Summer Beef and Rice Casserole

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (September 2012) video at link
 
The prep time on this is based on having the sauce already made. It uses this Quick Meat Sauce which is nothing special, but fine for a "quick" sauce with meat. The nice thing about it is that it makes enough for two recipes, the original, and this one.

I had one small problem with this recipe and that was that the rice was a tiny bit crunchy still. Next time I will pour the rice in while I am heating up the sauce, so it gets a head start.

Other than that, it was delicious and very easy.  I will make again. I love meals that include the veggies in the main dish like this.

Harvest Pumpkin Scones

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Chill Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 22-25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour

These are good. Really good.

I have struggled making scones, which is a seemingly simple thing to make. I always have trouble getting the dough together. It is either too wet or too dry. This time it was leaning towards too dry. I decided to get my hands dirty and just try to knead it all together until it wasn't dry anymore. I worried that it would make too much gluten develop and make tough scones, but that did not happen.

I used cinnamon chips in these, which thankfully I have seen recently at the grocery store. Perhaps because it is Fall? Not sure why, but I should go buy some more, because they are hard to find. I only used 1/2 c. though so I have still have some left for something else.

There is only 2/3 c. of pumpkin in these, so the pumpkin flavor is subtle, especially with the other spices and cinnamon chips. They tasted perfect to me.

Glazed Citrus Doodles

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Glaze Time: 5 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes
  
Recipe Source: Everyday Food (May 2012)

These are nice cookies that are a take-off on snickerdoodles, which I have never made. I liked them. They are a tiny bit of work because of glazing, but not too bad.

The recipe had a video, which is helpful to watch first. I am enjoying the daily videos from Everyday food.