Tag Archives: recipe

Life is Tastier When You Create Your Own Recipe

Have you ever taken a bite of something so delicious your entire body could practically taste it?  Ever wonder how you could replicate that mouth watering savory sensation?

Stop wondering, because you will never be able to duplicate that exactly as the chef prepared it.  And seriously, why would you want to?

Why not take it, and make it your own?

I have a new motto I want to share with you.  “Life is tastier when you create your own recipe.”

For example, that box of Bisquick in your pantry.  The recipe calls for

2 cups Bisquick

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Box of Bisquick

Why stop at just that?  Why not add

blueberries

strawberries

bananas

chocolate chips

coconut flakes

oatmeal

nuts

What could be better than starting your day with smiley face pancakes with blueberry eyes and a strawberry mouth?

smiley face pancakes

For Valentine’s Day, how about strawberry heart pancakes?

Valentine's Day pancakes

I hope you realize that I’m not just talking about pancakes here.  Where would the world be if we all stuck to the recipe on the box.  Just imagine…

What if Thomas Edison stuck to the recipe on his box?

What if Dr. Martin Luther King stuck to the recipe on his box?

What if Bill Gates stuck to the recipe on his box?

What if Steve Jobs stuck to the recipe on his box?

Ever think about the box the blind are placed in?

Blind people are often placed into a soft, padded, protected, illiterate, unemployable box with low expectations.

What if Dr.  Jacobus Tenbrook, Dr Kenneth Jernigan, Dr. Marc Maurer, and Mark Riccobono stuck to the recipes on their box?  Who are these men you ask?  These are the past and current president of the National Federation of the Blind.  In 1940 Dr. Tenbrook organized the National Federation of the Blind.  This is an organization of the blind, not an organization for the blind.   We are changing the misconceptions about blindness, a movement tearing down the walls of inequality, we are blind scientists and blind engineers inventing our future, and we are blind educators and parents teaching the next generation of blind children that they CAN live the life they want.

Marley on the Braille writer

Do you remember Christine Ha?  Just a few years ago she was the winner on the show the Master Chef.

People!  We are all master chefs!

Get out of that box.

Make life zestier.

Make life sweeter.

Make life spicier.

Whatever you do, just make it YOUR recipe.

grilled chipotle chicken salad

 

 

 

Eggnog Cookies

This holiday season, I decided to try my hand at baking.  Mind you, I don’t bake.  Like I’ve mentioned before, my idea of baking is opening up a box and adding eggs and water.  Wen I found the recipe for Eggnog Cookies, I was so excited to try it out.  Sadly, that first recipe was not as tasty as I’d hope it to be.  Luckily, the second recipe more than made up for the failure of the first. Since succeeding on that yummy batch I baked for my first cookie exchange, I’ve baked three more batches.  And today, the kids and I just went passing out little red baggies tied with jingle bells and curly red ribbon full of yummy eggnog cookies to our neighbors.

In the words of my dear husband, “Tastes like Christmas in your mouth.”

For a yummy batch of Eggnog Cookies, you will need;

2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 1/4 cups of white sugar

3/4 cups of butter (softened)

1/2 cup of eggnog

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well and set aside.

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks and beat until smooth.

Add the flour mixture and mix until combined; be careful not to overmix

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Transfer to cool, flat surface immediately with a spatula.

Enjoy 🙂

This year in 2013, I added an extra stick of butter, substituted the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, and instead of sprinkling nutmeg at the end before baking, I mixed the nutmeg in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and rolled the finished cookies in the sugar after cooling. AMAZING!!!

2013 recipe revision.  I added an extra stick of butter, substituted the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, and instead of sprinkling nutmeg at the end before baking, I mixed the nutmeg in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and rolled the finished cookies in the sugar after cooling. AMAZING!!!