If Once Is Good, Twice Is Better!

Hello Sweets,

I hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend, spending time with those that are dearest to your heart and activities that feed your soul!  I am conflicted about my weekend.  On the one hand I've finished all my errands (with the exception of picking up a few groceries), but on the other hand I've only slept about 6 hours in the last three days :(  I am at the point where I am tired and awake at the same time, lol oh the trials and tribulations that are my life.

So since I've got the jitters I thought I would write up a quick blog and see if I can relax, maybe even to the point of sleep lol.  This is yet another post that was made during my last visit to Texas but alas it didn't get written, that is until today!  I promise this will be a delicious recipe and I encourage everyone to try it, it has definitely become a staple in my recipe box!  So as you guys know every time I am in Texas we have steak at least once, and I mean EVERY time.  Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, and my next favorite part of that meal is whatever type of potatoes are on the side (yes I love me some carbs lol).  For a little while now I've been making that dish, we've hard traditional mashed and country mashed (skins left on).  I don't know too many people who dislike baked potatoes, I whole heartily agree if they're not cooked very well they aren't the best, but I love them so much I take great care while baking.  This time I decided to do something that I've wanted to try but just never have.  The only time I've actually had them this way is in a restaurant.  So are you sitting there thinking "just tell us already!!", lol today's post is about the super yummy twice baked potatoes Canuckette style!  Let's not dilly dally any longer, let's get to the meat and potatoes of the post (lol yea I went there).  I also just want to add, in case Dad, now known as "the Captain" reads this particular post, I'm sorry to tell you but you like garlic lol because you loved these potatoes :)

Canuckette's Twice Baked Potatoes

 Ingredients

Russet potatoes, 1 for each diner

Extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
garlic
bacon, cook prior allowed to dry and chopped
fresh chives
butter
milk

sorry for the lack of pictures I had a lot going on :(

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 400F.  Wash potatoes, making sure to really scrub the skins clean of dirt.  Poke the potatoes in several places, this is so the potato doesn't explode in the oven.  Rub the potatoes with olive oil, lightly season with salt and pepper.  Place on the middle rack and bake for an hour 15 minutes, or until they are cooked thorough (they'll give a little when pressed).

2)  Remove the potatoes from the oven and drop the oven temperature down to 350F.  Once the potatoes are done allow them to cool slightly.  Slice the top quarter of the potato off  making it a potato canoe if you will lol.  Empty the "insides" of the potatoes into a bowl, be careful no to hallow out the potatoes too much or they will collapse.  Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, some of the bacon and garlic, then mash (or beat with an electric mixer for creamier potatoes) the potatoes with butter and milk, until your reached desired flavor and consistency.

*side note*  Nathan's dad has this crazy little spoon, it's super tiny and looks like a trowel with jagged edges.  Makes for the best digging tool, not too big and very precise!

3)  Once you've completed the mashed potatoes spoon back into your potato canoes, at this time you can top your potatoes with more bacon, chives, and cheese or you can add after.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated thoroughly.

These are so delicious, adding the olive oil all over the outside give a slight crispiness to the skins.  If you are careful enough you can discard the tops, or for a more dramatic presentation use them as tiny lids.  To be perfectly honest these were distractingly good, which is the reason there wasn't a final picture.  You can add or change any of the spices or even the type of oil.  What I can give you is a direct quote from Nathan about how delicious these were; "Uh, yeah, these are definitely the potatoes to be used with my steak EVERY TIME you're here. "

Well there you have it, I am officially back in my blog swing :) and it feels great.  I still have some sweet treats coming up so don't forget to check back because this girl is going to keep on writing as it puts a smile on my face.....lol I really do have one right now!  Until next times............................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Candied Bacon, Need I Say More?

Hello Sweets,

Well you've made it to the middle of the week :) in a couple of days it will be the weekend again!  Do you have any fun plans considering the unseasonable weather (my Ontario friends)?  So far for me it sounds like it will be a nice quiet weekend, maybe a visit with my favorite little man Miguel (my nephew), which is always a blast.

Lately I've been feeling very blah -_- and frankly I don't like it, so today I decided to get back to my passion and create a recipe from scratch :)  Over the next three posts I will be doing one recipe (three total) and on the final post you'll be able to see the final product.  Now I won't be telling you what I'm making now, but I'm going to treat it sort of like a puzzle :)  With each recipe I want you guys to try and guess as to what is being put together, and I am sure you'll be in the right ball park once you have tomorrows post to combined with today's.  If you think you know what I am making please leave a comment below, I love hearing from all of my lovely readers.

