Onion Galette Recipe!

Here I am again reveling in the qualities of caramelized onions!

Several years ago I was talking to my mom on the phone and she told me about this dish that my sister had made called an Onion Galette. She said it was delicious. Ever since then I have wanted to try making one.

My time has come to try Onion Galette. I followed THIS RECIPE FROM Justine Doiron blog. It was very good. I would definitely like to make this again.

I made some minor changes to the recipe to customize it for myself. Like using a larger portion of pie pastry and using dried herbs.

The pie crust I used was one with less fat than my normal pie crust.

Pie Crust for Galette:

4 cups flour

1 cup butter

1 tsp. salt

2 TBS. vinegar

1 egg 

1 cup water 

In a large bowl mix the flour and salt.

Cut in the butter with a pastry blender.

In a liquid measuring cup blend the vinegar, egg and water.

Quickly stir the liquids into the flour mixture. 

Form 3 discs. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Onion Galette 

3 large onions thinly sliced (1 1/2 pounds)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 TBS. butter

1 tsp. salt

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp. Dried Thyme or 1 TBS. Fresh Thyme

1 tsp. Dried Rosemary or 1 TBS. Fresh Rosemary 

2/3 cup sour cream

1 egg for egg wash

In a large sauté pan heat oil and butter. 

Once butter has melted add the onions and salt to the pan and toss to coat the onions in oil. 

Cook on low for 45- 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Roll out the pie crust to about 14 inches round. Place the crust on a sheet pan and refrigerate until the onions are ready.

When the onions are almost done cooking add the garlic and herbs and cook a few more minutes just until the garlic is no longer raw.

Start preheating the oven to 375° F.

Remove the onions from heat and stir in the sour cream.

Scrape the onions onto the center of the pastry crust and spread out into a 10-11 inch area.

Fold the edges of the pastry over the border of the onions.

Place back in the refrigerator until the oven is preheated.

Beat the egg and use a basting brush to apply the egg wash to the crust.

Bake 45-50 minutes until the crust is golden.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Houses 2026

We held a gingerbread house decorating party on New Year's Eve this year. This is the second year we made gingerbread houses on New Year's Eve.

 This year it was a big party with many cousins. I baked enough gingerbread house pieces for every child and adult to have their own house.

We had so much fun!

I made a short video to show all the houses and creativity displayed this year.

Happy New Year everyone! The grace of God be with you, in you, and around you in 2026!

Link: Blog post with 2024 gingerbread houses.

Link: Blog post with 2025 gingerbread houses and recipe.

Puff Pastry Recipe!

 I recently learned how to make puff pastry when I made the Egyptian dessert, Umm Ali. I was very intimidated by the prospect, but it turned out to be much simpler that I expected. 

 Puff Pastry is laminated by many letter folds like croissant rolls, but unlike croissant rolls it is not leavened. It can be used as a pie crust or in fancier pastries. I am tempted to use puff pastry in all my pies from now on. I probably won't, but the puff pastry is SO much better!

I followed the recipe from the kitchen.com. They have really nice pictures of the steps over on their site that helped me understand how simple the process was.

This recipe makes one sheet of puff pastry. I think 2 sheets come in a package, but these may be larger than the packaged sheets, I can't speak to that.

Puff Pastry 

2 cups Flour 

1 tsp. Salt

2/3 cup Ice Cold Water

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter 

Mix the flour and salt together.

Slowly sprinkle in the water while stirring.

Form a ball with the dough: flatten out and put in an airtight bag and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the butter malleable by taking cold butter, cutting it into large chunks, sprinkling with flour, putting it between two layers of wax paper and beating it with a rolling pin. Form the butter into a 4 inch square. The butter needs to be cool but not cold. Depending on your room temperature, you may need to chill it for 10 minutes before you seal it in the dough.

Encase the butter in the dough. On a floured surface roll the dough into a rectangle. Fold in thirds in the manner of a letter fold. Roll out again and fold once more. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pull the dough out of the fridge and roll out and fold and roll out and fold again. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pull the dough out of the fridge and roll out and fold and roll out and fold again. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

Roll out to 1/4" to 1/8" thick. cut into squares or diamonds and bake at 425° for 15 minutes unless you have a particular recipe that you are using the Puff Pastry in, then follow those recipe instructions.

Molasses Cookies | Recipe

 

Molasses Cookies

3/4 c. Butter, Softened

1 c. Brown Sugar 

1 Egg

1/4 c. Molasses 

2 c. Flour

2 t. Baking Soda 

1/4 t. Salt

1 t. Ground Cinnamon 

2 t. Ground Ginger

1/3 c. Sugar for Coating 

Cream together butter and sugar. Stir in the egg. Add the molasses. 

