My New Favorite Breakfast!

Or, another oatmeal idea.

Banana Pecan Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Banana Pecan Brown Sugar Oatmeal 

This only makes a single serving, but you can easily double it, triple it, quadruple it...

• 1 1/4 C. Water (that's the amount of water I need at my high altitude, in my dry climate, you  may only need 1 C. Water). 
•  Salt, Just a Pinch 
•  1/2 C. Rolled Oats 
•  3 TBSPS Brown Sugar 
•  1 TBSP Butter 
•  1 Banana 
•  3 TBSPS Pecans, broken into pieces and toasted, (already toasted, or toast them (in a dry skillet) as you put the water on to boil). 

In a pan appropriate for making oatmeal, bring the water and the salt to a boil. But, don't watch it, you know what they say about a watched pot! Instead, with a fork, stir together the oatmeal and the brown sugar.

Once the water is boiling, and it's not going to take long, stir in the oatmeal mixture.

While the oatmeal is boiling, slice the Banana. Have the butter and the pecans ready and waiting. Also, don't forget to stir it occasionally.

Once the oatmeal is cooked, spoonula it into a bowl. Quickly top it with the butter, the bananas, and the pecans (yes, in exactly that order).

When you're ready to eat (and don't wait long, oatmeal is better eaten warm, and sooner rather than later) stir it, and enjoy! I know I do enjoy it.

 
It could be added to a brunch menu. It could also be eaten as a dessert, but a bowl of oatmeal for dessert? Really? 

Life is short, eat it on an otherwise busy weekday for breakfast and enjoy it. 


Originally eaten on Sunday, October 16, 2011 (and on Monday, and on Tuesday, and don't bet against me eating it on Wednesday, too).

Kindle Cooking

Kindle Cooking is free, and allows you to "manage all your recipes online and send them to your Kindle to use as a practical cookbook!"

Doesn't that sound great? It does to me!

I don't have a Kindle (just the Software for PC), so I think it goes without saying that I haven't tried this, myself.

And Another Low Priced (Food, Well, Beverage, Related) Kindle Book That I Have Downloaded But Not Yet Read.

My title says it all.

As does his, or rather, the book title: A History of The World In 6 Glasses
by Tom Standage.



Doesn't that sound fascinating? I thought so, too. And for only $3.19 (price subject to change, of course), why not? I thought so, too.

Another Day, Another Kindle Bargain (Food Related) Book.

This time it's a cookbook, and I have no musings to go along with it.

How to Eat by Nigella Lawson, for only $2.69.



I've downloaded it, myself, but I haven't taken the time to look at it yet. I've been a fan of Nigella for years, though.

Really, what's not to love about her?

Oh, So, Glamorous.

Not.

I haven't cooked, worked, in a restaurant kitchen since 1995.

I've been out of the game for a loooong time.

Suffice it to say that I did my time on the line, such as it was, in a low volume roadside cafe, before Food Network became what it is today, and before being a chef appeared to be such a glamorous profession to so many.

I started out as a dishwasher. Trust me when I say that I have no illusions. No illusions at all about the glamorous life, and working conditions, to be found in a restaurant kitchen.

Obviously my experiences were nowhere close to those of Anthony Bourdain. But, I could still somewhat relate to his book, Kitchen Confidential, back when I first read it.  Because of that, I've always been a little fond of his irascible self.



Available at $1.99, for one day only, today, and yes there are not many more hours left in today as I type this post, as Amazon's Kindle Daily Deal. Yes, I am an Amazon Associate. Why not? I'm a Prime member, and I love reading Kindle (Software for PC, for me) books, and shopping Amazon, myself.

If you're not offended by Anthony Bourdain, I recommend this book at a higher, or the regular, price. But, if you're already offended by Mr. Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential is not going to endear him to you.

Cheater Pickled Beets

Cheater Pickled Beets

I love pickled beets!

But, I don't garden, and I don't can.

I know that buying and eating, especially eating, canned foods that aren't home canned in jars, but are factory produced in metal cans, is not popular today. But, not all canned foods are best avoided, some are, true, but not all.

