How to Eat an Apple Cider Donut

Apple Cider Donuts.  Hands down the best fall food on the planet.  Say what you want about apple pie, pumpkin pie, fritters, fried this and fried that from the fairs.  Apple Cider Donuts are where its at.  And the best Apple Cider Donuts are found at Russell's Orchards in Ipswich, MA.

On a whim I took the girls apple picking Monday after school.  It was a little overcast and cloudy but a fine afternoon.  Besides, I needed apples.  The relentlessly begging coworkers wanted apple pie and I was overdue, apparently, for bringing in baked goods.  So, off we went to Russell's for apple picking.  Each girl got their own bag and filled them to the brim with Gala, Cortland and I think one Empire.  Once we were satisfied we got the best picks, we wandered off to the barn for Apple Cider Donuts.

On a busy day, this place just emanates the smell of hot fried greasy goodness of warm Apple Cider Donuts.  You smell it through the car windows as you drive down the driveway.  The lines on a Saturday just to get donuts have their own weaving queue inside.  As you stand there awaiting your hot squishy prize you can watch them make apple cider from a viewing area above.  The anticipation as you creep closer and closer is too much to stand and you think you'll go crazy until suddenly there you are.  In front of you, is an old fashioned white cabinet with silver knobs and glass window.  Inside are trays lined with perfectly stacked Apple Cider Donuts just ripe for the taking.  Removing a donut without squishing it takes a delicate hand as you place not just one, but no less than 6 in your bag.  Wait, stop!  Don't close it!  The delicacy of the Apple Cider Donut, specially a fresh one requires that it be aired until cool.  Not that they typically last that long anyhow, they are much better fresh and hot.  But few people do desire to take them home.   It's science.  Many a disappointed customer has sealed their bag on a hot donut only to find it a deflated pile of grease.  So leave your bag open and check out quickly.

So, of course, on a Monday there was no line.  The girls and I sauntered right up the white cabinet, no wait necessary and helped ourselves to a bag of 6.  Jumping up and down, the girls followed me to the car where the proceeded to munch on apples and their very own Apple Cider Donut for the ride home.  Not wasting any time, I too dipped into the bag of warmth and munched a Donut for the ride home.  Knowing I had 2 in there for husband, my personal second donut had better things waiting for it upon arrival at home.

Dinner went as scheduled, cleanup was handled, kids off to bed and there sat my Apple Cider Donut in its bag, calling my name.  But, a donut of this stature, at this point, needed something more.  So out came the ice cream and caramel drizzle sauce.  It's a little known fact that Apple Cider Donuts can be brought back to their warm, squishy, greasy goodness with just a 10-15 second zap in the Microwave.  And that's exactly what I did.  Warmed up my Apple Cider Donut, plopped a heaping scoop of Vanilla Bean (Turkey Hill Sugar Free) ice cream on the top and drizzled it in caramel sauce.  Yes.  Now this Apple Cider Donut was being given the respect it deserved.  Grab a fork, a glass of milk and savor each bite.

Oh yeah, and here's the result of all those apples.  Coworkers should be sufficiently satisfied today for breakfast.  I'm not posting the recipe for the pies, that, is a family secret.

More Muffins Please

There are some Saturday mornings I wake up, and if the kitchen counters are actually clear, I'm in an instant baking mood.  The girls will typically ask for pancakes and bacon, and often I will oblige, providing bacon exists in the "fridge-a-frator" (Karsyn) and it usually does.

But I was downstairs this week before they were.  And in the fruit basket hung 3 bananas, dangerously close to dropping to the counter from their precarious hanging spot because they were so overripe.  Gotta do something about that before the fruit flies start swarming.  Bread? Meh.  Boring.  Muffins!  Yay!  And why not add chocolate chips?  Muffins are always better with chocolate chips.  Heck, ANYTHING is better with chocolate chips.  Besides, if I made pancakes, they'd have chips in 'em too.  Oh yes, let's play.

Ingredients

• 3 overripe bananas
• 1.5 c flour
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1t baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c melted butter/margarine
• chocolate chips... just pour!

Mash the bananas in bowl until they are not quite pureed, but have a few small chunks.  Add to that the one egg and beat.  Add flour, add sugar, add baking soda, add butter.  Stir with spatula until just combined.  Spoon batter (will be thick) into muffin tins.    No need to grease them, and please, don't use cupcake papers... these are muffins, not cupcakes.
This will yield just about 12 muffins only.  Put into 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Let cool.

Kassidy couldn't devour them fast enough.  Best breakfast idea ever and it took me all of 35 minutes to make from mash to out of the oven.

But wait, there's more!!
As I put the 12 muffins in the oven, I realized that 12 just isn't enough.  I needed more.  But... bananas were gone.  Thinking, I remembered that I had overripe peaches I had sliced sitting in the fridge!  Yes, score!

