Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes

I happen to come across this pancake recipe at 2 different recipe websites... allrecipes and Tasty Kitchen.  The pancakes tasted great with maple syrup, but I also think they tasted even better with fresh strawberries and Reddi Wip Whipped Topping!



Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 whole egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
maple syrup (or) jam
Additional fresh strawberries, to garnish pancakes
Reddi Wip (or) Cool Whip, to garnish pancakes

1.)  In a medium size bowl stir together, the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

2.)  Pour in the milk, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla extract, and mix until well blended.

3.)  Stir in the 1 cup of fresh chopped strawberries.

4.)  Coat a large skillet or griddle, with butter or cooking spray.  Then heat skillet or griddle over medium heat.

5.)  Pour batter into desired size of pancakes, onto skillet or griddle.

 Flip with a spatula when bubbles appear in the center.  Cook until golden brown on the other side.

6.)  Top pancakes with either maple syrup, or jam, or fresh strawberries and Reddi Wip (or Cool Whip).  I ate like mine with fresh strawberries and Reddi Wip.

7.)  Yields: About 8 pancakes

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Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes | Just A Pinch Recipes

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Maple-Bacon Pancakes

I happen to come across this unusual pancake recipe at food.com, which Meredith F originally posted the recipe.  These pancakes are very good!!  Also, when making these pancakes, be sure to use real pure maple syrup!



 Maple-Bacon Pancakes

12 slices of bacon (I used a pound of bacon)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1.)  Cook bacon until crisp.  Drain on paper towels, then crumble bacon into pieces.  Reserve drippings and wipe out skillet.

2.)  Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  (Heat oven only if your going to keep pancakes warm.)  I eliminated this process.

3.)  In a medium size bowl whisk together, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4.)  In another bowl whisk together, the buttermilk, maple syrup, eggs, and the unsalted butter.  Add to flour mixture, and whisk until just combined (batter may have lumps).

5.)  Heat 1 teaspoon of the reserved bacon drippings in a skillet over medium-low heat.  (I omitted using the bacon drippings, and for each pancake made, I added a teaspoon of Canola oil to the skillet.)

6.)  For each pancake, arrange some of the bacon pieces in a circle in skillet.

7.)  Slowly pour 1/3 cup of batter over the bacon, starting in center and moving outward in a swirling motion, to prevent bacon from shifting.  Cook until small bubbles form on surface.

8.)  Flip, and cook until golden brown.  Transfer finished pancakes to a baking sheet, and keep warm in oven.  Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve pancakes with syrup.

9.)  Yields: About 20 pancakes

Lime Cola

This is "the best" Lime Cola ever, plus it's quite refreshing!!

I only use 1/2 a lime per each can of cola.

Lime Cola  

12 ounces of your favorite cola beverage

 
1 whole lime, cut into quarters (See *Note See)

ice cubes (or) crushed ice

1.)  Fill a tall beverage glass with ice cubes, or crushed ice.

2.)  Squeeze juice from three of the lime quarters, over ice in glass.

3.)  Place the fourth quarter of lime in glass, lodging it in the ice.

4.)  Pour cola over the ice, and serve.

5.)  Yields: 1 serving

6.)  *Note: When making this drink, I only use half a lime (2 quarters) per each can of cola, and saved the last 2 quarters of lime to make another drink for later.

This Lime Cola also tastes good when made with Coca~Cola Zero Sugar. 

 

Lime Cola | Just A Pinch Recipes

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Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

I really enjoy this soup.  It has a nice buttery taste to it.  I happen to come across this good, basic, tomato soup recipe at allrecipes.com, but I did tweak the recipe just a bit to suit my taste.  This recipe is great for those who want to use up the numerous tomatoes they have in their vegetable garden.  By the way, you can also freeze this soup.  This soup is definitely Mmm Mmm Good!

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup 

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped (1/2 of one large onion)
4 whole cloves, or use 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons butter (I used 3 tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons flour (I used 3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon salt (I only used 1/2 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1.)  In a large stockpot over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, and gently boil for 20 minutes.  (If making more than one batch of soup in the stockpot, like I did, I suggest covering the pot with a lid.  This allows the vegetables to come to a boil much quicker.  And after the vegetables come to a boil, remove the lid, and then I gently boil the vegetables for 25 minutes.)

2.)  Remove the stockpot from the heat, and run the vegetable mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan.  (I did try to remove any cloves I spotted, before running mixture through the food mill.) Discard any tomato/onion mixture left over in the food mill.

3.)  In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is light golden brown in color.

4.)  Quickly whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest of the tomato juice mixture.

5.)  Season soup with the salt and sugar.

6.)  Heat the soup through, then serve.

7.)  Yields: 6 servings

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup | Just A Pinch Recipes

Summertime Iced Tea

I happen to come across this iced tea recipe at Food.com which Nif originally posted the recipe, but I did tweak the recipe to suit my taste.  When making the tea, I used fresh spearmint leaves from my garden, plus I added more.  I also added more tea bags, and used a 12 ounce can of lemonade concentrate, to almost fill a gallon size jar, so I had more iced tea to enjoy.



Summertime Iced Tea

8 cups water
14 orange pekoe and black tea bags
25 fresh spearmint leaves
1 cup sugar
1 (12 oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate
4 cups cold water
lemon slices, to garnish
sprigs of fresh spearmint, to garnish
1 gallon size heat-proof glass jar

1.)  Place the spearmint leaves and tea bags in a heat-proof gallon size jar.

2.)  In a large saucepan, bring the 8 cups of water to almost a boil, just until you see a few bubbles starting to come to the surface.

3.)  Pour the heated water into the large heat-proof jar; cover the jar with a glass plate.  I used an 8-1/2 inch glass dessert plate, and let stand for 15-20 minutes.

4.)  After the tea has steeped, discard the tea bags and mint leaves. Add the sugar, and stir thoroughly.

5.)  Cover the jar with the plate, and let set at room temp to cool. (I let mine sit for 1 hr. & 30 mins.)

6.)  Now add the frozen lemonade and cold water; stir well.

7.)  Refrigerate to chill and serve later, or pour into beverage glasses filled with a few large ice cubes, and serve immediately.

8.)  Garnish beverage glasses with lemon slices, and sprigs of fresh spearmint leaves, if desired.

9.)  Yields: 108 ounces of tea

10.) Note: I just wanted to let everyone know... The other day I made this iced tea, but found I only had 12 mint leaves, so I also used 2 Bigelow Plantation Black Spearmint Tea Bags (along with 12 black flavored tea bags).  I felt the taste of the spearmint really came through, and the tea was quite refreshing and delicious!

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Summertime Iced Tea | Just A Pinch Recipes

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