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I think my favorite thing about this recipe is that Nigella Lawson lists it in her cookbook as “American” Breakfast Pancakes. It makes me laugh. I may be alone in that, though.
I rarely make pancakes. I pretty much only make them once a year – on Christmas morning. I once saw Mark Bittman write that there is no reason anyone should ever feel the need to use a box for pancakes, because they are so easy to make from scratch. I’m sorry to dear Aunt Jemima, but he’s right.
And so, every Christmas, I make pancakes from scratch. I alternate between Mark Bittman’s recipe and the recipe below.
I made this years ago for friends. I think I was something like 15 years old. I have also made this many times since. It’s both delicious and easy.
The recipe comes from Fresh Start. It’s a cookbook by Julee Rosso, one of the authors of the Silver Palate. I don’t use it much. I don’t even keep it in my apartment (it lives in my parents’ apartment). But I do love this recipe. You will too.
There is one episode of Friends entitled “The One with Phoebe’s Cookies.” Monica spends the entire episode trying to figure out the recipe for Phoebe’s grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies, only to find out that the recipe is the one from the package of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips.
This is that recipe. I have been making it for as long as I remember and they always turn out well. They truly are the perfect chocolate chip cookies.
This recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen. I made it last year for Thanksgiving and it was incredibly delicious (if I do say so myself). It’s great for potlucks and other such fun.
So here it is: Cauliflower gratin. Enjoy!
Apple pie is delicious always. Well, unless it’s bad. But I do love apple pie.
When the holidays come, I always want to add something special to apple pie – something to say “hey! happy holidays!” I’m probably crazy, but this pie is incredibly good so you should make it.
It comes from “The Best Recipe,” a Cook’s Illustrated Cook Book. It’s a great cookbook – they went through and tested the recipes a number of different ways. Then they print the best.
My mom makes great soup. She makes good chicken soup. She makes good beef barley soup. And she also makes good vegetable soup – the subject of this post.
It’s great! The recipe is here, but it’s pretty flexible. There are a lot of vegetables listed below, but I never use all of them. Pick and chose! But always use the parsnip. Parsnip is delicious. And under-used.
Somewhere around the age of 8, I learned that carrot cake was an actual thing. And it was something that most people actually liked. I remember it being at a girl I considered a bully’s birthday party. She had a birthday carrot cake and people were excited about it.
This is still something I find a little funny. As someone who tastes and pretty much likes everything (from chocolate cake to chopped liver), I find that most people feel that things that sound like strange things to eat should not be eaten. So it’s interesting to me that a cake made of vegetables has become a commonplace thing. But I guess that’s beside the point.
Carrot cake is now one of my favorite things. I love it. I also love cream cheese icing, which I will always be pleased comes with carrot cake. And so, years and years ago, I decided to try to make it – and thus this incredible recipe came into my life (most recently, I made it for a friend’s birthday).
Pretend soup was my first cookbook. It was gift from my cousin Suzann on my 9th birthday. The inscription says, “may this book start you on a long and wonderful cooking adventure!” I don’t know how much of an adventure it has been, and it certainly hasn’t been very long, but I do still enjoy cooking. And my cookbooks.
Now, every year, my mom buys me a cookbook during the holidays. Over time, I have built up a great collection with wonderful recipes that need to be shared.
I am going to use this blog as a place to keep my favorite recipes. It’s mostly for me, but also for anyone else who wants to try my recipes. Or just read them.
And so, my first recipe comes from that first cookbook, Pretend Soup. Despite the fact that it was written for preschoolers.
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