Cooking in Pajamas

1/2 c. Sugar 1/2 c. Butter, unsalted, room temperature 1 Egg, room temperature 1 tbsp Orange zest (from 1 large orange) 1 1/4 c. Flour 1/2 tsp Baking soda 1 tbsp Poppy seeds Pinch of salt Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the orange zest. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add into the butter mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in the poppy seeds. Place little mounds of cookie batter on a Silpat (or parchment paper or greased cookie sheet). Flatten slightly slightly with a fork. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges turn a little brown. Be careful not to over cook and burn the bottoms. Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. My comments: When I saw the pictures on Elise's Simply Recipes , I knew I just had to try these cookies. It's easy to do and her cookies jus...

3 tbsp Vegetable oil 6 Sweet onions, medium size, thinly sliced 3 cloves Garlic 4 c. Beef broth 1/2 tsp Thyme, dried (or 1 tbsp Fresh chopped thyme) 1 tbsp Pure maple syrup Salt & pepper French baguette Your favourite cheese (eg. Swiss, Elemental, Gruyere, Mozerella) On a flat bottom frying pan, cook the onions in oil for 30 min or until caramelized. Stir frequently. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Drizzle the maple syrup over the onion and stir. Add beef broth and thyme, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. While the soup is simmering, cut approximately 1/3 of the baguette into 1-inch cubes. Toast the bread in the toaster oven for 3-5 minutes, until they are slightly brown and crunchy. Set aside and let them cool to room temperature. Transfer the soup into oven-safe bowls. Top with toasted bread cubes and your favourite cheese. Broil on high for 3 minutes, until the cheese have melted and turned lightly brown. My comment...

Cakes 2 c. All-purpose flour 1/2 c. Cocoa powder 1 1/4 tsp Baking soda 2/3 tsp Salt 3/4 c. Milk 3/4 tbsp Lemon juice 1 tsp Vanilla 6 tbsp Vegetable or canola oil 2/3 c. Brown sugar 2 Large eggs Filling 1/4 c. Unsalted butter, room temperature 2 tbsp Milk 2 c. Icing sugar 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350°F. To make sour milk, add 1 tbsp of lemon juice and add milk to make 1 cup. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. (The sour milk can be replaced with 1 cup of buttermilk.) Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the vegetable oil and brown sugar until there are no sugar clumps. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Alternately mix in the flour mixture and the sour milk mixture, starting and ending with flour. Scrap down the side of the bowl to ensure even mixing. At this point, the batter might become too dense for the electric mixer; you may switch to using a wooden spoon fo...

3 Slices of bread, cubed 3 lbs Lean hamburger 2 Onions, medium size, chopped small 1 c. Apple sauce, unsweeten (or 3 Eggs) 3 Garlic cloves, minced 1/2 c. Ketchup Basil Celery salt Parsley Chilli pepper Salt & pepper In a large bowl, mix all the ingredient by hands. Roll the meat into 2-inch balls. Bake at 375°F for 25 min. At this point, we usually cook the meatballs again in a BBQ sauce. 2 Bottle of your favourite BBQ sauce (...if you run out of BBQ sauce...) 1 Bottle of your favourite BBQ sauce 1 c. Ketchup 1/2 c. Brown sugar Method: Stove top - 1 hour on medium low heat Slowcooker - 4-8 hours setting Serve the meatballs over rice. Also taste good in a sandwich. My comments: We love meatballs. Whenever we find cheap ground beef, we make them. They are easy to make and freeze really well in the freezer in a sealed container. Note that I didn't put any measurement for the spices. We normally just sprinkle whatever we feel like at the time and however much we want. As lo...