Inspired by Jack

After some very sleepy days, I've been waking up to Jack Johnson on my iPod. One day this week, the song I woke up to was "Banana Pancakes" and I swore the house smelled like syrup when I woke up. So, all week long, banana chocolate chip pancakes were on my brain. (And if you haven't heard the song, it's a great rainy day/call-in-sick song :-)) Hence, tonight, on my first day off from school, pancakes were on the list. I went straight to Allrecipes, and this is what I found. Hope you like it! I included some of the tweaks listed by reviewers as well.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 c. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. apple sauce (or oil)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. chocolate chips (optional)

1. Mix dry and wet ingredients in 2 separate bowls. Combine the two mixtures. Batter will be lumpy.

2. In lightly oiled skillet, drop batter by 1/4 cup full into pan over medium-low heat. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Cooking slowly ensures the bottom doesn't get too dark, while still getting the inside done.

Guaranteed

On Thursday, Hesston College's Bel Canto choir was in town, and a few of the choir members stayed overnight with us. When a friend asked if some of the others could come to our house afterwards for dessert, I said sure (as I love an excuse to make dessert).

As I debated what I wanted to make, I knew I had a bunch of extra apples, so I looked for an apple dessert. Since I had about an hour or so to make this before leaving for the concert, and pie and I have a testy relationship, I wanted something more cakey. This situation always leads me to the same answer: an apple cake recipe that Marilyn's sister gave me several years ago. I make this cake when I want an absolute guarantee that people will love it, and that's what I got. The cake is good, but the caramel sauce is unbeatable.

When all was said and done, there were 11 students and 5 hosts at our house till almost 11 PM that night, the cake was gone and everyone loved it. So next time you need a guaranteed yummy cake, try this one.

Caramel Apple Cake

3 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 c. flour
1 t. soda
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
2 c. chopped apples
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Fold in dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Caramel Sauce

1 T. corn starch
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 t. vanilla

Cook in saucepan over medium-high heat until thick. Serve warm over cake.

What can I do with this?

"Hmm, let's see. That's about to go bad. I have a ton of that. I always have a little of that. What can I do with these things? How can I put them together?" Anyone ever have this self-conversation? Anyone else talk to yourself? Ok, maybe that's just me. (At least that's what my first college roommate told me :-))

Either way, some people make dinner every night with this conversation. I, however, am not that person. I don't get home, and then see what's in the pantry. On Saturday, I figure out what I want to eat/make this week, and then get the ingredients for those things. This generally eliminates the rotting 3 tomatoes, the 14 cans of cream of mushroom soup, the extra cup of olives, etc. (In fact, I just ordered this and this, as depicted above, to assist in this process.)

However, since we started gardening, the "What can I do with this?" conversation is a bit more present in my extensive self-conversing. (Let's just say, we definitely lived through cilantro week, which I'll write about later. It's a close relative of strawberry or peach week.)  I don't mind doing this occasionally, because it makes for some creative cooking. That's what happened a few weeks ago, when I was pondering my cilantro shrubs, the contents of my freezer, and my newest favorite flavor. As I surveyed these items, I concocted this southwest flavored cucumber corn salad. It's nice and refreshing, and I imagine there's quite a bit more creativity to add to it. See what you think-

Southwest Cucumber Corn Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 c. corn (fresh, frozen or canned)
1 T. cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. oil
1 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 t. southwest spice rub
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in bowl.

2. Put garlic and oil in small microwaveable container. Heat in microwave for 30-60 seconds. [Omit this step if you like raw garlic.]

3. Combine garlic and oil with vinegar, spice rub, and salt and pepper in small bowl. Whisk together. Pour over vegetables in bowl. Chill or serve at room temperature.

Adventures in Substitution

Tonight's supper was brought to you by the letter S. S for Substitution. Due to the holiday last weekend and being out of town visiting family in Lake Havasu (home of the original London Bridge, as seen in the pictures) I wasn't able to get groceries until Tuesday night for this week. Apparently, I was not as thorough in the creation of my grocery list as I usually am, because I seem to have neglected to add ALL the things I needed for one recipe. So, when I got home tonight (Wednesday), I discovered I had about half the things needed for the recipe. Thus began my odyssey in the quest for making a dish that at least vaguely resembled what I was originally going for: Four Cheese Macaroni Casserole. (Click the link to see what the recipe was originally supposed to look like :-))

First, I realized I didn't have macaroni, but after a little digging, discovered half a pound of whole wheat rotini, which sufficed. Then, I remembered (or realized I DIDN'T remember getting) a large can of tomatoes. More digging turned up a large head of broccoli and some carrots, which of course, are not even close to tomatoes. But, it's what I had. I decided to make up for the lack of tomato acidity by adding white wine vinegar, lemon juice left over from citrus season and a bit of spaghetti sauce I had in the fridge. While I was digging around in there, I found some leftover Easter ham and threw that in as well. The more, the merrier, right?

Then, while adding the spices, I remembered that I didn't have any italian seasoning, because when I was planning on buying more, I had decided to just make my own with the herbs in my garden, but they aren't finished drying yet. I could have just gone out to the garden and gotten fresh ones, but...I didn't. So, I made do by adding bits of oregano, basil, marjoram, sage, rosemary and thyme. 

