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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

You know it's spring when



I start craving salads. During the winter I am all about soup and chili, but once there's a hint of warmth in the air, all I want is some leafy greens. It is probably due in part to Passover, and the many salad meals I'd have during the week when my friends wanted to go out to eat. Passover restrictions certainly put a cramp on dining out. But lettuce is always Passover friendly.

And so, for the past couple of weeks, salads have wormed their way back into our regular diet. We've had salad almost every night with our meal. Sesame dressing has long been one of my favorites, but unfortunately it is highly not Passover friendly. With the rice vinegar, canola oil, and soy sauce it's a definite no-no, but I'm digging into the archive to share with you anyway, because the past 3 days have been a whirlwind spent mostly in the car traveling between seders. And because I love you. Crap. Maybe I should have put that first. Pretend I did and this is my selfless way of sharing something with you even when I can't enjoy it.


Sesame Dressing
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 3 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

1. Combine vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, canola, and sesame oils. Stirring until sugar dissolves.
2. Add to your Chinese chicken salad tossing chicken and dry chow mein noodles (obviously also not during Passover...but since we're not using this recipe this week, the more the merrier!)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Dip-ity Doo Dah


Sunday nights are hard in Thathouse. When we first started spending weekends with Thatmom, we'd head home after dinner on Sunday nights. Which left Thatboy and I up late, trying to get everything together for the upcoming week, and we'd be exhausted on Monday, not fully catching up till mid-week. So we came up with a solution, we'd leave before dinner on Sunday nights.

Of course, this leaves us with a small problem when we get home...what are we going to have for dinner that can be thrown together quickly, and allow us to unpack and get ready for the next day? Which is when having some quick defrost freezer meals comes in handy. Sometimes it's that pizza dough which takes 30 minutes to defrost. Sometimes it's shrimp which can be defrosted in minutes under running water. Sometimes it's the bison burgers which can be cooked from frozen. And sometimes it's some local taquitos which freezer almost as well as that other fabulous Mexican dish - enchiladas.

The frozen taquitos get thrown in the oven to warm up, while I start fishing around for something to dip them in. Last week, we had dinner with Mertile and created a veritable south of the border feast. She made a gorgeous pork with chile verde and I jumped in with a black bean and corn salad. This dip is an easy twist on the black bean and corn salad - which tends not to stick so well to taquitos. But add a little greek yogurt, and voila! Equally as fabulous with chips or veggies.

Mexican Yogurt Dip
1 cup nonfat greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/4 cup black beans
1 cherry tomato, chopped
1/2 Tbsp diced jalapeno
1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend


1. Combine yogurt, garlic, coriander and seasoned salt.
2. Fold in red pepper, corn, beans, tomato, jalapenos, and cheese.
3. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Brought to you by the letter P


Welp, it's springtime. And springtime can mean only one thing. Pesach is right around the corner. Pesach, better known to most of you as Passover begins on Monday night. And with it comes all the fun eating restrictions that the inlaws just never seem to get. I try to make their lives easier, by just saying "no carbs" and yet they still try to offer me pasta and rice every year.

But the Passover dietary restrictions aren't really a "no carbs" ban, and you won't find a lot of specialized meals on this blog, because really? Our menu doesn't change substantially during Passover. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I live by one of THE most fabulous supermarkets. Better than anyone I've ever lived by when it comes to stocking Passover friendly foods.

I thought the market directly by my house was pretty good - a vast improvement over any I'd been to before. And then, last year, I noticed that the supermarket I more regularly frequent has aisles and aisles of JUST Passover food. AISLES - not endcaps. An entire aisle of Passover condiments - ketchup, oils, vinegars, salad dressings. An entire aisle of Passover baking mixes - pancakes, muffins, cakes, cookies, brownies, cupcakes. An entire aisle of Passover junkfood - Nestle Quik, Pepsi AND Coke, chips, snacks, chocolate, candy, etc. There are even Passover carbs like couscous and pasta. There's a Passover frozen section which contains Passover buffalo wings and Passover pizza and Passover ice cream! Which makes it so easy to make foods I normally eat.


