I have a thing for chili.  It is the perfect meal for a dreary day, and we seem to have a lot of those these days here in good ole Georgia.  There is something incredibly comforting about the familiar flavors…even when the recipe is different.

I do make chili regularly – probably once a month from September to March.  It has always been that way.  The interesting thing is I have never repeated a chili recipe.  There are so many good ones out there that I just can’t bring myself to make the same one twice.  I want to try every delicious one.  That said, this is my favorite.  It may become my go to chili recipe.

Chorizo & Beef Chili {adpated from Cooking Light: Cooking Through the Seasons}

Ingredients:

• 6 oz chorizo {note: mine came in casing which I recommend}
• 1 1/2 lbs stew meat
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paparika
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 28 oz no sodium beef broth {sodium is fine if you like salt…I don’t}
• 28 oz rotel with chiles
• 2 tbs cornmeal
• 2 15 oz cans pinto beans
• 1 15 oz can black beans

Directions:

1.  Heat a cast iron dutch oven over medium-high heat.

2.  Remove the chorizo from the casings and break into small pieces.

3.  Add the chorizo to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until brown.

4.  Remove the chorizo from the pan and transfer to a medium bowl.

5.  Add half of the stew meat to the dutch oven.  Cook until browned.

6.  Remove the meat and transfer to the bowl with the chorizo.  Cook the other half of the meat and then transfer that to the bowl.

7.  Chop the onion and garlic.

8.  Cook the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes in the dutch oven.

9.  Add the chorizo, stew meat, tomato paste, sugar, salt, cocoa powder, and spices to the dutch oven.  Mix thoroughly and cook for 1-2 minutes.

10.  Add the red wine, broth, and rotel to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

11.  Stir in the cornmeal.  Add pinto beans and black beans.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Simmer 30 minutes.

12.  Serve.

Grade: A-

Comments:  This chili is definitely good, and the wine and chocolate add a really unique flavor.  However, the consistency is much more like stew than regular chili.  That isn’t a bad thing.  Trust me.  I served this with some biscuits, and we all ate it right up.  The chorizo adds some spice without being too much.  If you like spicier chili I would add some chiles to the mix.

I love breakfast food.  I love it in the morning, noon, and night.  If given the opportunity I would eat pancakes for breakfast and dinner.

After my little sausage & apple dinner a few days ago, I couldn’t drop the idea.  The flavors went so well together {I realize this is common knowledge…except for me apparently}, and I wanted breakfast for dinner.

Breakfast casseroles are great, because they can be thrown together, put in the fridge for up to 24 hours, and then cooked and eaten the next day.  They reheat well.  They taste well cold.  They are delicious.  Anyway, I made this for dinner one night.  I only refrigerated it for 2 hours, but you could do longer.  I would have if I had remembered to take the sausage out of the freezer in a timely fashion.

Sausage and Apple Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1/3 baguette
• 1/2 onion
• 1 lb ground sausage
• 1 gala apple
• 1/2 cup milk
• 8 eggs

Directions:

1.  Spray a 9×13 glass pan with olive oil.

2.  Break the baguette into bite size pieces and put in the glass pan.

3.  Chop the onion into small pieces.  Set aside.

4.  Dice the apple.  Set aside.

5.  Cook the sausage on medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Be sure to break up the sausage as it cooks.

6.  Add the sausage, apples, and onions to the glass pan.

7.  Mix the eggs and milk in a large bowl.  Make sure the yolks are broken up.

8.  Dump the egg and milk mixture over the ingredients in the glass bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

9.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

10.  Cook the casserole {uncovered} for 30-45 minutes.

11.  Serve.

Grade: B+

Comments:  My only regret is that I didn’t use more apple.  Seriously.  This is a really good and easy meal that is filled with a lot of flavors that go together.  However, the apple flavor isn’t that strong.  If you love apples {I do} then you may consider adding a second apple to the recipe.  Otherwise, this is a great little winter comfort breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I do not generally worship at the altar of celebrity chefs.  Sure…I like Anthony Bourdain, Michael Symon, and Richard Blais.  I find their personalities, thoughts on food, and recipes to be refreshing and fun.  However, I just like them.  I would like to have a meal with them and pick their brains.

I have one exception to my celebrity chef ambivalence.

Thomas Keller.

