Aebleskivers & Butterscotch Syrup

I thought about not posting this, because you have to have a special type of pan to make these. They're a Danish breakfast pastry. However, they are so delicious I wanted to post it. Melissa makes these at Christmas time and fills them with jelly. I don't fill mine, but make a butterscotch syrup that my roommate made with them in college. Even if you don't get the pan and make the Aebleskivers, the syrup is so delicious! 

This is what the pan looks like to make them....it's called an Aebleskiver Pan.
   
Aebleskivers 
2 Cups flour
1 Teasppon salt
1 Teasppon baking soda
2 Cups buttermilk
3 Eggs - separated

**I don't buy buttermilk for this, put 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar in with the 2 cups of whatever milk you have and it thickens and curdles it to act as buttermilk.    

Sift together or whisk the flour, salt and baking soda. Add buttermilk and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until light and fluffly, forming soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Heat Aebleskiver pan on medium heat (fyi, it gets really hot and so I end up turning it down to medium-low heat after it initially heats up, about 10mins) Grease each cup thoroughly with spray oil and fill 2/3 full with batter. Cook approximately 1 to 1-1/2mins (per side) until golden brown, flip using a toothpick. 

OPTIONAL: Fill each cup only 1/3 full with batter place a small amount of fruit or jelly in each cup and cover with an additional 1/3 batter.

OPTIONAL: Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter, it's delicious.

Makes about 35-40.

Butterscotch Syrup
1-1/2 Cup sugar
1-1/2 cubes butter
3/4 Cups milk
1 Teaspoon baking soda
2 Teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in pan, then add sugar, milk and baking soda. Cook 7mins stirring constantly and barely boiling. Take off heat and add vanila. 

We like to dip our aebleskivers in the syrup and eat with our fingers!

I half this recipe a lot because it makes so much, then we save whats leftover and use it on pancakes or french toast.         

Won Ton Chicken Salad

Here you go Lins....

1 head romaine lettuce
1 head iceberg lettuce
3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1/2 pkg wontons fried and broken into pieces
1 small bag slivered almonds

Dressing:
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup SEASONED rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
4-6 green onions

Blend the ingredients for the dressing in blender until smooth and pour over salad RIGHT before serving.
(Case and I think the more green onion the more flavor it has, so I would do all 6 and I usually go about half to three fourths the way up the stem.) Also, I usually like to cook and shred the chicken the night before and sometimes I cook the wontons the night before and just break them up when I'm ready to use them. If I make this all at once, it feels like it takes forever! If I break it up, it feels like it was easy!!

My Version of Mexican Chicken

So we are towards the end of the month and that means our grocery budget for the month is all gone.....so it's time for me to get creative with what we've got.  I've heard of this Mexican chicken before and I remember my mom ordering it several times somewhere for dinner.  I didn't look it up, just used what I remember the chicken having, which somehow I had it all in my pantry/fridge.  I took some chicken breasts and sliced them in half (I always slice the chicken breasts in half because they cook faster and you can taste whatever is on it way better).  I only seasoned it with some garlic powder on both sides and into the oven they went.  When they where completely cooked, I brought them back out and added everything else.  First, I put a layer of cream cheese on top, then some salsa (as much as you like) and lastly shredded Mexican cheese....a lot.  Then, put it back in the oven to melt the cheese and done.  Gabe and I loved it and he wants me to make it again. I asked him if I should post it on here and he said for sure. So here it is! The best part was how easy is was to make and clean up. I just put some non stick aluminum foil on the baking pan and then threw it away.  All I had to clean was the pot I used to make the rice with corn to go with it.  It was really tasty and fun to eat. 

I know, I am horrible at posting recipes. They are just paragraphs trying to explain what to do instead of a real recipe.  The thing is pretty much everything I make is something I put together out of nowhere (like this chicken) or something that I have know for so long that I don't need to measure anything for it, I already know how the dish goes and just do everything by eye (is that even how you say it?). Sorry you guys! 

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 bag spinach,

1 bunch green onion, chopped

6 oz honey-roasted peanuts

1 box bow-tie pasta, cooked 

6 oz craisins

1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted

2 cans mandarin oranges

Dressing:

1 cup vegetable oil (I only put in 1/3 cup)

2/3 cup teriyaki sauce

2/3 cup vinegar

6 Tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix dressing ingredients together, pour over cooked pasta and chicken.  Marinate for 1-2 hours.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients before serving.

 

This is a fast and easy dish. I've done it without the chicken and served it as a side and it's delicious! You can do a bunch of variations on the ingredients and so it's easy to throw in what you have and will taste good without everything in it. Our favorite mix is the pasta with mandarin oranges, craisins, green onions and sunflower seeds.  

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (from Pat)

6 large potatoes
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg

Cook potatoes. In a mixing bowl add all ingredients and beat well. Transfer to a 2 qt baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until heated through. May make the night before and refridgerate until ready to cook.

We love these potatoes. I love that you can make them the night before. My mom always asks me to make these when she's hosting lunches or dinner parties. Everyone always asks her for this recipe.

Banana Bread (From Pat)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
4 egg whites
3 bananas
3 tsp milk
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.
Case likes to refridgerate it overnight and eat it cold. My kids like it warm.

Peach Cinnamon Syrup

Our favorite day to have the Elders over to eat is on Sundays since we always have breakfast for dinner. Anyway, last night we had them over and I made this syrup recipe that a friend gave me a while back. They LOVED it. I've always liked it and so do MOST of my kids (Emerson doesn't eat cooked fruit). Brooks said it was too sweet a while back so I had modified the recipe a little to the below. If you WANT it more sweet, you can always add more sugar. It also keeps well in the fridge for a while. It's just something fun to offer when you have a bunch of fruit syrups, fruit, whipped cream and stuff to put on pancakes/french toast/waffles.

1 large can of peaches (if you don't have a large can do 2 small ones)
1/3 c. sugar
2 T butter
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
dash of nutmeg
1 T cornstarch mixed w/ 2 T water

I like putting the peaches in the pan first and mashing them up a little bit. I don't like a WHOLE peach on my french toast.....so I mash them into little pieces. Then add everything else into the saucepan and put on med-med/high heat until it bubbles. Stir so it doesn't get stuck on the bottom, but you don't have to stir the whole time. It will thicken the longer you keep it on, so just keep it on until you like the consistency.
Note: I used 2 cans of peaches last night in LITE syrup. The original recipe caused for the good syrupy kind with full sugar. I've tasted both and don't notice much of a difference. I guess it's up to you.
Enjoy.