Domesticity at it's yummiest

I love to cook. I really really love it. I have found that even if I used recipes that don't grace the pages of a health food cookbook, my family loses weight and has more energy when I make our food rather than buy it.
My favorite in the last couple of days has been potato rolls. Oh, heavens they are good. I made Honey BBQ Chicken, put them on potato rolls with finely sliced lettuce and tomatoes, mayo with lime, salt and pepper in it, corn on the cob and some mint iced tea on the side. You know what? They each ate one and were full. It was so very similar to a KFC snacker, but it didn't take 2 of them to fill up my 6'3" tall husband or my rapidly growing boys.
Tonight I am craving cookies. Mmmmmm, cookays! (imagine a blue furry monster with bad table manners... ah, now I'm slightly funnier. Just had to get you in my head for a moment)
So I did what any self respecting Domestic Diva slash Super Mom would do. I made them. And not my chocolate chip cookies or even the Giant Soft Double Ginger cookies I drool just thinking about. I made Cranberry Orange Pinwheels. There was a panicky moment when I though I might have not nuts, but then I found them. Yeah, you heard me. Just making them was a joy, they smell so good.
Since I am cookie-happy at the moment, I decided to share the recipes for all of the above foods. I already shared them with my ladies at GC because they are totally awesome... but I guess I can share them here, too, if only to impress everyone with my amazingly good food.

Honey BBQ Chicken

3 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
salt
pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 c flour
oil

Glaze-

1/2 c honey
3/4 c bbq sauce

Slice the chicken into 1 inch thick strips and put them in a bowl. Pour the worchestershire sauce over them, coat them well and let sit for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a pan at med-high heat. Drain the chicken and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Dredge the seasoned chicken in the flour then fry til golden brown.
Mix the honey and bbq sauce together and dip the chicken in the sauce (or use a brush, I just prefer dipping) and place on a shallow pan. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush more sauce over the pieces and bake for 8-10 more minutes. You can leave them the way they are for stickier chicken, but I like to dab just a tiny bit of the uncooked sauce over them.



Potato Rolls
4 1/2 c flour
1 pkg yeast
1 c milk
1/4 c water
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c shortening
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 c mashed potato (I used leftover instant potatoes, water and butter, no milk. If you want, you can boil a peeled potato and mash it really well instead)

Mix 2 c flour with the yeast, set aside. Heat milk, water, sugar, shortening, and salt til just barely warm then add to the flour/yeast mix along with the egg and mashed potato. Beat on low til mixed, scrape the sides then beat on high for a couple of minutes. Stir in as much flour as you can. Should be very soft and pliable but not sticky anymore. This is a SUPER soft dough.

Knead til smooth and elastic, 8 minutes or so. Let it rise in a greased bowl for an hour or til doubled. Punch down the dough, split it in half, let rest 10 minutes. Divide each portion into 12 pieces (I made each half in 6 pieces to make a larger bun for a sandwich) Pull each piece into a ball and tuck edges under to make the top smooth. Let rise on a greased baking sheet for 35 minutes or til doubled. (closer together for a dinner roll, further apart for the bigger sandwich bun)
Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or til golden brown. Get them on to a cooling rack right away. These are delicate rolls, I let the weight of the bread knife do the cutting.

Cranberry Orange Pinwheels

1 c cranberries
1 c pecans
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp finely shredded orange peel
3 cups flour


For filling, use a blender or food processor to combine the first three ingredients til finely chopped. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat butter on high til soft. Add granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat til combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and orange peel. Add as much flour as you can with the mixer, then add the rest mixing by hand. Divide dough in half and chill for an hour or til firm and easy to handle.

Roll out half the dough between two sheets of waxed paper to about 10 inch square.spread half the filling over the dough withing a 1/2 in of edges. Roll up the dough, moisten and pinch edges to seal well. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Repeat with 2nd half of dough and filling. Chill for 4-24 hours.

Cut slices 1/4 in thick and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are firm and the bottom lightly browned. cool on the cookie sheet for a minute, then transfer to the cooling rack.