Hamburger rolls and cheese crackers

I've wanted to make hamburger and hot dog rolls forever. I finally did it today. A friend highly recommended The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. Mark gave it to me for Christmas. Every recipe we've used has turned out excellent. Today was no exception. It is the perfect cookbook companion to my beloved Zojirushi Bread Machine. These rolls are so soft, fluffy, and tasty. I fixed Bud and Sissy natural hot dogs on the hot dog buns I made. They LOVED the rolls. I enjoyed an Amy's Cheddar Veggie Burger on hamburger roll. I really had no idea how good a home made sandwich roll could be. For dinner I fixed the kids Trader Joe's meatballs with TJ's Kansas Barbecue Sauce and a side of TJ's sweet potato fries. I made a veggie "meatball" sub for myself on one of the hot dog buns. Mark fixed "hot diggity dogs" on a roll for his dinner. He was quite impressed as well. The recipe says they can be frozen. I wrapped 6 sliced buns in press and seal, labeled with contents and date, and popped them in the chest freezer. I hope they freeze well. If they do, I can't imagine ever buying rolls again. I kept a few buns for us to enjoy the next couple of days. I don't think the picture does them justice. Did I mention how fluffy these are? Wow.


If home made rolls aren't enough, I made these cheese crackers again. I used mini cookie cutters that I picked up on sale at Crate and Barrel and Michael's. These are savory little crackers that cook quickly and slide right off the pan. The recipe says they store for up to a week in a well sealed container. They've never lasted that long in our house.

Vote for White House Farmer

Charlie Collins and his wife Gina Collins run Victory Farms CSA in Hanover, VA. This year will be our second year buying a share. We enjoyed fabulous produce April through November last year. Charlie has been nominated as the White House Farmer. There are quite a few that have been nominated. If you could take a minute to go and vote for Charlie, that would be great! http://whitehousefarmer.com/?page_id=33 Just go to and cast your vote before January 31st.
Victory Farms, Inc.

I like bananas..

...coconuts and grapes. That's why they call me Tarzan of the Apes! Awesome hit the six month mark a week ago. We started with Avocado. Mark was at work so I didn't get pictures. Oh, the faces he made. I don't know that he loved the avacado, but he kept grabbing for the spoon. Four days of avacado and we were on to bananas. I intended to go to peas next. The peas involved cooking and pureeing. Banana just required mashing. We enjoyed more funny faces. He was definitely into the banana. He finished a third of the banana by himself. He felt he really didn't need any help as you can see here.