Meat and Potatoes (Heavy Cooking)

It feels like I haven't cooked in ages. Since I returned to work we have done lots of takeout, sandwiches and my favorite, oatmeal for dinner. Now that we are all getting used to the new schedule I'm looking for new things to make that require little fuss. This recipe from, Dinner a Love Story is a bit heavier than I typically make, but I loved the simplicity of it.  

I tried this recipe twice, and each time, my husband and I were underwhelmed by the results.  I will say I liked the recipe more when we made a few modifications: using turkey sausage and reducing the number of apples.

Dinner a Love Story billed this recipe as a time saving recipe that you can make once a week. I'm not sure that our arteries would survive having a dish like this ever week. It's easy, and if you want to make a filling meal for your family quickly, this might be worth trying.

If you want to make the recipe healthier, I recommend using turkey sausage and just the tiniest bit of olive oil. 
 
You might ask why I would blog about a recipe that I don't love.  The answer is, I started blogging in part to try all of these recipes I've seen on blogs.  They always look so pretty, but sometimes they just don't pan out.  I think it's important that there is feedback out there, to say you know what these recipe looks awesome, but it doesn't taste awesome.

You can find the recipe here and here.

Pancake Tuesday (Light and Fluffy Pancakes with Lemon)

Mark Bitmann's Light and Fluffy Pancakes with Lemon. 
If you have any tips for how to make pancakes look pretty, I'm all ears. 

Today, in Ireland, it’s Shrove Tuesday (A.KA. Pancake Tuesday).  I learned about Pancake Tuesday from one of my favorite professors in graduate school.  One day, we were discussing Carnival and I asked him how the Irish typically mark the day that precedes Ash Wednesday.  He responded that the Irish celebrate it by having pancakes as a meal, and they call the day Pancake Tuesday. 

I was intrigued and at the same time underwhelmed by this tradition.  I’m sure there’s also a lot of merrymaking that goes on in addition to the pancaking.  But, where I come from, you prepare for six weeks of atonement by dressing up in crazy outfits, and drinking and eating yourself silly.  Most Pan-American countries are shut down this week because the revelry is taken so seriously. 

For a long list of reasons, Carnival is not happening por moi this year:

• I live in Washington
• I have to go to work
• It’s cold outside

So in honor of my staid life and my Mother’s Irish Germanic roots, I decided to observe Pancake Tuesday, by trying Mark Bitman’s recipe for light and fluffy pancakes.  I added lemon juice and lemon zest to perk them up.  The pancakes taste like soufflés or mini-Yorkshire puddings.  If you try this at home, make sure to have some of the egg whites in each pancake. 

How do you celebrate the day before lent begins?

The recipe can be found here and in Mark Bittman's book, How to Cook Everything.