Is this Thanksgiving or Nesting?

Every year, we go to DC for the annual family movie madness weekend. It is largely an excuse to eat a lot of everything (teriyaki steaks, popcorn, ayerkuuuuken- don't ask me to explain these!) and to spend most of the weekend making fun of eachother's movie taste. We usually have a plan for 7-8 movies and get in no more than 5 due banter time (the best part). I will use this forum to state that Dirty Dancing really is the best movie ever. Not an opinion, a fact. Although, I watched Benjamin Button last night & what a great movie to make a 39 week prego cry!

Anyway, I digress. Cousin Eve always makes delicious popovers for breakfast at movie weekend. She inspired me to get a popover tin at Williams-Sonoma over a year ago. It moved to the burbs with us and has been sitting unused next to my muffin tin....

This morning, some fate set in. I hit Google on my IPAD and the "GOOGLE" banner had of course become Thanksgiving themed. When you click on it, all Ina Garten's Thanksgiving recipes show up, popovers included! 8:30 am, in bed and think to myself- what better excuse? I am very pregnant , it is Thanksgiving and Lee is home to enjoy breakfast with me!

Delicious. Ina states three rules that you see everywhere on popovers:

1. preheat the pan for a couple of minutes

2. Don't fill popover pan more that 1/2 full

3. Do not peek inside the oven at all- keep that door closed!

They're so easy to make, require no weird ingredients, zero prep time and they make the perfect breakfast with some jam. My poor popover pan won't be abandoned anymore!

I halfed the recipe and made 6 and it worked out perfectly.

Barefoot Contessa Parties (great cookbook!) - Ina Garten's Popovers

Makes 12 popovers- I used one pan and made 6

1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan (I used Pam)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 tsp kosher salt

3 extra large eggs at room temp

1 1/2 cups whole milk at room temp

Preheat oven to 425. Place tins inside for a few minutes to heat them up. Mix all ingredients together. Use a bowl or measuring cup with a spout to pour in each popover- no more than half full. Place in oven. 30 minutes. Do not peek!

Serve hot with some coffee (you know which brand!) & my favorite OJ, Simply Orange!

Bran Flax Muffins

Tasty, super healthy recipe from the side of the Bob Red Mill's Flaxseed Meal (sold at Whole Foods and almost everywhere). They don't photograph well, so I won't try. They're perfect snacks that are packed with 5 grams of fiber.

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat or Unbleached white Pastry Flour
3/4 cup Ground Flaxseed meal
3/4 cup Oat Bran
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded Carrots
2 peeled and shredded Apples
1/2 cup Raisins
1 cup chopped Nuts (I use pecans or walnuts)
3/4 cup Milk
2 beaten Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:
Mix together flour, Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed Meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, apples, raisins (if desired) and nuts. Combine milk, beaten eggs and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until ingredients are moistened. DO NOT OVER MIX. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Yield: 15 medium muffins

Notes:
You can also use 1 1/2 cups Unbleached White Flour in place of the Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
One muffin contains Calories 220, Calories from Fat 80, Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 0.5g, Cholesterol 30mg, Sodium 310mg, Carbohydrates 34g, Dietary Fiber 5g, Sugar 21g, Protein 6g.

Applesauce Carrot Cake Muffins

One more from Step Up's Goddess Baking Night....

These are great. They don't photograph well, but the volunteers and teens of Step Up do, so I photographed them instead. They're a close runner up to Ellie Krieger's apple muffins that I love. In fact, one disappeared from the fridge and was eaten by my husband- he's not a muffin guy, so it's a testament to their tastiness. This recipe was developed by Marisa Angebranndt, the p(resident) baker of wannahavacookie as a healthier way to make carrot cake.

I enjoyed one for breakfast this am, they're very moist and tasty- didn't keep me full for that long though- need to pair it with a fruit next time.

Applesauce Carrot Cake Muffins

Yields 25-30 muffins, prep time: 30 minutes

4 eggs

2 cups Splenda baking sugar

1 cup natural unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup veg oil (is it healthier to use canola oil?)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose baking flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp table salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots (8 medium carrots)

Preheat oven to 350. Grate carrots. Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) into a bowl, whisk and set aside. Line muffin tins with muffin liners. Mix wet ingredients into a bowl (eggs, Splenda, applesauce, veg oil, vanilla extract) and whisk to ensure there are no lumps.

Mix in dry ingredients and carrots and stir. Scoop mix into muffin pan until they are 2/3 full- don't overfill. Bake for 25 minutes and switch trays half way through to ensure they get evenly baked.

Deep Purple Smoothie

I've been making this smoothie for a couple of months. It's a quick, healthy snack made with ingredients that can stay in your fridge for a while...It's also the "recessionista" version of the $5 I used to blow at Jamba Juice...impressive, right?

All you need is a blender. Blend these ingredients together:

1/2 cup mixed frozen berries
1/2 cup orange juice (as you can imagine, I will recommend the orange juice of champions: Minute Maid or Simply Orange)
lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
1 Splenda or 1 tsp of sugar
2 ice cubes
1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt (today I used Fage greek yogurt cause I like their magazine ads!)

You can throw in some flax seed, change the fruit used...ENJOY!