I believe Thomas Keller is one of the most important and influential chefs to ever live.  Over the past 5 or so years, I have soaked up every article, interview, and book about him I can find.  To me, Thomas Keller is everything that is right about food.  In fact, I don’t know that I would call him a celebrity chef.  More like a chef that has become popular because he loves food and has changed the restaurant world.

Eating at The French Laundry remains #1 on my bucket list.  I imagine it would be an amazing experience that I would talk about for the rest of my life.  In my head, it is a restaurant unlike any other.  I’ve taken the cookbook out from the library a dozen times…never to attempt one of the recipes, but rather to read and stare.  It is unbelievable.

When the Bouchon cookbook ended up under my Christmas tree {thanks, Nathan!} I was thrilled.  Bouchon is more my cooking style.  It is French bistro cooking at its finest.  I can handle these recipes, and in the month I have owned it I have already attempted a few with great success – including this one.

Let me say this: Keller is a genius.  However, the Bouchon cookbook is perfect for the home cook who needs to impress people without being pretentious.  Keller has simplified some of the recipes and changed ingredients so the recipes in this cookbook are attainable.  He wants you to make these things.  This book is worth every cent of its $50.00 price tag.

Boer Sausage with Peppered Apples and Pureed Potatoes {slightly adapted from Bouchon}

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boer sausage {you probably won’t find this at your grocery store. I bought mine at a small local shop that specializes in local charcuterie.}
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 gala apples
• about 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 lbs cooking potatoes
• 8 oz unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup half & half

Directions:

for the sausage and apples

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

2. Cut the sausage into 6 sections.  Season with a little ground pepper.

3. Peel the apples, remove the seeds, and cut into 12 wedges per apple.

4. Toss the apples with ground pepper.

5. Pour 1/8 inch of vegetable oil into two large skillets.  Heat over medium-high heat.

6. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and add half of the sausage and half of the apples to each skillet.

7. Brown the sausages for 3-4 minutes on each side.  Turn the apples as they brown. {note: be careful with the sausage…it cooks very quickly}

8. When the sausage is browned, reduce the heat and cook another 1-2 minutes.

9. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

10. Transfer the sausage to the baking sheet and place in the oven to keep the sausage warm.

11. Transfer all of the apples to one skillet.  Continue to brown the apples until they are soft but not falling apart.

12. Once the apples are done put them in a bowl covered with aluminum foil to keep them warm until you are ready to serve them.

for the the pureed potatoes

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 inch pieces.

2.  Transfer the potatoes to a large pot and fill with cold water. The water should come about 1″ above the potatoes.

3.  Cook the potatoes on medium-high heat until they are soft and can be easily pierced with a fork.  About 20 minutes.

4. Cut the butter into very small slices.

5.  Put half of the butter in a blender.

6.  Drain the potatoes.

7.  Dump half of the potatoes into the blender.

8.  Blend the potatoes and butter on the puree setting until they are very smooth. {totally didn’t take a photo of this, but it should look kind of like baby food}

9. Transfer the pureed potatoes to a medium saucepan.

10. Repeat the blender process with the second half of the potatoes.  Transfer to the saucepan.

11. Heat the pureed potatoes on low heat.  Add the half & half very slowly while using a whisk to blend everything together for about 5 minutes.  The potatoes should have a consistency between mashed potatoes and baby food.

to serve

Serve the sausage, apples, and potatoes together.  If you are going for appearance stack the potatoes on the bottom topped with sausage and apples.  If you are like me and don’t really like your foods to touch, put them all next to each other nicely on a plate.

Grade: A++

Comments: Probably the best meal I have ever made.  I absolutely love the sausage and apples together.  I had never made boer sausage before, and I was happy to see it tastes way better than anything at the grocery store.  This is a must make dish.  It looks like a lot of work, but I assure you it isn’t hard.  This is one of those meals that will impress without stressing you out.

There are certain facts in this world I hold to be self-evident: Fritos are a delicious guilty pleasure, and I love pop music.  The first one is what is important here.

I am not Southern.  I do not understand 75% of Southern food {what is this obsession with frying?!?}.  This has been the hardest part of adjusting to living in Georgia {although I’ve been here almost 6 years…but you know}.  The idea of putting Fritos under chili kind of freaked me out in a way that made me afraid I would become addicted to Southern cooking and never eat grilled chicken again.

Then I caved.  I was menu planning, and after picking a slew of healthy recipes knew we would need something hearty and comforting our first week back after two weeks out of town.  So I started flipping through some saved recipes, and there in front of me were two recipes that made me want to move to Texas and wear cowboy boots.  This isn’t a meal to be taken lightly.  It is good.  It is hearty.  It will make you want to sit outside on a cool 50 degree evening {see what I did there, Notherners? 50 is cool here.} and watch a high school football game.

