“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
-Virginia Wolfe, A Room Of One’s Own
Pumpkin Cake with Molasses Glaze
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_ _ I’m about to crack an egg of knowledge all over you– if you call something a “snack,” you’re allowed to eat twice as much of it… A full sheet cake almost isn’t enough.
“….unfolding it returns to me that untranslatable heart of France in May, the smell of grass that was not grass but l’herbe, edibly fresh, as if all French vegetation were fantastically culinary, the ingredients of a salad or something to stir into cheese.”
-Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian
Orange-Vanilla Yogurt & Blueberry Parfait_
_ _Everyone has some odd characters in their family tree. My dad’s great uncle was a blind clown in the Barnum and Bailey Circus, and my mom’s father grew up in rural Oklahoma. Just kidding, that’s not the end of that, but with both sides of my family hailing from Oklahoma, is anyone surprised that there are some weirdos that shake out of the tree? I’ll start again: as a child, my mom’s father grew up in rural Oklahoma… and stuck his fingers in the electrical sockets for fun. And lastly, my own father drinks buttermilk. Straight from the carton. Is there any wonder I’ve had to develop a sense of humor, knowing that this is my genetic stock?
_ _Drinking buttermilk is like eating Greek yogurt, plain– and nobody in their right mind does that. But as a part of my (probably temporary) new resolve to eat healthier, eating Greek yogurt is exactly what I’ve been doing and I’ve had to find ways to spruce it up. This little parfait tastes like a healthy creamsicle topped with blueberries!
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“I like breakfast-time better than any other moment in the day,” said Mr. Irwine. “No dust has settled on one’s mind then, and it presents a clear mirror to the rays of things.”
Monkey Bread
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_ _I originally considered titling this post “Hold on tight spider monkey… bread” but then I realized that I don’t particularly want to showcase not only that I have seen, but can quote “Twilight” the movie. Granted, these films may be my guilty pleasure, but I also wrote a college paper on the glamorized yet unhealthy and borderline abusive relationship between Bella and Edward. Ohhh how two-faced I feel.
_ _When I see recipes for Monkey Bread they are nearly always made in a bundt pan (which always sounded like a dirty word to me) and not only do I not own said pan, I refuse to buy one for a single recipe… even if it is a recipe that I have been dying to make. So I switched it up and decided to make it in miniature. A true spider monkey… bread.
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Continue reading “I’ll Be On You Like A Spider Monkey… Bread”
“Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.”
-Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband
Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
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_ _Three words: Om. Nom. Nom… For the record I still hate breakfast– I made these at 10 o’clock at night. But for those creeps out there who eat breakfast at “breakfast time” these pancakes are quick enough to throw together that you won’t have to satiate your hunger by eating several slices of bacon while you cook. Unless you want to. Actually, I support that idea. Enjoy your bacon my friends.
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_ _I have a statement of heresy to make: I do NOT like breakfast… Bring on the Spanish Inquisition. Well ok, I do like breakfast foods, just not before noon. If that means I have to sleep half the day, so be it; if it means I have to eat “breakfast” and lunch within an hour of each other, I’ll suck it up and suck it in; I’ll loosen the drawstrings on my $10 Target pajama pants—which I wear the majority of my time at home—and get cooking. Welcome to my world of lunch and dinner-breakfasts.
_ _This was a breakfast casserole that my mom made for Christmas this year. I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when she told me that what was coming out of the oven was “an egg and tortilla casserole.” My gag reflex may also have been triggered. But don’t let that terrible name dissuade you. It’s ridiculously light and fluffy and cheesy and… amazing. And that is a major endorsement coming from me. Although normally I would take a cheeseburger over pancakes any day, I got the recipe from her and have already made it twice since then.
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“Grub, ho!” now cried the landlord, flinging open a door, and in we went to breakfast.”
Pumpkin.
Yes.
_ _I may have gone a little overboard with my pumpkin purée purchasing (and alliteration) this fall. I was very excited. But I’ve been stuck looking at all these lonely cans in my pantry giving me doe eyes and guilt trips about not following through on my promises to bring in the season with a pumpkin bake-a-palooza. I’m weak. I’m easily peer pressured by inanimate objects.
_ _So finally I succumbed and made these amazing pumpkin muffins. Normally suggesting putting fruit or nuts into baked goods would get you a slap across the mouth, but the raisins in these are so very necessary. I’m literally ordering you to include them. I’ve made these muffins both ways and the plain ones were just that… The toppings however, are totally optional. Half I made with streusel and the other half were dipped in a cinnamon glaze.
_ _With my roommates being responsible human beings, I can’t count on them to eat more than one muffin each, which leaves 21 for me to stuff down my gullet. I made this batch yesterday… only half a dozen to go.
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LIFE SHOULD TASTE GOOD... cooking for an army of two 
