Maple Glaze

Darnit, I forgot to take a picture of my succulent pork dinner last night.  It just smelled way too good wait.  Sorry…..

But!  I bet you are dying to know how it seduced us so quickly?  I will tell you!

It is a well known fact that marinades are great to add flavor and juice to otherwise dry and tough meat. Pork can be yummy, I'm not a super huge fan, but my husband is.  To me, it always has that piggy barnyard taste.  Ham, not so much, but pork, yuck.  I'm always  trying to find ways to make it more palatable for myself.  I know, you probably are thinking I am insane right now.  But keep in mind, blending brings out all hidden flavors.  For example, I love homemade bread, but when I blend it, all I can taste is yeast.  Like I said, I have to be very creative to make food tasty for me and my family.

I like watching "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, he always has great tips and ideas.  I learned all about marinades from him, and so last night, I decided that would be the way to go.  I would be happy just being a vegetarian because it requires less prep and clean up than meat, but Nick would die I'm sure.

And yes, this is an original marinade!

You'll need two pork chops, cut is half so that you have 4 pieces the same size as the original chop.  Put them into a quart freezer bag.

Mix the following together in a bowl:
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup maple syrup (the real kind that comes from trees)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 heaping tbsp brown sugar
1  tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp marjoram
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper flakes

Once it's all incorporated, pour the marinade into the freezer bag, place in a bowl, and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours, better overnight probably.

We have also discovered, the best way to retain a meat's juiciness is to grill it.  Sadly, we don't have a real grill.  But!  We do have a fake one (stovetop kind) and a bottle of liquid smoke.  Hey, it's all you need, I promise.  Once the grill is heated and oiled, place your pork chops on, dripping a few drops of liquid smoke on each piece.  Grill until you have nice dark grill marks on both sides and the meat is a flakey white.  No pink in pork, or you will be spending your evening in the bathroom.

And let me just say, there was not one piece left over!

The trouble with bread

How can you call yourself a true homemaker if you can't make bread?

.........

Uh......well......about that........

When I was growing up, my parents both did the cooking.  My mom loved to bake sweet breads, and my dad loved to make rice breads.  Like with actual cooked rice inside.  They both took turns making dinner; we'd have chicken and meatloaf with mom, and moose or stir-fry with dad.  But like I said, they both really enjoyed baking breads.

When mom finished her loaf, it was always perfectly risen, with a smooth golden top.  She would then run a stick of butter over it to make it flaky and crispy.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Dad, haha, he wasn't quite as delicate.  His breads were always hearty and overflowing the pan.  But super dang tasty.  A whole loaf of his bread would be gone in just a few hours.

Mom taught me that sweetbreads were very sticky, and too keep my hands floured.  Dad and I figured out together that if we put a loaf to rise in the dishwasher just after it finished its cycle, it would rise to gigantic proportions.  In college, my first order of business was always to go to Sam's Club and stock my pantry with a 50 lb sack of flour.  You see, I loved to bake for my roommates and their friends.  They could always find a fresh loaf of bread, a batch of cookies, or a pan of sticky buns on the counter in the morning.  What can I say? I was raised to be a compulsive baker.....

Then I got married, and my baking was stifled.  My husband, I'm sad to say, doesn't like sweets.  So I stopped baking as often.  I mean, I  make cookies every once in a while, but I don't have the scores of guests at my house every day clamoring for my food.  Bread is just easier to buy at the grocery store sadly.

After a few (maybe three or four) attempts at bread in our married life that he liked (he loved my challah), Nick came home raving about the bread his buddy's wife had made. He also told me she made all of their bread, and it was super tasty.  I felt a tad jealous after Nick said I should get the recipe from her, so the next day, I decided to have another go at it.  It wasn't the first time he had suggested I get one of her recipes.  However, I was going to do this all on my own, no recipe.  I knew how to make bread just fine!  The dough looked and felt right, so I left it to rise.

