Perfect Mother's Day Brunch Treat: Strawberry Sweet Rolls Served in Kentucky Pottery



Can you believe Mother's Day is a little over a week away? April has disappeared! What really surprises me is that I will celebrate my 7th Mother's Day this year. Where does the time go? I look back at that first May, just two months after my oldest gal was born and remember wondering what had I gotten myself into and how do I really celebrate Mother's Day now that I'm a mom? Do I take the time to kick up my feet and enjoy the day or do I use it as time to take care of my mom. To show her my understanding and appreciation for all of her love and devotion? Or, how about I do all those things and spend time celebrating with other moms, treating ourselves to some girlfriend time!

So this year that is just what we are doing---hosting a Mother's Day brunch! I get to cook up some special dishes like these Strawberry Sweet Rolls, and share with girlfriends dear to my heart. And, since my mom reads this blog, I'll not update on her special surprise.

Strawberry Sweet Rolls

2 cups milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups diced fresh strawberries

Glaze
1 egg white
1 tsp milk

Directions:
In a large stock pot heat milk, oil, honey and stir. Allow to come to a slight boil and turn off heat to prevent scalding. Let cool for about 20 minutes and then add yeast to mixture. Slowly mix together adding flour 1 cup at a time (3 1/2 cups total) until it looks very sticky. Cover with damp towel and place it in a draft free area to allow it to rise- 1 hour.

Stir in 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, soda, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon and combine. Lightly flour surface. Slightly flatten dough and knead dough it for about 1 minute. Pinch off golf ball size pieces and add small amount of strawberries to center and carefully tuck into a roll. Place in greased pan and let rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes.





Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together egg white and milk in small bowl. Before ready to bake, brush glaze over rolls. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.



 Let cool and then add easy icing, milk and powder sugar mixture. Slice and serve! Even good re-heated the next day. Hmm...I speak from experience as this was our Easter breakfast. I'd never be able to get these together on such a crazy morning.



Now that you know all about the rolls it's time to scroll back up and look at the dish. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful "Spoon Bread Baker" dish from Tater Knob Pottery and Farm in Berea, KY.







Spoon Bread Baker

 Remember Snug Hollow, my new favorite getaway location? When my husband and I visited back in December we fell in love with the pottery that Barb served all of her delicious meals on. The pottery came from a local artist just right up the road from her Inn. We weren't able to visit then but some girlfriends and I had a weekend away recently so we made sure to pay a visit to Tater Knob Pottery! WOW- we were in pottery heaven! The time and love put into each piece is breathtaking. There isn't a single piece that's the same. You can check out their work online and even order by calling but, if you are around the Eastern Mountains of Kentucky, you need to pay a visit to Sarah and Jeff to get the real feel for their work. When we visited Sarah she even took the time to throw some clay and show off their new wood burning kiln.

Here's some of the other pieces I purchased. This cute pitcher and four of these juice cups. My girls think act like their drinking out of fine china when they get their milk or juice served to them in these cups.




Taking Shortcuts In the Kitchen With the Kids: Baked Spinach Walnut Ravioli with Cheese Sauce

One thing I have always wanted to be is real! There's not too much that I hide, aside from the dust bunnies that I sweep under my couch when guest are coming over, but, you all don't see that anyway! Really though, I don't want to hide things from my readers either. I've told you all before that our meals are not always served with a smile and that the meals are not always good but did you know that I too enjoy taking shortcuts every now and then? Yep, I do! And when I found the idea of using wonton wrappers for "homemade" ravioli from my new cookbook, The Whole Family Cookbook, I was thrilled! Woohoo! What an amazing idea!

The girls and I needed to get something whipped up quickly the other night so I took the idea of using wonton wrappers and pulled out some ingredients we usually have around and put together a great filling.



You didn't think I wouldn't put my girls to work helping with the shortcut dinner? Never! They had to be part of this excitement too! It was a hoot hearing their comments about using these things called wonton wrappers. My oldest had a tough time understanding that we were using something that was advertised to be used in Asian dishes.


They had fun with the texture of the squares, especially when they brushed them with water. But, the greatest were the shapes they created for the raviolis.

