Tim's Back from Texas

Yup. Tim is back and it is great, make that beyond fantastic, to have him home again. He had a wonderful visit with his step-mother, Joyce, and his dad. He came back with lots of pictures of Denton (geocruise.blogspot.com) which I was just told are not up yet, but there are tons of great photos just the same.

Anywho, he had a good trip, a hot gay-motorcyclin' cowboy named Justin tried to pick him up at Fuzzy's Taco Shop (I think the name of the place says it all!). He ate BBQ at The Prairie House, Tex-Mex at Fuzzy's (stop thinking that!) & good old home-style-Ramona cooking at Joyce's. Unfortunately he did not get to any of the places on our list! So keep any eye out here as we plan to order some mailorder goodies from the bakery & popcorn place for sure. Who knows, maybe you'll be over at our house for dinner when that happens!

Move Over Original Pancake House!

Last night I promised Tim I'd make him something special for breakfast in the morning. You see, last night I opened up "The Best of Fine Cooking: Sweet Cakes", it is one of those super expensive, extra huge magazines they put out every so often. I wasn't looking for breakfast foods. I was looking for some cake recipe to inspire me into a fit of baking. I found one, an applesauce-walnut cake that I've been eyeing for a while, but it was too late to start anything. But as I was flipping I ran across Skillet Puff Pancake, which looks a lot like the Dutch Boy Pancake they serve at The Original Pancake House. So there I was, looking at the Skillet Puff Pancake, ignoring the Parsnip & Pecan Sour Cream Muffins on the same page, but finding my eyes drawn across the next page and the Fastest-Ever Cinnamon Buns across the way. Hmmm. What to do?

This morning Tim decide that the Skillet Puff Pancake sounded better than the Fastest-Ever Cinnamon Buns, and since we didn't want to shower, hop in the car and drive to the Original Pancake House it was a go.

Skillet Puff Pancake (serves 2)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
dash of salt
2 oz (4 tablespoons) butter

Heat oven to 450F and put a large skillet or shallow Dutch-oven in to heat, cast iron is perfect. In a bowl, beat eggs, flour, milk and salt. It's important to mix all ingredients together at once; otherwise, your pancake won't puff. The more air you beat into the batter, the higher it will rise in the oven.* When the oven is hot, toss the butter into the skillet and let it melt. Pour the batter into the skillet and return it to the oven. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pancake is puffed and golden. Cut in half and serve immediately with warm maple syrup, coffee and the newspaper. (Fine Cooking Magazine)

This has become a favorite weekend breakfast for us. Tim and I love it! It is easy, fast and if you start your bacon in the oven and then make the pancake they'll both come out about the same time.

*I have made this using a KitchenAid and just a run of the mill wire whisk. I promise you, the whisk makes a better pancake. You can beat in a lot more air with a whisk then with the whisk attachment and it takes so little time you'll spend half of it just pulling out the mixer if you're like me and store it under the counter. Use the whisk! Use The Whisk! USE the Whisk!!!