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 - 12 oz can Mountain Dew

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish.
2. Roll each apple wedge in a dough triangle staring with the smallest edge. Pinch to seal and place in baking dish.
3. Melt butter in saucepan and stir in sugar. (I learned you have to do this a little at a time.) Cook until well blended, stirring constantly. (Mixture will be thick. It turns brown and ends up looking like brown sugar if you cook it too much -- ask me how I know!?!) Stir in cinnamon and vanilla.
4. Pour over apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew over dumplings.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes: We don't "dew" Mountain Dew, so I used Sierra Mist that I had setting around -- it turned out great. I also made half a recipe. The measurements are as follows:

2 apples
1 package crescent rolls
1/4 c. butter
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 can (3/4 c) Mountain Dew

Used an 8x8 square baking dish.