Cooked beets are not so different if you buy fresh beets (and good luck finding ones that are truly fresh in a store), peel them, slice them, and cook them yourself, or if you buy them in a can all ready to eat.


Cheater Pickled Beets

For those of us who love pickled beets, but don't garden and don't can.

• Sliced Beets, 1 Can

(14.5 oz is the size you may find, but this recipe works, as is, for any size can, up to 16 oz).

• 2 TBSPS Sugar
• 2 TBSPS Water
• 2 TBSPS White Vinegar

Drain the beets and place them in a heatproof bowl.

Bring the sugar, water, and vinegar to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Pour over the beets. Toss, gently (you don't want to touch hot sugar).

Refrigerate overnight.


Eat as a condiment, a snack, or a side dish. This doesn't make a large amount, not if you love pickled beets like I do, but it can be doubled, etc.


Ate on: 10/09/2011

I May Be In Love!

Eat Your Books

http://www.eatyourbooks.com/

I haven't tried it yet, true, so I may not be in love, but the concept is something I've wanted for a long, long, time.

Effectively, indexing of all my cookbooks. Together. In one searchable index.

I may have to rethink downsizing my cookbook collection. Again.

Love is my first thought, but my second is why haven't I heard of this before?

I came across it in a post at Baking Bites, but why isn't it all over the blogosphere? Why isn't everyone talking about it? Why isn't everyone as excited about it as I am?

In other words, what is wrong with it?

"The course of true love never did run smooth." 
William Shakespeare

Summertime Lemon-Garlic Salad Dressing

• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 1 C Olive Oil
• 1 (large) Lemon
• 1/4 C (about, or one small handful) Fresh Basil 
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt

In a food processor, mince the garlic. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the olive oil. Squeeze the lemon into the bowl. Add the basil and the salt, and process the dressing.

Serve immediately. I pour it into a jar to make serving easier, and I shake the jar as necessary because Lemon-Garlic Dressing does separate early, and often.

Refrigerate any leftovers (and they may need to be brought to room temperature before serving because the olive oil may solidify).

Lemon-Garlic Dressing is also a wonderful dressing for pasta salad.

Serves 8, or more, easily (just to give you an idea of the amount of dressing it makes).

Blueberry Smoothies

Blueberry Smoothie, in the blender carafe.

• 1 Banana
• 1 1/2 C Frozen Blueberries 
• 1 3/4 C Orange Juice

Put all ingredients in the blender, and...blend. Serve immediately. 

This smoothie will gel, or thicken, if you walk away from it and forget about it. 

You can do this with any frozen fruit, really, but you may need more or less of it. You also may need more or less juice. 

Serves 2 - 4.

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

I'll be honest. Peanut Butter is not my favorite flavor of ice cream. I'd prefer a vanilla ice cream, with the mini peanut butter cups, myself. But, the texture is great considering this ice cream doesn't have a custard base. It's not too soft to eat right away. And many people do, my other family members included, love peanut butter ice cream. 

Mo is home for the summer and she made this for us (which is why it is indeed peanut butter ice cream rather than vanilla).

Adapted just slightly from the Cuisinart Recipe Booklet that came with my ice cream maker

• 1 1/8 C Peanut Butter (for me, this is Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter).
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 1 1/4 C Milk (Whole Milk is, of course, recommended for ice cream)
• 2 C Heavy Cream
• 1 1/2 tsps Vanilla Extract
• 1 C Mini Peanut Butter Cups (for me, these come from Trader Joe's, and I just love them, but I'm a peanut butter cup snob and I don't care for Reese's). 

Whisk together the peanut butter and the sugar 'til smooth. Add the milk, and mix 'til the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

With the ice cream machine running (or according to the manufacturer's instructions for your ice cream maker), pour the mixture into the freezer bowl. Let mix 'til thickened, about 25 - 35 minutes.

Five minutes before mixing is complete, add the mini peanut butter cups and let them mix in. Eat immediately, and/or freeze.

The original recipes says that it makes 14, 1/2 C servings. Huh! Who knew?

