I should tell you how carefully I planned this recipe.

I should tell you how I planned for substituting Wheaties for half the oats in an effort to enhance the texture, flavor, and nutrition of the recipe.

I should also tell you that the truth is I ran out of oats.

Ahem.

Regardless of how I arrived at this [...]]]>

I should tell you how carefully I planned this recipe.

I should tell you how I planned for substituting Wheaties for half the oats in an effort to enhance the texture, flavor, and nutrition of the recipe.

I should also tell you that the truth is I ran out of oats.

Ahem.

Regardless of how I arrived at this version, I do make it this way on purpose now and I eat it with my lazy yogurt every single morning. And even the Kiddo loves it. That’s kind of a miracle, folks. It’s based on the recipe from Creative Kitchen because she didn’t use seeds in her recipe; she’s speaking my language.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (the real stuff, not “pancake syrup”)
• 1 stick butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups Wheaties cereal
• 1 cup Craisins or raisins (optional, obviously)

To make:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Melt butter and honey or maple syrup in a saucepan, then stir in remaining ingredients, making sure everything is well coated with the butter mixture
3. Spread on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the oats are golden brown
4. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 20 minutes, then scrape in long strokes with a spatula to aid clumping. Store in a jar or zip top bag in the fridge

This is based on a muffin recipe by Mark Bittman; I tweaked it to use some orange juice and — shocker — some Crasins. These are so good for breakfast, brunch, or even a snack! The Mickey Mouse muffin pan is not required, but certainly adds some cuteness. It does not, however, convince the Kiddo [...]]]>

This is based on a muffin recipe by Mark Bittman; I tweaked it to use some orange juice and — shocker — some Crasins. These are so good for breakfast, brunch, or even a snack! The Mickey Mouse muffin pan is not required, but certainly adds some cuteness. It does not, however, convince the Kiddo to eat any; your mileage may vary. Recipe made one dozen Mickey muffins.

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups  flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup milk, plus a little more if needed
• 1 cup Crasins, fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries (no need to defrost first)

To make the muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Mix dry ingredients together, then either mix egg  through milk separately or in a well in the middle of the dry ingredients (my preferred method). Add in berries and gently fold everything together till it’s just barely incorporated; lumps are your friends
3. Bake in a well greased or paper lined muffin pan for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean. Cool in a metal or glass pan pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack, longer for a silicone pan (wait for silicone to be cool to the touch for best results)

These were so much fun! Now, they’re complicated so take a minute to prepare yourself for the giant shopping list. I kid! Obviously. My awesome sister rocks a lower carb diet, but we felt the need to have a chips and salsa night so I made these as a chip [...]]]>

These were so much fun! Now, they’re complicated so take a minute to prepare yourself for the giant shopping list. I kid! Obviously. My awesome sister rocks a lower carb diet, but we felt the need to have a chips and salsa night so I made these as a chip alternative. As with most things I make, they’re ridiculously easy.

You will need:

• 8 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat
2. Put 1 Tbsp. cheese on the mat and tap a little with the back of the spoon to flatten it out a bit; repeat, leaving a couple inches between your little piles of cheese
3. Bake at 350F for 4 to 5 minutes, watching for the edges to start browning; this will happen quickly so don’t go anywhere. Either pull them when the edges are brown, or let them go a little bit longer for even crispier, um, crisps
4. At this point you can either leave them to cool on the tray or you can drape them over an overturned glass or a rolling pin (as above) to give them a little shape (the better to hold your salsa with, obviously). If you go the draping route, let them cool on the tray for a minute or two till they start to harden up a bit; when you can get a spatula cleanly under them then you can move them without turning them into a ball of cheese

Enjoy!

You will need:

The first time I tried hummus? Not. A. Fan. I couldn’t even tell you now what I didn’t like about it (it was years and years ago) but I can for sure tell you I didn’t like it. Fast forward to this month when Kiddo’s BFF’s mom made it at her house. Seeing as how [...]]]>

The first time I tried hummus? Not. A. Fan. I couldn’t even tell you now what I didn’t like about it (it was years and years ago) but I can for sure tell you I didn’t like it. Fast forward to this month when Kiddo’s BFF’s mom made it at her house. Seeing as how it’d been years and years I wanted to try it again, so I sort of held my breath and took a bite. YUM! I don’t know what the difference is, but now I can’t get enough of the stuff.

Vanessa sent me her recipe so I made a big batch of this for last night. Halloween night at our place is hanging out with the neighbors on the front porch with food and wine while we hand out candy; we don’t go trick or treating because Kiddo doesn’t like candy (of course) so we just make it into a party (and I LOVE it!). In the three and a half seconds I spent looking in the grocery store I couldn’t find the tahini Vanessa’s recipe called for so I used natural peanut butter instead, a la Alton Brown.

