February 2010

White Chocolate Coconut Pancakes.

February 28, 2010 · 66 comments

Growing up, pancakes were always a staple in our house. My dad would make them on Saturday or Sunday, continuing the tradition from when his grandmother would make him a short stack.

Luckily, I married a man that can also make some superb pancakes. However, everyone tries to test me and ask ‘who makes better pancakes, your husband or your dad?’

I’ll never tell.

But I do sense a bit of competition each weekend when my husband is whipping up a batch.

I fancied these pancakes up a bit – which is funny since neither my husband or my father would eat such a thing. I would and did, of course.

Into the batter went some creamy coconut and white chocolate morsels. I toasted some coconut for garnish.

This is basically my husband’s worst nightmare since he hates coconut. But even he took one look at these pancakes and said ‘Wow! Those look really good!’

Luckily, today wasn’t the day that he decided to love coconut, which meant more pancakes for me.

I am considering forcing him to eat coconut. He and his friends decided that it would be hilarious to grow mustaches. I am refusing to go out in public with him. He looks like the uni-bomber, a child predator, and a creepy old man all rolled into one. Think I can shave him in his sleep?

Probably, since he sleeps like a toddler.

But do you know what’s funny? My dad has a mustache. So of course, my husband thinks it is fine for him to have one, too.

I should boycott cooking for him. Or only cook foods using items he dislikes, like ricotta cheese, coconut, and anything labeled ‘vegan.’ It would be funny if I got rid of all the meat in our house, too. I bet he’d shave that ‘stache in an instant.

White Chocolate Coconut Pancakes

pancakes from allrecipes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup white chocolate morsels

1/2 cup coconut

1/4 cup toasted coconut

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth. Fold in coconut.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Drop in white chocolate morsels. Flip when bubbles appear on the top. Brown on both sides and serve hot. Garnish with butter, syrup, and toasted coconut.

The white chocolate became melty and creamy, giving the fluffy pancakes a sweet, smooth texture. They practically melt in your mouth!

Make these pancakes for breakfast asap. Or for dinner. Or even lunch. Or dessert. Or how about for a snack? You can also make them if your husband hates coconut and is growing a crusty mustache. Report back.

On the pancakes that is, not about the mustache. There is no changing my mind on this one.

{ 66 comments }

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Fudge Muffins.

February 26, 2010 · 66 comments

Since beginning my blog almost 6 months ago, I have been a tornado in the kitchen at least 5 days out of the week.

I cooked and baked a lot before the blog, but I love the challenge that the blog has put upon me in creating new meals for myself, my family, and friends. I get bored so easily when it comes to food - always wanting something different – so developing a new recipe is like finding gold to me.

Or like finding a new pair (or 7) of Christian Louboutain’s in my closet.

For the past 10 days, I have not cooked ONE thing. Well, I did make some sub-par macaroni and cheese last Friday – only so those of us that hate veggies and are not eating meat on Friday’s due to Lent would not starve.

Before my grandma passed, I was having major ‘blogger’s block.’ After she passed, I really had no desire to blog at all. I have been having serious doubts about my writing - if it is any good at all - and if I will ever get anywhere with it. After all, I blog to write, not to cook. In usual fashion, when things get difficult, I want to quit.

I had a ginormous baking disaster in the kitchen last night – one that had me standing in the kitchen for almost 3 hours and left me with nothing to show for it. If only I could decorate cookies like my beautiful friend, Amanda, last night would have been a success!

Maybe I should just hire her to come bake for me.

The disaster left me with nothing to post today. I usually bake or cook multiple recipes at a time, giving some away to friends or family, or making them for a party at our home. I used most of extra post’s up this week due to the unfortunate events.

But, I did find these muffins tucked away in my iPhoto gallery.

Remember the whole wheat peanut butter and jelly muffins? I adapted the recipe a bit to make healthier chocolate peanut butter muffins.

And boy, were they delicious!

I knew that just this plain ole’ muffin wasn’t going to do, since I always need a bit of drama in my life.

So I doused it with melted peanut butter.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Fudge Muffins

Makes ~12 muffins
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Naturally More)
1/4 cup egg whites
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons applesauce

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugars, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (through vanilla); add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in applesauce. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Fill each cup 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack.

Top with melted peanut butter.

Chocolate and peanut butter make the world go ’round. Don’t you agree?

{ 66 comments }

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.

February 25, 2010 · 106 comments

When my mom got me a recipe box a few Christmases ago, I immediately went scrounging through all of her recipes to find some to add to my own collection.

She has many recipes saved from years past that she has never made, and this is one of them. I decided to take on the difficult task of making this pie, because it must be just terrible to eat chocolate chip cookies in pie form, right?

When I first saw the recipe, I assumed the crust would be made from graham crackers or cookies. But it actually called for a regular pie crust.

This gave me the perfect chance to try Mother Lovett’s perfect pie crust. And when I say try, I really mean fail miserably 14 times before not even coming close to her crust.

She did not measure any ingredients when baking her crust, nor did she follow a recipe for the last 20 years. She just knew when it was ready. Kind of how she knew it was appropriate to stand on a step stool washing walls at age 86. Or how she knew that one of her loving grandchildren would buy every embarrassing item possible in the grocery store at once, including, but not limited to maxi pads with wings, stool softener, Mylanta, and oatmeal cream pies, just because she asked.

My crust came out ugly, but edible. Once I have the recipe down pat, I will share it with you.

That is, if I don’t commit myself to an insane asylum first.

But really, who cares about the crust when the top of the pie resembles a buttery, crispy chocolate chip cookie?

I’m not really a pie person, most likely because they don’t always include chocolate, bacon or cheese.

I should change that, shouldn’t I? I’ll get on it right away.

This pie, however . . . it changed me.

It made me a pie person.

At least for the time being, when I was shoveling 6 pieces into my mouth.

Know what makes this pie even better?

Topping it with ice cream while it is still warm.

The ice cream melts into the crevices of the cookie topping, and seeps all the way down into the pie. It is such a sin.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 cup chocolate chips

1 unbaked pie shell

whipped cream or ice cream

Preheat oven to 325. In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Beat in flour, sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 60 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream.

If you make this pie and eat it warm with an entire gallon of ice cream, I won’t tell.

{ 106 comments }

Chopped Chicken Salad.

I think I am losing my marbles, because the past few weeks I have been craving salads. I’m sure it has to do with the eagerness I feel for Spring to arrive, and have been hoping a fresh, crisp salad can hold me over until the mild weather finally returns. Of course, salads to me don’t mean loads of veggies. The mean loads of cheese, nuts, avocado, and crunchy things like tortilla chips hidden inside. They would also mean bacon, but since I gave that up for Lent, I was not able to include it in this salad. Trust me – that was more difficult than it sounds. I even had the bacon out on the counter. I love chopped salads. I love the crispy crunch you get with each bite, and the brightness of all the different flavors. The highlight of this salad for me was the corn and the avocado. I almost added some crunchy blue corn tortilla chips, but decided against it. I think they would make a fabulous addition and they could even be used to ‘scoop’ up the salad. I also added some dried cherries, which is one of my favorite dried fruits. [...]

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In The Care Of Friends.

Tonight I went to dinner my with my best friend, Kelly, and her beautiful baby girl, Morgan. I’ve mentioned before, but Morgan and I get along delightfully. I chalk it up to us both having super chubby thighs and eating everything in sight. Also, most of the time Kelly has to act like my mother, since I tend to be a bit dramatic. These days, I find myself getting a bit jealous of Morgan since she is getting taller and thinner. Must be nice . . . I’ve found that for myself there is a fine line between grieving and moping. I enjoy being alone at this time, because I love thinking of my grandma and all the times I had with her. I almost enjoy feeling a bit ‘sad.’ But there are a few moments when I just don’t want to be alone. There is something to be said about seeing a vibrant, cheerful baby after dealing with the death of a loved one. Spending some time with Morgan, watching how alive she is, how happy she is, how beautiful she is – it really makes me appreciate the circle of life. We all have so much to live [...]

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Peanut Butter Granola.

