Nutty Cranberry Sticky Buns

As my dietitian daughter would say, these aren't an everyday food. But they were a perfect contribution to a Bible study brunch last week. When I put the plate down, one of my friends said, "Oh! Are those cranberry and orange?" And I thought, "Wow! That would have been good!" Alas, the first version did not have orange, though it had oodles of cranberries and pecans.

When the recipe made a repeat appearance at Jill's and Eric's last weekend, I grated orange zest over the filling before rolling into a log. It was a tasty addition.

So, if you're looking to make your Saturday or Sunday a little bit special or if you have family members in for one of the many high school graduations in the area this weekend, here's a quick way to impress your guests. They don't have to know how simple it was!

Nutty Cranberry Sticky Buns

variation on a recipe

 from Taste of Home magazine

1 tube (8 oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup brown sugar, divided
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tbsp. corn syrup
1 tbsp. honey
2 tsp. grated orange zest
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Unroll crescent dough into one long rectangle; seal seams and perforations. Combine cranberries and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Sprinkle over crescent dough. Sprinkle grated zest evenly over top (I actually didn't measure: I just zested orange peel on top of the cranberry mixture until it looked evenly distributed.)

Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Pinch seam to seal. Cut into 9 slices.

In a small bowl, combine butter, syrup, honey and remaining brown sugar. Spread onto the bottom of a greased 8-inch square baking dish. Sprinkle with pecans. Place rolls over pecans.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately invert onto a serving platter. Serve warm. Yield: 9 buns.

Nutritional Facts: 1 bun equals 237 calories, 14 g fat (3 g saturated), 7 mg cholesterol, 219 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Notes:
If you live in a place that has the new dough without perforations, go for it. No matter how much you try to get the perforations to stick together, they pull apart when cut. But it's OK. Just stick it back together. It tastes just fine! And, with the sticky topping, it covers up a multitude of "issues."

The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I'm not a maple syrup fan, but if you are, by all means, use it! The recipe also didn't call for the orange zest. I added that the second time I made these rolls, and I did like the bright orange taste.

Discarded

Photo taken May 9: The wheat has turned much more golden in just 1 week.

Wouldn't it be great if we could toss our troubles aside as quickly as we can peel off layers of clothing during a walk on a hot day? 

This week has had its moments:

• On Monday, I locked my keys - and my phone - in the car when I was filling up at the co-op. 

• Yesterday, I couldn't access my email account. It's the account I've had since my very first computer. I will admit it: I'm a bit of an email (and Internet) addict. But yesterday, I had an obligation for which I absolutely, positively HAD to have email access.

• And, of course, as life happens, there have been other little crises along the way this week.

OK. I admit it. Those problems don't appear very monumental as I type them here in black and white. I kept telling myself that yesterday, too, but it didn't keep my stomach from being tied in knots or my head being squeezed in a vice. 

It's all well and good to read my Bible and a book like "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp (also the author of the blog, A Holy Experience) in the morning. But, if 10 minutes after I close the covers and mark my place I've forgotten the message of giving thanks in all things, then what's the point?

Do not be anxious about anything,

 but in every situation, 

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

Hmmmmm ... Give thanks when you inadvertently hit the lock button on the way out of the car and the door shuts? With keys on the inside? With the cell phone on the other side of the locked door? (Thanks that it was during business hours, and my friends at the co-op let me use the phone and wait in air-conditioned comfort - complete with great conversation - while help arrived. Thanks that it was on the way home from accompanying at school and not on the way to that obligation since the concert is tonight.)

Give thanks when your well-ordered plan and to-do list has to fall by the wayside when technology fails? (Thanks that it forced me to make a change from an antiquated email account to something new. Well, I'm still working on being truly thankful for that one since I'm still trying to notify my gigantic email list.)

I'm a work in progress, to be sure.   

And again, believe me when I say that I know these are teeny-tiny stumbling stones along life's path when compared to mountains like cancer or unexpected death or job loss or tornadoes or ... or ... or ...