I highly recommend trying these with your kids! It was great to have them stuff and fold while I made our cheese sauce. Great team work!


Baked Spinach Walnut Ravioli with Cheese Sauce

24 wonton wrappers (we used Naysoya Asian Style Wonton Wrappers)
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 10 oz. package of organic frozen spinach (cook and squeeze out excess water)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup mushrooms (cremini, oyster, button worked well)
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
In a medium skillet heat butter and saute garlic. Add mushrooms and let cook for about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in remainder ingredients and set aside to let cool.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread wonton wrappers out on a clean dry surface. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of mixture onto the middle of the wrapper. Fold and gently pinch ends together. Using a pastry brush, dampen sides to create a seal. Add ravioli to greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly brown.

Cheese sauce

1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 block of cream cheese
1 cup milk
1/2 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat butter in saucepan. Once melted, add flour to create a roux. Whisk in milk making sure not to have any lumps. When smooth add cheeses and let heat stirring to create sauce. Add more flour to thicken if needed.

And the Winner is...

Now that I have cooked 3 recipes from Michelle Stern's new cookbook, The Whole Family Cookbook, I am positive that the winner of this cookbook will defininetly enjoy their copy!!

And the WINNER is

Danielle

Congrats Danielle. Please send me an email for delivery information.

Don't forget that you can order the book from Amazon too! Make sure to get a copy soon.





See What Kids CAN Cook: Cookbook Review and Giveaway! (The Whole Family Cookbook)

I discovered Michelle Stern from What's Cooking with Kids way before I took the plunge to start this blog. I like to say she was an inspriation for putting my actions into words. Well, I am excited to have been given the chance to review her cookbook, The Whole Family Cookbook, and be able to pass along one to a VERY lucky My McDonald Meal reader!! Cool huh?

First off, the cookbook is just plain fun! The pictures are amazing. The concepts for her "Going Green" tips are smart and clever. And ALL the recipes are yummy sounding!

The other day my oldest gal picked up the book and spent a good while flipping through the pages trying to decide what to cook! It used to be that I would ask if she wanted to be my assistant, but for this edition, I put her in the driver's seat.  Here is her review of this fabulous cookbook.

Me: What did you first thing about the book?

Oldest: The pictures on the cover looked delicious!

Me: What was the picture did you like the most?

Oldest: The Yummy Strawberry Yogurt Parfait. And the Salty Pretzel Pillows!

Me: How did you like the age color codes?

Oldest: I think I could do my age range, 7-10.

Me: Was there anything that like you could cook by yourself?

Oldest: The Baked Apple Puffs. But I might need some help with peeling the apples.

Me: Any other thoughts?

Oldest: I didn't know you could have chickens in your backyard without a farm. That's COOL!


I cleared out some space (remember my kitchen is under renovation) for her to feel comfortable mixing up the recipe and let her go to work. There were a few parts of the recipe that I did for her, like peeling the apples and pulling the pan out of the oven. Tip for the future: do not use as large of a skillet as we did. One, it's too big for the recipe, and two- it's too heavy for a child to lift.

Me: What did you think about cooking the recipe all by yourself?

Oldest: I thought I never could do that, but I did! I want to keep cooking.

Me: Was any of it hard?

Oldest: No, it wasn't hard. It was good that you were in the kitchen with me.

Me: Did you understand the directions:

Oldest: Yes I did. Because we have been learning fractions at school and I love to read!

Thanks to both my daughter and Michelle for inviting us to try out her cookbook! Now, let's giveaway one to you! If you need any convincing that you should enter to win this cookbook then you need to watch the trailer for her book!

To win this book do one or more of the following steps to help increase your odds of winning.
Contest ends Monday, April 11th!!!

1. Leave a comment below.

2. "Like" What's Cooking With Kids and My McDonald Meal on Facebook and leave a note below saying you did.

3. Tweet that you entered this giveaway mentioning @whatscooking and @melmcd99.










Disclaimer: I received this cookbook (The Whole Family Cookbook) at no cost from the publisher (or a representative PR firm) for the purpose of testing and reviewing the book. I only review products that I have personally tested and used in my kitchen, and all opinions expressed are my own.