Spiced Pear and Cranberry Crostata

A crostata is one of my favourite desserts. It's basically like a pie, but it's free form so you don't even need a pie pan to make one. They are so easy to make (especially when you cheat and use refrigerated pie crust like I do) and I love the crust to filling ratio. With a pie, I feel like there is too much filling for that little amount of pie. A crostata is thinner so there is a perfect amount of crust for the filling. I had bought some cranberries for a loaf of orange cranberry pound cake and didn't want the rest of the cranberries to go to waste. So I bought a couple of pears and threw this together. It was so easy and so delicious. The pears were just as sweet as the cranberries were tart and the spices warmed everything up and made the crostata sing!

Ingredients:
2 pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 c cranberries
1/4 c sugar (taste a piece of your pear and if it is really sweet, just use about 2 T of sugar)
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 refrigerated pie crust
1-2 T milk and sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl combine all ingredients from the pears to the cloves, including the cloves. Mix together well and set aside while you roll out the crust. On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, gently unroll the pie crust and put in the center of the pan. Carefully spoon the pear mixture into the middle of the pie crust, try to drain most of the liquid off before putting on the crust. Spread the mixture out leaving about 1-2 inches of pie crust around the outside. Or if you are like me and really love pie crust, leave about 4 inches of pie crust around the outside. Then gently fold the crust over the fruit. To help the crust brown and look pretty you can lightly brush the folded crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for an hour or until the crust is golden brown.

Bacon Brussles Sprouts

I never had Brussels Sprouts growing up because my mom hated them. As Greg and I have tried expanding our horizons with vegetables, we tried roasted Brussels Sprouts. And we loved them! I decided to try sauteing them with some bacon and onions because as much as we loved the roasted version, some piece did get quite cooked and I thought sauteing might help that. Cook up some chopped bacon and then cook the cut sprouts and chopped onions in the bacon fat, add some chicken stock and cook until it's gone and you're all set! Maybe not the healthiest veggie since you're cooking it in bacon fat, but man it is good!

Ingredients:
1 pound cleaned and quartered Brussels sprouts
1/2 a small red onion, chopped
3-4 bacon pieces, chopped
1/2 c chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste


In a large, cold skillet, add the chopped bacon. Bring heat to medium and let bacon cook until done. Using a slotted spoon remove the bacon from the pan, leaving most of the grease behind. Drain any excess grease so you only have about 2 T in the pan. Add the Brussels sprouts and chopped onion. Let cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and sprouts are starting to brown. Add the chicken stock and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let cook until the stock is reduced to about a tablespoon or gone completely if you don't want any liquid. Add the chopped bacon back to the pan, remove from heat, and stir to combine.

Mulled Juice Poached Pears

I have always loved the idea of mulled wine. I don't drink alcohol, but the idea of a warm drink with all those yummy holiday spices thrown in... Yum! I was watching Food Network and these mulled wine poached pears were made and they looked so good! I used it as a base recipe for some poached pears I made. These were so good! Sweet and warm with spices, almost a little spice, the crunchy almonds on top added the perfect textural difference and the creamy and bright sauce was such a good contrast.

Ingredients:
4 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and quartered
4 c cranberry juice cocktail
1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz Neufchatel, softened
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 c honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c chopped, toasted almonds

In a pot, add the cranberry juice, 1/4 c honey, cloves, cinnamon, pepper flakes and vanilla. Bring to a boil and then add the quartered pears. Turn the heat down to medium. I used a small bowl to put on top of the pears in the pot so the weight of the bowl kept the pears submerged in the liquid. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Mine were not very ripe so it ended up taking about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and put the pot into the fridge. The pears should still be submerged in the poaching liquid for about an hour in the fridge. While the pears are in the fridge, make the sauce. In a bowl, put the softened Neufchatel, zest, juice and other 1/4 c of honey. Mix together with a hand mixer until well combined. The sauce can go under, on top of or next to the pears. Sprinkle the toasted almonds on top and enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque

At Noodles & Co I always get their tomato bisque. I love it! Herby, rich and warm, it's perfect! My homemade version isn't as good, I'm pretty sure they use wine in theirs and it gives a wonderful flavour, but it is still really good and I can make 6 servings of it in one go!

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
1 medium white onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
3 c chicken stock
3 T chopped basil, divided
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 Parmesan rind (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 c half and half

In a heavy bottom pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and carrots and let cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Add crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, 2 T chopped basil, red pepper flakes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. If using Parmesan rind, add in now. The Parmesan rind adds this incredible umami flavour. I just freeze the rind whenever I go through a wedge of Parmesan and throw it right in. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and Parmesan rind and discard. Let cool slightly and then blend until it reaches desired consistency. Return to the pot, add half and half and remaining basil. Bring to a boil and then serve

Honey-Ginger Chicken Drumsticks

I love a sweet and sticky glaze on chicken. There is just nothing more satisfying than eating a juicy piece of meat with a sweet sauce on it and licking your fingers clean. I saw this recipe for Honey-Ginger Chicken Wings on an episode of Dinner at Tiffani's (recipe is here). Looked like just what I was looking for! Some of those great Asian flavours I love, but still sweet and sticky. I don't really like wings though so I decided to try it on drumsticks and I just had to change how I cooked them. I made a 1/2 recipe since I was only cooking 6 drumsticks. I marinated them for 6 hours, but I used the whole sauce to marinate the chicken and then cooked the leftover marinade until it was reduced by about half so it was safe to eat. I baked these at 375 for 30 minutes and then flipped them to the other side to cook for 25 minutes. After 20 minutes on the first side, I brushed the reduced marinade on the chicken and then put on more marinade after 5 more minutes. I flipped the chicken over and let it go 15 minutes before brushing more marinade on. Again I put more sauce on after another 5 minutes. After another 5 minutes I put a generous amount of sauce on and then turned on the broiler and cooked these under the broiler for just a minute or two to crisp up the skin and get some of that grill-like char. This sauce was sooo good! It was sweet and thick and slightly bright/tangy from the lime and then there was the most pleasant ginger/garlic spice that came through. Greg and I both loved it! This will definitely be made again in our house

Lemon Cream Sauce

This sauce is just a few ingredients and is really easy to put together. Letting it cook down is the key. It makes the sauce thick and intensifies the flavours. It would go great with pretty much any protein. Toss it all together with some pasta and I bet you'll feel like me in never wanting to eat pasta at Olive Garden again.

