Whenever we make pancakes, we always have leftovers. We usually freeze these up so they can be popped in the toaster on those mornings when we need a quick breakfast before we run out the door.
The trick with freezing pancakes is to freeze them individually on a half sheet pan before bagging them up for storage. My, rather small, freezer will just fit these pans, so I would guess that would be true of all but the smallest fridges.
If they are touching one another as they freeze, they will weld into one lump that you will never break apart. This isn’t very good for grabbing one or two to heat up in the toaster.
Once they are frozen, you can stack them up and store them in a zip-top bags without worry or putting waxed paper between each one. Then you can easily pull out however many you want whenever you want. Simple, but it really makes life a little bit easier.
* This same trick can be used for fruit, cookies or anything you want to be able to pull out of the freezer individually
So many people are crazy over Downton Abbey, so it only makes sense that their love of the show sneaks into everything they are doing. I am a big fan myself and often find myself sipping a cup of tea and nibbling some biscuits as I watch.
Over at The Kitchn, Nancy Mitchell is show her love for all things Downton Abbey with a collection of cocktails named and themed for each of the Crawley women. Most are champagne-based and each seeks to call out the identifying traits of each woman.
Recipe
Lady Mary makes 1 cocktail 1.5 oz Lillet Blanc .75 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice 4-5 basil leaves brut champagne, chilled
Add the basil and lemon juice to your shaker and muddle. Add Lillet and ice and then shake and strain into a flute. Top with champagne.
A few months ago, I created a cookbook for this iPad App and Web site. Cookbook Cafe allows anyone to create their own cookbook and deliver it directly to user’s iPads. (You can also access the cookbooks directly on the web site)
This new app allows anyone — individuals, charities and non-profits, restaurants, etc — to create (and sell) their own cookbooks. It presents the cookbooks complete with photos and videos in an attractive fashion, just like a paper cookbook.
One of my favorite waffle recipes. I made these for breakfast this morning
These Cornmeal Buttermilk Waffles puff up nicely and have a great crispy crunch.
Buttermilk Cornmeal Waffles Adapted slightly from Gourmet
Yield: About 16 waffles
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring) 1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stoneground 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs 2 cups well-shaken buttermilk 6 tablespoons vegetable oil plus additional oil for brushing waffle iron
Accompaniment: pure maple syrup
Into a large bowl sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Repeat sifting 2 more times.
In another large bowl whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and oil. Add flour mixture all at once and whisk just until combined.
Preheat a waffle iron and preheat oven to 200 °F.
Brush waffle iron lightly with additional oil. Spoon batter into waffle iron, using 1/4 cup batter for each 4-inch-square standard waffle and spreading batter evenly, and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer waffle to a baking sheet and keep warm, uncovered, in middle of oven. Make more waffles with remaining batter in same manner, brushing waffle iron with mire oil before adding each batch.
I came across these in the Baking Bites blog, which I read via RSS. This posts crosses a couple of my interests. They are cookie cutters, so this post is about food, but they are flower-shaped and other garden shaped cookie cutters, so this crosses in the gardening topic. Oh what to do? Where do I post this? Everywhere, I guess. (SMILE)
These cookie cutters have deep indentations so that they shape the cookie as well as cut it out. You can highlight the design with icing, but I usually just like the plain cookies. The article has some good advice on the best cookie dough to use. You want something that doesn’t spread very much when baked, so that the detail remains in the final product.
It may not be time for spring as far as the flowers in your garden are concerned (even during a mild winter), but with this set of Garden Cookie Cutters you can get spring started in the comfort of your kitchen. These cookie cutters are some of the cutest cutters I’ve seen in a long time because the plastic is shaped just like the finished cookies. The cutters punch out very detailed cookies not just the outlines of cookies – in eight different designs, including a rose, daisy, tulip, dahlia, ladybug, butterfly, bumble bee and dragonfly. They’re easy to grip and kids will have just as much fun with them as adults, especially since the plastic handles are more kid-friendly than you’ll find on some cookie cutters.
I noticed this recipe for Sally Lunn Bread from favfamilyrecipes.com pass through my Google+ stream today. It quickly reminded me of our trip to the UK back in 2010. We spent 2 days in Bath and had lunch at Sally Lunn’s. The food was very good, especially the buns. I can’t wait to try this one out here at home.
Here is a photo of my wife, Rosanne, outside the Sally Lunn shop, just before we headed in for lunch.
Click for a larger image
We really loved Bath and want to return there as soon as we can, hopefully with more time to explore more of the city and area. We took a 1/2 day out of town to visit Stonehenge and didn’t really have as much time as we wanted to explore. At least the fairly long drive to Stonehenge gave us a chance to see the surrounding countryside.
You can see all our pictures from Bath and Stonehenge in these two Flickr picture sets.
I have been on an ice cream kick lately. Although this would have a lot of sugar in it, it might be worth trying once. Basically you combine any soda with sweetened condensed milk and then freeze as you would any ice cream. Simple.
I like the idea of the Orange Crush Ice Cream and maybe a root beer one, too. You wouldn’t want to have it everyday, but it could be a beat Summer treat every once and a while. I wonder if you could make it with diet soda to cut some of the calories?
I have been on a bit of an ice cream kick lately since I picked up the ice cream freezer attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer. This is essentially a big bowl that you freeze overnight and then attach it to the mixer which agitates the ice cream mix and helps it freezer in very small, smooth crystals.
We have made a gelato, a granita and some great vanilla ice cream with it, but I am always on the lookout for new things to try.
While it might be a little expensive to use this much Nutella, this recipe certainly sounds worth a try. We love Nutella and are currently nursing a huge bottle of Italian Nutella we brought back from our last trip visiting family in Sicily. Here in America, all the Nutella is made in Canada and, some say, has a slightly different flavor. Still, I think this could be great even using an off-brand of hazelnut-chocolate spread.
I am a sucker for a cocktail, especially a nice warm cocktail for the cool Winter nights. Add to that my love for all things maple and this cocktail jumped out at me when I first saw the recipe. Blame my love for maple syrup on my Ohio childhood. We had a few folks who used to “sugar” around our small town and it was always such a treat when the syrup started to appear at roadside stands.
I don’t normally keep vermouth in the house, but thanks to the relatives from Sicily, I do have some Amaro sitting about. I don’t really like it straight, but mixed into this sweet cocktail I think the bitter would be a unique twist. I would probably add a but more maple syrup to my cup, just to make sure it wasn’t masked by everything else.
Click through for the complete recipe via Pinterest.
I have been on a bit of an ice cream kick lately since I picked up the 
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