Honey Mustard Poppy Seed Dressing

Red Robin is one of our favorite restaurants, and the only chain we eat at regularly. (Anchorage has great local food, and I'm not just talking about seafood.)

My favorite menu item there is the chicken tender salad, which comes with honey mustard poppy seed dressing. I love the dressing, which is weird because I hate mustard (I may or may not have gagged when I opened the Grey Poupon and smelled it) and am not a huge fan of honey. This honey mustard, however, is delicious. I found the recipe online and thought I'd share...

Red Robin Honey Mustard Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1 1/2 cups mayo (I used 3/4 cup mayo and 3/4 cup plain yogurt, per a suggestion on the website)
• 4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons Grey Poupon
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy! It's tasty on a salad but is also great to dip french fries and chicken tenders in.

Scones and Biscuits

Sometime last year, we started selling raspberry scones at the coffee shop. They're really good.

But they're also really big and the top of them is hidden in a layer of pure sugar. I made a mental note to make my own and that note got pushed into the "maybe one day, I don't know, not right now, maybe next week" file.

A few weeks ago I finally gave it a try...

Cherry Almond Scones
(makes four)

-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/4 cup sugar (or slightly less)
-4 tablespoons chilled butter
-3 teaspoons water
-2 teaspoons oil
-4 tablespoons milk
-Dried cherries
-Slivered almonds

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and a dash of salt. With your fingers, crumble in butter and mix until crumbly and well incorporated. Stir in cherries and almonds.

In a separate small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine water, oil, milk and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder. Add to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.

Grease a small ramekin and form the dough into a ball, lightly press into ramekin. Spread top of dough with butter and sprinkle a little extra sugar-- sugar in the raw adds a nice little crunch.

Bake for 15- 20 minutes at 350.


They were tasty but something was off. I decided that they'd probably make really great biscuits so one night, I omitted the almonds and cherries and made biscuits! We had them with beef tips and brown rice and they were fantastic, if I do say so myself. My only warning with either recipe is that they are very crumbly. With the final scone, I put a little butter on it, mashed it up, and ate it sort of like a cobbler.

On second thought, that's not really a problem.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Tonight my sore throat and I were lying on the couch decide what to make for dinner. I'm alone for dinner since my husband works nights. Which is pretty awesome sometimes because I can make whatever I want for dinner...like chocolate chip pancakes.

My mom loves pancakes and made them at least once a week growing up so I think they're sort of a comfort food for me. I have to be in the mood for them, though. They're not like my other comfort food (potato anything) where I can eat it at any time. Here is the recipe I used, a fantastic one, for homemade pancakes...

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat)
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat the egg until fluffy. Add in the milk and butter. Mix in the dry ingredients. I had to add a little more milk as it was very thick. I then added what was left in the bag of chocolate chips...maybe 1/5 of a bag? It wasn't a lot. Cook them up!

Looks like a big cookie, right?

I ate them (only two!) just like this.

I don't like a lot of syrup on my waffles or pancakes because it gets entirely too sweet for me. Sometimes, like tonight, I skip syrup and other toppings (butter or peanut butter) altogether. It just didn't need it.

Yes, I cook a decent amount. I like to cook. I like to cook from scratch. I'm really not known as that great a cook. I'm a good baker, though. My husband is willing to try baked goods I've experimented with but my actual cooking? Not so much.

Homemade Broccoli Soup

I love broccoli soup and living in Alaska, what with our nine month winters, I get to eat a lot of it. When I'm pressed for time and craving it, I stop by Fred Meyer and get a bowl from their soup bar. A soup bar is the greatest kind of bar ever. Amen.

However, when I have time and energy, I make it from scratch. It's cheaper (I'm assuming), tastes better because it's not 75% cheese, and is undoubtedly better for you. I came across this recipe a few years ago and haven't let go of it since. (I usually half this recipe because it serves eight people and my husband doesn't like broccoli.)

• 2T butter
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 5 cups of broth (I use chicken but I assume any will work)
• 8-9 cups of broccoli
• 3T butter
• 3T flour (I usually use whole wheat, it tastes fine)
• 2 cups of milk
• Black pepper to taste

Saute the garlic and 2T of butter. Add the broth and broccoli and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes. Allow it to cool for 10-20 minutes, then throw it all in the blender until there are no more broccoli chunks.

Next you need to make your rue. This is tricky and the only tip I have is to use a fork to help get the lumps out. Melt the 3T of butter and add the 3T of flour. This is where you would use the fork to mix and get rid of the lumps. Add the milk and mix well. Combine the broccoli and flour mixtures. Season with black pepper to taste (and cheese, hehe.) Enjoy!

