A Reader's Question: What happens if I don't have a bunt pan?

So, I am excited to report that I've had a question about how to make the Monkey Bread if you don't have a bunt pan.  Well, I'm thinking that the recipe would work fine using a loaf pan, just adjust your cooking temperature to 325 F for 35 minutes.  I haven't had a chance to try this, so make sure to keep an eye on it.  You don't want your bread to burn, but you want to make sure the middle is cooked.

Also, the second part of the question was where to find the Rhodes Roll 12 pack of Cinnamon Rolls.  Well, those you find in a bag in the freezer section of your grocery store.  If you want a recipe that works even faster, you can buy two packages of 6 rolls that comes in the foil pan, thaw them slightly, cut them, put on the cinnamon sugar, pour on the butter & throw them in a cold oven following their package directions.

Hope this helped to clear things up a bit!  Glad to hear that several of you want to try my recipe.  I want to hear how it turns out for you all.

I've been working on the blog a bit today; getting things linked on facebook and coming soon google plus. Look for another recipe coming soon.

A little about my Culinary Background

Starting out here & switching over my blog, several of my friends probably already know this.  For those of you who are finding me for the first time, Welcome!  I've always have had a love of cooking & would help out my mom in the kitchen a lot when I was growing up.  By the time I got to College, I studied for a degree in Nutrition and Food Science with the Food Science emphasis.  My first job out of college was in quality control at an industrial Bakery.  From there, I went into flavor applications at a small flavor company that manufactured liquid smoke.  I realized there that I really wanted to go back to school to get my Culinary Arts degree.  So, while I was working I started my Culinary Studies and did my restaurant internship at the Wisconsin Room at the American Club in Kohler, WI.  Now that was a learning experience!  It was a good thing I did it while I was young, because I worked full time at the flavor company, spent Fridays at Culinary School, and then went and worked the dinner shift at the restaurant on the weekends Fri - Sun.  From here, life happened a bit.  I wound up changing positions to work in flavor applications for another flavor company and wasn't able to make it back to finish my culinary degree for a couple of years and several moves later.  So, about 4 years after I started, I finally re-entered a Culinary Program in Cincinnati and later earned my Culinary Certificate by going to night classes. (The counselor at the school told me an Associates Degree would be repetitive since I already held a Bachelor's Degree).  This also helped my career a bit and I was able to switch a bit from just doing flavor applications to expanding into Creative Development.  I also was promoted to a Senior Food Scientist/Research Chef.  I waited until others recognized me as a chef, before I called myself one.  I felt like it was something I had worked hard for and was proud to be recognized as such.  Then, after a few more years, life happened a bit again.  My husband went active duty in the Army and our first duty station was overseas in Germany.  It was time for me to walk away from the flavor industry for a bit and focus on being a mom & wife.  I've enjoyed my time exploring new recipes and cooking for my family, and as I've shared on facebook I've started to have more friends ask me for recipes, and ask food questions in general. I also had some fun teaching a few cooking classes while we were overseas.  Now that we're back in the States I decided to go ahead & start taking some pictures and share what I'm cooking.  
Feel free to look around, ask some questions, post some comments.  If you have a dish that you've been wanting to cook but feel like it's too intimidating, let me know.  I may already have a recipe for it and would be happy to share.
Thanks for joining me in my cooking adventures!  I may not post every day, or I may post every day.  Life kind of has it's way of keeping things interesting, but I hope you all will enjoy this as much as I do.

Catherine

Monkey Bread

The first recipe I want to share with  you all is for a quick and easy Monkey Bread.  For this recipe you will need:

Rhodes Rolls - Traditional Cinnamon Rolls (12 pack)
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
 4 Tbsp. Butter, Melted

Cooking Spray Oil (like Pam, Crisco, etc.)
Bunt Pan


Take the rolls out of the freezer & allow to thaw slightly, around 15 minutes.  Then, place on a cutting board and cut into fourths.

 In a separate bowl, blend sugar and cinnamon.

Place pieces of dough in the bowl with the sugar & toss to coat.  Transfer into a greased bunt pan.

 This is what my pieces looked like while tossing in the sugar:

 When finished tossing all the pieces, sprinkle any extra cinnamon sugar over the dough in the bunt pan.  Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate overnight.

You can see that mine really doesn't look like it's risen a whole lot overnight. It's ok though. Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Melt butter in the microwave & pour over the dough after you remove the plastic wrap and then bake for 20 minutes.

This is what it looks like when it comes out of the oven (almost to the top of the pan).  Allow to cool for about 5 minutes & then turn out on to a plate.  You need to flip it while it's still warm or you will probably have trouble getting it to come out of the pan:

The next 2 pictures show what it looks like if you forget to grease your pan or spray it with non-stick spray:

And this is how it turns out when you remember to spray your pan:

Enjoy this recipe with the cream cheese icing that comes in the package.  I'd love to hear your thoughts if you try this out. 

Fair Warning - Getting Ready to Blog Again

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I'm working on the blog and getting ready to post again soon. I probably will still have a few deals now and then, but will mostly be focused on food. More details to come soon.
Enjoy!
Catherine

I now have an Amazon Store!

I'm pretty excited about this!  We had talked about it in my last coupon class that people were unsure of where to get the baseball card holders over here.  Well, I've found a spot on Amazon that has them with the FREE super saver shipping over $25 or FREE shipping for those with Amazon Prime memberships.

For those of you who are stateside, this also is an easy way to get the baseball card holders, although you do have more store options than we do here.

For those of you who are unsure of what I'm talking about, I sort my coupons using the binder method where multiple coupons are sorted into the baseball card holders so you can see and find coupons quickly and easily at the store.  I use dividers to separate the categories, and my binder is a Mead 5 star notebook.  Although I do have some friends who have upgraded to a binder with a handle for easier carrying, I haven't done that yet.

To find my store, just scroll down to the bottom of the page on my blog.  You'll see the pictures there of some binders and coupon sorters that I've added as a start.  I need to contact Amazon to find out why part of it is being cut off with some of the extra categories, but the store is working!

I'll probably add a few books and other things as I get used to having a store.  I have several cookbooks I'd like to put in there since many of you know I'm a (retired for now) chef.

Enjoy!

Thanks to those who attended my class yesterday!

We had a lot of fun & I learned a few things as well!  I love giving classes because I always learn something from someone who attends the classes.  

I have a ton of posting to do today.  I do need those of you who have cats to e-mail me: chefcatnky(at)gmail(dot)com  I found those cat treats that I have the free coupon for at the Baumholder Commissary, so I want to MPS them to you so you can get some for your furry friends.

I also will get a baby websites post done in the next couple of days with easy links for those of you who were wanting to sign up for those coupons & freebies as well.

Hope I'm not forgetting anything!  Please post a comment if I'm missing something.

Enjoy!

Markdown Mondays at Amazon!

I almost forgot to post the link to this one today.  If you are looking for Legos, today is a good one for you!  Here' s the link for Markdown Mondays.

I also see that they have a Melissa & Doug Wooden Railway Set for 49% off. 

I'm always looking for early birthday/Christmas ideas, so I'll post the link to these weekly in case anyone else is looking also.

One other item I want to mention that is on a hot sale right now at Amazon is their HDTV's are also on sale, along with other electronics. They also are offering free scheduled delivery to any room in your home on every flat-panel HDTV 40 inches or larger. If you've been thinking about getting a new TV, check out some of their specials.

Enjoy!