I was putting some pictures together from my phone and I realized a food trend. I know I cook 95% of our meals at home, but I seriously take a LOT of pictures of food. I don’t always show people, but I’ve been taking pictures of food since before it was cool. Cooking is imperative to me as the one taking care of my family every single day. It can get exhausting being the ONLY one to plan, shop for (with kids), unpack, prepare, cook, and clean-up the meals every day. No respite. However, I wouldn’t trade any job or position for what I am able to do every day in this home for my love, my kids, and anyone else who pulls up a chair to our table. This week I have been so encouraged by friends in regards to food and ways you can change meals up for your families. There are SO many easy/new/different/cool recipes out there for us to try…it will never get boring. If my positive energy isn’t working, try my “Ridiculously Yummy” board on Pinterest. There are tons of amazing recipes out there!
My pictures are just a tiny snapshot of my week. This one was a busy one. We are on our last week of the foster care process and just have our final inspection tomorrow (fri). Above you will see some calm in the midst of business.
(from left to right, top to bottom)
1. Miss F and I made clay bread for her dollhouse. So fun.
2. We had delicious meatballs Monday night from my rarely used Everyday Food cookbook.
3. Had a play-date with some home-school moms at a new park. They loved it.
4. Had some friends over Sunday for Jamie Oliver’s mushroom risotto
5. Had a foster care interview Tuesday and then ate at Claim Jumper. The Mother-load disappointed. Did it always taste that bad or has my tongue become that snobby. I’m thinking they’ve changed the ingredients…one more place to check off our list.
6. Finishing some foster paperwork and doing a little web design with Leonard by my side. He can be so encouraging.
7. Celebrated a beloved friend’s 40th. She’s amazing…one of those truly generous people who I love to be around.
8. Made cheese dip from here for an evening at home.
9. Enjoyed some Pocky and reminisced about Japan.
10. Made some vanilla extract with a friend. Tutorial to follow.
11. Made Guinness Lamb Stew for a party tomorrow at the same time as calzones for our dinner tonight
12. My little buddy finished his first preschool book. Woo! He loves school way to much.
13. My little bean about to enjoy family movie night. We finally watched Dolphin Tale which was truly one of the best family films I have seen. Truly.
14. If you are busy like me, try Shepherd’s Pie for dinner. Start with Alton Brown’s recipe but substitute a hearty stout or porter for the broth. It makes an amazing yet easy twist! I even make this when it’s just the kids and I. My recipe to follow.
15. Ed and I took CPR online Monday night and had our test/ evaluation on Wednesday night. Thanks to my Mom for hanging with the kids for a bit Wednesday night :). I was a little saddened by the NEW Heimlich for larger children…oh how I wish we could be a healthier nation and not need this update.
16. Got to learn a few new plant-based recipes from my friend Leah on Saturday. She’s an inspiration to us all of good health and could definitely help the guy in picture 15.
Make anything good this week?
What every kid wants on a Saturday morning.
Kids always want pancakes. My kids get RIDICULOUSLY excited about these puppies, but that might be because I don’t make them regularly. About one pancake in (if they make it that far) they are over it, but for that 15 minutes that I am prepping and the 3-5 minutes they are eating them, they are super excited.
THAT makes it totally worth it.
I’ve tried so many recipes and I never really found “the one” until very recently. Yes, we fell in love and are quite happy together. No other pancake can come between us…but a waffle could possibly. I read similar sentiments in a post from The Brown Eyed Baker about the recipe she had found so I knew I had to try it. Anyone who loves a fluffy pancake with a buttery delicious crispy outside will devour this recipe. No cake-y pancakes here.
I added this food to my Junk Food Remade series because of the following:
 
That’s quite a few more ingredients and other…stuff. Now, I really love to use butter on my pancakes and that’s not the best choice in some ways, but at least I know what’s in my butter. I think mine still cuts it WAY under 220 calories for 3 pancakes. The cool thing is you can keep your dry ingredients in a jar or container and then add the wet on the day you make it. That’s pretty close to shake and pour, right? As long as you are making them at home you might as well make them right!
You can see the melted butter goodness and the textbook pancake bubbles.
