Aebleskivers Baby!

Every year there is a swim meet Michelle and I go to in Wenatchee.  It is always hot, the pool is outdoors, and Michelle drops a ton of time.  Our favorite part of this meet every year is that we stay in what Michelle calls "Her little German town" Leavenworth which is about 30 min away from the pool. 

 

 

 

 

 

We love Leavenworth, it is just a great girls escape.  We eat German food, we shop in the cute stores in town, and we just relax and unwind.  Its a magical place where anything can happen including seeing the mythical double rainbow.

 

 

 

 This summer when our usual hotel was booked up and I had sticker shock from the room prices at the other hotels, I stumbled across the Granite Hills Inn. 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful bed and breakfast about 5 minutes outside of Leavenworth.  It's beautiful, the rooms were cozy, and the breakfast was amazing.  We had such a good time there that I immediately made reservations for our anniversary (since it was my year to plan it) and for Karie's birthday present from us.  Due to an unforeseen business trip to Florida Jim and I had to reschedule our weekend but we were so glad we did. 

 

We went earlier this week and got to enjoy the amazing fall colors.  While wondering around town before we checked in to Granite Hills Inn, I saw an aebleskiver's pan in a kitchen store.  When Michelle and I stayed there over the summer Bill, one of the owners, made aebleskiver's one day for breakfast.  Since Michelle and I had talked about the to die for breakfasts a few times I decided to pay attention when Bill and Paula cooked for us so I could make it myself at home.

 

Paula mentioned that they had put the recipe for aebleskiver's on their website blog, www.granitehillsinn.com, which meant less for me to try to remember.  I paid close attention while we were there and decided to do a post about my latest cooking adventure.  Breakfast for dinner ala Bill and Paula!

 

 

 

I started off with my version of country potato's.  I love my mandolin and use it every chance I get.  Thankfully I've learned to use it without taking off the tips of my fingers.  I melt butter, add garlic and an onion, throw in my fancy cut potato's.  Easy!

 

I understand why Bill and Paula cook at the same time, once I started on the ableskiver's I needed 10 hands.  Maybe it gets easier with practice, but I have to be honest and say I needed help.  Thanks Dad!

I should explain what an ableskiver is, because I still barely say it and if you ask me I'll probably say it three different ways in a matter of minutes.  Ableskiver's are pancakes shaped like donut holes. Got it?

 

Next I started in on the batter, a basic butter milk one, Bill said it his version of a buttermilk donut recipe.  All I can say is the finished product is amazing. 

 



Now unfortunately I dont' have a lot of pictures of the cooking process for the potato's and aebleskiver's (hello 10 hands experience) but I did take a picture of the pan so you can visualize.  You fill the cups about 3/4 full and it bubbles and cooks, then you use wood skewers to turn the cakes about a 1/4 turn at a time until they are a perfect little ball of aebleskiver perfection.  Let me tell you easier said than done, some were a little too brown, some were not done enough and had to be microwaved, but by the end I got it down and was impressed that I was able to come up with a decent finished product. 

 

Next item on our menu is Paula's eggs.  Her eggs are buttery, creamy, and delicious.  I paid close attention to how she cooks them because there is a trick to them which I had never heard of before.  So I am going to share with all of you today.

 

 

The secret to Paula's eggs is you start with a cold pan.  Normally when I make scrambled eggs I use milk and beat them before adding them to a hot pan.  I was shocked to realize she made these eggs with nothing in them except the eggs.  Let me tell you once you've had eggs like this you will never go back.  So you start with a cold pan on a medium low heat, you let the eggs slowly start to scramble and gently fold them while they are cooking.

When the eggs start to get a little more done you turn the heat up to medium and start folding the eggs more often and the yolks will start to break.  Keep folding, I know this all sounds weird to you, but trust me and if not me trust Paula. 

 



 

It takes a little more time but it is worth it.  The eggs in the end are heavenly and oh so wonderful.

 

Another recipe I picked up at Granite Hills Inn was Bill's Candied Bacon. 

 

 

Due to my ten hands situation I did not get pictures before I put in the oven, I did think to snap a pic though of the dredge for the bacon.  Equal parts flour and brown sugar, add some fresh pepper and dredge the bacon in it and bake for about 18 minutes. 

 

Michelle wanted to finish off our dinner with cupcakes for dessert.

 

 



Our current favorite cup cake recipe is the Pioneer Woman's (shocking I know) vanilla cupcake.  It is easy and we generally have all of the ingredients on hand whenever the mood strikes us.  Her cream cheese frosting is to die for!  Michele even decorated the cupcakes for family dinner.  When we do dinner we go all out.

 

 

 

I love, love, love, the way everything turned out.  We had some leftovers perfect for snacks on Sunday and breakfast for the kids Monday.  I would love to say the cupcakes made it until dinner Monday night, but by the time I got home from work they were gone.  Making this was a big leap outside of my comfort zone, but hopefully I did Bill and Paula proud! 

