Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Happy Valentine's Day!  

These pancakes were a hit with all of my kids even though they didn't have maple syrup (not usually acceptable around here)! I did kinda feel like I was putting several cinnamon rolls on my plate at once! Pig out - it's Valentine's Day! And, look, even the newspaper carrier was in the spirit today:

Hilarious!

Anyway, you use a squirt bottle like the kind ketchup and mustard come in at some restaurants to make the cinnamon swirl. (Note: I saw something else recently that suggested using a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Brilliant! But either way will work).

I've modified this recipe a bit from the original. The recipe I used called for using melted butter, which may taste yummy, but little chunks that solidified kept clogging up my squirter, resulting in big blobs of the cinnamon batter like this:

Nice, huh? Don't worry, they still tasted good! I tried cutting a bigger opening, but that didn't work. So I tried keeping the batter warm in a pot of warm water, but I didn't want to actually cook the batter in the bottle and it didn't really work for me.

So, I've changed the recipe to use oil instead, along with a few other changes.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
2 c. white flour
1 c. wheat flour
2 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
4 T. oil
Cinnamon

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients; add to the dry and stir to combine. Pour about 1 c. batter into another bowl and add a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon, until it's a nice dark color. Pour the cinnamon batter into the squirt bottle.

Heat the skillet to a little lower temperature than you would normally use so that the pancakes will be mostly cooked through before you flip them. (That way the cinnamon design won't get too browned to see well). Pour plain batter onto the skillet and immediately swirl with the cinnamon batter. Let cook until golden on the bottom, then flip and cook the other side.

For the glaze, I like to use 1 T. butter to make it taste a little better. Add about a cup of powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 T. milk. Mix together well, adding more milk or powdered sugar until it's the consistency you want. Serve over pancakes.

Recipe adapted from livingthecountrylife.com

Maple-Butter Roasted Chicken

Mmmm....we had this for dinner tonight.  I just used chicken legs and thighs instead of a whole chicken and I used dried thyme and left out the lemon since I wasn't stuffing a whole chicken.  I'm sure that fresh thyme would've been scrumptious, but I didn't want to go back to the store today and I forgot to buy it.  Anyway, the skin was delightfully crispy and the meat was juicy and tender.  Tiernan and Mia dubbed this "the best chicken ever!"  : )  Oh, I drizzled a little maple syrup over the chicken after I finished spreading the butter all over the chicken - just for a little extra maple-y goodness.  : )

Maple-Butter Roasted Chicken

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoon(s) maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon(s) chopped fresh thyme
• 1 bunch(es) thyme sprigs
• 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together butter, maple syrup, and chopped thyme. Set aside.
2. Place chicken in a roasting pan and stuff cavity with lemon and all but 4 thyme sprigs. Slide hands under the chicken's skin to loosen. Spread half of reserved butter mixture between loosened skin and meat. Rub remaining butter mixture on top of skin and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reaches 165 degrees F, about 1 1/2 hours (or about an hour if you're not roasting a whole chicken). Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Garnish with remaining thyme sprigs

Recipe altered slightly from Country Living magazine

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans

I realled liked this dish.  Jeff was not a fan, but he's usually not a fan of brussels sprouts anyway.
This would be good to make at Christmas, with the readily available cranberries and the Christmasy colors.  : )  I happened to have some fresh cranberries in the freezer.
Also, I sort of forgot the barley but it was still good.  I don't know if I'll bother adding it next time or not.  : )

Pan-Seared Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans
Serves 3-4

1 pound brussels sprouts, de-stemed and halved
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup pecans
2 cups barley, cooked
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Heat skillet with drizzling of olive oil over medium heat. Season brussels sprouts with salt & pepper and combine with cranberries in skillet.Cook sprouts and cranberries for 8-10 minutes, until berries begin to burst and sprouts become tender. Add balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and pecans. Stir to coat and remove from heat.  Top with gorgonzola and serve.  

Recpie and picture from http://rachelschultz.com/