Made on 6/06/2011

Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad

Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad

Caprese is a simple Italian salad composed of layered slices of tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

It really sounded appealing to me, and, for once, I had all of the ingredients. But, I knew my family wouldn't be enthusiastic about having Caprese Salad, and only Caprese Salad, for dinner, and I knew I didn't care to make more than one course for this particular night's dinner. So, by adding chicken and pasta to the traditional flavors and ingredients that make up a Caprese Salad, I made it into a dinner for them. Or rather, my daughter literally made it into dinner for us. I just wrote it down for her because she prefers to have a recipe to follow.

• 12 oz Pasta of your choice (I chose Pennette, well, actually my husband chose, but I also considered Capellini, Casarecce, or Orzo)
• 1 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breast
• 2 - 3 Tomatoes (I needed three, but what's important is that you really do need lovely ones for a Caprese)
• 2 handfuls of Basil (Fresh only, this time, and I say small because I have small hands. I don't have a more precise measurement for you, sorry)
• 6 oz Mozzarella (no, I don't buy fresh mozzarella, but, you can, if you choose)
• 1/2 C Olive Oil (you'll need 1/4 cup at a time)
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• Black Pepper, grind to taste

Boil, drain, and cool the pasta (I do this, when necessary, by rinsing it with cold water). Toss the cooled pasta with 1/4 C of the olive oil.

Grill the chicken breast (I do all of my "grilling" on an indoor grill, but I realize many people actually enjoy cooking outside, although I don't pretend to understand it). Let it rest, covered, for 5 minutes, or more. Dice the chicken.

Dice the tomatoes and the mozzarella, and chop the basil.  Toss the tomatoes with the other 1/4 C of olive oil and the salt. Spoonula in all the other ingredients. Let it sit while you set the table.

Serves four.

Ate on:  06/06/2011

Pasta Salad #91

Pasta Salad #91? What is Pasta Salad #91?

I needed a name for it. I didn't have a name. I couldn't think of a name. This year, April 1st, the day I made, and we ate, this pasta salad, is the 91st day of the year, so Pasta Salad #91.

 

• 1 LB Bow Tie (Farfalle) Pasta
• 1 LB Broccoli Florets
• ¼ C (drained) Kalamata Olives, each olive quartered + 1 TBSP brine
• 8 - 9 oz Roasted Chicken, skinned, boned, and chopped
• 2 Red Bell Peppers, grilled or roasted (I do this on my indoor grill or in the oven), peeled, (I cover the hot peppers while they are cooling so they will be easier to peel, but if you can’t peel them, don’t worry about it), and sliced into half strips.
• 8 oz Mozzarella Cheese, diced
• 1 TBSP Italian Seasoning
• ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper (flakes)
• ⅔ C Olive Oil
• ⅓ C Red Wine Vinegar

Boil pasta according to package directions or your desires. When it reaches “almost, but not quite done” add the broccoli. Just so that the broccoli can be bright and crunchy, but not completely raw. Once the broccoli and the pasta are finished, drain the pasta and the broccoli immediately and rinse with cold water to cool them.

Toss the brine with pasta and the broccoli. It helps the pasta not to stick together and it adds a complimentary flavor to the salad.

Add the pasta, broccoli, olives, chicken, bell pepper, cheese, seasoning and pepper to a large mixing bowl that can also double as a serving bowl.

Shake the oil and vinegar together in a jar with a lid (a clean re-purposed jar is fine).

Add half of the mixture in the jar to the bowl. Toss. Repeat if necessary or desired.

Serves 4, or more, as a dinner.

Ate on 4/01/2011 (but it’s not a joke).

Edited shortly after posting, because the intro bored me, and if it bored me, who could bear to read it?  

Quote of The Day

"Bad dinners go hand in hand with total depravity, 

while a well-fed man is already half saved." 

