Blueberry (Banana) Pancakes

Finally took a Saturday morning to show Tim that pancakes are not always derived from Bisquick... ;)

These were really good. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of plain pancakes...and just throwing some blueberries in the batter won't cut it either. I usually like a little bit (or a lot a bit) of whole wheat in the batter, or some nuts for texture. In this recipe, the addition of banana satisfied my texture cravings. The flavor is not overwhelming, but instead is very complementary to the blueberries. I also added some cinnamon (of course) to give it an extra dimension. Oh, and vanilla. I loooove vanilla. At some point I'm going to get my hands on some vanilla beans, & then I am sure I will truly be in heaven.

I added the blueberries individually to the pancakes (plopped em on top of the batter before I flipped the pancakes) but feel free to fold them into the batter instead.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/2 small banana, mashed
1 cup unbleached AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries, rinsed

Stir together buttermilk, skim milk, egg, vanilla extract & banana. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar & cinnamon. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture & blend until just combined.

Heat griddle or pan to medium. Spritz with cooking spray or add about 1/2 Tbsp of oil to the pan. Once oil or cooking spray is hot (water sprinkled in the oil sizzles), pour batter into the pan until the pancake reaches desired size. Add blueberries (by hand) to the pancakes, then wait 2 or 3 minutes or until bubbles form in the batter. Flip pancakes and wait another 2 minutes, or until 2nd side is golden. Remove pancakes from heat & enjoy immediately!

Makes about 10 pancakes.

French Toast for a cause

I'm not a big fan of cancer. In fact, one might say that cancer is my arch enemy...someone lurking around corners, causing me to glance back in fear. I didn't have much experience with cancer for the majority of my life, and for that I'm grateful. But when cancer hit, it hit hard. 2 years, 3 deaths. Less than 2 years really. January, December, and again in May. Aunt, uncle, grandmother. My grandmother was the first one sick, actually, and we didn't expect her to survive 2 of her children, but she did. And of course she lived over 80 years, and we knew that she wouldn't last forever...but watching her suffer for so long was practically unbearable. She lived with our family, and I was away from home, in college & then grad school, so I never really knew which of my visits home would be my last moment spent with her. Cancer is a fuck of a disease...your body just deteriorates, and it gets so painful that they put you on crazy drugs that make you act like you're 5 again...or at least that's what they did for my grandmother. Honestly, some days she acted just like a kid...clapping her hands in excitement, saying silly things that made no sense. It was good to see her "happy" but I knew it wasn't the amazing, educated woman that I'd known for so long. Watching her slowly waste away was hard, but I'm so grateful for the moments that I spent with her, the stolen seconds that we shared.

My aunt & uncle were much more unexpected. My mom called me one day to tell me my aunt was in the hospital, so they flew to Florida, and when I spoke to them the next day, she had died. I guess she had been sick for some time, but they kept it from us...whether she didn't want us to see her suffer or she was ashamed, I don't know. Shortly thereafter we found out my uncle had cancer, and that it was so far that he wouldn't be able to beat it. He died Christmas eve. And for his poor family, Christmas will never be the same again.

I know that I've shared some really personal & emotional experiences with people who barely know me at all, but isn't that the point? To understand that cancer is painful & heartbreaking for those going through it, as well as those who share the experience? And, most of all, to know that there are people who go through it with us, holding our hand & screaming at the world for being so stupid sometimes!

And so, I reach out my hand to everyone, since honestly there are so few people without have experiences to share. I'm submitting this recipe to Livestrong with A Taste of Yellow as my first time blog event (*grin*). I couldn't let this one pass without participating (ok, I almost did let it pass...but I came through)! I thank Barbara for this event, and I hope that she doesn't mind that this recipe is not much of a recipe at all...of course everyone can make french toast! But it's personal & has meaning, and I hope everyone can enjoy it with me.

*Introductory note: My dad's side of the family seems to be plagued with colon cancer (& remember, it's important to get a colonoscopy regularly! I know, it's not dinner time conversation, but catch it early & we can do something about it!) so I wanted to make something that's high in fiber for this event. We know whole grains are important, but make sure to find bread that has a high fiber content, as apparently not all whole grains provide the same level of fiber. My bread had flax seed, which is another step toward healthy eating. I also incorporated berries, which evidently are cancer fighting too. I swear I read in a magazine once that research had shown cinnamon to be helpful in the prevention of cancer, so I included cinnamon as well.*

High-Fiber French Toast

4 slices high-fiber bread
4 eggs
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries*
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp cinnamon

Beat eggs in a wide bowl, & place one piece of bread in the egg mixture, coating both sides. Let the bread sit in the bowl while you prepare the pan. Heat non-stick pan over medium heat & spray pan with cooking spray.

