This is the best egg salad I’ve ever had. I like egg salad, but I’m typically hesitant to order it at a sandwich shop as I despise raw onion and it is usually in egg salad. I have made egg salad at home before (so I can leave the onion out) but I hadn’t really figured out how to properly boil an egg. Also, egg salad is relatively time consuming, for a sandwich. Matt was happy about this sandwich, but I think he just liked that bacon was slipped in there!

I was initially concerned it looked like I had chopped up too much celery, but it gave a nice crunch and next time I’ll probably add even more (but I have come to really like celery). I’ll probably up the bacon by a little for Matt next time as well! I did cut back on the mayo as it seemed like a lot and I used a light mayo and I was really happy with the results. I made a half batch of this recipe because there are only two in our household. However, I might have polished off the rest of the leftovers on crackers the same evening after packing up some for our lunches the next day

Note: I learned how to boil eggs in a segment on the Food Network from Chef Anne Burrell. She suggested putting the eggs in the pot, covering it with cold water, bringing the water to a boil, then turning off the heat and covering the pot and letting it sit for 13 minutes. At that point I put the pot in the sink and run cold water into it to stop the cooking process to prevent the eggs from overcooking. I think they turned out perfect for this recipe!

Recipe (Adapted from Cooking in Everyday English by Todd English)

We got 4 sandwich round sized servings with a snack sized extra from this recipe.

• Appx ¼ cup mayo
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 & ½ tsp red wine vinegar
• a pinch of salt and pepper
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 5 hardboiled eggs peeled and chopped
• 2 pieces of bacon crisped and chopped

Mix the mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper together. Then add in the celery, eggs, and bacon and mix to combine. We served the egg salad on sandwich rounds with a slice of tomato, but adding lettuce or serving on toast would also be nice!

I bought some buttermilk for a recipe and when I got home I realized I had actually chosen a different baking project that didn’t need any buttermilk. But since I had purchased this buttermilk and didn’t want it to go to waste, I made pancakes! I also made pancakes because Matt said I always promise him nice breakfasts and never follow through (which is true). I am so glad I made these. They are super flavorful and super fluffy! The buttermilk is a bit tangy and its acidity reacts with the baking powder to make them fluffy. I think we even liked them more than the buttermilk pancakes at our favorite breakfast place! We can’t wait to try to make some variations on these (banana or pumpkin pancakes anyone)!

Recipe (Found on All Recipes .com)

I made 8 pancakes from this recipe. This was 1/3 of the original recipe.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp and 2 tsp milk
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp melted butter

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. I measured the buttermilk in a glass pyrex cup with a little extra room. Add the milk and egg and mix the egg into the milk. Heat the griddle. We used a nonstick electric griddle. With the butter in the batter I didn’t need any extra oil, but you might if you use a frying pan or a regular griddle.

Mix the milk mixture and melted butter into the dry ingredients. Do not use a whisk, just use a fork for spoon for this. Leave the batter very lumpy. If it is mixed too much the pancakes will be tough and gummy.

When the batter is ready, scoop about ½ cup portions of the batter onto the griddle. You can tell the first side is cooked when it is covered in bubbles. Flip the pancakes. When both sides are browned they are ready to eat!

I surprised Matt with these cookies! They were his treat of the month for April. I think peanut butter is his favorite thing ever… well maybe after honey nut cheerios, but I think it’s a close second. When I saw these show up in my google reader last week, I think I made them almost the same day! He was up in his office working on something, so I thought I would surprise him! However, I wanted picture of how to make the cookies look like peanuts, so I needed to get him to help… But he was still pretty excited! He even did some of the criss crosses on the cookies!

These cookies are pretty rich. It’s two soft peanut butter cookies sandwiched together with a sweet peanut butter frosting. How could you go wrong with that? I thought the peanut shaped cookies were a little putsy, and I wasn’t super happy with how some of them were turning out, so I made most of the batch as circles, but they taste the same… I also only made half the batch of the frosting, because this is an excellent peanut butter cookie recipe without making it into sandwiches. I had about 6 cookies that didn’t get sandwiched, but I didn’t end up with a ton of extra frosting (sometimes that’s not a bad thing though…)

How to shape the Cookies:

Use your cookie scooper (about 1 Tbsp of cookie dough) and form it into a ball: Then roll your ball into a log: Coat your log in sugar: Use a fork to make criss cross pattern: Then pinch in the sides to make a peanut!:

I found I needed to reshape them a bit when they came out of the oven to keep their peanutty shape. If you want to do that, be careful. The cookies are hot! Once they cool they are not soft enough to reshape.

Recipe (From Cookies and Cups)

For the Cookies

• 1 cup room temperature butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• About 1/2 to 1/3 cup extra sugar (for coating the cookies)

For the Frosting

• 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp milk

Cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars together. You can use a mixer for a few minutes; I made the dough by hand. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Then add in flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Scoop about 1 Tbsp of cold cookie dough and form it into a ball. Then roll the ball into a log and coat it in sugar. Use a fork to make the criss cross pattern. Then pinch in the sides to make a peanut! I only baked 6 cookies per sheet to allow enough room for them to expand a bit. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Wait 2-3 minutes before removing from pan then allow cookies to cool.

Cream the butter and peanut butter together and incorporate in the powdered sugar. Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time until you are happy with the consistency. Then spread a layer of peanut butter on the back of half the cookies and sandwich them together!

I made about 25-30 sandwich cookies. Matt wanted more…

These are called surprise cookies. This name had a bit of a double meaning when I made them recently as a surprise for a friend’s birthday. They are also normally called surprise cookies from the slightly toasted marshmallows tucked in between the rich brownie-ish cookie and fudgy frosting. I took them to work on my friend’s birthday and they were a huge hit. I had to bring her a few to take home the next day as her birthday treats were gone the day of!

Note, I did tweak the recipe a tad, especially the frosting – I cut back on the milk and powdered sugar compared to the original frosting recipe a lot which made more of a fudge for the cookie topping vs a frosting. I also made the cookies on a smaller scale than the original recipe called for, but these cookies are pretty rich so I think the smaller size was perfect.

Recipe (Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies )

For the cookies

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Around 100 mini marshmallows

For the frosting

• 6 Tbsp butter
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375F. I used my stand mixer and creamed the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes until butter and sugar is pale yellow and fluffy. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla. Once combined add the dry ingredients and mix on low until incorporated.

Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheet. I only baked 8 cookies per sheet to give them room to expand. Bake cookies for 6-8 minutes (the cookie should be firm). Next press 3 mini marshmallows onto the cookie and bake for another 2 minutes until toasted. Allow cookies to completely cool.

Melt butter and cocoa powder for frosting in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Add in milk and 1 and ¼ cup powdered sugar. If desired add additional powdered sugar (you may need a bit more milk for consistency).

Spread a small amount of frosting on each cookie, enough to hide the marshmallows!

Once the frosting has dried/set you can stack the cookies using wax paper between the layers of cookies.

I have seen this pizza a lot lately on the interwebs. Probably because it is asparagus season, but certainly because it’s super tasty! It’s a nice change from a traditional tomato sauce pizza. A long time ago Matt had some co-workers over for a pizza party and when he helped me plan the evening the Annie’s Eats version of this pizza made it on the menu.

Now that it is asparagus season, Matt and I had a taste for some right around when I found this version. I think I like the laughing cow garlic and herb cheese version more than the one that uses Boursin cheese. The laughing cow cheese is cheaper, better for you (I get light), and comes in cute wedges that make a nice snack with a few crackers! I also prefer shredded mozzarella to the fresh on a pizza, but that is a matter of personal preference.

To prepare the asparagus, first wash it and then break one to see where the woody part starts. I usually cut the whole bunch to that length. To shave the asparagus just use your veggie peeler and be careful! I don’t try to shave the tip. When I get to the end of the piece I just leave the tip intact. I found it easiest to shave the asparagus right at the edge of the cutting board to allow the peeler to get more than one slice. We only used about half the bunch on the pizza, but in hindsight I could have added more, especially around the edges. But the leftovers made a nice side vegetable later in the week!

Recipe (From Pennies on a Platter)

• 1 pizza dough (we buy ours at a local pizza place, but homemade or store bought would also work)
• ½ bunch asparagus (or more) shaved
• olive oil
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 4 wedges of laughing cow garlic and herb spreadable cheese (or 3 oz of another brand)
• A pinch of pepper

Preheat the oven to 450F. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil. If desired you could sprinkle with garlic salt, but I think the garlic cheese packs enough punch! Spread the mozzarella over the dough, then the shaved asparagus, then crumble the garlic and herb cheese on top. Sprinkle the pinch of pepper over the top and bake the pizza for 12-15 minutes until the crust is light brown. Let it cool a minute or two before eating.