Shrove Tuesday and the French Crepe

We typically do pancakes every Sunday.  That is Dan's morning to do breakfast for the kids. He loads us up with pancakes before heading out the door to church each week.  This is one reason we choose not to do the standard pancake for Shrove Tuesday.  We make crepes with fruit and whipped cream and a breakfast meat on the side.  I use a recipe I picked up in culinary school but it is very similar to the one shared in this video and this video is a great one.  Joy of Baking is one of my favorite sites and if you have not visited there before I thought you might enjoy their videos and recipes.

Take a look and have a great Shrove Tuesday!





*note - Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday and Pancake Day are all precursors to Lent.... any reason for pancakes seems to be a good one.  LOL  Want more info on the holiday?  Check out this link.

Ending with a New Recipe... Banana Pumpkin Seed Muffins

I am always looking for healthy choices for breakfast and snacking for my children.  They love muffins because I can make a giant batch and freeze them.  Then we can bag up what they want to eat in their lunches or have a few thawed by the time they get home from school or up for breakfast.  This is the most recent new recipe I have made and I thought I would share it with you to finish off this month.  A new recipe just for you....

Note:  I did not have wheatgerm the day I made these so I just subbed whole wheat flour and it worked out fine.  They were great for breakfast!  I suspect you could also sub canned pumpkin for the banana and I might need to try that soon.

It is from one of my favorite muffin books called 1 Mix, 100 Muffins by Susanna Tee (I know I have shared this book before because I love it!)

If you try it or do pumpkin instead of banana please let me know how it turns out for you.

Do you have a favorite muffin recipe?

Buttermilk Biscuits

In the summers I have a house full of people from morning to nightfall.  With children home on school break I do a whole lot more cooking and baking throughout the day than I do at other times of the year.  Children typically make their own breakfasts during the school year.  I have things like bread for toast, cold and hot cereals for them to prepare, fruit, granola, yogurt, etc...  They can quickly put their own breakfast together on the go.

In summer, though, I will prepare a breakfast for us to enjoy together a few times a week.  One of their favorite breakfast items is buttermilk biscuits.  This particular morning I thought ahead enough to snap a few pictures of the process for you.  The recipe is one I have shared on here before... here.

These days I roll all my pastry and dough items out onto cling film (Saran Wrap).  It keeps the counter cleaner and helps me to be able to flip the dough if the need arises.  It also keeps the rolling pin or my hands clean as I work when I use cling film on both bottom and top and keeps the heat of my hands from melting shortening or butter in the recipe.

I am also using my Pampered Chef Bar Pan every single day now and it is perfect for a big tray of biscuits.  It cooks them thoroughly on top and bottom and gives them a golden loveliness.

I double the recipe for a full two dozen and they don't last past breakfast... my children are piggies!  LOL  I serve them with either homemade cream gravy, syrup, honey or jellies and jams.

Buttermilk biscuits do more for me than fill the stomach... they take me back to a simpler time in my life when my Meemaw made them for us and served them with homemade plum jelly.  If there was no jelly to be had they were simply slathered in butter and a little pure cane sugar was sprinkled over the butter.  A truly wonderful memory from my childhood.  

Food does that.... it is so connected to our history and memory.  

I love that something so little can be so powerful.  

The simple biscuit... brings a flood of memories.  With each bite there is the little diner table in an old open kitchen with red benches and an uncovered light bulb hanging above it.  A one basin farmhouse kitchen sink and cabinets with glass panes in the doors so one could see the Fiestaware dishes that were housed there.  The old style washing machine used as decoration sat next to the stove.  Little wooden portable cabinets with treats such as honeybuns or little jars of plum pudding in them just for the grandchildren sat in the corners on either side of the entrance door.  A large chest freezer full of homemade items put away for feeding the family when they visit sat next to the refrigerator.  The refrigerator had small bottles of Coca Cola in the door for enjoying with our sandwiches and Fritos at lunch when we were there.  There was also an old water heater in the open with cute little vintage magnets on it.  Those magnets now live on my modern refrigerator.  

All of this... from one bite of a biscuit shared with my children.  

Is there a childhood food you still enjoy today?  Is it a comfort food for you?

Please share with us... 

Baking Day at work...

Gluten Free Vanilla Pound Cake

From this lovely little book!

