Happy Birthday…

… to Sasha! We adopted her 3 years ago today. It seems like it’s been longer; I can’t remember what it was like before she came along. And I must take this opportunity to say: If you’re going to get a dog, please adopt one. That’s all. I won’t go into a full speech right now, or it wouldn’t be a “snippet.”

Sunday Morning Breakfast

I’ve figured it out—scrambled eggs and chai. The scrambled eggs keep me from starving during church, and the chai keeps me from falling asleep. Glad I finally got that worked out.

An Unpleasant Surprise

My mom brought over my baby book for me to look at, and I left it on the kitchen counter. Some time later, David asked me, “What’s with the creepy baby book?” “Creepy baby book?” I asked. “Yeah.” “My baby book is creepy?” “Yeah.” Then I figured out what had happened. He was flipping through it, apparently never having heard of the tradition of saving a lock of baby hair from one’s first haircut.

Sleeping Through the Night

Anna is. I’m not. After three months of fighting sleep, making myself wake up even when I’m very sleepy, and only sleeping for a few hours at a time, now I have to learn how to sleep through the night. I hope that happens soon. I’ve started working a Sudoku when I get into bed to clear my mind of everything else and focus on one mind-numbing thing.

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This is totally yummy and one of those make-the-night-before, bake-it-in-the-morning breakfasts. Try it for your family!

Baked French Toast

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Chopped walnuts
• 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
• Powdered sugar (optional)
• 12 slices bread, white or cinnamon-raisin
• Berries or thinly sliced, peeled apples
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

In 9×13 casserole dish, mix melted butter, brown sugar, and syrup. Sprinkle walnuts over this.

If desired, sweeten cream cheese with powdered sugar to taste. Spread cream cheese on 6 bread slices; lay in single layer in dish. Lay berries or apples on top of this. Top with remaining bread slices.

Mix eggs, milk, and vanilla; pour evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes. Loosen edges with spatula, then invert onto a cookie sheet and let sit a few minutes. Cut and serve.

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I’ve been baking and freezing muffins for a big breakfast at our family reunion this weekend. I made six dozen—two dozen each of three different kinds. Here are the recipes. (more…)

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Well, my first Mothers Day would have been special enough just enjoying the blessing of Anna, but there were a few additional “perks” that made it extra-special. (more…)

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This is a great easy dinner idea. The recipe came from a Southern Living cookbook. You’re supposed to marinate your chicken (and/or beef), grill it, cut it into strips and make fajitas. This is quite good of course, but if you’re not planning on firing up the grill, do what I usually do—cut the raw chicken into strips, toss it with the marinade, and cook it in the Crock Pot for about 4 hours.

Chicken Taco/Fajita Marinade

• 1 cup Italian dressing
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground chipotle (optional, but if you don’t have some, get some!)

Half of the marinade recipe is plenty to do about 4 chicken breasts, so I usually make the whole recipe and pour half in a jar (before it has touched the chicken, of course) to use next time.

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I saw in the news a couple of days ago that Wal-Mart is going to roll back prices on some groceries. Great! Or so I thought. When I looked at what the rollbacks were actually for, I was rather disappointed—things like Pepsi, DiGiorno pizzas, Pringles, Doritos, etc. Just in time for the Superbowl.

Not that I’ve never partaken of the aforementioned delicacies on occasion, but how about also rolling back prices on things like fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, juices, milk, cheese, and fresh lean meats? You know, actual food? Stuff that doesn’t come out of a box or a can? Just another example of how Americans are encouraged to choose overly-processed, fat-and-sodium-laden convenience foods over healthier alternatives.

(Writing this should ensure that next time you run into me at Wal-Mart I’ll get caught with a bag of chips in my cart.)

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This recipe came from our church cookbook, but no name was given. It is a very moist cake, and by the second day it takes on almost a bread pudding consistency. It is great served warm with a dollop of Cool Whip!

Apple Cake

• 4 cups peeled and chopped apples
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup oil (or scant 1/2 cup applesauce)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• Glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 2 tsp. melted margarine

Mix apples and sugar. Add oil, eggs, nuts, and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and combine all. Pour into greased and floured 9×13 baking pan; bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Mix glaze ingredients and pour over cake.

