Stuffed German Pancakes

This is inspired by the Apple Pancake from The Original Pancake House. I ordered that house specialty and I describe the result as “German pancakes meet baked apples.” I can imagine that it could be done with fruits other than apples, for example replace apples with fresh peaches and replace the cinnamon with ¼ cup of sugar.

Ingredients

  • 8 Eggs
  • 1⅓ cup Milk
  • 1⅓ cup Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3 tbsp Butter
  • 2 Granny Smith apples
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Mix eggs, milk, flour, salt, and half the cinnamon in a bowl. (I’m seriously considering adding 2 tbsp of sugar to this batter.)
  2. Core and thinly slice the apples then place apples in the batter to soak.
  3. Melt butter in 9×13 pan in a 375° oven for 5 minutes.
  4. Pour the batter into the 9×13 pan with the melted butter.
  5. Spread the apples evenly throughout the pan and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon on top.
  6. Cook at 375° for 20 minutes.

Aaron’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cans cream of chicken soup
  • 1 lb chicken breast
  • 12 oz home style egg noodles
  • ½ cup celery
  • ½ cup carrots
  • ½ cup onion
  • ¼ cup butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • 3 Bay leaves or ½ tsp crushed Bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning or
    • 1 tsp Rosemary
    • 1 tsp Thyme
    • 1 tsp Basil

Directions

  1. Saute celery, carrot and onion in butter and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Cut up and cook chicken breast (unless you choose to use canned chicken).
  3. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (also possibly onion powder and Italian seasoning).
  4. Add soup mix, broth, sauteed vegetables and chicken to a pot or crock pot.
  5. Season soup with salt, pepper, garlic powder,  Italian seasoning, and bay leaves.
  6. Simmer for at least 20 minutes.
  7. Just before you are ready to eat boil the egg noodles (follow directions on bag) and stir them into the soup.

If you really want to serve this at its best, put a layer of mashed potatoes in the bottom of your bowl and serve the soup on top of the mashed potatoes. (It would also probably work well in a bread bowl.)

Seasoned Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups long grain white rice
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (this can be made from bullion)
    • 3 cubes in 3 cups of water OR
    • 3 tbsp in 3 cups of water

Directions

  1. Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer under cool running water until the water runs clear.
  2. Heat a medium sized lidded saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Once the butter has melted, add the spices and saute until aromatic (about 1-2 minutes).
  3. Pour in the chicken broth, and turn the heat up to bring to a boil.
  4. Once the chicken broth has come to a boil, add in the rice and stir.
    Cover the saucepan with a fitted lid and turn the heat down to slightly less than medium-low (setting #2).
  5. Simmer without opening the lid for 18-20 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it rest covered for an additional 10 minutes.
  6. Remove the lid from the pot, then use a fork to gently fluff the rice. Serve immediately.

German Potato Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. potatoes,  cut into 1″ cubes
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 6 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp mustard
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 4 green onions, sliced

Directions

  1. In a large pot, cover potatoes with water and season generously with salt. Bring water to a boil and cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly before transferring to a large serving bowl.
  2. Cook bacon until crispy, reserve about 2 tablespoons of fat and transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
  3. Add red onion and bacon fat and cook over medium heat until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
  4. Whisk in apple cider vinegar, water, olive oil, mustard, and sugar. Bring mixture to a simmer, then turn off heat and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Stir in green onions and gradually pour mixture over potatoes. Crumble the bacon over the potatoes.
  6. Toss to combine and serve warm.

Savannah’s chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of softened butter
  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 cups of flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups chocolate chips (or as many as you want)

Directions

  1. Cream butter and sugar
  2. Mix in vanilla and eggs
  3. Mix in dry ingredients — Don’t over mix 🙂
  4. Add chocolate chips
  5. Bake at 375° for 7-8 minutes

Super Simple Cobbler

Ingredients

  • Cake mix (vanilla preferably)
  • 2 21oz cans pie filling (choose your flavor)
  • 1 cup sprite (juice or water can work too)
  • ½ stick of butter
  • Tin foil

Directions

  1. Line the Dutch oven with tin foil
  2. Pour pie filling in the bottom of the Dutch oven (if you have two different kinds of pie filling you can mix them or have two flavors of cobbler side by side)
  3. Cover the pie filling with dry cake mix.
  4. Cut butter into small pads and place them on top of the cake mix.
  5. Pour the sprite over the cake mix
  6. Cover the Dutch oven and heat it from above and below for about 25 minutes

Notes

This recipe is for a 12″ Dutch oven. If you cook it in a regular oven with a 9X13 pan you might need to use half the recipe (and no tin foil)

Basic flavors like vanilla or yellow cake work best. Others like lemon, chocolate, or spice cake are more likely to detect from the cobbler than add to it.

Sprite is a traditional liquid for the recipe but a mild juice should work and even plain water is fine.

Whenever possible, cobbler is best served with ice cream.

Potato salad

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds potatoes
  • 2½ tsp salt
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs
  • ¼ cup pickle relish (we prefer dill)
  • ½ red onion (looking for about ½ cup)
  • 3 medium stalks celery
  • ¼ cup pimento stuffed green olives (about 4) chopped
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (try replacing this with lemon juice or brine from the olives)
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • Fresh parsley or dill as a garnish (optional)

Directions

  1. Cut potatoes into ⅔-¾ inch chunks and place with salt into cold water (enough to cover the potatoes with an extra inch). Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the potatoes are fork tender (about 8-10 minutes)
  2. While potatoes are simmering, peel hard-boiled eggs and chop onion, olives, and celery.
  3. Drain potatoes and spread them out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with the vinegar. Let them cool for 15 minutes .
  4. Combine mayonnaise, mustard and pepper, and the yolks of the eggs and stir together.
  5. Stir in celery, olives, and onion then dice the egg whites and relish into the dressing and stir to combine.
  6. Mix potatoes with dressing and add any garnish (dill and/or parsley)
  7. Potato salad gets better after it has been sitting in the refrigerator for anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 days.

Christiansen Potato Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs potatoes
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs
  • ½ cup mixed Mayonnaise/Miracle Whip (1:1 or your preferred ratio)
  • Zested Lemon rinds
  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 1 tsp Chopped fresh dill (¼ tsp dried)
  • ½ tsp Lemon pepper
  • ⅓-½ cup green onion
  • ¼-⅓ cup Celery
  • 1 tsp Garlic salt

Amounts in parentheses are estimates until we can establish something solid.

Directions

  1. Cut potatoes in ½-¾ inch prices and place in cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer until fork tender (about 10 minutes).
  2. Spread out on a cookie sheet to cool for 15 minutes and sprinkle with some lemon juice.
  3. Separate yolks from whites on boiled eggs and mash the yolks then combine the yolks with mayonnaise and lemon juice.
  4. Chop boiled egg whites, green onion, and celery then mix together with all other ingredients.

Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

  • 1-1½ lbs Ground turkey (or ground beef)
  • 1 can Cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup
  • 1 lb bag frozen green beans (or 2 cans)
  • 1 lb bag frozen corn (optional)
  • 4 cups Mashed potatoes
  • 2 cups shredded cheese

Directions

  1. Cook the meat (basic seasonings)
  2. Mix meat and soup in a 9X13 pan
  3. Layer beans  (and corn if using corn) over meat
  4. Cover with mashed potatoes
  5. Cover shredded cheese (you can use sliced cheese if needed)
  6. Bake at 375°F for 30-45 minutes (cheese should be melted and frozen vegetables will want to be on the 45 minute end)