Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

Here’s a flower from the new garden because it’s been so gray (except yesterday) and now it’s going to be gray for another interminable period. At the old garden, the roses are exploding and the irises I planted last Fall are white. (Bulbs are fun because I always forget what I planted.)

There are 2 ovens in the new kitchen and this is the most exciting thing on the planet to me.

Last weekend, on a whim, Siobhan and I made toll house cookies as well as peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. We actually couldn’t keep up with the ovens, not that we were trying all that hard, but having 2 ovens makes 2 batches of cookies a very quick project! The peanut butter cookies were a tasty hybrid of traditional peanut butter cookies and toll house cookies but definitely needed more peanut butter.

Wednesday, I had bananas so I made some banana nut muffins. Also very tasty but in need of more nuts. Next time I make them I’ll probably double the volume of nuts. Again, 2 ovens rock.

Thursday night I made apple-cheddar-chicken sausage wrapped in crescent rolls. Very yummy, especially with Bruni’s home-made mustard.

Today there’s Amish maple bacon, which is not as tasty as I’d hoped. The sourdough starter is restarting on the counter after some significant neglect – bread Tuesday is probably a good plan. In the meantime I’m considering making different bread, since the waffles were waylaid by lack of syrup and lack of recipe as my cookbooks are still mostly packed.

Of course, really, I should just unpack the cookbooks and go from there…

baking, cooking, kitchen

I adore Swedish pancakes. They are tasty, not too sweet, not too heavy and really quite simple. (Okay, they do require a special pan, but cast-iron is easy to care for once you get it going.) The Fop doesn’t share my adoration so I end up making them for myself when he’s not around. My recipe for Swedish pancakes comes from my mother and probably is actually from one of the cookbooks on her vast wall of cookbooks…

Swedish pancakes

One batch makes approximately 19 pancakes.
The batter can be stored in the fridge for a few days – just stir it well before using it.
An eggbeater or whisk is ideal for mixing up the batter.

Visual aids can be found in my Swedish Pancake Flickr set. (Who knew I’d ever have a Swedish pancake Flickr set?)

pancakes, swedish pancakes, cooking, recipes, breakfast

By popular and somewhat rabid demand, below is the caramel corn recipe of doom! If you’ve never boiled sugar before, this is an easy recipe, just remember it’s really hot! (No licking the spoon!) But it’s also simple to clean up since sugar dissolves nicely in water. Enjoy!

Aunt Ellie’s Caramel Corn
From Marcia Mullen -> Rachael Emmons -> Carla Emmons -> YOU!

Boil 5 minutes:
1/2 c corn syrup
1 c butter
2 c brown sugar
1 t salt
Add and stir:
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
Pour over 7 quarts of popped corn.
Bake 1 hour at 250 degrees stirring every 15 minutes.
Pour out onto cookie sheets or large tray to cool.

Notes:
Time your boiling from when you get pretty good sized bubbles, not just the tiny ones that come up the sides.
Air-popped popcorn is the best choice and will stay fresh the longest!
7 quarts of popcorn makes for very well-coated caramel corn. 9 quarts or more yields a more moderate coating.
Your pan can be heaped a bit with popcorn because it sticks together nicely once the sugar mixture is poured on. (I put half the popcorn in the pan, pour half the sugar over it, stir, add the rest of the popcorn then pour the rest over the pan and stir.) Just stir in slow-motion!
Stir in almonds or almond slivers for yumminess.

caramel corn, cooking, photographs, popcorn, recipes