Repeat recipe, substitute bananas with peaches.  And withhold the chocolate chips.  My only change I would make the the peach would be adding finely chopped pecans.  I did not do this since my girls don't like nuts.  But adding pecans to the peach muffins... Oh yeah, yum.  If you do this, let me know how it turns out.

But why stop there?  Kassidy asked if I could do lemon.  I did not do lemon on Saturday, but oh the possibilities of lemon and blueberry.

This recipe is SO versatile.  It's based off an old banana bread recipe I got from middle school.  So no muffin tins, no problem, drop the batter into a bread pan and bake for up to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  It's never failed me.  It's a thicker muffin, but so good with a cup of coffee and doesn't toss crumbs all over your lap like most muffins.  The biggest plus.

Steak Bomb Omelette for Breakfast

So, recently, a blog that I follow:  Good Morning Gloucester had a Steak Bomb challenge, to determine who had the best steak bomb in town.  Now, I can only go so long hearing about Steak Bombs before wanting one.  I, of course, nominated my personal preference joint Captain Hook's.  As of today, the results are not yet in, but if Captain Hook's doesn't win, I say the competition was rigged.  Regardless, all that talk of steak bomb made me hungry for one, so of course, Thursday I went out and got one.  Can't go wrong.  Soft sub roll, piled high with steak, peppers, onions, salami and cheese.  And... per the usual, my eyes were bigger than my head, so of course I only ate half of it.  Wrapped the rest up and put in in the fridge for all good intentions to eat over the weekend for lunch.

Only I didn't eat it for lunch.  Come Saturday morning, it was calling my name for breakfast.  That's right, breakfast.  But I couldn't in my right mind have a steak bomb for breakfast.  Or, could I?  What if I wrapped it around some eggs!? 

So that's just what I did!  I made myself a Steak Bomb Omelette! 
(You spelled that wrong, Jenn... no I didn't, see?) 

So, out came the eggs and my spatula to play.


Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 T milk
• Cooking spray
• Insides of 1/2 leftover Steak Bomb 

6.) Setting your omelette

1. Dig out the insides of your leftover steak bomb and saute them up in a frying pan.  
2. While they are heating, crack 2 eggs into a bowl with 2T milk and whisk until well combined.
3. Once steak bomb is heated through, set it aside on a plate.  
4. Coat your pan with cooking spray and return to the burner
5. Pour in your eggs, turn to med-high heat and let them set.
6. Lift the sides and let the raw egg run under, creating layers and making your flip easier with less raw egg on top.  See picture to the right.  As the side cook, lift and allow more raw egg to go under.
7. When enough raw egg is no longer on top and you feel comfortable to flip, flip the entire egg like a giant pancake.
8. Add the steak, and 1 slice of american cheese to the pan like picture to the right.

9. 

   8.) Adding the steak bomb

   Fold the egg over to close in the cheese and steak bomb
10. Remove from pan, add to your plate
11. Serve with coffee

 Eat & Enjoy

Ohm Nom Nom

Talk about the most satisfying breakfast I've had in a long time.  Steak, cheese, eggs, salami, peppers, onions, more cheese.  Yeah, that hit the spot.  Definitely doing that again.

No Mimosa, No Problem

Tonight was breakfast for dinner.  Nothing special, just pancakes from Joy of Cooking, bacon and sausage.  Sided up with orange juice for the girls.  Kassidy has been asking to have pancakes all week, and I kept putting it off and putting it off.  So last night I told her fine we'll do breakfast for dinner and do it right, for tonight. While there were no Mickey Mouse pancakes this evening, I did toss in some dark chocolate chips.

I chose today as Day 1 in potty training for Karsyn.  So.  Today was a long day.  I'm glad I chose breakfast for dinner.  Nothing better than comfort food, and something easy, while not quick, was certainly in order.  But as 6:00 rolled around, I needed more than just comfort food.  With a fresh bottle of orange juice in the fridge and breakfast being put on the table, a cocktail was indeed being called for.  Yet, the breakfast standard mimosa could not be made as my stock of champagne was fresh out.  It's one that honestly I don't keep stocked.

So, what to do?  Open the cabinet and see what I can find of course!  And voila, have fun, I did indeed.  This turned out to not only be a great substitute for Mimosas, but dare I say better??

Ingredients:
Orange Juice
Triple Sec
Coconut Vodka
Blue Curacao
Ice

• Place 3 or 4 ice cubes in the bottom of your drink shaker.
• 2.5 shot classes of the coconut vodka
• 1.5 shots of triple sec
• pour orange juice to fill the shaker
• Shake vigorously
• pour drink into martini glass
• pour about .5 shot glass of the blue curacao into the glass and watch it settle

Enjoy!