My favorite Pancakes

Oatmeal Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup
(AKA Surfer Pancakes)

2c. quick oats
1/2 c. wheat flour
2T Sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 t vanilla

Combine melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Mix and let stand 20-30 minutes. Pancake mix will be thick.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube butter
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 c. buttermilk
1c sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine butter, buttermilk, soda and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla. Serve warm.--make sure you use a large saucepan, the soda makes it foam.

Granola from Susan Gleason......by Koni Smith

Granola from Susan Gleason

14 cups of oats (my mom suggests using 7 quick and 7 old fashioned)
2 cups walnuts
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups wheat germ
2 cups coconut
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cup honey
1 cup oil
box of raisins
craisins

Mix together the dry ingredients, then wet, then mix together by hand. Cook in two shallow baking pans at 225 F until light brown. Put one pan on each shelf. Every half hour, stir granola and switch the pan on the top shelf with the pan on the bottom shelf. Cook for 2 hours. After cooking is done, stir in raisins and craisins if desired. Let cool. (If you like it more crunchy, leave pans in the oven while the oven is cooling. I did that this time and it was a little too done for me because I like it chewy instead of crunchy, but but Benjamin likes it crunchy.)

Texas New Potato Salad

It's no secret I don't like traditional potato salad with mayonnaise and eggs. I love this one with bacon, cilantro, cumin and coriander seeds. Yumm!!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

3 pounds small red potatoes

1 red onion, cut into thick slices

1 tablespoon Coriander Seed

8 Cumin Seed

1 tablespoon Oregano Leaves, Mexican

2 serrano or jalapeño pepper, minced

3 slices bacon, crisply cooked and coarsely chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, thick stems discarded and coarsely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes in boiling water 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool to room temperature. Quarter the potatoes; set aside.

2. Grill onion slices over high heat until lightly caramelized.

3. Toast coriander and cumin seeds in small dry skillet on medium heat 1 minute or until fragrant. Add oregano; lightly toast about 20 seconds, watching for burning. Immediately remove spices from skillet

4. Whisk oil, vinegar, toasted spices, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add potatoes, onions, serrano pepper, bacon and cilantro; toss lightly.

Pulled Pork Sandwitches

This is a tweak on a recipe from Tyler Florence on the Food Network channel. The BBQ sauce is a requirement for this, but I would not recommend it on any other BBQ.

Dry Rub:

• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

Cider-Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 cup yellow or brown mustard
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pan drippings from the pork
• 12 hamburger buns
• 1 recipe Cole Slaw, recipe follows
• Pickle spears, for serving

Directions

Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Put the pork in a roasting pan and roast it for about 6 hours. An instant-read thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the pork should register 170 degrees F, but basically, what you want to do is to roast it until it's falling apart. You can also cook this in the crock pot on low for 8 hours

While the pork is roasting, make the barbecue sauce. Combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves. To add some smoke taste, I add in a pint of generic BBQ sauce from the store. Just make sure it is smokey and spicy - you don't want to use a sweet sauce.

When the pork is done, take it out of the oven and put it on a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While the pork is still warm, you want to "pull" the meat: Grab 2 forks. Using 1 to steady the meat, use the other to "pull" shreds of meat off the roast. Put the shredded pork in a bowl and pour half of the sauce over. Stir it all up well so that the pork is coated with the sauce.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto a hamburger bun. This also freezes and reheats very well for a quick mix

Fish Tacos

This is a tweak of an Epicurious recipe. I didn't use the mayo topping though.

• 2 cups chopped white onion, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 1 pound tilapia, striped bass, or sturgeon fillets (I use frozen Costo tilapia.)
  
• Corn tortillas

Stir 1 cup onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, oil, 3 tablespoons lime juice, orange juice, garlic, and oregano in medium bowl. Sprinkle fish with coarse salt and pepper. Spread half of onion mixture over a dish. Arrange fish atop onion mixture. Spoon remaining onion mixture over fish. Cover and chill 30-60 minutes. Turn fish; cover and chill 30-60 minutes longer.

Brush grill grate with oil; prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill fish with some marinade still clinging until just opaque in center, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Steam the tortillas in the microwave (add a wet paper towel to the bag if they are old/dry). Grill tortillas until slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.

Coarsely chop fish; place on platter. Serve with tortillas, remaining 1 cup chopped onion, remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, avocados, salsa and lime wedges or whatever you prefer. Just don't skip the lime.

Rouladen (Little Mice)

I remember this being a favorite dish from growing up but I have yet to recreate it for my family because the directions aren't the most specific. Would you care to enlighten us a little more Mom? Or I might just have to experiment on my own.

1 1/2-2 lb round roast sliced very thin-arranged flat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika. Spread w/ small amount prepared mustard. Place thin sliced bacon and slice on onion on meat. Roll and secure with toothpick or string.

Brown in a little oil. Cover with water and 1/2 can tomato paste. Simmer slowly until tender. Add sour cream 1/2 hour before serving.