English Muffins

Sadly, my oven is broken. Happily, I've been wanting to try to make English Muffins for a long time, and they don't require an oven!

So today I tried my hand at English Muffins. Having never done it before, I actually used a recipe. I did cut it in half, though.

Here they are cooking in my skillet.

I was fairly pleased with the results.

1. They were quite tasty. I think they taste much better than the store-bought variety. Which isn't all that surprising. Home-made and fresh is generally better.

2. I didn't get the nice little nooks and crannies of the store-bought variety. Some people who reviewed the recipe apparently did. I never seem to be able to get holey bread. Not quite sure what I do wrong, but that something to try to improve next time.

3. Hey, English muffins are pretty much non-existent in Israel, so even if they aren't the best English Muffins ever, they're the best English Muffins I've had here. :)

Cinnamon Rolls

This morning (or rather, last night) I made cinnamon rolls. That is, I assembled them yesterday and cooked them today. I had made challah for Shabbat last night, but saved about half the dough to use for the cinnamon rolls. I rolled out the dough into a rectangle, probably about twice as long as wide. The dough was probably a couple millimeters thick. I melted a couple tablespoons of butter, added a little olive oil and vanilla and spread it over the dough. Then I sprinkled the dough with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little nutmeg and ginger. I rolled it up, cut it in 12 pieces, and put them in the disposable baking dish. :) I think they were a hit.

Morning Surprise Pancakes

Disclaimer, right here: the pancake recipe to follow is really quite ordinary. The only surprise was that I ended up making pancakes this morning.

Last night the group was discussing plans, and I overheard some talk of making breakfast or something. They didn't really tell me anything, so I said to myself, "Alana, it's ok, they can manage breakfast on their own. You've been cooking enough. You don't have to plan anything." And I replied to myself, "Ok, I'll just eat a regular breakfast on my own and let them worry about it."

So, this morning I got up, ate some freshly made granola (I figured if they couldn't come up with anything else, at least there was lots of granola) and read my Bible. Eventually everyone got up/arrived here and they started talking about breakfast. They decided to make pancakes and I said to myself, "It's okay, Alana, relax. I'm sure they can make pancakes. You don't have to feel the need to always be in control of kitchen activities. Let them work it out for themselves." It was at that point that my flat-mate came out of the kitchen and said, "Alana, what proportion do you use on the pancake mix?" And I responded with a blank stare. See, I may have mentioned, this propensity of mine to not use recipes? Well that goes especially for pancakes. I haven't used a pancake recipe for years...and to try to explain what I do from afar without being able to see and say, "Yeah, that looks like the right amount," is virtually impossible. So yet again I was drawn into the kitchen. These are roughly the proportions I told them as we went.

3 c. flour

1/3 c. sugar (more or less depending on desired sweetness)

1/4 tsp salt?

1 Tbsp baking powder

2-3 Tbsp oil

Mix together and then add

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

milk (enough to make the desired batter consistency. We probably used 2-3 cups, and it was still probably a bit thick.)

Mix batter. May be a bit lumpy.

Cook on a hot griddle. You know, like a pancake.

If you happen to have a sugar shortage, syrup is fairly simple to make. It won't taste like really maple syrup, but if you have maple flavoring, it could taste like fake maple syrup!

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. water

Put in sauce pan and bring to boil. Boil for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and add whatever flavors are desired. I like to add vanilla and maple, but this morning I only had vanilla.

There's another type of syrup I had in Bolivia. It was amazing. I think it was also pretty simple, but I'm not sure if I remember correctly how to make it. It's been a long time. I think it was...

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cube (1/2 c?) butter

Boil together in a sauce pan.

Someday I'll have to experiment.

Morning Coffee Cake

Last night one of my flat-mates roasted coffee beans, a process which I had never observed before. It was quite interesting. So, this morning, what better to go with freshly roasted coffee than coffee cake?

I've kind of given up on using recipes all together, just throwing in this and that and occasionally checking a recipe to make sure I haven't forgotten something vital.

I thought the cake this morning turned out quite well, so I'm recording for posterity approximately what I did.

1 c. oil

1 c. white sugar

Beat together then add

2 eggs

1/3 c. plain yogurt

Beat some more and then add

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder.

To this add, alternating in small amounts,

2 1/2-3 c. flour

3/4 c. buttermilk (we happened to have a powdered buttermilk that could be reconstituted in water that I used.)

Pour into greased pan (8x12?).

Topping:

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. oats

3/4 c. flour

2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together. Should be crumbly. If not, add more flour and sugar. Crumble over the top of the batter.

Bake at 160 for about 30 minutes.

Serve with snobbish coffee. :)