Cooking for the Old People.

Been hanging out with the grandparents (and Mel joined us yesterday!).  Pinterest tutorials for all, and we've been cooking yummy recipes found on the site.  You need to check it out!  Here is what we've been making it...
The first morning for breakfast we made these:

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

Pumpkin Pancakes 

yields 6 pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs vinegar
Directions: 
In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar.In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.  Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
Cinnamon Syrup:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup water
Stir all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, stir occasionally until boiling. Let it boil for a few minutes while stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside until needed.
They were DELICIOUS.  We even had left-overs for breakfast this morning.  Then latter during the day (yesterday), Grandma noticed a picture on Pinterest for carmalized scallops and shared that Grandpa LOVES scallops.  So, when Mel got into town, she went with me to find my sister-wives Halloween costume, and pick up some scallops to cook.  Here's the recipe we cooked.  Mel has pictures of the event.  I will post those later.  


 Caramelized Scallops

Yield: 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
12 large sea scallops
Pinch of kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons clarified butter
½ cup white sugar, spread on a flat plate
½ cup dry white wine
Juice of one lemon, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp. finely chopped flat parsley
8 chives
1 tbsp. lemon zest
Directions:
Rinse and dry the scallops well.  Season both sides of the scallops with salt and pepper.
Heat a skillet on medium-high for 2 minutes.  Add the clarified butter and swirl to coat the pan.  When the butter begins to foam, prepare the scallops quickly.  Working efficiently, coat one side of each scallop in sugar, grasping the sides and using a gentle twisting motion to help the sugar adhere.  Place the scallops sugar side down in the skillet and sauté for 2½ minutes.  If the sugar starts to brown too quickly, reduce the heat.  Flip the scallops over and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the white wine and lemon juice to the pan and reduce by half, about 1½ minutes.  Transfer the scallops to a platter or serving dishes.  Pour the pan juices over the top and garnish with chopped parsley, chives and lemon zest.  Serve immediately.

These were REALLY good.  Grandpa has his serving.  And because Mel and I didn't eat ours fast enough, he helped eat our plates too.  

Tonight, I am showing Grandma how to cook ribs in the crockpot - she said that Grandpa also LOVES his ribs.  So, instead of getting just enough for 3, I made sure to buy a large rack of ribs and we are waiting for them to finish.  But they smell  SO good.  Here is what we've done:

4 pounds pork baby back ribs
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups ketchup
1 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce

• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.
4. Cover, and cook on Low 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender.
5. Because of time, we cooked for 3 hrs on high.  

Delicious!!!


I don't know how to format this stuff...so if any of you want to fix this, that'd be great.


Love, 
Sonja, Grandma and Grandpa