Hefezopf - "Yeast braid"

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What you'll need:

400g (14.11 oz) of flour
1/2 cube of yeast (so half the amount you would use for a normal bread, I suppose)
150 ml (5.07 fl oz) milk
40g (1.4 oz) sugar
a pinch of salt
50g (1.76 oz) butter
1/2 grated lemon (the outside of it - the "skin"?)

1 egg, for on top


What you do:

Put flour into bowl, make a dent in the middle and crumble the yeast into it. Then add the rest of the ingredients and knead until you have a nice firm dough "ball". It should have about the consistency of your ear lobe and it should NOT be sticky. Then cover and let rise (like you do with the cinnamon buns - probably best in the oven where it's actually warm... here where we have no central heat and air, in the summer it's hot enough inside and in the winter I can put it on the heater) for 15 minutes. Knead again. Then divide into three equal parts and roll into strands (I make mine I guess about as thick as a nickle) and then braid. Put onto a greased baking pan, cover with a damp cloth and then let rise for another 30 minutes (this is where it really should rise a lot). Meanwhile preheat your oven to 392°F. Put the egg into a small bowl, whisk it, and then use a brush (we have them for putting icing on, I don't know if you have something like that) to brush the egg onto the bread. You can omit the egg, but then it doesn't look as nicely "brown" on top :) Place the bread into the preheated oven and bake for about 25 minutes.
I usually double the recipe just because then I can use my entire cube of yeast.
This bread goes really well with apple butter and other jams and jellies :)

Pfannkuchen aka German crepe thingies

What you need:

7.05 ounces flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

13.5 fluid ounces milk

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What you do:
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Slowly add it all together (using a mixer) so that it doesn't clump. It should be a smooth liquid when you're finished. Then heat up a skillet (I use a medium-high setting, but it just depends on your stove), put a little bit of oil or butter in it and then add a ladle (my ladle holds about 4-5 tablespoons) of the mix into the skillet. Turn the skillet so that it spreads out nicely. When the side that's facing upward has little holes in it/has changed its color/is brown on the sides, then it's time to turn it. I usually turn it when it has little holes all over it. Then leave it on the other side the same amount of time (about 2-3 minutes, depending on how high you set the stove). If you have an oven (haha), you can put the pancakes in there until all are done so they stay warm. These pancakes you can serve with jelly (see picture), sugar, honey, apple sauce, joghurt, maple syrup, whatever you like basically. Spread out the topping of your choice and then roll it and enjoy :)

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(left - with jelly on top, right - without jelly)

Cinnabuns - yums yums

Suzanne's delicious recipe, posted by me :)

Here it goes:

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Dough:

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1 cup of 11o° water

2 room temperature eggs

1/3 cup melted butter

4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup white sugar

2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

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Center:

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1/3 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

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Icing:

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1 pack cream cheese, softened (8 oz.)

1/4 cup softened butter

2-3 cups of confectioner sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

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Put all liquid ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Then add all dry ingredients except yeast. Make a small hole in the center of dry ingredients and add your yeast, making sure the yeast does not contact any of the liquid ingredients. Mix together until completely smooth and a dough ball has formed. This should take several minutes. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface several times and then place back in the bowl. Heat oven to 200°, once heated turn the oven OFF. Place dough in the warm oven covered with a wet towel for 45 minutes (should nearly double in size).

Remove dough, turn out on floured surface and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix sugar and cinnamon together for center. Roll out dough into a 16 x 21 inch rectangle, spread the 1/3 cup softened butter evenly over dough and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Use ALL of the mixture.

Roll up dough into a log. Cut into 12 rolls and place in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Cover and let rise again until doubled, about 30 minutes. This is what it looked like after I did it:

I totally get the feeling that either my yeast worked way too well or my pan is too small. Hmmm...

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. While that's baking, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. For a creamier icing use less sugar, for a sweeter icing use more sugar. Spread frosting on rolls right out of the oven. And then enjoy! Yum, yum, yum!!

Gefüllte Paprika - Biber Dolmasi - Stuffed bell peppers

Here's what you need:

• 2 big onions, chopped fine
  
• about 10 oz. of ground beef (300 gramms)
  
• about 1 tsp dried peppermint
  
• about 1-2 tsp of paprika (spice)
  
• rice - same amount as meat
  
• about a hand full of chopped parsley
  
• about a hand full of chopped dill
  
• pepper
  
• 1-2 tablespoons of tomato puree
  
• bell peppers, depending on size (about 9-10 large ones) - choose the color you like the most!
  
• about two cups sieved tomatoes
  
• vegetable oil
  

What to do:

Put the ground beef into a skillet and stir until really brown (it should be almost crispy, not soft). Then put that into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until it's mixed well. It should look like this (click on the pictures to enlarge):

Then wash the bell peppers, cut off a "lid" and take the inside (seeds and all) out. That should look like this:

Fill the bell peppers with your mixture. Don't fill them all the way to the top, though, otherwise, when the rice is cooked, it'll all be pushed out the top. Take a fork and poke some holes into the peppers. I usually poke them four to five times. Put the lid on the pepper and put it in the pot. Do so with the remaining bell peppers. Depending on the size of your pots, you may need more than one. Take a look:

Now, after all the peppers are in the pot you add the sieved tomatoes. If you don't have sieved tomatoes, just add water to tomato puree to make it two cups. If you have two pots, divide the sieved tomatoes between the pots. Then add water until the fluid goes about to the middle of the peppers. Pour salt over the top, about 1-2 teaspoons, and then put 1-2 tablespoons of oil ("a little oil", as my mother-in-law would say) over the top. Should look like this:

Turn the stove on high and when the water boils turn it on low and put the lid on the pot. Now you just let it cook until it's done. It takes about 1 1/2-2 hours, depending on your stove. You know they're done when the rice is cooked and the peppers are really soft. Take the pot off the stove and put into a sink of cold water for about ten minutes. That prevents it from becoming mushy.

When finished you may eat them as they are or add yoghurt. Pouring some of the water they cooked in over them is also yummy. Depending on your taste you may want to add salt. It's a typical turkish recipe of my mother-in-law. A lot of approximatelys and some of this some of that and you'll know when it's finished :) Enjoy!

Dirt Cake

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Here's what you need:

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40 Oreo Cookies, crushed

8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup cool whip

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 pkg instant chocolate pudding

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

3 cups milk

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What to do:

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Mix 36 crushed cookies and butter a little at a time until cookies are wet. Press into bottom of pan for crust.

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and cool whip together, spread on top of crust.

Mix milk and both boxes pudding together until firm, spread over cream cheese mixcture.

Spread remainder of cool whip on top of pudding and crush remaining 4 cookies on top. Refrigerate 30 min or over night.

Serve and enjoy.

This recipe is from the wife of a US Army pilot who was stationed in Germany. So, thanks to her. It's yummy :)

Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 can (14 oz.) Artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
3/4 cup 100% grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together until well blended and spoon into a 9 inch pie plate or quiche dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until heated throughly.

OR:
Make in advance and refrigerate. Add 5-10 minutes cook time to ensure thorough heating.

Very easy, and really delicious! BOTH the kids will eat this. Good way to get those not so popular green veggies in there!

Punch Bowl Cake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 large instant vanilla pudding mix
1 large can drained crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling
1 large bowl cool whip

Bake cake by directions. Cool and crumble 1/2 of the cake in bottom of a large bowl. Mix pudding by directions, pour 1/2 on top of cake in bowl. Mix pineapple and cherry pie filling together. Put 1/2 on top of the pudding, then repeat in layers with all remaining ingredients. Refrigerate over night before serving for best results.