Homemade Pancakes: You Don't Need No Bisquick!

Prior to my life with my future husband, I actually learned how to make pancakes from scratch. OK - so that isn't rocket science, but considering I came from a household where pancakes came out of a box (whether it was powder or frozen), I consider this to be a huge achievement. But the reason I know how to make homemade pancakes is because of my dear friend and former roommate (and future bridesmaid) Gretchen. I lived with Gretchen when we went to Malta during our junior year of college. On Sunday morning, Gretchen would treat the flatmates to a breakfast of homemade pancakes. And even if she went out the night before and decided to not get up until afternoon the next day, she'd come home, make a bowl of batter and leave it in the fridge for the early risers. Gretchen learned to make pancakes from her father Rick and when I asked her for the recipe she said it was probably from Betty Crocker. But it's all good.


Homemade Pancakes

1 1/4 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 T sugar
1 egg
1 c. milk
2 T oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Cook on a griddle that's heated to 340 degrees or in a frying pan. (If the pan is not hot enough, you'll know ... trust me ... you'll know.)

Monday Madness: Meet my Mama

This is going to be an occasional feature where I interview some of my favorite cooks and ask them some random questions about cooking. Of course, I cannot begin this feature without quizzing the mother of all cooks - or actually, just the mother of me (and my brother ...). My mom Sharon.

What's one of your first cooking memories? My Grandma Schlitter making pies. According to my mom, Grandma Schlitter had miniature pie tins and would make individual pies for her grandkids.

What is your go-to recipe if you have an event to attend and you've been asked to bring a dish? Mom's known for two recipes that are requested time and again - her spinach strawberry salad and her chicken and rice.

What is your favorite food? My mom closes her eyes and seems to go in a trance. Mashed potatoes and gravy - with homemade brown pork gravy. (You see where I get my taste for food?) Mom's other favorite food is homemade gingerbread cake - another recipe of my Grandma Schlitter's.

Why do you cook? Because I like to cook. I find myself standing at the stove with my hand on my hip just like I always saw my mother doing. Mom stops a second and glares when she sees that I'm grinning at her. "You're like your mom?" I ask, very cheekily. I stopped doing that because I am not my mother. (Editor's note ... it's just a long story. And if you're a woman, you probably understand that your biggest fear growing up is that you'll turn out to be just like your mother. But that does not apply to this editor. ... love you ma!)


Words of wisdom for other cooks: To hell with anyone else, cook what you like.

My mama's the hot chick on the left. The other swell chicks are my cousin Trix (middle) and my Aunt Sue - another culinary goddess.

Mama's Spinach Strawberry Salad

1 bag of prewashed baby spinach
1 c. Craisins
1 can of mandarin oranges, drained
Raspberry vinaigrette dressing with poppyseeds (Mom uses Kraft dressing ... I think)

Combine all ingredients, toss with dressing right before serving. If you're looking for a little extra crunch, slivered almonds or chopped walnuts are a good addition.

Domestic female seeking ...

... crockpot and soup recipes. It's getting to be that time of year when I love hot food but am too lazy to cook when I get home. (What else is new, right?) But since the grill has gone the way of the corner of the garage, I'm ready to fire up the crock pot.

Feel free to leave me a comment or shoot me an email at shelleybakes@gmail.com

Let me get you started with this gem from About.com:


Crockpot Lasagna


Ingredients:
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
48-ounce jar chunky pasta sauce
8-ounce can tomato sauce
14-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
16 ounce package mafalda noodles (mini lasagna noodles)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation: In a large skillet, brown ground beef with chopped onions and garlic. Season with season salt and pepper to taste. Drain thoroughly. Add spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and water. Simmer 10 - 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, parsley, egg, and beat well. Add half of the mozzarella cheese. In 5-6 quart crockpot, pour 1 cup of the beef sauce. Then top with a layer of mafalda noodles. Top with1 cup mozzarella cheese, more ground beef sauce, then a layer of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers to fill crockpot 3/4 full. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours - DO NOT STIR. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve. Serves 8-10.

Not the prettiest girl in the bar ...

I don't remember how old I was when I started cooking, but I do know what the first thing was that I learned to cook.

Under the careful tutelage of my saintly mother, I opened up the pages of her Betty Crocker cookbook (which will forever have a sacred place on my bookshelf) to the Quick Breads section and the recipe for tea breads.

Knowing that I was something of a scatterbrain and that it was more likely that I would forget to read the recipe for banana nut bread than actually manage to make it right the first time, Mom crossed out the directions that did not apply to banana nut bread and wrote in the measurements for the ingredients I would need to make my bread. So there you go - my first recipe. I entered it into competition at the county fair when I was in the 4-H Toppers, I made it and froze it whenever we had bananas that were on the verge of ... well, rotting - it's even a recipe that I brought with me when I was a junior and college and spent a semester abroad in Malta (although my flat didn't have a bread pan, so I had to use a 9x9 cake pan and make "bars.") This recipe has served me well, even though I'm now marrying into a family who puts maraschino cherries and chocolate chips in their banana bread.

This is probably the best analogy I can make for this bread: She's not the prettiest girl in the bar, but she's the one you'd want to marry.

Banana Bread
From Betty Crocker's Cookbook

2 1/2 c. flour
3 T. salad oil
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder**
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed banana

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your loaf pan. Smush bananas (takes about 2-3 ripe ones to make about 1 c. of banana) - potato masher works well, hands even better. Measure all ingredients into large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 1/2 minute, scraping side and bottom of bowl constantly. Pour into loaf pan or pans, depending on what you're doing. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick (or steak knife) inserted in middle of loaf comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
**It is very important to not omit the baking powder - if you do, you will produce loafs that could be used as building materials. No, I am not talking from experience. Or maybe I am. :)

Up Next: Crockpot Lasagna

Baking for breast cancer awareness

I saw this blog this afternoon and just had to share - a lot of food bloggers are "baking for the cure" in honor of breast cancer awareness this month. Well, this blogger took it to a whole new level with her "bra-cakes." These are absolutely adorable - brown sugar pound cupcakes that are decorated to look like bras. Very, very cool.

A culinary mishap ...

... That will eventually benefit all of you!

OK - so for my upcoming wedding, we will be having a "candy buffet." It's something I saw at a wedding Ryan and I attended - the couple had a table with all sorts of candy for people to nosh on during the wedding dance. (My favorite part were the Twizzlers that they had stood up in a vase.)

Inspired, I decided to do something similar. So, I went online and found some clear plastic bags to put candy in ... And I thought the bags were small, but yeah - I was wrong. They could fit a loaf of banana bread. And I have about 400 of them. They will be perfect for packaging my Christmas goodies ... for the next dozen years.

Macaroni & Cheese

It doesn't look like much now, but trust me it will be marvelous.

Dirty little secret? I love the cardboard boxes of macaroni and cheese. Although it's meant as a side dish, I can eat it as an entree and it's even better the next day after it's spent the night on a cold stove burner. (I told you I wasn't a gourmet.)

I've never been a big fan of homemade macaroni and cheese - mostly because every attempt I ever ate was way too greasy and didn't have enough cheese. That all changed the day my buddy Erin made homemade macaroni & cheese for a get-together that he and his partner Paul hosted at their house. I haven't procured Erin's recipe yet, but I found this one to try. It's all a part of the quest to find the perfect homemade mac & cheese. (Though I will not betray my love for you, oh boxed mac & cheese with your vibrant orange cheese powder.)

Easy Macaroni & Cheese
From Midwest Living, October 2008 (I told you this was a good issue)

1/4 c. butter
2 1/2 c. elbow macaroni (that's 8 oz.)
1 c. cubed ham (optional - I didn't use it ...)
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar or cubed American cheese (I used a blend of cheddar & Colby Jack)
3 T. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 c. milk (we use 2% in the Kubitz/Mahannah family - the chef who originated this dish uses whole. I guess I'd use anything but skim.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Pour 2 T. of melted goodness into a 2- to 2 1/2 quart casserole or baking dish. Add dried macaroni and stir until coated. Stir in cheese.

For sauce, stir flour, salt and pepper into remaining 2 T. butter in saucepan. Stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for one minute more. Pour sauce over macaroni mixture.

Bake, covered, for 1 hour or until macaroni is tender and coated with sauce. Stir - let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Do you want to know the nutritional information? Nah - I didn't think so.

Verdict: Poor Ryan never got to try this cheesy goodness. The making of this mac coincided with some dinners out with friends and so I made this one night when he was gone and had leftovers over the next few days for lunch. I will make this again - I'm not too fond of the whole simmering milk, flour and butter concept (reminds me of too many errors made in home economics as a junior high student), but this was pretty good mac.