Her name was Granola, she was a show girl

 My homemade granola bars: in pictures.

Eyeball the measurements. Make the granola bars your own.

I added Honey Bunches of Oats cereal to the mix

Drizzling some agave on my melted mixture

Line a Pyrex pan with buttered parchment for best results

Palatable pumpkin protein pancake

Sploosh

With fall here and a chill in the air, I thought I needed to switch my usual protein shake to something that would give me the warm and fuzzies. Enter the protein pancake! I’d seen variations of protein pancakes made on Twitter, but my pancakes always fell flat (Get it? Flat?). So I trusted my gut and came up with my own recipe because I’m a home cook and they are fitness instructors and who wants a pancake recipe from a gym rat?

So here’s what I came up with:

Put in a blender:

1 cup almond milk

3 egg whites

1 whole egg

½ cup pumpkin purée (plain, canned)

1 scoop protein powder (optional)

½ cup white whole wheat flour

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

BLEND!

It’ll keep a few days in the fridge. Pour on a hot pan in the morning for a quick pancake that’ll fill you until lunch. Top with your favorite fruit and maple syrup.

Be still, my tart

Note to self: assemble before drinking

I used my sister and brother-in-law as guinea pigs last Friday night. I made a dessert that could have either been really great or terrible. The strawberry basil tart video on the PBS website is a wonder in itself, but I just had to make it.

I created my own version of it. I needed time to cook a 3-course Chinese themed meal, so I took some short-cuts on the pastry. I used store-bought pastry dough, thus skipping the part when I'd put basil in the dough (but also, that didn't sound too tasty.) Using my sister's fresh chicken eggs gave the custard a nice richness. I infused my milk with basil and strained it. Then very carefully whisked my ingredients, but STILL had a slightly broken custard. It wasn't noticeable in the tart, but alone, I felt defeated.

This tart, I think, was a success. However, I think only the flavor really was successful. I didn't spend the time I wanted to on the presentation (and I was three glasses deep into a bottle of Champagne.) I'd make it again, but use a homemade almond infused dough and egg beaters to mix the custard to create a smoother consistency.

Nice Cube

Sphere ice in holiday cocktail

We’re really getting into cocktail making here at 141 (what we call our house.) So for Christmas I got Tom a spherical ice mold like the one we saw at a speakeasy in Nashville, TN. Not only are these little balls of joy cool looking, they are functional, too! The size of the ice creates less melting and keeps your drink colder longer.

The cocktail pictured is bourbon, Apple Jack, homemade ginger liquor, and some freshly squeezed lemon. Cheers!

Dinner Tourist

My mom waiting to serve and dad taking photos

Thanksgiving was special this year because I got to visit my parents in my hometown with Tom. I hadn’t been home since I moved to CT two and a half years ago. I felt like a tourist, researching local breweries in Ashville and Boone and stopping in antique shops to buy Christmas gifts. It made for a memorable holiday; especially when we all sat down to eat.

 

My mother and I take pride in our Thanksgiving meal. We use the best ingredients- everything is homemade. Since Tom is a restaurant owner, I wanted everything to be perfect (which also resulted in a lengthier prep time). We used an apple cider glaze for our turkey and the gravy from the turkey came out a dark wine color as a result. It was perfectly cooked. The white meat was tender and moist and the dark meat was juicy and really flavorful.

While we cooked, we sipped Madeira and snacked on cheese from Caseus. I decided to mix it up a little when it came to our vegetable dish. I found a recipe for jerk spiced Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and chic peas. I first crisped up the veggies in a pan of oil, and then baked them at high heat with honey, butter, salt, and pepper. Then I sprinkled the spice mixture all over to give it that jerk flavor.

 

Our sweet potatoes were really small and skinny from the local farmers market. My mom meticulously peeled and scraped the baked potatoes, then put them in the food processor to make them nice and smooth.

The salad had a pomegranate seed dressed with very thinly sliced red onion over arugula with mandarin orange slices.

I found a recipe for homemade sweet yeast rolls that I had rising in a bowl while we cooked. Just before we started to set the table, I popped them in the oven, first coating them with heavy cream.  

 I made a pecan pie with a chocolate crust and my mom did a traditional pumpkin pie. When it was time for dessert, I made some whipped cream with sugar and vanilla.

Eye for a pie

Hot outta the oven!

It felt as if summer took forever to end, but fall is finally upon us. I’ve been raking leaves, making soup, and wearing scarves. Sunday Tom and I went apple and pumpkin pickin’! We had a great time and got a lot of apples. I had recently made a caramelized apple upside down cake, but was at a loss as to how to use these newly picked apples. Finally I thought, “Why get crazy? Just go classic!”

In the oven it goes!

So I made the quintessential apple pie. I whipped up a pie crust first. Then I put Tom to work peeling slicing the apples. I tossed the apples in cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and little vanilla. Then I filled my pie crust and poured a whisked egg over it. I used leftover pie dough to make a (sloppy) lattice on top. The lattice was brushed with butter and sprinkled with Sugar in the Raw (my new pastry staple!)

The pie (thank goodness!) came out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. It’s not the prettiest of pies, but one taste and looks are no longer important. I cannot wait to make this again; it’s so simple and tasty. 

Here’s how I made my crust:

½ cup butter

Bringing the dog pumpkin pickin' and gettin' a lick!

2 tablespoons Crisco

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus 3 tablespoons for rolling)

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons iced water

 Mix flour and salt together. Dice butter and add to flour mixture along with the Crisco. Use a potato masher to get a crumbly texture. Then add the iced water and form into a ball. Flatten into a 5 in. disc and place in freezer for 10 minutes. While you wait, butter the pie pan. Roll out dough on a floured surface, keeping dough in a circle shape. Roll dough onto pin then unroll it onto the pie pan. Gently push dough into pan and crimp edges. You can either bake at 350 for 10 minutes or not (I like a soft lower crust, so I don’t pre-bake my crust.)

Diamonds on my griddle

A weakness of mine and Tom's is purchasing kitchen tools and appliances. However, after installing a new stove with a built in griddle burner, we had to buy a griddle! I was so excited to use it. The first morning we had off work I made blueberry pancakes on the smooth side, then I flipped it and grilled peaches on the grill side. Everything went great except for the blueberries sticking to the surface pretty bad. But it's okay, I'll just have a blueberry seasoned griddle! We were out of maple syrup so I opened my grandmother's 1998 blackberry syrup, which was divine!