Gracious Hospitality: August 2023

Friday, August 25, 2023

Hospitality Starts at Home . Creating Meal Plans and Prepping Meals

So many meals can be prepped in advance

with just a little planning.

It can save us so much time in the kitchen.

Our meal prep consisted of boiling chickens, shredding the meat,

and using and saving the extra broth.

Then cooking and seasoning several pounds of ground beef

to create meal starters for our freezer.

Our finish dishes were delicious.

Chicken Broccoli AuGrautin

Stuffed peppers with seasoned ground

beef and rice.

Chicken a la King

Beef Stromboli

Apricot Curry Chicken

Mexican Lasagna

Working together to prepare several recipes at once.

Sharing what we learned in creating the new recipes

and giving tips on how to prepare each dish.

Tasting is always the best part of the cooking.

Friday, August 18, 2023

Exploring Pantry Staples of Beans and Grains

Today we explored the benifits of preparing beans and grains.

The economic benifits and the health benifits.

So many colors, textures and flavors to choose from.

The recipies we prepared were:

Southwest Black Bean Wraps

Cajun Quinoa

Hoppin' John

White Bean Hummas with Cannellini Beans

Cowboy Chili with Beef and Kidney Beans

Traditional Chipolte Hummus

Sharing Our Thoughts and Ideas on How to Prepare the New Recipes

One of the great parts of our time together is

discussing the new recipes and sampling

each dish. We may have discovered some new favorites.

Friday, August 11, 2023

New Beginnings with the Gracious Hospitality Class of 2023

We begin by gathering fresh herbs from the garden, and bringing them

into the kitchen to flavor our different types of squash and vegetables.

The kitchen fills with the aromas of the fresh herbs as we prepare our recipes.

Each team of students chooses the recipe they will prepare

to be shared with the class.

Zucchini and Thyme

Dill Cream Corn

Summer Squash with Basil and Garlic Chives

Dill Peas and Walnuts

Butternut Squash with Sage and Cranberries

Roasted Butternut Squash with Red Curry

Our ladies shared how they prepared each recipe

with advise on how to best prepare the dishes.

The best part of the class is tasting all the different dishes that have been prepared.

Gracious Hospitality Overview

90 Minute Cinnamon Rolls

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 envelope yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup margarine
1 egg
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine, softened

*Set aside 1 cup all purpose flour from total amount. Mix remaining flour, yeast ,sugar, and salt in large bowl.
**Heat milk, water, and 1/4 cup margarine until hot to the touch, about 115F. Stir hot liquid into dry ingredients. Mix in egg. Mix in enough reserved flour to make a soft dough, so that it does not stick to the bowl. Turn out onto floured board and knead 5 minutes. Cover dough and let rest 10 minutes.
***Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and margarine together. Roll dough into 12 x 9-inch rectangle. Spread with cinnamon mixture. Roll from long side, jelly-roll style; pinch to seal the seam.
****Cut into 12 equal slices with a sharp knife. Place cut side up into large greased muffin cups; place on baking sheet over a shallow pan half-filled with boiling water. Cover dough and let rise 20 mins. Bake at 375 F for 20 mins or until browned. Remove from muffin cups to cool.

Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl, beat frosting ingredients until well mixed. Frost warm rolls.

Perfect Pie Crust

2 Cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp vinegar
3 - 4 Tbsp cold water

*Combine flour, salt and sugar in a 2 qt. bowl. Evenly cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork. *Combine egg and vinegar in a small bowl and add to flour mixture.
*Add water a tablespoon at a time until dough is moist enough to form ball.
*Shape dough into 2 balls. Flatten one ball to 1/2 inch thickness, rounding and smoothing edges.
*On lightly floured surface roll into 11 inch circle.
*Transfer dough to a 9" pie plate.
*Unfold gently and press in bottom and up sides of plate.
*Roll out remaining pastry; set aside. Continue as directed in pie recipe.

HOMEMADE WHITE BREAD

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 c. lukewarm water
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter
or solid shortening
3/4 c. water
1 c. hot milk
5 to 6 c. flour

Proof yeast in 1/4 cup of the lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Measure sugar, salt and butter into mixing bowl, pour hot milk over them and stir allowing the butter to melt. Add remaining water and cool to lukewarm. Stir in 1 cup flour. Add yeast mixture and 2 more cups flour and beat with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth and elastic. Stir in 1 1/2 to 2 cups more flour, then, with floured fingers, work in enough additional flour to make a soft dough that does not stick to your fingers.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board and knead for 2-5 minutes, about 100 kneading strokes. Shape dough into a ball and put it in an oiled or buttered bowl. Roll the dough in the oil until coated on all sides, cover with a towel and let dough rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down and turn onto floured surface. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a smooth ball. Shape each ball into a loaf and put into a greased loaf pan. Cover pans with a towel and let bread rise until the sides of the raised bread reach the top of the pans and the center is nicely rounded above it, about 1 hour.

To bake: Bake loaves at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown and sound hollow when lightly tapped.

When baked: Turn loaves from pans immediately onto a cooling rack to keep crust crisp. For a soft, tender crust: Brush loaves with butter as soon as they come from oven.

Peel and remove pit, finely Chop
4 cups prepared peaches
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 package powdered pectin

*Measure sugar and keep ready.
*Mix pectin with fruit and using high heat to bring to a boil.
*At once add sugar.
*Bring to a full boil (a boil that cannot be stirred down).
*Boil hard for one minute.
*Remove from heat and skim foam for 5 minutes. This prevents floating fruit.
*Put quickly into jars leaving 1/4-inch head space.
*Clean rim and seal with rings.
*Water bath in boiling water for 10 minutes for pints and quarts.
*It should set in 24 hours.
*Makes about 4 pints jam