This peanut butter granola was my first attempt at ever making a homemade granola. I’d say it certainly was tasty since I devoured the entire tray within 3 seconds. Which is why I usually don’t make my own granola – because I will eat it all in one sitting. Someone please give me some self control. I mixed a ton of sticky ingredients together before laying them across a baking sheet. And I ate about 38 spoonfuls before it even went into the oven. What is it that makes granola so addicting? It is virtually impossible to stop at the recommended serving size. This is another treat that Mr. How Sweet didn’t even get to taste. I don’t even think I told him I made this. No biggie – he wouldn’t have eaten it anyway since is lacked meat. Plus, ‘granola’ to him equals weird, hippie-like people. He basically has convulsions when I make him go to Whole Foods or a co-op. Oh – well, here is the main reason Mr. How Sweet didn’t get any granola. His wife scarfed down this giant bowl while he was out shoveling snow. I do my part, he does his. Peanut Butter [...]

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Crispy Potato and Brie Omelet.

Thank you all so much for your loving support over the past few days. I am not really ready to begin blogging again, but feel it’s best to get back into a routine. Plus, I miss you all! I made this omelet last Saturday, and surprisingly didn’t add bacon. Speaking of bacon, I am thinking about giving it up for Lent. Yes, I know Lent began last week, but that was really the last thing on my mind. I haven’t eaten bacon all week, and it will be pretty darn challenging for me to give it up. I may have to fry it up just so I can smell it – it should help with my withdrawl symptoms. I love adding potatoes to omelets instead of having them on the side. I chop them up very small, then add them to a skillet with a bit of olive oil. Once they are golden and crispy, I add in some sweet shallots. This just made my house smell heavenly. Almost as amazing as the delectable scent of bacon. I also added some tarragon to the eggs, which was left over from Mr. How Sweet’s Valentine’s Day dinner. It gave a great [...]

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So Thankful.

Saturday afternoon, my husband and I did away with our usual late-morning gym and lounging plans for the day. Instead, we spent the entire day with my grandparents and my parents, as a Valentine’s Day celebration. I have never been so thankful for anything in my life – that I spent one of my grandmother’s last days with her. We had a late lunch at Houlihans, who, by the way, had a fabulous new menu. I ordered fried pickles and french fries with gravy as my meal – probably not the most lady-like item on the menu. It was the simple things that day that I remember so vividly – her buying her favorite soap at Crabtree and Evelyn, and us eating Godiva truffles that my hubby, dad, and grandpa had waited in the treacherous pre-Valentine’s Day line just to buy for us. We walked through Talbots – her favorite store – and Williams Sonoma – my favorite store. That evening after we drove back to their house, we relaxed while I layed on her couch before leaving. I have spoke so much of Mother Lovett on my blog. Writing about her comes easily to me. It has been hard [...]

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Peace.

Early this morning, my beloved grandmother suddenly passed away. I feel like my breath has been taken from me. She was the perfect wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and lived only to serve others. I can only hope that one day I can live up to be half of the woman she was. I am grateful that we never watched her suffer. I know God has a plan for us all and that she is truly at peace now.

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Mr. How Sweet Cooks Up a Treat.

As Valentine’s Day came barreling towards Mr. How Sweet, he was faced with a familiar problem…what to get his beautiful bride? Normally I would just get her something shiny as that usually distracts her. “Oh, look, there are SEQUINS on that blouse!!! Aren’t they AMAZING? Those are the BEST sequins ever!” Fact: Guys don’t care about sequins. As least guys not named Elton John. I thought a great treat for the wifey would be if I made her dinner and wrote a post for her blog. But what to make? Our taste buds don’t always see eye-to-eye. Her tastes are a little more refined than yours truly. Mine, well, they’ve been compared to those of a 5 year old. Chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese…don’t mind if I do, thank you very much. What meal could satisfy her refined, yet picky (“no” to chicken or vegetables, “yes” to bacon and cheese… and bacon) tastes and my requirements of 200 protein grams in one sitting? After much soul searching and head-pounding-against-a-desk I had a vision. A filet-mignon-with-lobster-sauce vision. I mean, I’ve tackled (and mastered) dippy eggs and toasted bagels. I was now ready for a challenge. After stopping at the grocery store where [...]

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