Mario Batali's Orange Olive Oil Cake

In recent months, we have become obsessed with a new neighborhood restaurant called Bar Stuzzichini, an Italian tapas bar with unreal appetizers in the Flatiron district of New York City. We took our authentically Italian friend, Donata, there and she was immediately smitten! We always start our dinner with the "Stuzzichini Misti", which is a choice of 5 appetizers for 2 people for a well-priced $24! Highly recommend the ceci (chickpea) and/or caponata crostini, polpo (grilled octopus), the carciofi (heavenly fried artichokes) and the polpette (meatballs). Everytime I go, I order the grilled tuna with a cool pesto. Many of the people I have taken there love the orecchiette e cavolfiore (little ears with cauliflower and breadcrumbs).

I recently started finishing off my meal with the orange scented olive oil cake and decided to try to replicate at home with Mario Batali's recipe from a cookbook Donata bought me for Christmas a few years ago!

We brought it over to our friends' delicious dinner party last night and it was a very good cake especially when served with vanilla ice cream. It's great for a brunch party or a dessert. Perhaps I am my own worst critic, but I would have preferred it to be more moist and spongy. Please feel free to make suggestions on how I can moisten it up. I saw that Giada has a version with whole milk, more citrus juice and normal, all-purpose flour- I will try that next.

Olive Oil & Orange Cake
Mario Batali's "Simple Italian Food, Recipes from My Two Villages"
Serves 8

6 medium oranges
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
confectioners'/icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350. Oil a 9 inch round cake pan.

Remove the zest from the oranges and juice one of them. Set fruit aside for another use. Sift the flour and baking soda together onto a piece of waxed paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and salt together with an electric mixer until frothy and light, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the sugar, continuing to mix 2 minutes longer. Add the flour and baking sida gradually to the egg mixture, then mix 1 more minute.

In another bowl, combine the olive oil, orange zest and juice. Using a spoon, stir it into the egg mixture, folding until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Invert onto wire rack.

Cool to room temperature, dust confectioners'/icing sugar onto cake, cut into wedges and serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

Ellie Krieger's Apple Muffins

After seeing Ellie Krieger, the new Food TV hostess and nutritionist, bake these low fat muffins on "Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger" a couple of weeks ago, I put them on my "to blog" list. They are moist and taste like a light version of apple pie. Enjoy this recipe as a breakfast or mid day snack. Keep them in ziplocs in the freezer for a "go to" snack.

Let them eat muffins

About two years ago, my friend, Kara, gave me a recipe for Weight Watchers bran muffins that were, as her husband, Willy, stated, "guaranteed to make me go to the bathroom". Yum !
After eating one,I started thinking to myself..."maybe I can find a great low fat recipe that I will really enjoy" and I did! If you're a real novice in the kitchen, this is a perfect start, it only requires 3 mixing bowls & a microplane zester & a 12 cup muffin tin. I found this recipe online at Shape Magazine's www.shape.com.

These muffins make a great summer muffin when blueberries are fresh and a great winter muffin when the blueberries are frozen :) I got my blueberries at the Farmer's Market in Union Square and they were the juiciest ever.

I am taking the muffins to some of my favorite people tomorrow for our journey to Atlanta. Delta seems to forget that people get hungry on a 2.5 hr ride.

The healthy muffin is hard to find & this one is only 180 calories and 5 grams fat with 0.5 grams of saturated fat with 1 gram of fiber. They are full of antioxidants as well- ENJOY!

Very Berry Orange Oat Muffins (Shape Magazine)
Serves: 12, Prep: 15 min, Cook: 15 minutes

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 medium orange
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 whole egg
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I left them put this time !)
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly coat muffin cups with Pam.
In the small bowl: Stir together oats and buttermilk and set aside for 5 minutes.
In the medium bowl: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In the large bowl: Grate orange rind (with your zester) and squeeze 1/2 cup oj in. Whisk in sugar, canola oil and egg until mixture is smooth. Blend in oatmeal mixture and then the flour mixture. Stir until ingredienrs are just combined and then gently fold in blueberries.
You don't want the batter to look like cookie monster, so don't overmix.

Spoon batter into muffin tin and bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

Note: You can buy rolled oats and whole wheat flour at Whole Foods, but I am sure they are readily available.

These make a great breakfast or snack on the go.

The Quest for Parfaitction

Getting out of bed in the morning has always been a challenge for me...I do it, but I don't like it.
About 2 years ago, I discovered a breakfast that made waking up a little less hellish.
When we lived in Murray Hill, Lee and I used to frequent "Penelope", on 30th and Lexington, quite a lot. They had the best Mabel's granola! We used to crave it every weekend. At $10 a bowl, it was no cheap habit! I got smart and asked our usual waiter, Steve, what kind of yogurt they used. The secret lay in the Axelrod Vanilla low fat yogurt. From then on, we have spent much time perfecting the yogurt parfaits. The best granola came when we least expected it. My friend, Corryn, bought me some great jam and granola from "Au Pain Quotidien". Wow ! That is granola! So, now we are addicted to granola that is geographically desirable (only a 3 block walk to get it when I need it !) and UNREAL. If you do not live near a Pain Quotidien, Whole Foods makes good Vanilla crunch granola as well.

Sherri & Lee's Yogurt Parfaits

1/2 cup Axelrod Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt (you can get this at Gristedes and Associated...Fresh Direct & Whole Foods don't have it...SUCKS. This yogurt is available in Canada.)
1/2 cup assorted berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)
1/2 cup Organic granola from Pain Quotidien

This may not be rocket science, but it is one of our faves !
It is also a great healthy breakfast for those who are trying to watch it.
Throwing these parfaits in beautiful milkshake glasses in layers would be beautiful for a weekend brunch.

Bon Appetit !