Our Sweet Goodbye

Well, it's been an exciting year, but this is it. This is the end of our blog and school year for the summer. Next time you read this blog will be in the fall with some new hosts. Thank you to all our viewers that have read this blog over the semester. 

Hopefully you got some new recipes that you have never made before. We enjoyed trying new recipes. It was a good experience learning new skills in cooking and baking. Some of our favorites included slow cooker tortilla soup, beef stew, chicken pot pie, taco casserole, ham and rice, enchiladas, red velvet cake, brownies, magic bars, donuts, cinnamon rolls, and pumpkin bars.

Thank you. Goodbye.
~Brandon, Carly, Connor, Jane, Jonny, Josh, and Lena

Cooking Shows

After every unit in Household Management, the class created videos about what they had learned. This was a great opportunity for the students to show off their humor and creativity while reviewing healthy eating, budgeting and comparison shopping, and box vs. scratch meals. You can see an example here.  

For the end of the semester the students put their video making skills and practice to use and made cooking shows. The students split into groups, chose a recipe, created a script, filmed the baking of the recipe, and edited their video to create a show. 

Please enjoy their trailer and two cooking videos!

Donuts!

It's Monday again, and I hate mondays.  So hopefully tonight's baking class would be good this time. Our cooks tonight are Mr. Derek and Brandon, the husband not the student, and they will be making two different donuts, baked and fried.  They chose to make donuts because they are big donuts lovers and bloggers.  Check out their blog at donutguys.com!

First we preheat the oven to 350 degrees so it will be ready for baking the donuts.  Now we combine the dry ingredients in one large bowl and whisk them together.  We had a spill with the sugar, salt, and the baking powder; there were unstable hands tonight.  Next place the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, until the butter is completely melted.  While waiting for butter to melt we started on trying something new, making chocolate glaze and cinnamon toppings for the donuts.

In a small bowl, mix some sugar and cinnamon and wait for the butter to be done.  In another small bowl we combine the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder.  With a fork we gradually stir in the milk until the mixture is smooth and glossy and the desired thickness has been reached.  Then we stir in the vanilla extract.  Now we keep it  covered with plastic wrap so the glaze doesn't harden and wait until the donuts are ready.




















At the same time Mr. Derek was making the fried donuts while the group was working on the baked donuts.  First you get a fryer and pour vegetable oil into it.  Then heat the oil for several minutes or until it's hot, Mr. Derek did those steps right away.  When it's hot and ready, put two biscuits into this screen dipper and place the screen in the boiling oil.  With Chinese sticks or long utensils turn the biscuits over when their sides turn brown. After another few minutes turn the biscuits over for another few minutes.  When done then pull the screen up to let the biscuits drip and use the sticks or utensils to move the donuts onto a plate.  Repeat step for as many donuts as you want.  When finished with the fryer unplug it and wait for the oil to cool off before dumping the oil out.

  

The fried donuts were done first and most of the guys and gals picked the chocolate frosting for their fried donuts.  We dipped one side of the donuts into the chocolate bowl and added sprinkles on top.  They were good!

When the butter was finally done melting, we added the butter and wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and whisked them together.  After they are mixed we use the cooking spray to spray the donut pan.  Once that's done we slowly poured the dough mixture from the bowl and into the donut pan.  When the mixture is settled into the pan you then bake the donuts for 12 minutes then when they are done we let them cool for several minutes.

With the donuts done we either dip them in melted butter and mix them with the cinnamon.  The other option is to dip the donut into the chocolate glaze and add sprinkles.  I tried them both and liked chocolate more than the cinnamon.























Warning you will get sick if you eat too much donuts!  The event was better than expected although everyone was distracted by Ms. Katelyn's dogs Ti and Bones so work was a little slower than normal. Still it was better than normal nights.  So thank you Mr. Derek and Brandon for your hard work and having the courage to wear those silly aprons.

Baked Donuts
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
4 tbsp butter

Cinnamon Sugar Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter melted

 Chocolate Glaze
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1  1/2 tablespoons milk or more
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fried donuts
purchased biscuits
vegetable oil

The Blog Report - Italian Beef Sandwiches

Hello ladies and gentlemen tonight’s blog report takes place in the home of Ms. Katelyn with the support of Mr. Rodgers aka Derek and Ms. Katelyn’s husband Brandon. Also joining us were Ms. Katelyn's miniature guard dogs. They were ferocious. :) And now the meal.

For our sides we had potato wedges and corn. A very nice touch. Ten out of ten.

And now on to the sandwich with the line up to make the sandwiches being meat, bread, cheese and peppers if you choose to add this.

Recipes

Italian Beef Sandwiches

• 3lb chuck roast, cut into large hunks
• 1 envelope Good Seasons Zesty Italian Salad dressing mix
• 8oz pepperocini pepper slices and a splash of juice (plus extra for serving)
• 8oz Giardiniera (Chicago Style Italian Sandwich Mix) drained
• 14.5oz can beef broth
• provolone cheese slices
• hoagie buns

Directions:

1. Place chuck roast into the bottom of a 5.5-6qt crock pot. 
2. Sprinkle with salad dressing mix.
3. Add pepperocini peppers plus a splash of juice. 
4. Add Giardiniera and beef broth then lift up chuck roast pieces to get broth underneath. 
5. Place a lid on top and then cook on low for 9 hours. 
6. Shred meat and then place meat back into crock pot and cook on low for 1 more hour. 
7. Split buns in half and then scoop the shredded meat mixture on top and add provolone cheese slices. Top with additional peppers if desired and serve. 

Potato Wedges

• 5 potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Cut potatoes into wedges.
2. Place wedges into a large ziplock bag.
3. Add add oil, salt, and pepper and shake bag to coat. 
4. Place wedges on a foil lined cookie sheet. 
5. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes. 
6. Enjoy.

In short I thought the meal was very good. Just look at the look on Mr. Derek’s face. This meal makes it into the meals of fame as approved by Derek.

Thank you for reading this. Remember folks to keep blogging to your local Sugar Spice and Everything Hawkeye blog for the newest blog update. Reporter Jonny signing off.