See...  :)

Regular Pound Cake for Wednesday night's dinner at the church where I work.

Paco made the overnight dinner rolls... these are very easy and very delicious!!!  One of my faves!

I did a Carrot Herb bread that I had done while I was taking the Breads and Rolls class with Chef Lugo... again... one of my faves!  :)

Here is the crumb...

Also made a sour cream coffee cake recipe - the topping goes in the middle on this one as the filling instead.  YUM!!!

Not sure I love this recipe... these turned out more like brownies but they would be nice with a buttercream frosting and some pistachios sprinkled on top.  :)  I TOTALLY followed the recipe to the letter on this one, too.  I think I would use a different recipe next time for the chocolate pistachio muffins.  Live and learn....  ;)

From my kitchen this week...

It has been a busy week back at school.  I worked my 13 hours of practicum and made a decision.  I won't be graduating in August due to some curriculum changes so I decided to slow down a bit.  I dropped my restaurant class so I could be home with my family a little more than I would have otherwise.  My first job is my family and I just needed to do that.  I am still working the 13 hour a week practicum and will be doing that until May sometime.  I have my ACF CC practical exam coming up in June so part of my class will be preparation for that test.  Once that is done I will have two more semesters of restaurant or practicum type work to finish and then if I finish the pastry I have 2 practicum classes, advanced pastry and laminated dough.  I could finish by next summer with all of it if the classes are offered over the year.

Outside of that I have been playing at home.  I have an Amish bread starter going on my counter on a regular basis now and I just started a sourdough starter a few days ago.  Both are working beautifully!  :)  Here are some pictures...

 

 Amish Bread made from recipe found here... it is a quick bread that has a world of variations you can do with it.

I love love LOVE TEXAS COOKING.COM!!!

 

Been making bread, too.  Here is my wheat mill.

 

This is a walnut, cranberry, honey whole wheat version.  YUM!!!

 

Made homemade mayonnaise this week...

I make mine in a blender with one egg, a pinch of salt, a pinch of dry mustard, about a tsp or lemon or vinegar and then about 2 cups canola oil.  It is SO simple to make your own!

 

After 48 hours it is full of yeast!  I put water, flour and honey together and covered it with a towel on the counter.  I am doing the "wild yeast" version and after baking bread next to the container all day yesterday it is FULL of yeast from the air.  It is wonderful!  I cannot wait to make sourdough bread next week.  I will let it sit out and stir it each day over the weekend and then it can be stored in the refrigerator in a crock or ceramic container.

So, that is what is happening in my kitchen lately.... what about your kitchen?    :-)

Advent night treat for week 2...

Tonight we had some pumpkin and chocolate chip scones. (click on the link and then sub chocolate chips for craisins, take ou the orange peel and add a bit of pumpkin and there ya go) The kiddos had eggnog with theirs and I had some New Mexico Pinon Decaf Coffee with International Delights Chocolate Mint Truffle Creamer. YUM!!!

On top is some orange colored sugar, btw. I used Special Dark Chocolate Chips, too. :)

Some Foodie Photos...

Baked some pumpkin muffins the other day... basically using this recipe and adding pumpkin to the mix in place of sweet potato. You can also add dried cranberries or raisins or add chocolate chips for a nice flavor. We ate ours with Nutella tucked in-between split muffins.


I also finished up my practical Thursday and I made sauteed chicken, homemade spelt pasta, an Alfredo Sauce and broccoli and carrots. This was AFTER the Chef critique so it is not plated perfectly but still all the component are there. :) The little part on top is a Parmesan crisp.

Weekend fun...Coffee Cake and a Recipe Card Holder

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Makes 2 9-inch round cakes

24 ounces sour cream

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 cups dried fruit

4 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Topping

2 cups walnuts chopped

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 (375 for higher altitude)

Grease 9 inch spring form pans

Combine the sour cream, granulated sugar and egg

Stir in the dried fruit

In separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt

Add the flour mixture to the sour cream mixture and stir thoroughly

Scrape into prepared pan. Smooth surface and sprinkle evenly with the walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon. Dot with butter

Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden skewer tests clean

Let cool 10 minutes before unmolding.

A Kitchen Craft... recipe card holder

Other weekend treats...

I shared that I recently bought 10 pounds of unsalted raw pistachios and that I would be trying some new recipes. I picked up this little book to help me out and it has the most AWESOME Chocolate pistachio bread recipe!

BREAKFAST!!!

Muffin Mania...

My Mom bought me a book during the time I was with her. It is a muffin book. I have not had tons of experience with making muffins and cup cakes over the years but I thought it would be a great thing to become really good at so we picked the book up. This morning I made my own variation of this basic muffin mix recipe from the book... My version is not in the book so it is now 101 muffins in my library. ;)

Makes 12 standard or 48 mini muffins

* oil or melted butter for greasing (I used a canola no stick spray for mine and it worked fine)
* 10 ounces of plain white flour
* 3 tsp. baking powder
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 4 ounces fine sugar
* 2 medium eggs (I used large eggs)
* 9 fluid ounces milk
* 6 tbsp sunflower oil or 3 ounces butter, melted and cooled (I used canola oil)
* 1 tsp vanilla extract (or whatever flavor you are looking to have)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

I basically sifted all the dry ingredients together and mixed the wet ingredients together and then put them together and mixed until just combined. I also added the following to mine...



* 1 cup mashed sweet potato without skins
* 1 cup mini chocolate chips (semisweet)


Here is what happened...



YUM!!!

German Puff Pancakes...

Kittencal's German Apple Puff Pancake Recipe

30 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 4

* 4 tablespoons butter, divided (one more tablespoon butter won't hurt)
* 4 large apples, peeled and sliced
* 3/4 cup flour
* 3/4 cup milk (or use half and half cream)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 tablespoon sugar (optional or to taste)
* 4 large eggs
* 1/3 cup sugar (can use 1/2 cup sugar) - I used brown sugar here
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste) - I also added allspice and nutmeg here

1. Set oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.
3. Place 2 Tbsp butter in each of the pans.
4. Place the pans in the oven and bake until the butter has melted; remove from oven.
5. In a bowl, beat the flour, 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, sugar (if using) salt, milk and eggs until smooth.
6. Arrange the apple slices into the two pans onto the melted butter.
7. Divide the batter evenly between pans, over the apple slices.
8. Mix the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the batter in each pan.
9. Bake until puffed, and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

© 2008 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Saturday Breakfast Food...

As a child I would get up on Saturday mornings and we would eat homemade biscuits and gravy or pancakes and we had eggs and bacon with it all. I have since let go of so much bacon because of my age... and the whole weight and cholesterol and healthy lifestyle issues but we still eat the carbs. This morning was biscuits with butter and jelly and we ate it while watching some cartoons we have on ROKU (Netflix box). So we had breakfast, cartoons and a lazy morning. I also had coffee and that makes me happy. :) Here are the biscuits...

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 c. sifted AP flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening
2/3 c. buttermilk or sour milk

Sift dry ingredients together. Rub or cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Add milk to make a soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured board or pastry cloth and knead gently for 30 seconds. Roll out 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit cutter or sharp knife. Bake on ungreased baking sheet in hot oven (475°) for 12 minutes. Makes about 12 biscuits.

NBM - Simple Whole Wheat Waffles...

NBM = National Bread Month, btw...

This is the waffle recipe I use. I add in all kinds of things as I cook them. I sprinkle them with nuts and seeds or add berries. Sometimes I add in stuff as I mix like a bit of pumpkin or mashed banana and cinnamon and nutmeg. The sky is the limit on these wonderful healthy breakfast treats. The above picture is a pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg waffle with little pumpkin seeds in it. We had these for dinner on Saturday night...

1 cup freshly ground red or white hard wheat flour (or just use wheat flour from the store)
1/4 level tsp salt
2 level tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I often substitute 1/3 powdered milk and 1 cup water to save a bit of money)
2 Tbsp. melted butter (or you can substitute oil for this)

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium size bowl.
Beat in the eggs and milk until batter is smooth. (you can separate the eggs, add yolks as you mix and beat the whites separately and fold in at the end of mixing for lighter waffles with a little crisp to them) Stir in the melted butter or oil and mix well.
Pour the batter into a hot, well-oiled waffle iron. Cook until the waffle is brown.

Some pumpkin recipes...

Wilm, I did not forget you... I dug through my recipes this week and found my Mom's recipes for Pumpkin bread and Pumpkin muffins. I know I have said she doesn' t cook and she never really did cook much but she has always done great with baking. These are yummy!!! I will be tweaking them to use with my whole wheat but here are the basic original recipes.

