Happy Mother's Day

to all mothers, those loving caretakers of skinned knees and soaring hopes and bored hours. And to all moms of creatures feathered, scaly, or furry too.

At Chez Bluebonnet, we feasted on gooey, sugary cinnamon rolls made by Chef Will. The children presented me with roses, a teddy bear, and card, all chosen by them. And I'm formally relieved of laundry and dish duty for the day. Whoo!



But this may have been the very best gift of all. Made by my eldest. How sweet!





Cinnamon rolls
(Adapted from Clone of a Cinnabon on allrecipes.com)

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

.5 cup dark brown sugar, packed
.5 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

Icing:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
dash of skim milk

Directions
Pour yeast into warm milk with a TB of sugar. Stir. Let it sit for ten minutes. Add everything except flour and stir together. Add flour and mix by hand. Knead for five minutes. Let rise in bowl covered with damp cloth.

After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400˚F.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, gradually beat powdered sugar into the butter. As it got too thick, add some skim milk to thin. Allow the buns to cool slightly. Drizzle frosting on buns and serve.

These were delicious, but a bit gooey. Chef Will said it should have been baked a bit longer, perhaps for 18-20 minutes total. Also, trim the end pieces so they are level with the rest of the buns.

Pretzel chocolate chip cookies

Perfect playdate fare. Or anytime you need a crowd pleaser, but want to make something with a twist.

My children love to help make these. Why? Because they get to bash a bag of pretzels. Mommy-sanctioned destruction. With freshly baked cookies after. How much better can it get?





And boy, were these popular. I think they just might be my husband's new favorite sweet (with a slight hit of salty).

Pretzel chocolate chip cookies
(Adapted from Beantown Baker)

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups coarsely crushed pretzel sticks (I took this to mean 2 cups before they were coarsely crushed)*
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350˚.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined after each. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients into the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated. Add crushed pretzels and mix briefly to combine. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop dough using a tablespoon cookie scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets and flatten dough balls slightly. Place into the oven and bake cookies until they are lightly golden around the edges, about 9 to 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cookies cool for a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

This made 24 fairly large cookies.

*Tip: Pour pretzels into a ziplock bag. Hand over to the little heathens for crushing. You might end up with pulverized pretzels, but the joy on their faces is worth the difference.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Not a holiday that gets big play here in Beantown. At Casa Bluebonnet, we celebrated with margaritas and chicken enchiladas. The enchiladas are a super easy meal. Use canned enchilada sauce (we're partial to Hatch) for convenience. You'll also end up with bonus homemade chicken stock. Refrigerate or freeze the stock for future tortilla soup. I promise you that it tastes so much yummier with homemade stock.

Margarita recipe
Don't buy a mix! This is all you need for fabulous 'ritas.



Start with good tequila. I prefer this 100% blue agave reposado tequila, Sauza Hornitos.

1.5 oz tequila
.5 oz Cointreau
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice. Serve over ice in a salt-rimmed glass. (I didn't salt our glasses. I didn't add ice either, but should have.) If you prefer a sweeter margarita, up the Cointreau to 1 oz.



Chicken enchiladas recipe
1 whole chicken (approximately 3.5 lbs. I've also used bone-in chicken breasts.)
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
7 or 8 flour tortillas
1 tsp Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning
Hatch Red Enchilada Sauce*
1 cup shredded Colby Jack (or Mexican four cheese)

*We found Hatch sauce at our local Whole Foods.

Place chicken breast side up in a large pot. Add water, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Flip the chicken over and summer for 15 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Remove chicken from pot. Cool. (Or charge ahead like we always do and nurse burned fingertips later.) Remove skin and discard. Shred meat and discard bones. Place shredded meat in a bowl.

Add 1 tsp. Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning and 1/3 cup of broth from pot.



Place a small serving of shredded chicken in tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place seam-side down in a 9x13 baking dish. Repeat. If the tortillas are brittle, wrap in damp paper towels and microwave for 45 seconds.

Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle liberally with cheese.



Bake at 350˚ until cheese is fully melted (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Pour the chicken stock into a container and refrigerate or freeze for future use.



Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Imperial Danby, meet Barkeeper's Friend

This morning, I scoured my kitchen sink with Barkeeper's Friend. On a whim, I sprinkled some Barkeeper's Friend on my Danby sample and scrubbed. No change. I made paste with Barkeeper's Friend and water and left it on the red wine stain for about thirty minutes. This is what happened.



Don't see anything? Yep. That's the point. Pretty impressive, isn't it? Here's the before. The red wine stain is clearly visible.



Conclusion? Imperial Danby is good stuff. Because Danby marble is denser than the average marble, stains don't penetrate deeply. So they're quite easy to get out. Our fabricator said that highly acidic material etches the sealer away. So our sample was essentially not sealed during the second stain/etch test. Pretty impressive.

Marble of any sort will etch. So it isn't the material for someone who wants her countertop to look pristine and brand new. However, if you accept the level of etching that my tests and photos show, Danby marble will make a wonderful countertop. Natural and classic. Easy to get stains out. Beautiful.

Dulce de leche and banana ice cream sandwiches

A delicious way to use some of the 20+ ripe bananas left over from soccer snacks. (Note to self: don't bring fresh fruit in addition to Sun Chips and juice boxes. The fruit won't be popular.) This was very easy and can be made ahead. It received rave reviews. Even the littlest crowed, "Mom, you did such a good job with the ice cream!"

Dulce de leche and banana ice cream sandwiches
(adapted from Gourmet Today)

1 cup very cold heavy cream
1/2 cup dulce de leche*
2 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
6 (7-inch) flour tortillas (not low-fat)**
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

*Dulce de leche is sweet, gooey caramelized milk from Latin America. I found a jar at my local Whole Foods in the ice cream topping section.
**The flour tortillas were Trader Joe's.

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

Beat cream with an electric mixer in a metal bowl until it just holds stiff peaks. Reduce speed to low and beat in dulce de leche, bananas, and lime juice. I broke the bananas into a few pieces and just threw them into the bowl. Beat until combined.


A watched pot doesn't boil, but does watched cream form peaks?

Freeze until slightly firm, but not frozen hard. At least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, brush tortillas on both sides with butter. Arrange in one layer on a baking sheet and toast, turning once, until golden. 12-16 minutes. The tortillas will puff up. Cool completely.



Divide the cream mixture between 3 tortillas. Top with the remaining 3 tortillas. Freeze on baking sheet, loosely covered with foil, until firm. About 1 hour.



Cut sandwiches in half (or quarters) with a serrated knife. Serve. Can be served with a dark chocolate sauce. We ate ours plain. The ice cream sandwiches can be frozen for up to a day.



The dulce de leche banana cream was incredibly delicious all on its own. My sprouts licked every spatula and spoon clean. I wonder if it could be served cold like a pudding. Or layered with not-very-sweet shortbread. Or dolloped over fresh mango slices. Mmmm...I foresee some high calorie culinary experiments ahead.

While the children were waiting for the cream to freeze, I quickly made some cinnamon sugar tortilla puffs. Lightly brush melted unsalted butter on both sides of tortillas. Cut into wedges if you'd like. (I was lazy and didn't). Sprinkle with mixed cinnamon sugar. Toast in the oven for several minutes. The tortillas will be puffed and slightly browned. Yummy and easy!





Dulce De Leche