So I know the title of the post tells you exactly what I made today, but honestly what more can I really say about candied bacon lol.  I had never made this before, but since I wanted a completely original Canuckette recipe, I decided to try my hand at it.  I did a little research since I knew I'd be making it in the oven, which is completely foreign to me lol.  I still make bacon the old fashion way  in the frying pan.  Do you ever find that when you think it's an easy straight forward recipe, then you look online for some basics and it seems like everyone does it completely different, and with random ingredients?  Well that is how I felt lol but I felt confident that I had the general knowledge to move forward in my quest, so I went ahead with it and now you will too ;)

Canuckette's Candied Bacon

Ingredients

bacon

dark brown sugar

cinnamon

black pepper

allspice

 

the allspice was a last minute addition, and a good one at that!

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325F.  Line a baking pan with tinfoil (sugar drippings are very hard to clean of a pan), place a wire rack on top and spray very well with cooking spray.  Line bacon across the wire rack.

 

2)  Sprinkle a pinch of pepper and allspice over top, then lightly dust with cinnamon.  Completely coat with brown sugar, make sure to press down to get the sugar to stick and not fall off when you flip to do the other side.  Flip over and repeat.

3)  Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the bacon is a darker brown.  Remove from oven and move to a plate to cool.

4)  Cut into smaller pieces and enjoy on top of many dishes or as a small snack!

the sugar gives it a shimmery look

I am so glad I finally made this (thanks for putting the idea in my head Dave!) because it is the perfect balance of salty and sweet.  Let's just say that everyone who has tried it thinks it's delicious :)

It is killing me to not share the surprise of the final delicious treat, but the mystery is half of the fun right?!  Now I have to go do some more research for tomorrows recipe because I will be giving you yet another Canuckette original, and I am super excited.  What I will tell you is that I'll be utilizing my Canadian roots with tomorrows creation ;)  I am also glad to report that in the time it took to write this post I am already feeling a little better :)  Until next time...............

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

 

Another Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

Hello sweets,

One of my favorite meals to make is breakfast!  It's one of the easiest to prepare, and it's the only one you can eat at any time of the day :)  When I'm in Texas I try to make breakfast more often then not, because I enjoy cooking for Nathan so much.  Today was no different, and since I made pumpkin spice cupcakes a couple of days ago, I of course had some left over pumpkin.  Silly and forgetful me,  I forgot to pack my pumpkin pancake recipe.  However, thanks to technology, I just goggled a new one. :p  I have also been thinking about trying a different recipe, because the last one was quite thicker than any other pancake I've ever made.  So today's recipe comes from none other than the queen herself....Miss Martha Stewart!  Of course I put my own little twist on the recipe ;), after all that is just what I do!

Pumpkin Pancakes

courtesy of www.marthastewart.com

Ingredients

1 1/4C all-purpose flour

2tbs sugar

2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp ground ginger

1/2tsp salt

1/8tsp nutmeg

pinch of cloves (I used 1/4tsp)

1/4tsp allspice (my addition ;))

1C milk

6tbs pumpkin puree

2tbs butter, melted

1 egg

lots of ingredients for such little treats ;)

For a special breakfast treat:

1)  Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.

all whisked together, smells so yummy!

2)  In a separate bowl, stir together; milk, pumpkin puree, butter, and egg.  Fold mixture into dry ingredients.

another lovely shade of orange

3)  Melt some butter in a skillet (I use some of the leftover bacon grease if I make bacon too!) over medium heat; pour in 1/4C batter for each pancake.  Cook pancakes about 3 minutes each side (they're thicker, so make sure to really let them cook so you don't get raw centers); serve with butter and syrup!  Makes about 8-10 pancakes.

Nathan's breaky

These are deliciously mild pumpkin flavored pancakes, that make a great staple for any fall or winter breakfast.  Needless to say, Nathan enjoyed his breakfast today, and he will the next few days as well.  I doubled the batch to use up the rest of the pumpkin, and it holds well once the batter is mixed as long as you store it in the fridge.  What do you guys make for your weekend breakfast?  Have you tried the pumpkin pancakes yet?  If so, what did you think?  And if not, what are you waiting for lol?

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo