Potato Galette

Fancy name, easy dish! I’m always looking for new takes on familiar sides, and this fills the bill. It’s delicious! All it is is a skillet-size potato pancake. A mandolin makes fast work of thinly slicing the potatoes, but you could also use a knife. You can use any kind of herbs; I chose herbs de Provence. To serve, flip the pancake out of the skillet, cut it into wedges, and top with sour cream. Enjoy!

Potato Galette
Olive oil
4 potatoes (I used red-skinned ones.)
1 onion
Salt and pepper
Herbs de Provence

1. Drizzle olive oil in a cast-iron skillet. Place skillet over low heat on stovetop.
2. Meanwhile, thinly slice potatoes and onion. Layer potatoes and onion in hot skillet, sprinkling each layer with salt, pepper, and herbs.
3. Increase heat to medium, and cook until potatoes on bottom are browned and crisp. Use a baking sheet to carefully flip pancake out of skillet. Slide potato pancake back into skillet, browned side up. Cook until bottom is browned and crisp.

Slicing the potatoes with a mandolin.

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter-Caramel Cookies

For Christmas, I gave Mel a subscription to her own cookie-of-the-month club. So far, she has chosen pumpkin cookies and cappuccino brownies (aka Melanie brownies). For March she wasn’t sure what she wanted. I mentioned this old SL Cooking School recipe because it has many of her favorite flavors, and she approved. Looking over the recipe, I realized that a lot of changes needed to be made to improve it and to make it more representative of how I cook now versus how I cooked in 2003. When I delivered the cookies, I asked AC and LB for help coming up with a name. Their suggestion was “chocolate-peanut butter-caramel fantastic deliciousness!” That’s a big name to live up to—enjoy!

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter-Caramel Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 bag chocolate chips
2/3 cup toffee chips
1/4 cup butter
4 Tbsp. whipping cream, divided
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Combine butter and peanut butter in a mixer. Gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add in vanilla.
2. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients. Gradually beat in to butter mixture until blended. Add in 1 bag chocolate chips and toffee chips. Scoop batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until done. Remove from oven, and lightly press a depression into the top of each cookie with a spoon.
4. Meanwhile, combine remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan, stirring often. Cook until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and stir in 2 Tbsp. whipping cream. Allow to cool slightly, and spoon a little caramel into each depression on cookies.
5. Combine 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp. whipping cream. Cook in microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over tops of cookies; allow to cool completely.

Pizza Dough

For years, I’ve been a fan of pizza dough from the Publix Bakery. But recently I have been on the search for a simple and delicious recipe to make it myself. Some of my reasoning is to save a little money, but another motivation is that this way we can have pizza whenever, even if I don’t make it to the store. I love this recipe because it requires minimal ingredients, comes together very easily, and makes enough for three pizzas. (Just wrap what you don’t need in plastic wrap, then put it into a zip-top bag, and throw it in the freezer.) The only trick is that you have to allow time for the dough to rise, but it’s worth it. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 (1/4-oz.) packet active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Olive oil

1. Combine yeast in warm water, stirring until dissolved.
2. Stir together flour and salt; add in yeast mixture. Stir until a loose dough forms.
3. Place dough onto a lightly floured board, and knead dough until it becomes elastic and smooth. Divide into thirds. Place each dough round in a bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Cover dough rounds with a damp cloth or paper towel. Place in a warm, draft-free place for 2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
4. Punch dough down, and return to bowls; cover with damp cloth. Allow to rise for 1 more hour. Punch dough down, and roll to desired thickness.

Baking instructions: Top dough with desired toppings. Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until done.

Red Velvet Cake

Andy celebrated his 10th birthday (and 40th year) on today. He requested red velvet cake, which I always make as cupcakes. However he informed me that it had to be a layer cake because he doesn’t like cupcakes as much. I don’t make pretty cakes, that’s why we always have cupcakes—but he only turns 10 once! Everything came together well, but cupcakes are still my preference.:) This is his mom’s recipe and it’s the best one I’ve ever had. Enjoy!


Red Velvet Cake
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (1-oz.) bottle red liquid food coloring
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer until combined. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add in vinegar and next 2 ingredients.
2. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into lightly greased muffin cups.
3. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a pick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cool completely. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting on each cupcake.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8-oz.) block cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (16-oz.) box powdered sugar

1. Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar.

Sautéed Spinach

I needed a quick and easy side dish for dinner tonight. Some baby spinach in my fridge inspired me to make this recipe, which is similar to how I cook brussels sprouts. All you have to do is sauté the spinach with a little bacon (it makes everything better) and then add some lemon zest and juice. Delicious!

Sautéed Spinach
1 bacon slice, chopped
1 container baby spinach
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

1. Cook bacon in a skillet until almost done. Stir in spinach, and cook until it begins to wilt. Stir in lemon zest and juice; reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sugar Cookies

AC and LB were out of school for President’s Day, so I asked them to come over to make cookies. When we moved two years ago, I lost my cookie cutters and just found them a few weeks ago. Since then, the girls have been anxious to make and frost sugar cookies. They chose all kinds of shapes—bunnies, baby chicks, Christmas trees, stars, ice-cream cones, rocking horses, moons, etc.—for the cookies. Our frosting colors were very bright—just how they like them! (Well, except for the purple. LB said to me, “You know, Paula, this isn’t really the color I wanted. I like lavender best!” Can’t win them all, I suppose!) I experimented with a new sugar cookie dough and was very pleased. It has a good vanilla flavor and didn’t puff up when baked, which meant it held it’s shape. For the frosting, I used this yummy one. Definitely try this with the little people in your life!

Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. milk
Powdered sugar
Vanilla Frosting

1. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until soft and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla bean paste, until smooth. Combine flour and next 2 ingredients; add to butter mixture with milk, beating until blended.
2. Roll out dough on a work surface sprinkled with powdered sugar. Cut into desired shapes.
3. Bake at 350° for 7 to 9 minutes or until done. Cool on pan 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Spread cookies with tinted vanilla frosting.

Recipe Rewind: Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake

Andy is a Leap Year baby! That means he will celebrate his 10th birthday (and 40th year) on the 29th. As you can imagine, our nieces and nephews love that he is so close to their ages.:) Tonight we had supper club, and I asked our friends who were hosting if we could bring dessert to celebrate Andy’s birthday month. They kindly agreed. Andy requested this recipe. It’s very easy but looks and tastes impressive. If you haven’t tried cheesecake, this one is good for your first attempt. Enjoy!