In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. 

Combine the two mixtures. Chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.

Shape the dough into small balls. Roll the balls in the sugar for coating.

Place the sugar coated cookie balls on a baking sheet. 

Bake in a preheated 375°F. oven for 8-10 minutes.

Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then remove cookies to a wire rack. 

Store in a airtight container...........if there are any left. ;)

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake Recipe!

I made this cake last week for my birthday. It is one of my mom's recipes. I doubled the cocoa because I love chocolate. Talk about rich! Three sticks of butter in total, 2 cups of sugar and 3 cups of powdered sugar. I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it wasn't. It was delicious! And I would make it again without changing a thing (except that cocoa thing which I already did.)

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake Recipe 

1 c. Butter
1 c. Water
1/2 c. Cocoa 
2 c. Sugar
2 c. Flour 
1 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Salt
2 Eggs, Beaten
1/2 c. Buttermilk 
Peanut Butter Layer:
1/2 c. Peanut Butter
Frosting:
1/2 c. Butter
1/4 c. Cocoa Powder 
6 T. Buttermilk 
3 c. Powdered Sugar 
1 t. Vanilla Flavor

Boil butter, water, and cocoa. 
Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt together.
Pour boiled mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until smooth.
Combine eggs and buttermilk in measuring cup.
Add eggs and buttermilk to to batter, stirring constantly to prevent eggs from cooking.

Pour into greased 9×13 pan.
Bake at 350°F. 45-50 minutes.

While cake is baking boil butter, buttermilk, cocoa for frosting. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar.
Spread peanut butter over cake while still warm.
Pour frosting over peanut butter.
Allow to cool before serving.
Enjoy!

This is the same recipe as my mom's Texas Sheet Cake except you put it in a 13"×18" sheet pan.  Bake at 350°F. 25-30 minutes. Use the same frosting. Leave out the peanut butter.

Mr. In The Mid-west's Favorite Coffee Cake Recipe

 

This is Mr. In the Mid-west's favorite coffee cake that I make on Saturday mornings sometimes and for birthday breakfasts often. I thought maybe you'd like to try it sometime. It is super easy to throw together in the morning.

Betty Crocker Coffee Cake 

3 c. Flour

1 1/3 c. Sugar 

1T. +2 t. Baking Powder 

1 1/2 t. Salt

1/2 c. Oil

1 1/2 c. Milk

2 eggs

In a bowl mix together dry ingredients. 

Separately combine wet ingredients. 

Stir the two mixes together.

 Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle with TOPPING.

Bake at 375°F. for 25-30 min.

TOPPING:

2/3 c. Sugar 

1/2 c. Flour

2 t. Cinnamon 

6 T. Soft Butter 

Mix together until a crumbley texture is achieved.

I make a half size recipe and bake it in a smaller pan to fit my toaster oven.

Bisquets (Mexican Biscuit) Recipe

This unique biscuit is a sweet treat. The sweetness is more like an American scone than a American biscuit. The bisquet is made with a duality of leaveners; baking powder and yeast, from which it derives its unique texture; a little crumbley and a little tacky. These are very rich; lots of butter and eggs!

Bisquets 

2/3 c. Warm Milk

4 t. Yeast

4 c. Flour

1 c. Sugar

1 t. Salt

6 t. Baking Powder

1 1/2 c. Soft Butter

3 Eggs +1 for egg wash

1 t. Vanilla 

First mix the warm milk and yeast together to have it start activating.

Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add the soft butter and mix until a course sandy texture is achieved.

Beat the eggs together with the milk mixture.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Turn out on to floured surface. Knead just enough to bring it out of the rough dough stage.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle and give it a couple envelope folds. (I explain envelope folds in my croissant recipe HERE.)

Roll the dough a final time to about 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Use a bottle cap to cut the inner circle. (I am not sure why this is done, but it is traditionally the design.)

Place on a sheet pan. Make egg wash with 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Brush wash over bisquets. Rise for 1 hour. Before the bisquets go in the oven give them a final wash with the egg wash.

Bake at 400° F. 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Huffman Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

 

This is my mom's pineapple upsidedown cake recipe. I am still not able to make pineapple upsidedown cake as well as my mother. Her cakes are the best. The caramel crust on her pineapple upsidedown cakes are so crisp and praline-like. She has made this cake probably a hundred times. When she melts the butter and sugar in the skillet she knows by experience how long to cook the mixture. She doesn't time it. She doesn't measure the temperature. So she can't tell me exactly how to replicate what she does. One of these days I am going to practice pineapple upsidedown cakes until I get it perfect like she does. Now I will have the recipe to do it right.

