It seems like just yesterday that I made these for the Morning After Mark and Emily Got Married Brunch.  But it wasn’t yesterday, it was more like yestermonth.  As you can tell, I’ve been slow with the uploading of pictures.  But I’ve just completed a giant batch, hopefully enough to last me through my next upload dry spell.

I used this recipe for the first time that day.  I woke up early-ish to make them in time for the brunch and was a little worried.  The dough didn’t look like it had risen properly, it was still somewhat soft and the filling kept inconveniently oozing out.  It took about half an hour between putting the time I sliced them and put them into a pan and the time they started baking (aka, the commute to Tara’s house).  I like to think of that half hour as when the magic happened, as they puffed up even more while sitting in the pan.  The oozing filling also created a nice caramelization affect wherever it wasn’t covered by soft bun.  And, best of all, three pans of this stuff were devoured.  I think that is a testament to deliciousness if I ever saw one

Sadly, since I was in a rush to create, this is the only picture I took of the cinnamon rolls:

That’s right, it’s the remains of the cinnamon and flour on the counter space that I used to roll them up.  And that’s it.  No pictures of them in pans, no indication of how amazingly they puffed up given another 1/2 hour to rise, no nothing.  So you’ll have to trust me.  These cinnamon buns look mighty tasty coming out of the oven.

Because the recipe I took it from makes an insane number of rolls and I didn’t always do the best job halving stuff (butter, I am pointing at you), I am going to go ahead and transcribe it.  It came from one of my favorite sites, The Pioneer Woman.  She does not hesitate to use butter.  And that’s how it should be.

Cinnamon Rolls

2 cups whole milk
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
1 pkg. (2-¼ tsp.) active dry yeast
4 cups AP flour
½ - 1 cup AP flour
½ heaping tsp. baking powder
½ scant tsp. baking soda
½ heaping tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
Cinnamon

1- Combine milk, vegetable oil and sugar in saucepan.  Heat until 105 – 115 degrees F.

2- Sprinkle yeast on top and let sit for a few minutes.

3- Add flour and mix to combine.  Mixture will be soft and soupy.

4- Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for approximately an hour or until doubled in size.

5- Add ½ cup AP flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together.  If mixture is still a little soft, add a little more flour.

6- Generously flour surface and pour dough onto surface.

7- Roll dough out into a rough rectangle.

8- Melt butter and pour on top.  Spread with a pastry brush if necessary.

9- Sprinkle sugar on top.  Top with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon on top.

10- Starting on the side furthest away, start rolling cinnamon up.

11- Cut into ½” pieces and place in a dish to bake.  Preheat oven to 400-degrees.

12- Let rise for ½ hour while oven is preheating.

13- Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven.

14- Brush with glaze of choice and serve warm.

Servings:  3 pans of 9 each.

Yesterday, as I complained to Blaire that eating cereal for breakfast inevitably made me hungry an hour later, she suggested I start my day out with eggs before carbing it up.  I was thinking about that this morning, when I realized I had an hour to eat something before running with Emily and Kjersti.  So I decided to make scrambled eggs.

(Was all that explanation unnecessary build-up?  I mean, I did title this post “Scrambled Eggs.”  I could have just said, “I made scrambled eggs this morning.” and you would know just as much - and maybe care just as much - as when I explained all that other stuff.)

I think that scrambled eggs are one of those things where everyone has their own “way” of making them.  I mean, they’re simple enough that you don’t really need a recipe.  And everyone has their own preference in the way they like them.  When everyone gathered together for brunch after Mark and Emily’s wedding, I remember being reluctant to help make them.  Brian, I don’t care that you’re trying to flip the pancakes, cook the sausages and mix Bellinis at the same time!  You do the scrambled eggs!  You can’t trust me!    Scrambled eggs are serious business!  I didn’t want anyone to hate me if I made them incorrectly.

So I am going to explain how I make my scrambled eggs and hope readers will respond in kind.  Maybe I have yet to hit the Holy Grail of Scrambled Eggs and this post might set me on the right path!  Someone will reveal an amazing scrambled egg secret!!

Scrambled Eggs, Melanie-Style:

First, I crack a bunch of eggs.  If it’s just for me, as a meal, then it’s usually 3.

Then I whip it all together and add a dab of some kind of heavy dairy, like cream or half-and-half (definitely NOT skim milk).

I heat up the skillet, pour in the egg mixture, and start sliding my cooking utensil around.  I’m not too graceful about it.  I just start shoving the eggs around to make sure they don’t cook too much.

