There are some nights that I just don’t want to cook. Nights when I stand in front of the fridge and whine and complain and think of every excuse possible for why I can’t cook. Usually there are a few culprits.

1.  I am tried, and don’t have the energy to put something together
2.  I am tired, and don’t feel like washing the inevitable dishes that show up after you cook
3.  I am tired, I haven’t been to the store all week, and we have no food in the house
4.  I am tired, my creativity is non-existant, and I don’t know what in the heck to make

So, I’m seeing a trend here…I have been way too tired lately. And at the end of a long day, I need quick and easy. Luckily, I found exactly what I was looking for in The Best Simple Recipes - a simple, one-pot pasta dish. And it looked like I could make it (or my own version of it) using food we already had in the fridge or pantry. Perfect.

So I made it. It was easy and cheesy and so, so good. It was such a hit that I have made it about once a week since then. My 3 year old is obsessed.  Every time we make it, she says over and over how it is “riquisimo”! Since I changed the ingredient list from what was originally in the recipe, I am assuming you could do about a million different variations of this dish. Use whatever you have on hand! The original recipe uses spicy tomatoes, sausage and jack cheese. Here is the way that we have been making it:

Ingredients:
16 ounces of short pasta (whatever shape you like)
2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
14.5 ounce can of tomatoes (San Marzano is best, but whatever you have on hand will work)
1/2 of a medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, grated or minced
3/4 cup cream or half and half
handful of shredded parmesan cheese
2 handfuls of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 – 2 Tablespoons basil pesto (homemade or store-bought)
fresh basil leaves
a few slices of prosciutto, chopped (optional)
1 green onion, chopped (optional)
EVOO
salt
pepper

Directions:
1.  Heat EVOO in an oven-proof skillet (that has a tight fitting lid). Add the onions and cook until slightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
2.  Add the proscuitto and cook for a few minutes, stirring to keep the onions from burning. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.

3.  Add the chicken broth and scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan.
4.  Add the tomatoes, pesto, salt and pepper and stir.

5.  Bring to a boil, and stir in the pasta. Cover the skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low.
6.  Add in the cream and stir. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes, or until pasta is just tender, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Make sure not to overcook the pasta. It will continue to cook during the next step.

7.  Remove skillet from the heat.  Stir in about half of the parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Top with the remaining cheese and green onion (if using).
8.  Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve.

YUM!

What is your go-to meal for the nights when you are just too tired to cook?

Don’t you love eating at restaurants where your food looks like a piece of art, beautifully prepared on the plate? Or buying something that comes in the most divine packaging, so unique that you can’t bear to throw it away? And I don’t even drink coffee, but it seems to me that part of the allure of Starbucks is the fun names that all of their drinks have. It’s all in the presentation!

So why do we slap boring healthy food on a plate and expect our kids to eat it and like it? We need to present it well. Put it on a fun plate or in a cute glass, with fun accessories, and for sure give it a good name. Which is how the Tinker Bell Juice came to be.

We are in a huuuuge princess phase over here. I don’t like it, I don’t promote it, but I do exploit the heck out of it when I need to.

You don’t want to wash your hands? Oh, because princesses always wash their hands.

You don’t like this green juice I made? Well, did you know that its actually called Tinker Bell Juice, and she made it green just like her?

Yes, it works every single time.

So back to the Tinker Bell Juice. It is so easy and actually pretty delicious. You add equal parts pineapple and kale to the juicer. Taste it, and adjust quantities of each, if necessary. Put it in a nice glass with a fun colorful straw and tell them that Tinker Bell made it. They will gulp it down and ask for more. If you have a little one who isn’t into princesses (lucky!!) you could also call it leprechaun juice, turtle juice, frog juice, or anything else that will get your kids to drink it. Sell it!

For a long time I resisted the green juice craze. But one day I tried this pineapple/kale combo and realized it was actually good. So we have been drinking it, and liking it. Yay for green juice. I have been told that this is really “green juice lite”, so I guess I will try a few other green juice combos. Stay tuned for the results…

You will need:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup Ghirardelli cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

And a bunch of upcycled jars, with the labels removed. If you are anything like me, you have tons of empty jars on hand. But if not, ask your friends, family or neighbors. If all else fails, you could buy some empty mason jars. Empty pasta sauce jars are the perfect size.Add each ingredient to the jar, one at a time, pressing down the ingredients with a spoon in between layers. If you do this very carefully, you will end up with nice clean layers. If you let your 3 year old do it, you will have a lot of the ingredients that don’t quite make it into the jar, and some semi-clean layers.

I kind of like the not-so-perfect look. And it was more important to me that she be a part of this gift.

Now gather some wrapping materials and write the instructions onto a card to include with the jars.

The instructions for the jar:

• Empty the contents of the jar into a large bowl.
• Whisk in 1 tsp vanilla, 2 large eggs, and 6 TBS of melted butter.
• Pour batter into a greased 8×8 baking pan.
• Bake at 350° for approximately 15 minutes.

Wrap your recipe around the jar and tie with twine, and you have an inexpensive, easy, homemade gift that anyone would love to receive.

Happy Valentines Day!

Forget flowers and chocolates, give me some pink biscuits with fresh juice and berries and I am happy!

A few weeks ago I started trying to make pink biscuits. The first few batches were complete failures. They still tasted good, but were far from the rosy pink biscuits that I was imagining. Strawberries didn’t have enough color, beets were too difficult. Food coloring was out of the question. (I have read too much about the terrible effects of artificial food coloring, especially red – so I knew my pink biscuits couldn’t have any food coloring added.) It took a lot of trial and error, but I finally figured out what would make the most perfect pink biscuits.

Add in some juicy red berries and some fresh squeezed blood orange juice and you have the best Valentines breakfast ever.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup cold milk
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 cup rasberries
• 6-8 ripe blood oranges
• fresh, seasonal berries

Directions

1. Pour 1 cup of fresh or frozen rasberries into a small saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until rasberries break down and form a thick sauce.
2. Pour the berry sauce into a cup measure.  Add enough milk to the berries to make 1 cup.
3. Add the vinegar to the berries and milk and stir.  Set aside in the refrigerator to chill.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
5. Cut in the stick of butter until it is combined.  This can be done in a food processor, with a fork, or with your hands.  This is a great job for kids to help with, since they love having their hands in the food.
6. Add the liquid mixture to the bowl and stir to combine.
7. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface.  If the dough is too sticky add a bit more flour.
8. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness.
9. Use a heart cookie cutter (or any other shape you like) to cut out your biscuits, and place them on a lined cookie sheet.
10. Bake at 425° for approximately 10 minutes.
11. Juice the blood oranges and chill until serving.

Enjoy your perfectly fresh, pink Valentines breakfast!

Within the last few days I have become obsessed with fall.  After 2 years in Honduras with no change of seasons I’m itching for everything fall.  Pumpkins and apple cider and boots and warm chunky sweaters.  I am loving it all.  And with my new found love of this season, I have a new food obsession – pumpkin pancakes.  With apple deliciousness on top.  Seriously, these are like fall on a plate.  And they are addicting.  I could eat them every day until Christmas and be happy.  Adding fresh pumpkin to pancakes and topping them with apples has got to make them healthy enough to eat every day, right?

INGREDIENTS (for the pancakes):

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons fresh pureed pumpkin*
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Butter for cooking

DIRECTIONS (for the pancakes):

1.  Mix together all dry ingredients in one bowl.
2.  Mix together all wet ingredients in a different bowl.
3.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
4.  Melt butter on a griddle.
5.  Cook pancakes over medium heat for a few minutes until the edges start to dry.  Flip and cook another minute or two, until cooked through.

*To get fresh pumpkin puree, cut a “pumpkin pie” or “sugar” pumpkin in half.  (don’t use a big halloween pumpkin for this)  Scoop out the seeds and the stringy part.  Put it in a covered casserole dish in a 350 degree oven for 45 – 60 min.  Carefully remove the skin and blend with a few tablespoons of water until it is smooth.  You could also use canned pumpkin puree but it will not taste as fresh.

INGREDIENTS (for the apple compote):

2 apples, chopped or sliced
2 tablespoons butter
cinnamon
maple syrup

DIRECTIONS (for the apple compote):

1.  Melt butter in a small saucepan.
2.  Add apples and stir.
3.  Add as much cinnamon as you would like.  (I used a ton)
4.  Stir and cook over medium-low heat until the apples are a little bit soft.
5.  Add maple syrup and stir for another few minutes.
6.  Pour the apple compote on top of the pumpkin pancakes and enjoy your little taste of fall.

Fresh Pesto.  There is nothing quite like it.  I grew up eating it, and for a time I think it was the only green food that I would eat.  With a garden full of basil that grows year-round (thank you beautiful Honduras weather!) we make a big batch of pesto every few weeks, and eat it with everything!  Try it, you will be hooked.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of freshly picked basil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup of toasted pinenuts
• freshly ground black pepper
• kosher salt
• 2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Add the fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper to the food processor or blender.
2.  Pulse until everything is finely chopped.
3.  Slowly add the olive oil, until the pesto is combined.
4.  With the food processor turned off, fold the parmesan cheese into the pesto with a spoon.

You can store any unused pesto in the freezer in an airtight container for a few months.  For perfect single serving sizes, try freezing the pesto in ice cube trays (or baby food trays!) then putting all of the cubes in a ziplock bag.  Take out a cube and defrost it a few minutes before using it.  Although my personal favorite is pesto on pasta, it can be used on anything…pasta, pizza, sandwiches, omelettes, vegetables, fish, chicken, etc.

You might have just found the first green food that your kids will gladly eat!

Our house is full of breakfast eaters.  And I am not talking cold cereal and milk.  We like our breakfasts warm and hearty.  And since I have been known to run about 5 (or 15) minutes late on any given morning, I have had to get creative.  These little muffins are perfect.  I make them ahead of time, freeze them, then just warm them up on the way out the door.  Fast, easy, healthy, and kids love them.

The best part is, you can throw in whatever fruit and/or nuts you want.  Strawberries, apples, bananas, walnuts etc.  My personal favorite is plain blueberry, but get crazy and try some different combinations!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats
2 tablespoons whole or ground flaxseeds
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

You can either use regular or mini muffin tins.  We like the minis in our house, so much more fun for little ones, and the perfect sized snack.  Spray whichever muffin pan you will be using with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, flax seeds, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, yogurt, milk, agave, oil and egg. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes for large muffins, 11-12 minutes for mini muffins.  Remove from the oven and set the muffin pan on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.  When the muffins are slightly cooled, remove from the muffin pan and allow to cool completely on the cooling rack.  Eat fresh or wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months.  Reheat frozen muffins in the toaster oven or microwave.

Makes 12 large or 24 mini muffins.

The blue index card is covered with flour, batter, grease.  The edges are bent and the pen is fading.  But it is in her writing.  Her recipe in her handwriting.  Seeing this cards brings back memories of my grandmother as much as any photograph I have.

I am a fan of keeping recipes on the computer.  Less clutter in my kitchen, less stuff to move around every 2 years.  But how do you part with handwritten recipe cards that hold memories of your childhood?  I fought with that for a while and have come up with a solution that works for me.  I am slowly but surely taking pictures of the old tattered and stained recipe cards and adding them to my digital collection of recipes.  All of the sentimental value with none of the clutter. Perfect.

And I can make sure that I make wine cake the way it should be.  Perfectly moist, just sweet enough, with a slight crunch of sugar on the outside.

Ingredients:

-1 package yellow cake mix
-1 package instant vanilla pudding
-4 eggs
-3/4 cup oil
-3/4 cup cream sherry
-1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350°.
-Grease a bundt pan with butter or Pam spray.  Gently add a few tablespoons of white sugar to the pan, and swirl around to coat the butter / spray.  Shake out the excess sugar.
-Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Using a hand mixer, mix on medium-high for 5 minutes.
-Pour batter into the greased and sugared pan.
-Bake for 40 minutes.
-When the cake is finished, turn the bundt pan upside down on a dish and gently tap to release the cake.

Dutch Babies, German Pancakes, Fluffy Pancakes, Fluffys…I have heard these called so many different names.  I grew up eating them, and in my family, this is a dutch baby.  They are my signature breakfast, my go-to for big or important days.  Before every single track meet, the morning of the SATs, before my first day at a new job, always a dutch baby.  If I had been allowed to eat the morning that I gave birth, I would have eaten a dutch baby darn it.  Perfect for special occasions, but just as good for an everyday breakfast.  There are literally hundreds of different dutch baby recipes, but I have never used anything other than the good old classic recipe that my family has always used.  I prefer to use a cast iron skillet, but any heavy frying pan will work.

