Wake Up and Be Happy

These are like a beautiful dream that you never want to wake up from. Light fluffy layers of chocolate pancakes like gentle clouds glistening with the gentle dew of vanilla syrup cascading through the rivers of melted butter.........Hey! Wake Up! Sure it's a nice dream but why dream about them when you can actually be making them and eating them.

Chocolate Pancakes

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
4 teaspoon butter, melted
2 eggs
4-6 teaspoons cocoa
Chocolate chips, optional

Combine dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and stir only until mixed.

Preheat a non-stick skillet until very hot, brush lightly with butter. Pour pancake batter onto hot skillet; flip when bubbles begin to form along edges. When lightly browned on both sides, remove pancakes and stack with pats of butter between each one.
Keep warm in oven until ready to serve.
Try serving these with this delicious vanilla syrup or any of your own favorite pancake toppings.

Vanilla Syrup:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together until smooth

Little Pasta, Big Meal

As with many Italian American children I often enjoyed pasta for breakfast. The breakfast consisted of Pastina (little Pasta), butter, sugar and an egg stirred in. It had to be one of my favorite breakfast treats growing up. Over the years I still use Pastina mainly in soups but here is a recipe that can be used as a comforting dinner or altered a little to become a delicious breakfast that any child or adult would greatly enjoy.



Pastina with Egg and Cheese

1/2 cup Pastina (any brand of tiny soup pasta)
2 eggs
1 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Boil water and cook pastina according to directions. Drain and add butter. Beat eggs and pour in. Slowly cook over low heat to cook egg add cheese, stir and serve warm (Can also use egg substitute) makes a great dinner dish.
For breakfast, omit cheese and add milk, may use sugar if you would like to add a little sweetness to your day.

Photo/kendiala/flickr

Smiling From Heaven

It has been almost 30 years since my grandparents decided to leave Rochester and retire to Florida. At that time my grandmother decided to give each of us some of the things that she had of our great great grandmothers. One of the items was an antique waffle iron whose grids were obviously quite seasoned from many years of use. My grandmother said that Mama Rose (our great, great grandmother) made the entire family waffles every weekend. My grandmother who has been blessed with many more years on this earth than her own mother thought that she would like to see if the waffle iron still worked and make all of us waffles over the weekend.
My father was the one who had ended up with the waffle iron, so he brought it to her for her to try. My poor grandmother was a nervous wreck about making the waffles she kept telling us that in case they don’t turn out its bacon and eggs instead. This past Saturday the waffle iron got plugged in for the first time in over fifty years and that little waffle iron began to sizzle with heat just as it had done decades ago for Mama Rose. The batter was made and ready to be poured onto the grid. My grandmother closed the lid and we waited for the waffle iron to do its magic when she opened it the waffle was shaped perfectly but it was a little burnt (the first waffle or pancake is always the worst one). The second pour of batter was the charm and so was the third and so on and so on. My grandmother just watched us with anticipation as we all caressed those tender steamy waffles with butter and syrup. We all just sat there and moaned in ecstasy, they were so good my grandmother just smiled watching her family eat, just as her mother had done so many years before her. You could just feel Mama Rose smiling at all of us from heaven and for that moment in time all was right with our world.

Mama Rose’s Waffle Batter

2 cups of flour
4 tsp. of baking powder
1 tbsp. of sugar
1/2 tsp. of salt
3 eggs
5 tbsp. of melted shortening or butter
1 1/2 cups of milk

Mix first 4 ingredients together, beat eggs then add milk and shortening. Add flour mixture and mix until batter is smooth, heat waffle iron, pour batter and bake until done.

Broken Yolks

For the last few Saturdays my grandmother has taken to making bacon and eggs for our breakfast get together. The bacon is all fried before we get there and the freshly baked corn muffins are waiting in the warmth of the oven. Upon our arrival she puts the water on for coffee and breaks the eggs into the hot pan. With her 89 year old arthritic hands she gently moves the eggs back and forth trying not to disturb the yolk. The perfect yolk has always given her a great sense of pride when serving her loved ones breakfast. All was going well until she went to put the eggs in the dish, her hand shook a little and two of the yolks broke. My grandmother was so upset that she ruined the yolks. I said don’t worry Meema, that is actually just the way we like them, they are perfect.
When someone puts that much love into preparing food for you even if it is as simple as a little fried egg how could it not be perfect.

Since bacon and eggs really do not require much of a recipe perse, here is an Asian twist that I think you will all enjoy.

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of rice
6 pieces of bacon
3 or 4 eggs
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped onion
2 tbsp. Ketchup
1 tbsp. soy sauce

Bring water to a boil and add rice, cook for 30 minutes. While waiting for the rice to boil fry the bacon and save 1/2 of the grease to fry the rice in. Scramble eggs in bowl, add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, add 2 tablespoons of water to eggs and mix well. Fry egg mixture like a pancake. Fry rice; add chopped onion, chopped bacon and catsup. Cut up egg omelet and add to rice. Mix in soy sauce and serve.

What Can I get You Hon' ?

Nothing could be finer than some pancakes from the diner in the morning (everybody sing lol). Who doesn’t love diner food, we have so few left at least out my way. Do you have many diners left where you are? I miss blue plate specials and diner speak such as; “Adam and Eve on a raft (2 poached eggs on toast) or Wreck’ em (scramble the eggs).
Everything seemed to taste better while sitting at the counter or in a booth. The cheeseburgers, the milkshakes even something as simple as a tuna salad sandwich tasted unbelievable and could anything ever compare to a diner breakfast; “ eggs, hash browns, bacon or sausage and the endless cup of coffee (the best coffee ever, would put Starbucks to shame) and you’d get all that for less than a few dollars. This diner post would not be complete if I did not give honorable mention to the “Diner Pancake” whether it is a short stack or full stack these pancakes were the tastiest, fluffiest most delicious pancakes ever.
I think I make a pretty mean pancake but even mine will never compare to the ones I use to get at the diner.
Here’s a really good straight forward pancake recipe, that tastes pretty close to what you might be served at a diner…….well not quite, there are a few ingredients missing. The sweaty short order cook, the greasy well used griddle, the waitress snapping her gum while taking your order and the diner itself.

2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
6 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. sugar

Combine liquid ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Mix until smooth. Let batter rest for 10 minutes. Cook on a preheated griddle for 1 minute. Sprinkle with blueberries, pecans, bananas or strawberries on uncooked side. Turn pancakes and finish cooking, makes about 10 pancakes.

Give me a little "Quiche`"

These are just fun and fancy all at the same time. I love working with egg roll wrappers and won ton skins, they are so versatile. These are great to serve anytime; A Sunday brunch, family dinner or a make your own quiche party.

Egg Roll Quiche`

Ingredients

12 egg roll wrappers

3 eggs -- slightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon dried minced onion

salt and pepper

1 cup cheddar cheese -- shredded

6 slices bacon -- cooked, drained & crumbled

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

paprika

Directions

Lightly grease muffin tins. Gently press an egg roll skin into each muffin cup. You can trim the skin to fit the cup if you choose, set aside.Sprinkle cheese into each lined cup. Mix eggs, milk, minced onion & pepper. Pour egg mixture over cheese. Sprinkle each with bacon, parsley & paprika. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes.