i heart food

One of my favorite things to do is brag to Zach about what a good cook I am. This is a typical conversation at the dinner table when I cook something that I'm extra proud of:

Katie: "Holy cow, this is so good."

Zach: "Yeah, it's really good."

Katie: "No really, this is AWESOME."

Zach: "I said I like it."

Katie: "I don't think you realize how amazing this is."

Zach: "I said I like it! What else do you want me to say?"

Katie: "That I'm the most amazing cook in the world! And that you're so lucky that to be married to me!! Because you are!!"

Zach: no comment...

Katie: "Yeah, I'm amazing."

I have serious issues. And we've recently discovered that the only reason I think I'm such a good cook is because we live in an incredibly small town where going out to dinner pretty much means a choice between Subway or Burger King. We realized this in February when just the two of us took a little day trip up to Salt Lake and ate at a Carrabba's for dinner. We felt like we had been living on saw dust for the past year and a half. Because every time we eat someplace here in town we spend most of the meal talking about how I could've made it at home and saved $15 or so. But as soon as we took our first bites at Carrabba's life came to a screeching halt. I could not have made that. Dangit, it was SO GOOD. We hardly spoke during the meal. We were, without meaning to, reenacting the scene from What About Bob. But see, the sad thing to me is that Carrabba's is really just a glorified Olive Garden. Like, it's not some 5 star resturant that you hear about on The Food Network or something. It was an intense slap in the face for me. I'm not really that amazing. We just don't know any better.

Regardless! I'm going to share a few of my favorite recipes over the next few days that make me feel like I should be a sought after chef.

First up, my pancakes. This is a recipe that I found at allrecipes.com that I've tweeked here and there to our liking. Love the oats, love the vanilla, love the idea that they're somewhat healthy (until I add spoonful after spoonful of brown sugar...), love that I've made them so much that I don't need the recipe anymore. :)

Pancakes a la TeamCowan:

About 3/4 cup white flour (I use the 1/2 measuring cup, I just get a little more)

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 rolled oats (or quick oats)

1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

About 3 TBLS brown sugar (I use the teaspoon that I used for the BP, so I just do a few big spoonfuls)

2-3 tsp vanilla

3 TBLS melted butter (or applesauce - but I'm trying to bulk up Quinn, so we use butter now)

1 egg

1 1/4 cups milk (I like to have nonfat dry milk in the fridge all mixed up and ready to go for things like pancakes)

1 mashed brown banana (if I've got one laying around)

Mix everything up and slap 'em on the griddle. This will make around 10 4-5 in. pancakes. We had these for breakfast today. They were awesome. Here's pictures to prove it:

Max couldn't shove them in his mouth fast enough.

Quinn apparently thought his was too hot.

I found Zach extra appetizing while he was eating them. Perhaps because he took a bite and said "Woah, my first bite was REALLY good." And I didn't even have to coax it out of him. Plus I like his sleepy face and messy hair.

More recipes to come. Time to clean up dishes.

*revision*

Zach read over this and had some "constructive criticism" for me.

1) He (correctly) pointed out that in the above conversation his reply wouldn't have been a "no comment." What he would have said (and has said many times) is, "You're the most amazing cook in the world. I'm so lucky to be married to you." Because really, what wife wouldn't want her husband to repeat back to her word for word exactly what she wished he had said in the first place? How romantic.

2) He also mercilessly made fun of me for bragging about being such an amazing chef, and then proving it with pancakes. He makes an excellent point. Sorry if that was a let down for everyone else out there.