Meanwhile, place strawberries, blueberries*, water & sugar in small pot on medium-low heat. Make sure to stir often. When the liquid has thickened & the mixture is warm, remove from heat.

Place egg-ed slice of bread into non-stick pan, flipping after about a minute to cook both sides evenly. Repeat with other slices of bread.

Stack pieces of bread on a plate, top with fruit compote & some extra cinnamon, and serve. Of course, it's best served while still warm.

*I used dried blueberries, which worked fine, but if you use fresh or frozen blueberries, you might not need as much water.

My doctor tells me I need to eat 50 grams of fiber a day...50 grams?! Is that even possible? Do I really have to spend the rest of my life worrying that I'm not getting 50 grams of fiber a day? There's so many "cancer-curing" foods out there...it makes us feel like if we eat enough of them, we can be sure that cancer doesn't attack our bodies. It weighs on our mind...am I eating enough of the right foods...am I going to get cancer if I don't eat enough blueberries? If I'm not a fan of flax seed? It gets to a point that we probably need to take a step back & just try to be healthy. Of course, incorporating "cancer-fighting" foods into our daily diet will give us one more chance to kick cancer's ass, but making yourself crazy over it can't be good for your body either. So try to be healthy, remember to make those annual treks to the doctor, and try to remain strong...for our families, friends, and ourselves. Live strong.

hasta manana

Updated 4/16 to include pictures of the food! Also, Tim did well & we looked at new apartments today! I'm very happy. :)

I can't wait for tomorrow. I've been waiting for tomorrow for weeks...months even! Tomorrow is the day I find out for sure if I will be getting out of this god-forsaken place...the day I can finally relax and spend time with my not-driving-me-crazy-anymore Tim...the day he can relax & stop being the most ungodly frustrating human being on the face of this earth (exaggerate much, Sarah? sorry babe! i love you even when you're stressed out of your gourd)...the day when I can start making plans. At least, we hope.

In the meantime (as I haven't spent much time with tv, music, sleep or fun...I gather those are all rather distracting), this weekend has been a whirlwind in the kitchen. In fact, I'm rather unsure that I've spent any time NOT in the kitchen. As I write, I'm sitting beside a pizzelle maker, occasionally pausing to remove pizzelles & drop more batter onto the iron. Not only have I spent the last oh, I don't know, 12 hours making cookies (for Tim to bring to his presentation tomorrow), but I've also managed to squeeze in:

Coconut macaroon pancakes









(for which I didn't have coconut milk, so I sub'd skim milk & didn't have eggs, so I sub'd egg whites...still delicious!)

Failed Kozy Shack rice pudding experiment
(which was FAR too sweet, and I couldn't get over the flour as a thickener (ok, partly my fault since I didn't have any all-purpose flour, used white whole wheat...ewwy uncooked) with the weird texture the flour provided...still haven't eaten much of it. I occasionally take it out of the fridge & taste it, but then I kind of shudder & put it back.)

More white chocolate biscotti
(a new recipe, very much the texture like you'd get at a real coffee shop, which was cool. So good dipped in coffee. Mine personally didn't have much flavor, but I think that's because the white chocolate chips obviously didn't survive very well in all that heat. I made a bunch of changes to this recipe, so hopefully I'll update this with my recipe, but I appear to have lost the paper right now...)

Buckwheat galettes
(using entirely buckwheat flour...I didn't have any all-purpose. Also using 2% milk. I ran into some lumps in the batter...if anyone has any advice on how not to get those? Other than that, delicious & easy! I love crepes, but have never been to France, so I've only ever had them in the States & Montreal...& at home! We ate them with eggs & cheese, as well as with strawberries & whipped cream.)

Lucky muffins
(I tried incorporating some of the actual cereal into the cupcake...what's the use in getting rid of the yummy part of the cereal...it's the rest of the cereal that's hard to use up! It was mildly successful. I wasn't wild about them but Tim liked them, and we finally got rid of that box of Lucky Charms that's been sitting in the cupboard for months.)

Successful & delicious rice pudding
(In two parts: I wanted to try a recipe starting with cooked rice, but didn't actually have any cooked rice, so I "cooked rice" by simmering 2 cups skim milk & 1 cup basmati rice in a covered pot until the milk was absorbed. Then I halved the rice, made attempt #1 with the first 1/2, and put the other half in the fridge overnight. The next day, I took the other 1/2 out of the fridge, put the cold (2 cups) cooked rice in a pot with 3 cups 2% milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 cup sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon. I let it simmer for about an hour, stirring frequently, until most of the milk was absorbed. Then into the fridge it went again, and it's still creamy & thick & lovely! And not flour-y at all, thank goodness. I roughly followed this recipe, once I had cooked the rice.)

I also attempted scalloped potatoes, but those didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. Tim liked 'em, but I wasn't satisfied.

As for the cookies, I made:

Chocolate Chunk & Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
(I'd been dying to try these. I halved the recipe, & used 1/2 light brown sugar & 1/2 dark brown sugar. I also used 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour & 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (in the halved version). Before adding the cherries & chocolate I split the batter, adding the cherries & chocolate to 1/2 the batter, and just adding raisins, 1/4 tsp cloves & 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the other half (oatmeal raisin cookies). Both halves were delicious. Great texture & the chocolate cherry ones had great flavor. Actually, I've decided to keep those ones...they're too good to share with Tim's department. :)



Patricia's Chocolate Sugar Cookies
(Didn't change a thing! These are really delicious. Mine looked darker than the ones in her pictures, but that might have been my camera or I added slightly more cocoa or something weird. Mmmm...I'm not usually big on sugar cookies, but add some chocolate in there & I'll be pushing my way to the front of the line!)



Chocolate Chip Cookies
(These I wasn't totally satisfied with, but I blame that on the fact that I left out the peanut butter...I know, I'm crazy...that's the best part...but this time I just wanted a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I used 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 egg yolk & 1/2 cup flour instead. Everything else I kept the same (except...uh...clears throat...I used leftover "Santa" Reeses' peanut butter cups...don't yell! I know, we never eat candy! We had so much Christmas candy! I promise, it was still edible!) and I liked the texture of these a lot better.)

And that brings me back to pizzelles. I added some chopped hazelnuts to this batch...yum!

I'm hoping to add some pictures soon...right now it's dark & late so I'm not going to photograph yet. Wish Tim luck tomorrow! Here's hoping that my baking will soften them up a bit. :) Can't ask too many tough questions when eating delicious treats, right?

Tim's Sacred Geometry

Does anyone watch Rob & Big? No? I thought that might be the case. We, on the other hand, watch it somewhat religiously. (If you haven't seen it, you have to catch the one where they buy a net gun, it's a complete winner!)

Ever since we saw an episode where Rob & Big went to see a spiritual leader to find out how to improve Rob's skateboarding (I should probably mention here that Tim skateboards, and thus the show is particularly entertaining for him), Tim has been talking about sacred geometry (also known as sacred "g"). Basically, they pasted this geometric pattern (sacred g) onto the bottom of the skateboard for luck. And indeed, it somehow improved his "run".

When Tim saw the cinnamon buns upside-down (why were they upside-down you ask? that's how they came out of the pan of course!), looking all perfect and similar, he asked "Honey, did you make me sacred geometry?" which I thought was very cute, and it stuck.

So I present to you, my sacred geometry.

Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Bon Apetit, March 2008

1/2 cup skim milk
1.5 Tbsps unsalted butter
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp rapid-rise yeast
1/2 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

filling
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp light spreadable butter

glaze
2 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

For dough:
Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 21/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling:
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

For glaze:
Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 10 cinnamon buns, at least mine did.

Also, Tim and I just discussed how much of a guilty pleasure these are, and I realized...the way I made them, they probably aren't that bad for you (I mean, besides all the sugar...). Since I used skim milk & some whole wheat flour, (plus I actually used light spreadable butter for the filling, which worked out nicely), they probably aren't overwhelmingly unhealthy. Of course, they should still be saved for a once in a while indulgence, but you shouldn't feel guilty eating 3 (or 4, or 5). ;) Oh, and I ate them without the glaze. Yes, I know, I'm weird!

*footnote: I went crazy on these pictures because it was actually SUNNY out when I took them! Wow, Sarah, you baked during daylight? Yes, I know, I was out of control!*