Fluffy Pancakes

I've tried making fluffy pancakes from scratch a few times. Every time they were either too dense or too flat. The last time, I made them plate sized. (I wanted them to be the like pancakes we had in Amsterdam) They were plate sized... but they were soooooo flat!!! They tasted great... but very flat. So I finished cooking them... saved them for dinner and made raspberry cream crepes for dessert out of them.

But this time... I actually made fluffy pancakes! YAY!!



Spryte's Fluffy Pancakes
3 C flour
1 TBLS + 1tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 C powdered sugar
2 C milk
2 eggs
3 TBLS melted butter
2 tsp vanilla

Whisk together all dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix gently until well combined.

Cook over medium heat in a little bit of butter until you see bubbles in the batter, then flip and cook until golden on the side.

Serve with you favorite pancake toppings!!

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Whisk together dry ingredients.


Add remaining ingredients and stir gently until well combined.

Eggs


Melted butter


Milk


Vanilla




Scoop batter into a skillet, over medium heat with a little butter.


When bubbles start popping in the surface of the batter, flip the pancake.


Cook a couple more minutes; until golden.


Serve with your favorite pancake toppings!


Tawny had some Nutella on hers!

Next time I'll add 'stuff'... chocolate chips, nuts, fruit... maybe ham & cheese or rum raisins!

Mum's Easter Ham

Growing up, Easter was always celebrated at our house. The whole family came over. It was a TON of people! I really miss the huge extended family celebrations.

We always had ham and Mum always made it like this.



You'll need a ham (already cooked) I think Mum uses a canned ham and has the butcher at the grocery store slice it REALLY thin and tie it together.

I haven't had much success with that. The last time I tried, the butcher turned a big ham into a big pile of chipped ham. So I no longer try to have it sliced. I just slice it myself after it's cooked to serve. Mine isn't as good as Mum's because having it pre-sliced, all those yummy juices get all over every single slice. Ya know... next time I will try to have it sliced!!

Anyway!

You'll need:

Ham (however big you need to feed your family... don't forget to get a little extra for ham sammies with the leftovers!!)
Cherry Brandy
Pineapple Slices in juice
Maraschino Cherries



That's all.

Place the ham in a baking dish.


Arrange pineapple slices to cover ham.


Fill in all the spaces with cherries.


Pour about half a cup of cherry brandy over the ham & fruit.
(more or less depending on how big your ham is)


(oops... it's a little blurry... hard to pour stuff and photograph it at the same time!)

Pour on a some of the pineapple juice.


Now bake it according to the directions that came with your cooked ham.


Baste it a few times during cooking to get that yummy juice everywhere.


That's it!

Chicken Fried Steak & Gravy

I recently drove by Boston Market and noticed a sign in the window saying that they have Chicken Fried Steak. I started thinking that I hadn't made it for a long time. A couple days later, out of the blue, Jon and Tawny both started asking for Chicken Fried Steak.

I finally got around to making it.

This is definitely not something you want to eat regularly. (unless you're a lumberjack or something)



You'll need:
Cube Steak
Flour
Seasoned Salt
Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Egg
Milk
Chicken broth
Oil for frying

Whisk together a couple of eggs in a shallow bowl and set aside.
Combine about 1/3 C flour, seasoned salt, pepper and smoked paprika.
Dredge cube steaks in flour.
Then dip them into the beaten egg, then into the flour again.
Reserve any leftover flour mixture.
Pour about 1/2 in of oil into a large skillet and heat to approximately 350F.
When oil is hot, carefully place steaks in pan (don't crowd them) and cook until golden.
Turn and cook the other side until golden. Set aside.
I don't really measure this part. We like gravy and I usually make a lot.
Get milk & chicken broth and have them available.
Drain off oil, leaving about 1/4 cup in the pan.
Add about 1/4 cup of flour (including any you had leftover from dredging the steak) to the pan and whisk for a couple of minutes. Don't step away.
Pour in about a cup of milk and whisk.
I add chicken broth to get the gravy to the consistency we like.
Taste the gravy too. You might want to add some salt/pepper/paprika.
Ladle gravy over steak and serve with mashed potatoes!

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Ok... I picked up cube steak. I don't know what cut of beef it is.


It looks like this and you could easily pull it apart.


Season the flour with seasoned salt, pepper and smoked paprika.




Dredge the cube steak in the seasoned flour.




Do this to all steaks before going on to the next step.

Whisk up an egg or two.


Dip each steak into the egg, then into the flour mixture.






Two down, One to go.


Save the leftover flour.


Heat up the oil to 350F.
(my new LEDs are like eyes staring out of the oil)


When the oil is hot, carefully place the steaks in the skillet.


When they are golden, turn them over.


When all of the steaks are fried. Drain off all but a 1/4 cup of oil.


Put the skillet back on the stove and add about a 1/4 cup of reserved flour (add more flour to make 1/4 cup if needed)


Whisk it for a few minutes.




Add about a cup of milk and whisk.


I thinned that out with chicken broth... but apparently didn't take a picture of it!

Ladle over steak and enjoy!


With left over Colcannon and a biscuit.

Ham Salad Sandwich

I love Ham Salad. It's one of those sandwich salads, that I like smooth. No chunks!

I make this when I have leftover ham but often I'll buy some ham just to make Ham Salad.

You'll need:
Ham
Mustard
Mayo
Salt & Pepper
Bread

Put the ham into the food processor and pulse until it's ground.
If you don't have a food processor, you can just mince it really fine.


Add enough mayo & mustard to hold it together and salt & pepper.
That kinda looks like an egg... but it's mustard on top of mayo.


If you like it wetter add more... dryer add less... I like it just held together and mustardy. So I use more mustard.
You can use whatever kind of mustard you want. I like yellow for Ham Salad.


That's it.


Lunch time!


You could add onions or pickles or lettuce & tomato, whatever you like!

I like mine pretty basic.

Caramel Rice Crispy Treats

I was grocery shopping the other day and stumbled across Caramel Vanilla Marshmallows.

These stopped me in my tracks. Tawny LOVES caramel. I had to buy them and make something cool. Caramel Rice Crispy Treats! Yay!! Everyone will LOVE those!

I brought them home and brought the bag to Tawny's room to show her. I was expecting wide-eyed excitement at my find. But what did I get? The completely nonplussed reaction of a 16 year old! So I told her the reaction I expected. We practiced a few times. Then I showed her again. Yay! She was as excited as I was to find them! (hey... just let me believe it ok??)

So then I asked everyone what they thought I was going to do with them. They all said S'mores... even my mom when I was talking to her on the phone. They all thought Rice Crispy Treats were a better idea... but they all guessed S'mores. Weird...



Caramel Rice Crispy Treats
1 bag Caramel Vanilla Marshmallows (10 oz bag)
6 cups of crisp rice cereal
3 TBLS butter

Melt butter in a large pot.
Over low heat, melt Caramel Vanilla Marshmallows in butter.
Remove from heat and stir in crisp rice cereal.
Press into a greased 13 x 9 pan.
Cool, cut and enjoy!

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This is all you need.


Melt butter in a large pot (obviously pre-LEDs above stove!)


Melt Caramel Vanilla Marshmallows into butter.








Now remove from stove and stir in crisp rice cereal.




Spray 13x9 pan with cooking spray and pour cereal mixture into it.


Spread it around.


It's easier to press it into the pan with your hand.


Cool... cut... and enjoy!!


These were good.... but I think we all agreed that we like them better with just plain marshmallows!

I have one more bag... maybe I'll make S'mores!