Perfect Pancakes

Happy Mothers Day to all of you special moms out there and Happy Sunday to everyone else! I took my sweet little mom out for lunch today and then my husband and I went back to her house and mowed and edged their lawn. I also got her a really big flower pot, she just loves anything to do with her yard. I hope that she had a great day, I enjoyed doing it for her. My daughters were with me today so I was really happy about that too. I hope this week I will get to cook some great recipes that I can blog with you about. I do have one that I made this evening that has been on my "must make" list. This evening we had pancakes. I have no problem with pre-made mixes that you just add water to. Some are good and some arent so good. This recipe is so easy you dont even have to fool with the mixes. And the result is the most tender, fluffy pancake. I got this recipe from thepioneerwoman.com. As soon as I saw it I had to try it. You're gonna love it!

Here are your ingredients, you will also need milk as well.

You will need to mix your dry ingredients in one bowl and your wet in another bowl.

Melt your butter. Mix together dry and wet ingredients.

Ever so gently, mix in your melted butter.

I used my small cast iron fry pan. I am not sure why because I made massive pancakes.

I sprayed a bit of vegetable oil spray on the pan. Heated it up and poured a good sized amount of batter in the pan. I cooked them until they are covered in little bubbles. Then I flipped them.

These pancakes are just perfect. Make sure dress them up with a ridiculous amount of butter and syrup.


Perfect Pancakes

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

2 cups milk

2 large eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons butter

Lotsa butter and syrup

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl mix together milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring very gently until just combined. Melt butter in the microwave and add it to the butter, stirring gently to combine.

Cook on a greased skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown. Serve with butter and syrup.

Chilequiles

Hey Everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! TGIF tomorrow! Mexican food restaurants are very popular in my area. As a matter of fact, when I get to travel with my husband it is exactly what I miss the most (as far as food goes!). The dish that I am bringing you today is my very favorite mexican breakfast. In most restaurants you can either get a plate of this or they will wrap it in a flour tortilla and serve it as a taco. Both are delicious. I started out by dicing up some corn tortillas, a fresh jalapeno, and some fresh tomato.

Then I added a couple of tablespoons of butter to a fry pan.

I used about 7 eggs and I added about 1/4 of a cup of half and half.

Add salt and pepper. I absolutely love scrambled eggs with lots of pepper, but do this to your taste.
Add the tomatoes, jalapeno, and corn tortillas and saute until the veggies are starting to cook and the corn tortillas are starting to get crisp.

Add your salt and peppered eggs over the top.

Slowly pull the edges of the egg as it cooks until it is as cooked as you like.

Top with lots of cheddar and let it melt.

Dig in. You will shout "Aye Caramba!"

Chilequiles

2 tablespoons butter

7 eggs

1/4 cup half and half

1 fresh jalapeno, diced (or to taste)

5 corn tortillas

1 med. fresh tomato

salt

pepper

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Melt butter in your fry pan. Add vegetables and corn tortillas and saute until tortillas are starting to crisp up. While that is cooking crack eggs into a mixing bowl and scramble with a fork. Add half and half and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the eggs over the veggies in the fry pan and pull the edges of egg toward center as it cooks. When eggs are cooked to your liking, take off heat and sprinkle cheese over the top. Feeds 4-5 people.

You wont even think straight if you eat these!!

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is recovering nicely from the holidays. All the great food and relatives and too much of almost everything. I absolutely love the holidays but I also love to see them go away! Last night I was finally in the mood to cook just for pleasure again. We are such party animals that I found myself in my kitchen looking through recipes. I had printed this one awhile back when I first found it. There is an amazing blog that I have been following that has everything on it. It is called The Pioneer Woman Cooks. She is remodeling a guest house/lodge on her property and it is just ultra fabulous. I feel like I have been there with her and she has had a step by step on the process. Go check it out at http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. I found these cinnamon rolls on her site and I knew someday I would make them. I have tried tons and tons of cinnamon rolls and the were all basically the same. These are different. They are the best I have ever had.The thing that kills me on these is the frosting. Not that the dough isn't just delicious but....well, you just gotta try it. I made half of her recipe because hers made 7 pans!! I still ended up with 4, but let me tell you. Its really okay....LOL!

I really had fun making these. I know that sounds lame but they are so loaded down with the filling that I found myself smiling. This is after the dough is made, rolled out slathered with butter, sprinkled with sugar and a bunch of cinnamon. Lawdy Lawdy. I feel a little faint just reliving it.

Okay. My husband, daughter and I couldnt really contain ourselves after they came out of the oven. I let them cool a little then poured the icing on. The recipe calls for maple flavoring but its not our favorite. I just used vanilla but next time I WILL use the maple. Odd ingredient: brewed coffee. Seriously kids, this is to die for. I couldn't even get the pic fast enough before they were poppin' them out of the pan and into the mouth!

Pioneer Womans Cinnamon Rolls

1 quart of whole milk

1 cup of vegetable oil

1 cup of sugar

2 packages dry yeast

8 plus 1 cup all purpose flour

1 heaping tsp baking powder

1 scant teaspoon baking soda

1 heaping teaspoon salt

3-4 cups melted butter

2 cups of sugar

generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Frosting: 1 bag of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons maple flavoring, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/4 cup of brewed coffee, 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat just before boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes or so. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but not hot. sprinkle both packages of yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together.(At this point you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it-overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it splurges out of the bowl just punch it down.)

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangle shape. Drizzle 1 1/2 to 2 cups of melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling dough in a neat line toward you. Keep it relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Spread 1 tbsp. melted butter in seven round foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and dont skimp on the frosting!!

Easy Sausage Strata renamed "Kirstens Breakfast Casserole"

My daughter Lauren has a sweet friend that she works with named Kirsten. She turned 21 last week so I made this casserole for Lauren to take to work. I think it would be a great casserole for Christmas morning or Thanksgiving morning because it is one you prepare the night before so it can sit in the fridge overnight. I used regular wheat bread but I think it would be great with day old croissants. I am all about how something smells when it is cooking and this smelled really good. My dream is for my house to smell like Williams-Sonoma. I like to just go in there and smell!! Strange, I know. I recently just bought a small crock pot and I have been putting oranges, lemons, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, a little ginger, and just about any spice I think would smell good with that. I even added some fruit juice. I had a couple packets of spiced cider mix and I threw that in. Ever since I was a little girl I can remember getting great comfort from good smells wether it was clean sheets, fresh mown grass or just my grandmas house. Talk about getting way off track! Back to the recipe. Try it and let me know what you think.


1 pound pork sausage
6 slices bread, cubed (or whatever you want, biscuits may be good too!)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp and it was good)
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground dry mustard

Brown sausage, drain, and set aside. Layer bread cubes, sausage and cheddar cheese in a lightly greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish. In a bowl, beat together eggs, milk, salt, and mustard. Pour the egg mixture over the bread mixture. Cover this and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Remove casserole from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 45-50 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Spread the bread cubes over the bottom like this.

Layer the sausage and cheese.

Pour the milk mixture over everything and refrigerate.

This is the baked cheesy casserole. Smelled and looked delicious!

"Won Over Coffee Cake" and I am "Won Over"!!!!!

I know how everyone loves coffee cake (right?). I know I do. I would almost prefer a really good coffee cake over any kind of cake if I have a steaming cup of coffee. I love all kinds, but cinnamon is just the most heavenly smell when its cooking. This coffee cake is no different, as a matter of fact, I think its is probably the best coffee cake I have ever had. Thats a high compliment! This cake is moist, and VERY cinnamoney. Seriously, you have got to try this! I took this recipe from Priscilla at Priscillas Baking Adventure. See her blogsite on the right upper had corner. You must go over and see her blog. Keep this in mind-THIS GIRL IS ONLY 16!!!

"Won Over Coffee Cake"

1 box yellow cake mix (plus ingredients on the back of box)
2 sticks cold, salted butter
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
Powdered Sugar (for dusting)
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cake mix in large bowl according to package directions. Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick spray. Pour batte into pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until center is just barely set. While cake is baking, prepare crumb topping. In a large bowl of electric mixer combine butter, flour, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla until all crumbly. (This takes a minute or two). IMMEDIATELY after cake is removed from oven, break crumb topping into marble sized pieces with your fingers, sprinkling it over the top. Put back in oven to bake an additional 15 minutes or so. Let cool fully and dust with powdered sugar using a sieve. Cut into squares and serve.

These are the ingredients only I didn't get the butter out because its supposed to be cold, yea right-I forgot!

This is the topping over the yellow cake, remember, the cake shouldnt be completely baked!

This is the finished cake. It is so delicious. The aroma coming out of my oven was wonderful.

Have a great evening everyone and thanks so much for reading!