 

 

 

We're Back!

We are back and posting after a brief hiatus, well ok maybe not quite so brief since it was honestly a few months.  However life happens and it has been crazy and busy and I think I'm out of excuses now.  Thank you everyone for your patience and gentle reminders that you missed our posts!  Karie and I definitely felt the love and we are both committed to posting at least once a week. 

We have been busy and sometimes when you are busy you let slide the things that are important because you are running around like a chicken with its head cutoff.  Family dinner is one thing I have let slide and to kick off our new blog post I of course decided to have the whole family over for dinner.  I went through my cook books, old and new, looking for the perfect fall recipe. 

My trusty Pioneer Woman cook book of course had the perfect meal, of course.  I wanted something hearty and warm, you know comfort food.  The menu for Saturday nights dinner was Beef Stew (with an Irish twist), rolls with herbs, and Pumpkin Butter Apple Cake.  Yummy!!

 

We have the usual cast of characters, however I mentioned an Irish twist, and what could be more Irish then Guinness and Jameson?  I added a full bear to the beef broth  and also about a 1/2 cup of whiskey.  The whiskey was a gift from my old boss last year and let me tell you I am going to be heartbroken with I finally used it up! 

Have you ever wondered what happens to carrots when your veggie drawer is too cold?  I'm not sure if you can see this but that would be water that froze coming out of the carrots.  Weird!

 

Over the summer Karie started a garden, she brought over some of her super colorful carrots to be used in the stew!

 

Look at all that yummy bubbly goodness!

 

One of my favorite side dished is rolls, they are so easy to make and you can change them up every time just by using different herbs.  You melt 2tlbs butter in your caste iron skillet put in the frozen rolls and let them sit for two hours and do their thing!

 

 

Don't they look amazing?!

 

 

 

Next I melt another 2tlbs of butter I added garlic and rosemary and poured it over the rolls and baked for 20 minutes.

 

 

For dessert I wanted something that would make the house smell amazing.  I started looking for apple cake and spice cake recipes.  I stumbled across one for an apple butter spice cake, everything I wanted all in one.  Off grocery shopping I went instead of my usual Whole Foods trip I ended up at Trader Joe's.  Anyone who shops at Trader Joe's knows that October means pumpkin, it seems like you can get everything pumpkin that you could possibly want or need.  Instead of apple butter I decided to switch it up and buy pumpkin butter!   

 

 

 I bought a bunch of apples and went a little overboard with the cinnamon, but man did my house smell amazing!

 

 

I did learn that I need to work on my frosting skills, it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be.  I was so pleased with the end result though, and it was a winner!

 



 

Empty plates = happy family!

 

P.S. Karie normally edits my blog posts, I decided to do this one all my myself....  Be kind!

 

 

 



 

Challenge Week One

I started out the week with the intention of prepping a whole bunch of breakfasts and snacks. Let's just be honest and admit that did not happen.  So this week I am winging it, and hoping for the best.  I did make sure I planned ahead and have enough groceries for all the dinners I have planned. 

I did want to have some breakfast left overs, so I decided to try Chrissy Tiegen's French Toast Casserole.  I was excited because what is there not to love about a casserole that has rum in it?  Yes please! This was really quick to prep, but I wish I had read the instructions earlier.  I knew it had to set in the fridge for a few hours, but I didn't realize it was 12 hours!  So I switched this from a breakfast to a dinner.  Another lesson I learned was to read the instructions completely, and then plan ahead don't just skim.  I also made candied bacon to go with it, super easy, just brown sugar and black pepper.  You mix it in a baking dish and press the bacon into the mixture then bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Sunday after we ate breakfast the kids and I decided to head up to my parents property at Lake Conner.  We did a quick Safeway stop to purchase hot dogs for lunch and then we spent the day in the sun relaxing after a long week at camp.  When we got home I was not in the mood to cook and I was already regretting this whole idea of mine.  However I powered through and decided to make the Pioneer Woman's Sloppy Joes from her website.  They are fast to make, and are also Michelle friendly without all the additives of using a spice mix or a canned sloppy joe sauce.  In my hunger I forgot to take a finished picture, but I'm sure you all know what Sloppy Joes look like, just know they are super yummy. And Jason Approved!

Day two was hectic as usual and I was trying again to talk my self out of cooking.  Monday is Jim's day off and I went over the meals I had planned for the week and he asked me to make the enchilada's I had planned.  I started making the sauce from scratch which was much easier than I thought really start to finish took me about 15 minutes.  Last week I had pre-shredded some chicken which came in handy with an unexpected phone call from Karie saying they were trying to figure out what to have for dinner.  I took the second bag out of the freezer, and ta da I had dinner for 6 with leftovers for lunches later in the week.  While they were baking Gavin and I ran to the pool to pick up Michelle from swimming.  I asked Jim and Karie to put the cheese in the shredder on the enchilada's....  Well you can see what happened yourself.  Day two completed and still going strong!

 Day three done!! I have to be a child and say naner naner boo boo, Jim cheated first!!  He went hiking and stopped and Jack in the Box on the way home.  He said it doesn't count because he had money from last week in his wallet, but no way man!  He caved before I did, I feel like that is a major accomplishment. 

So on with the day, I made pancakes and bacon for dinner no biggie. I decided to make some cookies, I have not made chocolate chip cookies in probably 15 years, but in the interest of adulating I decided to tackle it.  I read a lot of different website's and decided at the end of the day to try the Pioneer Woman's chocolate chip cookies.  I don't know where these have been my whole life, she has you brown the butter and let me tell you it was like heaven in a bowl.  Did you know that if you brown butter it starts to smell nutty?  I don't know how or why, but it adds a butter scotch flavor to the cookies that is amazing.  Everyone should try it!



I wish I could give you all a cookie, but by the time this comes out they will all be gone. 

Wednesday night was the best night so far, I didn't cook, I didn't buy dinner, and I didn't cheat.  Karie and I went to the Des Moines farmer market.  I was really cute only a few vendors on a Wednesday night, but there were food trucks.  Dinner was on Karie, and I had a night off.  Yeah!!

Thursday nights dinner was a major Pioneer Woman fail; I know shocking!  I was so excited to make grits and stewed beef, but it was too spicy for us buy about a million.  It was crazy, crazy, hot. next time I would recommend adjusting the spices.

Friday night we had breakfast for dinner -scrambled eggs nothing exciting.  The most important thing is I made it through an entire week without buying food out to dinner or lunch!  It was awesome and I am really proud uf us.

Bow Tie Pasta

One of my favorite 45 minute meals.  I forgot to take pictures when I was cooking, I was actually in a hurry. I was honestly debating just buying dinner, but I already had the chicken thawed out so I flew into the kitchen determined to make dinner in time for us to leave.

Alfredo sauce is pretty easy to make, the Pioneer Woman's lived up to my expectation and then some.  It was really fast and, well if I'm being totally honest, painful.

I browned up the chicken like a champ, no issues there.  Then you are supposed to add some white wine to the pan.  Now I recently bought a caste iron skillet, my first and I honestly forget how much hotter they get.  So I'm adding the wine to this super hot skillet and what happens? Steam!  Of course I didn't just dump in the wine, I was pouring it around the whole pan, when a cloud of steam shouts up and, yup you guessed it, burned my freaking hand.  

Cooking is no joke, my hand hurt for hours.  My pasta however ended up perfect and so tasty, almost worth the pain....  Almost

Gill Girls

Nothing makes me happier than when (almost) all the kids are handing out together cooking, laughing, and watching movies.  My family is such a source of joy to me as I am sure yours is to you.  I love the sounds of a happy house, kids singing, laughter, stupid jokes -you all know what I mean.

Today (July 2nd) is Shelly's birthday, she is 14.  I am not sure where the time has gone.  I am so proud of her faith, drive, and kindness.  She is so much like her sisters, it is uncanny.  She has Christina's quick whit and sense of humor and Karie's musical taste and zest for life.  

So of course if we are having a birthday this means cooking!  Two months ago we had a pretty big party for Michelle's confirmation which was three days of cooking.  Thankfully Michelle decided she wanted a scaled down version for her family birthday dinner.  Another first was instead of buying a cake she wanted to make red velvet cup cakes at home.  Of course this means we needed everyone over to help cook.  

Now I thought this was going to be harder than it actually was, so I enlisted Karie to come help.  She of course brought Gavin and Eleanor so everyone helped.  I think help was the plan, what ended up happening was the three of us drank beers while Michelle cooked.  It was fun though.

 I asked Jim to pick up some red food coloring for me.  He got some food color, it might have been magenta and pink, but he gets credit for the effort.

 
We decided to make my friend Ree's Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork sandwich we again.  This is so easy to make, and it's Jennie proof.  Dump a few things in my Dutch Oven, and bake at 175 degrees overnight.  It doesn't look like much now, but wait until tomorrow.

Michelle's birthday rolled around and we started off by making the cream cheese frosting to finish off the cup cakes.  I didn't really know how easy frosting is to make, and it was so much better than the stuff in the can from the store.  

  Thankfully Karie showed up to help with the prep work and things started happening.  The cupcakes got finished, and then it was on to Chrissy's Cheesy Bacon Jalapeño Corn Bread.  It is easy to put together, and I think this is now my version of corn bread.
   
We got that into the oven and I needed to make the whiskey BBQ sauce glaze.  This is another Pioneer Woman recipe, and it is amazing.  The only thing I add is about a tablespoon of brown sugar to off set the spicy of the jalapeño's that go in.
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Now the pork was ready to shred, all in all it cooked for about 12 hours at 175 degrees and it fell apart.  This pork is gonna be good!


The cornbread came out of the oven.....

Karie and Michelle made the sweet tea....

The kitchen is a mess.....


I think however the Gill Girls have pulled everything together and we will have a successful party today!