The Gorsuch Gang

I Love Jiffy

// February 29th, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub

Lately, I’ve had a fascination with pancakes. They really are perfect if you think about it. Fluffy little cakes that are perfectly acceptable to eat for breakfast – what’s not to love?

Every Sunday morning, I start having wild ideas about what I could mix into pancake batter. The options are endless! I’ve tried cherries and pecans, orange peel, vanilla, cinnamon, etc. I’ve toyed with the idea of adding crisp bacon and shredded cheese, but I’m enjoying all the sweet options still. I just love that with a great base like pancake batter, I can add almost anything and it will turn out good.

Another thing I’ve discovered is that when I don’t quite have a good pancake idea, I can just grab some muffin mix and use that. Jiffy mixes are one of my all-time favorite quick foods. With muffin, cake, cornbread, baking and icing mixes, all under a buck a box, Jiffy is addicting. I’ve met several people who’ve never heard of these little boxes of gold, which I just find sad. I had feared it was just a Southern thing, but then I luckily found some in a market here in New York. Every time I spot these on the store shelf, I stock up. The cornbread mix is the most prevalent and I have to admit that making these as pancakes is awesome. The batter is slightly sweet and when it’s mixed with syrup – holy cow!

Michael and I are headed out this weekend to a Wal-mart that we’ve discovered in New Jersey. I’ll be on the lookout for Jiffy and any other goodies that may be good with syrup!

On another note, I created a new recipe for meatballs, Spicy Meatballs. Sadly they were not very photogenic so you’ll have to trust me when I say they will look good and be tasty. My dear friend Carrie, who is just now becoming a reader of my blog, sent me a recipe she liked for Crunchy Parmesan Chicken Tenders. Carrie is admittedly not a cook and yet she raved about how easy and delicious this dish was. It’s a Giada dish so with that knowledge and Carrie’s endorsement, I’d say it has to be good.

Weekend Update

// February 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub

Well, it is the end of the week and I have lots of food related business to discuss.

I should first describe my Valentine’s Day experience. I had mentioned earlier that Michael and I had planned on going to our favorite neighborhood French bistro. We went as scheduled, but our experience was by far the worst we’ve ever had on that holiday. The service was horrible, the food was average and the desert was blah. I’m still debating on writing a letter to the owner as they don’t have a website where I can post my frustrations.

The service is notoriously slow, but we’ve come to accept that as part of the charm. Valentine’s night the place was packed and our waitress not only had lead in her shoes, she must have had ADD too. We chose the Prix Fixe menu, which should have come with a different drink for every course. We were lucky to get our one glass of champagne after our appetizers had been served. Speaking of appetizers, mine was the only highlight of my meal. I chose the Mushroom Bouchee, which was a puff pastry drizzled with a mushroom cream sauce. Michael had the Cream of Asparagus Soup with Crabmeat and it was good as well. He also enjoyed his entree of Chicken Breast in Wild Mushroom Sauce with Potato Gratin. My Scallops Provencale with Brown Rice was not so great considering my scallops were a little gritty. And because of the overall bad time we had, we didn’t even stay to enjoy our deserts. We took them home and ate them with some champagne we had left over from New Year’s.

Needless to say we decided to have a do-over this weekend. Only that plan didn’t quite work out as well either. We had originally planned to go out Saturday night, but after a happy hour Friday, we ended up at one of our favorite Thai places in Manhattan.  I do like Pongsri, but my gamble of trying a new dish didn’t work out so well.  It was again, average at best. I should have went with my gut and chose a red curry dish. At least I enjoyed some good plum wine though.

Unfortunately, we acquired an unexpected vet bill after our dog went in for her shots and check-up Saturday morning.  This put a damper on us going out later that night.   Since we were staying in, I decided to make a nice homemade meal. I tried my hand at Swedish Meatballs. I wasn’t impressed with those either. I think it was perhaps the recipe I tried and my having to substitute a few items since I didn’t decide to create this dish until almost eight o’clock that night. The carrots I made were good and thank goodness for the little bit of chocolate ice cream I discovered in the freezer.

Now it is Sunday and I decided to start my culinary weekend over beginning with a hearty breakfast. I created a recipe for Cherry Pecan Pancakes. They were good, but as all my creations go, I felt they could use a little work. Tonight I’m planning on a simple salad and a pasta dish by Giada De Laurentiis. This should be a good meal, right? Hopefully, we’ll end on a good note. If not, I luckily have tomorrow off and I can attempt a do-over once more.

Cherry Pecan Pancakes

// February 17th, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub

I used Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Pancake and Waffle Mix for my recipe.

¼ cup dried cherries
¼ cup chopped pecans
1 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsp apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp egg white alternative
1 tbsp honey
¾ cup milk
1 cup of pancake mix
1 tbsp oil

Mix all ingredients together until there are no lumps in the batter. Spoon the batter a tablespoon at time onto your skillet.

Makes eight small pancakes.