Ebelskivers

This is a post I wanted to put up just to show something fun I made the other day.

So these little puppies are AWESOME!!! They're called Ebelskivers. What are ebilskivers you might ask?? They're traditional danish pancakes, and they're HEAVENLY when topped with vanilla sauce!!!  The only downside is you have to have a special pan to make them, and I seriously don't know anyone besides my family and various extended family that has one. . Here's what they look like.

If anyone happens to have access to a pan, let me know and I'll give you the recipe, but since I figure no ones does, I didn't type it up here. I just wanted to show how fun they are! 

Limonada (Brazilian Lemonade)

Alright, so I had two recipes for Limonada, so I decided to put them both to the test!

The first one is a recipe I got here, from one of my favorite cooking blogs. The second one comes from my uncle who served his mission in Brazil.

We tried the both

RECIPE #1    (go to link above)

RECIPE #2

 2 1/2 limes
Water (fill blender 3/4 of the way)
1/2-3/4 cups sugar
Ice

Cut limes into quarters. Put pieces (including peels) in the blender with all the other ingredients. Blend and  strain.

We drank an entire pitcher of each

BUT

we came to different conclusions. 

I liked recipe #1 more, but Ben liked recipe #2 because he said it tasted more like what he was used to drink on his mission.
So....if you want something yummy that's more authentic, make #2. If you want something less authentic but possibly a little yummier, make #1.

Dutch Babies

Dutch babies (otherwise known as german pancakes) are one of my favorite breakfast items! Just make them, cut them into 6 pieces (the 4 corner pieces are always the best :)) , and cover the pieces with powdered sugar and  syrup for a satisfying, filling breakfast!

(These ones don't look quite normal....I'm not sure what happened but they usually have more of a crust on the outside and they don't look quite so rough on the inside. These one still tasted yummy, they just looked a little different than usual)

Dutch Babies

 1/2 C butter

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups flour

 Put butter in 9x13 baking dish and melt it in the oven at 425. In the mean tim, mix batter. Put eggs in blender and whirl on high for 1 minute. With motor running, gradually add milk and then flour. Whirl for 30 seconds. Pour batter into the hot baking dish over the melted butter. Bake until fluffy 20-25 min

Best EVER Square Breadsticks

Be careful, these puppies are addicting!

Seriously.

They're the best bread sticks ever!

First, you make the dough and the topping 

 Then, you stretch the dough out a bit  (just with your hands)so it's bigger and flatter and plop it in the center of a rimmed cookie sheet. Then, using the back of a spoon, push the dough out to the corners so it's flat and even in the pan. It doesn't have to be perfect, as long as its fairly flat, somewhat even, and goes all the way to the edge of the pan, you're good. Then spread the topping on.

 Bake, Cut into squares, and you get these puppies!!!

This recipe came from my mom, who I think got it from an old neighbor of ours

Bread
1 T yeast
1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
3 1/2-4 C flour

Soften yeast in warm water. Mix dry ingredients. Add to yeast and water. Knead for 3 minutes on flour-coated surface into soft dough. Let rest 10 min. Press onto pan (greased) to edges. Spread topping over dough, bake at 350 for 10-15 min, cut into squares. EAT and ENJOY!

Twisted Italian Breadsticks

My goodness, how many good bread stick recipes are there in the world?
A TON!!!!
Here's one of them.


Don't they turn out pretty?

*note: eat them while they're warm! We left our extras in a sealed container, and when we had them again a day and a half later, they tasted stale.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Ben and I made these the other day.

So good dipped in marinara sauce! They make a great movie snack :)

Found the recipe on one of my favorite recipe blogs, Our Best Bites. For recipe, click here 

Variation on Tortellini Spinach Bake

Remember this post? The tortellini spinach bake that's beyond heavenly?
Well, I was making it this weekend and found myself short several ingredients.

So, I made a variation that turned out really good! It takes less time, and it uses fewer ingredients, and it doesn't heat up the house in the sumer because you don't bake it. It's awesome (although, the original is too!)!!

Here's what you do.

Boil the tortellini.
Make the sauce from the recipe (so much better by the way if you use real garlic, not the pre-minced kind)
Mix them together. Add bacon pieces if you want.
Oh, and of course throw in some cheese. Mozzarella or Parmesan...or both :)

So easy, but it's way better than just having pasta with store bought alfredo, and it's SO stinking easy to make!!! TRY IT!!!! You'll be glad you did :)

I got this recipe from Betty Crocker's website, and it's a good one!

I made it without the pine nuts though, and instead of the 1 cup fresh basil, I used  3/4 cup spinach and 1/4 cup cilantro.

I also made an entire bag of pasta (I think it was a1 lb bag) and the pesto recipe was plenty for all that pasta.When it was made, I filled my bowl, mixed in a little alfredo and then topped with parmesan and a bit of dried basil.

Here's what it looked like, don't be disenchanted by it's color!

Rigatoni with Basil Pesto

Rigatoni

1/2	teaspoon salt (for cooking pasta), if desired
3	cups uncooked rigatoni pasta (8 oz)

Basil Pesto

1	cup fresh basil leaves
2	cloves garlic
1/3	cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3	cup olive or vegetable oil
2	tablespoons pine nuts or walnut pieces

1. 1Fill a 4-quart pan half full of water. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt if desired. Cover with lid; heat over high heat until the water is boiling rapidly. Add the pasta. Heat to boiling again. Boil uncovered 14 to 16 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender but not mushy. While the water is heating and the pasta is cooking, continue with the recipe to make the pesto.
2. 2To measure basil, firmly pack basil leaves into a measuring cup. Use a measuring cup for measuring dry ingredients. Rinse the basil leaves with cool water, and pat dry thoroughly with a paper towel or clean, dry kitchen towel. Peel the garlic cloves.
3. 3In a food processor or blender, place the basil leaves, garlic, cheese, oil and pine nuts. Cover and process, stopping occasionally to scrape sides with rubber spatula, until smooth.
4. 4Place a strainer or colander in the sink. Pour the pasta in the strainer to drain, and place in a large serving bowl or back in the Dutch oven. Immediately pour the pesto over the hot pasta, and toss until pasta is well coated. Serve with additional grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Expert Tips

EXPERT TIPS:
Substitute 3/4 cup firmly packed fresh cilantro leaves and 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh parsley leaves for the fresh basil.
Substitute 1 cup firmly packed fresh spinach leaves and 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves (or 2 tablespoons dried basil leaves) for the 1 cup fresh basil.
Use pesto immediately because it will darken as it is exposed to the air. Or store the pesto immediately by placing in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 1 month.

Great Harvest Pumpkin Bread

So the other day, Ben was craving pumpkin. As a result, he made pumpkin bread! It was pretty funny, the only pumpkin we had was a 30 oz can, so we ended up with a TON of bread (4 loaves and 24 muffins!) but OH MAN were they GOOD!!!! He found the recipe online
Best pumpkin bread ever!

GREAT HARVEST PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD 


2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
16 oz cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2/3 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two (9x5 inch) loaf pans or three (8x4 inch) loaf pans.

Mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.


Mix pumpkin, oil, eggs, and 2/3 cup water together and stir into dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter in prepared pans.


Bake 60 or 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Let cool completely.


NOTE--The bread only reaches it's delicious peak after a while. We thought it would be the most delicious when it was warm and the chocolate chips were all melty, but wrong. We put it in a covered cake pan to store overnight, and it was SO much better the next day!

Sugar Cookies

So we got this recipe from Ben's Mom, and they are seriously the yummiest sugar cookies ever! They're so soft and fluffy, you'll love them! Easy to make too!


Sugar Cookies

1 C butter
1 ½ c sugar
Cream together
3 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Vanilla
4 ½ c flour
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda

Bake 350 8-10 minutes


Sorry there are no pictures, I forgot to take some!