I was on Facebook.  I follow a group called Recipes (Amish and More).  I like the group for the most part.  All of the recipes are made from scratch and feature more traditional or old fashion foods.

I saw a posting from someone asking for a recipe for Long Johns.  For those of you who don’t know, they are a rectangle-shaped doughnut flavored roll.  Most have a frosting.  Some have a cream filling inside.

There were many recipes, ideas, and suggestions to the post and I found myself reading them.  I saw this recipe.

Then I saw the person who posted the recipe also put up this picture…

and wrote:
“When our middle son got married we converted his bedroom into our baking room. I absolutely love it. You can also use this recipe for what we call a Cinnamon Swirl. Be sure to add the cinnamon in the dough for those. After the dough rises the first time roll it out like you’re going to make cinnamon rolls, but only put a thin layer of cinnamon down then roll, cut & let them rise again before frying. Glaze when hot.”

Um, the rolls looked delicious so I decided to half the recipe and give them a try.

Look, I had a helper… Continue reading →

Blog reader Celesta sent me an Amish cookbook.  I was so happy to get it.  I love cookbooks and I especially love Amish and church cookbooks.  These are typically tried and true recipes.  I really was excited for this book as there are many different cookie recipes.  When Kramer, my husband, was living, I made lots of cakes and bars.  Now, cookies are better.  I can freeze them and nothing goes to waste.  Here is the recipe…

Here are the directions:

I used my trusty…
Continue reading →

I forgot to tell you about making Spritz cookies with Kayla.  We did this when she was home over Christmas break.

Spritz cookies were a family tradition for me growing up.  My dad’s parents came from Sweden and they brought the tradition of making these with them.  My mom learned how to make them and we had them often at Christmas time.  I have always loved them.

They are beautiful and they are a butter cookie and what more is there to love than that.

I never learned to make them from my mom.  She passed away when I was 24 and she wasn’t one to prompt teaching.  If you asked, she would show and teach, but she didn’t purposely seek me out to teach me things.

So when Kayla showed an interest in making Spritz years ago, I got a cookie press.  I bought the ingredients and encouraged her to try to make them.  Kayla ran with that and learned to make them.

This is the recipe she uses… Continue reading →

Hand down, the best way potatoes to make mashed potatoes, is in the Instant Pot.  I NEVER boil potatoes anymore.  Never ever.  Instant Pot potatoes are so much better.

The family has gotten to like loaded mash potatoes so one day when they were all home, I took some pictures while I made them.  This is a big batch and would likely feed a dozen people.  Half the recipe is you want or adjust as you wish.

I peel a 5 pound bag of red potatoes.  You can see I don’t completely peel them.  For the most part, I do a “cut the eyes out and peel a bit” amount.   I have an 8 quart Instant Pot and you can see it is about 1/2 full.

There is about an inch of water in there under all of those potatoes.  I put the lid on, closed it, and then used manual pressure for 7 minutes…if I am making mashed potatoes.  If I’m making regular potatoes, I only set the times for five minutes.

I release the pressure once the timer goes off.  Drain the potatoes and then prep some ingredients.  I soften 4 ounces of cream cheese and 4 Tablespoons of butter.  For this batch, I also fried up a pound of bacon…what can I say, we’re bacon lovers.

Some shredded cheese goes in too.

I typically don’t add milk…it all depends on the potatoes.  I know for many people, milk is standard in mashed potatoes.  Then I mix it all up with the mixer.

I typically stop and add some spices.  This day I included salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Typically onion powder is in the mix too, but this day I was out.

I add these to taste.

The potatoes are wonderful.

All potatoes are a little different in their moisture content.  Everyone prefers their mashed potatoes at a different consistency too.  So, my recommendation is that if your potatoes seem a little dry to you, add sour cream rather than milk.  The sour cream adds creaminess where the milk just adds liquid.

These are to die for in Karl’s opinion.  These are something that for some reason, Kelli has been able to keep down during this pregnancy.  I’ll likely keep making them just like this as to date, every time I make them the kids say, “Mom, these are the best batch EVER!”