Gingerbread Pancakes

Remember making gingerbread houses when you were a kid? When my girls were really young we'd host a gingerbread party every year. Everyone who came would bring a different type of candy. We'd usually have a chili supper, followed by the decorating and eating of lots of gingerbread cookies and candy. Albeit, our cookie houses were easier made with graham crackers, but there's nothing quite like time with friends and family.

Why not take a seasonal classic and turn it into breakfast? These gingerbread pancakes have cocoa, ginger, cinnamon and cloves and are a delicious alternative to an everyday pancake breakfast.

3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons baking powder
3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons ground hazelnuts
3 cups milk
6 egg whites
6 tablespoons dark molasses
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; stir in hazelnuts. Set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together milk, egg whites and molasses.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it. Stir just enough to moisten; batter will be lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

*A great trick to having perfect pancakes: use a meat baster to "squeeze" pancake batter onto your hot griddle or pan. Perfect shaped pancakes every time.
*Another great way to make a fun pancake, use a mustard/ketchup squeeze bottle and fill with pancake mix. You can write your child's name, make shapes, etc. Breakfast is FUN!!!

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Praline

There's a great BBQ restaurant in Savannah that makes the best baked sweet potatoes. They're simplistic and delicious and when served with their cinnamon butter, they are absolutely amazing.

For Thanksgiving this year, I'm making twice baked sweet potatoes with a coconut praline topping. I can't wait because I absolutely love sweet potatoes.

What's great about this dish is that you can split the yams in half and it's a perfect serving. One easy way to make these is in the crock pot. It just takes a little planning and a few minutes of prep work.

*You'll need about 4 sweet potatoes for 8 servings.
*Wash and pierce all potatoes with a fork. Wrap each whole potato in foil. Place in your slow cooker and cook for 6-7 hours on low.
*Once your potatoes are done cooking, remove from slow cooker and allow to cool slightly.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Slice each potato in half lengthwise. Do not remove the foil.
*Scoop all of the inside of the potato into a large mixing bowl. Try to keep the skin intact.

To your potatoes, add,
1/2 cup packed brown sugar or equivalent brown sugar substitute
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup broken pecans, toasted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together until light and fluffy.
On a baking sheet, fill your potato skins generously with the sweet potato mixture. You can make it nice and decorative by using a piping bag and tip. But a spoon will work just fine, too!

In a small bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter

Top your potatoes with this crumbly mixture. Then bake in the oven for 15 minutes. These potatoes are absolutely delicious and a great alternative to traditional candied yams.

NOTE: You can bake these in the oven in about an hour with the same prep work.

Autumn in Virginia

Welcome to Virginia. This is my neighborhood. I truly love where I live. It's a spectacular city.

I love these beautiful colors of Autumn. The fiery orange, vibrant red, bright gold and brown.

~The leaves are truly gorgeous this time of the year~

Even though I only have a 7 minute drive from the office to home, I took a little detour to capture some of my favorite spots in the neighborhood.

~This photo is near the St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Downtown Norfolk~~Botetourt Gardens, Fred Huette Center Horticulture Society~
~I love this beautiful little spot across the Hague~

~Historic Row Houses line the streets of Colonial Avenue~

~Did I mention I just love my neighborhood?~

Shake your Tail Feather

How cute are these fruity turkeys?? What a fun idea for a kids table at Thanksgiving!! I was looking through Disney's Family Fun website and came across this adorable edible idea. I just had to share. They had many cute ideas for making delicious and fun Thanksgiving recipes, they really wanna make you shake a tail feather!!
A yummy dip in a festive bowl would really be great with this!!

Here's how you make it per the instructions on their website:


Bosc pear (head)
Melon (body)
Cheese (beak and tail feathers)
Red pepper (snood, feet and side feathers)
Raisins (eyes)
Grapes (tail feathers)
Bamboo skewers
Toothpicks

Stabilize the melon body by cutting a shallow slice off the rind to form a flat base. Using a section of bamboo skewer, attach a Bosc pear head to the melon, as shown.
Cut a cheese triangle beak and red pepper snood. Attach both, along with raisin eyes, to the head with sections of toothpick.
Cut red pepper feet and set them in place. For tail feathers, skewer cheese cubes and red grapes, then insert the skewers as shown. Pin pepper side feathers in place with toothpicks.

Slow Cooked Pepper Steak

Have a meat eater in the family??
This is a savory tender sirloin recipe with some rustic veggies and a delicious tomato based sauce that simmers right along with the steak. It only takes a few minutes of prep time, then pop it in the slow cooker and come home to a hot dinner. This is great over rice or noodles. Serve with a salad and dinner is ready in minutes!

2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
1 Tbl. minced garlic
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 beef bouillon cube
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
1 sm. can sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips and garlic. Transfer to a slow cooker.
Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, mushrooms, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Honey Apricot Ham Glaze

Living only 30 miles from Smithfield, VA you can imagine that ham is fairly abundant in our part of America. Although our family isn't partial to eating pork we do enjoy the occasional ham, but it centers mostly around the holidays.

I've made Ham with many different types of glazes, some without any glaze at all. Complimentary flavors such as pineapple and brown sugar, citrus and herb, cranberry and red wine, or even the bold flavor of barbecue sauce can change ham to make it a very savory or sweet main course. You can use different combinations of fruit to achieve a soft sweet flavor.

Here's a great Honey Apricot Ham Glaze that is sure to please....the apricot and honey melt together and balance out the warm spice of the cloves.

1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick and bubbly.
Spoon ham glaze over ham and baste during last 30 minutes of baking.

Layered Enchilada Baker

Nothing quite warms the soul like a hot home cooked dinner on a cool crisp fall night. I love the spicy kick the green chilis add to this Enchilada Bake. It's not over the top, but just right. You can always adjust the spiciness by altering the mild, medium or hot variety of salsa.


1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2-1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast meat
1 can (7 oz.) diced green chilis
1 package (1.25 oz.) taco seasoning mix
8 corn tortillas
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, drained
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese,
divided
1 jar (16 oz.) salsa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken, chilis and seasoning mix. Layer half of tortillas in prepared baking dish. Top with chicken mixture, beans and 1 cup of cheese. Layer with remaining tortillas. Top with salsa and remaining cheese.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.