Our house was too cold.  It never rose.  I tried the dishwasher approach, but by then the damage was done.  I decided to just cook it and hope it would rise a little in the oven.  Well, it did, it rose to fill the pan, but never made it above the rim.  The result was a petite golden dense loaf.  Just my luck.  Trying to one up the other wife and look what happened!  But being the kind husband he is, he ate it.  Said it tasted very good, it was just very dense.

Well, after the shame wore off, I tried again.  This time I made sure to let the oven heat up a bit before I made my dough so there would be some heat for it to rise.  And I followed a recipe for butter bread that I found in college.  And, guess what?  IT ROSE!  Perfectly!  My parents would be so proud.  It had buttery flaky crust and made my house smell like a first class bakery.  Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bite, but it did smell wonderful.

So I guess I am the perfect homemaker now.  I made perfect bread, mwahahahahaha!

Butter Bread

4 tsp yeast

2 cups warm water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 cup warm milk

6-7+ cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast in water and then add the sugar.  As usual, let it froth up.  Mix the warm milk and butter until the butter is all melted, then add to the yeast mixture.  Beat the eggs before adding them to the yeast and milk.  Then, with your dough hooks, knead in the flour until the dough is well formed.  Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes to get the gluten all nice situated.  Oil, cover, and let rise for about an hour.  Punch the dough down slightly, cut in half and form into loaves to put in greased bread pans.  Let them rise again for about half an hour, or until the dough is coming over the rims of the pans.  Bake for 20 or so minutes at 350, until the tops are golden brown.  Butter the tops while still hot!  This will give you a nice flakey crust.  

And trust me, this recipe has never failed.  Works great as loaves, dinner rolls, even cinnamon rolls if you are so bold.  

Donut Rolls

The last few days have been very crazy for me.  My son just got botox injections in his neck, so he has been grumpy, and tipsy, and just very hard to handle.  I mean, I feel terrible for him, he can't keep his balance very well at all.  But with all the fussing and freaking out, I find myself just wanting to pig out on donuts.  Ever feel like that?

Luckily for me I have a swallowing problem, or I am convinced I would be a 600 lb whale.  I tend to lean towards junk food, sweet junk food, when I am stressed or upset.  Maybe not to eat it so much as to make it.  So I feel bad for everyone around me who has to resist the temptation to pig out on my bakery treats.

Like I said, I have been wanting donuts.  Nick offered to watch Tristan so I could go and get myself an apple fritter or something, but I hate going out alone, especially when it's dark.  I don't know, marriage turned me into a wuss.  I used to go out alone all the time.  Instead, I decided to make my own donuts.

One problem, I've never actually done it before.  So as I'm debating how I am going to deep fry them, I make the dough.  And this is the recipe:

1/4 cup warm water
3 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup margarine
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
5+ cups bread flour

Here's how I do it.  Mix the warm water and yeast, then add the sugar and let it froth up.  Warm the milk and the margarine together till it's all nice and melty.  Beat the eggs slightly with the vanilla.  Then add all the wet ingredients together and stir well.  Lastly, with the dough hook attachment, mix all the flour in, cup by cup, until the dough is well formed.  It's going to be pretty sticky, just oil it and put it in a warm covered place to rise for an hour or so.

Then, as I'm still wondering about frying, realizing the oil we have is pretty low quality, I am worried it will make them taste bad.  So, instead, I ravage the cupboards and fridge and discovered I had powdered sugar, brown sugar, and a whole box of cream cheese.  What to do?  Cinnamon rolls!!!

Here's another fun twist.  After you roll out the dough to spread with butter, mix up the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Also, melt the butter, and here's my secret: add a couple tsp of cheesecake flavored pudding mix to the butter before you spread it.  It makes for a nice, sweet, gooey filling.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over he dough, be VERY generous, we like gooey sugar filling, before you roll it up.  Then, my old trick, use dental floss to cut the dough into 12 even pieces.  Place them into a greased baking sheet, cover, and let rise for another half hour or so, until the sides of all the rolls are touching.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown.