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A couple of questions I was left pondering after my Wal-Mart trip tonight:

What’s up with the price of eggs? It seems like not too terribly long ago, they were 78 cents a dozen or something like that. The price must have crept up slowly without my noticing (I guess I just breeze by and grab a carton of eggs when they’re on my list), then all of a sudden around Christmas time I realized, “Whoa! Over 2 dollars a dozen?” Was there some chicken catastrophe I didn’t hear about? Or is it our whole “everything’s tied to corn” economy? Yeah, I know, inflation and all that—but this seems like more than just ordinary inflation.

And why is Wal-Mart out of bananas every other time I go now? I don’t mean there are a few speckled picked-over ones left, I mean there are NO bananas whatsoever. The banana display is totally empty. I guess no one can afford eggs anymore, so everyone’s eating bananas for breakfast?

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Here’s a great recipe for roast chicken and potatoes. I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but you’ll change your mind once you taste it! The chicken is so tender and moist, and the potatoes are bursting with flavor. I’ve summarized it from the America’s Test Kitchen New Best Recipe cookbook. Seriously, if you cook at all, just get this cookbook.

Crisp-Skin High-Roast Butterflied Chicken with Potatoes

• 1/2 cup table salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 quarts cold water
• 1 whole chicken, trimmed of excess fat
• Flavored butter (optional)*
• 2 1/2 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• Ground black pepper

* Note: they have a couple of flavored butter recipes in the book, but I just mix some softened butter, lemon pepper, and garlic powder.

Dissolve salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in a large bowl or stockpot. Immerse chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Rinse chicken and pat dry; butterfly the chicken and flatten the breastbone. Apply the flavored butter, if using, under the skin. (This much can be done up to 24 hours in advance and the chicken stored, uncovered, in the refrigerator—this actually helps the skin get crispier.)

Line bottom of broiler pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Peel and slice potatoes 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Toss with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 3/4 tsp. salt, and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes evenly on the foil-lined pan.

Place chicken on broiler pan rack, and place rack on top of potatoes. Rub chicken with remaining 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with pepper to taste.

Roast at 500 degrees (yes, that’s really 500) until chicken is spotty brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate pan and roast until skin has crisped and turned deep brown, and internal temperature registers 160 degrees in the thickest part of the breast, about 20-25 minutes longer.

Transfer chicken to cutting board; let sit a few minutes before cutting. (Internal temperature will continue to rise for a few minutes.) Remove broiler pan rack. Using several paper towels, soak up excess grease from potatoes. Invert foil with potatoes onto baking sheet; carefully peel back foil from potatoes using spatula as needed. Transfer potatoes to serving dish; cut chicken into serving-size pieces and serve with the potatoes.

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Since I like to cook, I think a lot of my posts will be about food and sharing recipes. Here’s what we had for Christmas day:

Breakfast

• Breakfast casserole (a plain sausage/egg/cheese variety, since someone in this household who shall remain nameless won’t eat it with mushrooms, veggies, etc.)
• Cinnamon crumb cupcakes (like little individual coffee cakes)
• Sautéed apples

Dinner (with my parents)

• Roast beef and gravy (my mom)
• Hashbrown potato casserole
• Green beans (my mom)
• Homemade oat dinner rolls
• Frozen cranberry salad and 5-cup salad (an orange/pineapple thing) (my mom)
• Cranberry-apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream

As you can see, I ended up supplying the carbs. That seems to be what I’m best at!

The recipe for the Cinnamon Crumb Cupcakes came from a Penzey’s catalog, except I added the apple. David and I are big fans of Penzey’s spices. All you have to do is smell supermarket cinnamon and Penzey’s cinnamon side-by-side, and you’ll be hooked too. When you’re making this recipe, it may seem like too little batter and too much streusel, but it comes out just fine.

Cinnamon Crumb Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 apple, peeled and finely chopped

Streusel topping:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter, cut in 1/4-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 325°. Spray 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour and baking powder; add to rest of ingredients. Mix on low speed until well-blended (the batter will be very thick). Fold in chopped apple. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

For the topping, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. (If you have a food processor, it works great for this; use about 8-10 1-second pulses.) Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffin batter.

Bake for about 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove to a wire rack.

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