And finally, the cheeses. The key element of the dish. I had cheddar and mozzarella, but I did not have any Parmesan cheese, fresh, fake, or otherwise, so we did the obvious: turn it into a 3 cheese casserole. Then, my standard substitution, goat cheese instead of feta, rounded out the dish. When all was said and done, I somehow ended up with a yummy, cheesy, italian-y, vegetable pasta dish. Luckily. My adventures in substitution don't usually end this well :-) Anytime they don't end in me running to Food City halfway through a recipe, I feel victorious though. Here's the final version: 

Three Cheese Italian Veggie Casserole

3 1/2 c. uncooked whole wheat spiral pasta

1 large or 2 small broccoli heads (not bunches), chopped and steamed

2 carrots, peeled, chopped, and steamed

2/3 c. spaghetti sauce

2 t. white wine vinegar

1 T. lemon juice

1 1/4 t. dried oregano

1 1/4 t. dried basil

1/8 t. dried marjoram

1/8 t. dried sage

1/8 t. dried thyme

1/8 t. dried rosemary

salt and pepper

1 c. diced ham, optional

1 1/2 c. cheddar, shredded

1 1/2 c. mozzarella, shredded

1/3 c. goat cheese crumbles

1. Preheat oven to 350. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and pasta. Cook according to package directions and drain. Steam vegetables for 5-7 minutes, or just until tender. 

2. Mix steamed vegetables with pasta sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, salt, pepper, and ham (optional). 

3. Combine pasta with 1 1/4 c. cheddar, 1 1/4 c. mozzarella, and 1/4 c. goat cheese crumbles. Add veggie mixture. Place in 3 qt. casserole dish. Top with remaining 1/4 c. cheddar, 1/4 c. mozzarella, and 2-3 T. goat cheese crumbles. 

4. Bake for 15-25 minutes.  

Twitter 101

I love Twitter. After a recent conversation with my aunt about what, exactly, Twitter is, (and realizing that I’ve had this conversation multiple times), I decided to put it in writing. As they always say, if one person has a question, there are probably many others who do too. So, for those of you who don’t understand what the big deal is about Twitter, this is why it is NOT what you think.

What Twitter is NOT:

Twitter is NOT about updates about what you had for breakfast, (unless you can say it in an incredibly clever way). It is also NOT a private, direct messaging service, a la Facebook, email, instant messaging, etc. Though many use it from their smartphones, it is NOT only available on phones, but is also a website where you can tweet from (Twitter.com).  

What Twitter IS:

Twitter is a “micro-blogging” service. In other words, it is like a blog, in that all posts are public, and they are listed reverse chronologically, with the newest posts listed first. It isn’t like blogs in that it has a140 character limit.  Because of this limit, tweets are approximately 1-2 sentences and many people and companies use it to post links to longer articles, blog posts, etc. (It IS possible to send direct messages to people, but they still have to be 140 characters or less. Because of this, it is not a common use of Twitter though.)

Due to the public nature of Twitter, it is most useful for keeping track of public organizations and people. You don’t have to know them or ask for permission to follow them. For instance, I follow AirFrance for European travel deals (@AirFranceUS), New York Times for news and commentary (@nytimes), and Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) and Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) because they are hilarious : - )

However, the reason Twitter is most useful to me in my daily life is that I can follow other people within the education community, many of whom are technology teachers like myself. We all post about things we’re doing within the classroom, open questions we’re considering in terms of educational technology, and other such things. Some of the teachers I know personally, but many I do not. Twitter gives me access to a much wider circle of like-minded people whom I can bounce ideas off of. I also follow some friends from my personal life.

Overall, Twitter is an excellent means of keeping abreast of news and information of interest to you, professionally and personally. There is much more to say in terms of effective ways to use Twitter, details about common abbreviations, hashtags, or trending topics, but hopefully this basic description helps you understand what it actually is and how it might benefit you. And if you decide to join Twitter, follow me @dierdreshetler ! :-) 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chipotle!

[In case you didn't get it, the thought going through my head with that title was the Chia Pet jingle ;-)]

As you may or may not be aware, I adore food-themed parties. Hence, when I saw a page in the Sunflower Market magazine (the free magazine from the grocery store I shop at) describing three different toppings to put on corn on the cob, I was sold. (I also just had a hankering for sweet corn.) The three suggestions were a cilantro pesto, parmesan butter (butter, oil, and parmesan cheese), and southwestern spice rub. It was the last one that I fell in love with. The dominant flavor in this spice mix is chipotle powder, which has a fantastic kicky, smoky flavor to it, which I have now started putting on everything that needs some flavor. Basically, I've been using it like my husband uses Tabasco. So if you're looking for a new flavor, give this a shot. The ingredients are as follows (mix together):

Southwestern Spice Rub

1 1/2 t. sea salt
1 1/2 t. chili powder
1 t. chipotle powder
1/2 t. cumin

Greening Up the Garden

After several years of winter gardens, we (I) decided to try a spring garden. Heretofore, the garden has more or less been Ben's project and he always agrees we should do it again, but somehow doesn't get to the details of actually making it happen, so this time, I did it. Since we no longer have access to a truck to borrow a friend's tiller, I dug up the whole thing by hand. Several blisters (and weekends) later, it was looking...better. Not as good as the tiller and with manure worked in, but better.

I planted the remnants of the seeds from the fall (zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, green onions, etc) across the space of several weeks, depending on what the county extension service recommended for each thing. Then, lucky for us, the Desert Botanical Gardens spring plant sale came up, and so since I wanted to get a few things (including more seeds) anyway, we both went and added a few landscaping plants to finish off the front yard.

The most exciting purchase of that outing were grape vines! Ben has been wanting to build a shade structure to shade the east side of the carport which bakes his car all summer, so this spurred him on. He put up 3 poles (16 bags of concrete later), and attached some fencing. Then the grape vines will get planted and start climbing the structure (and hopefully we'll get some grapes!) This is one of the vines, waiting to be planted.

I finished off the garden with squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, corn, and beans. We'll see how long all of these items last in the summer heat. Most things should be fine until about mid-June, from what I hear, though the melons will be good to go all summer. I've been like a kid, out there every day checking to make sure everything looks good :-) It's amazing how much enjoyment one can get out of just watching things existing! :-) Yay for simple joys!