Deal Update, New Tradition, and Yummy Food

Let’s start with a deal update and some new deals.  Last week, I posted about Haagen-Dazs’s upcoming free cone day.  Since that post they’ve released some information about the time.  It will be held from 4-8 PM, so if there’s a scoop shop near you, I hope you get to stop by.  I’ve also heard about another deal involving cold and creamy treats.  Sonic has brought back their summer of shakes deal: after 8 PM, shakes are half off. They’ve also brought back 99 cent snacks during their regular happy hour (2-4 PM).  Apparently they’re trying to fatten us all up for the winter.   😉

In case you didn’t already know, my husband is wildly crazy about pizza.  Though I’m content to have it once every few months, he would happily eat it a few times a week.  He’ll also take it any way he can get it: frozen, take-out, gourmet, or homemade.  I’m not a fan of frozen, ok with take-out and gourmet, but usually very excited about homemade.  For whatever reason, it’s taken me this long to realize that we should have a weekly pizza night.  I’ve been seeing lots of different pizza flavors across the blogosphere, and thought it would be fun to do our own take on some of them.  My bread-maker will make enough dough for 2 pizzas in about an hour and a half, so if we’re not having friends over, I can just freeze half of the dough for the next week.  Then I just have to flatten it, top it, and let it cook for about 20 minutes.  We started this past week, and I was very pleased with the results.  It was an easy dinner, and the hubby was very pleased.  This past week, we did a taco pizza.  Once the dough was in the right shape, I topped it with salsa (for sauce), cheddar (Mexican blend cheese would’ve been great, but we just had cheddar.), black beans, corn, hot sauce, some mole chicken (from a recipe that you’ll hear about eventually), and more cheddar.  When it came out of the oven, I sprinkled it with some diced avocado and let it sit for a few minutes.  When it was just a little cooler, we cut it and dug in.  For our first foray into pizza night, I’d say it was a big success.  Our bellies got happily full, the hubby’s pizza craving was taken care of (for now), and I didn’t have to do much work for dinner.  What more can you ask for?

(Update: we’ve stopped having pizza nights because our Friday nights just got too busy.  During the school year, my husband very often works overtime those nights.  It’s still a neat idea; it’s just not working for us right now.)

As for this week’s yummy food, I’ve got so much to share I wasn’t sure where to start.  I finally decided to give you the recipes for a tasty breakfast, a frozen treat, and a seasonal cookie.

Let’s start with a tasty breakfast treat.  I’m sure you’ve noticed that I love pancakes, and I LOVE peanut butter, so it was only a matter of time before I put them together.  These pancakes are really tasty, though a little on the dry side.  The first time I had them, I smeared them with my favorite strawberry jelly.  Because  of how dry they were and the fact that there’s not much sugar in them, they responded better to being doused in syrup.  If I’d had strawberries on hand when I made these, I would’ve made my favorite strawberry sauce which would’ve been the best of both worlds.

Peanut Butter Pancakes (from the March 2000 Cooking Light)

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

6 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. chunky peanut butter (I only had creamy on hand, but it still worked out very well.)

1 tbsp. veggie oil

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 lightly beaten eggs

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir til smooth.

2.  Spoon the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot griddle and cook til brown on both sides.

My frozen treat was another test for the Meyer lemons I had on hand.  Though I liked the flavor, I would like it just as much with regular lemons.   These come together quickly and are great to have on hand as the weather gets warmer.  This is one of the few recipes that I’m not sure where I found it; if you know where it comes from, please let me know so I can properly credit it.

Creamy Lemon Popsicles (source unknown)

1/2 c. lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon (My zest was in short, thin strips, but I really didn’t like the feeling of it when eating the popsicle.  Next time I’ll either make sure it grates into even smaller pieces, or I’ll pulse it with the sugar in a food processor so that both will mix better with the other ingredients.)

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. whipping cream

1/3 c. sugar

1. Mix all the ingredients together til the sugar dissolves.  Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.  (I got 4 popsicles, but it will just depend on the size of your molds.)

 

My last treat for today is a cookie recipe that will help you dispose of some of those yummy strawberries hiding out in your fridge.  They are the delicious and incredibly moist strawberry-shortcake cookies.  These are very similar to the peach drop cookies I made last year.  They have a great strawberry flavor and are incredibly moist (If you have some that are going to be eaten the next day, it’s probably best to leave them out in the air; otherwise they get really soft and almost mushy.), though I thought they needed more sugar.  (I think it’s because my strawberries weren’t very sweet.)  I fixed that by topping mine with a simple confectioner’s sugar glaze.  Although I wanted them sweeter, my husband ate them without any complaints and one of his co-workers also happily devoured them sans glaze.  I’d say leave them as is and make a glaze on the side for those who are craving a sweeter taste.  These are really a cross between a cookie and a shortcake; even the way they’re made is similar to biscuits.

Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies (From the June 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living)

12 oz. hulled, diced strawberries

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 c. + 1 tbsp. sugar

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. cold, diced butter

2/3 c. heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tbsp. sugar.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining sugar (about 7 tbsp.).  Cut in the butter til the mix resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the cream til the dough starts to come together, then stir in the strawberry mix.

2. Using a tbsp. drop the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets.  (I used my cookie scoop and only got 2 dozen cookies.)  Sprinkle the cookies with some extra sugar (if desired) and bake til golden brown, 24-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

I hope you’ve been having a good week.  Mine’s been a little crazy, but good.  Stay cool and come back soon for more delicious treats.