Recipes: Week 22

 I know it's been quite a while since I did a recipe post, and technically I believe this would be week 25 of new recipes. But, since I didn't "number" my recipe posts from when we had company, and my Monster Cookie review post, this is post #22. I do have loads of recipes from all those weeks that I have been lax in sharing them. And, I have kept a pretty good pictorial record of all the recipes, but not a good written record. So, to try and get back into the groove of things, allow me to recall recipes that I made weeks ago! They include...

Plain Pancakes

I think this is the pancake recipe that we used at home growing up. Actually, I don't know if that is correct, now that I think about it; I just always assumed it was Mom's recipe! Maybe Sally can tell us where the recipe hails from, as it has her helpful hints at the bottom.

The Honest Review: I really like these pancakes, personally. Jason and Little Pumpkin like them, too, but Jason will tell you that waffles are better than pancakes any day. So he eats, and enjoys, pancakes whenever I make them, but he would rather have waffles. This here recipe, though, I have followed Sally's helpful hint several times, and every single time they turn out different. Sometimes they are really thick, fluffy pancakes, and other times they are thinner, fluffy pancakes. (Maybe I goof and put in too much baking powder those times that they really fluff up!) I do believe that the times when I haven't followed Sally's method, the pancakes are denser and flatter. The whipping of the egg whites really does make a difference! Either way, they are a good, plain pancake recipe that I enjoy. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Buttermilk Biscuits

I love biscuits. In years past, I used to eat way too many of them whenever they were available. I particularly like warm, light, fluffy biscuits that you can just pull gently apart, and they break evenly through the middle. Add some butter, or good jelly, and it is one of my favorite things! I had this recipe in my old manila folder and decided to give it a try one day.

The Honest Review: These biscuits turned out AMAZING!! I could not believe how light they were, and the flavor was great, and we all really enjoyed them. They literally did pull gently apart, splitting down the middle most of the time, and tasted wonderful plain or with butter and jelly. I just could not get enough of these biscuits, and believe they have topped all the other biscuit recipes I have ever made! They are my new favorite biscuit!! I highly recommend trying them! One hint I will share: every time that I have made this recipe, I did sift the dry ingredients together. I feel like that may play a part in their light texture. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Pig's in a Blanket

I grew up having Pig's in a Blanket as a somewhat rare, but well-enjoyed meal. The biscuit dough was always home-made, and it was always a treat! Pig's in a Blanket is somewhat of a comfort meal for me - about like home-made macaroni and cheese. Actually, having those two together would be the ultimate comfort food meal for me!! I decided to make some Pig's in a Blanket at the same time that I made the new Buttermilk Biscuit recipe above. So you know at least the biscuit part turned out OK!

The Honest Review: I LOVE Pig's in a Blanket! And this batch with the new biscuit recipe was no exception! Little Pumpkin doesn't really care to eat the "blanket" on the hot-dogs, and just eats the hot-dog. After making these a few times this summer, I have learned that Jason doesn't really care for hot-dogs. If he's going to eat a hot-dog, he would prefer it grilled to a char, basically. (He also thinks that there is no difference between the cheapest hot-dog at the store, and higher quality hot-dogs....They all the same and need grilled to a char in his opinion.) All that being said, he doesn't typically complain when I make Pig's in a Blanket, but I don't think he considers them a "comfort food" like I do. He also would prefer the pop-can biscuits for Pig's in a Blanket, I think. Personally, I think this recipe is a really quick, and easy, meal, and I like using it when I am tired of cooking other food! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe comes out of my Betty Crocker cookbook, and it is one that Jason picked out to try this summer. We both thought it looked good, and interesting, especially with the toasted, slivered almonds! Jason quite likes Mexican-style food - tacos, fajitas, chips and salsa, burritos, you-name-it - and is always looking for good recipes in this style.

[caption id="attachment_363" align="aligncenter" width="667"] The finished product wasn't of great picture quality. Sorry![/caption]

The Honest Review: These enchiladas were pretty good. We all enjoyed them, and they had a nice flavor. The one downside was that the corn tortillas fell apart; corn tortillas always seem to crumble for me. The recipe was also fairly easy to make, which is always nice! Jason and I both thought the almonds added a nice element to the enchilada, and a nice crunch. We do want to re-try this recipe using the enchilada sauce that is available at the end of the recipe instead of the white sauce, and then determine if the recipe is staying, or being tossed from our collection. I will have to give another review on that when I make it.  Possible Alterations: Use flour tortillas

Beer Brats

This is one of Jason's recipes that was not written down anywhere, even though he has made it several times. And, he showed me how to make it. So, when I made it this last time, I wrote down the recipe to share with you. It is kind of an odd recipe for Jason to like, because he does not like beer. I asked him the other day whatever made him try it, especially since he doesn't like beer. He said that a friend made it for him one time when he was visiting, and that he really liked it. For the beer part, Jason just uses a can of cheap beer; nothing fancy. For the brats, I believe he usually just gets plain brats; not any of the spicy or flavored ones.

The Honest Review: Jason and I really enjoy this simple, and easy, recipe! It is quick to put together, tastes good, and carries all the food groups: veggies, protein, and carbs. I will say that the type of beer you use can change up the flavor a bit in the end. Whenever I am the one making it, I end up buying random bottles of micro-brew beers, just so I can try new a beer before pouring it into the pan. For this specific making of the recipe, I used an Oatmeal Porter made by Zip Line Brewing Company out of Lincoln, Nebraska. I wasn't a big fan of this beer, and I could tell that it slightly altered the flavor of the cooked brats as well. I've never really noticed that before, and we have used all different kinds of beer. If you're not wanting to taste a variety of beers when you're cooking, then just get the cheap stuff. It will still turn out good! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Gorp Trail Mix

I am not sure how my family came upon this recipe, but I remember it being made in large batches and enjoyed thoroughly! If I'm not mistaken, this trail mix was specifically made for at least one trip to Camp Maranatha when my sisters and I attended. I do know that we typically made it with these tiny, little marshmallows, and I believe miniature pretzels, too. I looked for such items around here, but couldn't find any, so I went with regular pretzels and regular mini-marshmallows. My memories of this recipe were that it was extremely good to munch on, and that it would be hard to improve upon the recipe!

[caption id="attachment_371" align="aligncenter" width="802"] Please ignore the great pink bowl that I mixed it in; it is super bright pink!!![/caption]

The Honest Review: This was an addictive trail mix to have around! It did not disappoint my memories, for the most part! Both Jason and Little Pumpkin assisted me in eating this batch of trail mix, but I confess that I may have devoured the bulk of it myself....oops! (It can give you a stomach ache, just so you know!) I did find that there were a few things that I did not quite enjoy as much anymore: the M'n'Ms, and the amount of them. And, with not having the micro-marshmallows (which you can buy at Grandma's Pantry, by the way!), it just wasn't quite the same. In light of that, I requested that my Mom bring some micro-marshmallows when she came to visit. Then, I did a re-make of this recipe using the micro-marshmallows, and my favorite chocolate, Ghirardelli Bittersweet Baking Chips. I did not change any amounts of the ingredients for this new batch. However, even with my ingredient substitution, the chocolate element was still too over-powering, in my opinion. (I must be getting old: I never thought I'd say you could have too much dark chocolate!!) So, even though I still really love this recipe, there are a few alterations I will be making to it for future batches! And, I would still highly recommend this trail mix recipe to everyone! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Well folks, that concludes my recipe trials for now. If I were to make recommendations of what all you should try making from this week, I would say: Buttermilk Biscuits, Pig's in a Blanket, and Gorp Trail Mix!

What would you want to try?