The second reason is that I can easily go a week without bread, pasta, rice, corn, or beans - which are the 5 big ones in my book. I mean, sure I miss my popcorn. And every year I develop a weird, unnatural craving I can't explain. Last year it was doughnuts. A food I hardly ever eat anyway - maybe twice a decade? And yet, last year all during Passover I wanted a doughnut so very badly. Strange. During college, I started the Passover Potato week. Potatoes are one of those carbs that are allowed during Passover. And in college I pretty much survived off of salads and french fries during Passover week. (Wow - anyone else remember their healthy college meals?) Now, in truth - unless you're making the french fries at home there's a 99% chance they're not going to be kosher for Passover because of the oil involved in cooking them. But I was always willing to turn a blind eye to vegetable oil because up until last year, we couldn't get Passover safe oil. And one of Thatboy's favorite things about Passover is the In 'n Out run we make.

Unlike most Californians, I am not a huge fan of In 'n Out. I just don't see the big deal. To be fair, I don't drool over fast food burgers in general - but of the fast food hierarchy, In 'n Out is pretty low on my list. BUT In 'n Out was the first place to introduce "the protein burger" a hamburger wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. Since the bun would be a definite no no during Passover, this is the place Thatboy and I started going to years ago when I wanted a little mid-week Passover treat. And now, we just go because of tradition. Because a burger wrapped in lettuce with a side of fries is sometimes just what you need.

And so, while you may not see a lot of specialty Passover meals in Thathouse, you will definitely find that our potato consumption increases during that week. And there are so many ways to prepare a potato, that we are hardly ever bored. (Especially when you alternate potato with some of that Passover couscous, or pasta, or quinoa)

The twice baked potato was one of Thatdad's specialties. He made it for all our "fancy" dinners. And Thatmom confided in me after he died that she hated it! His was filled with onions, mushrooms, cheese, and I'd be willing to bet - soy sauce, which was his second favorite condiment. Mine is a little different - more similar to the mashed potatoes I posted yesterday, with cheese, sour cream, bacon, and cream. Filling enough for a meal in itself, and perfect for a Passover lunch.



Twice Baked Potatoes
2 medium Russet potatoes
1/4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1/8 cup milk
1 strip bacon, cooked
1 green onion, finely chopped

  1. Pierce potatoes with a fork, coat with oil and bake at 425 for 1 hour, then cool until you're able to handle the potato without crying and swearing. (I'm always short of this by a minute or so)
  2. Slice off the top 1/3 off each potato, lengthwise, and hollow out with a spoon, leaving a thin layer of potato inside.
  3. Combine inside of potato, butter, sour cream, 1/8 cup of cheese, heavy cream, milk, salt, and pepper and mash until smooth.
  4. Stir in bacon and onions.
  5. Fill each potato skin with the "inside" mixture and top with remaining cheese.
  6. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose




The other day Thatboy took part in a dodgeball competition. Like any good wife, I went and cheered on his team, and offered them pointers like "maybe y'all should drink more because drinking less doesn't seem to be helping."




His team failed miserably. Shut out in every round they played. And watching them, I can't say I was especially surprised. Watching other teams, you could see they had strategy. A plan. Maybe even a little talent. Thatboy's team had none of this. It was every man for himself - just grab a ball, throw, and hope it hits someone. When the whistle blew for their first game, the other team got every ball out there, then stood dribbling the balls like basketballs and chatting with each other like they had all day to pick and choose who to take out. And frankly, they did.




His team's strategy, or lack thereof, made me realize that most of the time my cooking has a similar style to the dodgeball matches. Sometimes I have a strategy. A plan. Maybe even a little talent. I have a recipe, or have studied several recipes to get a feel for how something is made - the ingredients and techniques that make up a dish. Othertimes, I'm more like Thatboy's team. I grab whatever I can and throw it together, hoping it's a hit.

Most of my mashed potato recipes fall into the latter category. I have a couple methods, but usually I just toss in whatever ingredients I find handy. Without even measuring. Butter? Eh, that sounds good. Something milky....oooh look, there's some half in half in the back of the fridge! And of course there are the old standbys of bacon, cheese, and sour cream.