For frosting, we love cream cheese frosting.  I use half a box of cream cheese, a dash of vanilla, a few more tsp of cheesecake pudding mix, a tbsp of milk, and 1 1/2 - 2 cups of powdered sugar.  You have to decide your own consistency, so use more or less as you like.  And while the rolls are still warm, I spread the frosting all over, so it's nice and melty when I serve them.  They have a perfect flakey bread, and a warm and gooey filling, combined to make an amazingly tasty treat.

And wow, can I say I had the best cinnamon roll shake for breakfast this morning?  Just add a scoop of ice cream and some milk, blend up, and you have a delicious shake!  My husband loves them too, he says they tasted like a real Cinnabon, or better!  Plus, it's a great way to make your house smell amazing and make your neighbors jealous! ;)

Pumpkin Soup

Nick and I love to make squash soups anytime we can.  Our son Tristan loves to eat them too, most of the time, when he's not teething.

This time of year, for your carving pleasure, they start selling pumpkins.  But here's an idea.  Instead of making a jack-o-lanturn, why not try brewing a stew?  Or just a velvety smooth tasty soup?

Nick got me a little sugar pumpkin, you know, the kind you use to make pies?  Well, I chopped it in half and baked it until it was nice and squashy (no pun intended).  Then I scraped out all the meat and mashed it up with a little butter until it was smooth.  I was tempted to make a pie, but my husband isn't really into sweets the way I am.  But like I said, we both love fall soups.  So instead, I added it to some boiling chicken stock.

When I say chicken stock, I mean Sara's version.  I use 4-5 bouillion cubes, chopped carrots, chopped celary, and chopped onion.  Then I add some spice: a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, marjoram, garlic, cilantro, onion powder, parsley, and salt (we also like to add cumin).  I let it boil for a few minutes, just until everything was tender before I put it all in my blender.  Put it all back in the pot, add the mashed pumpkin and stir.  And then the best part, I added a little more than half a brick of cream cheese.  Another alternative, I've done before, is to use a cup or two of heavy whipping cream in place of the cream cheese.  This gives it a lighter but richer flavor.

If you want, you can strain the finished product so it really is velvety smooth, but either way, it tastes wonderful.  Just enough sweet and savory with a kick to please any picky eater!  Except my son, who is teething and refuses everything, even his bottle.  A little frustrating.  Anyhoo!  So pick yourself up a little sugar pumpkin, and give this soup a whirl!  It's definitely worth it!

Apple Fritter Bread

This has got to be one of the hardest recipes I have ever tried.  It's right up there with chocolate eclairs and hazelnut crepe cake (Both too hard to even bother with, trust me!  It always ends in a mess).

Anyhoo, it was about 8 o'clock at night, and my son and I were hanging out.  He took a late nap, and we were waiting for my husband to get home from his trip, so to kill time we went out to Target.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to make for dinner, and I was hoping something there would inspire me. Either that or I would me stopping at McDonald's on the way home.

And there in the bakery section I found my inspiration: Apple Fritter Bread.  Don't you just love seasonal items??

One problem, it was four bucks for the loaf.  So I thought to myself, hey I can make this.  All I need is a can of apple pie filling.  When I found it, I realized it was pretty much the same price as the loaf.  Well, that didn't make sense.  Still, I didn't want to waste that much on a little loaf.  So I ended up buying three red delicious apples, determined I was going to do everything myself.

Sadly, I didn't get to it that night.  But today I had some time.  And I seriously need to go to culinary school because it took me WAAAAY too long to chop those three apples.

I made the dough, and while it was rising, I made the apple filling.

Here's the funny thing.  I didn't see in the recipe that you need to let the filling cool all the way before you spread it over the dough.  It melted my dough and made a royal mess.  Which meant that instead of neatly cut little squares, I had a gelatinous pile of gooey dough and apples.  That's ok!  I rolled it all up and dropped it in my pan.  It would cook out evenly, right?

