Italian Pepperoni Puffs

We have three cats. Yes, three...count them...Morris, Felix and Gizmo.

Morris actually belongs to my daughter. When our Rottweiler, Molly, passed away, Ashlyn was taking it really hard. So a couple of weeks later, on her birthday, we took her down to PetSmart and Morris picked her out. It was probably a good thing, too. He was still a kitten, had been born sometime toward the end of April and was the only kitten from his litter to survive. His litter had been born in a warehouse and a worker just HAPPENED to find them, when they were all just about starved to death. Morris was scheduled to be euthanized the next day, had Ashlyn not adopted him because he had been waiting too long for a forever home.

Morris - he likes close-ups.

Then came Felix. He belonged to my nephew and his family. Then they got a dog. Felix doesn't tolerate big dogs, so he came to live with us. Felix is our spoiled fur baby. He is the only one we have that will literally drink from a glass and EXPECTS to have fresh, clean water everyday!

My daughter, her awesome hair and a very spoiled Felix

 Then finally came Gizmo. Gizmo came from my DH's former co-worker's son. He had moved to a new apartment and wasn't able to keep Giz, so of course DH said we would take him. At first, we didn't know if it was going to work out. When he came out of his pet carrier, he hid behind the toilet and wouldn't come out. It appears he had social issues to work out because A) We had kids. Young kids. Two of them being boys who are RAMBUNCTIOUS; B) Gizmo was used to being by himself most of day and he was the only pet in the house and C) we are...well, we are white. Gizmo's owner....well....he was not. After about 3 days, he finally figured out we were his new family so he started coming out just at night while the boys were sleeping. Now that we have moved out to the country, Gizmo is adjusted very very well. He actually tries to play with Felix and Morris (and even the neighbor's little Chihuahua) and he actually lets us pet him now. He has also lost about 5 lbs. or so since living with us. He now eats cat food instead of McDonald's cheeseburgers all the time :) He is still a very BIG cat, though.

Gizmo catching a nap

So I have had this recipe for at least forever and I just recently made it for the very first time the other day. The only thing I could think of after we consumed these wonderful treats was...WHY haven't I made these before now?

Italian Pepperoni Puffs
 2 1/4 - 2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 oz. yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. onion powder
3/4 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. oil
1 egg, room temperature
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped pepperoni

Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, garlic salt, Italian seasoning and onion powder together. Add warm water, oil and egg.  Beat at low speed until ingredients are moistened. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and enough flour to make slightly stiff dough. Knead dough on lightly floured surface 5 - 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. *I used a bread machine to mix and knead my dough. Just add the ingredients in the order of manufacturer's directions/recommendations.*

Place in lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover and let rise 40 - 50 minutes. Punch down dough and place on lightly floured surface.



Divide dough in half. Roll each half out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds.

Place 1/2 tsp. of pepperoni in center of rounds.

Top with another round.

Press edges with a fork to seal.

I highly recommend if you can, purchase one of these cool tools. Not only will CUT out your dough, but will crimp it together for you as well when you press down on the center knob. This one is from Pampered Chef.

Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Heat 2 - 3 inches of oil over medium heat. Fry 3 - 4 puffs at a time for 3 - 4 minutes.

As a side note, if you do not wish to fry these up, you may also bake them at 350° for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until desired brownness.

 
Melt butter in a saucepan and add garlic salt or minced garlic. Brush onto puffs and sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese. Makes about 1 1/2 - 2 dozen puffs.

Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Buttercream...and some Oklahoma Red Dirt

Red Dirt Living. Chances are, if you aren't from around the Red River Country (Oklahoma and the wrong side of the river, Texas) you have no idea what that even means. While it does refer to the natural color of the dirt around these parts, it also refers to a mindset, a determination, GRIT. While I mean no disrespect to anyone that lives anywhere else, I just have to say that out of all the places I have ever visited or lived, no place compares to Oklahoma or her people.

Getting the Oklahoma Red Dirt out of white clothes is pretty near impossible. I highly recommend NEVER swimming in many of the lakes because of that reason. I also recommend if you're going to let your children play outside, you make sure they have play clothes that you are okay with getting stained up, because it WILL happen. ;)

My youngest, Eddie, after playing in the Oklahoma Red Dirt with his brother.

And you also need to always make sure you are prepared to clean out the bathtub/shower after your kids get cleaned up.

The bathtub AFTER!

Now that Spring and Summer are here, it is nice to have a refreshing citrus dessert. I have been craving something with lemons for a little while, so I decided to make a lemon cake. The big problem I had, I only had three SMALL lemons! Nonetheless, I made this cake and it turned out rather well! The cake had a very light lemon flavor, as did the buttercream. What "MADE" the cake was the Lemon Curd filling that I put into it. Absolute perfection, at least in my husband's opinion. After all, that IS all that matters, isn't it? :)

Of course silly me didn't get pictures for the whole process, or even another shot of the cake. Desserts just don't last long with a family of 6. :)

Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Buttercream

For the Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk
4 large egg whites (save the yolks!)
1 1/2 cups sugar
Zest of 1 1/2 small lemons
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
Juice from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350*. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg whites and milk. In mixer bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest BY HAND until sugar is moist and fragrant. Add butter to sugar mixture. Beat on medium until light & fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients to sugar, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake 30 - 35 minutes, or until cake tests done when toothpick is inserted. Cool completely to room temperature.

For the Curd:

1 large egg
4 large egg yolks
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
2 whole large lemons, seeded, and ran through a food processor

Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon portions

In a medium heavy non-stick saucepan, whisk together the whole egg, yolks, and sugar until blended. Stir in lemons from food processor, salt and butter. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens, about 7 - 10 minutes. Do NOT let mixture boil (it will curdle). Immediately strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing it through with a rubber spatula. Cover bowl and refrigerate until well chilled (at least two hours).

For the Buttercream:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 - 1 tsp. lemon extract
5 -6 Tbsp. milk

Cream butter until light & fluffy. Begin adding powdered sugar one cup at a time, blending until well mixed. Scrape down sides of bowl before adding another cup. Add lemon extract, mix well. Begin adding milk by tablespoon until desired consistency is reached.

To assemble Cake remove cakes from cake pans. Allow to sit on wire rack to finish cooling completely. Once cooled, cut each cake in half with long serrated knife, taking care to keep knife straight during cutting. Carefully remove top layer of cake and set aside. Fill layer with chilled Lemon Curd and replace top layer. Place cake onto serving dish and frost first layer with Lemon Buttercream. Repeat with second layer of cake. 

Next time I bake this cake I will get more photographs to put with this. And hopefully I will have more than 3 measly lemons when baking the next one! :)

As a side note, I recommend that you do NOT put Red Dirt in your Lemon Cake. The end result may be rather...gritty :)