This makes enough to feed a crowd - perfect for some of those holiday dinners you might have coming up - and it's filled with all our favorite potato toppers.



Baked Mashed Potatoes
  • 10 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 12 Tbsp butter
  • 2 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 tsp onion salt
  • 2 pkg cream cheese, cut into cubes
  • 1 can evaporated milk
  • 16 oz sour cream
  • 5 strips bacon, cooked until crispy

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and boil until potatoes are fork tender.
2. Drain potatoes, then return to pot and mash them with a fork (or a couple of forks)
3. Add butter, garlic salt, onion salt, cream cheese, milk, and sour cream to potatoes.
4. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and pour the potatoes into the dish.
5. Cook potatoes 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown. Top with bacon and serve

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

High Flying Comedy

I am the first to admit that I am old beyond my years. I knit (sometimes). I think the perfect weekend involves staying at home and getting all my affairs in order (and affairs means errands and cleaning, not the many men who vie for my attention, because lord knows I can barely keep the one in order), and I have a very strict bedtime of 10pm.

I am useless after 10, and even moreso the next day if I fail to get my 8 hours of sleep. And yet, the past two nights have found me up until 11pm. 11PM! Do you hear that? I am barely able to function because I went to bed at 11pm....two nights in a row. If you haven't fallen over, carried by the shear force of your eyeroll, then I applaud you.

It started Monday night. I had been told that this was a Castle episode not to be missed.

(Don't you just want to pinch his wittle cheeks? I know I do. And I don't necessarily mean the ones beside his nose.)


Now, for those of you doing the math....Castle airs at 10pm. Which is past the aforementioned bedtime. So Thatboy and I usually tape it and catch up on Tuesday night while I'm making dinner. Except, we had a problem. I wasn't going to be making dinner on Tuesday night because we wouldn't be home. And we have so many shows on DVR that who knows when we'd get to it. So we decided to stay up and watch.

And then dragged ourselves to work the next morning. I even offered to drive Thatboy in so he could catch a couple more minutes of sleep. And then last night I picked him up from work and scooted us over to The Old Globe so we could see Boeing Boeing.

I've wanted to see Boeing Boeing since 2008 when I caught a glimpse watching the Tony awards. And of course, the fact that it was nominated in almost every category and won two didn't hurt its appeal. I love love love old farces. There's just something about the old storylines that still feel fresher and more novel than many modern comedies.

Just in case you haven't heard of Boeing Boeing, I'll break it down a bit for you.

Let me introduce you to Bernard.

Okay, so maybe this isn't really Bernard. Maybe it's Tony Curtis. But maybe Tony Curtis played Bernard in the film version of Boeing Boeing. And maybe picturing Tony Curtis will help to impress upon you that Bernard is suave and smooth and quite the playboy. And maybe some of you are scratching your heads trying to figure out WHO THE HECK TONY CURTIS is. Shame on you! Shame. Shame. Shame.

Bernard lives in Paris. And Bernard is engaged to three women. Yes. You read that right. It's like the French version of Big Love. Except not. Because you see, none of these women know about any of the others. "How is this even possible?" you may ask. Well, according to Bernard - it's easy, because each of the women is an "air hostess." (That's 1960s speak for flight attendant)

First there's Gloria. The American. Who believes that the best way to spend an evening is by practicing the technique of kissing.

Then there's Gabriella. The Italian. Who can't wait to be married to Bernard because he's such a homebody, he'll be the perfect husband.

And finally, there's Gretchen. The German. Firey and passionate and patriotic.

Bernard has the whole thing worked out to a system. None of the women are ever in town at the same time because they have different TIMETABLES! (Which is 1960s speak for a directory of flights which never ever ever change)

The play takes place on a day when Bernard's long lost best friend from school, Robert, shows up at his apartment.

Jerry Lewis played Robert in the film version with our boy Tony. And look what he looked like back then. Not the goofy sidekick we think of. And yet....you'll NEVER guess what Robert's whole role in this is. So I want you to imagine bumbling, prat-falling, spit-taking Jerry Lewis every time I mention Robert. Or any time I mention bumbling, prat-falling, or spit-taking.

So, wouldn't you guess it. On the very day Robert shows up, chaos erupts in Bernard's normally organized life. First Gloria's plane gets grounded due to the weather. Then Gabriella gets moved to a faster plane, meaning she can stay the night instead of just a couple hours. And Gretchen? Well her plane gets in early and she has 3 DAYS to spend with Bernard. Do you see where all this is heading?

(Macaulay Culkin was neither in the film nor stage production of Boeing Boeing - but his sentiments accurately describe the situation)

And hilarity ensues as Bernard and Robert attempt to juggle the women around the apartment so that they don't realize what's going on. Thatboy and I couldn't stop laughing. The physical comedy was SO over the top it went from being ridiculous to funny. Even the overacting in a couple of the scenes which would normally have me giving it a critical eye just became more of the fun absurdness of the situation. The writing was fun, quick, and sharp. There were parts where I was literally bent over double laughing. Thatboy enjoyed it more than he thought he would and we discussed that we really don't go to see comedic plays as often as we should. Or maybe they just don't make them the way they used to.

Since I didn't make dinner last night, I'm going to plea extreme fatigue and bring something for you from the archives. BUT there is a connection between Boeing Boeing and this dish. You see, Gloria, the American, has some very unusual eating habits. Given that the original play was written by the French, I'm inclined to believe they were poking fun of the American diet. (Mon Dieu! Peut-il ĂȘtre?) In one of the scenes, Gloria fixes herself up a late night dinner of frankfurters and whipped cream. Now I don't know about you, but this American doesn't think that sounds like a fabulous meal. I much prefer to pair my frankfurters with something like....BACON!

Bacon Wrapped Sausages
4 sausage links, cut into slices (This time around I used little smokies since I had been sticking them in our lunches and had some leftover)
4 slices of bacon
brown sugar

1) Preheat oven to 400. Place bacon and sausages on a skewer - weaving bacon in between sausage pieces.
2) Place bacon/sausage skewers on a lightly greased baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 30 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Monday, March 22, 2010

In Praise of Me

I'm so not used to bragging type posts that I don't even know how to start this! But I accomplished one of my New Year's Resolutions and I just had to share - and to me, it's a pretty big deal.

You see, UDubb and I had been planning since last summer to run a 15k in December. It would be my longest distance race and we were pretty excited. And then came the back injury. And I was out of commission for months. No running at all, let alone 9 miles. I hadn't even completed my physical therapy by the time the race came and went. My physical therapist is a runner though, and she promised to have me back on my running feet in no time. We discussed a strength training and running regime on my "graduation" day.

I went right into training mode as soon as my physical therapy sessions ended and last weekend I did it! I ran a 15k! Now I take my accomplishment with a grain of salt because it was a bit weird of a 15k. Thatboy picked it out. The Spirit Run consists of a 10k and then a 5k. He picked it out because I herniated my disc during a 10k....and just kept running. He was afraid if I ran a straight 15k and injured myself, I would keep going. This way he could check me out after the 10k and make sure I wasn't being stupid. The plus side is that I got a new personal record on my 10k. The other plus side was that Thatmom agreed to do the last 5k with me - and not wanting to be left out, Thatbrother decided to join us.

I really really really hate the course. I say that everytime I run a race there. And swear I'm never going to do another race there. But on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, and freezing, I found myself ready to run around Newport Beach.




The 1ok was first. It had fewer participants than any other race I've run. I knew I had to finish it in 75 minutes, because that's when the 5k started. So I figured out I would need to keep a 7 min/kilometer pace, which would give me a 5 minute window to change my bib number and chip. (BLEH - whoever plans these things? Puh-lease let us wear the same bib number and chip. What a pain). Except, as soon as I crossed the start line, my ipod was all thrown off and couldn't find my shoe sensor. So I had no idea what my pace was. Which made me really push myself the entire time because I was worried I'd be too slow.

One of the reasons I hate the course is because it just has you running loops - back and forth multiple times. When I came up on the "finish" line at 5k, I was shocked to see I was running a 10min mile - which I haven't done since way before my back injury.



I finished the 10k way before I was expecting which gave me plenty of time to change my chip - good thing too, since they didn't have ANYONE to help cut off and collect my 10k chip. Then I pulled off my long sleeved top to reveal my tank which had my new bib attached. I found Thatmom and Thatbrother for a little pre-race posing before the 5k started.



We did the 5k at Thatmom's speed - which was a little slower than my 10 minute mile. Thatbrother ran loops around us, and ran backwards in front of us, and kept us in stitches the entire run. Although after his last "I wanna run with you" run, we were just happy he actually showed up!



We finished the race and headed out to breakfast, then spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch, watching tv before Thatboy and I headed home to start the week all over again.

And for those of you who are into that kind of thing -
15k playlist
  • Cinema Italiano - Kate Hudson
  • Down - Nota (I love this version so much more than the original...and I like singing along with the acapella percussion)
  • How Far We've come - Matchbox 20 ("I started running but there's no where to run to.")
  • Falling Down - Atreyu
  • Ready to Fall - Rise Against
  • What's My Age Again - Blink 182 (You'll note this playlist is very Blink heavy...Thatboy calls it my OC Rock playlist)
  • You're gonna Go Far Kid - The Offspring
  • Let's Get It started - Black Eyed Peas
  • Adam's Song - Blink 182
  • I'm Yours - Nota (I'm such a sucker for Nota)
  • Breathe (2 AM) - Anna Nalick (Welcome to the girly section of the playlist)
  • Opportunity - Soundtrack from 13
  • Skater Boy - Avril Lavigne
  • Mr. Brightside - The Killers
  • All the Small Things - Blink 182
  • You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi (This started on my last mile of the 10k and was super motivating)
  • Amazing - Kanye West
  • Stronger - Kanye West
  • It Can't Be True - Soundtrack from 13
  • Scream and Run Away - The Gothic Archies ("Run, run, run, run, run, or die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die.")
  • Not Afraid to Fall in Love - Defense Breaks Down (and of course this has been in my head ALL day today too.)
  • You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse
  • Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5 (Welcome to the Maroon 5 portion of the playlist)
  • Wake Up Call - Maroon 5
  • Little of Your Time - Maroon 5
  • We're Here to Tell You - Soundtrack from Whisper House
  • Everytime I Look For You - Blink 182

In addition, over the past few weeks I've accumulated a couple of blog awards. To try to keep all my "I am so awesome"ness in one entry, I figured I'd include them both here.

First, RandRadventures has awarded me the "Beautiful Blogger" Award. Thanks RandR! I love other Californians' blogs - especially when they're from one of my favorite areas in California (and the close home to one of my soul mates - but that's a story for another time).




The Rules:

1. Thank and link the person that gave you the award.
2. Pass this award on to 15 bloggers that you have recently discovered and think are fantastic!

Holy moley. I hate the pressure of these awards. 15 bloggers I've recently discovered? I don't know if I can do it - so I'll just share with you some of my new reads.

1) One Kitchen, 2 Dogs, and a Girl - I have a soft spot for anyone who has dogs as sous chefs.
2) A Canadian Foodie - Because I collect Canadian bloggers the way some people collect shot glasses.
3) Burp and Slurp - I already told you I love reading Californians' blogs!
4) Gonna Want Seconds - I dare you NOT to drool.

Then, as if my ego wasn't inflated enough, Giz sent me a note to let me know she and Psychgrad awarded me the "Happy 101" Award.



Here are the rules:

1. Link to the blogger who sent you the award
2. List 10 things that make you happy
3. Pay it forward

10 Things that make me happy

1. Thatboy. Especially when he takes it upon himself to clean the ENTIRE bathroom - including sweeping and mopping the floors.
2. A nice long run. Because I'm sick like that.
3. Music. I listen to it when I'm sad, I listen to it when I'm happy. Thatboy writes me songs as I'm sleeping that go something like "dream dream dream dream dream." Or shower songs like "I'm in the shower/I'm washing up/getting clean."
4. Thatdog. I don't know what I'd do without him to protect me every morning from the evil blowdryer that threatens to take over the world.
5. My friends. I love hanging out with them! My other highlights of the weekend include breakfast with The Ks and making dinner with Mertile for our families.
6. My family - I don't even think I need to explain this one.
7. Vacations! Well, travel of any sort really. I'm already planning our next big trip.
8. Cooking. Well, this is probably a given, right?
9. The Game of Life. It's my all time favorite game. I like getting colorful money every couple squares and trying to fill my car up with little pink and blue pegs.
10. A really good book - I love reading something that makes me want to talk to everyone about it. I am such a talker. Good thing Thatboy and I are good about reading the others' choices.

And let's pass it along, shall we?

I'm so terribly late on this one, I'm just going to pass it on to K1 - because she's on a roll right now with good things happening. Check out her blog and you'll see some of the stuff going on. She's got a ton to be happy about.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Crustacean Infestation



Every now and then we do something "in memory of" Thatdad. After his memorial service a couple weeks ago, we decided to go to one of his favorite restaurants. Khourys in Long Beach.



The food at Khourys won't leave you dreaming of the day you can return, but Thatdad was in love with the all-you-can-eat lobster buffet. We grew up eating lobster a lot. Probably more than your average family. And I say that because when I tell people how often we ate lobsters, they're always surprised. But every couple of weeks, Thatdad would bring home a couple of lobsters and Thatbrother and I would race them around the kitchen floor before they got thrown into a pot. I didn't realize that lobster was a "fancy meal" until much much later.

Thatdad liked all you can eat just about anything. But lobster might have been his favorite. He liked to take full advantage of the term "all you can eat."



The Khourys buffet offers more than just lobster. There are salads, seafood dishes, prime rib, a pasta station...Thatdad didn't mess with any of it. He made rules like - "we're here for the lobster. They want you to fill up on all that other crap. Don't be a fool. Lobster only."



And of course, you had to eat at least 3 lobsters. You know, to really stick it to the man. I personally can't eat that much, so I stick to 2 lobsters. Thatmom can do 3 with years of practice, and I'm pretty sure Thatbrother and Thatboy matched her.



It always makes me sad when seafood restaurants have fish tanks. It reminds me of the song in The Little Mermaid.

The fish on the land ain't happy They sad 'cause they in their bowl But fish in the bowl is lucky They in for a worser fate One day when the boss get hungry Guess who's gon' be on the plate

And this little fella was in the tank ALL by himself. Wonder what happened to his little fishie friends?




After dinner we headed to ice cream - because even if we don't subscribe to Thatdad's philosphy of only eating lobster, we knew we could find better dessert elsewhere. And we did! I think I may have mentioned that Thatfamily calls anything cold and frozen "ice cream" whether it be frozen yogurt, sorbet, or actual ice cream. Apparently we're not the only ones. Strickland's Ice Cream sells delicious frozen custard. I love frozen custard and haven't been able to get my hands on it in years, since we left Pennsylvania. It's creamier than regular ice cream and thicker. And I do enjoy having a place close to Thatmom for my rare ice cream indulgences.

And now, since this blog has gone FAR too long without a recipe, I leave you with what is one of my favorite "other crap" to fill up on with lobster - hot, buttery, rolls. The perfect complement to shellfish, and perfect for sopping up the last bit of drawn butter that may have dripped on your plate. Because why on earth would you waste perfectly good butter? At least, that's one of my rules.

I like making my rolls with hot milk, because it saves you from proofing the yeast, a timesaver. And the milk helps to create a really tender roll.




Dinner Rolls
  • 2 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 envelope yeast
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 Tbsp butter, melted
  1. Combine 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
  2. Heat milk, water, and butter until very warm (but not boiling)
  3. Add dry mixture to wet mixture in the bowl of your electric mixer. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of flour and beat at high speed for 2 minutes.
  4. Stir in flour as needed to create dough. Knead in electric mixer with dough hook 8-10 minutes. Cover and let rest in warm, draft free environment (remember the oven trick?) for 10 minutes.
  5. Divide dough into 12 equal balls. Place in greased 8 inch cake pan. Cover and let rise again until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).
  6. Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls for 20 minutes. Brush with melted butter.