Ingredients:

-1/3 cup flour
-1/3 cup milk
-3 eggs
-butter

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with a cast iron skillet in the oven.
-Mix the flour, milk and eggs in a large bowl, or in the blender.  It should be slightly frothy and there shouldn’t be any lumps in the batter.
-Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the hot cast iron skillet.  Once the butter is melted, swirl the pan so that the butter covers the bottom and sides, then pour the batter into the pan.
-Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the sides have risen and are golden brown and starting to crisp.
-Remove from the oven and cut into wedges.  It will deflate a bit, but that is normal.  Serve with powdered sugar, berries, syrup, or just eat it as it is.

For a carb addict like me, it is very upsetting to move to a country that doesn’t have great bread selections.  There is one bakery in town known for having good bread, and I guess you could call it good if you had never tried fresh sourdough from Boudins in San Francisco or anything from the Great Harvest Bread Company in Vienna.  But I am spoiled.  I would call it the best around Tegucigalpa, but by no means anything to write home about.  So when we arrived here and I realized that there wasn’t going to be a plethora of options for bread, I was determined to find a way to be able to consistently make fresh homemade bread for my family, without spending a whole weekend day in the kitchen.  I consulted my BFF Google, who told me that yes, there was a way!  (A few, actually)

The first recipe I tried was from one of my favorite food blogs, The Steamy Kitchen.  It was delicious, and very easy, but did require quite a bit of planning ahead.  Not ideal when you are running in a million different directions, and have a hard time focusing and remembering things like pay the cable bill, much less start tomorrow’s bread today.  Back to Google.  I found the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and it was game over.  It is same concept and basically the same as the first recipe I tried, just made in a larger batch to be kept in the fridge until you want to make a loaf of bread.  SO easy.  You mix up your dough in a large container, let is sit out on the counter for a while, then throw it in the fridge.  Then when you decide you want a loaf of bread, you tear off a piece of the dough from the fridge, preheat the oven, and bake your bread.  Done.  The recipe makes enough for 4 or 5 small loaves, so if you mix up a batch on the weekend, it will last you all week.  I have been making this bread regularly for over a year now.  I am really not good about exact measurements, because I usually have a 2 year old in charge of the cup measure, and it has always come out perfectly.  If you have ever wanted to make bread, but thought it would be hard and complicated, this recipe is for you!

The ingredients are so simple:

-6 1/2 cups of flour
-3 cups of water
-1 1/2 tablespoons of Yeast
-1 1/2 tablespoons of Kosher salt

Mix the water, yeast and salt in a large bucket with a lid.  Stir in the flour and mix just until all of the flour is incorporated  This won’t take long.

After you mix everything together, you will have a wet gloopy (is gloopy a word?) mess.  (Left)  Put the top on the bucket, but do not seal it, and let it sit out on the counter for a few hours.  Sometimes I even leave it out overnight.  The dough should rise almost up to the top of the bucket.  (Center)  Then you just put the dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  After it has been in the fridge it will collapse, and won’t ever rise up nicely again.  That’s ok.  (Right)

When you are ready to make a loaf of bread, preheat your oven to 450° with a covered heavy pot of some sort in the oven.  I have used a covered Pyrex, a covered cast iron skillet, and a Le Creuset Dutch Oven.  (I think it comes out best in the Le Creuset)  Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough in your bucket, and tear off a chunk.  Pull the sides of the dough and tuck them under the ball of dough so that it is nice and smooth.  Set it on a lightly floured pizza peel or Silpat mat.  Make a few diagonal cuts across the top of the bread.  (I don’t know if this really serves a purpose other than to make it look nice.  Sometimes I forget to do it and it still turns out just fine.)  Let it sit out and rest for about 45 minutes, while you are preheating your oven.  Slide your dough off of the pizza peel or other mat into your dutch oven.  Cover quickly and close the oven.

Let it bake, covered for 20 minutes.  Then remove the lid and let it bake uncovered for another 15-20 minutes.  The crust should be light brown and crisp.  Take it out and set it on a cutting board to cool.  Resist the urge to cut into it immediately.  (I usually can’t wait, and burn my fingers as I am cutting into it)

Once it has cooled a bit, it will be much easier to cut, and the crust will be crispy and delicious.

