I went through a spell in high school of only eating Shaw’s Supermarket’s raisin bran muffins for breakfast. I considered trying to recreate it, but why would you use raisins when you could use apples? Exactly.

3/4 c. wheat flour
1 c. bran cereal, crushed
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
2 tbs. vegetable oil
4 oz. container of plain apple sauce
1 apple, cut into bite-side pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread apple pieces out on a buttered sheet pan, then let bake for 15 minutes (this will dry them out, allowing a less mushy muffin). In a large bowl, mix flour, bran, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together milk, egg oil and apple sauce. Add to flour mixture, whisk, then let stand for a few minutes to soften bran. Fold in cooled apple pieces then scoop in to lined muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes clean.

Note for making awesome apple-bran muffins: These were delicious. Nothing like my high school favorite, but still fantastic… My roommate and I have eaten ALL of them in the past 2 days, so I guess that’s proof! The applesauce helps with adding some extra moistness without making everything mushy. This recipe yields 6 small muffins, but next time I’m totally going to double the batch and make huge ones!

For all of you who haven’t noticed: I haven’t posted a muffin recipe yet. Somewhere in month two I got this crazy idea of an all-muffin march, so I was held off for a while. After (somewhat regrettably) telling a few friends, they now would be disappointed if I didn’t go through with it… SO HERE I AM, MAKING ONLY MUFFINS, ALL MARCH LONG (I might die of a carbohydrate overdose, but I’ve come to peace with it and realized it’s a pretty okay way to go). I figured I’d start off with a spin on a classic: the blueberry muffin.

1/2 stick of butter, melted
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. corn meal
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. sugar
Zest from one lemon
1/2 c. milk
2 egg yolks
Blueberries (I used frozen, about a cup)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, corn meal, baking powder and sugar. Stir in lemon and blueberries. Make sure the berries are coated in flour mixture (this will help with keeping the berries all throughout each muffin, not sink to the bottom!). In a separate bowl, whisk milk, eggs and butter. It might get a little clumpy, but don’t worry. Add to flour mixture, and stir until all is combined. Bake in lined muffin pan for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Yields about 7 – 1/3 c. muffins.

Note for making the best blueberry muffins: Holy mother-of-pearl, these were freaking delicious. Dare is say, in the running to be better than my mothers’ original blueberry muffin recipe. I was worried because the batter was VERY thick, but obviously everything ended up fantastic. If you’re looking for the ol’ overwhelmingly huge muffin, just double this and use a bigger pan. I’m sticking to a fairly small pan, because although a muffin-induced death wouldn’t be so bad, I figured I’d try to avoid it. HECK YES, IT’S MUFFIN-MARCH.

I will admit: I have only had french onion soup once in my life. It was one of those dishes that I always loved, but never actually ordered when I was out at a restaurant. Truthfully, it has always seemed pretty granny-ish to me but, of course now that I’m a vegetarian I’m craving it like WOAH. It’s something about warm soup topped with bread and cheese that makes me want to conquer a veggie version…

3 large yellow onions, cut into strips
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tsp. sugar
8 c. vegetable broth
3 tbs. butter or margarine
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 tbs. soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 loaf of french bread, cut into slices
1/4 lb. muenster cheese (provolone or gruyere would work too!)

In a large pot on medium, melt butter and olive oil. Sauté garlic, then add onions. Sprinkle onions with sugar and stir. Cook until translucent (almost mushy), about 25 minutes. Add vegetable broth, vinegar and soy sauce, then bring to a boil. On a sheet pan, toast bread on broil in the oven, then melt slices of cheese on top. Serve soup with cheesy bread!

Note for making superb onion soup: Bread soaked with hot soup = a recipe for DISASTER. Make sure you let this cool, because I totally burnt my tongue… Other than that, it’s a pretty simple recipe! It’s imperative that you cook the onions until they’re very soft. It allows them to lose their strong flavor, and take on a taste with more depth. I can tell you this soup was great, but anything covered with cheese is obviously going to be delicious!

If you like The Office even half as much as I do, you’ll understand why I spent three hours of my day off making soft pretzels. For the record, I didn’t realize they were going to take me that long… Now I have enough pretzels to feed a soccer team, but boy were they good. IT’S PRETZEL DAY… GET TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus some for kneading
1 tsp. table salt
1 1/4 oz. package active yeast
1 1/2 c. lukewarm water
1 tbs. sugar
1 egg, beaten
Toppings for sprinkling (I just used coarse salt)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

In a glass bowl, mix yeast, sugar and water and set aside until it gets foamy, which should take no more than 10-15 minutes (if it doesn’t foam, start over with a new packet). In the meantime, mix flour with table salt. Once yeast mixture has foamed, stir into the flour using a spoon until it’s shaggy. Transfer to a clean, floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes (the dough should become very smooth and tacky). Return to it’s original bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit for about an hour.

Once it has doubled in size, remove from bowl and cut into eight pieces. Roll each piece of dough until it’s about 24″ in length, then shape into a pretzel (I googled cause I sadly needed help with this). Place on an oiled baking sheet for 20 minutes to rise again. In the meantime, preheat oven to 425 degrees and get a large pot of water boiling on the stove.

Place pretzel in boiling water (no more than two or three at a time) and let cook for about 3 minutes. Flip occasionally. Remove from water and set on a rack or plate to dry off/cool. Transfer back to the oiled sheet pan, brush with egg, sprinkle with toppings, then bake for 25-30 minutes (or until golden brown). They will be EXTREMELY hot when they’re finished, so let cool for 15 minutes before eating!

Note for making perfect pretzels: I can’t believe these came out of my kitchen! Totally worth the 3 hour wait… Although they’re made of only water, flour and yeast, they taste so buttery and delicious! My only tip is to be patient (which I have little of. If I can do it, you definitely can). Sometimes yeast can be fussy so it might take a little longer than expected! These would be SO AWESOME to bring to a party. I’ll host an Office party, cover them with chocolate and lots of junk, then watch all my guests whine until they all pass out. EVERYONE’S INVITED!

Time is dwindling on month four and I won’t lie: I’ve been scrambling. I was going to whip up a simple thumb-print cookie for you guys, but I saw these in a cookbook and flashes of my love for the macaroon came rushing back. Flour-less, sweet and chewy little clouds of coconut heaven. Ah… the sickest part? I ate them all in one sitting.

4 egg whites
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
8 oz. package shredded & sweetened coconut, lightly toasted
1/4 c. crushed almonds for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a mixer, whip egg whites until they start to stiffen. Add sugar slowly, and continue whipping until mixture forms stiff peaks (it will look really glossy and shiny). Lastly, whip in extract. Using a spatula, fold in coconut. Drop tablespoon-sized dollops of batter on a parchment lined baking sheet, top with a sprinkle of almonds and bake for 12-15 minutes. The center should still be moist, but the outside golden!

Note for making exquisite macaroons: SO… I messed these up a bit. I didn’t have an 8 ounce package of coconut. I cut it short a little bit, which only hurt my poor little macaroons in the long run because they fell flat once cooled. Oopsie doodles. So don’t do what I did and put the correct amount of ingredients in! They were still delicious (obviously, seeing as though I gluttonously threw almost all of them back in one sitting)!

I thought it was about time for something down-home, and amidst my craze for vintage cook books I decided to conquer… THE BISCUIT. They’re more or less a necessity around these parts (in New England we have the english muffin), and rightfully so: they’re delicious with just about anything. I added a little bit of wheat flour, some whipped cream and strawberries and turned this in to the best dessert this side of the mississippi!

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. wheat flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
6 tbs. butter
1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until it’s in small pieces. Stir in milk until mixture is shaggy, then transfer to a floured surface and knead until all is combined. Flatten dough until it’s about 1/2″ thick (you don’t need a rolling pin, just use your hands!), then cut out biscuits with a round or beveled cookie cutter. Bake on lined sheet pan for 12 minutes, then serve immediately!

Note for making the bestest biscuits: Strawberry shortcake has always been one of my favorites, and it’s always so much better when the biscuits are from scratch! This is a pretty decent recipe, but it could have used a little more butter if anything (Mrs. Deen would be so proud)… don’t feel the need to hold back! The recipe makes about a dozen biscuits, so I made some breakfast sandwiches which were FANTASTIC. I love recipes that can duo as both breakfast and dessert (and there aren’t many).

My go-to hungover food has always been a deep fried eggplant parmesan sub. I’m telling you… it makes me feel like a billion bucks no matter the situation. Delicious sauce, lots of cheese, and the crunchy eggplant make such a wonderful sub that I was curious with how it would work in another popular italian dish…

1 Large jar of your favorite pasta sauce (or 3 cups of your own homemade sauce like mine)
8 9″ flat pieces of lasagna pasta, cooked until bendable
4 oz. bag mozzarella cheese
3/4 c. whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 large eggplant, skinned and cut into very thin slices (no bigger than 1/4″)
2 c. italian bread crumbs (already seasoned works great, you don’t have to buy all those spices!)
1 c. parmesan cheese, split in two
3 eggs, beaten with a glug or two of milk
Vegetable oil (to fry)

(Makes 9×9 dish or 4 servings. If you want more, double it!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix breadcrumbs with 1/2 of a cup of parmesan cheese in an open bowl. Dip thin slices of eggplant in egg/milk mixture, then into breadcrumbs. Once all slices are covered, heat oil in large skillet. Fry each side for 3 minutes or until golden brown, then set on a paper towel covered plate (this lets excess oil drain). Once all pieces are fried, begin the assembly of your lasagna.

Begin by putting a little sauce in the bottom of the dish (to prevent hard pasta that’s hard to cut), then interchanging the layers of pasta, ricotta, eggplant, mozzarella, then more sauce. After each layer, press down to remove the air bubbles.

Top with more sauce and the rest of the parmesan cheese, then stick in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly!

Note for making delicious lasagna: Again I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but this was the best lasagna I’ve ever had! It really helps when you press down on each layer… It makes a much tighter lasagna that’s easier to cut (i.e. no more floppy slices that fall off the spatula and droop everywhere). This keeps very well for days, so it’s great to make and eat as leftovers all week long (like I’ve been doing this week)!

I know it may seem hard to believe, but all of this stick-to-your-ribs cooking is starting to catch up with me. In the past four month, I’ve eaten dessert every single day. Although some may think it isn’t such a bad thing, I’m starting to feel like total crap. Voila: a salad. I work at a tiki-bar/restaurant on the island, and the kitchen is great because they make almost everything from scratch… including the dressings. Their fantastic homemade caesar inspired me to concoct my own!

4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tbs. mayonnaise
2 tbs. dijon mustard
1 tbs. white vinegar
Handful parmesan cheese
About 1/2 c. olive oil (more or less)
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, blend garlic, mayo, vinegar, mustard, cheese, and lemon juice. Once combined and creamy, continue blending while slowly pouring olive oil into processor. Give the dressing a taste, and add salt and pepper accordingly. Serve over a bed of romaine!

Note for making delicious dressing: This is so easy and I’m not quite sure why I haven’t made it before! Also: I’ve never been a huge fan, so I decided to forgo the anchovies. A lot of recipes I found actually do not include anchovies, so I guess they’re not a huge deal when it comes to caesar! This makes enough for at least four decent sized salads, and although it isn’t the healthiest of things I could be eating, it sure does make me feel a lot better!

There is no dessert my dad loves more than fig squares. I never got it as a kid, nor do I even still… You could put a hot fudge sunday in front of the man, but he’d still prefer a fig square if it were offered. In this case, the apple sure does fall far from the tree, because I think figs are pretty disgusting (they look like creepy sea creatures)… But because I love him, I figured out a pretty awesome recipe that you could fill with whatever fruit you want.

Crust:
1 c. flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 c. butter, cold and cut into chunks
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup cold water

Filling:
1 15oz can of figs
2 tbs. sugar
1/4 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain can of figs, and save a couple tablespoons of liquid. In a blender or food processor, puree figs and raisins. The consistency should be a little thinner than jelly, and if it isn’t add a tablespoon or two of liquid from can. Set fig puree aside. In another bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Cut butter into mixture until the butter pieces are the size of peas. Add in yolk, lemon juice and water and knead with hands until shaggy, then place on a floured countertop. Knead until well combined.

Butter a 9×9 baking dish. Cut dough in half, then roll out each (try to make them into a square about the same size of your dish). Place one piece on bottom of dish, making sure to press down hard especially in the corners. Top with fig puree, then add second piece of dough on top. Prick with a fork in the center, then bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool, then cut into squares!

Note for making fantastic fig squares: I’ll admit I was weery, but I actually enjoyed these! Make sure you spread out the filling evenly and wait for them to cool completely before cutting them. Overall, a very easy recipe and I think that it would be equally (if not more) delicious with apple or strawberry filling! GOOD LUCK, DAD!

Happy Valentines Day! To celebrate the holiday I decided on a recipe that is easy, quick, and could be done in pairs. AWWWHHH. Need not forget, it is also Chinese New Year! For all you late boyfriends (or girlfriends), these are SUPER quick, which means there’s still time to fool them into thinking you haven’t forgotten… So celebrate both occasions and make these for your sweethahhhht.

1 egg white
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 tbs. water
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar

Make fortunes out of 3″ by 1/2″ pieces of paper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk egg white, extracts and water until frothy. Add in remaining ingredients, and stir until well combined. On a liberally oiled sheet pan, place 1 tablespoon amounts of batter at least 5 inches apart. In a circular motion using a spoon, spread out each until it’s about 4 inches in radius. Bake in oven for 5 minutes, until the edges are brown. Using a metal spatula, remove from sheet and place onto your hand (don’t worry, it won’t burn you). Insert fortune in center, then fold cookie in half. Press the center of the unfolded side against the rim of a cup (it’s very difficult to explain, I’d suggest looking up pictures and figuring it out yourself). Place each cookie in its own pocket of an empty egg carton to harden for 20 minutes.

Note for making the cutest fortune cookies: Now, I said earlier that these were easy, and by easy I meant I had a whole day off and tried three different recipes and added a little bit of this and that in order to get the right one for you guys. SO MAKE THEM, PLEASE. They really were fun and easy once they stopped being a pain and sticking to the pan… so liberally grease it. I melted a little bit of chocolate and dipped them which was extra tasty… When you spread each cookie out, they’ll look a little translucent which is a good thing (you don’t want them too thick or they won’t harden)! Good luck! SMOOOOCH!