Jolene's Recipe Journal

This week I've been testing out some potential new side dishes for our holiday celebrations. First up were these Pretzel Topped Sweet Potatoes from Taste of Home.  I did adapt the recipe slightly based on what I had on hand, which was mini pretzel twists and dried cranberries.   I also chose to bake the mixture in ramekins to make individual servings rather than family style, I like how people can just grab one (or two) and not have to dish out of a bigger vessel. Plus it insures an equal amount of the delicious topping for everyone. Thank you so much to Sue M. for sharing her amazing recipe! Pretzel-Topped Sweet Potatoes Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene Martinelli- Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 2 cups chopped pretzel mini twists 1 cup chopped pecans 3/4c dried cranberries 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup butter, melted, divided 1 can (2-1/2 pounds) sweet potatoes, drained 1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Instructions

Since the temps have dropped here in New England I've been baking up a storm! This weekend's craving was for donuts, so I searched my Pinterest boards and these Baked Vanilla Donuts with Mocha Glaze caught my eye.  Disclaimer:  I received product from Nielsen-Massey for use in this recipe.   All opinions are my own.     I own 2 full size donut pans so I doubled the recipe and made a dozen so there were some to share.   I loaded the mixture into a pastry bag to make filling the pans super easy.   The base donut is absolutely delicious, but the mocha glaze puts it over the top!  I sprinkled them with some mini chocolate chips, but some chocolate covered coffee beans would be awesome too.    On Instagram now through December, you will have the opportunity to win 13 of Nielsen-Massey Vanillas premium vanilla extracts and flavors! To enter, simply upload a new photo to your feed sharing how you are baking to share this holiday season, and use the hashtag #NMVBaketoShare.  For

I didn't get tortillas in this week's grocery pickup but I really wanted taco s tonight.  I searched the Taste of Home site for a recipe and these Homemade Tortillas looked simple enough, only 4 ingredients.   I used the KitchenAid with the dough hook to mix/knead the mixture, with a final few pushes on the countertop. It does take a little bit of practice to get them rolled out thinly to the 7" circle, but after a few I got the hang of it.   I usually buy burrito sized tortillas, and these were more the standard size, so next time I'll double the recipe and still make 8 larger balls of dough.  Thank you so much to Kristen V. for sharing her super easy recipe! Print With Image Without Image Homemade Tortillas Author: Jolene Martinelli- Jolene's Recipe Journal Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup water 3 tablespoons olive oil Instructions In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in water and oil. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10-

October has been a crazy month around here trying to juggling remote school, in person school, working from home, and blogging. I've been trying new recipes but haven't had time to get out the camera or stage photos or whatnot.  My sister and niece gifted me with a large bag of Honeycrisp apples, and I immediately made our favorite apple pie.  When that was gone, I searched through my Pinterest boards and came up with this Chunky Apple Cinnamon Cake from Taste of Home.  I throroughly screwed up the division of batter between top and bottom so that there was much more on the bottom.  Didn't matter.  The cake was absolutely delicious. I had mine plain, but the guys like theirs with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This definitely will be made again and I'll attempt new pics at that time, but I really didn't want to wait to share how much we loved Ellen R.'s amazing recipe, so here it is! **************** Chunky Apple Cinnamon Cake Print With Image Without Image Autho