not every recipe is a winner

Recently, I’ve been on a cinnamon bun kick. I made a Giant Cinnamon Scone that tasted delicious. I recently came across a recipe for Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing. The picture in the magazine looked very enticing. The biscuits were of a generous size and looked tasty.
 
I took the plunge and decided to make the biscuits. I made sure that I read the recipe carefully before I started and gathered all the ingredients I would need. I measured everything and went over the list to make sure I didn’t miss one. I knew I was in trouble when the dough appeared too wet. There was 4-1/2 cups of flour (half all purpose and half cake flour) to 3 cups of buttermilk. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it, however, when it came time to mix the dough and flip on a board, the dough was entirely too sticky. Fearing I didn’t add the correct amount of flour, I added an additional cup, but that didn’t help. The dough was to be folded over itself in an envelope fashion to create multiple layers. However, using the rolling pin for this portion of the recipe was fruitless, everything was too sticky.

​I did the best I could flouring the rolling pin and my hands and tried to create the layers. I chilled the dough as required and then proceeded with the cinnamon filling. I liked the filling for this recipe as it was made with softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg. The scone recipe did not use brown sugar. I was to roll and cut six buns that were 1-1/4 inches thick; I got about nine. The biscuits baked approximately 30 minutes, cooled and then are spread with cream cheese frosting.
 
A biscuit should be flaky and light with a slight crispiness on the outside, these were doughy. I was disappointed enough to send an email to the magazine in which the recipe appeared and asked them to check the recipe. Several days have passed and my email has not been acknowledged. I did a search of other biscuit cinnamon buns and it seems that the ratio of flour to a liquid is 2:1. It appears that my email maybe circulating in cyberspace. This is not the first time that I’ve used a “Contact Us” link and have not had my email acknowledged.
 
My husband had recently been reminiscing about his Aunt Bette’s fresh tuna salad. Bette and her husband, Herb, had a second home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Herb would go fishing and bring home fresh caught tuna. Bette made a wonderful salad with the fish. I recently checked with her daughter to see if she had a copy of the recipe, but unfortunately, she did not. My sister-in-law lives on the Outer Banks and I knew she had made fresh fish salad in the past. 
 
She was kind enough to share her recipe with me. Here it is:

1. Grill or pan sear tuna. Remove when it is still a little raw in the middle. Cover tightly with foil and let it sit 5 minute
2. Break apart with your fingers over a large bowl.
3. Chop red onion, as much as you like, and mix with tuna.
4. Shred carrots, maybe 1 to 2 depending how much tuna you have, and mix in tuna.
5. Mix mayonnaise with a tablespoon of good ranch dressing and toss with tuna. I don’t like it too wet. I like to taste all the other ingredients.

 
You can add some capers or sweet relish and sometimes I add some lemon zest to brighten it up. You can add or omit any of these ingredients to your taste. This is great on crackers too.
 
My son-in-law picked up some fresh tuna at the market ($17.99/lb.) I omitted the carrots, red onion (didn’t have one on hand) and ranch dressing. I did add fresh lemon zest which added brightness and, of course, my Duke’s Mayonnaise. It was delicious and the most expensive tuna salad we ever had.