Sweet Potatoes...Dessert?

If, in looking at this blog and the lack of recent posts, you were under the impression that I only cook when I blog about it, you're wrong.  I cook.  Daily.  It's probably due to that fact that I can't seem to find the time to blog about the cooking.  I'll attempt to do better.  There are LOTS of cooking days in the weeks ahead, so I'm going to make it a priority to take some foody pictures and go from there. 

My assignment for the Thanksgiving meal was Aunt Mary Etta's sweet potatoes and rolls.  We tried to find the recipe online for the sweet potatoes last year but ended up having to call AME.  Now we know how to do it.  Well, we sort of know how to do it.  I think, just so I have it written down somewhere, I'll put it here.  So here goes... 

1 can Eagle Brand
1 cup (I think...  Every year it's a trial/error thing.) brown sugar
4 Tbls. (Again, I'm not sure on this.  I think that was roughly what I used.) real butter

Cook the above ingredients on low heat until thick, stirring constantly.  Pour over cooked (but not falling apart) chunked sweet potatoes.  Top with marshmallows & bake to brown the marshmallows.

According to AME, you'll know when it's there.  Sure.  It also takes a lifetime.  But it is absolutely the most sinful excuse for vegetables on the planet.  I like them warmed up post-Thanksgiving dinner for dessert.  Pathetic, I know.  I didn't bother to take a picture of those, surprise, surprise. 

I did, however, take a picture of the mammoth cream cheese braid I made last Friday.  I used butterhorn dough and made half of it into stromboli and half of it into this cream cheese braid.  We slathered a little almond-flavored glaze over the top of it and sighed as we ate it.  Here's the pic: 

Makes me hungry even now! :)

Can't Wait!

I like the part of summer that leaves me at home with healthy girls and a complete lack of any schedule except on those days when they have piano lessons.  I don't like that it's so hot outside that I can't enjoy heating up the house inside with my cooking.  I'm ready for fall, at least the part of it that allows me too cook.  I'm ready for cool weather.  I'm ready for homemade muffins in the mornings.  I'm ready for vegetable soup with Hope's favorite big, fat noodles.  I'm ready for cinnamon rolls and broccoli/ham/swiss braids.  I'm ready to make cookies and cupcakes.  I'm ready for chili and cornbread.  The list goes on and on.  Until I can get the weather to cooperate, however, I'm going to be stuck planning all those fun meals.  Therein lies Sunday's fun.

We've decided to make a last ditch effort to enjoy the summer Sunday by going to KC for some fun.  The girls are looking forward to some shopping, swimming, and a trip to the Cheesecake Factory (I am looking forward to that one too!).  I, on the other hand, am ridiculously excited about a trip to Penzey's Spices.  I know.   What a dork.  I plan to pick up some Vietnamese cinnamon (If you've never tried it, you really need to do so.  It makes AMAZING cinnamon rolls.)  and some whole nutmeg for my grinder.  I'm sure it will be a short trip, because I can't imagine that anyone else in the house will be all that excited about a store full of spices.  It'll be enough, though.  I'm such a cheap date...

Cinnamon Rolls

I recently read on the King Arthur Flour baker's blog (amazingly fantastic blog to read, incidentally) that a potential solution to the problem of cinnamon rolls drying out could be to not use sugar in the filling.  I know.  It had never occurred to me to NOT put sugar of some kind on the inside of the rolls.  I tried it.  It worked, I think.  I used strictly melted butter and some Vietnamese cinnamon (note to self - get some more of that!) on the inside of my refrigerator roll dough (with a little added sugar in the dough), frosted them with caramel frosting, and they were fantastic.  We never missed the sugar in the filling.  I'd like to say that the lack of sugar in the filling kept them from drying out, but they weren't around long enough to find out.  The girls are cinnamon roll aficionados, and I have apparently passed the test. 

On the Menu for Today...

I think we'll be having vegetable soup and homemade rolls for supper tonight.  For some reason, when warm weather hits, I completely forget about fixing soup for supper.  That changes today!  The girls eat it exceptionally well, and if I add hot homemade rolls to the mix, I am sure they'll eat!  I'm trying to decide which dough recipe to use.  I'm not sure whether to use the refrigerator roll recipe or the butterhorn recipe.  Decisions, decisions... 

Fatten Addie - Day 1

Day 1 was a definite success in at least the eating phase.  It's hard to say whether or not she'll actually gain any weight, but we're working on it.  She had ice cream twice yesterday and ate good meals every time.  She picked out some Blue Bell Birthday Cake ice cream cups yesterday (180 calories per little cup - a good move for her, a bad one for me) that she LOVES.  They have chocolate cake and sprinkles in the ice cream, making them a virtual birthday party in a cup. 

Today will be slightly less organized due to the trip to the eye doctor we have to make.  I do have plans to make chicken & noodles and mashed potatoes this weekend.  Obviously her mashed potatoes will be made with half & half... 

I'm a little concerned that the little lady is coming down with another stinkin' cold, though, so the eating is in jeopardy.  When she's sick she just doesn't eat much.  We'll see...