Frito Chili Pie {adapted from The Pioneer Woman and The Homesick Texan}

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs 85/15 ground beef
• 2 tbs minced garlic {I used the jar kind, because I forgot to buy garlic…oops}
• 2 8 oz cans no salt tomato sauce
• 1 can Rotel with cilantro and lime
• 1/2 tbs cumin
• 1 1/2 tbs paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• bag of Fritos
• shredded Mexican mix cheese

Directions:

1.  In a large pot {the one you will use to make the chili} brown the ground beef.

2.  Once the beef is almost done, add the tomato sauce, Rotel, garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano, and cinnamon.  Mix well.  Let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

3.  Drain and rinse the beans.

4.  Add the beans to the meat mixture.  Mix well.  Let simmer on low for another 30 minutes.

5.  Dump some Fritos into bowls.

6.  Add a sizable amount of chili {I used 1 ladle full for me and 2 ladles full for Nathan}.  Top with cheese.

Grade: B+

Comments:  I don’t really know how to describe this.  It isn’t the best chili recipe I’ve ever put together, but it sure isn’t the worst either.  For some reason adding Fritos made the chili itself even better.  I will say this: I suspect that a simple chili recipe is needed for Frito pie.  Anything too complicated would take away from the hominess of the meal.  What I’m saying is make this.  I am going to try to make it again come the Super Bowl.  It is perfect for serving to large groups!

{Please excuse the horrible photos.  The light above my stove and one of my kitchen lights burned out yesterday while I was cooking.}

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Ours was nothing short of eventful.

On Tuesday we found out that we are welcoming a baby GIRL to our family That is right!  I’ve been keeping a pretty huge secret from you, and it is admittedly one of the reason my blogging has been so sporadic.  It is hard to write about what is going on and not mention a new baby!  She will be here around Easter, and we have decided to name her Lillian Marie after our grandmothers.  Much like Samuel, we plan to call her Lillian although we realize one day her friends will shorten her name to Lilly much to our dismay.

In addition to starting a little collection of tutus and other pink things, on Wednesday we headed to Disney World for a few days.  Nathan totally surprised me!  I thought we were heading to St. Simons Island for our annual trip, but he had something else up his sleeve.  Instead, after we had been in the car over an hour, he told me we were going to Disney.  Samuel had a great time, and so did we.  It was Homeslice’s first trip, and neither Nathan nor myself had been there in over 10 years.  I hope to get through the pictures and post some later this week.

Once we got back from vacation, we were in our classic “need to eat but don’t want to grocery shop” mode.  If you remember I made post-vacation pancakes not that long ago.  Not only are we back from vacation with a mostly empty kitchen, I am also in “use up everything that will expire” mode.  At the end of the year I do a major clean out of my kitchen – spices, flours, oatmeals, etc.  Anything that expired gets the boot.  This means that I end up throwing out half used containers of things I bought for one recipe.

This year I’ve vowed to try to use it all.  These hotcakes are the culmination of this.  I don’t have step-by-step photos, because I hadn’t planned to post these.  Also, the only picture I have is with my phone, because I was too lazy to go out to the car and get the DSLR which was still not unpacked.  Forgive me.

Cornmeal Pumpkin Apple Hotcakes {adapted from AllRecipes.com}

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 can of apples in water {I have NO idea why I had these…fresh apples would be better}
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  In a large bowl mix together the flour, oats, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon.

2.  Cut the apples into bite size pieces.

3.  Add the eggs and water to the batter.  Mix well.

4.  Add the pumpkin, apples, and vanilla to the bowl.  Use a whisk to mix completely.  The batter is going to be something between muffin and cake batter consistency.

5.  Heat a griddle to 350 degrees and spray generously with olive oil.

6.  Spoon the batter onto the griddle using a soup ladle.  You may need to spread it some so that it cooks evenly.

7.  Cook the hotcakes thoroughly turning after about 4 minutes.

8.  Top with butter and syrup!  We used apple syrup on ours, and it was delicious.

Grade: B+

Comments:  This makes a LOT of hotcakes.  I doubled the recipe, and I could have left it alone.  I had almost 15 leftover to go in the fridge and freezer.  That said, these are pretty good.  They are filling and the pumpkin and apple go well together {as always}.  Something to consider is that you won’t eat as many.  I typically eat 4 medium pancakes, and I couldn’t even eat 2 of these.  Also, if you don’t like the flavor of unsweetened pumpkin I would either add more pumpkin pie spice or some white sugar.

I don’t know where the past month has gone.  One minute I was waxing poetic about Oreo Stuffed Cupcakes and the next I was wondering how I managed to not blog for a month.

September was busy.  One of my 19 year old twin brothers deployed to Iraq for a year so we spent some extra time Skyping before he left.  Samuel’s social calendar was packed with playgroups and activities.  Oh, and September kicks off the busiest time of year for Nathan at work.  Plus I was deep in recipe development projects for other people.  PHEW.

It didn’t help that I couldn’t find the camera battery charger so I went the entire month without photographing a single recipe.  Photographing each step of a recipe is daunting.  I’m still learning so it takes me 4-5 pictures for each step to even come up with something decent.  A 20 minute meal can take up to an hour to make if I’m photographing it for the blog.  While it wasn’t planned the September break was refreshing.

This recipe is from September.  In fact, I never planned to photograph it in the first place.  It isn’t anything special on paper, but it tastes so good.  So you’re stuck with one photo taken with my phone {which has a horrible camera}.

Spiced Veggie Stuffed Squash {adapted from the Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook: Bridal Edition}

Ingredients:

• 2 medium acorn squash
• 2 small turnips
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 medium apple
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  Remove and discard seeds.

3.  In a 3 qt rectangular baking dish place the squash halves cut side down.

4.  Bake the squash for 45 minutes.

5.  While the squash are cooking, chop the turnips and carrots.

6.  In a covered saucepan, boil about 2 cups water.

7.  Once the water is at a rolling boil, add the turnips and carrots.  Cook for 20 minutes on medium heat or until they can be easily pierced with a fork.

8.  Flip the squash so the cut side is up and cook for another 25 minutes in the oven.

9.  When the carrots and turnips are done, drain them well.

10.  Place the turnips and carrots in a medium bowl and set aside.

11.  When the squash is done carefully scoop out as much of the pulp as you can without tearing the skin.

12.  Add the squash pulp to the bowl with the carrots and turnips.

13.  Mash the vegetables with a fork.  Add the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the vegetables.  Mix thoroughly.

14.  Peel and shred the apple.  Mix into the vegetable mixture.

15.  Transfer the vegetable mixture to the acorn squash.  Top with cheddar cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.

16.  Serve.

Grade: B+

Comments:  I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this.  Acorn squash is probably my least favorite of the fall vegetables, but I was willing to try it since there was so much else mixed in there.  This was listed as a side dish in my cookbook, but it is filling enough that you can definitely serve it solo.  The only change I wish I had made was to add some milk.  The mashed vegetables could stand to be a little smoother.  It was a great recipe for early fall, and I can definitely see it making an appearance with some modifications in our menu again.

I don’t usually bake over-the-top desserts.  I like my desserts simple and chocolate.  Nothing complicated.

However, I haven’t been able to shake that Oreo baked inside a chocolate chip cookie fad from a few months ago.  It wasn’t anything I tried, but I’ve been wanting to bake with Oreos ever since then.

So when I was asked to bake something for our playgroup’s moms’ night out two weeks ago, I was more than happy to oblige.  As soon as the email hit my inbox I knew I was doing something with Oreos and cupcakes. I would “stuff” the Oreos into the cupcakes, and it would be delightful.  Sugary and fattening, but delightful.

A quick side note regarding butter.  I do not ever use salted butter.  Baking {in my house} is done exclusively with sweet cream butter.  I refuse to even buy the other stuff.  Sweet cream instantly makes everything better.  I’m pretty sure that is a fact.

Oreo Stuffed Cupcakes with Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

for the cupcakes

• 2 sticks sweet cream butter {1 cup}
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour {note: chocolate cupcakes are the only time I use self-rising and not all-purpose…I have no idea why}
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbs cocoa powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 Oreos

for the frosting

• 16 oz {2 packages} cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 stick sweet cream butter {let it sit out about 5 minutes}
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 Oreos

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Line 24 cupcake spots with papers. {You may have to bake in 2 shifts depending if you own two cupcake pans.}

3.  Combine the sugar and butter in the bowl of the electric mixer.  Beat until almost smooth.

4.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixer bowl.  Mix under well blended.

5.  Cut each Oreo into fourths.

6.  Add the Oreos to the batter and mix with a spoon or spatula.

7.  Using a tablespoon {regular spoon; not the measuring kind} transfer the batter to the wrappers.  Fill them about 1/2 way.

8.  Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes.

9.  Let the cupcakes cool for at least 6 hours.  These took forever to get to a good temperature.

10.  Once the cupcakes are cool make the frosting.  Mix together the butter and cream cheese until very creamy.

11.  Add the vanilla and slowly add the powdered sugar.  Mix until well-blended {and delicious}.

12.  Smash the Oreos you set aside for the icing.  Set these aside.

13.  Ice the cupcakes.  Top the frosting with some smashed Oreos.

14.  Try to eat only one. I dare you.

Grade: A

Comments:  There isn’t much to say here except that Oreos are delicious, and they are even more delicious in a cupcake.  As you can see these aren’t really stuffed so much as mixed in the batter, but stuffed sounds better.  Also I love cream cheese icing, and I could eat it on everything.  There was some extra icing, and I kid you not, I dipped banana bread in it.

I had lofty blog goals this summer.  With the extra sunlight came this idea that I would suddenly have time to blog at least three times a week.  I penciled this time into my calendar like a good Type A should.  I took photographs of food, and I had good intentions.

But something happened to me this summer.  This Type A gal learned it is okay to let go sometimes.  I started crossing out those blogging times for afternoons at the park or spontaneous playdates.  Instead of deciding which photo was better, I laid on the floor and read Bob the Builder books to Homeslice over and over until we were both half asleep all while my laptop sat on the table turned off for days at a time.

I’m a much more laid back parent than I ever expected to be.  Pregnant me would have laughed at the idea of napping when it felt right rather than at a certain time…or eating whenever we feel like eating.  In my head, I was going to be as Type A of a parent as I was an employee – schedules and routine reign supreme.  Except my parenting life is nothing like that.  It took approximately 20 seconds after Samuel was born for me to realize I was going to be the opposite of everything I thought I would.

While my parenting has always been laid back, my personal obligations have not.  I live and die by to do lists and calendars.  I return library books days before they are due, and I plan our meals down to the tiniest detail.

Except this summer I learned how to be what I’m calling “flexible Type A.”  It has been a long time coming, but these past few months I’ve started to ignore those non-important to do list items.  Who cares if there are toy trains scattered about my living room when I go to bed?  I’d rather use those last few moments of the day reading or chatting with Nathan.  So what if I didn’t write that blog post I’ve been meaning to write?  There are games of toy trucks and stories to be read.

This new found ability to relax {although I am still way more high strung than a lot of people} has leaked into my recipes.  I’ve started to ignore my cookbooks almost completely.  They’ve become a reference for technique rather than a directive.  After years of cooking and slowly backing away from the cookbooks, sometime this summer, it clicked.  I found the confidence to do it myself.  Sometimes I fail {overcooked steak, anyone?} and sometimes I succeed so strongly that I wonder why I haven’t trusted myself all along.

This recipe is one of those times that I succeeded.  I smiled as I pulled my Kitchen Aid meat grinder out of the box {thanks, mom & dad}, and slowly ground my own meat for the first time.  I sat in my kitchen and inhaled the smells as I watched my pans simmer on the stove.  This recipe is a beautiful combination of flavors.  I admittedly am addicted to peach and basil together, but this is just…amazing.

Peach Basil Sirloin Rice
Ingredients:

• 2 sirloin steaks {approximately .75 lbs each}
• 2 peaches
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 basil stem {mine had about 6 leaves on it}
• 2 cups uncooked wild rice
• 1 tbs black pepper
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

1.  Using a meat grinder, grind the sirloin steaks.  {If you don’t have a meat grinder, either ask your butcher to grind them or just cut them into bite size pieces}.

2.  Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat.

3.  When the olive oil is warm, add the ground sirloin.  Cook until well done.

4.  Cook the rice according to the package.

5.  Peel and dice the peaches.

6.  In another skillet, add the peaches and cook on medium.  Cover.

7.  Chop the broccoli into small pieces.

8.  Add the broccoli to the peaches and cover.

9.  Dice the green bell pepper.

10.  Add the pepper to the peaches and broccoli and cover.

11.  Dice the basil into small pieces.

12.  To make the sauce, mix the white wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, and kosher salt in a small bowl.  Add to the meat and coat.

13.  Combine all of the ingredients in the pot with the rice.  Toss and heat for a few seconds on low.

14.  Serve.

Grade: A+

Comments:  Peach and basil are a dream combination that I have been playing with all summer.  The two flavors really come together with the flavor of the sirloin steaks in this dish.  The whole thing just screams summer with the vegetables.  It is a much lighter meal than one would expect considering the amount of ingredients, but it is the perfect dish to enjoy on the deck these last few summer nights.

I have a confession: for the first few days after vacation I hate to go to the grocery store.  There is something about that first post-vacation trip that makes me want to put it off.  I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that it means I have to acknowledge vacation is over, and I’m all about pretending it isn’t.

For about a week we were out of town celebrating one of Nathan’s high school friend’s wedding.  We flew, and Samuel did well.  I had to travel with him alone both ways, because work travel gave Nathan a reason to go to LA {tough life}.

Anyway, upon re-entry to normal life, I’ve been boycotting the grocery store.  We’ve been home almost 48 hours, and I bought $13.00 worth of groceries at Target.  That’s it.  I’m heading out for my normal shopping trip later today.

Unfortunately I didn’t think about breakfast during my mostly pointless Target trip.  Instead I bought useful things like green bell peppers and buckwheat noodles.

Thankfully I hoarded evaporated milk during the Thanksgiving season.  The pumpkin shortage around here was enough to make me overcompensate by purchasing the other ingredients to make pumpkin pie just in case there was an evaporated milk shortage one day {seriously, my one shelf looks like I’m preparing for the Apocalypse}.

So when trying to decide what on Earth we were going to eat for breakfast, I settled on these pancakes.  I’m going to warn you: the ingredient list is weird.  There aren’t any eggs either.  I didn’t even take proper photographs, because I expected them to be mediocre at best.  Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. So you are stuck with one photo taken with my phone.

Post-Vacation Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbs water
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbs butter

Directions:

1.  Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl.

2.  Add the evaporated milk, water, olive oil, vanilla extract, and butter.  Mix well.

3.  Heat a griddle to 350 degrees.

4.  Spoon about 1/2 cup of batter out for each pancake.

5.  Cook thoroughly.

6.  Serve.

Grade: A

Comments:  Shockingly delicious.  I don’t know if I’ll ever use eggs in pancakes again.  These were incredibly fluffy.  In fact, I liked them so much I made a second batch to refrigerate.  If you want something with a kick you could add cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.  I just topped with butter and syrup, because I’m traditional like that {actually we just don’t have anything else}.  If you don’t have evaporated milk switch out the evaporated milk and 1/2 cup water for 1 cup whole milk.

I live in a world where basil is one of the best things about summer.  In my world it goes on everything: salads, hamburgers, pasta salads.  Now?  In jam.

I don’t know where I got the idea.  It is one of those things that pops into my head, and I think “I must make this.  Now.”

Of course I was deep in the throes of recipe testing so it had to wait, but not for long.

This recipe is mostly from an early edition {I believe 1931} of Joy of Cooking.  A cookbook that has made its way through a few kitchens in my mom’s family.  It is finally at home in mine, and I am taking full advantage of it. All I did was add the basil and cinnamon.

Peach Basil Jam {mostly from Joy of Cooking}

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe peaches
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbs water
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 medium stem of basil
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Peel the peaches and cut them into small and medium chunks.

2.  Place the peaches in a medium bowl.

3.  Take the basil and mince it small – as small as you can without it looking like you had no idea what you were doing.

4.  Add the basil and cinnamon to the peaches.

5.  In a small sauepan heat the sugar, water, and syrup on medium heat.  Cook until it turns into a thick syrup.  {about 5 minutes}

6.  Pour the mixture over the peaches.  Let them sit for one hour.

7.  In the same pot you used to make the syrup, cook the mixture on low for about an hour.

8.  Eat right away if you are like me.  If not, store in a glass container with a lid for up to a week.  You could also do the whole canning process, but this recipe doesn’t make enough for that.

 {yes. store-bought bread. We’re leaving on vacation in a few days, and baking bread is the last thing on my mind.  It happens.}

Grade: A-

Comments:  This was way better than I expected.  I added the cinnamon on whim which is why mine is so dark.  If you skip the cinnamon you will have gorgeous orange and green jam.  Although the cinnamon adds a fun little flavor and goes surprisingly well with the basil.  If you are basil obsessed try this before peaches go out of season!