- The New Kentucky Home Cook Book, 1884 

(and One Big Table by Molly O'Neill, 2010)

My Motto

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Lovely Mushroom & Herb Pork Chops

A take-off on our family favorite, Lovely Garlic-Rosemary Pork Chops

Overview of Lovely Mushroom & Herb Pork Chops

Close-up and Side View of Lovely Mushroom & Herb Pork Chops

• 3 or 4 Pork Chops (allow one pork chop per person, don't worry that the recipe won't make enough sauce for four, it was originally written for four). 
• 16 oz Mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 C Olive Oil
• 1tsp + 1/2 tsp dried Rosemary (fresh is lovelier, if you have it, but you'll need more of it. It grows well in Austin. Just sayin').
• 1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp dried Thyme
• 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• 1/2 C White Wine (My current white "cooking" wine is Cavit Pinot Grigio).
• 1, 12 oz, can Evaporated Milk (be careful that it is Evaporated Milk, and not Filled Evaporated Milk, they are different products).

Heat a large stainless steel skillet on medium heat for two minutes. Add the olive oil. Once it starts to look hot, and it won't take long, add the mushrooms, 1 tsp of the rosemary , 1/2 tsp of the thyme, and 1/4 tsp of the sea salt. Cook,stirring at least once, for about two minutes. Make space among the mushrooms and add the pork chops. 

Pepper the up sides of the pork chops, only. Once the juices pool, flip the pork chops. Then, cook until red juices seem to stop flowing. Flip once more. Basically, you're trying to fully cook the pork chops without overcooking them. Be careful, too, not to burn the pan because you're going to need it for the sauce. Shortly after the second flip, remove the pork chops from the pan and immediately reduce the heat to low. You can set the pork chops in a warm oven (not higher than 250F), or on a platter, covered or uncovered, while you make the pan sauce.

To make the pan sauce, carefully (there may be steam), add the wine to the hot pan. Scape the pan with a sturdy stainless steel spatula (the browning stuck to the pan, that you are in the act of unsticking, contributes  to the sauce's flavor. In other words, don't skip this step). Reduce by about half. Add the evaporate milk, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp sea salt and up to 7 grinds black pepper. Heat 'til it's warm. It may form a skin if you don't stir it often. This isn't a problem, just stir it. If low is too slow, it's alright to adjust the heat higher at this point, and don't worry if you accidentally bring it to a boil because that's not a problem with evaporated milk.

Serve the warm sauce over the chops.

I served the Lovely Mushroom & Herb Pork Chops over Brown Rice, and with Normandy Blend Vegetables (yes, frozen vegetables, yes, from Costco).

Ate on 3/11/2011

Are These Rings Cute, or What?

Miniature Food Rings Created By Sofia Molnar.

What fun!

St. Patrick's Day is Thursday, March 17th.

A musing post. Rather than an amusing post...

My mother's father was Irish. However, he died well before I was born, and any obvious Irish influence on our family, particularly our food, which probably owed more to Mid-Western farm country cooking than any other particular influence, was minimal, at best.

Potatoes.

I remember once, as a child, complaining to my mother that I shouldn't have to eat potatoes for dinner because I had them for lunch, at school. My mother responded that I should be glad that I only had potatoes twice a day, because, when she was a girl her father insisted on having potatoes at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

This conversation is really all I know of our Irish heritage. Particularly of our food heritage.

My mother sends me St. Patrick's Day cards, but I don't remember, that when I was growing up we celebrated in any particular way, except by wearing green, so as not to be pinched.

I made my own children green scrambled eggs (by green scrambled eggs I simply mean I added green food coloring to the eggs) one year, for fun.

They cried.

That wasn't much fun.


So, what is your Irish connection? Your thoughts about St. Patrick's Day? Any stories to tell? Any food, or memories to share?

Pi Day is Monday, 3.14

What pie do you plan to make, or buy?

Garlic Salt

From a Penzey's catalog.

1 TBSP Granulated Garlic
3 TBSPS Salt

Shake, in a carefully closed container, to mix. Store in the container, but, fill a salt shaker for serving (or rather, that's what I do).

I particularly enjoy garlic salt on pizza. Nick prefers it on nearly all foods, in place of table salt. 

Cinnamon Sugar

From a Penzey's catalog.

2 - 3 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 C sugar

I typically mix (shake to mix, that is) mine in a re-purposed cinnamon container. With a shaker lid, for easy serving

Today is Fat Tuesday.

Happy Mardi Gras !!!

King Cake, 2008

King Cake, 2010

Old School Brownies

Close-up!