When the eggs get to that tipping point where they look about ready to tip from “somewhat shiny sheen” to “dull matte cooked eggs”, I pour them out on a plate before they lose that sheen and let them sit for a minute.  Then I sprinkle with a bit of salt and a lot of freshly cracked pepper and eat.  Yum!

And that is how I make eggs!  To contrast, my Dad just takes a bunch of eggs, mixes them together (no additions!) and cooks them (no seasoning added!).  Until they’re very hard.  Which is great, he likes them that way, that’s what makes him happy.  But this is how I eat my scrambled eggs and I like them this way much, much more.

And now I’m wondering - how do you like your scrambled eggs?

Here we have something that I like cooking with a lot - chicken thighs!  I recently, semi-unofficially, gave up chicken breasts.  I was tired of the chicken always coming out really dry and it was always so hard getting it to retain flavor.  Down with chicken breasts, I’d say, unenthusiastically cooking with it.  And then I realized … I am in charge of this here kitchen.  If I don’t want to cook with chicken breasts, who’s to say I have to?

No one, that’s who.  And this is why I kicked them out of my kitchen once and for all.

Amy suggested this recipe to me, in my usual early morning “I have this, this and that.  What can I make?”  quest.  Amy, you’re my greatest inspiration!  Martin, in contrast, is not helpful at all.  Sometimes, I even ask him basic decisions like “Chicken or pasta?” and he gives me a blank look.  I just need some direction, please!  Amy understands this and always points me towards a good starting point.  And, Amy, that is why you need to move to this area.  Seattle won’t love you the way I do!

I’m just going to link to the recipe I used, as I don’t think I made too many substitutions.  Here we go, here we go, here we go now.

Now, some notes.  The sauce was more watery than I was expecting.  I kept it simmering for a long time, uncovered, trying to cook off a bunch of the liquid, before giving up.  The flavor was tasty and strong.  And it might be better to go the boneless thighs route, as it was pretty hard to cut the meat off.  But that’s me and Martin’s laziness at work!  Go include the bones, if you feel like it!  It went well over pasta, as I can demonstrate here:

I thinly sliced some green onions to sprinkle on top because I had green onions chilling in the crisper.  I also like the extra snap green onions add.  Overall, delicious and I will make it again, when the weather cools down!

Does anyone remember the post where I discussed my confusion of all things beans?  Recently, Amy was at my apartment and pointed at my giant glass jars filled with beans, wondering why I had these in my kitchen.  The truth?  I received them as a gift.  And haven’t used a single one.  Amy suggested making baked beans with them.

I thought - hey, how brilliant!  I actually like baked beans.  And it would use up this stockpile of dry beans.  Perfect!

I asked Amy if she had a great baked beans recipe and she said no.  But she pointed me towards this recipe right here, which showed promise.

And I am here to warn you that this recipe is NOT a good recipe.  I brought it to a cookout last night and we were in a rush, so I didn’t even get a picture of it.  I debated photographing the dried leftovers but thought that I should keep it friendly here.  Cause you know me.  Always thinking of others.

But yes, this will not make good baked beans.  This will make dry sauce baked beans.  I was kind of confused on how the beans would get that familiar saucy taste that you associate with damn good baked beans when I added the ingredients to the crockpot, as there is almost no liquid whatsoever.  And I didn’t see how the recipe would magically create the necessary liquid, but I trusted it.  And, oh, how wrong I was.

I do give it props for being one of the few baked bean recipes that don’t call for pre-made baked beans.  I found it so surprising the number of recipes that are really just spicing up a can of Bush’s baked beans.  I wonder what Sandra Lee’s recipe for baked beans is? 

I have a category called Inedible, which I used for posts not about cooking.  I think this entry will definitely change that. 

Yes, that was a mouthful and so was meal that goes along with it.  Namely, this:

It doesn’t look too appealing, all red and saucy like.  Piled high.  Warm looking on these hot summer nights.  But I really liked it.  It had salmon and sundried tomatoes, two of my favorite foods to eat.  And pasta, from the Santa Cruz pasta man that comes to the farmer’s market, which is sneaking up on my list of favorite foods.

This was another dish where I thought, “What do I have in my refrigerator?” aka “What needs to be eaten right now?”  And then I searched around and found this recipe!  I had everything right on hand, except for Emeril’s Essence and peas.  So I made a few substitutions, tweaked it a bit to suit my taste and came up with this dish that I now present before you.

So, what are my thoughts?  My thoughts are that I can’t really remember this dish, as I made it awhile ago.  I really need to do a better create / picture take / relate turnaround  (and by the way, did you see how I managed to make all of that rhyme?  Freakin’ sweet …) so when I talk about foods, I can say more than “It done tasted good.”