(I like to eat this with a potato roll or piece of French bread but I swear it is divine with a sweet Hawaiian roll.)

I want to make you cookies. From scratch.

I said those words to Kyle in the commissary yesterday. He didn't believe me but I explained to him about how I read on Tia's blog that she made cookies for her husband so he'd have something to eat in his class and how I thought it was really sweet and I wanted to make him some because it's been really cold lately and he's been working 12hr. shifts because they're night flying this week and he works nights. (Honestly, I didn't know where to end that sentence so I just ran with it.)

I grabbed some chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and immediately after we unloaded the groceries, I found a cookie recipe online and began baking. I like this recipe because they're a little puffy and really soft, unlike most cookies. I'm not a big fan of cookies just because they have tendency to get crispy. That's not a problem with these!

The recipe is based on the classic Ghirardelli recipe, I just omitted a little sugar and butter. They turned out pretty tasty!

• 2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 11oz. bag Ghirardelli chocolate chips (I used Hershey's. I didn't put all 11oz. and they have plenty of chips.)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional. I chose not to add them.)

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Once that is mixed, stir in your chips. I did half the batch with just chocolate chips and the other half with chocolate and peanut butter chips. I just eyeballed the amount peanut butter chips I added. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Roll Recipe

Several years ago, at my dad's company Christmas party, his boss' wife made something called a pumpkin roll. It was so delicious that my mom asked for the recipe and tucked it away in a cabinet. I don't remember when it was dug out, but it was and I was the one to bake it. I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into.

Everyone loved it. (Because it is FREAKING DELICIOUS.) My dad and I baked at least 3 or 4 every holiday season for 3 or 4 years straight. I had people asking for them at Easter. (WTH, family? Eat your Peeps and be quiet.) I had a cousin hijack my aunt's cell phone last Thanksgiving to ask me where his pumpkin roll was. Someone else had made it and it wasn't as good as mine. I don't do anything special to them so I think their issues are psychological.

Anyway, on with the recipe! We're gonna do this Alton Brown style, but without all the scientific info.

The dry team

• 1 cup sugar (I think I normally do 3/4 of a cup, though.)
• 3/4 cup all-all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  

The wet team

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup of pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  
  

For the filling

You don't need this stuff right now but I'd go ahead and take the cream cheese out to soften.

• 8oz. softened cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine
  
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Other things you need because this thing is involved

• A mixer
  
• A 10 x 15in. jelly roll pan (I used our cookie sheet and it worked fine.)
• A clean kitchen towel
• Wax paper
• Crisco or another nonstick spray

Let's get cooking!

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by mixing the sugar and eggs. Once you have that, add in the pumpkin and lemon juice. Yum.

In a separate bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients.

Mix it up by gradually adding the dry to the wet. Adding it gradually is more to avoid having a flour mess all over yourself. Now it's yum for real.

Spray your pan with Crisco (I'm sure you don't have to but I do out of paranoia) and line it with wax paper. Spray the wax paper with Crisco, spread your mixture evenly in the pan, and bake for about 15 minutes.

Once it's done, take it out and let it cool for another 10-15min. While that's cooling, roll out your kitchen towel and sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

Lay the pumpkin roll on the towel, wax paper side up. Start peeling the wax paper away. If you used enough Crisco and the cake is cool enough, it should come right off. If it's a little difficult to get off, let it cool a little more. If it's still difficult to get off, I have no idea what you did and I don't want credit for this recipe. (But really, I don't know what to tell you.)

Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top of it and roll it up with the towel inside. I know, it's crazypants. The first time my dad told me to do that I was like, "Um, no." But do it. And then let it cool in the fridge while you make the filling.

Start by mixing the butter and cream cheese together. Once that's mixed, add in the powdered sugar (gradually to avoid a mess!) and vanilla. Mix it until it's smooth and creamy, like the picture. I almost feel like you could make a little less filling and be ok, like maybe take out 1/4 of all the ingredients.

Once the cake part is cooled, take it out and unroll it. Spread the filling inside. This part can be really messy and I don't like it. (On the upside, you get to lick this yummy filling off of your fingers!)

Roll it up, sans towel, and you have a pumpkin roll! I like to freeze mine before cutting because it helps them stay together a little better. (These freeze so well. You can make multiples at Thanksgiving and freeze the remainders until Christmas and they're just as good as the day you made them.)

Cut into 1/4-1/2in. slices and enjoy!