Ja cię kocham…

Well I’ve been pretty crappy at posting recipes this month – again.  I now have two jobs, which consequently have led me to leave for work early in the morning and get home after dark.  Needless to say, I have had zero time for cooking, let alone taking pictures when it’s light out.

That will change – I promise.

For now, I have this awesome oatmeal that adds flare to what can be a very blah but healthy breakfast.  If you remember my Coconut and White Nectarine Muesli post, I mentioned that it can be made the night before or in the morning with quick oats.  The difference is at night you can let all the ingredients soak in the fridge without using your stove top while making it in the AM requires using a saucepan and heating up the ingredients.  Your choice!  Either is delicious!

Chai Oatmeal

Serves 2-3
Ingredients:

3/4 cup quick oats
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 1/2 cups milk (I used vanilla soy milk)
craisins or dried cherries
pumpkin seeds and/or sunflower seeds

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook according to the directions on your quick oats container.  Add a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg on top (I added shredded coconut flakes, too)!  And make sure to keep a close eye on it so the milk doesn’t burn in your sauce pan!

“What is a Pawpappy?”, you might ask.   My response is that is that a Pawpappy is a WHO, not a what, and Pawpappy is my dad.  Long, long ago my father decided during an episode of Empty Nest (hello 1990s!) that his grandchildren were to call him Pawdaddy.  Mind you, I was in my pre-teens and teen years in the 1990s.

Then I moved into my twenty-somethings.  My family went on a summer vacation to the beach and heading home from a grocery store, my dad and I saw a restaurant called Pappy’s with a BIG, pink pig as its mascot.  Dad just started dying of laughter, and when I inquired about this hysterical laughter my father decided that his grandkids were to call him Pawpappy.  He also decided that my mom is to be called Popeye – so they would be Popeye and Pawpappy.   And even though this is potentially a “you had to be there” scenario I must share with you that at this moment I have never laughed so hard in my life.  Let me also note that this conversation was 6 or 7 years ago, and my parents still aren’t grandparents.  My mom refuses to accept Popeye as her “grandma” name, but now we all call my dad “Pawpappy”, “Pawpaps”, or “Paps”.   Mom, you know we’re going to end up calling you Popeye

Paps’s birthday was yesterday and in honor of him, I made him his favorite dessert food… or should I say the only dessert that he eats: ginger snaps.  His birthday cake was actually a block of smoked muenster cheese (his favorite and he likes allll cheese) with candles in it.

Happy Birthday, Paps!  We love you!

Homemade Ginger Snaps

Source: For the Love of Cooking
Yields 18-24 cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of flour (I used unbleached)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar (I used turbinado sugar or “sugar in the raw”)
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup molasses (Mine was unsulphured)
2 tbsp white sugar (again, I used turbinado sugar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt then set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg then add water and molasses and mix thoroughly. Gently stir the dry mixture into the molasses mixture.

Shape dough into balls then roll them in the two tablespoons of white sugar.  Place the cookies about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.