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, grated
1 T olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Zest of 1 lemon
1 c half and half (could also use cream, but the half and half makes a full, rich sauce and is way lower in calories)
Salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces cooked pasta

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add grated garlic and let cook until just fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the pepper flakes and stir. Add the lemon zest and half and half. Stir to combine and let simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally during this time. Remove from heat and toss with pasta

Fancy Mac and Cheese

I love fancy food. Fancy food to me just means that there is something to take a dish over the top or make it special. This mac and cheese is FANCY. Well, as fancy as mac and cheese can get anyway. Onions, garlic, lemon, ham, and garlicky bread crumbs on top make for such a good mac and cheese. This takes a little more time than I usually spend on dinner, but it makes a lot and it was definitely worth the work.

Ingredients:
1 T garlic oil (directions below)
1/2 red onion, minced
4 c half and half
1/4 tsp dried thyme
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
5 roasted garlic cloves, minced (directions below)
1/2 c grated Parmesan
2 c shredded Cheddar
4 ounces cooked ham, cubed
1 pound pasta, cooked al dente
1 c Italian bread crumbs
1/2 c grated Parmesan
2 T garlic oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Roasted garlic and garlic oil: In a small oven proof dish, like a ramekin, put 5 garlic cloves and 3-4 T olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper and cover with foil. Bake at 375 for about 30-35 minutes. Let cool and then you can use oil and garlic

Heat 1 T of garlic oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add minced onion and cook until tender. Add half and half, thyme, zest, and the minced roasted garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until it's reduced almost by half. Add the first of the Parmesan and the Cheddar. Stir until all combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the ham and toss in the pasta. Preheat oven to 350. Put pasta mixture in a greased baking dish. Combine the bread crumbs and rest of the Parmesan. Spread evenly over pasta. Drizzle remaining garlic oil over top to help brown the breadcrumbs and give flavor. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meatless Mediterranean Pasta

This is a great meatless meal! My favourite flavours, crisp zucchini, and soft buttery beans with salty feta in every bite... This one is a keeper

Ingredients:
8 oz pasta (use whole grain pasta for extra protein)
1 T olive oil
1 medium zucchini, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 grape tomatoes, quartered
1 can cannelini beans, drained
1 small can of sliced black olives, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c reserved pasta water
1/2 c crumbled feta
1 T chopped fresh basil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat up olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add sliced zucchini and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add beans, tomatoes and olives. Cook for about 5 minutes and add drained pasta and reserved pasta water.  Stir to combine, season to taste and add feta and basil.

                                                   

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

We have been trying to grocery shop only a couple times a month because Costco is far away, driving anywhere takes forever, and we have to give up a parking spot and try and find a good spot when we get back, and it's just a big headache. So my pantry has become my best friend helping us not make the weekly trek to the store. This is one of my favourite panty meals. We always have frozen shrimp in the freezer, but this would also be good with chicken, shrimp just cooks so quickly. In the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta, dinner is done!

Ingredients:
12 oz Penne pasta
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound shrimp (peeled and cleaned)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp crush red pepper flakes or to taste
Chopped parsley

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, add olive oil and butter to a skillet and heat over medium. Once the butter is melted, add the shrimp and cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side. Flip to the other side. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until pink and opaque. Remove shrimp from the skillet. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the whole can of tomatoes (juice and all) to the skillet and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Keep the heat at medium and cook for about 5 minutes. Once the sauce is a little bit thickened, add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Toss to combine and add the shrimp. Serve with chopped parsley if desired.

Pinterest Win-Cinnamon Rolls

One of Greg's favourite treats is cinnamon rolls. But they're kind of labour intensive and my mom scared me away from yeast doughs/breads. But my sweet hubby deserves his favourite treat! Last year I tried my hand at cinnamon rolls for the first time. They were good, but not great. Better than store bought, but not the best cinnamon rolls ever and if you're going to take the time to make cinnamon rolls, they should be the best cinnamon rolls ever! My grandma's cinnamon rolls are the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had, but her recipes are not really recipes. "A little of this, just enough of this until it feels right," etc. So Pinterest to the rescue. I found this recipe for Cinnabon copycat cinnamon rolls and hoped for the best! It did NOT disappoint. The bread was soft and fluffy, they were buttery and cinnamony... Mmmmm... We had to use A LOT of self control not to eat 3 in one sitting. Definitely worth the work and time that went into them.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse Pie with Gingersnap Crust

Every year my family celebrates Canadian Thanksgiving by doing a big family dinner at my Grandma's house the Sunday before Canadian Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving is next Monday so I'm sure my family will be celebrating next Sunday. But we're in Boston now and Greg's birthday is next weekend so I decided we'd do a little celebration yesterday so we could celebrate early! By celebrate, I mean I made a pie and we ate pie. Pretty good celebration if you ask me!

