French Toast

I am not a fan of breakfast foods by any stretch of the imagination, but French toast is one of those dishes that could change my mind.

Ingredients

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
cinnamon, if desired

slices of regular white bread or Texas toast

Directions

In a large and shallow bowl, combine the sugar, egg, milk and cinnamon if desired. Dip both sides of the bread slices in mixture before cooking in a non-stick pan or skillet over medium-to-high heat until the toast is golden brown. Serve with your favorite syrup or French toast toppings. (I prefer peanut butter with just a quick dash of maple syrup, mmm.)

Quigley's Cookies

The story of how I invented these cookies is a long, complicated tale that - okay, it isn't; I was bored, craving sweets, and my mom mocked the way I pronounced the name "Quigley" (I said it kinda like, quig-uh-lee. Hey, I think it's cute). Thus, deliciousness was to be had.

Some credit should go to Jif and to Tollhouse; this recipe is basically a mash-up of their respective peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies recipe. Because of the cinnamon-sugar coating, these are also part snickerdoodle.

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 2/3 cups chocolate chips

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp white (granulated) sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla until well-blended. Add the egg and beat just until blended.

In another medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the peanut butter mixture (by hand, or on low speed if using a mixer) just until blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips (I find using a large spatula the easiest for mixing in the chips).

On a plate or in a shallow bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon until thoroughly mixed. Roll tablespoonfuls of cookie dough into balls, then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar until coated on all sides. Bake on ungreased baking sheets for 12-14 minutes or until browned.

Waldorf Salad

Though I'd heard of it frequently, I had never tried - much less made - Waldorf salad until I started my job as a cook almost two months ago. Ours is not the traditional recipe, but I think I like the sound (and certainly taste) of ours better. Make sure to read the "Variations" section after the recipe for some of my ever-helpful suggestions.

Ingredients

chicken, cooked and diced (no skin)
celery, diced
dried cranberries

red apples, diced
fresh lemon juice
mayonnaise

walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Combine equal parts chicken, celery and cranberries.

In a separate bowl, sprinkle the apple with lemon juice to keep from discoloring. Mix the apples into the rest of the salad.

Mix one or two teaspoonfuls into desired amount of mayonnaise, and coat salad with this "dressing." Dressing should be very light. When serving, sprinkle the salad with walnuts. Serve atop lettuce if desired.

Variations

The traditional, and I suppose vegetarian, version does not include chicken, so don't include it if you don't want to. At the restaurant, we use candied walnuts, which add a nice sweet touch - I keep intending to make this at home using some of those flavored Almond Accents. If for some reason you'd prefer raisins instead of cranberries, you could do that.

I have also seen versions of this recipe where mini-marshmallows are used. That's a little bit weird for me, but whatever turns your taste buds on!

Apple Pie Cake

This is a no-fail recipe... unless you do something really freakish. Simple and fantastic on a cold autumn or winter night!

Ingredients

2 cans apple pie filling
ground cinnamon, if desired
1 box yellow cake mix

2 sticks butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spread the apple pie filling in a 9"x13" baking pan and sprinkle with the ground cinnamon if desired. Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the pie filling. Pour the melted butter on top of the cake mix. Do not stir!

Bake 35-45 minutes or until the cake/butter mixture has formed a crust and has turned a golden to dark-golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or Cool whip if you're into that kind of thing.

Variations

I've tried this with a couple of other pie fillings, but apple really is the best. Cake mix flavors other than yellow wouldn't be as good, either, although I intend to try it with spice cake someday - yum!

Calabazas

Calabazas is (according to my dad) the Spanish word for zucchini squash. Not knowing Spanish, I guess I'll have to take is word for it - and if you don't know any better, you'll have to take mine. Whatever you call it, this is definitely one of my favorite things to make and eat.

Ingredients

extra-virgin olive oil (plain or garlic)

1 white onion, cut into 1/4" rings
5-6 zucchini, cut into 1/4" slices
2 tomatoes, cut into large chunks

jack cheese, grated

Directions

In a large saucepan, saute the onion in the oil until the onion is translucent. Mix in the zucchini. (Depending on the amount you put in, you may need to add more oil as this cooks.) When the zucchinis are fork-tender, gently fold in the tomatoes and then let sit, covered, for five minutes. Stir the vegetable mixture again and top with the jack cheese. When the cheese has melted, stir together and serve.

Variation

I once made a brilliant variation of this recipe by substituting a red onion for the white, mixing in canned corn and using cheddar cheese instead of jack. As Snoopy would say: scarf city!

BLT Salad

Salads are healthy, right? Not this one, but it's delicious and very customizable. Please note that I haven't included any amounts for the ingredients; you can make as much or little as you like. And you could serve this either cold, or warm if the bacon is freshly cooked. Since I have a fear of getting splattered by bacon grease, I've used that pre-cooked, microwaveable bacon in this recipe, but I know the "real thing" would be so much better!

Ingredients

salad greens (I prefer a mixture of iceberg and Romaine)

cooked, crumbled bacon
tomato, diced
ranch dressing
croutons

cheddar cheese, grated (if desired)

Directions

Combine all ingredients and eat it!

Baked Eggplant Appetizer

You might not realize this because I plan to flood this blog with recipes over the next few days, but: Man, there's hardly anything here! Fear not; I plan on posting quite regularly.

Onto the eggplant! I'm not sure how or when it was I realized that I loved eating it, but eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables and this is a nice (if "junk food") way of making it. Super easy! I got it from a Mr. Food cookbook.

Ingredients

1 eggplant, cut into 1/4" thick slices

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

Combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan in a small bowl.

Dip the eggplant slices in the oil, then coat both sides with the breadcrumb/cheese mixture. Place on baking sheet (see tip below) and bake 15 minutes. Turn eggplant slices and bake an additional 15 minutes or until slices are brown.

Baking Sheets

The worst part of cooking: Doing the dishes afterward! Whenever possible, I like to use sheets of aluminum foil on baking sheets for super easy cleanup. When making the eggplant slices, or certain frozen appetizers, I not only use foil but then spray the foil lightly with cooking spray. This makes sure that more cheese gets in your mouth instead of stuck to the foil!

Lemon-Cranberry Scones

Don't tell my boss, but I'm about to give you our top secret scone recipe! Okay, maybe "secret" is the wrong word. It's a recipe my boss got from her neighbor, who got it from a book. But it's still very good. Fun fact: We refer to the act of making these as "sconing."

Ingredients

1 egg
1/2 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla) or sour cream

2 cups flour
6 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

lemon zest
3/4 cup craisins

1 stick frozen unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and mix in yogurt until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Stir in the lemon zest and craisins.

Coarsely grate the frozen (yes, it MUST be frozen) butter and stir into the flour mixture until evenly combined. Stir in the egg/yogurt mixture until a sticky dough forms.

Put the sticky dough onto a lightly floured surface and quickly pat into a square about 1/2" thick. Cut the dough into triangles (I usually cut the large square into four smaller squares, and then cut each smaller square into four triangles) and place on baking sheet.

Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the scones are golden brown.

Variations

This recipe is great because you can change it up anyway you like. Leave out the lemon zest and craisins for a plain scone, or substitute orange zest for the lemon zest, or substitute raisins for the craisins. I even once made a savory scone by mixing in grated cheese and chopped red peppers. Yum!