Full Breakfast! 3 Items Reviewed!

Wow, totally missing in action ONCE AGAIN. I find it hard to focus sometimes even when it comes to food which I realize sounds insane. I have been cooking and baking a lot but I've been trying to keep myself busy. When you are looking for work, it is important to keep busy otherwise you will go totally batty. So anyhow, this is one of the best recipes from the last 2 weeks or so.

(Photo courtesy of Post Punk Kitchen)

So, of course I love sweet things for dinner as much as I like them any other time of the day. I try not to make this a habit but sometimes a girl needs a buttery, crispy waffle oozing with warm maple syrup to finish off her day. Usually I go the waffle route because I like any reason to use my grandma's old iron. My friend Ethan pointed me in the direction of these sinfully decadent Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes. These were made non-vegan with the addition of a Maple Cream Cheese Sauce but I thought it was necessary to go full tilt with the whole carrot cake idea. And to make this a full breakfast, I made my own vegan version of this Sausage and Potato Hash.

My notes and substitutions:

Pancakes

-- Instead of maple syrup as the sweetener, I just used granulated sugar.
-- Allspice isn't something I typically use, so I just added a dash more cinnamon to the mix.

Maple Cream Cheese Sauce

-- All I can say is make sure the cream cheese is FULLY at room temperature. I'm usually super anal about that but I let it slide this time and the sauce was lumpy. It was still good but would be more presentable for guests at room temp.

Sausage and Potato Hash

(Photo courtesy of Never Enough Thyme)

-- Instead of meat (of course), I used Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage. This is my favorite sausage substitute and use it for meatballs, hash and put it on my pizza among other things.
-- I cut this recipe in half since it was only for two people but I could have easily demolished this all! It was so good and easy customizable.
-- If you are like me and love a good dark crust on your potatoes, crank up the heat. Once the heat is cranked, place a dish on top of the hash and weigh it down with a full tea kettle or a couple of cans to really get a crispy crust. Make sure to stir a few times and replace the weights again until it is to your desired crispiness. I believe this is essential to this meal, but if you are into limp potatoes, more power to you my loves.

Breakfast for dinner is like a pile of a thousand puppies playing. Basically what I'm trying to say it's awesome. Once I made the pancakes, I put them on a pan in a very low but warm oven (200 F) to maintain their heat but not continue to cook. And because it just makes me happy, I decided to toast some almonds to sprinkle on top. The pancakes had a really nice carrot cake flavor without being too sweet (unless you add the sauce, which just made them AMAZING). The salty crispiness of the hash and sweet warmth of the pancakes and sauce made this a perfect balanced meal. Well maybe not healthily balanced but certainly made my soul sing.

I give all the recipes:

5/5 Spoons!

I might not review another recipe for a little while again, but trust me I have notes and will be back. Take care all!

Deadly Chocolate Almond Toffee 5/5 Spoons

So, I'm not much of a candy maker. I have made truffles before but those are super easy to do. And much to my surprise, so is toffee! I don't even have a candy thermometer and I have successfully made toffee and caramel. I know I should have one eventually but I think if you have a keen cooking eye and sense of smell, you will be totally alright. This is why I plan on making this recipe again very soon.



(My own picture on my brand new and wonderful Silpat! They are pricey but so worth it to make candy, cookies, pavlovas, etc.)

So my true intention for this toffee was to be a present for my lovely and beautiful friend, Samantha. She lives in Connecticut so I had to think of something I could send that a. wouldn't spoil and b. wouldn't break into a million pieces (and if it did, who cares! It's toffee!) And yeah, this made quite a bit more than what I was planning on sending her. Oops! I seriously ate this all in one day with only minimal help from my roommates. So this is pretty dangerous stuff.



(Photo courtesy of La Fuji Mama)

The only thing I changed is that I used finely chopped almonds on top instead of walnuts. I dare say this might be my favorite thing I've made this year (yeah, it is only February, but this is still saying a lot!) The texture of the toffee was out of this world. It was crisp but almost flaked into your mouth while chewing it. It was buttery with a dark caramel-y flavor. And I think I would rather not have the chocolate chips and almonds on top for next time. I would almost rather just have toffee and almonds as to not take away from the phenomenal burnt sugar flavor. I plan on making this again and good thing I'm obsessive about my oral hygiene because otherwise I might lose all my teeth. : P

I give this recipe:

5/5 Spoons!

OK, I will post an entree/side dish next. To appease the masses!