Wouldn't it be nice if I could leave those troubles alongside the road like I did that shirt? And I can. The key is to not pick the troubles and worries back up again. God has it covered. 

On a Roll

Harvest 2012 is on a roll ... or in a roll.

Before anyone gets too excited, it's not wheat harvest, but hay harvest.

Randy and Jake have swathed, raked and baled the first cutting of the 2012 alfalfa crop. The alfalfa - like the wheat - is ahead of schedule because of our mild winter and warmer-than-usual spring. The latest crop report from Kansas Ag Statistics notes that, across the state, 81 percent of the the first alfalfa cutting is complete. This compares to 15 percent at the same time last year and the 5-year average of 9 percent.

April 30, 2012 - Alfalfa field after a rain and before it was swathed.

Aren't the purple blooms pretty?

Photo taken June 2010

However, my personal crop consultant says the more blooms, the lower the protein in the hay crop. So I guess the cows would vote for the green stuff. Leave the purple blossoms for moths and K-State fans. About 10 percent of the alfalfa plants had blooms, making this first cutting full of protein. 

Randy used the swather to cut each alfalfa field.

Then he usually puts two windrows - or swathed rows - of the hay together, using a rake (see photo above.)

After it "cures," he checks it for moisture. If it's too wet, it will mold. If it's too dry, the leaves fall off, making a less nutritious feed.

In the photo above, two windrows have been raked together.

You can see the purple blossoms scattered among all the green feedstuff in the photo above.

So, just like Baby Bear in the Goldilocks story, Randy wants the moisture "just right" before he bales.

The baler covers each bale with net wrap, which will help protect it from the weather.

Yesterday, Jake used a bale mover to move the bales into rows along the road, where they'll be ready to feed to cattle next winter.

Photo from 2008

For a detailed explanation of haying here on The County Line, click this link: Making Hay While the Sun Shines.

Amber Waves of Grain

What a difference a month makes! If you look at a single head of wheat, there's still a lot of green. But compare this photo I took on April 10:

To the one I took on my walk yesterday, May 14:

(The "trail" in the field was caused when we had the crop treated with a fungicide last month. Read about that here.)

We are moving quickly toward the "amber waves of grain" immortalized in "America, the Beautiful." Will we be cutting wheat by the end of May? Time will tell. But my personal crop consultant wouldn't be surprised.

(FYI: The photo in my blog header was taken April 30. For the story of wheat from planting to harvest, click on this post and the links within it.)

Grandma's Day

Photo by Jill (smile courtesy of Grandma)

When a child is born, so are grandmothers. 

 ~Judith Levy

Both my girls: Kinley and Jill

This was my first Mother's Day since I've added "Grandma" to my job description. And, appropriately, I got to spend a little time with the Little Miss who someday will call me Grandma (or whatever she decides to call me.)

Randy and I got to pick up Kinley from daycare on Friday, and we spent the evening observing her new "tricks" ...

and being rewarded with smiles and baby chatter.

After just seeing Grandma and Grandpa on Skype for several weeks, it must have been exhausting to entertain them in person. Performing for a live audience can tire a girl out.

On Saturday, we joined the extended family at K-State's graduation, where our niece, Abby, and her fiance, Derek, added their names to a long list of KSU alums in our family.

So did Eric's brother, Drew, but I was too busy playing with babies to get a photo of him, I guess.

Kinley and her cousin, Hannah, got to spend some time getting to know each other at Drew's party.

At Abby's party, Kinley and Neelly had a heart-to-heart talk, too. That Kinley is quite a talker, it seems. Wonder where she got that trait?

Neelly and Great-Grandma Moore and Kinley with my sister-in-law Suzanne

Kinley isn't quite ready for a birds'-eye view of graduation like Braden and Neelly. Maybe at the next K-State graduation.

My nephew Blake & his son Braden and my nephew-in-law Russ & his daughter Neelly

But she definitely had the right dress on - whether she was a high-flyer on Saturday or not!