Apparently this is a Hershey's recipe. I actually got it from littleonefb (no idea who she is, now) on a long ago forgotten (by me) message board, a long time ago, and I have been making these quick (well, quick to put together) & easy (so easy even I don't use a mixer) brownies ever since. 

I should probably make altitude adjustments to this recipe, because, for me, they are a combination of dry and crackly, and intensely fudgy, with no middle ground, so to speak. But, I continue to make them, and eat them, and...

Mixing bowl One:

• 6oz (that is, 3/4 C) Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 1/2 C Sugar 
• 1 1/2 tsps vanilla

Mix.

• 3 eggs

Add, and beat.


Mixing bowl Two:

• 3/4 C Unbleached Flour
• 1/2 C Baking Cocoa
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Whisk together.


Scrape, or as I call it, spoonula, Mixing Bowl One, into Mixing Bowl Two. Mix well.

Bake in a greased 8-inch or 9-inch pan, in a preheated oven, at 350F for about 40 minutes. Let cool on a not-hot burner, or a rack, for 5 minutes. Serve immediately thereafter. 

Serves four. Or more. Just don't touch my quarter of the pan.

New Mexico, In The News.

From The New York Times, New Mexico Takes Its Chile Very Seriously. Even The Spelling.

Yes, yes, we do.

Chocolate Sausage

Portioned

Flattened

Almost Ready To Eat

8 oz Ground Pork
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Brown Sugar
1 TBSP Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
1/8 Salt

1 tsp Vegetable Oil

Mix all ingredients together, except the oil. Heat a cast iron skillet, and the oil, for two minutes.

Portion sausage with a medium size scoop (mine is the Pampered Chef brand). Press into patties. I scoop them into, and press them in, the hot skillet, but, if you'd rather avoid the heat, oh, and the hot oil, you can scoop them onto, and press them on, wax paper.

I cook sausage patties on low - medium low so that the inside of the patties cooks at about the same rate that the outside browns. If you need pretty sausage for a photo, know that the chocolate makes for a beautifully browned looking sausage patty.

I don't have any bread in the house, today, but, if I did, I would have served the chocolate sausage with cinnamon sugar toast. 

Not bad, but it almost tasted like liver, to me. Not exactly the effect I was trying the achieve. If I make it again, and, oh, I probably will, I'll double both the chocolate and the salt. Maybe the chile, too. Not certain about the cinnamon, I may have had that right. The chocolate flavor did come through slightly better once the sausage had a chance to cool.

One downside to chocolate sausage is that I couldn't share any with Buddy (the dog). She was sad.

Chocolate Oatmeal

• 1 TBSP Cocoa Powder (Baking Cocoa)
• 20g, or 1 heaping TBSP, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 TBSP Brown Sugar
• 1 pinch, or shake, Cinnamon
• 1/2 C Oatmeal (Rolled Oats)

• 1 1/4 C Water (You may need less, only 1 C, if you don't live high & dry)
• Pinch of Salt

Mix the cocoa powder, chips, sugar, cinnamon, and oats, together in a bowl. 

Bring water and salt to a boil. Add the mixture to the water. What I do, when I make oatmeal, any flavor of oatmeal, is, I wait for it to try and boil over and at that point I reduce the heat to low, and wait for it to reach my preferred texture, stirring occasionally. 

Stirring occasionally, for the uninitiated, means, when I remember, or when someone says, "Mom, I think you better check the oatmeal."

Smells fabulous while it's cooking, and, to me, it tastes like homemade chocolate pudding. I like homemade chocolate pudding, so this is a good thing. 

You could top it off with milk, if you like to add milk to your oatmeal, or whipped cream. Me? I garnished mine with cinnamon sugar, because that's what makes oatmeal, of any flavor, taste so good.

German Cheesecake?

I learn something new-to-me every day. Really. Truly. 

German Cheesecake is what I learned about today. Who knew, right? Not me. And it's made with quark. Quark was my something new-to-me a month or two ago.

Quark is a fresh cheese that has been described as a light soft cream cheese or a thick yogurt (but less tangy, if I'm not mistaken). German cheesecake, from what I've read, is a lighter and not so sweet cheesecake, but other than that it doesn't appear too different from what I think of as cheesecake. 

Surely I can't be the only one who has never heard of German cheesecake, right?

Diana's Desserts, and Steffen's Dinner's, both have photos of, and recipes for, Käsekuchen.

Why is it...

that recipes calling for evaporated milk, include in the recipe a note about how, indeed, you need evaporated milk and NOT sweetened condensed milk? Recipes calling for sweetened condensed milk often do the same thing.

Why is that?

The can sizes, in my experience, are different. The labeling is different. And, once you open the can, the milks certainly look different from each other.

Is this really such a common problem, that we need a warning in each recipe we come across that calls for one or the other? Has it even ever been a problem, except, perhaps, for when canned milk products were newly introduced to the general public? 

If I Didn't Have Running Water In My Kitchen...

It would change the way I cook. They way we eat. I think it would have to...

I'm thinking about this, because, at present, my kitchen sink (the faucet) is non-functional. 

I've been having  trouble with it for months, but it actually broke on Saturday. A "quick" trip to Lowe's (this "quick" trip involved a couple of  hours of driving time, because I don't live close to shopping), and it appears it's going to take another "quick" trip to Lowe's to once again have a functional kitchen faucet, and thus, running water, in my kitchen.

Why? 

I didn't actually go to Lowe's, my husband did, and the faucet he bought is obviously, to me, a return. The new (to us) Delta faucet is missing the piece that connects the sprayer hose to the other hose(s) under the sink. I think. I'm not clear on the details. But, I have been assured, that, because of the illogical design (and that's my opinion, not that of the person who did the assuring), we can't just bypass the sprayer, for now. We have to actually have the missing piece before we can complete the installation of the faucet and restore running water to my kitchen.

It just so happens we don't have any full-size paper plates.

I have a dishwasher, so I could just run that, and not have to wash dishes in the bathroom, right? No. Wrong. I have a portable dishwasher. I have to actually, physically, hook it up to the faucet. No kitchen faucet? No dishwasher.

I'm frustrated and irritated. The kitchen is a mess, and I'm avoiding it.

I didn't realize it before now, but I take running water for granted in my kitchen. I really, really, do.

I remember that my great grandparents, on my mother's side, never had a bathroom in their farmhouse. I wonder now if they didn't have running water in the kitchen?

A new-to-me food blog.

 The Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn

What a fun site!

Very, very, fun.

It's Never Too Early To Make A Wishlist...

Dear Santa,

I would like a scribe and a photographer.  

I'll leave cookies.

Carrie

P.S.  A tech person would be a nice stocking stuffer.

Blueberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have adapted, and perhaps adopted, too, the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Gold Medal Flour’s Alpha Bakery Children’s Cookbook.

• ¾ C. Sugar
• ¾ C. Brown Sugar
• 1 C. Butter*, softened.
• 1 Egg
• 2 ¼ C. Unbleached (all-purpose) Flour  
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 C. Dried Blueberries (My favorite dried fruit is Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand).
• 10 - 12 oz White Baking Chips or White Chocolate Chips (My favorite chocolate chips are the Trader Joe’s brand).

In a stand mixer (and no, having one is not necessary), mix together the sugars, butter, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Carefully add it to the mixer. Once you have a dough, mix in the dried blueberries and the white chocolate chips.

Scoop, with a small sized scoop, or a tablespoon, onto a stainless steel baking sheet. Press down lightly on each cookie with your fingertips. Don’t try to fit more than a dozen cookies on each tray.

Bake at 375 for about 6 minutes per tray. If the bottoms looks completely done, don’t worry about the tops. Let sit on the baking sheet for about 6 minutes before moving them to a baking rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

The blueberry flavor comes through better once these cookies are cool, or even the next day. I know, many cookies are best warm, but not these.

*If I make these again, I’ll try making them with unsalted butter. The original recipe calls for margarine or butter, and I always take that as my cue to use salted butter (margarine is usually salted). However, I think the salt in the butter doesn’t go as well with blueberries as it does with the other ingredients I’ve previously added to these cookies.

Don’t get me wrong. These cookies are good with salted butter, I’d just like to try making them with unsalted butter. 

