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Hamburger Buns V2

Hamburger buns are an easy thing to make at home, and they taste just as good, if not better than store bought. This bun recipe is just as good as my last recipe. To see my last recipe, click here. The only difference in recipes is, last time I made 8 buns, but they were really big, so I decided 10 is better. Also, this recipe omits milk and instead uses only water as it’s primary source of hydration. These buns came out with lots of texture. I didn’t add quite enough liquid, so they didn’t hold together as well as they should. You want the dough to come together and to be a bit on the tacky side.

  1. In a bowl, mix together 4 cups flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 tsp active dried yeast, a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp oil, 1 cup warm water, and 1 egg. Beat until it comes together. Add up to an additional 1/4 of water if needed.
  2. Knead until dough is soft, elastic, and smooth. Lightly oil a bowl. Form the dough into a ball, and coat with oil. Place in oiled bowl and let rise till doubled, about 1 hour.
  3. Punch down dough. Turn out onto a clean work surface (flour the surface if your dough it too tacky). Divide your dough into 10 pieces. Form into a ball and hide all seams.
  4. Grease a large baking sheet. Space out dough on sheet and let rise till doubled about 45 minutes. Towards the end, preheat oven to 350 F.
  5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Let cool before eating.
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Canning Thousand Island Pickles

I’ve been sitting on this post for a couple days now. This is at least my great-grandmother’s recipe, however it may be older, and I was feeling a bit iffy about sharing. Because this is a family recipe, it may not be approved my canning regulations, however my family has been canning these pickles for several generations and no one has gotten botulism. Before you can, make sure you are familiar with the process of canning. You have to make sure you get every step otherwise the jar may not seal and you’ll have lots of pickles to eat in such a short time. But when you do follow the steps, most jars do seal. To tell if a jar sealed, you check to see if the lid pops when you push the center of it.

These are sweet pickles due to the sugar in the mixture. When canning, I recommend using 2 of one color pepper and 1 of the other color bell pepper. The red and yellow add more color to the mixture and they don’t taste any different then the green. When you are heating the mixture, it can be helpful to use a fork to try the cucumbers. This will help in being able to identify when the pickles are done and need to be remove from the heat. You don’t want the pickles too crisp or too soggy. I did a double batch and ended up getting 16 1/2 jars, with 15 jars sealed. One jar was dropped when being removed from the canner and the top broke off when it hit the counter. The counter was clean so we could salvage the pickles, but you can’t re-can, so they joined the 1/2 can in the fridge.

  1. Quarter and slice 8 medium cucumbers. Core and dice 3 red/yellow bell peppers. Dice 4 medium onions. Add all diced veggies into a large stockpot.
  2. In the stockpot, add 1 tsp ground mustard, 2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp turmeric, 4 tsp salt, 3 cups sugar, and 2 cups apple cider vinegar.
  3. Place over medium high heat. Stir often and heat to a boil, but do not boil. Fill a large water bath canner 1/2 with water and heat over high heat. In a small saucepan, add your lids and place over medium high heat.
  4. Place mixture into heated and sterile jars. Leave 1/2 inch heat space. remove bubbles by running a metal knife around the outer edge. Wipe off the lip and threads of the jar. Add warmed lid on lip, then hand tighten jar rings.
  5. Place filled and sealed jars into your water bath canner. Drop into boiling water, cover with lid, and let can for 10 minutes.
  6. Lift jars out of hot water. Remove hot jars and place on 2 kitchen towels. Let cool until room temperature. Remove rings, label jars, check to make sure jars are sealed, and store sealed jar in cellar or cool dark area. If jar didn’t seal, place in fridge and eat within a week.
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Homemade Baked Beans

I started this recipe in a saucepan, as you can see in the pictures below. I had never worked with dried beans before, so I had no concept of how long they would take to fully cook. After cooking for a couple hours and straining them, I added the sauce, but they still needed longer to cook. I highly recommend making this recipe in a slowcooker and just letting it go for 24 hours to make sure all of it is done. I wasn’t able to make these that easily, however, the recipe below is how I would make it in the future. The sauce for the beans is very good. They are sweet from the syrup, but have lots of good savory flavors thanks to all the spices. If you want, you could add some fat from any meats you may cook. That would add more savory flavor and also add to the overall flavor of your beans.

  1. In a slowcooker, add 1 pound of Great Northern beans. Rinse, and cover with at least 2 inches of water. Cook on high heat, covered until it boils. Reduce heat to low and cook for 6-12 hours (overnight) or until soft.
  2. Strain your beans and return to slowcooker.
  3. Add 1/2 cup maple syrup, 2 Tbsp Brown sugar, 1/2 diced medium onion, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp Mustard powder, 1 Tbsp ground ginger, 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 Tbsp Oyster sauce, and 2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce. Stir and heat over low for 1-2 hours.
  4. Refrigerate and serve later, serve right away, or keep over low heat for as long as you desire.
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Tuna Salad Cucumber Boats

Cucumbers are growing like crazy in my garden right now, and besides pickling them, I’m trying all kinds of crazy recipes. I saw a similar idea with zucchini, but I decided cucumbers would be best. Instead of bread, use a cucumber for your tuna salad. They are crisp and refreshing. This idea is fun for parties, or as a cool modern side dish this summer. Also try with shredded chicken or julienne veggies like carrots and radishes.

  1. Wash a cucumber and slice in half. Use a large spoon to remove the core of the cucumber and to create your boat.
  2. In a bowl, place the insides of your cucumber. Add 1 can of strained tuna, 2 diced shallots (or 1/4 cup diced onion), 1/3 cup mayo, and 2 Tbsp Dijon. Mix together.
  3. Use a spoon to fill your cucumber boats. Top with shredded cheese if desired, and serve.
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Whimpies (Sloppy Joes) with Homemade Sauce

It’s the perfect time of the year for whimpies! It’s something that’s easy to make and won’t heat up your whole house when you cook them. Served with some pasta salad like I did, it makes the perfect summer combo. I hadn’t made homemade sauce for these before, so I was improvising quite a bit. If you want more of a tomato flavor, cut back on the vinegar, or if you add too much, add some ketchup to bring back some tomato flavor. Less spices are better than more when it comes to this recipe. All the spices cook together and there can be a lack luster result if you add too much of anything. This recipe makes 4-6 whimpies depending on bun size.

  1. In a large skillet, break up and brown one pound of ground beef.
  2. In a bowl, mix together 8 oz of tomato sauce, 1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp dried minced onion, 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 Tbsp honey.
  3. Once beef is fully cooked, strain off any excess fat. Add your sauce to your ground beef and cook until sauce is heated through. Cover and let simmer until you are ready to serve.
  4. Serve on bread or rolls.
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