Perfect bread every time!

Since we had the day off today, I had time to make one of my favorite breakfasts, mini frittatas.  These are so easy and so versatile, great for sit down brunches,  (I made them last Easter) weekday breakfasts (make them ahead and just heat one up before you walk out the door) or even school lunches.  I also made these for Avery’s 2nd birthday.  They can be made with any combination of different ingredients, so just throw in whatever you have in the fridge, or whatever you are in the mood for.

Just as I was getting everything out and ready to go this morning, my favorite little helper came running into the kitchen saying, “Avery helps!  Mommy, Avery HELPS!”  So scratch what I said earlier about being easy to make.

Ingredients for the dough:

2 cups flour
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup ice water

Ingredients for the filling:  

6 eggs
6 slices of bacon
1 handful of green onions
cheddar cheese
splash of milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Grate the cheese, and chop the green onions and bacon.

Scramble the eggs in a bowl with a splash of milk.

Watch for little “helper” hands stealing bites of cheese while you are trying to take a quick photo.

Cook the bacon in a skillet, then drain on paper towels.

While the bacon is cooking, put the flour, salt, and oil into a blender and pulse until it becomes crumbly.  Slowly add the water until it forms a soft ball of dough.

Once the bacon is drained, add it to the egg mixture, along with the green onions and cheese.  Depending on your ingredients, you can season with salt and pepper if you would like.  Since cheddar cheese and bacon are both salty, I didn’t, and it turned out perfect.  I like to put the mixture in a measuring cup so that it is easier to pour.

Take a hunk of the dough, and press it into the cup of a muffin pan until it covers the whole cup.  I guess you could roll out the dough into nice circles, then press them into the cups, and it would look a lot nicer.  I don’t mind the “rustic” look, so I just push it in with my fingers.  (translation: I was lazy and hungry)  This crust is amazing, but if you prefer, you can make the frittatas without the crust.  Just make sure to spray the muffin tins well, or the frittatas will stick.

Pour the egg mixture into the cups, being careful not to overfill.  (They puff up in the oven)

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the centers are set and the crust is starting to brown slightly.

It looks like there are a lot of green onions, but it is only because they float to the top, and the bacon sinks to the bottom.

I love this combination, but I have so many ideas of others that I would try if the ingredients were more readily available here.  Asparagus and goat cheese maybe?  Or tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella.  Or even spinach and prosciutto.  Get creative!

Ingredients for the dough:

¼ cup water, room temperature
1 cup milk
½ cup butter (1 stick)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
½ cup sugar
4 ½ cup unbleached white flour
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten (you can find this at Whole Foods or online)
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)

Slowly melt the butter in a large pot – like the one you boil pasta in.  (You could melt it in a small pot, then transfer it to a bowl to add the other ingredients, but I don’t like washing dishes, so I try to do it all in one pot.)  Add the water and the milk and allow the liquid to cool until it is about room temperature.  While it is cooling,

mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients, plus the dry mixture, to the large pot and stir.  You should be left with a goopy ball of dough.  At this point, you should probably knead the dough, at least a few times.  I don’t really like to, so I don’t, and it still comes out just fine.  Yay for cutting corners!  Put the top on the pot and set it on the counter or in another warm spot in your house to rise for a few hours.  (more than one hour, less than all day)

After you dough has doubled in size, take half out of the pot, adding more flour so it doesn’t stick to your hands, and set it on a floured surface to rest for a few minutes.

While your dough is resting, prepare your filling.

Ingredients for the Filling:

1 cup brown sugar
4 TBS ground cinnamon
½ cup butter (1 stick), melted

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll the dough out into a large rectangle.  I roll it out until it is the size of my cutting board, and is about ¼ inch thick.  You could roll all of the dough at once, it is just a bigger rectangle and a little harder to handle.

Spread half of the melted butter onto your dough.

Sprinkle with half of your brown sugar / cinnamon mixture.  Note to self: if you do this in front of an open window on a breezy day, you will end up with cinnamon all over.

Roll the dough, lengthwise, into a long log.

Cut off the ends.  Repeat with the other half of dough.

