Buttermilk Pancakes

So as promised, here is my recipe for buttermilk pancakes along with some tricks and tips.

 

Ingredients

2 cups Flour
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoons Salt
1 and 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
1 whole Egg
• Oil, For Cooking Pancakes
 
Preparation

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

 

In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, milk, melted butter, and egg together.

 

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and gently whisk together until just incorporated with a few lumps remaining (don’t overmix).

 

If the batter is too thick (for some reason my was this time, evident in the picture above) add a little milk. Also, be sure not to add too much milk or they’ll be too hard to flip.

Heat your skillet over low-medium heat. Brush the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of oil. If you’re using a good non-stick pan Pam works fine.  Another tip that I find works really well is using an ice cream scoop to drop your batter onto the skillet. This way all of your pancakes will be about the same size and perfectly round. Cook pancakes until bubbles form and golden brown on both sides. What I like about this recipe is that as long as your flame isn’t too high, it’s not easy to burn these guys.

Here’s another tip. Put the pancakes in a covered dish like a pyrex or ceramic one so that they stay warm until you’re finished cooking. This way everyone can sit at the table and eat together.

 

Another great thing about these is if you have a lot leftover you can freeze them and heat up a few before work or school. I usually bring them to work frozen and heat them up in the microwave when I get there. Add a little nutella and it might just be the closest thing to Heaven there is.

 

 

The King's Cake Cupcake

Happy Pancake Day y’all! It’s also Mardi Gras so I'm torn between sharing a recipe for King Cake Cupcakes or the perfect buttermilk pancake. I forgot to take pictures the last time I made pancakes so King Cake Cupcakes it is!
 
There are 3 parts to this concoction. The cake. The filling. And the frosting. Best start at the beginning then.

Ingredients
Cake
1 and 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup, 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Filling

1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup pecans

Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, cold
5-6 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  
Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners.
In a small bowl mix together the filling ingredients with a fork or small whisk.
In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
Using an ice cream scoop, spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. Using a cookie scoop, spoon the brown sugar mixture onto each cupcake well. (If you want you can had half of the batter, then the filling, then another half of the batter but I took the easy route.)
Bake in middle of oven until tops turn golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out just clean, about 18 minutes. I like to rotate the pans after 10 minutes just so they bake evenly.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting.

In a stand mixer, beat butter until white and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add half of the sugar one cup at a time. Add cream cheese. Add remaining sugar. Beat 10-15 minutes until light and fluffy. If the frosting is too soft add more sugar. If the frosting is too soft AND too sweet refrigerate it for a bit, it’s possible that your kitchen is too warm or too humid.

Sprinkle with Purple, Green and Yellow sugar sprinkles (as you can see below, I was out of purple and yellow) and enjoy!

Mindy Stewartspoon

There are 3 women that I look up to and strive to be an amalgam of.

Reese Witherspoon

 

Mindy Kaling

 

and Martha Stewart

Let's just focus on Martha for this post. Now a few years ago I was watching Martha's Daytime show and she was telling everyone how she takes a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar everyday. She just poured it onto a spoon and drank it! I had a mean girls moment...

If Martha does something, I'm going to do it too because it's Martha Freaking Stewart. So I poured it on a spoon, brought it to my lips ...and I think I almost died! Apple cider vinegar is disgusting. It has this insanely strong odor. I just couldn't do it. Fast forward about 4 years to now.

I've started eating grapefruit with my breakfast and lunch. Half before breakfast, half before lunch. It's got tons of vitamin C, Lycopene (it's an antioxidant so it fights oxygen free radicals which can damage cells), Limonoids (they inhibit tumor formation! One word: detox). It lowers cholesterol, prevents kidney stones (which is good if you eat lots of spinach because it's high in oxalates which could form stones) and protects against colon cancer (my gram's had colon cancer). In summation, it's an awesome fruit ....and it's just such a pretty color.

Let me try to get to the point here. I found this on Pinterest. It's a drink that's is supposed to detox and promote weight loss.

1 cup grapefruit juice

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

Drink that before every meal. So I'm going to try to do this. I had some before breakfast except I used 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 2 teaspoons of honey. I need to ease into it so I won't be too traumatized to do it again. I poured it over an ice filled glass and let it get freezing cold first and it actually wasn't that bad... as long as I didn't breathe through my nose. I'm going to keep doing this and report my results.

Livestrong Calorie Tracker

Ok so I just got the Livestrong Calorie Tracker and it's the greatest thing ever.
Honestly it's exactly like Weight Watchers except EASIER! You don't have to worry about points, just calories. You answer a few questions, and it calculates your target net calories for the day.

 

Then, all you have to do its record all your calories in, record how many calories burnt from working out and enter your weight. Of course you'll still need to make healthy choices. 300 calories of bacon isn't the same as 300 calories of salad but this app definitely helps keep me on track.