I remember the sauce being a little on the thick side, because the pasta is coated in the sauce.  And not understanding what Emeril meant when he said to shingle 1/2″ slices.  Perhaps this works better if your salmon is more towards the center and not the tail (my favorite part and, therefore, the part I buy), so your “shingles” will be a bit longer in length. I did like how it incorporated sundried tomatoes.  And was a different way for me to prepare salmon.

With that said, I end this entry with a plea.  I love salmon and I probably buy it 1 - 2 times a month.  But I need new ways to prepare said salmon!  So if you have a dish that you made recently that made your heart skip a beat and features salmon, please, pass it my way!

Here’s the one I gift to you. 

If there’s one thing I love, it’s my Parker House rolls.  Sometimes, I wonder how other food bloggers can write so much.  How is it that they can keep trying the new?  What about returning the beloved tried and true every now and then?  How can we fit in new and exciting things, when I want my darned comfort foods too.

Parker House rolls are pretty much the only bread I make nowadays.  I am so-over my rye bread phase and just haven’t re-caught the bread bug.  Except for rolls, those light, fluffy, oh so delicate puffs.  I was really craving them the other day so I tried to figure out a meal that would pair well with them for when our friend Michelle came over.

I came up with:  shrimp salad!  Martin had insisted on tiny baby shrimps on a recent grocery trip and the package came labelled as “salad shrimp.”  No joke.  I took that as a sign.

I know it’s not much to look at, but the rolls so totally made the salad.  I wish I could say it was my awesome shrimp salad, but it wasn’t.

I think I picked the shrimp salad recipe because it had slashes and umlats decorating the o’s (the recipe’s official name is Shrimp Smorrebrod).  The description was open-faced sandwiches over rye bread - so Swedish sounding!

Well, it turned out to be Danish but Martin liked it anyway.  I made a few substitutions but was overall very happy with the result.   You go, rolls!!  This was a great, light summer meal.

Shrimp Smorrebrod, Melanie Style

1 lb. salad shrimp
1/4 cup chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons horseradish, cream-style
2 firm-ripe California avocados
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 small Italian red pepper, diced
Parker House Rolls
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
Whatever salad greens you happen to have

1-  Defrost salad shrimp (yes, it’s true, they were frozen but really, can you imagine shelling shrimp this tiny yourself?)

2-  Whisk heavy cream until it holds soft peaks, then whisk in sour cream, horseradish, and salt and pepper to taste.

3-  Halve, pit, and peel avocados, then slice crosswise. Drizzle slices with lemon juice.

4-  Slice rolls.  Arrange shrimp, avocado, and onion over it. Spoon dollops of horseradish sauce on sandwiches.  Be happy as you stuff your face and bask in the summeryness.

Servings:  6

I know it doesn’t look like much but this tannish blob is caramel ice cream.  In my continual quest to show Martin that other flavors besides cookie dough can be tasty, I have tried to make other flavors for us to enjoy.  This was so rich, we could only eat about a scoop at a time but it’s still pretty tasty.

I used this recipe verbatim, mostly because I’d never made caramel before.  I should have probably tried making just caramel before I muddied up the waters with an ice cream!  My first attempt was straight up DISASTER!  I am talking black burnt cesspool-style mess.  A hot mess, as it were, too.  ;)  I had to boil the caramel out of my pot before I could even start attempt number two.

The recipe is a little vague, saying things like “let boil until a light amber.”  So I’ll just comment a bit on my experiences.

First, I interpreted boil as a full-on rolling boil.  This produced disaster in a pot in a red-hot minute.  So the second time around was more of a slow simmer.  It took longer than the specified time but produced something edible, so I’m not going to complain. 

Before adding the cream, I had warmed it over the stove, which I think helped keep the sugar down to a “furious bubble” rather than “gigantic explosion.”

I also had problems brushing down the side.  Seemed like the water just evaporated on impact and didn’t do anything to dissolve sugar crystals.  Anyone with caramel-making experience, can you comment on this?

And there you go.  Next time, I will add fewer egg yolks, because it’s really, really rich and I could even detect a bit of egg flavor coming through.   This is definitely a “coat your mouth” ice cream - a little will go a long way!

What is that, you might be asking yourself right now.  I mean, it doesn’t look too appetizing.  It’s a plopful of noodles along with a plopful of red stuff.  But it’s mighty tasty, if I do say so myself.

I can’t take credit for the crazy looking pasta.  It comes from my pasta man.  Well, he’s not my pasta man.  He’s just the guy who sells fresh pasta at the Farmer’s Market, who I buy pasta from.  He’s super nice and his kids, who can’t be more than 12, are adorable as they weigh my pasta and take Martin’s money.

Just kidding.  They just re-stock the bins!

This is herb pappardalle, I do believe.  (See, I told you I am officially in love with pappardelle and you didn’t believe me).  And I loved the tomato-based sauce that went on top of it because it was thick and chunky and had texture and chicken in it.

So let’s get started on how to make this chicken, shall we?

First, I used chicken thighs.  I used to buy chicken breasts breasts, before I realized I actually hate chicken breasts.  No matter how carefully you cook them, they always taste really dry and stringy.  No thank you, chicken breasts.  If I wanted dry and stringy food … well, when have I ever wanted dry and stringy food?

So I made an unofficial decision to only use chicken thighs, if I am eating chicken.  And I haven’t looked back since.  And here is something I’ve made while looking forward:

Chicken with Pappardelle

4 – 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Olive oil
Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
½ - 1 medium onion, chopped
2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine
2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
3 – 4 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
8 large fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded
¾ lb. long noodle pasta
Fresh grated parmesan

1-  Bring pot of water to boil and cook pasta until al dente.  Drain.

2-  Heat olive oil in a skillet.

3-  When oil is hot, brown chicken thighs on both sides.  Remove to plate.

4-  In same pan, add onions and garlic and stir to combine.  Cook until softened.

5-  Add white wine and bring to a simmer.  Loosen browned bits of chicken from bottom of skillet.

6-  Add tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.

7-  While sauce is simmering, dice chicken.  Add chicken and sauce on plate to tomato sauce.  Let simmer for 15 more minutes.

8-  Add fresh herbs and ladle over pasta.

9-  Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Servings:  4 - 6

PS.  I feel like I didn’t used canned tomatoes, as I haven’t kept that stocked in my pantry for awhile.  I think what I did use was 4 - 5 medium-sized de-seeded vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely diced.  But it’s hard to prove / remember by looking at the picture.  And there you go!  Try it!  Enjoy!

I saw this recipe online and immediately wanted to try it.  I like scallops and guacamole, what could be so terrible?

Well, I think I messed up on several key points.  The original recipe called for lightly toasted bread, but all I had was crackers so I made the substitution anyway.  Not a smart idea.  The crackers crumbled at the first bite and the whole structure just collapsed!

Also, I made my guacamole the way I normally like it, on the chunky side.  I think for a recipe like this, a smoother guacamole would be in order.  I think it would help everything adhere together.  As it was, the guacamole was so chunky that it sort of plopped off the cracker after biting into it.  And the copious amounts of diced red onion I added didn’t help either. 

Otherwise, this was just okay.  I felt a slight disconnect at cold, creamy guacamole and warm scallop but I think this would have been corrected by the toasted, buttered bread on the bottom.  I served these for a light dinner for Martin and I but was not overly thrilled with them.

It’s so easy to make, I won’t bother posting a recipe.  Just butter bread and slice rounds from it.  Spread toast with (a smooth!) guacamole spread, made according to personal taste.  Top with a halved pan-seared sea scallop.  Serve!

Your full potential was never realized, scallop bite-lets.

I’d recently written this post and lost it when Firefox crashed.  I was eight kinds of mad, mostly because I’ve noticed FF3 likes to shut down for no reason at all on my Windows machine (but not my iBook, amazingly enough!).

It took me awhile to work up the enthusiasm to re-write this post.  So … this post might not be enthusiastic at all. 

I decided to make these after a co-worker gave me a Snickerdoodle and I remembered how much I loved its softness and cinnamon-ness.  I had all the ingredients on hand already so why shouldn’t I make some Snickerdoodles?

Well, these were good.  But I realized they were also very sweet.  Something that tasted great when only one unit is eaten tasted significantly less good when five … six … twelve are consumed.  They were soft the way cookies should be, looked amazing and had a great buttery taste.  But just too much.

I wonder how much of this can also be attributed to the fact that I made them before going down to Santa Barbara with Martin.  I loaded up a big bag with these and proceeded to eat them all weekend because there was nothing else to snack on.  After sitting around in a plastic bag, these didn’t taste too great, I can tell you right now.

So the lesson in today’s entry is that cloying sweetness does NOT mix well with plastic mcplastic-ness.  And now you know.  But here’s some visual eye candy anyway:

Side Note:  Firefox totally crashed four times while I was writing this.  I literally screamed “DIE FIREFOX I HATE YOU!” because I was so mad.  But it somehow found my original post.  So I guess I don’t hate it.  I just don’t really like it right now.