One of my favourite things to do is combine desserts. I found this recipe for pumpkin cheesecake mousse on Pinterest and it looked so good! But I wanted a little textural difference, and plus, for Thanksgiving, you need pie! I noticed in her recipe, she had graham cracker crumbs in the mousse. So I thought about leaving those out and doing a graham cracker crust instead. But I don't really like graham cracker crusts that much. What about ginger snaps?! That's a very fall cookie and it's nice and crisp. I was pretty sure I'd seen someone make a crust out of ginger snaps on Pinterest or Food Network so I thought it'd be a safe "risk." It was delicious! The spicy ginger crust was so crunchy and was delicious with the soft and creamy mousse.

Crust:
3-4 c crushed crunchy ginger snaps (I just used store bought!)
6 T melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the ginger snap crumbs in a large bowl and drizzle in half of the melted butter. Stir to combine and then drizzle in the other half of the butter. Stir to combine and then feel with your hands when it's ready. You want it to be a wet sand consistency. That means it's crumbly but when you get a handful of crumbs and hold it together, it holds its shape. Press it into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Check it at 20 minutes just in case. Let cool and then fill.

Honey Lime Grilled Shrimp

Marinades and rubs are so great. It's an easy way to impart a lot of flavour into your food. And you can experiment and make whatever marinade or rub you want! You might get some not great ones when you're first trying it out, I know I had some rough ones!, but pretty soon you'll be able to throw something together and it will be delish! And the nice thing is, when you find a recipe you like, you can usually use that same recipe for chicken, pork, beef, whatever! This marinade for the shrimp I made last night is one of those that I just saw what I had on hand and mixed it together. It was one of my favourites that I've made. I would caution that if you want to use this marinade on another protein, you leave the honey out until it's almost done cooking and then just drizzle it on. Shrimp take so little time to cook the honey doesn't burn before the shrimp are done, but if it was on chicken or pork or something else, it might burn before the inside of the meat is cooked.

Ingredients:
12 oz peeled and deveined shrimp
Zest of 2 limes, juice of 1 lime (add more juice if wanted)
1 T vegetable oil (I usually use olive oil but veg oil has a higher smoke point and I wanted to cook these at a high temp)
2 cloves finely minced or grated garlic
2 T honey
Salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl combine all ingredients except the shrimp. Mix well to combine. Add shrimp and marinate for about 15-20 minutes. You don't want to do it too long because the lime juice will start to cook the shrimp. Heat up a grill or grill pan and get it pretty hot. If using a grill pan, you want it to just start smoking before you put the shrimp on. Cook for about 2 minutes per side or until the outside is pink and it's cooked through.

Blackberry Lime Sauce

We found the most beautiful blackberries at the farmer's market on Saturday. I love berries, but they don't last very long. We snacked on some but I wanted to use the rest of them up so they didn't go to waste. This sauce was really easy to whip up and was so good on ice cream!

Ingredients:
1 c blackberries
1/2-3/4 c sugar
1/2-3/4 c water (equal amount as sugar)
Zest and juice of 1 lime

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pot. Heat over medium heat until berries burst and it's reduced to a syrupy consistency. Let cool slightly and blend in a blender to desired consistency.

New York Sirloin Steak

I love steak. There are few things I enjoy eating more than a really good quality steak cooked to perfection. But the really good cuts of steak can be so expensive! I try not to spend more than $2 a pound for meat with a couple exceptions. Ground turkey I usually buy at $2.50 a pound, but considering how much cheaper it is than ground beef, I figure it's a steal. Seafood is an exception to this as well because even tilapia never gets that cheap. My favourite cuts of steak are really hard to justify spending $10+/pound. Seafood is at least good for you. So I watch the ads and watch for beef to get to around $3/pound and try to make it as much like a great steak as I can. This last week, New York Sirloin steak was on sale for 2.99 a pound. I got really excited because New York Strip steak is one of my faves! After a little research, I found out they are completely different things but decided to try it anyway. When you have an excellent cut of beef, it's so easy to cook it. Season it really well with salt and pepper and sear it in butter at a really high temperature on both sides before finishing it in the oven to desired doneness. This cut was a little different. Unlike a NY strip or rib eye, the meat has muscle fibers thick enough to form a grain. In a strip steak or rib eye, the muscle fibers are thin and you will get a tender steak very easily. A steak that has a grain will be a lot tougher. Cooking it needs to be done differently and you need to cut it differently to get it as tender as you can. With a steak like this you want to cook it a little slower than a hard sear. I let the meat sit on the counter to come up to room temperature. Starting with the meat all the same temperature helps ensure even cooking. I put the oven on to high broil and put the bottom rack just above the bottom of the oven. I put a piece of aluminum foil on top of this rack and then put the top rack just one slot above the bottom rack. Having the foil there acts as a drip pan for the steak while allowing the heat to circulate all around it. I put the steak on the top rack and let it cook for about 5 minutes. I flipped it to the other side and did another 5 minutes. After that I moved the top rack to the very top and moved the bottom rack just under it again. I put the steak on the top rack again and did another 4 minutes per side. Turn the broiler off and let the meat rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes. After it's rested, you will want to cut against the grain. It's hard to explain that without showing it, so here's a YouTube video for how to cut against the grain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRdX4U6hNLY

Roasted Tomato Mashed Potatoes

Sun dried tomatoes are one of my favourite things. They are chewy and sweet and full of flavour. A few months ago I made a sun dried tomato pesto that was delicious. I got to thinking, wouldn't that be so good in potatoes? So I decided to try some mashed potatoes mixed with sun dried tomatoes. They turned out really well! They were thick and creamy and full of that sweet tomato flavour.