What a great Mother's Day weekend!

The Smallest Details

A spring snowstorm of sorts gathers at the base of the mock orange tree as the strong Kansas wind dislodges delicate blossoms and scatters them near our backdoor.

I dash to my car parked only feet away. As usual, the time is tick, tick, ticking away, and I've not allowed extra time to drive the 15 minutes to town.  I glance at the shrub as I swing my overstuffed purse into the car and adjust the seat.

It's pretty enough, I suppose, this smattering of white and green, bending a fence with the weight of its branches decorated for spring. Still, off I race.

But, back home again, the subtle fragrance calls me, and I pause to find dew-kissed petals after a morning rain.

The perfume of spring is a siren call not only to my human senses but to a parade of fluttering visitors.

 

They make no sound, so I might not see them in my haste to get on down the road yet again.  

Yet they are there, hidden among the blooms and branches, the light capturing a stained-glass quality to gossamer wings.

 

Another finds a lavender plant to suckle.

And the silent beauty speaks loudly to the soul.

***

On this Mother's Day weekend, this post is a virtual bouquet for my Mom and for my daughter, who is celebrating her first Mother's Day as a Mommy. And it's for all you other women out there - mothers or not - who nurture and make a difference for others. Thank you for being you!

***

Today, I'm linked to the Leap Into Spring Photo Challenge finale. It is hosted by Alicia at Project Alicia, Kristi at Live and Love Out Loud and Rebecca at Bumbles and Light. Check out the photos on their pages!

Say Cheese(cake)!

Are you ready to give the Cheesecake Factory a run for their money?

My birthday boy doesn't like cake. He never has. So, even if he were home for his 24th birthday today, we wouldn't be sticking candles into a cake.

Since he's halfway across the country, I sent him a package with Scotcheroos. Now, if he were home, he might get a giant chocolate chip cookie, like the one he shared with his buddies on his 16th birthday.

Or he might get cheesecake. I made one when Jill, Eric and Kinley were here for Easter. My son-in-law likes cheesecake. And it's always good to keep the son-in-law happy, especially when he transports the granddaughter to the farm for the first time.

This Oreo Cheesecake would be good for everything from keeping sons-in-law happy to celebrating birthdays for non-cake lovers or for honoring your Mom on Mother's Day this weekend. For this creation,  I actually combined a couple of different recipes to make the end result. I've made Oreo Cheesecake before, but added a chocolate ganache after seeing a recipe in the April/May edition of Taste of Home magazine.

I could have sent one to Brent. But I didn't think mailing cheesecake across the country was the way to go.

Oreo Cheesecake

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies (or store brand), divided
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
3 eggs

Chocolate Ganache Topping (optional)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 30 cookies in food processor. Process 30 to 45 seconds or until finely ground. Add butter; mix well. Press into a large springform pan.

Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Chop remaining cookies. Gently stir the cookies into the cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust.

Bake 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool.

If desired, add chocolate ganache topping. To make topping, place chocolate chips in a bowl. In a small saucepan (or in microwave), bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Cool to reach spreading consistency, stirring occasionally. (I put the mixing bowl in a larger bowl with ice surrounding it to speed this process.)

Run a knife around the edge of the springform pan. Remove rim from cheesecake. Spread chocolate mixture over the cheesecake. Refrigerate until set. Refrigerate the cheesecake at least 4 hours or overnight. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Cut into wedges. Top with whipping cream to serve, if desired.

You can also make this recipe in a 13- by 9-inch pan. However, in that size pan, use:

4 pkgs. cream cheese, 8 oz. each
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

The crust stays the same. Combine the cheesecake in the same way. If desired, you can add only 1 1/2 cups of the remaining Oreo cookies to the cheesecake mixture and then sprinkle the extra chopped cookies over the top, like I did in the photo above.

Since I was using a ganache on the springform pan version and wanted a flat surface, I just put all the cookies into the cream cheese mixture and didn't sprinkle any on top.