I’m Back

I’m back! After a long hiatus I’m going to attempt to start blogging again. Life here has changed greatly in the last two years. We bought, renovated, and moved into our first home...

We were lucky enough to visit Disney World a few times...

But most importantly, I became a mom to the most wonderful little boy.

My son Ryan is 21 months old now and a pure joy.

I’m still baking, cooking, and working full time but I’m going to try to post more of my daily on goings. So get ready, here come the posts...

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I had some more pumpkin purée to use before it went bad so I decided to make some pumpkin spice pancakes for breakfast this morning. Served with butter and hickory syrup, they were fluffy and delicious, the perfect fall morning treat. 

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin purée

1 egg

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat two large fry pans on medium heat. Measure all wet ingredients in a mixing cup and mix well. 

2.  Measure all dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

3. Add one tablespoon of butter to each fry pan and melt. Using a measuring cup, ladle approximately 1/4 cup pancake mix onto pan. Cook 4-5 pancakes per pan, waiting to flip until a few bubbles rise to the top of the pancake (these pankcakes fill not form as many bubbles as normal pancakes would, be careful not to burn them).

These pancakes are just about ready to flip

Keep cooked pancakes warm either on a tray in the oven set to warm, or on a plate in the closed microwave. 

6. Serve warm with butter and syrup or any other fall toppings you may like. 

Enjoy!!

Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more baking, brunch, and food posts

P.S. These also freeze great. Just seperate pancakes by a small piece of wax paper and stick into a sealable plastics bag. When ready to eat just remove however many pancakes you'd like and reheat. 

Date Night Dinner: Mussels in White Wine

I love seafood and I try to make it whenever I can at home. This week I was craving mussels so I stopped at Wegmans and picked up some organic rope grown mussels. At $6 for 2 lbs, you can't beat a $3 mussel dinner (2 lbs of mussels is way too much for me to eat in one sitting). I used Ina Garten's mussels in white wine recipe since her recipes are usually really fresh and flavorful. I changed the ingredients slightly to use up some of what I had on hand. The original recipe is listed above and what I used is listed below.

Mussels in White Wine
2 pounds mussels
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
3/4 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup good white wine
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Toasted baguette (optional)

1. Soak mussels in a large bowl with the flour for a half hour, remove the beards and discard any mussels that are not tightly shut.

I did this, and all of the mussels were shut and no beards were present, so I'm pretty sure the mussels had already been cleaned. This step should make the mussels empty some of the sand they may have, so I'd probably do it again in the future anyway.

2. In a large fry pan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, or until the onion are translucent. Add the tomatoes, parsley, thyme, wine, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

3. Add the mussels, stir well, then cover the pot. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, shaking the lidded pan once or twice to prevent scorching, until all the mussels have opened (may take an additional minute or two). Discard any that do not open.

Mussels after cooking and ready to be served

4. Pour into a large shallow bowl with toasted baguette and enjoy!

The best part of the meal in my opinion. Baguette soaked in the white wine sauce then topped with sauteed herbs and tomatoes, super flavorful

Enjoy!