Update, April 4, 2011

We've tried making the cookies with unsalted butter. Believe it or not, they tasted saltier than the cookies made with regular, salted, butter. I can now wholeheartedly say that I recommend salted butter for this cookie recipe.

Also, I originally called for 12 oz of White Chocolate Chips. It appears, I may have actually used a 10 oz bag of White Baking Chips (although they do contain cocoa butter, if that makes you feel better about it, I know that makes me feel better about it). So I've edited the recipe slightly. 

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

We ate many, many, many, of these cookies, while Nick needed to be dairy-free and gluten-free, temporarily. I don’t know remember who first shared this recipe with me, but, thank you!

• 1 C. Peanut Butter (I prefer a natural style peanut butter, rather than one with fillers).
• 1 C. Sugar
• 1 egg

Mix well.

Cookies on the left in the photo, were formed with a medium-sized Pampered Chef scoop, and the cookies on the right were formed with a small Pampered Chef scoop.

Scoop onto a stainless steel baking sheet. Press the traditional peanut butter cookie crisscross design into the cookies with a fork (this serves to flatten them, somewhat, so that they bake better).

Bake at 350, until you remember that you have cookies in the oven, but forgot to set a timer. Rush to the oven in a panic. Or, say, 5 - 10 minutes. Probably closer to 10. If they look done (browned), they are done.

P.S. I give these to my dog, too.

Buttered Popcorn

I just can’t buy already popped, popcorn, to eat at home, or, perhaps I should say won’t. I don’t have a hot air popper. I don’t have a microwave. So, to make popcorn (one of my family’s favorite snacks) one of us has to actually pop it in a pan on the stove.

Old school, that’s me.  

To pop it, I really just (well, sort of) follow the instructions on the jug of Orville Redenbacher (if you shop at Costco, you know that the container really is a jug). 

• ½ C. Popcorn Kernels
• 3 TBSPS Canola Oil, although, when I have it, Coconut Oil is my all-time favorite oil for popping corn. It just gives the popcorn THE BEST scent and taste.
• 2 - 5 TBSPS Butter.  Two, if you are on a weight loss diet. Five, if you need to gain weight. Personally, I think slightly more than 4 TBSPS is just about PERFECT! Although, we often just use 3 TBSPS,
• Salt, optional.  

Heat a 5 qt pan on med-high. Heat oil, just barely, and add the kernels. COVER the pan immediately. Ideally, the lid can sit ajar as the popcorn pops. I carefully shake the pan, while holding the lid onto it, several times while the popcorn pops.

While the popcorn is popping, melt the butter.

AS SOON AS THE POPPING SLOWS TO A STOP*, turn off the heat and transfer popcorn to a large stainless steel mixing bowl. If are going to share a few pieces of popcorn with your dog (oh, who am I kidding, our dog has her own popcorn bowl) set them aside now. Pour the melted butter over the popcorn in the mixing bowl. Mix. Salt your individual bowl, if, like me, you prefer your popcorn salted.

Serves four, or more.

*It’s better have unpopped kernels, than burnt popcorn!

Ate on 1/25/2011

Scrambled Eggs In Brown Butter With Cream Cheese And Chives

I first had scrambled eggs with cream cheese and herbs on vacation in Montana. I’ve been making this for myself since that trip.

• Butter.
• 2 Eggs, scrambled with a splash of water.
• Cream Cheese, about .75 of an ounce, diced (you know, those odds and ends of cream cheese you find in the refrigerator after the bagels are all gone, but before the cheese itself starts to change color).
• ½ tsp Chives (I only had dried, but I’m certain fresh would be lovely).
• Sea Salt, to taste. 

Melt butter in your egg pan, just enough so that the eggs don’t stick, on low heat. If you don’t slip the eggs into the pan too soon, you, too, will have brown butter. Just as I did. Note that brown butter isn’t burnt butter. Brown butter is trendy (and although food trends can be annoying, they’re not all bad, especially if I can make a mistake and disguise it as my attempt to follow a trend). Burnt butter just has to be thrown away after it has cooled to the point where it won’t melt the trash can liner.

