Glamping Breaky II

We have been enjoying our vacation in Florida!

Another great breakfast is pancakes,

especially with some fresh maple syrup we brought from home.

These cakes are so fluffy and yummy.

My sister Evelyn gave this recipe to me some time ago

and it's our favourite.

She calls it their cottage pancake recipe.

I mixed the dry ingredients at home so that only the 

egg, oil and milk needs adding to prepare.

Pancakes at the Cook’s Cottage

1¼ Cup sour milk (if no sour milk, substitute by putting a cap of vinegar into measured milk and let stand for 5 minutes).

1 Egg

2 Tbsp. oil

In separate bowl:

1 Cup Flour

1 Tbsp. Sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

Mix well – add the sour milk and beat.  Let stand till thickened.

Pour onto well oiled hot pan or griddle.   This recipe makes approx. 7 pancakes.

Our little piece of heaven here at one 

of our favourite Florida State Parks.
Morning walks before breakfast couldn't be more pleasant!

Grayton Beach State Park

More about this to come ....

Till next time .... 

Favourite "Glamping" Breaky

Last Spring when we glamped our way westward,

stopping to visit some dear friends in Iowa,

they generously gifted us a huge bag of homemade granola for the road.

It must have been several batches.

Trese and Dale

This recipe has become a favourite and a must have when we 

go on the road with our little RV.

Trese’s Granola

4 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup coconut

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla or almond extract, as desired

¾ cup raisins

¾ cup dried cranberries

Set the oven for 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 1 jellyroll pan, (with sides).  Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk the corn syrup and vegetable oil and the vanilla or almond extract well. Add this to the oatmeal mixture and stir thoroughly with a large spoon.

Pour mixture onto greased jelly roll pan and even out the mixture on the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes for 4 cycles, stirring well between each 15 minute cycle. The granola is done when it has a medium brown color throughout. Place into a large bowl to cool. Stir in the raisins/cranberries and enjoy.

Trese says:

* I make 3 of these at a time, so I always have an extra gallon sized bag of granola to share with those I love.

So glad we received this love gift.

Strawberries are in season where we are right now and this,

with a dollop of delicious organic yogurt

is the perfect way to start every day ...

Till next time ..... hope strawberries will be in season soon where you are too!

The Golden Gate City

A wonderful opportunity to visit

San Francisco came to us

via - the farmer's work conference.

What an interesting and beautiful city!

The first day there, after checking in to the incredible Fairmont Hotel,

and a quick trolly car ride

Yes this is a fake picture but we really "did" ride the trolley - smile!

We were privileged to have a group wine tour to the Nappa Valley!

The wine was delicious, the scenery was beautiful, in spite of the devastating and long drought they are experiencing there.

New friends were made ...

First time on a "party bus"!!!!

Our beautiful fearless leader!

While our spouses went to "work"shops, we went on several

city tours - what fun!

The first one was an architectural tour of the city - amazing...
the tour guide was so interesting as he pointed out many, many famous buildings and sites.

Can you spot the famous Painted Ladies?

The next day we ventured over the bridge and spent a few hours in Sausalito.
Sooo pretty!

And then on to hike the Marin Headlands ...

The evenings were spent with incredible conference sponsored dinners with our 

spouses and representatives ....... not the least of these, a dinner cruise to

Alcatraz!!!!

This included a tour of the prison followed by a delicious dinner while cruising back

to Fisherman's Wharf.

The last "bonus" day in San Fran was spent at Fisherman's Wharf where we tasted the famous Ghirardelli chocolate and ice-cream, and browsed through the Boudin bakery where they serve up their famous sourdough bread bowls filled with delicious chowder!!!

And last, but certainly not least, the farmer convinced me that we MUST take 

a Segway tour. After a quick lesson, off we went with a guide zipping through traffic on the 

Streets of San Francisco!!!  I still can't believe we did this.

It was wonderful to be home again ....
the front porch mums were blooming at their peek

And it was time to get back to sensible eating!!!!

Thus, the overnight steel-cut oats for waking us up in the morning ....

This easy recipe is so rewarding to wake up to ...
2 apples diced
1 1/2 Cups Almond Milk (or Cow's milk)
1 1/2 Cups water
1 Cup Steel-Cut Oats
2 Tbsp. brown sugar or honey
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter cut into 5-6 pieces
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ground flax seed
1/4 tsp. sea salt
handful of dried cranberries

Grease the inside of your crockpot (I used coconut oil)
Place all the ingredients into pot and stir.
Set your timer for 7 hours and cook on low.
Go to bed and wake up to the aroma of delicious oatmeal for breakfast!











