Peanut Butter & Banana Pancakes

It's that time... when my tummy starts turning upside down because the kids are going back to school. Except, they are not 'kids'.... they are teenagers... but yet, I still feel the same when they go back to school. They get so incredibly busy with school work, athletics and their social lives. I always enjoy when they are on break and everything slows down a little. I enjoy hearing their chatter and laughter - even when they are just hanging out in the man cave. I enjoy waking up in the morning and finding evidence in the kitchen that they were making midnight snacks. Kids grow fast and every moment is enjoyed... I have never understood those mothers who used to say in the school yard at pick-up time how they could not wait for their kids to return to school. Nop - I always enjoy when mine are home!

I thought I would make them something a little special this Sunday morning before returning to school tomorrow bright and early. I made them Peanut Butter & Banana Pancakes. I took the recipe from Marilou Champagne's cookbook 'Trois Fois Par Jour - Premier Tome'.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter (to cook the pancakes)

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Mix it all together! I used normal 2% milk to make this recipe and I added 1/4 cup more as I found the batter too thick. The recipe book also offers a recipe for a sauce to go with the pancakes but I opted for the kids to choose their toppings. My daughter added some berries and maple syrup. One of my son's put generous spread of Nutella on his whilst my other son stuck with maple syrup only. They all enjoyed the pancakes and found that it only had a hint of peanut taste - not too much. They found these pancakes to be heavier than the traditional pancakes we normally have.

Peanut Butter & Banana Pancakes

Mini-sausage rolls

My mum used to make these delicious sausage rolls when we had parties at home or when it was Christmas. My daughter has taken over the tradition of making them - except she makes them a lot more frequently. They never last too long in my house! We make them when it is movie-night at home, playing cards or to play a board game. They are so easy to make and take no time to bake!

Ingredients:

1 pack of hot-dog sausages of your choice
2 packs of Phillsbury crescent dough

Directions:

Cut each sausage in 3 and wrap in dough. Place on a cookie baking tray and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

Done!!!! We like to eat them with mustard or ketchup.

Mini-sausage rolls

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

What a lovely surprise yesterday when opening presents and my son gave me Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook. I love it!!! So many delicious recipes and the recipes can be used year-around and not only during the Holidays. I will be using this book a lot! The pictures inside are also beautiful. I have spent most of Boxing Day flipping through this recipe book and already planning next Christmas!

We lived in England for 12 years and all our children were born there. Hence, my cooking during those years were highly influenced by Annabel Karmel when the kids were babies and I was weaning them onto solids. Then I moved on to family meals and I took a lot of guidance from Jamie Oliver, Nigella and Gordon Ramsey. I used to watch their television programs and buy their cookbooks. A lot of our family favourites are now based on what I learned from these Chefs. Great inspirations!!

Caramel & Cinnamon Buns

Getting organized for Christmas today! I always prepare a sausage casserole on Christmas eve and I pop it into the oven just before we start unwrapping presents in the morning. Then, when are finished, the casserole is ready to be eaten! I also decided to prepare some Caramel & Cinnamon Rolls this year so we can end our Christmas morning brunch with some sweetness. I used Ricardo's recipe in his latest magazine:

Buns:
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup of soft unsalted butter

Caramel:
3/4 of brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup of corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons of non-salted butter

Bun: 

1. In a bowl, mix the buttermilk, sugar, yeast and salt. Keep aside.

2. Using my Kitchen Aid mixer, mix the flour, eggs et the milk mixture until the dough is formed.

3. Incorporate the butter et let the Kitchen Aid kneed the dough for 5 minutes. The dough will be soft and lightly sticky. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a lightly wet tea towel or cling film. Leave aside in a warm area for an hour.

Caramel:

4. In a bowl, whip all the ingredients together. Pour into a 33x23 cm (13 x 9 inches) buttered baking tray. Keep aside.

Filling:

5. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar and ground cinnamon together.

6. On your working area, generously put some flour et work the dough into a 50 x 35 cm (20 x14 inches) rectangle. Gently put some melted butter on the rectangle and add the sugar & cinnamon mixture on top of the dough. Roll the dough into a cylindre. Cut the cylindre into 12 slices.

7. Gently put the slices on top of the caramel in the baking tray. Cover with a humid tea towel and keep in a warm area for an hour. You can also refrigerate over night.

8. Warm the over at 350 F (180 C).

9. Gently put some melted butter on the buns and bake for 30 minutes until the buns are golden. Let the buns rest for 10 minutes.

10. Using a large dish, put on top of the baking tray and turn around for the buns to come out of the baking tray.

Thank you Ricardo!!!!!

Winter Wonderland Christmas Log

I decided to make a classic chocolate Christmas Log this year. I used Ricardo's recipe which was easy to make... However, I did not have enough of the chocolate whipped cream. I should have doubled the recipe. At this stage, I wanted to finish my log.... so I used all the chocolate whipped cream for the inside of the log and I whipped some cream for the outside of the log. I decorated with some little trees. My teenage boys loved this log!!! Now I know for next time to double the chocolate whipped cream!

It was perfect along with our Christmas Eve buffet and games! Excited about Christmas!!!!

Boozy Fruitcake - part 2

The time has finally come to bake the fruitcakes! My dried fruits have been soaking in the rum and Porto for over a month now. I have been carefully making the fruits every day and it simply smelled delicious.

Today, I ran the dried fruits in my Vitamix and turned them into a paste.

I prepared my ingredients:

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
4 ounces blanched almonds (2/3 cup)
1/3 cup boiling water
1/4 cup unseetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups packed dark-brown sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
10 large eggs, at room temperature
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup molasses or cane sugar

Once all my ingredients were mixed together, I added the dried fruit puree and mixed well.

I lined my baking trays with parchament paper and buttered them well. I warmed my oven at 300 F and baked the cakes for 2 hours. It smelled like Christmas in my house!

Today, I carefully cut the cakes into squares and prepared some gift boxes for some neighbours.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

White cake with maple frosting & raspberries

What is a snowy Sunday without a bit of a treat to end the weekend? Growing up, the weekends were always busy. We would usually go to my grandparents house in the Laurentiens where in the winter, I spent my days outside snowmobiling. I would only come in to warm up and have a meal. I loved being at my grandparents' - skating on the lake, sliding on the km long slide all the way down the lake, playing with the dogs, the endless stream of guests who would stop by at my grandparents. They represented the definition of hospitability to me. They made everyone feel so welcome.

I also enjoyed going home to the calm of my home in St-Bruno where we would spend the rest of the Sunday relaxing by the fireplace, watching some NFL games and indulging in some comfort French-Canadian food my mum would make.... and the meal always ended with a dessert!

I try to keep this kind of Sunday with my children. They are such busy teenagers and it is nice to find time together on Sundays. I try to make a special dessert to end our weekend. I made this cake as a Christmas log last year and decided to make it as a cake. I did not have the white chocolate to make the curls to decorate it but I had maple crumbs and raspberries. I used Ricardo's recipe again - perfection!