6 medium red potatoes
1/4 c sun dried tomatoes in oil
Fresh basil leaves, about 1/4 c loosely packed
1/4-3/4 c milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Scrub your potatoes well. Peel if you want, I never do. Why make more work? Cut them into quarters and put in a large pot. Cover the potatoes with cold water and add salt. You want the water to be about as salty as sea water. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove lid and let boil until potatoes are fork tender. While potatoes are cooking, get the tomatoes ready. In a food processor or blender put the sun dried tomatoes in with the oil they're packed in. Blend until they look pretty smooth. Add the basil leaves and blend to combine. When potatoes are fork tender, drain them and add the tomato mixture to the pot. Mash it all together adding the milk to help the process along. Start with 1/4 c and add more a little bit at a time until you get the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper.

Grilled Lemon Chicken and Pasta Aglio e Olio

Aglio e olio just means garlic and oil but it sounds so fancy and since this is such a simple meal, I love that is has a fancy name. This is seriously one of the easiest dinners ever! 30 minutes to marinate the chicken and then 10 minutes to cook. It's clean, simple flavours and so good. You may be skeptical since it's so easy and simple, but it is delicious for real!

Lemon chicken:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Pasta:
8 oz spaghetti
2-3 T olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, smashed

In a bag combine all the marinade ingredients except the chicken. Seal the bag and shake hard to combine. Add chicken and let marinate for about 30 minutes. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, warm olive oil over low heat. Add smashed garlic and red pepper flakes. Let warm together for just a few minutes. Discard of the garlic. Toss pasta in oil as soon as pasta is drained. For the chicken, remove it from the marinade and grill or roast until cooked through.

Super Easy Bread

Greg and I watched a documentary on Netflix called Cooked a few months ago. I've mentioned it before but I will mention it again. Go watch it! It's so eye opening! In the documentary he talks about how bread doesn't need to be these complex recipes with all the kneading and all the ingredients and how back in the day, bread was 3-4 ingredients and that was it. I decided that when we moved I wanted to try and make my own bread and not buy any bread. I did a lot of research on Pinterest and found a lot of recipes for no knead artisan bread. They were all pretty similar, only the amount of salt, waiting time and cooking methods were different. I decided to just kind of combine recipes and see what I could come up with. The bread was so crusty on the outside and bubbly and soft inside. It was just what I was looking for. It was super easy too!

Ingredients:
3 c flour
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (not too hot or it will kill the yeast, just sort of lukewarm)

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine with a wooden spoon. The dough will be pretty sticky but that's what you want. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit. I let mine sit for about 10 hours. From other recipes it looks like you can leave it as long as 24 hours, but I just did 10 hours. When I came back, it was puffy and bubbly. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Put some flour on the counter and cover your hands in flour. Turn the dough out onto the counter. Form into a ball and cover with plastic wrap to let rest. Take your enamel coated dutch oven and put it uncovered into the oven for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, lower heat to 450 degrees and carefully place the dough into the dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid after 30 minutes and bake for 15 more minutes.

Sweet and Smoky Bacon Waffles with Maple Whip Cream

Today is national waffle day! I'm not sure who comes up with this stuff, but who's going to argue? Almost whenever we do breakfast for dinner, I make bacon to go with pancakes or waffles or whatever it may be. And I make a brown sugar chili powder rub to go on the bacon to make it sticky and sweet and smoky. Then one night I thought, "Why not put the bacon IN the waffle?" So I did. And it was magic.

Ingredients:
1 1/12 c flour
2 T sugar
1/2 T + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 c milk
3 T butter, melted
2 egg whites (separated)
2 egg yolks
5-6 strips of bacon
1/4 c brown sugar
2 T chili powder

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together the brown sugar and chili powder. If it looks like not enough chili powder, add more. If it looks like too much, add more brown sugar. This is so easy to change to your tastes. Line the bacon on a baking sheet and rub the brown sugar mixture on it. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes. If it doesn't look quite done, let it go for another minute or two. While that is baking, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Once it's well combined, whip the 2 egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the milk, butter and egg yolks to the flour mixture. Mix well and then gently fold in the egg whites. When the bacon is done, let it cool slightly and then cut into bite size pieces. Heat up your waffle iron. Add the bacon pieces to the batter and gently and quickly mix it all together. Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray and start cooking your waffles! This makes somewhere between 6-8 waffles. For the maple whip cream, I just started whipping heavy cream. Once it got a little thicker, I just started drizzling in some maple syrup and kept whipping. I stopped after about 2 T and tasted it. It wasn't quite where I wanted so I added a little more syrup until it was the right amount of sweet. I beat the cream until stiff peaks formed. (Since we live on a newly wed/college student budget we use the sweet, syrupy syrup like Aunt Jemima's or Mrs. Butterworth's, no real maple syrup here!)

Stuffed French Toast

I am still going to be without my kitchen for a week and a half. To help me not miss cooking as much, I have been reading a ton of recipes and decided I would post some of my favourite recipes. This stuffed French Toast is definitely one of them. One Saturday morning I had some French bread on hand and had some cream cheese I had to use up too and so this recipe was born. It's a cinnamon-y custard and filled with a sweet and tart, creamy filling. Spread some Nutella on top and it's perfect.

Filling:
2 oz softened Neufchatel or regular cream cheese
1-2 T jam
Mix the two together well and set aside.

Custard:
3 eggs
1/4 c half and half
1 T brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 T cinnamon
3-4 slices of day old French bread, cut into 1 1/2" thick slices

In a bowl, mix together all custard ingredients up to the bread. Mix very well. Take your bread slices and on the bottom crust side, cut a slit going almost all the way through. Don't cut through the sides or through to the other crust end, you just want a good opening in the middle to put your filling in. Use a spoon and gently spoon in the filling. You don't want to over fill it, just about a tablespoon or so in each slice. Gently put into the custard and cover. Cook over medium to medium-high heat to your liking.

Nutella and Orange Hand Pies

Frozen puff pastry is one of my favourite things! It's so easy to pull out of the freezer and work with. It's so flaky and delicious. Really fancy looking desserts are made so easy with this stuff! One of my favourite uses for this is to make Nutella and orange hand pies. Flaky puff pastry, rich and chocolatey Nutella, and bright, sweet orange makes this such a balanced dessert.

Ingredients:
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed (1 sheet has 2 folds in it to create 3 sections)
9 T Nutella, divided
Zest of 1 Navel Orange, divided
1/3 c powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons orange juice
2-3 teaspoons milk
Sugar to top, if wanted

Once puff pastry is thawed, preheat oven to 400. Cut pastry down the 2 fold lines so you have 3 separate sheets. Cut each of those in half down the middle of the fat side, not the long side. You should have 6 rectangles now. In the middle of each rectangle, put 1 1/2 T Nutella and 1/2 tsp of orange zest. Get your fingers just a little wet in some water and gently run your fingers around the edges of the puff pastry to help it stick together. Fold one edge of the pastry over the middle to the other edge and lightly press together with a fork along the 3 edges where the pastry meets.They should look a little like Pop Tarts. Once all are folded, put on a baking sheet and brush with just a little bit of milk. Sprinkle with granulated sugar if you want. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until pastry is puffed up and golden brown. While baking, mix up your orange glaze. In a small bowl put powdered sugar and orange juice, whisk well to combine. If you want it a little thicker, add more sugar, if you want it thinner add a little more juice. When pastries are done and cooled, drizzle glaze over top and serve.

Chocolatey Coconut Almond Granola

I found this recipe for Coconut Pecan Chocolate granola on Pinterest and knew I had to try it. I made a couple changes the first time I made it, just almonds instead of pecans and dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet, and it was so good still. I put this recipe into My Fitness Pal and it has a lot of calories per serving, but it is so filling! One serving, 1/2 a cup, has like almost 600 calories but it keeps me full until lunch which nothing else does. I always have to have a snack at 10-11 but not when I eat this. I decided yesterday to make a big batch of granola to have for breakfast all week. I wanted to see if I could make some changes to cut back the grams of sugar and bring the calories down while keeping it filling. I cut the chocolate in half and cut down on the honey and it was still delicious! Not quite as good as the measurements in the original recipe but still really delicious! This recipe is for about 8 servings.

Ingredients:
4 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c coconut oil
1/2 c honey
1 c shredded coconut
1 c chopped almonds
1/2 c dark chocolate chips, divided

Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, add honey and coconut oil. Melt in the microwave. Start heating it for 30 seconds and stir it. If it's not all melted yet, put back in the microwave. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine oats, shredded coconut and almonds. Toss well to combine. Add melted coconut oil and honey and stir well to coat everything. Spread half on a baking sheet and spread the other half on another baking sheet. Put both pans in the oven for 15 minutes. Rotate the pans after 15 minutes and let them cook another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle 1/4 c of dark chocolate chips over each pan of granola. I like to do it when it's warm so the chocolate melts and gets all over everything. Mix everything up well. Let cool on the pans. Store in an airtight container.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto with Sausage and Veggies

This pasta is adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:
8 ounces sundried tomatoes in oil
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp grated Parmesan
12 ounces penne
12 ounces turkey sausage, cut into rounds
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
1/4-1/2 pound asparagus cut into bite size pieces
Fresh chopped basil

In a food processor, combine sun dried tomatoes, garlic and pepper flakes. Pulse to combine. Add Parmesan and stir in. Set aside. Start cooking pasta according to package directions. Start cutting up sausage. Heat a little oil in a large pan and add turkey rounds. Cut up asparagus and add when there are about 5 minutes left on the pasta. Drain pasta and put back in the pot or serving bowl. Add pesto and stir well. Add sausage and asparagus, tomatoes and basil. Stir well and serve.

Plum and Blackberry Crisp

A crisp is one of my favourite desserts. And probably my most favourite non-chocolate dessert. Fresh, seasonal fruit sweetened up with a delicious crumbly topping... Oh yum... We were at the store the other day and saw these beautiful plums on sale and I instantly knew I wanted to try a crisp with them. We got home and I got to thinking, "This would be so good with raspberries too!" Well, we couldn't find fresh raspberries but I did find some beautiful, plump blackberries on sale so I knew it was meant to be. Dramatic much? Yes, I know. Fast forward to tonight. The night to make the crisp! Crisps are so easy too! Cut up some fruit, add a few simple ingredients and make the 3 ingredient crisp topping. Into the oven it goes, and then you are enjoying a perfectly tart and sweet dessert in no time!

Ingredients:
(This made 2 big ramekin servings, double and it would fit a 7x11 casserole/Pyrex)
3-4 small plums, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 pint blackberries
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 T water

Crisp topping:
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c flour
2 T cold butter

I cut my blackberries in half but this step could be skipped. In a bowl, add cut up plums and blackberries and remaining ingredients up to the crisp topping ingredients. Stir well to combine and set aside. Heat the oven to 375. In another bowl, combine the flour and sugar and cut in the butter. Continue cutting or mixing in until the butter is in pea sized balls. Take the fruit mixture and divide into ramekins. Top each one with half of the crisp topping, really pack it in there, you won't regret it. Put in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. Raise the temperature to 400 and bake another 8-10 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly before eating.

Note: put your ramekins on a baking sheet lined with foil if you want to avoid a mess like mine on the bottom of your oven!

Foil Asian Tilapia and Spicy Chinese Green Beans

It's time to start going through my pantry and start using up all the stuff I don't want to move or can't move. So on a Sunday night when I don't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I turn to the pantry and assess what we need to use. I need to use up my Asian pantry items. Everything is in glass bottles and would not be fun to try to move. So tonight is Asian night! I also need to start cleaning out the freezer so I peeked in there and found a couple tilapia filets. Greg and I love fish but our budget really only allows for shrimp and tilapia and the occasional salmon or trout when it's on sale. But tilapia is incredibly bland. Fortunately my Asian pantry is full of flavour bursting items! I made our favourite Chinese green beans from here and then turned to the tilapia. I wanted to grill because a) less dishes and b) I also needed to make some chicken to go with pasta for lunch tomorrow and I could easily do both on the grill. I'm always worried about fish sticking to the grill, but tilapia is especially delicate. So I decided to try a foil packet. Just make a little boat out of the foil with the fish in the middle, pour the sauce over it, and carefully wrap the fish in the foil so it can steam in there. Throw it on the grill and you're done!

Ingredients:

2 tilapia loins

1 T vegetable oil

1-2 T honey

1 T Sriracha

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1-2 T chopped cilantro

Mix all ingredients from vegetable oil to cilantro in a small bowl. Whisk well to combine. Put tilapia in foil "boat", pour half the sauce in each boat and wrap up. Put on the grill for about 2-3 minutes and then rotate to make sure it gets cooked all the way through. Leave for another 2-3 minutes and pull off the grill. Let cool for a minute before removing foil. 

Roasted Veggie Pasta

I love junk food, don't get me wrong, but after a weekend of eating junk food, it makes me feel pretty crappy. Just like bleh and sluggish. This last weekend was one of those weekends. On Monday I had planned to make this roasted cauliflower and mushroom carbonara which I have made before and is sooo good. But after a weekend of heavy food and lots of sugar, I was feeling like I need something a little less heavy. I love the roasted veggie part of that carbonara dish and I had the veggies on hand so I roasted the mushrooms and cauliflower. While those were roasting I diced up an onion and started sauteing that in a little olive oil. I got my spaghetti cooking and added some minced garlic to the onions. Pretty much everything was done at the same time the pasta was which was awesome! I drained the pasta and put a little olive oil, salt and pepper over the noodles and then everything went into the pot with the spaghetti. Sprinkle a little Parmesan and chopped basil over it and that's it! It was so good and hearty but felt really healthy with all the veggies. We also had these green beans on the side which was the perfect side for this pasta. We love these green beans. They are so crisp and the dressing is so bright and tangy. Even Greg, who isn't a fan of meatless Monday, loved this dinner and it filled him up which he kept saying never happens when we don't have meat.

Ingredients:
8 oz button mushrooms
1 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1/2 a medium white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces spaghetti
Plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan, to taste
Fresh basil

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut your mushrooms into quarters, or until they are about the same size as your cauliflower florets. Put mushrooms and cauliflower on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil to coat all veggies. Toss together and season well with salt and pepper. Put in the oven. After about 20 minutes, stir them up and return to oven. Meanwhile, dice your onion and start cooking over medium low heat in a little olive oil. Season slightly with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally. After stirring veggies that are in the oven, start boiling water for your pasta. Once boiling, add spaghetti and cook to package directions. Add minced garlic to onions and let cook for just a couple of minutes before turning heat off. About 2 minutes before your pasta is done, pull the veggies out of the oven and set aside. Drain pasta, drizzle with olive oil and add roasted veggies and onions and garlic. Toss well to combine and season with salt and pepper. Add grated Parmesan. If you like a lot, add a lot, if you don't like it, don't add it. I did just enough that you could see it on the noodles but not so much that it turned everything white. Add some chopped fresh basil.

Pico de Gallo and Turkey Tacos

Growing up we always had tacos on corn tortillas. I remember the first time I tried to use a corn tortilla to make a quesadilla and I was so shocked that it didn't taste good! I loved tacos so why were these quesadillas so bad?! Turns out I only like corn tortillas when they're fried. I love these tacos so much! A lightly fried tortilla, ground turkey with taco seasoning, and fresh pico de gallo on top. It is so fresh! A little spicy, a little bite, and a little sweet. Everything goes together so well.

Ingredients:
1 pound Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 a medium red onion, diced
1/2 a jalapeno with seeds removed, diced
1 ear of corn, charred and corn cut off the cob
1/4 c cilantro chopped
Juice from 2 limes

Dice/cut everything up and combine in a bowl. Add the cilantro last. Let sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes so everything can marry together and get delicious!

For my tacos I just heat about 1 cup of vegetable oil up in a small pot to 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile start browning and crumbling some ground turkey (I like 85%/15%). When oil is hot enough, put in small white corn tortillas, one at a time and let cook for about 10-15 seconds, until the edges start to get slightly crispy and then flip and do another 10-15 seconds on the other side. When turkey is cooked through, drain and rinse in hot water. Return to the pan and add 3 T of taco seasoning and 3 T of water. Start building your tacos and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

I like oatmeal for breakfast. I wouldn't say I love it for breakfast because I LOVE pancakes and bacon and bagels and other bad things for you for breakfast. But as far as healthy options go, oatmeal is pretty good. I don't always have time to make it in the mornings though and the instant oatmeal packets are good but they just don't feel as filling or healthy. Probably about a year ago now, I saw a recipe on Pinterest for slow cooker oatmeal. I thought, "Finally! The solution to my problems!" And I tried the recipe just a couple of days later. And it did not turn out well AT ALL. The recipe called for 2 cups of steel cut oats and 6-8 cups of water with a note saying if you like your oats heartier use less water. So I used only 6 cups of water. It was like cement the next morning. I ate a bowl and the flavour wasn't terrible, but it was HEAVY. We couldn't even eat the leftovers because even with adding extra water when heating it up, it was even thicker than the first day. So a few weeks later I decided to try it again but with the 8 cups of water this time. The first morning they were fine, a little heavy, but fine. The leftovers though? Forget about it. That was pretty much the end of my slow cooker oatmeal experiments. I pinned a couple of other recipes thinking I would try them out but I wasn't quite over the cement I'd produced before. The last few weeks I have made this delicious granola (I'll have to post the recipe later because it's sooo good, calorie heavy, but full of good things) and that's what we've been eating for breakfast. Make a big batch on Sunday and we both eat it all week. With the holiday though, I didn't have the time or energy to make granola to get us through the week. So, I decided it was time to try the slow cooker oatmeal again. This time I did A LOT of research. I must have looked at at least 10 different recipes. All ones I found on Pinterest by searching "slow cooker oatmeal" in case you're interested in a lot of recipes. After a lot of research, I thought a good ratio worth trying would be 1 c steel cut oats and 5 c water. And success! The oatmeal this morning was a great texture and tasted great! And I just heard from my husband who had them and it's a win in his book too!

Ingredients:
1 cup steel cut oats (any other kind of oats will fall apart, the steel cut are hearty and can stand up to the long cooking time)
5 c water
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Spray the insert of a slow cooker with non-stick spray. Put in all the ingredients and stir well. You could whisk the cinnamon to get rid of all the clumps, but I didn't worry about it. Turn it on low, go to sleep for 8 hours, wake up, and turn the slow cooker off. Stir it up well and you're ready to go! The top part of the oatmeal looked really dark from the cinnamon, but it mixed in just fine.

Tomato and Bacon Pasta Sauce

Greg and I saw this article today that was talking about how eating more pasta can actually help you lose weight. I never buy into these things. Some things we know for a fact are bad for you like sugar and fried foods. Pretty much beyond that I need firm scientific facts before I count something as healthy or not and even then I decide for myself if I think those are good "facts" or not. Look at eggs for example. 60 years ago everyone ate eggs for breakfast every morning (I exaggerate a lot, I know). And then 30 years ago people decided eggs were really bad for you because of the cholesterol. Now eggs are healthy again because they are full of protein and other good things. I figure as long as you are eating all your food groups, especially fresh fruits and veggies, and eating in moderation then you are probably doing fine. I think in 10 years people are going to find something that "proves" brown rice is actually better for you than quinoa or that Romaine is better than kale or something. But I digress, back to the article. I love pasta! Doing a low carb diet would never work for me. So I read the article in its entirety because I am always curious what the thinking is behind these fads. Long story short, more pasta follows the Mediterranean diet and people in the Mediterranean tend to be leaner supposedly. They did make a point of stating that in Italy when they eat pasta they eat lots of good stuff with the pasta like onions, garlic, tomatoes, fresh veggies, etc. so in an effort to eat more pasta with good stuff, I found some recipes for Pasta All'Amatriciana. Basically that is a tomato, cured pork and cheese dish. There are tons of recipes out there for different variations. Mine is a little more friendly for those living in the States. Especially where I am in the states, I can't find cured pork cheek or Pecorino cheese. So I use my go to bacon instead! This sauce is soooo flavourful and delicious! It feels very light but has a rich, full bodied taste. Definitely a good compromise from rich and heavy American sauces without giving up any flavour.

Ingredients:
1 medium white onion, diced
12 oz bacon, chopped (we like a lot of bacon)
4 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1/2 c chicken stock
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes and the juices
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 T fresh basil, chopped (optional)
Parmigiano  Reggiano (optional)
1 pound pasta (penne works great but any pasta that holds sauce well like Bucatini would be fine)

Heat about 1 T of olive oil up in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes to soften. Add chopped bacon and cook until mostly crispy. Add garlic and stir in and cook for about 30 seconds. Pour in chicken stock while stirring well to get all the yummy brown bits up off the bottom of the pan. Let cook on high until almost all the liquid is gone. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Let simmer while you cook the pasta. Drain pasta when almost done cooking and finish the pasta in the sauce. Top with basil and cheese if desired.

French Potatoes

One time we had Sunday dinner at my grandma's house which is always a good time. Always great food and great people. She tried a new recipe with her potatoes and they were good! At home I tweaked them a little bit and I call them French potatoes because it sounds fancy and I didn't know what else to call them. It's super easy and they're delish but it is a little time consuming. Mostly down time while they cook so it's easy, don't worry!

Ingredients:
8 medium red potatoes
3 T butter
1 medium shallot, diced
Plenty of salt and pepper

Cut potatoes into quarters and put into a pot filled with cold water. Salt the water very well and turn on high to boil potatoes. When they are not quite fork tender, turn the heat off and remove from heat. Drain potatoes. In a large skillet, begin to melt butter over medium high heat. Once melted, keep over heat and swirl the pan around a few times until the butter starts to turn brown. You will be able to smell the change before you see it. Once it's browned, carefully add the potatoes to the butter. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir potatoes up to coat in butter and salt and pepper. Let them sit so they can brown up nicely. After a few minutes, stir them up again to brown another side. When they are almost done, add the shallots and let cook for just a minute. Remove from heat and serve

Puffed Wheat Squares

I am so proud to be American! I wouldn't change that. But I do love that growing up my family celebrated being Canadian and Norwegian as well. We almost always only celebrated with food but what more do you need? For the 17th of May (Norwegian Independence Day basically) we would always have Norwegian pancakes or Norwegian rice pudding. For Canada Day we always had puffed wheat squares and sugar cookies shaped like maple leaves with red icing. Christmas and New Years we always had Norwegian rice pudding and a traditional Norwegian Christmas Eve dinner. I so love being able to celebrate where I come from! It's something I want to pass on to my kids. Thanks to my hubby for letting me celebrate! Haha he actually loves it because he loves the food. Puffed wheat squares are a Canadian treat that are so good! They are a little like rice crispy treats in how they are made but they are a little chocolatey and just sooo good! Gooey and chewy and chocolatey... I don't know anyone that has tried them that doesn't like them!

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter OR margarine 

1 c corn syrup 

2 c brown sugar

1/4 c cocoa

About 15 cups of puffed wheat cereal (this can be hard to find but Amazon sells it and our local Sprouts sells it as puffed Kamut)

In a large pot put in butter, corn syrup, brown sugar and cocoa. Cook over medium high heat until butter melts. Let come to a boil and boil for about 25-30 seconds. Specifically it is supposed to come to the soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer but my mom never used one for this and neither have I. Remove from heat after 30 seconds and quickly add puffed wheat, starting with about half of it. Stir it all together and keep adding puffed wheat until it is all coated and the sauce is all used up. Spread out on a greased cookie sheet and press into place. Allow to cool and then cut into squares.

Bruschetta Pasta

Today was 100 degrees. 100 degrees!! When you're outside in that kind of heat it makes you not want to do anything. Especially cook dinner. And I mean a real dinner, a salad isn't a dinner! Fortunately today is meatless Monday so I didn't need to cook any meat which always makes my kitchen soooo hot. So I made one of my favourite meatless meals! I don't know where my mom got this recipe but I love it! It's healthy which always makes me feel good. And it's tasty! It's really fresh and bright and a little spicy from the garlic and basil. And this is so easy! It's just cutting and chopping and stirring, done!

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes, seeds removed and chopped into small pieces

1/2 can black olives, sliced

Juice from 1 lemon

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 tablespoon basil, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound whole wheat pasta

In a medium bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, sliced olives and minced garlic. Stir well and add lemon juice and olive oil. After it's mixed well, add basil. Season to taste. Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, refrigerate sauce to let the flavours marry together. 

Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breasts are one of my favourite proteins. They're full of protein, good for you, and when they go on sale, they're cheap! But when we eat chicken two times a week, it can get old. I love trying new things with chicken to help mix it up. I found this recipe for lemon pepper chicken and thought it would be delicious! I made a few adjustments though. I loved the result. The chicken was moist, flavorful, light, and super easy! I served it with brown rice and while the brown rice was cooking, I made the marinade, let the chicken marinate and then grilled it up all while the rice was cooking. The marinade took all of 5 minutes to put together, it was great!

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, smashed

In a small bowl mix the olive oil and lemon juice, mix well. Add the Worcestershire, lemon pepper and pepper and stir until combined. Put chicken in a resealable bag and add marinade. Throw in smashed garlic cloves and mix well to coat chicken thoroughly. Refrigerate for no longer than 30 minutes, the lemon juice will begin to cook the chicken. After half an hour, skewer chicken pieces and grill until cooked through.

Chicken Apple Sausage and Basil Cream Fettuccine

Every couple of weeks, one of our grocery stores has sausage go on sale every couple of weeks and their chicken apple sausage always looks really good but have never tried it before. I decided to get one link and try it out! I thought it would be really yummy to do in a pasta dish. It turned out really well! The sausage was a little sweet with a little residual heat. The sauce was creamy and super flavourful! This lunch was about $2 a serving, less than 20 minutes to make, and tasted better than something that would have cost five times as much at Olive Garden.

Ingredients:
1 chicken apple sausage link
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 c of chicken stock
1 cup half and half
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
6 ounces fettuccine

Take the sausage out of the casing and cook up over medium high heat. Crumble it up well. When the sausage is done cooking, pull it out and let it drain on a plate lined with paper towel. Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic to the sausage grease. Sauté for about 30 seconds and add the chicken stock. Stir well while pouring in the stock to help pull up the yummy brown bits from the sausage. Start cooking the pasta and cook according to package directions. When the stock has reduced by about half, add the half and half and stir well. When pasta is about half done cooking, add the Parmesan and put sausage back in the pan. Bring to a boil and let simmer. When pasta is done, drain it and add to the sauce. Remove from heat and add basil.

Why I Blog

When I first started cooking a little and the more I cooked, I realized that I wanted a place I could save my recipes. I spend so much more time on the computer than I do with a notebook handy it just made sense to put those recipes on my blog. After a couple of years of this, I found it was getting super difficult to find recipes on my blog in the midst of all the posts. I decided to start fresh and clean so I can just have one post per recipe and find what I'm looking for. I love blogs because it's a great way to combine journals and scrapbooks and I haven't been good at doing either ever. I especially love food blogs because I feel like so many of the best moments in life are when friends and family come together and share a great meal and those moments should be documented. When looking back on great family dinners, you might not always remember what you had to eat, but when you sit down for a good home cooked meal, those memories help make it feel like home. Writing down recipes and passing them on is one of the best things. I can't wait for the day I'll be able to make my grandma's homemade applesauce or my bestemor's (Norwegian for grandma) Norwegian pancakes for my kids. What a special thing to be able to pass down. That's why I blog. I want to keep track of these food experiences, I want to write down these recipes so I can perfect and share with loved ones.