buttermilk pancakes

a few days ago, i bought a pint of buttermilk, thinking i was going to make these delicious cheddar bacon drop biscuits to go with some baked potato soup i was simmering on the stove... but i never got around to it.

what luck for me that this buttermilk was sitting in my fridge-- ready for my friday morning pancake craving. :)

  

buttermilk pancakes, adapted from martha 

ingredients: 

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs (beaten slightly)

2 cups buttermilk (shaken!!)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter 

mix all ingredients together (i did dry first, then incorporated wet.)

tip from martha: make sure your batter is still lumpy.  

lumpy batter makes good buttermilk pancakes.

flip when you see the bubbles!

  if you have a nonstick griddle, there is total freedom whether or not you want to butter your griddle, prior to frying your cakes.  sometimes i like to, because the butter gives it a nice extra crispiness, but other times (due to watching my cals or just being absentminded).. i don't grease my griddle.  in my opinion, either way will give you nice pancakes. :)

happy friday morning! :)

NEW CAMERA: ptL!

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OH PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

i will for sure be blogging more often because i actually have a way to capture PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ohhhh glorious investment: my first DSLR.  i am SO THANKFUL for this new little camera: the nikon d5100.  (AND thankful that i've been saving for a long time for this-- as WELL as capitalizing on the awesome sale that was happening at best buy). :)

i'm praying i will be faithful to know how to use it and really work with it to its full potential!!

thanks for rejoicing with me on this great new step in my life!  i am SO GRATEFUL! :)

pity the kitty

she started out as a little stray cat at my mom's house. 

for the first 4 years of her life, she lived outside, braving all four seasons that ohio threw at her.

when we got married, we made the decision to adopt this little sweetheart and bring her inside.  at first, she was super-nervous as this was her first attempt at indoor-life.  however, she slowly emerged as a kitty cat who has had an indoor-loving-heart all along.

she loves to snuggle and play and is such a good little friend.

pity jane-- you are precious!  we are thankful for you, our little furry friend. :)

stuck like glue

my husband rocks.

upon seeing a huge pitcher full of flowers when i arrived back home from being out-of-town at our dear friends' wedding, my heart melted.

to my dearest hubby:

yes, i know, dear, that you are so busy.

i know that you have so much to read and learn.

i know that your hours at work are long.

i know that you have so many other friends to talk to and pursue.

however, you make TIME for me. :)

thanks.

i left him a present the next morning--- a song, cued up on our iPod dock, and some of the lyrics, printed on a little card (which you can see, written out right by the vase.)

enjoy my flowers--- and the song. :)   

 

 

BEST BOOK i've read in a LONG time!

Dominic Smart's book, "When We Get It Wrong: Peter, Christ, and our path through failure" is one of the BEST BOOKS i've ever read!  it is FANTASTIC!

upon first glance of the cover:

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i wasn't too sure if i'd actually like it. (NO OFFENSE to the dearest graphic designer who probably worked *so hard* on it). :(  the title/cover combination just struck me that this book was going to be one of those about our sin, crap, yuckiness, and how Jesus is good: the end. not really bridging the gap enough between our sin and the goodness of Jesus to let in the TRUTH and LIGHT that through Him, we can actually CHANGE.  some books/talks/sermons/etc. i've experienced throughout my life sometimes, i think don't mean to... but DO... leave out this important detail that **by no means** sugar-coats our own sin and need for a Savior......  but just kind of have left me, as a reader/listener, feeling like i want to hide from this very good, very holy, very perfect Lord (because i'm a failure).  

i was a little nervous this book was going to be like that, too.

i. was. so. WRONG!

dominic smart brings the TRUTH and GRACE of Jesus right to the heart of readers by looking at significant scenes from the life of Peter: Jesus' disciple/friend/apostle.

i will write more about this later (i really need to go work on stuff!!!!) BUT i will leave you with this tasty nugget that will HOPEFULLY make you HUNGRY to go out and get your own copy (YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!!!) :)

"There has grown up a subject area called discipleship - it has seeded our bookshelves with a host of 'how to' manuals which tell us what we must do and how to do it best. It promises a harvest of effective and enjoyable Christianity. Now there is nothing about the Scriptural context for understanding what it is to be a Christian which suggests that practice is unnecessary, nor that good practice is somehow not to be aimed at, nor that misery is virtuous; but the great danger of putting what I do before what I am - of approaching the practicalities of Christian living apart from the context of Christian being - is that I succumb to the essentially legalistic pressure of the flesh."

wahhhhhh i could go on and on!!  i just LOVE those last three lines (that start with "the great danger...").  SO. RICH!!!!!  seriously this book is like Thanksgiving dinner and turtle-triple chocolate cheesecake and Tuscan lasagna and everything DELICIOUS and FILLING about life........ it is so. rich.  it will fill your heart to overflowing--- (but not make you sick, like if you ate huge portions of everything i just talked about, haha)----- but instead will turn your eyes upon Jesus---- you'll look full in His wonderful face!!  and you'll worship!! :)  GO GET IT! :)

SOOO FANCY: crème brûlée french toast :)

i normally [try] to get up early, with bud, as he gets ready for work. it's good for me, to get up and look for substitute teaching jobs. however, it's saturday, and while my body still wanted to get up at 5:30, there aren't any schools open today for me to teach in.

what's a girl to do? :)

well, with a loaf of fresh Challah on my kitchen counter (that i just bought at a farmer's market a couple days ago!), what ELSE could a super-ravenous girl do but make crème brûlée french toast?

if you've never seen a loaf of this specialty Jewish bread, check out this braid of majesty:

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with a little inspiration from Deb's recipe at Smitten Kitchen, i crafted a truly delightful breakfast for myself.

you can follow her recipe if you want [i bet it's amazing!], but I didn't for a few reasons: 
***Deb's recipe calls for a lot of lovely (and ah-hem, expensive) ingredients that i just don't ever have. i just can't afford to buy and scrape real vanilla beans at this point in life.
 ***her recipe called for full flavor ingredients that are also, unfortunately, full fat! i wanted to try to re-create a recipe that had the goodness of crème brûlée flavor, with less fat and calories.  for example, i figured that fat-free half & half could totally sub in for the heavy cream and whole milk. [and i already had FF half & half in my fridge anyway... whereas i never buy whole milk & try to keep my heavy-cream purchasing to a minimum ;) ]
***and obviously, i needed a recipe for 1, not 6, servings. ;)
 

ella's crème brûlée french toast for one :)

2 slices Challah bread
1 egg
fat-free half & half (I probably used 1/2 cup? maybe 2/3 cup? hard to tell. def. not more than 2/3 cup though.)
pinch of salt
sprinkling of granulated sugar (probably 1-2 Tablespoons)
a little splash of vanilla (probably 1/2-1 teaspoon)
*more granulated sugar for the tops (probably 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Get out a small baking sheet and line it with a piece of parchment paper.


Whisk all ingredients, except the bread, together in a shallow bowl (one that your bread slices will easily fit in, for dipping!).. i actually just used a fork. (a little nugget about me: i love stirring/whisking/anything with a fork. forks are one of my favorite kitchen tools. :)

1 piece at a time, dip the Challah slices in, letting each piece really soak in the little pool of custardy goodness (let 'em soak well, on each side!).  transfer pieces to lined baking sheet.  pop in oven and bake till done all the way through the middle----- about 15-20 minutes(?)  (ahhh, i was on the phone and not doing the best job of paying attention to the clock..... sorry. so just check 'em when you do it). :)

**IMPORTANT [and this is the best part!!!]: When the bread slices are almost done (maybe with 5 mins to go!) get a small, dry, heavy-bottomed sauce pot on the stove and get your 1/4 cup sugar.  dump the sugar in the pot and melt it, by stirring it over medium heat until it is the color of honey.  it'll look like this:

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according to deb, this was her best way to get the crunchy, yummy, signature creme brûlée top. (you can TOTALLY sprinkle your sugar right on the bread slices and use your broiler if you want, but i have never used mine, and knew the melted sugar way would work----- and i was much, much too nervous to torch my heavenly Challah slices I'd worked so hard on).  SO, if you melt your sugar on the stove top, just stir it, let it turn to honey, then work quickly and pour/spoon a little bit (just a little!) over each slice of bread. spread it thin and you'll have the signature crunch! (but not too much crunch) :)

mine kind of looked like this at the end (sorry for the lack of pictures; still need to fix my stinking camera!!!!  or just get a new one.  or maybe get one for Christmas. [hint, hint]) :)

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happy saturday to me. :)  

AND happy saturday to YOU, if you RUN to your kitchen and make yourself the fanciest french toast you've ever had!!!!!!!!! ;)        <3 ella :)