A New Purpose

Welcome to the new "Fatten Addie" site!  Not really, but that's going to be my cooking goal for awhile.  Actually, it's more of a two-part goal that includes fattening up the skinny minny and keeping myself from gaining weight from all the cooking.  Yes, I realize I don't have to eat what I cook for her, but that's easier said than done.  If I succeed, I will have lost some weight and Addie will have found it.  That's the plan anyway...

On the menu tonight: 

Meatloaf
Potatoes (she has asked for boiled potatoes with butter, but I'm leaning toward gravy - more calories!)
Green Beans
Grilled Bread

Wish me luck! :)

Pancakes - Volume II

I think I almost have it.  I came closer last night than I ever have before, so that must be a good sign.  Even Gary commented on how good they were.  Actually, his exact words were, "What did you do different?  These are good."  I wasn't sure how to take that, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.  Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt NOW.  At the time, I was mourning the loss of my Jayhawks and was slightly less than forgiving.  Now, however, I'm a little easier to get along with!  But back to the pancakes.  This time I used all buttermilk and no milk.   Last time I did used 1/2 milk and 1/2 buttermilk.  These had a bite.  I think I've almost got it. 

On a totally different front, I have a new favorite that I've been adding to my smoothies - milled flax seed.  It adds no taste (really important, since I tried using flax seed oil and could not even gag it down with food) and is such a healthy addition.  The girls have a new favorite thing as well - Kool-Aid Fun Fizz.  They're individually wrapped tablets that you drop into water that fizzes into Kool-Aid.  They're really very good (and at only 5 calories a tablet, I can drink it too!). 

Cooking?

Umm...no.  I haven't been cooking much lately.  Nobody's been eating much lately because they've been sick (see the other blog), so there's not been much cause to cook.  Well, that's a little misleading.  There's been cooking, just the whatever anybody wants at any time during the day kind of thing.  Last night it was grilled sandwiches.  The night before, however, was a cooking night.  We had homemade pizza, made to meet everyone's individual requests.  That's what I love about pizza!   I make my crust (let me know if you want the recipe - it's relatively fast and EASY), bake it a little and then add the toppings.  The girlies just wanted some hamburger meet (seasoned with Cavender's) and a variety of cheese.  On the other half I sauteed some onions and mushrooms, added some fresh spinach to the mix so it could wilt down, then put all that on our half.  I added a sprinkling of meat (just enough to say that it had meat on it) and some cheese.  On my portion I used primarily fat-free cheese.  No, it's not quite the same, but it's much better for me.  I used a little Monterey Jack as well, so I didn't go completely stupid.  It was really, really good.  It's also one of those meals that the girls LOVE, so it's a real winner as far as I'm concerned.  According to them, it's better than Pizza Hut and Buzzard's.  That's pretty impressive as far as I'm concerned!

Some New Favorites

I'm easily impressed.  I delight in some really ridiculous little things.  Here are just a few of my recent favorite things. 

Thing #1:  My $1.00 - yes, you read right $1.00 - mini grater from Michael's.  I'm a little embarrassed that I'm so pleased with it, but I am.  Yes, I have a microplane that I adore, but it's my fancy kitchen toy.  I don't use it on the everyday stuff...like cheese for quesadillas.  So while I was at Michael's last week I found a nice little stainless steel grater in the cheapy aisle that is fantastic.  That's all.

Thing #2:  Laughing Cow light swiss cheese wedges.  They satisfy this cheese-lover's cheese tooth without all the unnecessary calories, fat and cholesterol of the regular stuff.  I haven't even missed having real cheese lately.  That's saying something.  I spread this on a toasted whole wheat English muffin the other night, topped it with some grilled turkey, and topped it all with sauteed onions and mushrooms.  It was fantastic.  And, for under 300 calories, it made a great meal. 

Thing #3:  Probably my most-loved kitchen fun of the moment:  SMOOTHIES.  I've been using these lots lately for breakfast or snacks.  My favorite is a combination of ice, fat-free vanilla yogurt, skim milk, frozen orange juice, a banana and vanilla whey powder.  Yummo! 

Pancakes - Volume I

My grandma made amazing pancakes.  She made pancakes unlike any I've tasted since I ate her pancakes, probably 30 years ago.  They had a buttermilk bite.  I don't just mean a hint of buttermilk, I mean the sour, get you in the back corners of your tongue bite that made for phenomenal pancakes.  I don't know the secret. My mom doesn't know the secret.  I want to figure it out so I can share it with my little ladies. 

While I didn't succeed in tonight's attempt, I didn't really make too big of an effort to do so.   When my sister gave me the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion last year I decided I wanted to attempt every recipe in there.  I've tried out several recipes so far with great results and am looking forward to trying more.  (I just need to find somebody to eat it all, but that's beside the point.)  But this is about pancakes.  And the Baker's Companion.  I now make pancakes from scratch...with buttermilk.  And they're amazing.  They're not Grandma amazing, but they're downright tasty.  I used to be a pancake mix kind of girl, but not anymore.  I keep tweaking the recipe every time I make them, being sure to make note of the changes in my cookbook (along with the outcomes), but I still haven't got the bite.   So while this is the first post about pancakes, it inevitably will not be the last.  It's just a good thing everybody around here has grown to like them.