Living in a Cereal World

When I first saw the displays of Limoncello products at my local Giant a few weeks back my first thought was, it's back again already? I couldn't remember any of the products (food or otherwise) striking my fancy last time so I didn't bother to look closely. But the next time I just happened to walk past a basket of Limoncello oatmeal cups. Limoncello oatmeal?, I thought. That sounds gross. I need to try it. Lemon and oats just don't go together in my mind, but I'd already tried the cookies--which weren't bad--and I really wanted to review something this month. The oatmeal itself was just okay. There was no fill line (as per the instructions) so I had to measure the boiling water myself and 2/3 of a cup was really too much. So I had thin, watery oatmeal that tasted like a lemon Oreo, but less sweet. Like I said, just okay.

(And speaking of cheese, I should note that we are now a mouse-free household again. I guess after almost two weeks it was finally hungry enough to take the bait. After dragging and twitching its way to my brother he put it out of its misery. The end. I hope.) So I wanted to make one last new thing during my brother's visit. We all love cheesecake--even I can eat it in moderation. And he especially loves blueberries. So I made these Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Rolls  and added fresh blueberries to one-third of them. Probably too many, though. You don't want to overstuff them or it'll be nearly impossible to roll them up. To the rest I added Smuckers Fruit & Honey . Have you ever tried this? I highly recommend the Tropical flavor. It even has chunks of fruit in it. (I also used Triple Berry in this recipe.) This is a very forgiving recipe that you could experiment with any kind of fruit--or don't add anything; the lemon zest really comes through in the cream cheese

Seriously. You've been warned. This Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie  recipe makes a lot of cookies. I even made them slightly (or more than slightly) bigger than they were supposed to be and it still made a lot of cookies. For the last two months I've had a craving for homemade chocolate chip cookies--don't know why; you know they're not my favorite--so as soon as I planned my pumpkin bread  I started looking for a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie to finish up that can of pumpkin. My favorite feature of any pumpkin cookie (or any pumpkin baked good, come to think of it) is that moist and chewy texture. Not gummy, but soft--almost melting in your mouth. Maybe even literally, if you were to eat a hot cookie fresh from the oven. And the pumpkin and chocolate flavors totally work together, probably because of the milk chocolate chips. I think a stronger chocolate flavor might be overpowering. So if you're looking for a different spin on chocolate chip cookies: these coo

It's been a crazy week since my brother popped in for a visit. Mainly, we've been having a mouse problem. The problem being that it won't show itself. So I've had to limit what I can bring into the house (in the cereal department) to what can fit in my temporary big plastic tub. If you've been wondering about the lack of cereal reviews lately, that's why. But I haven't let it stop me from baking. I had to do something for my brother. I realized I had a can of pumpkin from last fall that I didn't want to keep 'til next fall so I made this Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread . It's super, super moist--I'm guessing from the combination of pumpkin and buttermilk. I even had a nice swirl running through most of it. The only adjustment I could've made was to take it out about five minutes sooner. Even so, it didn't taste burnt. I appreciate a forgiving recipe. Next: what to do with the rest of the pumpkin? (You know I had a plan.)

I thought I'd be more direct today. Here's the Strawberry Layer Cake  I happened upon while searching for something else. I think this was back in March. Anyway, as soon as I saw it I thought, this is it. This is the Mother's Day cake. Although presentation is not number one on my list of qualifications, it swayed me this time. And yes, I did the strawberries around the base and the fanned berry on top (I really need to start adding pictures). I subbed Greek yogurt for the cream cheese in the frosting which made it a little runny but it firmed up in the fridge. As usual, nobody cared. It was cake; it got eaten. If you're going to do the decorative (but totally edible!) strawberries, make sure you buy two containers. This way I was able to take out the best berries for the outside and the weird, mushy berries for the cake batter's puree. And I just happened to have some really dark berries, which helped with the pink color. I didn't even bother to use all t

And mama wanted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. She didn't say together in one dish but I figured someone must have put those two together. I went with these Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes  even though we had pancakes for breakfast. We won't be having maple syrup again anytime soon. A quick note on this recipe: my oven is super super hot so I roasted at 425 degrees. Even then I almost obliterated those sprouts. Always fix more sprouts than you think you need. As for the pancakes? I'm slowly working my way through the Whole-Grain Buttermilk Pancakes  variations from Eating Well. This time I made blueberry and set aside some berry-less batter for my mom. She went back for seconds and actually ate one with blueberries. And then I set aside some time yesterday for the cake. I should've really cleared my day but it couldn't work out that way. But I'll get to that in my next entry.

So while visiting my grandma a few weeks back I made sure to take a quick trip to Kroger, the exclusive seller of this Cranberry, Maple & Wild Rice flavor. Why the exclusivity? And why just Kroger? Who knows? The idea of wild rice in granola piqued my curiosity, however, so I was either going to pick some up while visiting my grandma or my brother, whichever came first. Also, $4.99? Seriously? Yeah, this is a one-time deal. Now to the particulars: it has a pleasant maple flavor (not too sweet/syrupy), very small cranberries (but not those weird "bits" you get in cereal sometimes), and of course, wild rice. I still don't get how the dry wild rice is made edible--it just looks like uncooked rice mixed into granola--but it works. It adds a nice crunch but otherwise doesn't stand out and doesn't feel or taste weird in your mouth. I'd like to know how to add that to my own granola.

I purposely bought this to eat while traveling--not too heavy, not too messy. But I was rushing that morning and didn't give it a second stir--that was a key step. As a result the flavor was a bit "off" at first; I had a few peaches but mostly oatmeal and I couldn't put my finger on any particular flavor. By the time I was closer to the bottom I realized, oh, that's where all the flavor is. So don't forget to stir right before you eat. I made this, put it in a paper bag and shoved the whole thing down in a cupholder until we were settled and on the highway--no more turns and fewer traffic lights (and no, I was not the driver). In that time, five to ten minutes, that oatmeal cup stayed hot . So hot I still had to blow on it. That was impressive. But now I really hope we're back to warm weather soon. I'm ready to put the oatmeal away for the season.

I almost missed out on the March/April issue of Savory , so it was well after St. Patrick's Day when I saw this recipe for Soda Bread with Almonds and Raisins . I'd never had soda bread before but the instructions sounded easy enough and I'm always up for an ingredient list that includes almonds and raisins. Also I just happened to have a fresh box of baking soda. That day I was reminded why I need a stand mixer. Sticky dough went everywhere, including up in the hand mixer and around my mixer blades. It was not easy cleaning in those little holes. But the dough came together, and quicker than I realized. I couldn't really get the almonds and raisins incorporated; I might've been better off stirring by hand. The next morning I made the suggested accompaniment, Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote . While it's not necessary, it was delicious and I may have eaten it almost every day that week. Even in yogurt. I should add that I used frozen rhubarb; since I wasn'