And to my great surprise, it in fact did!

So, if you are ambitious like me, check out the recipe here and give it a try!

http://thecreativeplace.blogspot.com/2012/04/food-apple-fritter-bread.html

Looks a little like brains, right?  Add a little pink food coloring to the dough and you've got a perfect Halloween centerpiece!  Bahahaha

Who loves peanut butter??

Another great semester: my husband has a ton of trips.  Trips away from home.  Leaving me alone.  With the dog.  And our son.  Alone.  Bored.

What do I do when I'm bored?  Well, I have a tendancy to cook……or bake.  More so bake.

Well, I restrained myself, and decided to do something easy.  I made peanut butter bars.  The melt in your mouth kind that I can enjoy, well, over the course of an hour (takes me a little while to eat them).

Nick found the recipe a few weeks ago.  Every day I check the allrecipes.com website for new ideas, so I guess he decided to as well.  And he found a video thingy that showed how to make the perfect peanut butter bars and said I should try them.  The first time, we only had cinnamon graham crackers, but even still it turned out superbly.

Today I decided to make them the right way.  And now as I type, I am munching away and I have to tell you, there can't be a better culinary combination that peanut butter and chocolate (well, except cinnamon and chocolate, but you all know I'm crazy for cinnamon….)

So, if you all want to try this amazing recipe yourselves, read on down and I will tell you how!



Melt a cup of butter and mix it into 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs.
Add two cups of powder sugar and one cup of peanut butter.  Mix it well with a hand mixer until its all crumbly.
Press it into a cake pan and set aside.
Melt 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 4 tbsp of peanut butter.
Pour over the peanut butter mix in the pan.
Let it set in the fridge for an hour, then cut up and serve!

You will fall in love with this easy recipe (it's great for kids to help with as well!  My son loves when we get to smash up graham crackers)

The Aroma of Fall

I have to tell you, Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the smells and the colors, I love the change outside in the leaves, and I love that it is cooler!

Around this time of year, I find myself baking with cinnamon and cloves a lot more than usual ( and that is a lot for me! )  I am addicted to cinnamon.  I pretty much add it to everything I can because it is by far my favorite spice.

Today, I went a little nuts and made a pumpkin cream cheese loaf, as well as pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  A little insane?  Probably.

Add that to the apple pie and pumpkin pie lip gloss I bought myself at Bath & Body Works yesterday, and I'd say I'm ready for Fall!

It is a little silly?  One day I'm going to theme my house in reds and golds, and keep Indian corn in baskets on my end tables.  Another fun thing I do is pull out my two favorite Halloween movies and watch them until November: Casper and Hocus Pocus.  I used to watch those all the time as a kid; they always got me psyched up for trick-o-treating.  The funny thing is, because I'm from Alaska, trick-or-treating ended up happening in the dark with my costume covered up by boots, snow pants, and a parka.  Haha, here I always thinks its crazy when I see little kids going door to door in the daylight actually showing their costumes.

Anyhoo, if you want to brighten your day and make your house smell fabulous, check out JoyOfBaking.com and find yourself a nice pumpkin recipe!

Asian soup

One thing that is always tasty no matter what: Asian style soup.

They are already so flavorful, that when you blend it all up, they still taste amazing.

Usually, I'm pretty boring when it comes to these soups.  Some raman noodles, a spice pack, mushrooms, onions, carrots….etc.

Tonight, I wanted to try something a little more flavorful.  And here's what I ended up with.

3 cups of chicken broth (Water and chicken bouillon cubes if you are poor like me)
handful of green onions
handful of sweet onions
1 clove garlic minced
1 carrot shredded
2 handfuls of white mushrooms
6-8 baby brussel sprouts, cooked and chopped
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cilantro
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp szechwan powder
1 egg

(remember, when I give a measurement, I'm guessing!  I approximate everything, because I rarely use a recipe, so feel free to venture out and try your own ideas!)

