Basic Crêpes

Crêpes are one of France's wonderful creations. They are similar to pancakes but very thin, and can be both savory or sweet. I usually prefer mine sweet. Crêpes have a mild flavor, but that is so you can fill them with other things. They have a tender and chewy texture. Have fun experimenting with your crêpe fillings! Makes  10-15 crêpes.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups milk. I've used fat-free milk and didn't have any problems
1 Cup all-purpose flour. Buckwheat flour is commonly used for savory crêpes, but all-purpose is fine.
2 Large eggs
1 Tablespoon oil, such as vegetable or canola oil.
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (if making sweet crepes.)
pinch of table salt

1. Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. You can use a hand mixer but the batter won't be near as smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to an hour.  
2. Heat a 10-inch nonstick pan on medium-high heat. I learned that for me, the first crepe always turns out terrible, so only use 2 Tablespoons of the batter for the first crêpe.  Pour the 2 Tablespoons or batter into the pan and quickly shake your skillet back and forth until the batter covers most of the the skillet. 
3. Let cook for a 1-2 minutes then carefully remove the crêpe using a rubber spatula and flip. Cook for 30 seconds, remove, then throw away or eat it.
4. Repeat that process but use 3-4 Tablespoons of the batter since there is no need to dispose of the crêpes after the first one. Don't worry if your crêpes do not look beautiful in the beginning. It takes practice to make them look nice.

From Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip

I love making this dip for football game parties. It is a cheesy, slightly spicy dip that almost everyone will like. This dip could not get any easier. It's a great alternative for buffalo wings when you don't want to make or buy them. You can certainly prepare this dip uncooked a few hours ahead. Just store the dip in your refrigerator. Serves about 10-12
Ingredients:
2 Cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded. I just use the canned chicken
1/4-1/3 Cup cayenne pepper sauce. Like Frank's Redhot Sauce. Do not use Tabasco!
1 Cup Mayo, light or regular
1 Cup cheddar cheese shredded (about 4 oz). Sharp cheddar is the best
2 Tablespoons green onions, finely chopped (optional). I've also used regular onions and that works too.
1 teaspoon lemon juice, or distilled white vinegar
1/4 Cup crumbled blue cheese, or more if you like

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss chicken with cayenne pepper sauce. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the blue cheese. Put the chicken mixture into a 1 1/2 quart shallow casserole dish, then sprinkle on top with the blue cheese.
2. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes (increase to about 5 minutes more if from the refrigerator), or until bubbling. Serve with celery sticks, cracker, chips, etc.

Recipe off of Hellman's Mayonnaise website

Channa Masala

I think Channa Masala is one of my favorite Indian dishes. This recipe is currently my favorite. The flavors are complex and very interesting. Every bite is a beautiful flavor combination of spiciness, hint of lemon, slightly sweet, and much more. I found this recipe on a cooking blog called Smitten Kitchen. The creator of the blog, