Happy Valentine's 2012: Stromboli and Jello Hearts

The stromboli idea I found online - the recipe and instructions I made based on the general idea. 

The jello hearts is a family fun idea (link below).

The Stromboli was a big hit - 

the jello heart idea...well, that one will probably be replaced by heart shaped brownies next year!

On to the how....

Stromboli - makes 8

6-7 cups flour

3 T sugar

1 tsp salt

1 T yeast (3 tsp)

3 T oil

2 cups warm water

12-15 oz spaghetti sauce  (half of 26 oz can)

16 oz mozzarella (or other cheese), shredded

1 egg

Parsley, optional (just because it’s my favorite seasoning)

Mix 6 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in stand mixer with dough hook. Start mixing on low speed (2). Add oil and warm water. Once it comes together, add as much flour as needed to make dough not sticky when touched (stop the kneading/mixing to test – poke and see if dough sticks to your finger). Knead for 7 minutes. Remove from hook (with floured hands), form into a smooth ball and put back into (now, greased) bowl. Grease (spray oil) top or cover.  Rise for an hour.

Divide into 4 pieces. For each piece….

Roll into large rectangle (about 10x20 – as large as my cutting board) on floured surface. Slice (with a pizza cutter) long ways (get two long rectangles about 5x20). Top lightly with sauce, cheese, and toppings. 

Roll each long rectangle from long side to create a long rope. Pinch ends and edge. Move (carefully) to baking sheet (greased is a good idea but not required), and shape as desired (hearts for valentines, etc).

Brush tops with egg, sprinkle with parsley. (I added some mozzarella to the seams that had no filling).  Bake 400°F for 15 minutes.

The Eat your heart out jello idea: (it was ok, but the creamy layer - I think if I ever do this again, I would not use unflavored gelatin - it tasted a sweet bland...if that makes sense.)

Eat Your Heart Out

And lastly, the valentine's card idea I used for my kids with our district and their 'no candy' policy...

come on - I already can't bring my awesomely tasty creations to class parties - now I can't even give 'em M&Ms...what's wrong with this world? (like that cupcake with pink icing still on my kid's pants was really any more nutritional)

2 of my kids used "You color my world" with a piece of chalk tied to the card (two holes punched to tie string through)
2 of my kids used "You make my heart glow" with a glow stick through two punched holes.

(only the preschoolers used these cute hearts - the 1st and 3rd grader used boring little rectangles of white cardstock that they had to decorate themselves because they had 15+ valentines, not just 4)
Should have taken a picture of those too - my 7 year old colored hers with watercolors (yes, the cheap kids kind) and they turned out really cute.)

Glow sticks were a little hard to get to school without cracking and using up the limited glowing time, but I heard that the 3rd graders had a lot of fun with them. (WIN!)

Cinnamon Rolls

 

First the recipe for easy copy/paste and printing…

My Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls – 60 minute recipe (approximately)

Rolls:

2 pkts yeast

1 ½ cup warm milk

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

¼ cup butter, melted

4 ½ cup plain flour

2T Butter

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

Icing:

2-3 c Powdered sugar

2-3 T Milk

Vanilla (I leave this out – probably just a few drops if you like it)

Mix yeast, milk, and sugar and let sit 5 minutes. Add salt, butter, and flour. Mix (*don’t knead) and set for 25 minutes. Roll out and rub with melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up and slice about ½” thick. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 375° for 10 minutes.

Mix icing ingredients to desired consistency and drizzle over baked rolls.

So, the recipe with pictures now.

Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in microwave for about 2 minutes (I’ve used 2%, skim, and powdered…all work, 2% was used here). Test with your finger. It should be warm/hot, but not burn you. If it’s too hot, let it cool so you don’t kill the yeast. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 4 1/2 tsp (or 2 pkts) yeast. Stir and let sit 5 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture here…It just looks all frothy and light brownish on top and liquidy underneath. (If it doesn’t you probably have dead yeast…or you killed it with hot milk.) I’ll add a picture here later.

After 5 minutes, add in everything else (1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup butter, and 4 1/2 cups flour) and mix. (really, no kneading – I do stir pretty tough to help the flour all stir in well.) cover (I toss a paper towel over the top) and let rise 25 minutes.

The dough right after mixing:

After Rising (25 minutes):

After 25 minutes, I roll it out to about …24” by the width of (normal) aluminum foil.

Melt 2T butter in microwave, pour on dough (see my ‘line of butter’), spread around (I use my hands for all this – you can use a spoon if you like). Drop on all the brown sugar you like, and spread evenly. Sprinkle on the cinnamon. (I don’t measure these last two – I just put on what I think looks good.)

Now, you’re ready to roll. You can use the foil to help get the rolling started, but use your hands to finish or it will be too loosely rolled.

Now – on to the shape…

My mom uses a knife to cut hers in 1/2” slices. My sister in law cuts hers into about 12 rolls and just cuts from one end to the other (like my mom). I am a little methodical about how I do things - and the first question my kids ask is “How many do I get?” So I’m going for quantity and I have to cut it in a logical method.

So, first in half…then into fourths…then into 8ths – this is all halving over and over again)

Then each 8th into 3 rolls (24 total) – notice they aren’t perfectly identical in size – and that doesn’t bother me – and they are ‘falling over’…it’s ok.

However,sometimes the ‘squished roll’ does bother me…so when it does, I uncoil and recoil. Other times, I just have oval shaped rolls.  Ideally, you could use dental floss (not the mint flavor – plain) and they wouldn’t squish, but I just use a knife or pizza cutter.

Before and after baking: (once you have them on the pan, you can cover and put them in the fridge over night to bake the next morning…so you get just the rolls and not the work for breakfast)

I bake them at 375 for about 10 minutes. (This was perfect for my last oven…this one usually takes longer than 10 minutes.)

While the rolls are cooling, make the icing.  For the icing, mix 2-3 cups powdered sugar and 1T of milk at a time (about 2-4 T total) to get to the consistency you like. I get it to about this consistency. My mom’s recipe says drizzle…I should probably change that to “drown” for my cookbook!

YUM