jmm – the hip homebody

March 30, 2013January 3, 2017

Stuffed French Toast Strata

I’m almost positive that my mom got this recipe from the proprietors of a B&B we stayed in in Seward, AK. We stayed there as part of a trip to catch some salmon during a visit to my Aunt Kathy who lived near Anchorage at the time. I remember eating something like this for breakfast and my mom asking for the recipe, but I certainly wouldn’t swear on anything that this was it. While we’re on the subject, does anybody else find B&Bs awkward? That was the only time I’ve stayed in one and I felt like they thought I was family…but in a weird way. Like they would eventually realize we weren’t. Would make for a great movie script, but not such a great real experience.

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March 23, 2013

Chocolate Revel Bars

Close up of the bars shows the melty chocolate. — Crunchy topping and ooey-gooey chocolate. Good when cooled, but ah-may-zing when still warm.

When I mentioned that I was going to be making “chocolate revel bars,” just about everybody I told got a quizzical look on their face and asked “what’s that?” I wasn’t sure if that meant that this was an original recipe to the family or not. Turns out not. Google turns up several places with the exact recipe you’ll find below. Now let’s all pretend we don’t know that and continue on.

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February 17, 2013

Corn Mazatlan

Ages ago, my grandfather (mom’s dad) sent mom a letter in the mail. He’d type them up on this old typewriter. One of those typewriters with character. His handwriting was a little shaky, so the time it took to hunt and peck and correct mistakes was still worth it. In this letter was a newspaper clipping of a recipe for “corn mazatlan” noting that he thought it looked like it would taste good. We had the dish almost every time he came over after that.

After several of meals with a side dish that didn’t always exactly “go” with the rest of the meal (something unlike my mom’s style of entertaining), I asked why she made it since it seemed as if he had only made a suggestion that it might be good and hadn’t specifically requested it. She told me that the effort he had put into that quiet suggestion was his way of strongly requesting it and he had repeatedly eaten enough to demonstrate that he really enjoyed it. It was her way of showing a bit of love through food. Continue reading “Corn Mazatlan”