Last month for Scott’s birthday we discussed what sort of special dessert/snacky thing he wanted.  A lot of ideas were tossed around and he finally decided on Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcakes.

Those were his exact words.

Dude.  I don’t even know where he pulled that from! But in this house, whatever my hunny wants is what he’s going to get.

I poured over some websites and several of my favorite cookbooks and came up with a game plan.

This is how I work. I review several recipes to get an idea of how something is done and then I make my own version.

I fully expect that everyone else operates this way as well.  In my head no one follows a recipe exactly, we are all just a bunch of Kitchen Rogues blazing a path with a chef’s knife in one hand and a kitchen blow torch in the other.

Or something like that.

Andrea’s Cinnamon…

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Pizza!!  I don’t know why it took me so long to finally post my dough recipe but here we are, woo!

Scott and I started Pizza Thursday I think in early 2009.  We love pizza and we decided that if we have it every week then we would be more open to playing with toppings and sauces.

Also because we have had trouble finding pizza we like in Columbus.  I know everybody has places they like but some of them are a little too far for us to travel for pickup for a Thursday night.

In order to satisfy our love for pizza we had to make our own.  I originally started out buying pizza dough from Whole Foods which was fine but it wasn’t awesome.  Plus it was pricey.  Yes it was still cheaper than buying a pizza out but if I made my own crust, I could save us loads…

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Scott and I love seafood.  Like LOVE it, in what probably results in something verging on ridiculous.  I try to make sure that we have seafood at least twice a week since that is our preferred “animal” protein source.  Tuesdays we have fish so that leaves another day free for whatever.

And while I don’t eat a lot of meat, one thing I love is sausage.  My love for it would be just a few levels down from seafood.  Seafood I would eat everyday if you gave it to me, sausage I have to be in the mood for.  I swear I’m not trying to make a joke with that statement.

Sometimes those two wants just happen to collide with each other.

I will tell you that because I love food so much, I am constantly thinking about it.  I would guess this is the way most foodies behave.  Wondering…

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While I was hobnobbing it at the Foodbuzz Festival last year, I was one of the few who got to sample the spicy mac ‘n cheese that got passed around Friday evening.  It was creamy and spicy and I was thankful that it was a small portion because it tasted extremely decadent.

I made sure to tell Scott all about it and since then he has been saying, “Mmm spicy mac ‘n cheese” at random points.

Mac ‘n cheese isn’t something I make all that often but I have been making it since Scott and I first moved in together.  He grew up on that crazy boxed stuff and I personally think that stuff is disgusting (Gee do I want powder cheese? Or cheeze-whiz in a pouch for the “creamy” version. EW!).  We didn’t have it at my house.  We didn’t have mac ‘n cheese period,…

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The other day at the grocery store I came across some baby heirloom tomatoes and became quickly excited! I double checked to make sure that they were not from Mexico. They were not, score!  They were gorgeous and I decided to buy them since a container was only $2!  Not bad!

While I know that tomatoes are not in season right now, I also realize that some farmers run hydroponics in the winter to provide more produce.  This is a practice that I do not have an issue with.

Because these tomatoes were gorgeous, I wanted to use them in a dish that would show them off and not cover them up.  Tomatoes can easily get lost in a dish if there’s a lot going on or if the sauce is really heavy.  I wanted to avoid this as much as possible.

Tomatoes have a ton of juice…

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This is the last side dish that rounded out the bison steak night meal.  With the heaviness of the potato and steak, I wanted the accompanying side dish to be a bit lighter and fresher.  Perhaps also as a palate cleanser.  I went with a quick salad that contains one of my very favorite flavor combos, red onion and orange.

I know it sounds really odd; the first time I was presented with it I thought the same thing.  I was visiting my mom several years ago and she made a salad with mandarin oranges and red onion.  I was nervous to eat it.  Fruit and onions?  I dunno.

After one bite I was hooked!  The citrus really mellows out the bite of the onion and brings out its sweetness instead.  It tastes fresh and new, like a summer morning after…

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Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve never been to a steak house before?  Like an honest-to-goodness steak house?  I’ve been to Ruth’s Chris once with Scott like a decade ago but that’s a chain so I don’t really count that as a true steak house.

I grew up in the sticks so we didn’t have steak houses.  Unless you count going over to the Elk’s or Moose on steak night and I’m betting you don’t.  Even the bigger towns closest to us (which were all half an hour to 45 minutes away no matter which direction you went) didn’t have steak houses.

But there are some things I know about steak houses like they are crazy expensive if what people tell me is true.  Every time The Double R mentions steak houses on her show she says that for two people it could…

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It’s Scott’s birthday week, so this means we get to eat some super special meals.  One of the things Scott wanted for sure was some steak.  We don’t eat red meat often, not because we think it’s The Devil Meat but just because we don’t eat all that much meat in general.  Everything in moderation, ya know.

When my husband asks for something he gets it or at least I try my best to provide it for him.  We were at the butcher and none of their steaks looked very appealing.  I felt really awful having to tell Scott that none of the steak was worth purchasing.  He explained that he understood as the meat didn’t look too nice and it was no big deal.

I, however, was totally bummed.

We moved on to another butcher, one who provides bison (buffalo) meats and they just happened to have some bison steaks on…

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I love coleslaw and I’m also extremely picky about my coleslaw.  I like it sweet and tart with just a hint of some heat at the end.

While I don’t mind mayo, I don’t want it swimming in mayo.  Really soupy coleslaw is gross.  I like coleslaw to have just a touch of dressing giving flavor to the veggies but not crushing them so they lose their crunch.

Speaking of crunch, I want to crunch and chew my way through coleslaw, not slurp it up.

Coleslaw needs to have some onion background.  Not overpowering but it needs to be present.  Coleslaw is also more than just cabbage, it can be a great opportunity to introduce some new veggies to the scene!

Now even though I don’t mind mayo, I have started making my coleslaw without.  One reason being is that I want to be able to make slaw for my vegan friends and…

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Naturally since I got a brand spanking new fantastic waffle maker for Christmas, I have been in the mood for nothing but pancakes.

Figures.

Pancakes are in big rotation here at the HQ as a Sunday Breakfast staple.  I love coming up with new creations and flavor combos.  This newest pancake has the awesome combo of bananas and peanut butter!

Andrea’s Peanut Butter and Banana Pancakes

• 1C Spelt Flour
• 1C Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1tsp Baking Powder
• 1TBSP Ground Flax
• 2tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Bananas
• 1 3/4C Soymilk
• 1/4C All Natural Peanut Butter
• 2tsp Vanilla Extract
• Olive oil for cooking

In a large mixing bowl combine the flours, baking powder, flax, and cinnamon.  Stir with a whisk to combine and aerate the flours.  In a medium sized mixing bowl combine soymilk and banana.  Mash the banana with a masher until totally demolished.  Add in the peanut butter and vanilla, whisk till combined.  Gently pour the liquid mixture in with the flour mixture, stir with mixing…

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