Thursday, March 24, 2011

Cinnamon Sugar Puffs

I love these things! They are so delicious- if you love cinnamon. This recipe is from David Lebovitz and my go to recipe.

For the puffs:
Softened unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup flour

For the sugar coating:

2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, melted.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally grease a nonstick popover pan, or a muffin pan with 1/2-cup indentations, with softened butter.

2. For the puffs, put the 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, milk, salt and sugar in a blender and whiz for a few seconds.

3. Add the flour and whiz for 5 to 8 seconds, just until smooth.

4. Divide the batter among 9 greased molds, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full.

5. Bake for 35 minutes, until the puffs are deep brown.

6. Remove from the oven, wait a few minutes until cool enough to handle, then remove the puffs from the pans. You may need a small knife to help pry them out.

7. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Thoroughly brush each puff all over with melted butter, then dredge in sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat completely. Let cool on a baking rack. Makes 9 puffs.

Camping Favorites

Ah, the great outdoors! Fresh air, sunshine and camping!! The first time I ever camped was in the 6th grade with the 5th and 6th grade girls, accompanied by my teachers Mr. Lawson, Mrs. Smith, and Mandy Lawson (Mr. Lawson's sister). We went to Shenandoah National Park, Lurray VA. It was the best! Growing up in Northern Virginia was a treat, however it wasn't the countryside which we city kids craved once in a while.

I remember the long 2 hour drive (yes, 2 hours is very long for a kid to be in a cramped car with 4 other people and tons of camping gear. But when we arrived at our campsite, it was on! God Bless the grownups for setting up the tents and all the gear. There were 35 kids, 3 adults, 7 tents, and all the good, bad for you food a 12 year old can handle! Boxes of girl scout cookies, chips, burgers, hot dogs, and salad. Yes, salad. I think our parents snuck that into the supplies. Oh, I forgot to mention one night Mr. Lawson made spaghetti with meat sauce. How on earth he managed that, I'll never know. He was pretty awesome :)

It was the first time I'd seen a snake. Yuck. All of the girls had gone hiking, including our small group of 5 with Mandy Lawson as our chaperone. We had missed the path we were supposed to take and all of a sudden we were lost! We were without water, but it was ok because we had some soda cans that we filled from the mountain spring. I will never forget the taste of that water. Or the memories!