Applesauce

This one is an old family favorite that I had forgotten about.

Cheese Dreams
Whip up eggs with a bit of water or milk as if making french toast, omitting the vanilla and cinnamon if you use them in french toast. Dip one side of a piece of bread in the egg mixture and put it on a preheated skillet, egg side down. Add cheddar cheese and top with a second piece of bread dipped in egg, egg side up. Once the first side is brown, flip and cook until the cheese is melted and the second side is cooked. If desired, you can also add ham. (Yes, these are pretty much grilled cheese sandwiches with egg on the outside, the real difference is coming.) To serve, put on a plate and top with applesauce. Eat with a fork.

I know they sound strange but are actually really good. We had them for dinner the other day and it gave me an idea. This morning while having french toast for breakfast, I put applesauce on one of them instead of the powdered sugar I usually do. It was really great, like cheese dreams without the cheese. I'm thinking it's a good, healthier alternative to the uber surgary breakfast that french toast usually is.

Experimenting with Muffins

I started with a basic oatmeal muffin recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. It needed a lot of help. I have spent the last couple of years (I don't make muffins every day) experimenting and tweaking the recipe. For instance, I came up with the topping on my own. And I finally arrived at today's success. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Feel free to do your own experiments, and let me know how they turn out.

Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins:
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup oats
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk or non-dairy creamer
1/4 cup oil

Topping:
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon chilled butter
1-2 Tablespoons chopped nuts

1) Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tin or line with baking cups.

2) Whisk together dry ingredients; set aside (whisking helps eliminate lumps). Beat together wet ingredients; add to dry mixture, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle over each muffin.

3) Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving with butter. Makes 12 muffins.

Churros

Jen asked me to post this recipe. We were talking about yummy Mexican food while we were at Los Hermanos. I was drooling about churros. Sometimes you just get a craving.

I recommend some specialized equipment for making these. You don't have to have it, but it makes it all so much easier.
1. a spider (a mesh scooper for frying)--you can also use a slotted spoon
2. a 12inch pastry bag--you can use a gallon plastic bag, but watch for breakouts when hot oil splatters on it.
3. a large open-star tip (the kind you would use for frosting a large cake)--you can use this with the plastic bag or with the pastry bag. You can also do it without the tip, but they look less like churros and more like, to quote Hannah, poop.
4. a helper
5. a candy thermometer--this you actually need.

Churros

2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. milk
6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. flour
3 large eggs
5-6 c. vegetable oil, for frying

1. Stir together cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl (I like a pie plate This makes a ton, I usually reserve the rest for cinnamon and sugar toast, but you may want to reduce it.); set aside. Bring milk, butter, and salt to boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, and cook, stirring, until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from side of pan, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and let cool 3 minutes. Add eggs, and stir until batter is smooth. (I like to transfer to my mixer at this point. It goes so much easier.) Spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large open-star tip.
2. Hear 4-5 inches oil in a large Dutch oven until it registers 330 on a deep-fry (candy) thermometer. (I heat it to around 300 on high and then turn it down to medium.) Holding pastry bag a few inches above the oil, squeeze out batter, snipping off 4-inch lengths with a knife or kitchen shears. (This is where the helper comes in handy. Watch for splattering hot oil.) Fry 6-8 churros at a time, turning once, until deep golden brown all over, about 5 minutes; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
3. Roll churros in cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately with hot chocolate. (I like Abuelita's Mexican Hot Chocolate with these.)
Makes about 20

These are best when warm, if you can wait that long. Our family easily finishes them off in an evening. Katrina has one right now. She keeps saying "umm" every time she takes a bite.

Greek Pizza

Here is a yummy Greek Pizza from Rachael Ray with a crust recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Pizza Dough
3 cups flour
1 pkg yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

Combine flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and water. Spread in a large pizza pan and top as desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes. You can let it rise for a few minutes before putting it in the oven but it's not necessary. This recipe also makes really good bread sticks. To jazz it up for breadsticks, mixing in herbs or topping with cheese is really good. For the Greek Pizza below, I used one cup whole wheat flour (it was all I had left) and two cups regular white flour.

Spinach Feta Greek Pizza
I recipe wheat pizza dough
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves grated garlic
1 onion chopped
2 bunches spinach
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
1 cup feta cheese crumbles
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
fresh oregano, chopped

Preheat oven to 450. Press dough into pan and put in the oven for a few minutes. In a large skillet, saute the garlic and onion in oil. Add the spinach and wilt. Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Top the lightly cooked dough with hte spinach mixture then top with feta and mozzarella. Put the pizza back in the oven until the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. When the pizza comes out of the oven, top with tomatoes and oregano.