Best Pancakes Ever
2 cups flour
2 T granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2 cups milk (plus 1 tsp vinegar)*
2 eggs
¼ cup sour cream
3 T butter, melted and cooled a bit
butter or oil for the pan
Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk/vinegar combo, eggs, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined…it’s ok if there are a few lumps (resist the stirring!). Let it sit while your pan heats up. Hot pans make the best pancakes :) I prefer butter for my pancakes because I think it tastes Awesome the best perfect irresistible pretty good, but oil is totally cool too. Just grease your pan either way and cook until the bubbles start to pop . Flip and cook 1 minute or so more.
Remember to grease your pan in between batches.
*Normally buttermilk is a great ingredient in pancakes, but who really has buttermilk when you need it for a spontaneous Saturday morning pancake session? The old trick is to use 1 tsp of vinegar for every 1 cup of milk. The milk “turns” a bit from the vinegar and ends up pretty darn close to buttermilk.
To top it off…
…grab some preserves (like these that I made this summer) or jelly instead of maple syrup. If your kids (or you) prefer the pouring motion, try to use REAL maple syrup from the tree (I know it’s more $ but it’s totally worth it), honey, or heat the jelly up so you can pour it on.
Here is what’s in your old pal Auntie Jemima’s syrup:
INGREDIENTS: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE
She’s not watchin’ out for you anymore :/ Do you ever notice that we try to call it maple syrup but the closest thing to maple syrup it will ever be is sitting next to maple syrup on the shelf. Just a few things we can ALL think about. Know what you’re eating!
That’s why you are gonna make some pancakes from scratch right?
I thought so :)
Caramel is one of my very favorite things. Even more than plain caramels I love salted caramels and goat’s milk caramels. I love the creamy vanilla flavor with the bite of the goat’s milk. Yummy. I don’t know why I don’t make them very often, but I’m glad I did this Christmas. I saw this pin and knew I wanted to make the salted caramel variety.
Double.Yummy.
Maybe I love caramel because I’m not really a fudge person. I think I started making fudge so young that it’s become a little too “been there done that” and unexciting. No offense, fudge people…not my thing. I don’t crave it.
 
I am not posting the recipe because I didn’t alter it since it is candy. I didn’t make the recipe my own and wouldn’t support making something with corn syrup on even a semi-regular basis anyway. But, who are we kidding? Caramel is sugar so it’s not really good for you either way.
I am however providing a visual of what the colors look like at various stages. I love kitchen science. I feel like Harold McGee would be proud of the science in these pictures, I think.
It’s hard to wait, but it does happen
“Firm Ball”=perfect caramels.
 You could choose any salt, I suppose, however the lighter and more flaky it is, the more likely it will melt in your mouth with the caramel.
I wrapped mine in parchment to make them extra-adorable and also to limit myself on servings. Actually, I just gave them all away and that very much limited my servings. I would have eaten all of them. You can find these cute take-out containers for $.99 at the always awesome, Container Store.
Make anything fun…post it here…
You’ve probably seen that one super-cute peppermint wreath floating around Pinterest. I love the simplicity of it and that you only need glue, peppermints, and a wreath form. I had planned to make one, from this pin, but then I watch “Elf”. I’ve said before that if you haven’t seen that movie, you most definitely should. It’s one of my favorites. So, I was listening to the description in the movie about the candy-cane forests and I thought to myself…I think I need one of those. I need a candy-cane forest.
Right away, I put my little elves to work on the unwrapping of the peppermints. It’s a GREAT job for kids, it only costs you a few peppermints in the process (snitchers). We kind-of made it a race where I glued them while they unwrapped them. You add some Christmas music and it was pretty fun. You just buy a foam tree from a floral supply place or a craft store (San Diego, you can find these at Michael’s), you glue them on with a hot glue gun, and wait for it to dry. The only tricks I learned were to start at the bottom and always keep a portion in the back that is your “sloppy” side. The shapes just can’t meet up every time so I think it’s a good idea to leave yourself some room to mess up on that back portion so you aren’t using a pill divider to slice your peppermints to fit. I’m sure there are people who do that, but I’m not that crazy. I’m sure you could paint the tree the correct color so it doesn’t look “off” but this is only 1/12 Pinterest projects.
