Swedish Tea Ring (aka Cinnamon Roll Wreath)

Swedish Tea Ring (aka Cinnamon Roll Wreath)

1 Cup warm Milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4-1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2-1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1) Place ingredients in a warmed bowl in the following order: milk, yeast, eggs, margarine, flour, salt, sugar. I use my kitchenaid mixer and turn it to speed 2 with the bread hook attached. Mix until well blended together and is no longer very sticky.

2) Place dough in greased bowl, cover with damp cloth and place in draft free place. Allow dough to rise - about 1 hour.

3) After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.

4) Roll the dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and make a long rope. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and form into a circle and pinch the ends of the rope together. Take scissors and cut 3/4 of the way through every inch or so. Take each loop and turn to the side to lay flatly against the loop beside it. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degress F.

5) Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, mix together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Place Maraschino cherries around the rolls decoratively and drizzle with frosting. Voila!

You absolutely HAVE to try these! Sooo good!

Breakfast Sausage Casserole

For Christmas Breakfast, I made this yummy Breakfast Sausage Casserole. It was a hit, and so easy to make, though a bit time consuming. Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 pound ground pork sausage

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

6 slices white bread, toasted and cut into cubes

8 ounces mild cheddar cheese, shredded

1) Crumble sausage into a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown; drain.

2) In a medium bowl, mix together mustard powder, salt, eggs and milk. Add the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to coat evenly. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

4) Cover, and bake 45-60 minutes. Uncover, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until set.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ready in: 9 hours, 50 minutes

Yields: 8 servings

This casserole was definitely a keeper, if you're a sausage lover. My little family for 4 almost finished the entire casserole in one sitting! I'll definitely be making this again. It was great to just pull it out of the refrigerator the next morning and all I had to do was pop it in the oven. Lovely breakfast.

12.20.08 Christmas Breakfast

Turkey Cheese Ball

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

While the real bird is roasting, how about presenting your guests with this creative little turkey??? It was so cute, and sooo very easy to make. I must admit, I cheated and purchased Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cracker Spreads (I got the one with roasted red peppers in it, and I purchased 2 packages), formed it into a ball and chilled it in the refrigerator for a couple of days. But it definitely had the same effect, and tasted delicious, too.

2 packages (8 ounces each) reduced-fat cream cheese
6 ounces deli smoked turkey, finely chopped
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Decorations:
3 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2 Tablespoons milk
Brown, orange and yellow paste food coloring (I couldn't find this, so I used regular food coloring and made my own brown color by mixing red, yellow and blue. Be careful - blue goes a long way. If it is too grey or black, add more red or yellow).
6 large oval crackers
1 large sweet red pepper
1 small yellow summer squash
1 cup pecan halves
Assorted Crackers

In a small mixing bowl, beat the first six ingredients until combined. Shape into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Divide among four small bowls. With food coloring, tint one brown, one dark orange and one yellow. Leave one bowl plain. Transfer each mixture to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. For Turkey tail feathers, decorate the top halves of the large oval crackers with the tinted cream cheese.

Using the red pepper, form the turkey head, neck and snood. For the beak, cut a small triangle from summer squash; attach with cream cheese (I had to use a toothpick). Insert the pecan halves and decorated crackers into the cheese ball. Serve with assorted crackers

This was absolutely delightful! It was so much fun to make, all the guests ooohed and ahhhed over it, and it was quite simple (especially since I used a pre-made cheese spread!). I will give a word of warning - do not put the tail feathers in until just before serving as they do get soggy and will break off.