Mix everything but the egg, bring to a boil, and then after about 5 minutes boiling, stir in the egg.

Let it cool off before you devour it, otherwise you will burn your tongue like I do all the time.  Haha, I can never wait.  And if you want to put my spin on your soup, dump it all in the blender and blend until smooth.  It tastes great either way!

And in the Morning, I'm Making Waffles

When we were first married, I had no idea my husband was a fishing addict.  I guess I should have seen the signs: he bought me an expensive fishing pole and reel to take me fishing randomly, he would always stop to show me ideal casting spots in rivers, lakes and ponds, and every time we stopped by a pet store, he would spend the majority of the time scrutinizing the fish tanks.  I guess I was blinded by love.

That first summer together, my husband had a job that took him away on long trips into rural country.  He'd be gone for a few days at a time, and I would sit at home and wallow in self pity, lamenting the fact that I was a lonely bride.  Of course I had my job, so that kept me busy during the day, but I would lounge on the couch at night with only my kitty Suki for company.  After the summer was over and he was back in school, he would go on little fishing trips.  Sometimes I went, and sometimes I didn't.  To tell the  truth, I do love fishing…..for two or three hours.  Nick loves it for six to eight.  Not my cup of tea.  Oh we'd have fun, going to reservoirs and fishing, catching 60 or more fish in a single trip.  But then there were times I didn't want to go, and I'd let him just take off.  Or the times I let him go fishing while I was at work, and would end up waiting an hour or more after clinic for him to remember he needed to pick me up.

New bride + husband gone fishing = worry and panic.

He told me he'd be home an hour ago, didn't he die?  Did he fall asleep at the wheel and drive off a cliff?  Did he get a fishing hook caught in his eye?  The what if's plagued my mind as I frantically texted him "are you coming home yet?".  No answer.  Worries confirmed.  Bah!  What do I do now?  He has the car!  I know, I'll call the bishop, he'll give me a ride and we can go find him.

Of course, a few hours later, he would stroll through the door, usually sopping wet and smelling of fish.  I would be soo happy he wasn't dead, thats it was all I could do to restrain myself from leaping into his arms just to prove a point.  So I would glare at him, telling him he was late getting home, he didn't answer my texts, and I was mad at him.  He would shrug, make up some silly excuse about being a man, and that would be the end of it.

A few months down the road, I learned how to deal with my fishing anxiety, and on the trips that I didn't go with him, I did something else.  One of our wedding gifts was a card to Bed Bath & Beyond, so I used it to buy a waffle iron.  And when Nick left me home,  I made waffles and watched 50 First Dates.  Yeah, I went through a lot of waffles.  And by the end of our first year, I could quote the entire movie word for word.  I have to say I became quite attached to Ula.  "You got a cat?  Cuz I feel something licking me".  Oh and Doug, "I love Spam and Reeces, can I have 'em?"

Moral of the story: waffles are the next best breakfast food, after pancakes and donuts.  And, they taste amazing any time of day.

And for your tasting pleasure, here is the recipe I have perfected after many trials!

Sara's Best Waffles

• 1 cup milk

• 1 tsp vinegar

• 2 cups flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

• 4 eggs, separated

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup oil

• 2 tbsp sugar (less if desired)

• Confectioners sugar (optional)

• 
  

• Preheat waffle iron (medium heat works best)

• Combine vinegar and milk. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes.

• Mix flour, powder and cinnamon together.

• In a separate mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and oil.

• Stir in milk/vinegar mixture.

• Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

• Beat egg whites until frothy, does not need to stand in complete peaks.

• Fold egg whites into batter.

• Cook in waffle iron using about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter at a time.

• Waffles should be slightly golden brown when finished.

• Serve with syrup, jam, or ice cream. Garnish with confectioners sugar if desired.