Pancakes 101

I finally figured out how to make good pancakes. It's only taken me, oh ... about 2 years now, but the past month we have enjoyed lovely, fluffy pancakes for our Saturday morning breakfasts.

I learned that a whisk is important - while pancakes need to be lightly combined, mixing with a whisk helps incorporate air and keeps the batter thick and airy, not thin and watery [which is what happened when I used a spatula]. Also letting the batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking helps the batter thicken nicely.

I was also able to tweak recipes to our families liking - adding whole wheat flour, some flax and wheat germ, and our favorite addition, blueberries. We also discovered a good syrup put them over the top - an accidental [and um, rather expensive] purchase at our local co-op of Grade B, organic, pure maple syrup made for an incredible breakfast.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
Adapted From America's Test Kitchen
If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by whisking 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice with 2 cups of milk and set aside a few minutes to thicken. Pancakes can be held in a 200 degree oven until all are cooked. Other berries can also be substituted in this recipe. If you want just a basic pancake, use only all purpose flour and omit blueberries.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour [I use whole wheat pastry flour]
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
1 tbsp flaxmeal [optional]
1 tbsp wheat germ [optional]
1 egg
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried
1-2 tsp vegetable oil

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, melted butter and then the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated [a few lumps should remain]. Be careful not to overmix the batter. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes.

Heat a 12 inch skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Brush pan bottom with vegetable oil. Using 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, add batter to the skillet [only 2-3 pancakes will fit at a time]. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon blueberries over each pancake. Cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the skillet with oil as needed between batches.

Peanut Butter-Oat Bars

I made these bars the other day in hopes of finding a *lighter* snack. I was really happy with them - they are sweet, melt in your mouth, and have less calories than those cookies I find myself eating every afternoon. And, on these hot summer days, these bars don't require heating up the oven. The original recipe doesn't call for chocolate, but I had to throw some in. I've made them without, too... and they are still good.

Peanut Butter Oat Bars
adapted from Everyday Food Magazine

2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups crisp rice cereal
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup chocolate chips [optional]

Grease a 8 x 8 square pan. In a small saucepan over medium, heat honey, peanut butter, chocolate [if using] and butter. Stir until loosened and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cereal and oats. Pour mixture into pan, and smooth evenly. Refrigerate until set, about 1/2 hour. Cut into squares.

Thorns, Thistles, and a Hosta Takeover

Mama [L] came to spend another couple days with us, and helped me work on the garden. Did we have a mess on our hands. While our veggies and herbs are growing along wonderfully, most of the perennials that were here when we moved in have decided to take over the yard. Lilies, Hostas, Daisies, Hens & Chicks had to be moved, split, and thinned. We also discovered a terrible thorny weed that had tried to take over our raspberry plants - it looked exactly like the plant, so it was hard to spot. However, our garden is looking great, and it appears we will have a bountiful harvest of raspberries this summer. Here are some garden shots:

Chives: I've never had my chives flower so early [maybe it is due to the lack of rain we had and wanted to give off seeds?] but it sure made a pretty picture.

We have so many out of control Hosta plants. I started a garden journal to mark which ones to split next spring and where to move them.

I went crazy with Basil this year - 8 plants. I'm looking forward to lots and lots of pesto. And maybe I'll finally attempt making basil ice cream.

Miss [W] is *patiently* waiting for me to stop taking pictures so she can get into the kiddie pool.

Our raspberry bushes with little fruits appearing.

Daisies popping up! Our neighbor had these sprout in the middle of his yard.

Winter Hats in Summer

I think my nesting phase has kicked in - I've been trying to get all kinds of stuff done before baby boy gets here. I decided to make both him and [W] elf hats for this coming winter, and realized if I don't do it now, it is not going to get done. So here is his - gray and blue. It's hard switching to more 'boy' colors - I've been thinking pink for over a year now. I would like to line the inside with flannel, but have never done that before. The hat is not knit in the round, so I thought it might be easy to do, since I still have to sew up the side. I'll let you know if I find a good tutorial.

[On a side note, any good boy name suggestions?]

My Creative Space

I've been slowly working on my crafting space this summer. Since our dining room is now a craft room/play room, I've had to get really creative on how to organize everything without having a huge disaster. [T] + [L] gave me the most wonderful early birthday present - shelves for my sewing desk. [T] made them, and they are *beautiful*. I now have all my fabric, felt, supplies, patterns, yarn and whatnot organized.

**I apologize for the dark pictures - it is hard to get great light in this room.**

I also reorganized my corner craft table - I found a shelf to put my dolls on that are for sale, started decorating a nice big bulletin board with fun paper and inspiring pictures, and got my bins full of random crafting materials cleaned out and [sort of] organized.

fun fabric piles

little dollies all lined up

lovely little birds

Four Things To Do With All Those Strawberries I Got On Sale...

1. Make this incredible dessert.

2. Thank your neighbors for giving you fresh picked lettuce and make a
strawberry-balsamic salad.


3. Refrigerator Jam!


4. Oh, just eat them straight out of the container.


Strawberry-Balsamic Salad
adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray

1 head lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups hulled and halved strawberries [about 10 oz]
salt and pepper

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and sugar. Stir the strawberries into the onion mixture, then toss with the lettuce; season with salt and pepper.

Strawberry Refrigerator Jam
America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Set a small bowl over a larger bowl of ice water and set aside. Simmer the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until the mixture begins to look syrupy, about 10 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and spoon 1/2 tsp of the fruit mixture into the small bowl set over the ice water. Let sit for 30 seconds. Tip the bowl to one side. The jam should move only slightly. If the mixture is too fluid and runs to the side of the bowl, return the skillet to the heat and continue to cook until the mixture looks thicker, 2-4 minutes. Repeat the test and continue to cook if necessary. Cool to room temperature before serving, about 1 hour.

some great blogs...

I found some lovely blogs during Giveaway week, and thought I'd share them with you. Here are 3 of my favorites...

1. liesl made. Liesl has all kinds of great stuff - fun tutorials, beautiful photography, and an etsy shop that is worth checking out.

2. blinking flights. Rebecca has great dolls/softies for sale. I love them. She also posts recipes weekly, and has great photos.

3. heart of light. Rachel has another blog with great photos [seriously, all these photographers with blogs make me hesitant to post pictures!]. She has lots of posts on baking, cooking and sewing.

wow.

I don't know why, but I love this sign. It is so ridiculous - of all the things to be excited about, hot dogs just shouldn't be on that list. But I laugh every time I pass it.

Peanut, Peanut Butter....Cookies.

I wish I would have discovered this recipe years ago while I was baking at various coffeehouses. It is so much better than the peanut butter cookies I have been making. It's another ATK [America's Test Kitchen] recipe from my favorite baking go-to cookbook, and while it's a little more work than normal peanut butter cookies, it is highly worth it. What makes them better? Ground peanuts mixed in with the flour - it gives the cookie so much peanuty flavor it is fabulous. Plus, they are rich and creamy - a perfect afternoon treat with my iced cold press.

Peanut Butter Cookies
If you want an extra crazy peanut butter cookie, add 1 cup peanut butter chips in at the very end. I have made these with unsalted peanuts, and the cookie still tasted great. You could also swap 1 cup of the all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour to make them a *little* more healthy. Freezing the dough is also an option - after I shape the cookies [complete with crisscross] I put the baking sheets in the freezer for an hour. Once the cookie dough is frozen, you can transfer to a plastic bag/container and bake off as needed. Add an extra minute or two to the baking time.

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
16 tbsp [2 sticks] unsalted butter, soft but still cool
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup dry roasted salted peanuts, ground in a food processor to resemble bread crumbs, about 14 pulses

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions. Heat oven to 350.
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then the eggs, 1 at a time, then the vanilla. Gently stir in the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Add the ground peanuts and stir until just incorporated.

Working with 2 generous 2 tbsp each time, roll the dough into 2 inch balls. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. Press dough ball twice with dinner fork dipped in cold water to make a crisscross design.

Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown around the edges but not on top, 10-12 minutes, rotating baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time [the cookies will not look fully baked]. Cool until set, about 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Birthday.

Today would have been my Grandma's 94th birthday. She has been gone a little over a year, and I find myself missing her so much on these lovely spring days - it was our time to get in the car, get an iced mocha, and drive around the lakes. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that she is really gone - it is hard letting go.

But I am happy for her peace, and her rest.

Zip!!

Well. I successfully completed my first [workable] zipper pouch. It was a pretty exciting moment. I ended up using the Amy Karol Bend the Rules pattern, which had me had hand-sew in the lining. A bit more work, but the first time I attempted a zipper pouch, I tried to sew both the outside and the lining fabric together on the zipper, and [A] was shocked at the words flying out of my mouth. It was not a pleasant evening, as you can imagine. But this time went a bit more smooth, and while it still has plenty of mistakes, I am completely taken with it and am now off to start another one.