Monster Pancakes or German Pancakes

So here's the recipe for the Monster Pancakes we used with the peach syrup. I found this one in a ward cookbook someone gave us for a wedding gift. It's the only recipe I use out of the entire book.

1/2 cube butter
1 c milk
6 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 c flour

But the butter in a 9x13 pan and put it in the oven. Turn oven on to 350 degrees. While the oven heats the butter will melt. Mix the other ingredients well. I usually beat the eggs first. Add the milk and salt. Add the flour last and use a wire whisk to mix well. I mix it all in a large glass measuring cup so it's easy to pour.

When the butter is melted, pour the egg mixture into the pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. They are REALLY puffy when they come out of the oven, But they fall as they cool. I always double the recipe to make 2 pans. Serve with fruit or syrup.

Peach Syrup

Dad made the drive to Brigham City and bought fresh peaches! YUM! But what to do with those peaches going bad in the fridge? The girls suggested we make monster pancakes for breakfast with peaches. I though, why not do peach syrup? So a quick internet search and I found a recipe that looked good and made some changes and here it is:

5 large peach -peeled and pureed in a blender - mine made about 4 1/2 cups
ADD:
1 to 1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1 to 1 and 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

I originally just added 1 cup sugar, but the I did more lemon juice- it makes it a little lemony. Next time I will use less lemon juice.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add:

1 Tbsp vanilla - if you don't like vanilla so much, skip it or use less. We like it. It makes your syrup much darker if you used a lot and its regular vanilla - use the clear kind if you don't want it so dark. I didn't worry about the color, so mine is a little dark.

It makes about 5 cups of syrup. More than I needed for breakfast I realized half way through cooking it. So I did a made scramble for canning supplies to bottle half of it- here's how it you want to try it. SUPER EASY!

While the syrup cooks, put clean 1/2 pint bottles top down in a pan with an inch of water. If your pan is big enough, throw the lids in there too. Or use a separate pan. Bring the water to a boil and then turn it down. You are just heating up the bottles so they don't crack (maybe it cleans them some) and softening the rubber seals on the lids so they stick.

Fill the jars with hot syrup-do this right after you turn it off. If you wait for it to cool they won't seal. Use some oven mitts to pick up the hot jars or a kitchen towel. Leave some space at the top of the jar - about the same width as the threads at the top of the jar.

Use a damp towel (I used a paper towel) to clean off the top of the jar. You know you spilled on it, and you need it clean so the lid sticks, But the lid on it. (Use a fork or something to fish it out of the hot water. - I have a canning tool for this, but didn't take time to find it). Put the ring on and tighten it. Use a kitchen towel. Set the jars on the counter and as they cool, they will seal  - you can hear the click. FYI - Same recipe for Strawberry jam, Only boil longer to thicken it. - After they have all cooled, check that the lids have all sealed down and store them. Mine were all sealed within 30 minutes, but still warm to the touch.

We served our over German pancakes with more fresh sliced peaches.

Ok Girls! Now it's your turn - Add some of your own pictures. What else did you do with your peaches?

-Gen

Chinese Chicken Salad

Yes it looks like we abandoned our blog. Sad! And we don't sign our names, so I don't know whose recipe is whose. The only time I think about our blog, is when I am going through my cupboard full of recipes. Its so disorganized I can't find anything. The recipe I'm looking for today is Chinese Chicken Salad. I got this recipe from Mom, who got it from Aunt Terry - I think. I made a few changes. It's really easy and yummy! I have cabbage I need to use from my bountiful basket veggies this week so here it is:

1 large head of cabbage
8 green onions
4 chicken breasts -cooked and cubed (I used 2 cans of  canned chicken from Costco - its easier)
4 oz slivered almonds
4 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 packages of Ramen noodles broken into pieces

put noodles, almonds and sesame seeds on a baking sheet - toast under the broiler - watch them. They toast fast around 5 minutes I think.

Chop or shred the cabbage, add chopped green onions, toasted noodles, seeds and nuts. Add chicken. Toss with dressing:

Dressing

2 spice packets from Ramen soup
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 c oil

notes: I have 1 and 1/2 times the recipe for the salad but not increased the dressing at all- it seems like plenty. So you may not need the entire amount of dressing for the salad.
-Also the original dressing recipe may not have used the spice packets, but it did have 1/2 tsp salt, 1and 1/2 tsp Accent seasoning and 1/2 to 1 tsp pepper. If it did use the spice packets, that seems pretty spicy. Its a little unclear. But I never put any of that in. You could try some sesame oil too - but not too much!
                             -Gen

Swedish Rice Pudding

I was talking to a neighbor yesterday about rice pudding. I told I had a recipe that Mom has made for as long as I can remember! The recipe came out of an old Betty Crocker cookbook Mom got when she was in high school I think.   I was typing up a copy to send to my friend and figured I'd post it here too.


