The Portable Pinewood

Recipe for Chicken Enchiladas

Here is a favorite recipe of ours. I can make it ahead of time or at the last minute and if there are any leftovers I put them in a Corning Ware dish and freeze them. They are easy to reheat in the microwave and still taste wonderful.

Chicken Enchiladas

1 pound chicken breast, cut up
1 each red and green pepper or yellow, if you desire
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
16 ounce can of low-fat refried beans
10 ounce can enchilada sauce
8 ounce tomato sauce
8 flour tortillas (we like whole wheat but there are many to choose from)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Sour cream, if desired

Heat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish.

Spray a skillet or add a little olive oil and stir-fry chicken, then add pappers, onions, and cilantro. Remove from heat and stir in refried beans.

In a bowl combine enchilada sauce and tomato sauce. Spoon just enough sauce onto baking dish to lightly cover the bottom. Spoon chicken mixture down the center of the tortillas, about 1/2 cup in each, roll up and place in baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Cover and bake 30-40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese and let it stand for about 5 minutes to melt cheese before serving.

Serve sour cream as an additional topping.

Scone Recipe

Here is one of our favorite recipes which I serve friends and family often. I also shared the recipe withour friends who own the French Country Inn and it's become a favorite with their guests, also.

As Spring slowly arrives in Door County and I see my recipe for scones, I think of the first warm morning when I make a batch of scones and we meet our friends down in Ephraim and sit on the dock and have scones and coffee to celebrate the arrival of spring. We have tried to create fun and simple traditions with friends that allow us to take time to relax and enjoy each other's company. Even in quiet, peaceful Door County our lives can become very overwhelming with all there is to do.

Nancy's Scone Recipe

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (cold)
1 T. baking powder
2/3 cup buttermilk or juice (I usually use orange juice)
1/3 cup of any dry addition
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring, if desired

Additions: Fresh or frozen sour cherries, fresh or frozen blueberries (fruit unthawed). Dried
apricots, cut up. With the fruits I may also add slivered almonds. Chocolate chips, raisins,
chopped apples and cinnamon. I've never made any that we didn't like.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix flour, sugar and baking powder with a fork. Cut the butter up into small chunks and mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. Add the liquid (add flavoring to liquid) to dry mix and stir just until mixed. Often times end up using my hands.

Mix in additions. Knead about 4 times. It is usually very sticky. You can place on a floured
bread board and form into a circle and cut into 8 wedges. I place these on a double cookie sheet
or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. No need to grease pan. You may also skip the
step of placing on bread board and put the dough directly on cookie sheet, form into a circle, use a sharp knife to cut into the wedges but leave them touching and bake like that.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes in upper half of oven until golden and firm to the touch. If you used frozen
fruit you may have to bake a little longer.

It really is a very easy recipe to make.

Recipe for Cream Cheese Spread

Here is a new recipe which is very simple to make and something you can keep on hand
to make in a hurry as long as you have some cream cheese.

2 T. dried basil
1 T. dried parsley
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried minced onions
1 T. dried thyme
1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients and store in a jar. I used about 1 tsp. for 8 ounces of cream cheese.
Soften cream cheese and blend the dried herbs in. Needs to stand for a while for the
flavors to blend. Letting stand overnight is even better.

Serve on crackers, bagels, etc.

* I think this would make a wonderful little hostess gift to bring someone. Find a cute little jar
in which to put the herbs along with the recipe in case they want to make more of it themselves.

Favorite Rug Hooking Book

There are many wonderful books out there about rug hooking but this one is my favorite: Rugs For My Red Cape by Edyth C. O'Neill. She has very easy-to-understand directions, but also fabulous close-up photos of her rugs so you can understand some of the techniques she talks about. She tells the story about her red Cape Cod home in Texas and the antiques they have collected. It reads like a story and is one anyone would enjoy looking at.

She shared a recipe for a punch which she uses when her rug hooking group meets at her home. In the winter she serves it hot and in the summer serves it cold. I made it for my first rug hooking class and everyone loved it so thought I should share it with you.

In a large pan combine two 46 oz. cans of apple juice (I used 2 of the large frozen cans and then reconstituted them), one 46 oz. can of pineapple juice, one cup of orange juice, and a stick of cinnamon. Simmer this for a short while and then be sure you stir it before serving. You can keep leftovers for up to a week....we loved warming up the leftovers on a cold winter afternoon.

Enjoy!

Vicky

Vicky's Caramelized Cinnamon Rolls

My cousin recently e-mailed me asking for my recipe for cinnamon rolls using my bread machine. It reminded me that I haven't made this particular recipe for awhile, but now I'll plan to make them sometime soon.

It's a great time of year for these rolls. There is nothing like hot steaming coffee and a caramelized cinnamon roll on a brisk fall morning. Maybe this weekend you'll want to try a batch.

Vicky's Caramelized Cinnamon Rolls

Basic Not-So-Sweet Dough (1 1/2 lb. recipe)

3/4 c. water
1 egg
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3 T. butter or margarine
2 T. sugar
2 T. nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 tsp. yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan of the machine; select dough setting.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured counter or bread board. I usually knead the dough just a little and then cover it and let it sit for about 10 minutes. It seems to handle better if I let it sit.

Roll the dough into a 9 x 18 in. rectangle. Mix together 1 T. melted butter, 2 T. granulated sugar, 1 T. cinnamon, and 2 T. brown sugar. Spread this mixture on the dough. Roll up and slice into 12 rolls.

Prepare the 9 x 13 pan by melting 5 T. butter and spreading it in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 c. brown sugar on top of the melted butter. Lay your rolls on top of the brown sugar and melted butter. Sometimes I flatten the rolls a little bit. Cover and let rise in a warm oven 30 to 45 min. until doubled. (I preheat oven a little before putting rolls in to rise, but then turn the oven off while they rise.) When they have doubled in size, remove them from the oven.

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake rolls 25 to 30 min until golden brown. Immediately invert onto cooling rack or large platter.

Enjoy!

Vicky

Baked apple muesli

Here's one of our favorite recipes from the French Country Inn in Ephraim:

Baked Apple Muesli

Ingredients:
7 cups baking apples (peeled, cored, & sliced)
1 cup raisins
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 to 2 tsp. lemon juice
2 T. canola oil
1/2 c. honey

In a large bowl, combine apples, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, mix oil and honey. Then pour it over the apple mixture and mix thorougly. Cover the bowl and refrigerator overnight.

Topping:
1 1/2 c. raw oats (old fashioned, rolled, or steel cut - not instant or quick oats).
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. chopped nuts (I use almonds, because they have less fat than most nuts)

In the morning, place the apple mixture in a greased 9" x 13" glass-baking dish. Combine the raw oats and flour and sprinkle over the apples. Sprinkle nuts over the oats & flour topping. Bake uncovered in a preheated oven @ 350 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until apples are soft.

Serve warm with milk, soymilk, or rice dream.

Enjoy!

Vicky