adding new recipes

One of my New Year's resolutions was to compile a cookbook of my favorite recipes by the time Christmas rolls around.  I decided I had better start now or it would never happen once school starts.  So, I've downloaded the software and made my Table of Contents.  Once I saw the list of recipes to include, I started experimenting with some recipes from my favorite, new cookbook from America's Test Kitchen.  Their recipes seriously don't fail me - perhaps it is the scientific method applied to food that I like?

It is a textbook-like compilation of recipes that I would love to work my way through (kind of like Julie & Julia).  I have already made their brown-sugar cookies, triple chocolate cookies, and deep dish pizza from watching their show on PBS.  Bonus: You can find almost all their recipes online if you want to try them out before committing to a whole cookbook.

This weekend, Zach and I tried two recipes with good success, and then went back to an old favorite on the grill.  First up...instead of going out on Friday night, we decided to recreate a favorite meal from Mama Carolla's Italian Restaurant, garlicky shrimp pasta, for less than the restaurant charges for a single plate ($15).  Find the recipe here.  We had delicious results, although I would switch the rigatoni to capellini next time.

{garlic shrimp pasta}

The next morning, I got up to try my hand at pancakes, from scratch.  Traditionally, we have always been pancake-box-mix people.  It started with Hungry Jack buttermilk pancakes (which only stopped when we read the ingredients - yikes!) and then evolved into Hodgson Mill  whole wheat buttermilk pancakes.  Unfortunately, Zach never liked the whole wheat variety, so we never make them anymore. 

A.T.K.'s recipe for homemade blueberry pancakes sounded like a winner to me, since I had everything in my pantry and it didn't include buttermilk (which I have never bought).  The resulting pancakes, with and without blueberries, were absolutely the best I have ever made and were light, fluffy, and slightly tangy from the lemon juice.

{pancakes, from scratch}