IF I’M DEAD TOMORROW……It was worth it!

 

My Harley Stud and I celebrated my ten pound weight loss this morning with a scrumptious buttermilk blueberry pancake (or is that blueberry buttermilk pancake?) breakfast complete with sugar-free syrup, sausage (lite) and fresh melon with coffee.  It was…

TO.DIE.FOR.

and I mean that literally. 

Let’s forget the irony of the somewhat destructive choice of celebrating weight-loss with food indulgences, there is another destructive concern at play here.  (Don’t be fooled by that sugar-free syrup and lite sausage.  It is still sausage and eating four of these pancakes cannot be considered light even when they are accompanied by sugar-free syrup and Smart Balance instead of butter.)

Quite by accident, about a year ago, I stumbled across a recipe for buttermilk pancakes.  We tried it and since that day nothing else will do.  We used to just buy the box mix and add water and sometimes an egg but no more.  We are hooked.  Nothing else will do. 

We don’t make pancakes every weekend but we make them quite often so I always try to keep buttermilk on hand.  When we decided to make pancakes this morning, we discovered that the buttermilk in the fridge had an expiration date of Feb 5th. 

…..but I really wanted pancakes.  I opened it and gave it a sniff.  It smelled like buttermilk.  Isn’t buttermilk half spoiled anyway?  What does bad buttermilk smell like?  I surely don’t know.  …..and I really wanted pancakes. 

So my recipe calls for 3 cups of buttermilk.  I only had 2 cups.  I figured that I could counteract any icky after-life properties of the expired buttermilk with substituting cream and skim milk to make up the difference. 

Might I say that they were the best darn pancakes we’ve ever had.  And if we don’t survive the night, it will soooooo be worth it.  And just to be sure that the recipe doesn’t die with me, I’ve included it below for your culinary enjoyment.  I will leave it up to you to use fresh or expired buttermilk.

 

Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups flour

3 TBS white sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups buttermilk (or 2 cups buttermilk 15 days past expiration date mixed with 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup skim milk)

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/3 cup butter melted

1 tsp vanilla

Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then combine.  For uniform pancakes, use a gravy ladle to spoon onto buttered griddle.  You know the rest. 

*Disclaimer*

These pancakes are a little more work than adding water to a box mix but are truly worth the effort.  Be warned.  Easy box mix pancakes will never do once you’ve tried these little discs of yumminess.

 

Hugs and Kisses,

SMB

WHITE TRASH CHRISTMAS

Several years ago I had two friends that do not know each other both give me almost the same Christmas treat. You may remember my friends the Halfbacks, Happy Halfback called her version White Christmas Mix. You may also remember my porch sittin' friend, the Redneck Girl. She called her concoction White Trash. They were both delicious and a big hit with my family.

I took both recipes and made them my own with a few little tiny changes. Since that year, I've been making batches and batches of the stuff every holiday season and giving it along with other treats to neighbors, friends and teachers as gifts.

Every year I have to make more. The kids have always taken it to their teachers but each year they had to take it to new teachers but still gave to the old ones who would start asking for it once December rolled around. This year I don't even have kids in school here but D2 plans to take goody bags to hers and D1's favorites when she gets home from school next week. I figure it's the least I can do to say thank you for not only educating my children but inspiring them to be educators themselves.

In the interest of time, of which I have none extra to create an interesting and entertaining blog post, I will give you my Christmas treats (one at a time) that have become a tradition in my house.

I really enjoy creating yummy and sometimes complicated recipes for my family. But to be honest, when it comes to the holidays and providing food or treats for large quantities of people, I prefer to keep it simple and enjoy the time I get to spend with family and friends rather than slaving away over a hot stove. So believe me when I say that these recipes will be simple and very easy to make. But don't be surprised if once you've given away one of these treats, you'll be expected to do it year after year. (And that feels pretty good.)

#1 Across the board hit: White Trash (If you know me at all, is it any wonder which name I decided to stick with?)

