Puff the Magic Pancake

Fresh berries. Crepe like texture. Orange sweet glaze. Mmmmm...

This morning I tackled making a puff pancake for the first time ever. Knowing that they deflate so quickly, I had my camera ready. Unfortunately, by the time I put the berries on top, it deflated 40%. You can still get the idea though. TRY THIS RECIPE! Don't be discouraged when it deflates- it still tastes phenomenal!

Ok here is the recipe for a super easy puff pancake. And I mean EASY.

Ingredients:
Berry-Topped Puff Pancake Re

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (1 or 2 %)
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  Topping:
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup + 2 teaspoons orange juice or orange pineapple juice
  
• 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• Confectioners' sugar

How-To:

• First, wash and get your berries set out in bowls. Do this first so when the pancake comes out, you can top it quickly.

• Place butter in a 9-in. pie plate. Place in a 425° oven for 4-5 minutes or until melted. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk eggs and milk. In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Whisk into egg mixture until blended. Pour into prepared pie plate. Bake for 14 minutes or until sides are crisp and golden brown. It may still look a little "raw" in the middle but as long as the edges are brown, that is OK.
  

• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in orange juice. I used orange-pineapple juice. It was delicious. You could also choose to use a little orange liquor if you have some in your house. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened. (This step may take the whole time the pancake is baking). Remove from the heat.

• Spoon berries over pancake and drizzle with sauce. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Makes 4 servings.

I'm Not Another Foodie...

Do you know how many food blogs are out there in the daunting blog universe? I'm going to guess 1,237,028,038. For those of you that started reading my blog a few years ago, you know that it was only random stories about my life. It was never meant to be a food blog. Now it seems as though that is what is.
But, I assure you, I am not another foodie. In fact: did you know I used to be the pickiest eater on the planet? Every year my family would go to Maine and get fresh lobsters on the coast and other culinary delights. I, on the other hand, made them drive me through Burger King to order me a BK broiler PLAIN... which if you don't know is grilled chicken on a bun. No mayo. No lettuce. No tomato. Nothing. Chicken on a bun. Here is a list of some of my OLD food staples:

-Twinkies
-Grilled chicken on a dry bun
-Pancakes
-PB and J sandwiches
-Rice A Roni chicken flavor
-Elios pizza

The list of things I DID not eat was so long it was incredible. Here is probably 1/8 of it:
-no lunch meat
-no lettuce
-no veggies (which means no salad)
-no bacon
-no pickles
-no mustard
-no ranch
-no seasonings
-no foods mixed together
-no seafood


Basically, I was impossible to feed. So what changed?
Here is my "cooking and baking" passion history--

It began in grade 4. It all started when I had to measure for math class in school. 1/2 cup, 1 quart, 1 gallon...etc. and it used to confuse me and I would get so frustrated. If you know me, you know I am paranoid about succeeding in school, so much so that I even practiced for gym class with my dad. So, mom came to the rescue and taught me how to measure by cooking. I fell in love. With cooking. Baking. Reading recipes. Trying recipes. It was the CURE to a picky eater. I now have more cooking magazines than I can keep up with and read the same issues OVER and OVER and OVER again until the pages wear out and I staple them in and tape them up so they look like a disaster. I never see myself parting with them.

Things progressed quickly and I was soon asking for the biggest Kitchen Aid professional stand mixer you could get for my Christmas present in high school. I signed up for Johnson and Wales University career exploration cooking school in Providence, Rhode Island and went and stayed in the city for a weekend and made over 600 lemon meringue pies. I started catering a few small events and drowned in menu planning and grocery lists. I was now obsessed.

When I think about my future, and I am almost ashamed to admit this (like 82% embarrassed), one of the biggest things I look forward to is being able to cook for someone I love and make family meals. I have already dreamed about being the mom that makes the team dinners for the football team my son is on. I also have already thought about birthday party themes and menus for my children. This is all very odd, because I don't even enjoy little kids that much. :o) Praise the Lord I have found a man that will eat anything but squash and cucumbers and has the appetite of a horse and amazing metabolism!!!

But, you see, I still wouldn't call myself a foodie. I am not snobby with my food. I still am fairly picky. However, I eat half the things on that list that before I would cry if they touched my plate. Cooking and baking expands your mind and your taste palette. You become willing to try more things. I think I love cooking so much because it brings people together. All major events in life include food. It makes people smile. It's cathartic. It's always changing. You can make a new recipe everyday and not have repeats. It brings in cultures. It takes you around the world. I remember going to France in 2007 and sitting in a cafe in the middle of the country side (HOURS from Paris) and asking for a fruit tart and orange juice and the lady took an orange off the counter and cut it for my juice!!! Now, that is fresh! I remember being on the island of Maui and picking pineapples off the trees and cutting them open. The pineapples in Hawaii are not acidic. They are just juicy and sweet. I remember being in South Korea and rolling pork into lettuce leaves and dipping it into random sauces- something I would have never dared do growing up. I have tried Mrs. Madzhirski's mousaka. It's incredible.

So, I wanted to give my readers the background to my love for cooking and baking. This blog will never be the big food blog featured in Food Network magazine. It won't be made into a movie like Julie & Julia. In fact, it looks terribly unprofessional and one main reason is that I am not a photographer and my pictures look like a toddler took them. Another reason is because I am not good with website creations and technology. But, it will do two important things: 1. log and track recipes I have tried and 2.share with my family and friends new things to try in their kitchen in hopes to bring smiles to their family and friends.


Bon appetit!

Lotsa Pasta

I have been making a lot of delicious pasta dishes lately! First, I made a yummy ranch cold pasta salad. Then, I made an Italian Stuffed Shells dinner, and last night I made a Pasta Primavera with ham. YUM, YUM, YUM! They were all successful.

I will feature the ranch salad (pictured above) in today's post. This recipe was adapted from Sandra Lee, who is on Food Network with her show "Semi-Homemade." In her magazine, she often features one convenience item used 4 different ways. In an old issue (last year) she used those ranch dressing packets- found near the salad dressings in the supermarket.

Ingredients:
1 pound of bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
1 bunch of broccoli, cut into florets
12 oz. bag of baby carrots, sliced
1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/3 cup sliced radishes (I am not a huge radish fan but they just provide a nice crunch!!)
1 (1 ounce) packet of Hidden Valley ran salad dressing and seasoning mix
1 cup of buttermilk
1 cup of light mayo
coarse sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste

How-To:
1. Cook the pasta according the box and add the broccoli to the pasta pot during the last two minutes of cooking. Rinse in cold water and drain.
2. In a big bowl combine the pasta broccoli mixture, the carrots, tomatoes, and radishes. I used a package of already sliced radishes from Wegman's which cut down on prep.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the ranch mix, the buttermilk, mayo. Toss with the pasta.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want, you can add in basil or garnish it with basil.

It makes a lot, so you can keep it in the fridge for lunches. It is nice to take to picnics, too, and goes well with burgers and dogs for a dinner.

Lemon Muffins Lightened

While we all love a Starbucks treat....
Did you know that most muffins there will make you muffin top over your jeans?
Did you know that the banana nut bread is just about 500 calories?!

For a breakfast treat I made lemon streusel muffins...only 226 cals per muffin with LOTS of lemon flavor. They are lighter than most muffins because they have low-fat lemon yogurt in them (as opposed to sour cream and what not) and they have more egg whites than egg yolks. Now, I will say that these are a bit time consuming to make and the best thing is to gather all the materials BEFORE you start and immediately set out three bowls to work with.
Makeover Lemon Streusel MuffinIngredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup lemon yogurt
• 4 egg whites

STREUSEL:

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon cold butter
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

How-To:

• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly. Beat in egg yolks and lemon peel. Combine the flours, baking powder, salt and baking soda; add to the butter mixture alternately with lemon juice and yogurt.

• In a small bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. (Takes about 2-3 minutes on high) It will look like a cloud. Fold into batter gently. The more you mix it the less tender they become.
  
• Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill two-thirds full with batter. I found it made about 16 muffins. Just put a tiny bit of water in the bottoms of cups you don't use.

• For streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar and nutmeg -you can mix this in the bowl you mixed your flours in to save on dishes; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

And even though I bashed Starbucks for unhealthy treats, I still love them and will make a nice plug for them with the coffee mug. ENJOY!!

Pie in the Sky for 28 years!!!!

My parents have now been married for 28 years- which is a long time! I made a pie to celebrate. Even if you are intimidated by making pies--trust me...this is so easy!
I cheated and used store bought crust to save time. So get some fresh fruit and get baking!!

Ingredients-

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 cup chopped peeled tart apples
• 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb (I used a frozen bag)
  
• 1 cup each fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries
• store bought pie crust or your own recipe (for a DOUBLE crust pie)
• a small amount of milk or cream
  

How-To:

• Wash and gather fruit. Peel the apples.

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, tapioca and fruit; let stand for 15 minutes.
  
• Transfer pastry to pie plate; trim pastry even with edge. Spoon fruit mixture into crust. (The sugar will clump a bit and that's OK- pockets of sweetness!!)
  
• Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; make a lattice crust. Trim, seal and flute edges. Brush with a little milk (or half and half cream); sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Garnish with whipped cream!!! SO YUMMY! OK, this was my first time making a true lattice crust and I was totally rushing so I did not take time to measure or make anything even. I decided I would go for the "homemade eclectic" look so I apologize for my random lattice strips. Basically you just weave the pieces in and out like a basket. Here was the finished product: Let it stand for awhile because it is really juicy!!

The Other White Meat...

As Emeril would say: PORK FAT RULES! Well, so does this pork loin. The glaze on this roast is delicious and everyone had seconds at the table! YUM!

• Pork loin- either 2 (1 lb) loins OR a 2 lb. roast cut in half
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 3 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme- lovin using those garden herbs!
  

How-To:

I used a 2.5 lb. pork loin roast and cut it in half to cook up faster.

• Place pork on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Combine the oil, salt and pepper; rub over pork.
• Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; brush it over pork. Bake 15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160°, basting occasionally with pan juices. Since my roast was bigger, it took about 15 minutes beyond the original 30 minutes. Just keep testing it until the thermometer reads 160 degrees.
  
• Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing to let the juices redistribute.

Serve with: I served this with fresh steamed broccoli and rice pilaf (box mix brand Far East)...it was a delicious meal!! Garnished with fresh thyme.
Oh, and the pan juices from the roast are awesome over the meat.

Chicken & Veggies

I tried to use up veggies we had on hand and the raw chicken breasts we had in the fridge before they went bad. Here is the result:

Ingredients--

• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips (I used 3 large skinless chicken breasts)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1-1/2 cups fresh cauliflowerets
• 1-1/2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 red or green sweet pepper, sliced up
  
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

How-to:

• Combine the cornstarch, broth and soy sauce until smooth; set aside.
• In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in 1 tablespoon oil until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

• Stir-fry the cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, red pepper and onion in remaining 1 tablespoon oil until crisp-tender. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flakes; cook 1 minute longer.

• Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken back into the pan. DONE! :) I served this over brown instant rice. It was very healthy and a great way to get your servings of veggies for the day.

Red Potatoes

Ok food entry #1...Is there a better side dish than potatoes? I love mashed, baked, fried, roasted...YUM! Well these are somewhat healthy and have lots of flavor. I chose to serve them with BBQ chicken on the grill. So, here is the recipe:
1. Start by scrubbing and cubing about 2-3 pounds of red potatoes. You can leave the skin on. You can use large or small red potatoes. I used about half a bag of large red potatoes.

2. Put them in a big pot of boiling water for just 5 minutes to par-boil them. Drain them right away but don't rinse.

3. Now for the seasonings:
Toss the potatoes in the same pot you cooked them in with 3 TBSP. olive oil. Side note: The oil I used was Olevano. You can buy it off QVC.com. It is imported from Italy and it is AMAZING!! Sprinkle with a little pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 4 cloves of smashed garlic. I used Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic seasoning, which is delicious, but you can use any garlic. Then I picked 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary from our garden and chopped it finely. You only want the "leaves" not the stem of the rosemary. Toss it all around (the lemon comes in after cooking!).

4. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the potatoes on the sheet. They should be in a single layer and not too crowded on the pan so they get crispy. Like this:5. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes. Half way through cooking, stir them around so they cook evenly.
6. As soon as they come out of the oven, cut a fresh lemon in half and squeeze half a lemon over the potatoes. I was dying to use this fresh lemon that my sister picked off her friend's lemon tree in San Diego. Lemon on potatoes = summer, fresh flavor!
Voila! Enjoy! (Garnished with fresh rosemary)

Summer Project

Let me say how glorious it was to wake up naturally at 8:30 AM, roll over, and sleep til 11. Now, I hope I don't sleep that late all summer, but it was nice.
Then I went for a run. And now I am watching Food Network. Hello lazy summer days!

I have a lot of projects to get done this summer, which will be good since I have 0 vacations planned. I was thinking of kind of turning this into a summer cooking blog to track what I try out this summer. I plan to cook a lot and never had a food blog...so maybe I will post what I make. It just might be fun! :)

Mysteries

1. Why did I agree to teach an inservice workshop on vocabulary to over 100 teachers on the first day of my "summer?"

2. Why are pretzels so addicting?

3. Why is lady gaga bald?

Party!!!!!!!!!

For the last month, I have been planning a surprise graduation party for Corey. My parents were fine with it being at their house and I immediately ordered some invitations. After that I had to start planning a party (after I got back from California) but this is the fun part. I really love planning events- the menu is of course my favorite part, and then my mom and I team up for the decor.

I tangled an intricate web of lies leading up to the event and Corey kept throwing me for curves that made it more and more challenging. The plan was that I was "staying in Lititz" for the weekend of the party - in reality I came home to my parents on Fri night but if he knew I was home he would have been around all weekend. Then Sunday my mom would go to church like normal and then offer to take Corey and Taylor (his niece) to Chuck E. Cheese. She would say that she had to go home and take a nap first and then go pick him up. She would then say "Oh I forgot my coupon at home" and send him running in the house for it. Fine.

Plans came to a halt when I called his friend Matt and told Matt to make plans with him Sat. night to keep him busy. He called Corey to do this and Corey said "Oh man I can't I am going to Lititz to surprise Beth." AHHH! So Matt called me and told me this and then I had to think of another lie- "Hey hun I am going to Hershey Park with Julie allll day Saturday." Haha. He bought it! He even asked how Hershey was when we talked Saturday night.

When he walked into my parents- WOW. I have NEVER seen him so confused/shocked in all my life. I am pretty sure he had to catch his breath! I was so grateful that a lot of my family members were able to come, as it meant a lot to Corey and me. Also lots of his family came (some invited, others uninvited but ...that's another story...for another time??)

Here are some pictures of the event:

These were the names of the food I came up with. It was too much fun to do!

The Appetizers!

Shirley TEMPLES! :) Fun stuff and yummy!

The cake!

PASS THE BAR- candy bar! Yummy sweets!

TEMPLE OWLS cookies- well, I tried to make them look like owls.

Corey with his 2 year old cousin, Nicholas. We were so happy to see him and can't wait to meet Nicholas' new brother, scheduled to arrive August 10!!

Well, I really don't have too many pictures of people since DURING the party I was running all around. But, I was able to take pictures of the food before it started.

We played an exciting game of volleyball at the end of the party --where I got terribly bruised but had fun. Can you believe after I threw him a party, he TRADED me so I was not on his team since he said I sucked at sports. :-0

All in all, it was a successful event and Corey said he LOVED the party. I hope to post more pictures on Facebook soon...after work is finished- Yes, I am STILL in school for another 4 days!!! INSANE. NO OTHER SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY IS STILL IN SESSION. Ha.

Current Likes

1. Bowls of sweet cherries! I don't even mind spitting out the pits! They were cheap at the store this week and taste amazing. I love fresh fruit in season.

2. Yoga. My work has been offering FREE power yoga after school 2 times a week. I missed 3 classes back in May, but have been going continuously now and LOVE it. I really notice a difference in my posture, strength, etc. This is the last week and I will miss it. Maybe one day I can pay for a class. On top of my other workout class (which happens to be the same day) I feel like Jell-O mush on Tue and Thu nights. My body usually hates me because I do NOTHING the other 5 days of the week. :(

3. The song "Beautiful Things" by Gungor. AMAZING. You Tube it. I listen to it on repeat. So soothing and inspiring!

4. Dresses to work. I have stopped being able to put together outfits for work, so I am now in full summer dress mode. A dress a day. Easy simple- just throw on jewelry and I am done.