Stir your eggs in the pan, not continuously, just enough so they cook somewhat evenly, but don’t stick. When they begin to set, add the cream cheese, stir it in, and as it begins to melt, add the chives.

Plate it, salt it if you so desire (I do), and eat it. Oh, right, this makes one serving. Of course you can double it, or...

Ate on 1/19/2011

Pasta Salad, with Feta Cheese and Kalamata Olives

Pasta:

• 16 oz Bow-Tie Pasta (it also goes by a name, Farfalle, that I can’t pronounce), boiled in lightly salted water.

Salad:

• 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
• 12 sun dried tomatoes, soaked in ½ cup of boiling water (I took it from the pasta pot, myself)
• 1 (Indoor) Grilled Chicken Breast, diced
• 5 ¼ oz Feta Cheese, crumbled or diced
• ⅔ C pitted Kalamata Olives, drained (before being measured) and quartered.

Dressing:

• 4 Cloves Garlic
• ⅓ C. Lemon Juice
• ⅔ C. Olive Oil
• 1 tsp dried Turkish Oregano
• ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• ⅛ tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp dried parsley

Make the dressing in a food processor, or alternatively, mince the garlic and shake the ingredients in a jar with a carefully closed lid to mix them thoroughly.

Combine the pasta, salad ingredients, and the dressing, and serve as dinner (or rather, that’s what I did).  

Ate on 1/13/2011

Triple Berry Breakfast Crisp

Triple Berry Breakfast Crisp, also known, to my family, as Koree’s Breakfast Crisp.

I first began making fruit crisps for breakfast, after reading a recipe from Koree, a mom I “met” on a homeschooling forum. Yes, I am a homeschooling mom (one graduate, now a college student, and one high school student) and I adore desserts, or sweets, for breakfast. Now you know.

Back to Koree, she introduced me to the idea of a simple fruit crisp for breakfast and it’s her basic guideline from which I make breakfast crisps to this day.

  

• 2 C. (frozen) Triple Berry Blend (Costco sells one, of blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries, but I know it's available at other stores, too), refrigerated overnight.
• 1 C. Rolled Oats
• 3 TBSPS Brown Sugar
• 2 TBSPS Pecans, each half broken into four pieces
• 3 TBSPS Butter, chopped

I have a rectangular baking dish (9x6 ½) that works perfectly for this crisp. Butter or spray (with cooking spray, of course) the baking dish. Pour in the fruit, cover it first with the oats, secondly the brown sugar, thirdly the pecans,  and last but not least, the butter. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes (or you can do what I often do and not preheat the oven, but add the preheating time to the baking time, for me that is 10 minutes, so 40 minutes, starting in a cold oven). Serve warm!

Koree served her breakfast fruit crisp with vanilla yogurt, although I do not (because I can't eat "fresh" yogurt).

On Cake Balls...

Cake Balls.

So, you want me to take cake, and frosting, and mush it all up together in a little ball. Then, you want me to coat it, and decorate it. OK, fine. It’s cute. I think it’s a waste of food, but it’s a cute decoration. But, wait, what? You want me to eat it? Oh, no, no, no! Yuck! Do you think I missed the part where perfectly good cake (well, if it didn’t come from a mix) is mushed together with perfectly good frosting (well, if it didn’t come from a can) and rolled around? Ick? Why? Ick! No thank you!

Ugly Leftover Dinner

Usually I have more ideas than I do time, but not always...It was a clear out the fridge sort of dinner.

I heated a stainless steel skillet for 2 minutes.

I added 1 TBSP Canola Oil

I stirred in leftover cooked Brown Rice.

I added a leftover Ground Beef/Mushroom/Onion/Garlic Mixture

(leftover, that is, from Stacked Enchiladas, because I forgot to add the mix on the third layer. Yeah, that happens sometimes).

I also added:

leftover Green Chile, 

1 can, 14.5 oz, petite diced tomatoes, 

¼ C Sour Cream

I made sure it was hot.

Then I added sharp cheddar cheese.

I stirred in the cheese, and served it with leftover corn tortilla chips and canned kidney beans.

Ate:  12/21/2010