2 ½ cups of rice chex

2 ½ cups of wheat chex

2 ½ cups of cheerios

2 ½ cups of stick pretzels (I've used the waffle ones before and some from Sams Club that were shaped like Christmas trees)

Plain m&ms (I like using minis when I can get them and I also prefer the Christmas colors)

1 package of vanilla flavored candy coating (I like Eagle brand but this year I used something from Walmart that worked just fine)

Break apart the candy coating and melt it in a double-boiler. (I don't have a double boiler and so I put some water in a pan and put a stainless steel bowl on top of the pan. This works just fine)

Mix all the cereals and pretzels together in a large bowl. Once candy is melted and there are no lumps, pour over cereal mix and toss to coat thoroughly.

Line jelly roll pans with wax paper and spread mixture into pans in a shallow layer. Sprinkle with m&ms and then stir around gently just to get the m&ms slightly coated so that they stick to the cereal.

Let it sit until the candy sets. Gently break apart into clumps.

I like to give it in little Christmas bags with a ribbon gathered at the top.

Enjoy but be warned. It's addicting!

I NEED BAKING FOR DUMMIES

Awhile back, Midlife Slices posted a recipe for this:

photograph courtesy of Midlife Slices

A day or two later I received the same recipe from my cousin, QTPie. I'm a pretty good cook if I say so myself but baking is not my thing. It's the measuring. Well, that and the fact that I can't seem to follow directions exactly to save my soul. Nevertheless I was inspired by this very seasonal recipe and just had to give it a shot. Alas, even after several text messages burning up the airwaves between here and Texas, this is what I came up with:

I call it Blob-O-Bread

The fact that MLS could make something so beautiful and mine completely flopped just p*ssed me off good. I couldn't stand it. I drove to the store and bought more ingredients and new pans. (I'm pretty sure the failure was all because of the pans because I'm sure it wasn't anything that I did.

This is the result of my second attempt:

It was still a little gooey in the middle but came out much better. If you attempt this recipe, it's a very tricky making sure that it's done. The cheesecake filling is supposed to be gooey so it's hard to test with a toothpick. I have no advice but wish you better luck than I had. The best part was that both the Blob-O-Bread and the pretty ones were delicious.

And I felt so much better when MLS posted this picture a few days later:

(Does that make me a bad person?)

SMART MOUTH CORNBREAD (Spoon Bread)

Don't be confused by the lime. There is no lime in the recipe. That was for the Corona.

***Note***
Jan tells me that this is actually Spoon Bread and not cornbread. I will defer to her expert opinion and have edited my original title to reflect the correction. Spoon bread or cornbread, either way, it's yummy, easy, easy and I hope you'll try it.

I got this recipe from a former co-worker/friend who is an African-American woman. At the time, her husband had just returned from serving in the military overseas. Upon his return, their church had a welcome home party for him. Our whole office was invited. Our table consisted of all white people and we were the only white people in the church. We were hard not to notice.

During the ceremony, each table was asked to have one representative speak to or about this honored soldier. Our office manager was supposed to speak but she didn't show. I was the business office manager and next in the chain of command, therefore elected to speak for our group.

On Monday morning, my friend told me that the women from her church had asked about who that white woman was with a butt like a black woman. She told them that I was the business office manager and her friend. She then proceeded to tell them that not only did I have a butt like a black woman but I have the heart of a black woman and can cook like a black woman. I have no idea what that means but I know it was a compliment. That was the day she gave me her cornbread recipe.

This cornbread is so moist; I usually eat it with a spoon. It does hold together but is very moist and sweet. If you like your cornbread dry and not very sweet, you should skip this recipe.

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (Don't be judgin' me because it's a box) I've tried making it from scratch and it never turns out as good.

2 eggs

2 heaping Tablespoons full of sour cream (I'm talking about a real table spoon here, like for soup. Not a measuring spoon.)

1 small can cream of corn

A splash of milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit

Stir until all ingredients are evenly mixed but be careful not to overmix. The batter will be lumpy. Spray cooking spray into 8x8 baking pan. Pour batter into pan and smoothe mixture evenly. Bake for 25 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when done.

This is very easy. Remember do not follow the box instructions. I'm sorry that I can't be more specific with the measurements. I can only tell you that I've made this hundreds of times and I'm sure my measurements are never the same twice. It always works.

Enjoy.