4 eggs
2 C milk
2 C canned milk - (the original recipe is light cream - but we never had that in the fridge at home)
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (I like the nutmeg in it, but I don't think my mom ever used it)
3 C cooked rice
2/3 cup raisins ( I never put these it- but for the sake of completeness included them in the recipe)

Scald the milk and canned milk (or light cream).  Beat the eggs. Put all the ingredients in a 2 qt casserole (I use a glass oven proof mixing bowl) and mix thoroughly.  Place casserole in a pan filled 1 inch deep with hot water ( I use a 9x13 baking dish). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes (mine always takes 60+) until a knife inserted halfway between the center and edge of dish comes out clean. Serve warm or cold with or without cream. (we pour milk over ours when it's hot.)  Pudding will bake with a custard layer on top. For a more even distribution of rice (and raisins), stir pudding carefully after 30 minutes of baking.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I like the flavors of lemon and blueberry together. I recently had some blueberries in the fridge I need to use so I found a recipe to make muffins- It's pretty good. I haven't decided if its my favorite or not yet.  The original recipe I found as this website: http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2014/04/bakery-style-blueberry-lemon-muffins/  I'm re-posting it here with changes I made to it.

CRUMB TOPPING
5 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup oatmeal

MUFFINS
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk- I don't ever have buttermilk- so I used 1-2 tsp lemon juice in milk (enough to make the ½ cup) and let it curdle - it works the same.
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh blueberries

The original recipe has a glaze - 3 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup powdered sugar - I made it, but it was WAY too runny. So I don't think I'll use that again.It didn't drizzle nicely on the muffins- it was more like pouring water on them.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. (I needed 16- the original recipe must have bigger muffin tins)
2. Make the crumb topping by combining the melted butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and salt. Stir with a fork until crumbs form. Set aside.
3. Beat butter for 1 minute until soft and fluffy. Add sugar and continue to beat for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time and beat just until incorporated. Add milk, vanilla and lemon zest and mix on low until combined.
4. Add the baking powder and salt.
5. Add flour mixture and stir, by hand, until flour disappears. Do not over mix or muffins will be tough. Gently stir in blueberries.
6. Divide mixture evenly in the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle with the crumb topping.
7. Bake at 350˚F for 22 to 25 minutes or until light golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack. (drizzle with the glaze if you made it)

Homemade Oreos

We love homemade Oreo Cookies and they are super easy. But I always misplace my recipe. So I decided to post it here:

Cookies:

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix - any brand works I've tried a bunch of them

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil 

Mix everything together. Roll dough into small balls- about 1 inch. Put balls onto a cookie sheet. I line my cookie sheet with a Silpat mat - I love those! Cook them at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet.

Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened -OR- 1/4 margarine spread - I use either - they both work

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla - I think clear would work better, but I use regular too - but not very much or it makes the filling look brownish. 

Mix the cream cheese and butter/margarine together. add vanilla. Add enough powdered sugar to make the frosting a consistency that you like. It might take more or less than 2 cups - that's my best guess.

Put a spoonful of frosting on to the bottom of a cookie and cover with second cookie- gently press together. Not too much or all the frosting squishes out. 

I refrigerate the cookies because of the cream cheese frosting. But they seem fine when they are left out- I've done that too. They never stick around long enough to go bad anyway!

I don't have any pictures - but if you want to see some beautiful ones look at this website. Her recipe is about the same as mine- I think everyone's is. But she has some other interesting recipes too:
http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2010/11/homemade-oreos.html

Sesame Crackers

Ryan made sausage leek soup for dinner tonight- I thought we needed something to go with it. Sesame crackers sounded good. I found a recipe on http://www.sandraseasycooking.com - It needed some changes though - and this is what we came up with.


2 cups wheat flour
2 Tbs. Baking powder
2 Tbs. Sesame Seeds + extra for sprinkling
1 Tbs. Sugar
1/2 Tbs. Salt
2 Tbs. Butter and extra melted for brushing
1 cup of warm milk
kosher salt for sprinkling


Preheat the open to 375 *. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and sesame seeds. Add the butter and cut in with a fork. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add milk. I heated it for 1 min in the microwave first. Mix is to make a dough. I had to add more flour because it was too sticky. Divide the dough in half. Put each half on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat mat. Press or roll it out as thin as possible (like a pizza crust or thinner). Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and kosher salt. Bake for approx. 15 minutes or until golden brown. Put baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely (or until you can't wait anymore). Break into pieces and serve. We put fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves on ours. It was yummy! We ate most of it before I even thought of getting a picture. So use your imagination!


Note- I thought it was a bit too salty- the rest of the family thought it was good though. I think next time I will leave out some of the salt.