Bloomin' Hot Ham and Cheese Bread

Inspired by several different blogs that do this recipe just with cheese or with pizza ingredients.

I unsliced round loaf of sourdough bread (I use my artisan rosemary salt dough bread)
12-16 ounces mozzarella, provolone, or swiss cheese thinly sliced
1 package of ham lunch meat

Directions:
Step one: preheat oven to 350 degrees
Step two: cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust.
Step three: place bread on a foil lined baking sheet and insert cheese and ham in every insert (freeze after this step - to use defrost in fridge and then continue on to step four)
Step four: wrap completely with foil and bake for 10 minutes
Step five: unwrap and bake for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and the ham is a little bit crispy

Add butter, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings for cheese bread
Add pepperoni for pizza bread (with marinara sauce for dipping)
Add pineapple and Canadian bacon for Hawaiian pizza bread

Kristi's Awesome Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe is a combination of several recipes from Allrecipes.com.  I served these at Timon's Baptism and am now making them again for our December Freezer group sway 2011.

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 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 instant yeast
•  
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened (can be melted too)
•  
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

OR

Maple Frosting: 

4 T butter, softened

5 C powdered sugar

3 T maple syrup
1 t vanilla

dash of salt
1/4-1/3 C milk

Directions

1. Place milk and yeast ingredients in mixer.  Add melted margarine/butter, eggs, salt, and sugar.  Using kneading hook add flour until dough pulls away from the sides.  
2. Set dough in a greased bowl under over light, covered for 1 hour.
3. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
4. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter (I never use this much and always have left overs) and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.
5. Freezer version - place the rolls onto a parchment paper in the freezer.  Once hard freeze in airtight container for up to 3 months. To thaw - put in fridge for 24 hours.  Then bring to room temp on the countertop (covered with a cloth) until 1/2 again or doubled in size.
6.  Back to non-freezer version: Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
7. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I thought it was time to put some Thanksgiving recipes up.  Here is my tried and true garlic mashed potatoes that you ask me to make every year.  I do have a couple of things I throw in them at home (when not trying to please a broad variety of tastes).  The essential ingredients are in bold.
Yield: 10 Servings

Ingredients:
5 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes (about 9 large) peeled
2 T butter, softened
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I don't do this for Thanksgiving, I just add 1 cup cheap grated parmesan cheese) - but it is seriously yummy with cheddar
6 ounces of cream cheese - I use reduced fat
4 T of garlic (about 8 cloves, crushed and salted, or use the stuff from Costco)
Up to 1 1/4 cup milk (food storage baby -use the powdered stuff if you don't use whole milk)
2-3 strips of bacon crumbled up (another add on)
green onions sliced thin (another add on)
Salt and pepper to taste and add more butter to get the desired flavor and texture
Sometimes I add more garlic salt as well.

STEP ONE: peel potatoes & cut into chunks - smaller cook faster
STEP TWO: cover with water in a large pot and bring to a boil (unless you have Aunt Alice's pressure cooker), then let sit for 20 minutes or until tender - ok, it's usually much longer, but the original recipe says 20 minutes - maybe they have Aunt Alice's pressure cooker!
STEP THREE: Drain
STEP FOUR: If your pot is an old beater like mine, then leave the potatoes in it for this next part - if not - In a large mixing bowl, use beaters to mash potatoes and add butter,  cream cheese, milk and garlic, and anything else you decide to add.

To Freeze and Serve Later:
Cool and freeze in 2 cup portions in sandwich freezer bags or freezer containers - good for up to 2 months.
Thaw in either fridge or defrost in microwave.  Obviously heat them up, because that would be gross!