There's also community posts that are sometimes helpful... I don't use them.

There's even a place to track your daily water intake.

For those who have not heard this, apparently the amount of water you're supposed to drink depends on your weight. Here's what you do...
Take your weight, divide it by 2. That's how many ounces. Then divide that by 8. That's how many cups. Example...

I got this from Five Below for $4 or $5. This way I always have water at my desk at work and I have no excuse not to meet my goal.

If You Liked It Then You Should Have Put A Monogram On It

Have you ever noticed how a certain smell can remind you of a point in your childhood? I've realized now that my public elementary school always had this aroma of egg salad sandwiches and paste. My catholic school on the other hand smelled distinctly of egg salad sandwiches and guilt.

I just bought myself a lunch bag for work. $4.99 at Homegoods. So naturally I'd like to get it monogrammed but surprisingly I have no idea how to get this done. Everything I've had monogrammed was purchased that way. So, I did some research on where to get an already owned item monogrammed.

1. Your dry cleaner or tailor might have this service. Mine does, however their choices of thread color are a bit limited.

2. The mall. A lot of malls have a little kiosk or store even that can personalize gifts. At Woodbridge Center Mall there's a store called Embroidery Place.

3. If all else fails, go to yellowpages.com and search embroidery.

There's a hole in this cake...

Hey everybody! I made a bundt cake! It was just ok because I overbaked it a bit. But other than that it was great!
So this is a good recipe for a cake to serve with tea or coffee I think. It doesn't have a significant flavor so it won't interfere with or overpower the tea. That said, it is pretty rich ... it is a Kentuky Butter Cake. The name just tells you what you're in for. 

Ingredients
Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups light brown sugar 4 eggs
2 teaspoons bourbon or rum (optional)
1 cup buttermilk

Glaze
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Water

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat the inside of a bundt pan with Pam. I like to spray a light coat, then wipe with a paper towel so that you get grease into all the nooks, and then spray again heavily.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and set aside.
 
In a large bowl cream butter until smooth (about 1-2 minutes). Add sugar and beat for 5 minutes until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. If using bourbon/rum combine with buttermilk. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture (scrape bowl). Add the buttermilk (scrape bowl). Add remaining flour (scrape bowl). Be careful not to over mix your batter.

Pour batter into the bundt pan and with the back of a spoon (sprayed with Pam) Push the batter about 1 inch up the outside wall just to coat it. Then bake for 55 to 60 minutes. (I baked mine for 60... I probably should have checked it with a tooth pick at 50 minutes. Live and learn.)

10 minutes before your cake is done prep the glaze.

Combine the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on low until sugar is dissolved. Be careful not to let this boil. I was having trouble getting my sugar to dissolve so once I ran out of patience I added about 3 tablespoons of water (1 tablespoon at a time).... it helped a little I think.

So once the cake is done, while it's still in the pan, take a skewer (I used a chopstick) and poke about 20 holes all around the bottom. Then spoon your glaze into the holes so that the cake absorbs it. If you need more holes, poke away... do whatever you need to do to get all of the glaze in the cake.

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes. If you want you can level it so that it lays flat on your serving dish, but I didn't. Then invert onto a cake pedestal or platter, it should fall right out. If you choose not to level your cake and the space between it and the platter bothers you, just put a ring of fresh berries around the bottom to hide it. Finally dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Nail-biters Anonymous

Step 1. I have a problem. I've been biting my nails ever since I was an itty bitty girl.

Ok so I'm going to stop biting my nails starting today. The Internet told me that it takes 21 days to break a habit. And if the Internet said it, it must be true. So I did some research and here are some tips to stop biting your nails.

Always have a nail file on hand
This is a good tip. Most of the time when I want to bite my nails it's because they're getting caught on fabric. Smooth nail = no urge to "smooth" it out with your teeth.

Look at cute nail art to keep you motivated
Thanks to Pinterest I'm constantly bombarded with adorable nail designs that I pin but never attempt. That's what initially made me want to stop biting my nails for good.

Take a multivitamin
I read that nail biting could be a response to a nutrient deficiency. This goes back to caveman days... Apparently we're biologically programmed to get vital minerals from the gunk under our nails. Gross right? If that's not enough to make you want to stop biting your nails I don't know what is. So take your Flintstones, don't be one.

Stay Busy
Nail biting addicts, like yours truly, bite when they're bored. So keep your hands busy. Knitting, making friendship bracelets, playing with silly putty or play doh, rubiks cube, braiding hair or yarn... the fringe on a scarf... it doesn't matter really. Texting! Or better yet... file your nails!

And if all else fails...
Wear gloves!
Not really, but I just love the way they look.

I'll report my results in 21 days.