Peppermints are special in my family because they are the heart and soul of the best Christmas cookie on the planet, The Pink Cloud. We have been making this cookie for as long as I can remember. Apparently my Grandma found it in a magazine a long time ago and we’ve been making it ever since. I can’t remember it not being here. In fact, it is a requirement for tree decorating. My mom always made decorating the tree into a little party. There was always Babybel cheese with crackers, salami, eggnog (which I found out as an adult my mom never liked), and definitely Pink Cloud cookies. I faintly remember that ball of cheese that’s rolled in nuts, but I could be wrong. There has been stress, time crunches, a lack of ingredients, sickness, and tears, but nothing has kept us from our Pink Clouds for the process of decorating. There would be an empty tree all year if there were no Pink Clouds. I may or may not be leaving the recipe below, you’ll have to keep reading to see if it’s there at the end!
Here is our tree hunting for 2011. We never leave our personalities behind in this family:
We all agreed on the one to the right of us. It’s nice when it works out that way. I feel terrible, though, that for the first time ever in his life, our dog was forgotten. Poor guy has been in every Christmas tree photo for his 8 Christmases. Sorry, Leonard. We still love you.
Back to those cookies…I’ll give you the original recipe, but my sister and I don’t actually use the cookie dough part anymore. I gave up shortening and try to stick with butter, but it does make THE best pink cloud cookie :). You can basically use any sugar cookie recipe to suit your tastes. This year, I tried Alton Brown’s recipe and didn’t really love how it worked out. His cookies are really great, just not paired with the meringue in this recipe. They were a little too crispy. I must admit I really miss the old cookie dough/meringue combo. Maybe my Mom will make them. Are you listening to me, Mom?
Pink Cloud Cookies
cookie dough:
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. milk
2 eggs yolks
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
peppermint merinque:
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. white vinegar
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips ( I usually sub 60% cocoa here)
1 c. coarsely crushed peppermints (not candy canes!)**
In a large bowl, combine the cookie dough ingredients. Blend well with a mixer. Chill while making the meringue.
Beat egg whites in a bowl with salt till soft mounds form. Gradually add sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Fold in the remaining ingredients. Shape dough into balls (small walnut size-this is no joke!). Place on a ungreased sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass, dipped in water and sugar (alternating water then sugar between cookie squashing to help the dough not to stick to the glass). Top each cookie with a rounded T. of meringue. Bake for 20 minutes at 325 or until the sugar cookie is just barely golden.
**To crush the peppermints, I put mine in an old but sturdy pillowcase and hammer away. I put my crushed pile through my colander to make sure I don’t have huge pieces. If I had a sturdy canvas bag that didn’t “leak” fabric, I would use a canvas bag like my mom has.
Every Christmas, I make the same cookie recipes. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. I love each one and have no intention of stopping this tradition. However, every year I also am tempting by the intriguing new recipes from Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart Living, my old Gourmet’s, and every other picture at the checkout line. I look and look at my stacks of Christmas magazines but don’t usually make time during Christmas for more than 1 or 2. This year I made one from my list from 2 years ago, which I was reminded of by this Pinterest pin. I’ve had cardamom cookies and marshmallows from a really great bakery in New York called Whimsy and Spice before. They have really great sampler boxes if you are looking for a gift for a foodie…or anyone really. Ever since I tried theirs, I’ve wanted to make some.
So, I give you my version which I added orange zest and hazelnut meal to.
 
Orange and Cardamom Crescents
(adapted from Bon Appetit)
3/4 tsp. cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
3/4 c. hazelnut flour
1 c. unsalted butter, room temp
1 T. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and flour together. In a separate bowl, whisk 1/2 cup powdered sugar and hazelnut flour. With your mixer, beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Add sugar/hazelnut mixture, zest, and beat to blend. Add the dry ingredients and blend until they form a course but moist mixture. Flip onto the counter and knead a few times until it forms a ball.
Take a T. of the dough, form a ball, and roll it a few times in your hands until it makes a log. It will be about 1 1/2 in long. turn up the ends to make a crescent shape. Place the formed cookies on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake for about 12 minutes.
Sift the rest of the powdered sugar (1 c.) onto a plate or something else you could use to roll the cookies in. Roll the warm cookies in the sugar until the are covered and set on a rack to cool.
Post your Christmas Pinterest Pictures here…
Check out day 1 here.
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