Since purchasing a Bread Machine, I have quickly become a convert of using the dough only setting.  This allows me to mix up the bread dough from any recipe I can convert to fit into my machine, and then to shape the loaves or rolls however I would like.  I've done buns, rolls, pizza dough and all sorts of things.  For our recent St. Patrick's Day Dinner, I made delicious dinner rolls and since it was in honor of the Irish, I had to do potato rolls! 

    I am always posting ways to preserve food here on the blog.  Our family eats what I preserve.  Unfortunately, I hear people all of the time say that they don't know how to use the thing that they have preserved or they are afraid to eat it or that their family won't eat it.  That is just wasteful!  So, I thought that I would write some posts periodically that talk about using the food  that you  preserve.  
       Today I'm going to really lean into the zero waste idea as I tell you about using the leftover cranberries from canning cranberry juice as well as the candied orange peel I shared a recipe for!  

      Cranberry Week was last week, but I have one, maybe two more Cranberry recipes that I want to share with you.  This one is a real show stopper and it is perfect for the holidays!
       One of the main things I am loving about having a bread machine is that I can have it simply mix up a bread dough for me and then I can shape it into whatever shape I would like.  Whether it be rolls, (like these pumpkin dinner rolls), pizza dough, hamburger buns or cinnamon rolls, having the bread machine do the heavy mixing and the first rise is such a time saver!  While all of that is going on, I can be working on so many other things and then I'm rewarded with wonderful homemade bread! 
      When I saw ideas like this Cranberry Star Twisted Sweetbread, it looked  delicious, and also like a lot of work.  I knew instantly that I wanted to make it (because of Cranberry Week!), and I knew that I could make it work in my bread machine, and the thought of making it seemed so much easier! The result is this sweet, delicious and beautiful cranberry filled bread that is perfect for breakfast or dessert or at a holiday party.  You are going to love it! 

     I've been watching The Great British Bake Off again on Netflix.  You know what that means, I saw something that I wanted to try to bake myself.  During bread week, for her show-stopper, one of the contestants made adorable pumpkin shaped rolls to go inside her cornucopia.  I don't know what flavor hers were, but I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fun to use a yeasted pumpkin dough to make these.  I found a few recipes and techniques online.  Then I thought to myself, how about mixing the dough in the bread machine and save myself some time?  Well, let me tell you, at this point I've made 3 batches of these rolls and everyone loves them!