Melissa Huffman's Perfect Pineapple Upsidedown Cake 

1 stick of butter

1 3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 can pineapple rings 

1 jar of maraschino cherries

1 box plus 1/2 cup more from a second box of yellow butter recipe cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 1/4 cup pineapple juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the cake mix with eggs and add oil and pineapple juice 

Melt butter in iron skillet and add brown sugar and spread evenly and turn off. Put pineapple rings and cherries in place. Pour cake batter over. 

Bake for 45 minutes or until tests clean. Turn out onto platter immediately.

In case you don't have box cake mix, I used the following and the cake part of the pineapple upsidedown cake was good.

Yellow Cake from Scratch 

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups white sugar

½ cup oil + 2 TBS. butter

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup pineapple juice (or how ever much pineapple juice you have plus enough sour cream to make 1 1/4 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Breakfast Pizza

 

This breakfast pizza is inspired by Casey's (the gas station) breakfast pizza. Their breakfast pizza is so good! I have thought about it a lot and I think what makes their breakfast pizza so good is the cheese sauce.

To make the cheese sauce I cut up about 8oz. of processed cheese (like Velveeta), and add about 1/4 cup of milk or broth, if I'm out of milk.

I stir this over med/low heat until everything is smooth and melted.

I would be willing to try jarred cheese spread like nacho cheese, but I rarely buy those products. I rarely buy processed cheese to begin with so I don't make recipes like this very often.

I use My Family's Favorite Pizza Crust Recipe. 

(Here's an abbreviate recap: 3 cups water, 1 1/2 T. salt, 1 1/2T. yeast,  6 1/2 cups flour. Stir barely, rise 2-5 hours. Refrigerate for upto 2 weeks.)

Spread the cheese sauce on the dough and top with things like; 

•cooked scrambled eggs, 

•breakfast sausage crumbles, 

•bacon pieces, 

•jalapenos, 

•bell peppers 

•and shredded cheese

Bake at 400° F. for 20 minutes.

Gingerbread Recipe For Gingerbread House Making

 

Last year I bought a gingerbread house cookie cutter set. The recipe on the back of the package worked well. I used the same recipe this time. 

I made a triple batch and it was the perfect amount. We made 5 houses and had a few spare parts. If we hadn't needed our spare parts we could've made 6 houses.

Gingerbread Triple Batch

1 1/2 cups Butter, room temperature  

1 cup Sugar 

1 cup Molasses

1 TBS. Ground Cinnamon

1 TBS. Ground Ginger

1 TBS. Baking Soda

3 Egg Yolks

1 TBS. Vanilla Flavoring 

3/4 Salt

6 cups Flour

Place sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger in large sauce pot over medium low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. 

Remove from heat. 

Stir in baking soda. 

Stir in butter one tablespoon at a time, sitting well after each addition. (Room temperature butter is really helpful for this step.)

Add egg yolks, vanilla, and salt, stirring to combine.

Add flour, a cupful at a time, stirring to combine. 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough comes together and is no longer sticky, adding flour a tablespoon at a time if necessary. 

Place dough in refrigerator for 2 hours or until thoroughly chilled. 

Divide dough into 6 sections. Working with one section at a time, roll out each section to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookie and house pieces. Place on cookie sheet. 

Bake at 325°F. for 12-18 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. 

Remove from oven. 

Cool on cooling racks. 

Once cool assemble with royal icing.

Royal Icing (AKA Construction Glue)

3 Egg Whites

3 1/2 - 4 cups Powdered Sugar 

Beat with whisk to form thick icing. Spoon into plastic bags. Snip a small hole in the corner of each plastic bag to make a piping bag.

Two Good Pie Crust Recipes

I like to use a solid fat in pie crust like butter, lard, or shortening to make the crust nice and flaky. But, to save some pennies, in this first recipe, I cut my solid fat by using half oil.

Simple Single Pie Crust

1 1/3 cup Flour

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 cup Oil

1/4 cup Butter, cold

3 1/2 TBS. Cold Water or Milk

Mix the flour and salt.

 Add the oil and stir until the mixture looks crumbly.

Grate the cold butter into the mixture. Stir gently to distribute the butter flakes.

Add the water in a few dribbles in different places in the mixture. Stir to form dough.

Shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic and chill 10 minutes before rolling out.

Jennifer Smith's Large Batch Of Pie Crust (2 Double Crusts or 4 Singles)

5 cups Flour 

1 tsp. Salt

2 cups Shortening 

1 Egg cracked into a measuring cup

2 TBS. Apple Cider Vinegar added to the egg in the measuring cup 

Water to fill the measuring cup to the 1 cup line

Mix flour, salt, and shortening until crumbly.

Add the liquid ingredients. Stir until the dough starts to come together. 

Form dough into 4 discs. Wrap in plastic and chill for 15 minutes before rolling out.

Demonstrating How I Flute A Pie Crust

I roll my pie pastry out. 

I want it to over hang the pie pan by an inch or two.

For a double crust: wet the top edge of the bottom crust.

I dip my fingers in the water and rub them on the crust before adding the top crust.

I trim the pie crust with scissors.

I hold up the overhanging pastry with my left finger tips.

I rest my scissor blade on my middle finger at the first knuckle. That is how I measure the overhang and trim it to the right length.

I push my pointer finger against the edge of the crust.

With the same motion of pushing the edge, I sweep the edge up and fold it under.

This is how it folds:

I go along the pie crust pushing with my left hand pointer finger and cradling the inside of the crust with my right hand pointer and thumb shaped into a chicken beak.

And that is it. Just practice a lot and you should be able to perfect your technique!

Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake Recipe!

It is that time of year again! Zucchini and yellow squash are coming out every gardener's ears. :-)

I have a few good recipes for using up zucchini.

One is Zucchini Confetti Relish

Another is Zucchini Pizza Crust

And here is Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake:

Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake 

1 cup of oil

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups shredded zucchini

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Mix together oil, cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and zucchini.

Add dry ingredients and mix to combine.

Pour into a greased jelly roll sheet pan.

Bake at 350° F. 30-35 minutes.

Hamburger Bun Recipe

 

This recipe is a good one to know. I have wanted to make hamburgers for a meal but had no buns on hand. Did I want to go to the store to pick up buns? The answer is always, "No." That is when I pull this recipe out and make a batch of hamburger buns.

These buns don't stay fresh as long as store bought buns. They are best when used the same day they are baked or the next day. After two days these buns are little too dry for sandwiches, but really good for garlic toast. 

Hamburger Bun Recipe

3 1/2 to 4 cups Flour

2 1/4 tsp. Yeast

1 cup Warm Water

1/3 cup Oil

1/4 cup Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1 egg

Combine 2 cups of flour and the yeast. 

Blend the water, oil, sugar, and salt; add to flour mixture. Add egg. Beat at low for 1/2 minute.

Beat 3 minutes on high.

Stir in as much flour as you can with a spoon. (Unless you're using a stand mixer. Then you can stir the flour in by machine, as well as do the kneading.)

On floured surface knead in enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth.

Place in greased bowl; turn once. Cover; let rise about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down. Divide in thirds. Rest 5 minutes Divide each third in the four balls.

Roll each ball until smooth and press flat between hands to make 3 1/2 inch circles.

Place on greased baking sheet. (I use saved chicken fat to grease my pans. You can read about that HERE.)

Let rise about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375°F. for 13 -15 minutes.

Cool on wire racks.

Cinnamon Roll Recipe!

Dough:

1 cup Milk, warm

1/2 cup Water, warm

1 TBS. Yeast

1/4 cup Butter, soft

1/3 cup Sugar

1/2 TBS. Salt

2 Eggs

4 1/2 - 5 cups Flour

Combine the milk, water, yeast, butter, sugar and salt.

Add 2 cups of flour.

Beat in eggs.

Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

Knead well.

Cover and let rise until doubled. (About an hour.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 30"×10" rectangle.

Smear the surface of the dough with 1/2 cup soft butter.

Blend together 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of cinnamon (add a couple dashes of ground cloves if desired.)

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over the smeared butter.

Starting at one of the long edges: roll the dough up into a log.

Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into cinnamon rolls about an inch to an inch and a quarter thick.

Prepare the pan(s) by coating with a generous layer of melted butter. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the butter.

Place the cinnamon rolls into the prepared pan(s). Leave space between the rolls to allow for rising.

Cover and let rise for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. 

Bake cinnamon rolls in a preheated 375° oven for 20-25 minutes. 

In the meantime make the frosting:

Maple Flavored Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup Butter, soft

8  oz. Cream Cheese, soft

1 tsp. Vanilla Flavor

1 tsp. Maple Flavor

3- 3 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and flavorings until light and airy.

Mix in the powdered sugar.

Frost the cinnamon rolls while they are still warm.

Enjoy!