At this point, decide if you are making cinnamon roll cupcakes, or regular cinnamon rolls.
For cinnamon roll cupcakes:  Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners.  Although the paper liners are much cuter, I have found that the foil liners do a much better job of holding in all of the goopy goodness of the cinnamon rolls.  Cut the dough into pieces about 1 or 1 ½ inches long, and place each one into a cupcake liner.  Be careful not to make the rolls too big, because they really grow.  Cover cupcake pan and let rise for at least an hour.  Or, if you want cinnamon rolls first thing in the morning like we do, let them rest in the refrigerator overnight.  When you are ready to cook the cinnamon roll cupcakes, preheat the oven to 335 degrees.  Bake cinnamon roll cupcakes for about 12-14 minutes, being careful not to overcook them.  They should be cooked through, and very lightly browned on the top.

For regular cinnamon rolls:  Spray a large glass pan with cooking spray.  Cut the dough into equal pieces and place them in the greased pan, leaving plenty of space around them to expand.  (I did not leave nearly enough space!)  Cover pan and let rise for at least an hour.  Or, the same as the cinnamon roll cupcakes, you can let them rest in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, preheat the oven to 335 degrees.  Bake approximately 20 minutes, being careful not to overcook them.  They should be cooked through, and very lightly browned on the top.

Ingredients for the Frosting:

4 ounce cream cheese (1/2 of a regular block)
½ cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 ½ cup powdered sugar (more or less)
1 tsp vanilla
To prepare the frosting, mix the cream cheese and the butter until combined well.  Add the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.  Finally, add the vanilla and mix.  Spread frosting over the fresh cinnamon rolls and then prepare to eat about 5 cinnamon rolls in one sitting.

I hope this all makes sense.  Please let me know if you try them!

To make papusas you will need:

-Maseca (or any other brand of corn flour)
-Quesillo (a soft cheese very popular here)
-Bottled Water (or tap if you don’t live in Central America)
-1/2 Cabbage (I like purple because it adds nice color)
-1/2 Carrot (yes – the carrots are abnormally large here)
-4-5 Fresh Limes
-Fresh Cilantro
-Salt & Pepper

Start with about 4 cups of Maseca in your bowl, and about 3 cups of water.  Add some salt if you would like.

Add the water a little bit at a time, and mix it all together with your hands.  You can use a spoon, but it won’t turn out as well.

Make sure to keep adding more water until the dough is not too dry and not too wet, as Maria tells me.  Whatever that means.

Finally when your dough comes together in a big ball, you are done.

Set your masa (dough) aside and start to make your salad.

First, chop your cabbage very thinly.  It tastes much better that way.

Then grate your carrot.  I guess you could chop that as well, but I am lazy and grating is much faster.

Roughly chop your cilantro.  I picked mine out of our garden.  Cilantro is the only one of my plants that I can keep alive.

Mix your cabbage, carrot, and cilantro together.  Squeeze fresh lime juice over the top and season with salt and pepper.

Now come back to your masa, and pull off a piece about the size of a lime.  Start to flatten it with your fingers.  This is where Maria’s secret weapon comes in.  Cut 2 round circles out of a clean plastic grocery bag. (do they still have those in the US?)  Put your flattened piece of dough on the piece of plastic.  Then spin the plastic piece around on the counter with one hand, while you pat the masa flat with your other hand.  It is impressive to watch Maria do it.  It is humorous to watch me do it.

Repeat with another hunk of masa.

You want both of your circles to be pretty thin, and about the same size, because you will be stacking them on top of each other.

Tear off small chunks of the quesillo and start covering one of your masa circles.  If you can’t find quesillo, try another mild, soft white cheese.  I have heard of people making papusas with mozzarella, but it probably doesn’t taste nearly as good.

You could also add chicharron or beans at this point.  Sometimes I like to add a little bit of chicken.  Usually we just use quesillo.

Now stack your plain masa circle on top of the one with quesillo on it.

Pinch the edges shut.

Heat a little bit of oil in a pan of some sort over medium heat, then add your papusa.  I like to use our mini cast iron skillets.  The papusas fit perfectly in them and I think they look so cute.

When one side gets slightly browned, flip it over and cook the other side.  You might have to add a little more oil when you flip it so that the other side browns nicely.  Cook until both sides of your papusas are lightly browned and crispy.

Top your papusas with the cabbage salad, and serve with extra lime wedges.  And make sure you cook a lot of these suckers because they are addicting!

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