#TastyParTEA: Earl Grey Waffles

So.
I agreed to take part in an event that was celebrating all things tea.  And I enjoy tea...but usually black with a little sugar in winter, or iced with lemon and sugar in summer.  And frankly, orange pekoe is about as exciting as we get in my purchasing around here.
But despite the fact that I am not a tea snob, I do know what a good cuppa tastes like.  Each year for Christmas, one of the gifts that I buy my mother is the Little Black Tea Collection from Steeped, which includes the most wonderful Earl Grey known as Earl Grey de la Creme.  And it is.  Smoky, creamy and with the most delicious finish.  It's a great tea.
Earl Grey tea is tea flavoured with oil of bergamot.  It is used to flavour baked goods, sauces and chocolates.  When I looked for a recipe featuring tea, I started at the Steeped website.  I saw this, and was sold.
I present to you now Earl Grey Waffles:

#SecretRecipeClub: Cinnamon Roll Muffins

So.
It's time for another edition of Group A's reveal for the Secret Recipe Club!  Actually, it's a rather sad occasion as this will be the final reveal day for Group A.  Sarah E has decided to send us out on a high note, and the club will be folding.  I've had almost 3 wonderful years searching other blogs for a recipe to make and share.  It's been exciting to see what people think worth sharing from my own little corner of the internet.  I'll need to find a new challenge.
So, this time when I went looking for my last recipe with the club, I decided I had to stick with what I do best - breakfast carbs.
My monthly email sent me off to peruse Sights, Bits and Bites.  Marla is relatively new to the kitchen, and says she works in the smallest kitchen known to mankind.  I also did that until recently.  She loves cats, but currently has a boyfriend and a pet hamster.  I don't think I recommend having the hamster and cats simultaneously, but cats are a lovely way to pass the time.
While looking through Marla's recipes, I came across a few things to consider:  Freezer Breakfast Burritos looked easy and yummy, as did Lasagna Soup, which needs to make an appearance on my Sunday night supper table (and in my lunch) soon.  But carbs as always screamed my name.  Like my last reveal, this recipe is somewhat of a portion controlled one.  But no matter.  Once can always eat 2.
I present to you now Sights, Bits and Bites' Cinnamon Roll Muffins:

#SRC Bonus Post: Monkey Bread Muffins

So.
I haven't been a very good blogger recently.  I have, however, managed to keep up with my Secret Recipe Club posts if nothing else.  I love being given a reason to explore someone else's blog and make a recipe.  Sometimes, it's a challenge to make something that I've always wanted to try.  Sometimes, I make something that just sounds way too good.
Always, I procrastinate.
This month, with 5 Mondays, our fearless leader Sarah put out the call for a special reveal day of fall dishes.  I was thrilled to be assigned April's blog over at Home Sweet Homestead.  April is a wife and monther who is a Flexitarian after the onset of adult allergies and food intolerances.  I loved going through her recipes and saw many things that interested me including these Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies  and this Peanut Butter Cheesecake Dip.  Apparently, peanut butter makes me think fall.
Unfortunately, I haven't made either yet.  With time running short, I whipped up a breakfast treat with lots of cinnamon.  It's not pumpkin, but it is delicious.  And monkey bread is always fun.  Who doesn't love monkey bread?
I do, obviously.  I present to you now Home Sweet Homestead's Monkey Bread Muffins:

Breakfast: Chocolate Zucchini Chocolate Chip Waffles

So.
After last summer's fun with my friend's waffle iron, I kept thinking I should buy one of my own.  I thought about it for a whole year (which I am wont to do), and finally picked one up on the cheap at Kohl's when J and I went to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday in Toledo.
But what to make first?  I have an absolute pile of waffle recipes pinned to my Breakfast board on Pinterest.  There's pumpkin, and snickerdoodle, and gingerbread...but I was looking for wow factor for the first waffles from the new toy.
I started searching again for something with wow factor, that would use things in my fridge.  I'm pretty sure I picked it with this recipe. Seeing as I had buttermilk leftover and a couple of zucchini from our Good Food Boxes, this was a no brainer.  Seeing as there was cocoa and chocolate chips involved, I'd found my wow factor.
Even better?  This made enough for 2 brunches the day of and more for the freezer for later.  You know, when I want a bit of a day brightener.  That can always be achieved through chocolate chips for breakfast.
I present to you now The Candid Appetite's Chocolate Zucchini Chocolate Chip Waffles:

Freezer Friendly: Walnut Zucchini Muffins

So.
Despite the fact that as I write this we haven't been on vacation yet (Friday's coming!), I've started planning for my Back to School cooking extravaganza.
Three years ago, I discovered the genius of freezer meals.  After buying a Taste of Home freezer magazine, I tried cooking and freezing meals that would make my life easier upon my return to work.  It totally does make my life easier.  We eat at home during a stressful time with the startup of school and being away weekends for football.  I've started my lists and my inventory of the deep freeze so that we have some more healthy choices than the nearest restaurant.
To that end, I'm stocking not only dinners but breakfasts as well.  I need something that can be quick, or on the go; but not just peanut butter toast when I can't think of anything else.  My Christmas present from last year has been a help:  a Hamilton Beach breakfast sandwich maker that we pull out maybe once a week.  I also try and stock bagels, and often have cooked breakfast sausage links so I can make quick scrambled egg wraps.  I also enjoy muffins from time to time.
My mother makes lots of different muffins that are delicious, and if you look at my index I make lots of different flavours too,  Muffins freeze well, are portable, and can use up things that are lurking in your produce drawer.
Speaking of produce, if you and I are friends on Facebook, I've been posting pictures of my Good Food Boxes this summer from The Stand in Burford.  J and I have eaten more fresh fruits and vegetables for an incredible price because of these boxes!  We've had things like this:

 Every week, there is a head of romaine lettuce, and a field tomato.  The rest is seasonal, so we've had carrots, new dug potatoes, garlic, corn, green onions, peppers of all colours, field and hot house cucumbers, green and yellow beans, cherry tomatoes, garlic scapes, red onions, and zucchini.  We've been picking up the box and then meal planning to use as much as possible from the box.

 Fruit-wise, we've had tons of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches, and yellow plums.  J eats the blueberries.  The rest are left up to me.
I've been freezing what we can't eat (mainly strawberries and beans), and knowing that in winter we will have lots of things to choose from out of the excess of our bounty from the summer.

But there are many things that we get that can't be frozen.  And vegetables like zucchini need to be made into another form to be frozen.
When I saw this recipe in my Taste of Home freezer magazine, it was like it was meant to be.
I present to you now Harriet Stichter from Milford, Illinois' Walnut Zucchini Muffins:

SRC: Lemongrass Ginger Pancakes

So.
It's time again for the Secret Recipe Club!  What's that, you ask?  Well, it's a group of food bloggers who are all assigned another blog from the group (in secret, hence the name) and then we all reveal on the same day at the same time.  Fun, right?  I enjoy getting my assignment every month and finding something to make from a blog that I don't know a whole lot about.
This month is no exception.  I was assigned the blog Crazed Mom, written by Nicole.  Nicole is a mom of 5 teenagers, and I am exhausted just thinking about that.  She's a writer, and she makes some delicious looking and sounding food.
I have to admit, when I started looking at her blog, I didn't get past her Breakfast offerings.  As the owner of a new waffle iron, I'm all about waffle recipes right now.  I eyed these Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, because I have ricotta needing to be used in my fridge and blueberries right now; but Nicole made these for an SRC reveal.  I also really want to make these Pumpkin Spice Latte Doughnuts, but I would need a doughnut baking pan...and I'm still playing with my waffle iron.  Then I found something that totally caught my attention.
As some of my friends on Facebook know, I was literally giving away some of my Gourmet Garden stir in paste herb tubes from past blogging events.  I love their products (just ask, and I'll tell you!), but there are some that I've never known what to do with...like Lemongrass.  It's intimidating looking at the store, and I've never used it.  But I have 3 tubes of it in my freezer.  I saw the picture in the index with the Gourmet Garden tubes, and saw that this would use up (albeit a small amount) of my Lemongrass stash, and I was in!  Plus, the leftovers are freezable, as we start the grind towards school.  I'm starting my freezer cooking to make the fall easier.  J and I both enjoyed these for breakfast, and they'll be great out of the toaster with maple syrup this fall too,
I present to you now Crazed Mom's Lemongrass Ginger Pancakes:

#FreshTastyValentines: Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal

So.

#FreshTastyValentines has been way fun, and I have recipes all weekend to get everything in!  Here's a delicious idea for a quick breakfast that uses a heart-healthy product that I'd never tried before.
Hulled Hemp Seeds are packed with protein and omega -3 and -6 fatty acids.  When I opened my bag from Bob's Red Mill I thought they looked a lot like ground nuts.  The little bit I tried tasted a lot like nuts.  Yum.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with a bag of hemp seeds until I got my Janet and Greta newsletter for January.  The recipe included either chia seeds, ground flax seed or hemp seeds.  Decision made.  Then I doubled the recipe so J could have a bowl.
On a cold damp Sunday morning, this was welcome and delicious.
I present to you now from Janet and Greta Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal:

#BookClubCookbookCC: Gingerbread Pancakes

So.
After taking December off, the #BookClubCookbookCookingCrew returns in January with the Pajama Chef's invitation to make Mrs. Enger's Cinnamon Rolls with Coffee Icing and read Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

I was excited about reading this.  I thought it sounded good from the synopsis in the cookbook.  I turned to my local library's catalougue...
...and discovered that I could only get it in audiobook form.  10 CDs.
I am not new to audiobooks.  My mom gives us one each year for Christmas, and we often read them in the fall as we go to and from football weekends.  All you need is time.  My old commute would have been perfect.  My 5 minute commute now is not so much.  I only made it through 3 CDs.
While the story was interesting, and I probably would have finished the book in paper form, I just couldn't find the time or the interest to sit and listen in the house to the book.  Not even Swede's poetry could get me into it.
I had, however, already decided what I was going to make as my recipe this month.  Pancakes!  Pancakes are mentioned a couple of times early in the story.  The first is as dinner when duck hunting, but it was the second time that cemented what I planned to make.
Reuben and his father go to a revival meeting at the local church.  Reuben sneaks out and shares an orange with his current infatuation before announcing that he can cook...and the 2 of them make pancakes in the church kitchen during the revival.  I giggled as they prayed in the sanctuary, aroma of frying batter heavy in the air, inspiring turns of phrase that were so, so awesome.
Reuben and Bethany didn't make pancakes like these, but they smelled so, so good on a cold Saturday morning in the house.  Say grace and dig in.
I present to you now from Judicial Peach, Gingerbread Pancakes:

#SRC: Pumpkin Pecan Cream Scones

So.
It's time for another episode of the Secret Recipe Club!  In fact, it's time for the last 2015 edition of the SRC.  I've so enjoyed spending the last 2 years delving into other blogs and making wonderful creations from other people's impressive recipe indexes.
This month's entry is no different.  I was assigned Mother Would Know, a wonderful blog written by Laura.  She dispenses the wisdom that you could get from phoning your mom while cooking (something I sometimes do) with none of the nagging (something I probably appreciate).  I stuck with what I know (carbs) when finding recipes to try.  While I was drawn to Chocolate Cranberry Streusel Muffins and Western Omlette Muffins, I opted for something that would use up things in my fridge:  namely heavy cream and pumpkin puree.
I present to you now Mother Would Know's Pumpkin Pecan Cream Scones:

Brunch Classic: Buttermilk Waffles

So.
In the summer, I was stocking the freezer for the upcoming school year.  I was looking for breakfast ideas - things I could quickly reheat and eat in the morning before scampering off to school for the day.  I was reading my freezer magazine and came across a few waffle recipes that sounded good and different, seeing as I don't own a waffle maker and therefore never make waffles.
I did what any blogger would do who is cheap and suddenly has a hankering for waffles:  I posted a message on Facebook, asking my friends if they had a waffle iron I could borrow.  My friend Carrie (who I torment on FB with recipes that are "so easy even Carrie could make them!") got me by posting that she had one; which she totally didn't, and thus dashed my hopes briefly until one of my other friends who actually owns a waffle maker offered to lend me hers.
It was in this manner that I ended up making waffles at the end of the summer to freeze and eat during the fall.  I pinned a bunch of recipes and made a few.  This was the first, and as a starting point, these were fantastic.  They're light, buttery and delicious the day you make them and again later reheated in your toaster.  I totally recommend borrowing a waffle iron.
I present to you now from Sally's Baking Addiction Buttermilk Waffles:

Secret Recipe Club: Blue Ribbon Coffee Cake

So.
It's not my regular week for Secret Recipe Club, but I offered to pick up an orphan for Group C and post with them this week.  I'm really glad I did.  Partially because after this month I won't really have time for a while, and partially because it gave me another opportunity to explore a new blog and make something yummy.
I was thrilled to get Jane's Blog, The Heritage Cook.  When I joined Group A of the SRC, Jane was our fearless group leader.  I had gone to her site after getting the email with my first assignment, and had poked around a little thinking that there would be lots to choose from when I drew her name as my assignment.  Then the groups changed.  Jane left for Group C.  I was never assigned her blog.
By happy coincidence, I was assigned her blog as the orphan.  I suddenly poked about her blog with purpose!
Jane is a native Californian, and has been gluten-free for 3 years. She has chocolate Mondays.  There are so many things that I'll need to go back and make more!  She has fabulous looking food, and it took a while to find something until I promised to bake for my custodial staff.  I have a meeting today, and I promised to bake for them.  Then I found this recipe.  It was obviously meant to be.
I present to you now the Heritage Cook's Blue Ribbon Coffee Cake:

Breakfast on the Run: Breakfast Sunshine Cake

So.
I'm always on the lookout for good, easy recipes to include in my repertoire.  Good is key.  Easy makes things even better.  While I do draw a great deal of inspiration from Everyday Food and Pinterest, I have found the 2015 Milk Calendar to actually be quite useful.
The Milk Calendar is often hit or miss for me.  Either it's things that just don't look tasty, or they use ingredients I don't buy, or they're for things that I already make and like the recipe I have.  This year, there have been a variety of things that I've made and enjoyed.
I've been trying the Bake It Easy recipes from the front matter of the calendar recently.  Muffins and so forth are always up my alley:  easy to freeze and take in my lunch or eat for breakfast.  I saw this cake and thought it sounded delicious.  I also needed to find a use for the shredded zucchini in my freezer, and thought that this would be a way to use it up before I end up with more shredded zucchini in my freezer for next year.
This is really good, and smells so yummy while baking.  I just don't recommend leaving it in an airtight container on your counter too long.  I think the last couple of pieces fermented before J and I could eat them.  Fermented cake is not really what you want to eat for breakfast.  But vegetables are, and when they're in cake form, how could they possibly be bad?
I present to you now from the 2015 Milk Calendar Breakfast Sunshine Cake:

Finally It's Spring! (Pasta)

So.
Have I mentioned how enamoured I am with PC Points?  Probably not.  I know I mentioned them on Facebook one night, and heard from friends who have saved them up as well.  J and I managed to save over $200 this past year in points.  We spent them once at the beginning of the summer to buy our supplies for a big summer kickoff BBQ.  The second time was the week before Christmas; where we stocked the larder with expensive things we don't buy very often as treats for the holidays.
One of the recipes I planned over the Christmas holiday (and I'm finally getting around to sharing) was what we had for brunch Christmas morning.
For Christmas this past year, J and I went to family Christmas with my dad's family Christmas Day, stayed overnight at my mom's, and then brought Mom back with us to the mountain.  We had our actual Christmas on the 27th, with presents and brunch and a big fancy dinner.  It's the advantage to no kids - you can open the presents any day you choose.
When I got my copy of the 2015 Milk calendar this year, I flipped through looking for things that I might like to make.  This was one of the things that caught my eye, which is weird because it has some things in it that I don't make or cook with very often.
I don't buy smoked salmon very often.  Frankly, I think this is the first time I've ever bought it.  My comment was that in this dish it almost tasted like bacon, which would be a good, cheaper option.  I also had the chance to try my hand at making poached eggs, something I'd never done before.  It was a lovely dish - especially in the winter when you're waiting for Spring.  Or now...when it's Spring...and you're waiting for...Spring.
I present to you now from the 2015 Milk Calendar Finally it's Spring Pasta:

Tea Time: Lemon-Cherry Hot Cross Buns

So.
I continued to make recipes from Crumb, trying to decide what I should use for the Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This is the second recipe that we ate.  I think I enjoyed them more than J.
Growing up, I was not a huge fan of hot cross buns.  While I liked the spiced dough and raisins, I had an issue.  The big thing I didn't like?  Candied peel.  My father didn't like raisins cooked in things, so the only one who really liked hot cross buns at my house was my mom.  Eventually, my mother found a brand that used just raisins, and while I ate them, I was always suspicious of the potential for candied peel. 
Seeing as this is *my* kitchen, I've had a bag of dried cherries hanging around which I have been trying to decide how to use.  When I saw this recipe, it involved the spiced dough with a dried fruit I like, and seeing as I was in charge, no candied peel!  How could this be bad?
I present to you now Crumb's Lemon-Cherry Hot Cross Buns:

Shrove Tuesday: Pancakes!!

So.
Every year for Shrove Tuesday, J and I eat pancakes.  I have lots of fun recipes pinned, but for a night like this, a classic recipe is best.  I'll save the peanut butter or gingerbread pancakes for a Saturday morning.  Paired with bacon and maple syrup we bought at the Elmira Maple Syrup last year, dinner is served...with a tall, cold glass of milk.
This is a classic recipe from a classic Canadian cookbook.  This is the pancake recipe I grew up eating for lunch on Saturdays or Sundays.  My Dad swore by this recipe, and really swore by this cookbook.  His favourite birthday cake to make was the rich birthday cake from here.  I love her Seafoam frosting.
According to Wikipedia, Kate Aitken was a pioneer in broadcasting and publishing.  Her cookbook was first published in 1945.  My copy of it is ancient.  Probably not an original edition old, but it is wrapped in old pantyhose cardboard, lacking a front cover, and slowly returning to the earth from whence it came.
About 10 years ago, my mother told me that she'd gotten me a copy of the cookbook from a lady she knew who had died.  What actually turned out to be the case was my mom got a newer copy of Kate Aitken, and I got the old copy.  But the recipes I use are intact as well as the meat roasting charts, which I use regularly.
I now present to you Pancakes from Kate Aitken's Canadian cookbook:

Brunch: Ham and Potato Frittata

So.
Being home for the summer, I need to make lunch everyday.  Who thought that was going to happen?  I'd like to be going more meatless, but we do what we can.
While browsing, I read Beth over at Budget Bytes and she'd made a frittata.  Now we all know how well I do with baking eggs, but this looked easy, filling, and simple.  I used her ingredients, but tweaked things slightly to make less.  J and I got 2 meals out of this.  With a salad, it was a perfect lunch.
I present to you now, as inspired by Beth and her yummy things, the Ham and Potato Frittata:

A Bowlful of Deliciousness: Southwestern Breakfast Scramble (The Pintertest Kitchen)

So.
There is no question that J and I love Mexican food.  I've never really strayed out of the dinner realm before, but ohhhhhhhhh.  I read this on Budget Bytes, pinned it immediately, and thought, "how could this possibly be bad?  But...TORTILLA CHIPS??"
I don't know why I question Beth's recipes.  They work, they're easy, and they're freaking tasty.  Once again, I pinned a winner from one of my favourite places to draw inspiration from on the web.
Here's the pin:

From Budget Bytes, I present to you the Southwest Breakfast Scramble:

New Year's Brunch: Baked Egg Boats

So.
Yesterday was New Year's Day, a day on the mountain where J and I wear pajamas all day, eat yummy things, pack the Christmas decorations, and watch college football until our eyes fall out.  Did I mention that there's too much to eat?
This year, I planned to serve brunch, a baked cheese dip mid-afternoon, and black bean and steak wraps for dinner.  The wraps were the healthy part of the day with trimmed sliced steak, homemade unfried refried beans in whole wheat tortillas.  The brunch part of the day, not so much.  I planned to serve fruit with these boats, but I didn't wash it so we didn't eat it.
The boats, however, disappeared quickly with cups of coffee from my new Keurig, a Christmas present from J.  I liked the idea of quiche in bread.  I made another quiche filling that was delicious.  I also learned that I am a poor judge of when eggs are cooked in the oven.  Sigh.  We start, however with this

How can you go wrong when there's bacon?  I present to you now spoon fork bacon's Baked Egg Boats:

Pintertest Kitchen: Bacon Quiche with Pat-in-the-Pan Crust

So.
When I was growing up, my mom would make quiche and I would hate it.  Things that involved the meat grinder and leftover ham didn't really appeal.  Or maybe it was that my mom didn't use great cheese.  I don't know.  The other option is that my tastes have changed over time.  But I doubt it.
When I went to France, one of the things that I learned to make with one of my host mothers was quiche.  I learned to make a lot of great things in France and still make sauces the way I learned from Mme Brabant.  Mmmm...tarte tatin, bechamel sauce, cheese to finish meals.  Good times.
I was cruising Pinterest and found this very attractive pin for Bacon quiche.  It looked so good, but there was still one problem - I would have to make a pie crust.  Here's the pin:

I suck at pie crust.  My mother makes wonderful pie crust because she made a pie per month for the 41 years of marriage.  I make pastry once and a while.  It never turns out as well as I hope.  But no worries - this pin also had a pie crust that you pat into place in the pan.  How bad could it be?
I present to you now For the Love of Food's Bacon quiche with Pat-in-the-Pan crust:

Healthy Brunch: Breakfast Egg Pitas

So.
We're on the healthy eating trail.  I keep pushing the Choice Menus book on J, simply because there's a great deal of variety and a good deal of food in each menu.  A couple of weeks ago, J had a doctor's appointment at 1:15 that was about an hour away from home.  I convinced him that brunch was the answer!  We had breakfast at 10, with protein to keep us going until we got home.
I present to you now the centrepiece of this menu, Breakfast Egg Pitas: