Pigs in Blankets

or Hotdog Bread in local bakery speak.

I have decided to make these because the name is cute and it looks, well, cute.

I would like to say it tasted cute but it was only delicious.

I have this unwavering love for bread, if I haven't mentioned that in here yet.

I even wanted to dedicate a whole part of this blog solely for sammiches.

But that was before I realized I could not do anything on time.

Or follow rules.

Putting together breads and meats is too easy, anyway.

I dreamt of kneading precious dough with my hands.

"getting dirty"

Flash back to childhood: Play Doh

It does kind of make you feel legit when you've baked bread.

It ain't so easy making it from scratch.

I long for the day I can produce light, puffy pastry and tell everyone it's easy.

Some days, I look at this blog and ask no one - "Who still wants to bake their own bread?"

Everything you need is available in boxes.

Measuring cups are obscure little things.

People who hunt, carve, clean, and cook their own food are revered.

People are just visiting this site for the food pictures.

I grieve.

Just kidding.

Pigs in Blanket

You will need:

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon White Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Cheese, grated
3/4 cup Buttermilk or 3/4 cup Fresh Milk + 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Lemon juice
Cocktail Hot dogs or regular Hot dogs cut in half

- - -

*Pre-heat oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius

1. In a bowl, mix butter and cheese with dry ingredients.
2. Make a well in the middle and pour in buttermilk. Mix everything. Using your hands would be better.
3. Leave dough and let it sit for three minutes.
4. Take the dough and place it on a flat surface dusted with some flour.
5. Flatten with a rolling pin to form a 15x7 inch rectangle.
6. Cut into squares just big enough to wrap around the hot dogs.
7. Wrap square dough around each hot dog.
8. Bake in oven for 12-13 minutes.

Enjoy with your favorite dip.

I wish I had barbecue sauce.

No.

I wish I still have some of these as I write.


Till the next eats!

Banana Cinnamon Pancakes and Drunk Bananas

They say drinking before noon makes you an alcoholic.

I don't do that. 

Really.

I say if you can't drink it, might as well cook with it.

You might go 'whoa girl, doesn't pouring alcohol over your food make you a worse alcoholic because it's sneakier?'

I might go 'chill the fudge out, my friend.'

Alcohol, in small doses, evaporates when cooked. Wine, beer, distilled spirits, just like water.

Although there was a study that some parts of alcohol are retained and not a hundred percent extinguished when added to sauces, do not expect to get a buzz after firing up those babies.

You can even serve these kind of food to babies.

The only ones getting drunk in 1 of  these 2 recipes are the bananas because the only goal here is we get stuffed.

Banana Cinnamon Pancakes and Drunk Bananas

For the Banana Cinnamon Pancakes, you will need:

1 cup Flour

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder (or add more if Cinnamon's your thing)

1 Egg

1 cup Fresh or Evaporated Milk

2 tablespoons Vegetable or Palm Oil for the batter and some more for cooking

1 ripe banana, mashed

a frying pan (preferably non-stick), a turner, a couple of bowls, a wooden spoon or ladle for mixing batter

- - -

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, mix egg, milk, vegetable or palm oil with a whisk or an electric mixer.

2. When the liquid mixture is smooth, slowly pour it over the dry ingredients. Mix it with a ladle or wooden spoon until there aren't any more lumps.

3. Add the mashed bananas to the batter.

4. Cook your pancakes on a frying pan over low heat. 

5. Set these aside while we work on the Drunk Bananas.

For the Drunk Bananas, you will need:

• 2 tablespoons Rum
• 2 tablespoons Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Orange Juice
• 2 tablespoons Water
• 2 large Bananas sliced thinly on an angle
• a small pot or skillet, a ladle

- - -

1. In the pot or skillet, heat rum, sugar, butter, water, and orange juice over medium heat.

2. Add the bananas. 

3. When it boils, turn the heat down low. 

4. Let it simmer slowly for about five minutes or until the bananas are soft and the sauce is sticky.

Pour the Drunk Bananas on top of the Banana Cinnamon Pancakes.

Perfect for breakfast. Guilt-free before noon. 

Really. Guilt-free all day.

Till the next eats!

The MockMuffin

Let's say you want to have a McDonald's breakfast every once in a while.

Your stomach is grumbling and your jaw is tightening. Your eyes and mouth are watering... for fast(junk)food.

I'm guessing this city alone has over twenty Mickey D's.

One or two near you where you can go to or call up to bring you grub.

But it feels pretty damn good to know you have the choice not to.

This month is this blog's Breakfast Edition.

I am not a morning person.

So far, I haven't been blessed with a regular 9 to 5 job.

This dampens the possibility of me rising up early.

So why am I doing this breakfast month thing?

Because no matter what time of day, I love breakfast food.

You know, scrambled eggs for dinner, sausages for lunch, bread all day, et cetera.

July = 5 weekends = 5 recipes to lighten up your day. As bright as butter.

Today, let's take a little fast out of fastfood and make it a little healthier because at least you're pretty sure what's going into your hungry mouf. ^_~


The MockMuffin

You will need:

2 pieces English Muffins, cut into sandwich halves

2 fresh Eggs, small or medium

2 slices Spiced Ham or Sweet Ham or Bacon... your call! (McDonald's Sausage McMuffin has Canadian Bacon)

2 tablespoons Mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Butter

2 tablespoons Cooking Oil

2 slices Cheese

Ketchup (optional)

a frying pan, a fry turner/ladle, an egg ring or a small aluminum cookie cutter (if you don't have both, you can make a diy egg ring by opening up both ends of an empty small liverspread can, like what I did), oven toaster or just another pan for heating up your English Muffins

- - -

1. In a frying pan, cook your eggs and ham/bacon with cooking oil over very low heat. Cooking egg the slow way will make it rubbery like in the original Egg McMuffin. Also, using an egg ring is important at this point. You would want the whole McMuffin experience to be complete and you would want your eggs to be pretty. But that's just me talking. If you must, go on and cook sloppy eggs! Who cares, right? Haha.

2. Spread a bit of butter on each side of the sliced English Muffins and heat in the toaster for a minute or two. In the absence of a toaster, heat those babies up in a pan just enough till it browns a bit.

3. After this is done, spread a dollop of mayonnaise on each side of the bread and place hot ham over the bottom bread. Place the cheese on top of ham, then the round and pretty egg and lastly, the other warm bun.

Well that was pretty fast, wouldn't you agree?

And let me add, you get two sammiches for the price of one from the store.

Tastes just as good, too.

I'm not asking you to give McDonald's a run for their money but, you know. Haha!

Till the next eats!