Sunday, September 18, 2011

The best pancakes ever

I recently had a craving for pancakes, but I didn't want to eat something insanely unhealthy like most things you buy in restaurants now day... so I did some research and found this absolutely amazing recipe. The pancakes were the best I'd ever had. Here's the recipe!
Credits go to Dakota Kelly, who posted this recipe on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used around 1 1/4 cup for an eggier taste)
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar (As usual, replaced with Xylitol)
  • 1 1/4 cups milk (If you don't have milk, as in my case, just replace it with water. Start with a cup of water and add more if needed, since water is thinner than milk. It will still taste incredible!)
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
I'm adding Coconut oil to this list- I used it to grease the pan. It's a healthier alternative and the taste goes well with the pancakes.

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Hope you enjoy this recipe! Have fun!

A yummy treat

I'm a chocolate lover. ^_^ Really, who isn't? One of my favorite treats is chocolate cake, and this recipe is beyond amazing. Give it a shot!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (Sea salt is heathier but also has a stronger taste, so I tend to add a bit less when I use it.)
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 1/4 cups white sugar (As a healthy alternative, I use 2 cups of Xylitol. Xylitol can be used as a healthy replacement to sugar in everything!)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.


*Note: Always follow the baking directions. If you just dump in all the ingredients, whatever it is you are making won't taste as good. The reason? The chemical reactions that would have taken place if you had followed the directions were cancelled out, which could do a number of things to your masterpiece. Chemistry + a good recipe= an amazing treat! Have fun!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wandering English Village



The first picture is of the theatre that the kids get to perform in. There's a lake and a bridge behind it. :) The second is the view of some of the buildings and the clock that I had to stand by every time I had patrol :) And the third is of a little path I found while I was wandering. In case you're wondering, I didn't edit the picture. My camera went on some kind of strange light mode and started taking pictures like this one. I thought the picture came out well so I wanted to share it.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Oysters

I heard something good the other day.

When an oyster makes a pearl, it is because something irritating gets stuck in its belly. Making the pearl must be really painful for the oyster, but it keeps working to overcome the pain. Over time, the painful thing becomes the core for a beautiful pearl. People should be like that, too. We should take all of our hardships and turn them into pearls.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

...

Really kind of depressed today... anyone have any cheerful stories they'd like to share?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Anime/ Manga, History of the Blog

I happen to be one of many anime/ manga fans. Actually, the reason I started this blog is partly due to a manga book that I picked up yesterday. It's called, "I am Here!". It's about a girl who is literally invisible to everyone around her. Her closest friends are two people she met on her blog. They support her and help her through her trials. That's just a really basic summary, of course. It's a very good manga. :) Anyway, the point is that I started this blog because she reminded me a lot of what I used to be like, and I realized that there are probably a lot of people out there who are lonely and need friends or advice. So I wanted to start this blog in hope that it could help someone out there.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The first post!

This is my first post! Therefore, I will start by saying hello. :) I hope everyone had a good day today. Since I don't really know what to say, I'll share a recipe today. Baking is one of my hobbies, nerdy as it might seem ^-^ This is a pie crust recipe from a famous store in Utah called The Lion House.

BUTTERMILK PIE CRUST

Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon of oil


Instructions:
Place flour and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a fork. Add shortening and margarine and margarine and cut together with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles crumbs the size of small peas.

Add buttermilk and oil and blend together with a fork or your hands until all the flour is moist. This will make 3 or 4 crusts depending on how thick you like your crust.

If the recipe calls for a baked pie shell, bake at 375 degrees F. for 15-18 minutes.


I hope you have fun with this recipe! Please feel free to leave comments! :)