Garnish with nuts, maple syrup, and more almond milk.
Definitely worth the bit of effort the night before.

Till next time .......... getting back on track, resting our weary legs from climbing the hills of San Francisco, and enjoying the memories of a fantastic and privileged week.

P.S. If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair lots of layers (it get's unexpectedly cold there sometimes)!

Pannakuakku

Pannakuakku
(I don't know how to pronounce this)

A busy Saturday ahead, 

while putting away the groceries,

the fridge needing to be reorganized and cleaned,

and no room for the beautiful bag of apples

I had just purchased at our local Martin's Apple Farm,

I made the decision to set them in the back deck room

for now!

Oops.....I should have know the temperatures

were going to dip down way below freezing once again

this Spring (did I say Spring????)

Where is Spring?

Back to the apples......I remembered what I had done on

Sunday morning and yes, they were slightly frozen.

What to do?

Then I thought of a delicious

recipe that Vee shared on her

fabulous blog called A Haven for Vee
It's the Finnish version of a Dutch Baby (I think).

I could make this and top it with

some delicious sautéed apples.....right?

It was yummy - but definitely a recipe for four

people! Next time I will half the recipe.
An addition, Vanilla Yogurt or Whipped Cream would
have made it even better.

You've got to try this.

It's wonderful to watch as it bakes and

transforms into a giant fluffy soufflé like pancake.

Well, that took care of 3 apples,
9 more to go.

Recipe for the Pannakuakku:

4 Tbsp. butter

4 eggs

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla and

A sprinkle of cinnamon

Melt the butter in a 8 X 11 baking pan. Mix together the eggs,

flour, milk, salt and vanilla and pour onto the melted butter.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 450F for 20 minutes.

Make sure to visit Vee's blog
and read her comical description of this recipe ......

Till next time ........... be mindful of where to store your apples this time of year!

What I learned on Google - Oven Bacon

I have a glass top stove

and I've never liked it!!!

That's another story.

The worst part is that it is shiny black

and every speck or fingerprint shows.....

Having said that,

I don't make bacon very often

mostly because it's so messy.

So I googled how to make bacon without the mess

and, as Jeff Hutchison on Canada A.M. says,

"this is what I learned on the Internet today"

I'm calling it WILOG

(What I Learned on Google)

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/breakfastcookery/ht/bacon.htm

Place the uncooked bacon

on a foil lined pan and 

set it into a cold oven.

Turn the oven to 400F,

set the timer for 17 minutes and

go ahead preparing the rest of 

breakfast!

(it may take a few minutes longer depending

on the thickness of the bacon slices)

Voila - it stayed flat and oh so

fragrant and delicious!

No splatter to clean up

and the stove top was

free to fry the eggs etc.

I realize that this isn't Rocket Science
and that you probably already knew how to do this
but for me it was WILOG today...

Now the trick is to learn

not to eat too much on a Saturday morning!

Thanks - Google!

Till next time ........ do you have a glass top stove and do you like/dislike it???

German Pancakes

Shrove Tuesday
(the last day before Lent begins)
is just around the corner

and I've been craving pancakes!!!

Years ago I purchased a crepe pan while

vacationing in Quebec City 

but had never actually used it.

So I thought I'd pull it out

and make these

easy peasy German Pancakes,

a recipe I received from

a dear lady in Manitoba!
Wish I could remember her name.

Our daughter was in the

Ontario Mennonite Children's Choir
at the time (20 some years ago)

and I was privileged to tag along

as a chaperone

on their trip to the Winnipeg area!

We had such fun and stayed with

such lovely folks who graciously hosted

the choir members.

We were so delighted to be served

these delicious treats for breakfast

one morning and I was gifted the recipe:

German Pancakes

These were served with strawberries and whipped cream and so delicious!!!!!  Typically these were made for supper and sometimes filled with meats and cheese.

1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 Cups milk
Whip with a whisk.  This is a double recipe and you must use lots of real butter for each pancake you make! J. That's what our hostess told me.....and she was right! Butter always makes it better.
Flip pancake with two forks (I couldn't get the hang of this so I used a good old spatula) when it looks crispy and bubbly on the edges. Then let it cook on the other side just a wee bit longer. Roll the crepes and serve with syrup or dip into lemon juice and then cinnamon sugar.
Another way to enjoy them is rolled up with cottage cheese and fruit or whatever you like.

My favourite way to eat these is simply with lemon juice and a sprinkle of icing sugar.

Do you eat pancakes, crepes, etc. for

Shrove Tuesday?

What are your favourite pancakes?

Till next time ....... keeping the crepe pan on top of the frying pans pile for now!