Gather up:

• 1 can chick peas (drain, keep 1/3 c of liquid)
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter (or tahini)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled or a couple spoonfuls of jarred minced garlic
• Healthy pinch of salt
• Cayenne pepper to taste

1. Put everything but the chickpeas in a food processor and process till garlic is well chopped; add in chickpeas and process till smooth and give it a taste — adjust salt and cayenne as desired
2. Chill; eat with pita chips and/or baby carrots

The Yankee and I love to have snacky suppers every so often; just some crackers, some cheese, maybe some salami or dried fruit or nuts. Browsing through How to Cook Everything today I came across a recipe for crackers. Did y’all have any idea how fast it is to make crackers? I certainly did not. [...]]]>

The Yankee and I love to have snacky suppers every so often; just some crackers, some cheese, maybe some salami or dried fruit or nuts. Browsing through How to Cook Everything today I came across a recipe for crackers. Did y’all have any idea how fast it is to make crackers? I certainly did not. I gathered:

• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup whole milk

That’s IT! Now:

1. Combine the flour and salt, then cut in the butter like you’re making biscuits or pie dough (a few pulses in a food processor will do this nicely; I used a pastry blender this time), then add in milk; either pulse till combined* in the food processor or stir in with a fork or dough whisk in a bowl
2. Roll out 1/8 inch thick and cut out into shapes, or just score it with a knife if you want to simply break them apart later
3. Bake at 400F on a lightly floured baking sheet or on a pizza stone for about ten minutes, then cool on a rack. Serve warm or save for later

*Note: this is very similar to pie crust, so you’re not looking for something that looks like bread dough; it will look like this when it’s ready:

I holds together just fine when squeezed into a ball and then rolled out; I didn’t add any more milk after this picture.

With limitless shape options, these crackers also make a very fun kid snack:

Have fun!

Enter: Jason’s Guac Starter. It’s made by a local guy, which is awesome, and I can pronounce everything in there. Also awesome. AND [...]]]> I resisted “guacamole mixes” for years. I mean, what exactly is IN those little packets of “spices,” “flavor enhancers” etc.? Likely stuff I can’t pronounce. And you KNOW how I feel about that.

Enter: Jason’s Guac Starter. It’s made by a local guy, which is awesome, and I can pronounce everything in there. Also awesome. AND it’s stuff I put in my guacamole anyway, so it’s a triple threat of awesomeness.

Plus? It’s GOOD.

I’m a woman converted.

So here’s what guacamole looks like in the OPK household these days:

To make this you will need:

• Two ripe avocados
• Two roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup Jason’s Guac Starter
• Salt to taste
• Eight ounces lump crab meat
• Chips (duh)

Quick assembly:

1. Scoop out the avocado into a bowl and mash with a fork, then stir in guac starter and diced tomatoes; taste and add salt as necessary
2. Top with eight ounces crab meat, drained
3. Nom nom nom all the while reminding yourself that avocados are the good fat

Disclaimer: I spent my own monies on Jason’s Guac Starter and was not compensated for this post. I am not a paid spokeseater, I am merely a crazed fan.

Can I just say, for the record, I have no idea why this is called Russian Tea? I don’t. But I DO know why I’ve kept this recipe, written on orange construction paper, for so long: it is SO GOOD. I used to be a preschool teacher, and the teacher in the next room over [...]]]>

Can I just say, for the record, I have no idea why this is called Russian Tea? I don’t. But I DO know why I’ve kept this recipe, written on orange construction paper, for so long: it is SO GOOD. I used to be a preschool teacher, and the teacher in the next room over gave me this recipe forever ago. Every year I make it it’s just as good as I remembered! There are a lot of versions floating around out there, but this one has never failed me. You will need:

• 2 cups Tang mix
• 1/3 cup lemonade mix
• 3/4 cup instant tea (recipe says decaf; I use fully leaded because I have a 3 year old)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves

Then just mix it all in a bowl and store in a jar — so easy that this is a great project for the kids to help with. To serve, pour one cup of hot water over 1 Tbsp. of tea mix (grownups only with the boiling water, obviously).

This mix looks very pretty in little jars for presents, along with some sugar spice craisin nuts.

I must confess, though, my favorite thing to do with this tea is to enjoy a steaming cup of it in the afternoon with a little plate of cookies. It’s downright civilized, I tell you. My two favorite accompaniments for Russian tea this year are these buttered rum meltaways from Erin’s Food Files, and these shortbread cookies from The Novice Chef, my two bloggie sisters in crime. Try them… you won’t be sorry!

I eat a lot of salsa. A LOT. I am rather notorious for this, in fact. My friend’s boyfriend once innocently asked if I had anything he could snack on — maybe some chips and salsa? My friend nearly fell on the floor laughing at the thought of me not having chips and salsa in [...]]]>

I eat a lot of salsa. A LOT. I am rather notorious for this, in fact. My friend’s boyfriend once innocently asked if I had anything he could snack on — maybe some chips and salsa? My friend nearly fell on the floor laughing at the thought of me not having chips and salsa in the house. There is no risk of that. Ever.

So when my awesome world-traveling chef cousin came to town for a few days, she offered to teach me how to make roasted red salsa and tamales. Can you imagine how much I hesitated? Not. At. All.

And people, this salsa. PEOPLE. With a lifetime of tasting, sampling, and gorging research on salsa, I have never in my life had salsa this good.

Note that this makes a lot — a big mixing bowl full. I’m too embarrassed to tell you how quickly it went here. Without further ado, I give you: The Best Salsa Ever:

• 16 full size tomatoes, or nearly a produce bag full of roma tomatoes (we used roma)
• 2-3 yellow onions
• 20-25 Serrano peppers (remove caps) Note: this many peppers makes it hot. Feel free to reduce # of peppers, or scrape the seeds out of them
• 8-10 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 1-2 bunches cilantro

1. Halve the tomatoes and onions and lay cut-side up on a cookie sheet along with the peppers and garlic
2. Roast at 375 till the onions look nice and translucent (see bottom left of the next picture), tomatoes look soft, and peppers are getting a nice char on them



3. Let it all cool a bit, then run through the food processor with salt and cilantro (we had to do this in two batches)
4. Stir it all together and eat with abandon. Trust me.

Update 6/24/09:

Got questions? Be sure to see the comments below from The Cousin — lots of great info from the salsa expert!