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil (I use canola)
1 #2 can pumpkin (I believe this about a 20 ounce can or 2 1/2 cups)
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts (I use pecans or walnuts)
1 cup raisins (I will also use craisins or dried cranberries)
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. soda

Grease and flour large or 3 medium loaf pans and set aside. Cream the oil, sugar and eggs together. Ad the sifted dry ingredients and pumpkin and mix well. Add the nuts and raisins.
Pour into loaf pans until half full and then bake in a 325 degree F oven for 1 hour or until golden on top. These freeze well and you can also make muffins with this recipe.

Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe maked a dozen muffins and my Mom used this when she was on Weight Watchers.

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk - use dry
6 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie or apple pie spice or cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar (or turbinado) - if you want to use a sugar substitute you can use the brown sugar twin, splenda or equal product.
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
1 cup grated carrots (about two large carrots)
4 Tbsp. raisins (again, you can use dried cranberries)

Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine the eggs and vanilla. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and carrots and raisins, if you are using them, go in at this point. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray and pour in batter about 2/3 full in each section. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes.

Stew is coming later today... :)

This is it... The Banana Walnut Whole Wheat Muffin Recipe

This is whole wheat and NO SALT for my hubby. Thought you might want the final test case and results for your files. They are YUMMO!!!

The latest recipe is as follows...

The basic recipe:
4 cups soft white wheat flour (freshly milled)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup honey
3 whole eggs
3/4 cup skim milk
4 mashed bananas
1/4 cup canola oil (can substitute applesauce for oil)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix all ingredients well and place in muffin pans. i spray with canola spray before filling and I am using a Pampered Chef stone muffin pan. This recipe makes 16 good sized muffins. Bake at 350 degree F for 40 minutes.


To analyze a recipe I use www.calorie-count.com. You can plug in a recipe and it will break down the nutritional information for you.

Still tweaking the muffin recipe

Still tweaking the muffin recipe
Originally uploaded by academy252.

Ok, here is the latest batch of those banana walnut muffins. They turned out great and big and fluffy. I went with less liquid this time and it worked! Here is the link to the last one...

The latest recipe is as follows...

The basic recipe:
4 cups hard red wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup honey
3 whole eggs
3/4 cup skim milk
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix all ingredients well and place in muffin pans. i spray with canola spray before filling and I am using a Pampered Chef stone muffin pan. This recipe makes 12 good sized muffins. Bake at 350 degree F for 40-45 minutes.

This did not last...

This did not last..., originally uploaded by academy252.

The loaf I made from the muffin batter below. It turned out really yummy, too! It is already gone. It lasted a whole 30 minutes right out of the oven... LOL

Muffins revisited...

The Banana Walnut Muffins..., originally uploaded by academy252.

I posted a Basic Versatile Muffin recipe a few days ago. Here is the latest tweak on it...

Banana Walnut Breakfast Muffins (no salt version)

The basic recipe:
4 cups seven grain flour
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup honey
3 whole eggs
1 cup skim milk
5 mashed bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix all ingredients well and place in muffin and bread pans. This recipe makes 12 good sized muffins and a small loave of bread. Bake at 350 degree F for 40-45 minutes for muffins (or until golden brown on top) and 55-65 minutes on loaf.

What I would have done differently....

There was too much liquid. I would go with less milk or more flour and see what happened but they are yummy and moist.

Basic Versatile Muffin Recipe - still tweaking this one...

I made these this week and they are good and fluffy. I have made muffins that could have been used as paperweights but these are not like that. They are nutritious and you can add a variety of things to flavor them the way you like. Here are two variations...

The basic recipe:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I mix hard white and soft white to make the AP version)
5 tsp. baking powder (only because this is a double recipe)
1/2 cup sugar (turbinado or honey works well)
3 whole eggs or 4 egg whites
1 cup skim milk

Now, to make blueberry muffins at this point you can add
1/2 cup canola or heart healthy oil
2 cups unsweetened blueberries

To make banana muffins I leave the oil out and just add
3 large very ripe bananas (the moisture is enough that you do not need oil unless you just want to put in a tablespoon or so)

You can also add walnuts or pecans if you like nuts - which I do and so do the kids.
This recipe makes 12 good sized muffins.