Berry Pancakes

So far I think most of my entries have been brunch related. Brunch is easily my favorite meal, and if it were acceptable to eat it for every meal, I would. It is also the meal I'm the most comfortable making. As I've said, I look forward to the weekend to make brunch and take a break from mornings of quick breakfasts of oatmeal, frozen waffles and granola.

This morning I made cranberry/blueberry pancakes. I have pancake mix that you just add water to. I know it's not the best, but it's the easiest and I've gotten it down so I make exactly 2 pancakes. I don't think I'd ever make pancakes if it resulted in leftover batter. I also have a pancake pan that my aunt gave me for xmas a few years back. Both my mom and my aunt bestow wonderful kitchen gadgets on me, perhaps because they've both been homemakers and know the benefit of cutting some corners. I think I could probably make pancakes the old fashion way, but the pancake pan makes it so easy. It's pancake size and folds down over the pancake, so you just turn over the whole pan to flip the pancake. It is a bitch to clean tho, but that's more the fault of the fruit I add to the pancakes that kinda burns and carmelizes than the pan's fault. This morning's pancakes came out great. I like the tartness of the cranberry and the sweetness of the blueberry. I also do banana pancakes if I have bananas that are a bit overripe.

As a side note, cranberries are one of my favorite foods. I love them. I love the tartness. I love the juice, them dried, in salads, in oatmeal, etc. It's weird my favorite flavor profiles are fall flavors and fall is not my favorite season... I may like it more than winter, but only cuz of October. The rain and progressive coldness really grates on me. It's also weird cuz I'm not a Thanksgiving fan, yet some of my favorite flavors/foods are pumpkin, cranberry and fall/winter squash, especially butternut. Each year I buy a bag of cranberries and put them in the freezer so I can enjoy them all year round. I guess I really am a Massachusetts girl...

Garlic Hummus

I make a pretty mean hummus if I do say so myself. While I always enjoy hummus, I often think the store bought kind is a bit too acidic, whereas mine is not... As always, I try to make it a bit more healthy than normal too.

I start w/ a can of drained and rinsed chick peas in my all time fav kitchen gadget, the Magic Bullet. I add a heaping tablespoon of tahini, a squirt of lemon juice, some parsley, pepper and paprika, a splash of olive oil and maybe 1/4 cup vege stock, then for a kick I add 2 cloves of raw garlic and blend. Trust me, it has a kick. A friend once asked me what I used to make it spicy before realizing it was just pure, raw, unadulterated garlic. My fav...

Serve w/ veges such as baby carrots, cuke sticks, celery sticks and/or homemade tortilla or pita chips.

For alternatives, I cut back to one clove of garlic and add something else for flavor. My favorite was fresh, raw spinach. Made a nice bright green hummus...

Mexican Night

This night I made black bean soup, homemade tortilla chips, guacamole and corn bread for when I brought the soup for lunch.

I made this soup a long time ago, so my memory may be a bit hazy, but here goes. It's essentially the recipe off the back of the Progresso black beans, but w/ some changes. I'd made it once before and found it to be a bit too salty, this time it was a bit bland. Maybe next time... Also, I prefer a thicker soup and this is still a little runny for my liking. As for the recipe, I'm not a big follower. I always make adaptations and as a result will not be very specific. I think it best to play around and find out what works best for you.

I diced up a large onion, some celery and carrots and sauteed them for abt 5 minutes w/ chili powder and cumin. You then add 2 cans of black beans and something random like 4 cans or 52 ounces of chicken/vege stock. Last time I stuck to this and I blame it both for the saltiness and the runniness, so this time, I believe I added the beans in their liquid, instead of rinsed and drained, and one cup of stock and one cup of water. It was still a bit runny, but definetly less salty.

Then you take 2 cans of drained, rinsed beans and blend them with a jar-ish of salsa. Last time I used up my jalepenos and their juice and that added a nice kick. This time I needed to add additional liquid to get everything moving. Then you mix this mixture into the soup, which thickens it up a bit. I like that this soup has blended beans and chunky beans and vege, I guess I just want the overall soup a bit thicker. I'll need to continue to play w/ water content...

Next, I used my new favorite kitchen gadget to make some delicious guacamole. I love this gadget cuz it is a salad spinner, egg separator and hand spun food processor all in one. It's amazing! I think guacamole is one of the best things ever, but I'm pretty much a purist and don't like to add much to the avocado. I generally use red onion, garlic, salt, lime juice, cilantro and maybe tomato. No sour cream ever, it just cuts the flavor. I also prefer it a bit chunky, that's why I use this gadget and not the infamous Magic Bullet.

For tortilla chips, I just rip flour tortillas and place on a sprayed baking sheet. I generally make a spice mix that has salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika and pepper. I then pinch this over the tortillas. I bake them for abt 8 minutes at about 400 degrees.

Here's the finished meal. I garnish the soup either with scallions or a Mexican cheese mix (seen here). This meal was complimented by a glass of Spanish sangria that I brought back from my most recent European vacation...