pancake party

Stumbled upon a pretty little pancake party over at Design*Sponge! Go check it out.

legendary

heaven. straight out of the oven.

thank you, daddy! and thanks for the pie. :)

breaking news

it's officially summer.

just like Father used to... well, sort of.

UPDATE:  I have edited this to be more accurate. My apologies for accusing you of using a mix, Daddy. :) And for saying that six years ago was "in the olden days."

Some of my fondest high school memories happened when Father would whip up crepes from a recipe he found (after a misfortunate failure involving a french mix). He would pour heavy whipping cream into a cold metal bowl and whip it with some cocoa and a little sugar to his delight, then spread the chantilly on the crepes (flipped on his special crepe pan) and top them with sliced strawberries and powdered sugar. And that was how we did crepes.
Now that I'm collegiate and constantly experimenting with new recipes and variations of ways to serve crepes, I've neglected the old ways (for good or bad). But not anymore!
My most recent crepe simulated those original goodies (although not QUITE the same)... I used my basic crepe recipe (no mix available around these parts) and topped the bad boys with sliced strawberries... and even had a chocolate chantilly of sorts! Here's how I did it:

(Not how it's supposed to look)

For 2-3 crepes:
1/2 to 2 tbsp egg whites
a little over 1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 scant teaspoon sugar


Mix ingredients, whisk with a fork until smooth (no flour lumps!), and sizzle to your heart's content on a nonstick skillet. Flip.
 
Chocolate Cream Chantilly:
 
1/3 cup (GASP!) Cool Whip
1 tbsp cocoa
a teensy bit of water
 
Put just enough water in cocoa to make a thick paste; stir well in Cool Whip.
 
 

 
To assemble crepes:
 
Take crepe. Fill with a line or dollop of chantilly.  Seal crepe like an envelope. Top with sliced strawberries.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Enjoy!

red velvet pancakes?!

For avid lovers of red velvet everything (ie, Joe, my beau's stepbrother), have I a perfectly appropriate pancake variation!!!!

From the kitchy kitchen:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 buttermilk
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


For the Mascarpone Spread:


4 oz softened mascarpone
2 oz creme fraiche
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and creme fraiche/sour cream, melted butter, red food coloring, and vanilla extract. Add them together and whisk just until combined. A little lumpy is fine. Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium high heat. When hot add butter or oil to grease, followed by a small scoop of the batter. Wait for the pancakes to bubble (2-3 minutes), flip and cook for a minute or two more. Meanwhile, mix all of the ingredients in the mascarpone spread together, and use to garnish the pancakes with some maple syrup. Enjoy!

chocolate chocolate chip cookies! with only 2 tbsp butter! (for 2 1/2 doz cookies!)

I like to bake, obvs. The unfortunate part of this liking is that I like to eat AS and AFTER I am/have baking/baked. Therefore, I'm always on the lookout for new, healthy, tasty recipes that aren't so horrible to make and eat.

Today's experiment:  The Eating Well Dessert Cookbook's Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookie

Recipe as follows

3/4 c white whole wheat flour

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa (preferable Dutch process)

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp espresso powder
2 tsp pure vanilla

2 tbsp butter

2 oz reduced-fat cream cheese (1/4 c)
1/2 c packed light brown sugar

1/3 c white sugar

1 large egg

1 egg white

1/2 c semisweet choc chips

Preheat oven to 350. Stir cocoa, flour, soda, salt, set aside. Dissolve espresso in vanilla. Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat; cook until butter turns a nutty brown color (about 1 min). Pour into mixing bowl; add cream cheese and sugars.  Beat until smooth.  Add egg & white, beat. Add dry + dissolved espresso, stir until combined. Add chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 mins until cookies are puffy and feel set when pressed. Remove from bake sheet almost immediately or they will stick.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen. 55 calories per cookie!!!

Variation:  Stick some Cool Whip in the middle and freeze!

Mmmmm. Ice cream sandwich, anyone??

catering

As the declared Martha Stewart of my tightknit friend group from back home, I take it upon myself to do most of the extensive food preparation for our parties. From roly-poly Santa cookies to fruit pizza to grilled chicken rolls, I'm considerably decent at making (or getting my parents to make) food and presenting it prettily.

(upside-down sticky pecan cakes)

Parties (such as our annual Barn Party, coming up this Wed!) are the highlight of school breaks and occasional odd weekends. 

(spanakopita... not so much a success)

We've had quite the variety of themes too. From the Yacht Party we had at Julianna's grandfather's house to Christmas 2008's Communist Party (don't worry, all we did was wear red and go out to eat...), we've done it all. Or at least thought them up and saved them on file for the future.

("eat me" soft sugar cookies for my Alice in Wonderland party in 2007)

Laken, my best, is my wing-woman and creative assistant at large. She's the one who typically encloses magazine clippings in her letters from Tech and helps me suspend Christmas trees from the basement rafters.

(laken and me at last year's toga party)

Now that we're all getting older and the first of us got married last year, the pressure for bridal shower creativity is mounting. No worries, though. We had Eleni's in the bag.

(hors d'ouevres I prepared! cream cheese rounds, mango chicken lettuce wraps, ham & swiss in phyllo cups!)

(mini tiered wedding cakes + Martha's vanilla bean sugar cookies in bridal cutouts!)

So, all that is to say:  I'm compiling stuff for future showers. Most recent addition to my list?

Apple Salad. Mmmm.

(You should really go check out Sweet Paul magazine. It's online and so neat! Their debut!)

summertime

Sorry for being MIA lately; I had a flooded-out formal, two weeks' of exam papers (ranging from 4-14 pgs), a summer job to secure, a move back home, and a one year anniversary (consecutively from the last time we started dating but this time without breaking up!... again) to celebrate. So busy times!

But now that summer has begun, my annual list of goals emerge. Here's what we've got going on this year:
- Make a crepe cake! (number one on the list!)
- Work at J. Alexander's (my new job!)
- Celebrate Julianna & Katie B's birthdays
- Host my own birthday get-together
- Attend Katie R & Joy's weddings!!!!!
- Organize my room (it's still a disaster from movefest 2010)
- Get rid of things I haven't used since high school and never will again (I already cleaned out the hs details from my resume... goodbye Valedictorian status/4.0 GPA!)
- Work more wedding coordinating!
- Try something new at Pancake Pantry
- Go to Cantina Laredo (what exactly IS gourmet mexican?)
- READ!
- RUN!
- Do pilates/yoga.

ahhhh... sweet summertime.

things one MUST eat during the months of june through august, no exceptions:
- granny's homemade peach ice cream (THE best).
- strawberry pie
- at least one ice cream sandwich
- corn on the cob
- blackberry cobbler
- homegrown tomatoes (mmmmm)
- garden green beans
- baked beans (what is the fourth of july without it?)

I think that's it. :)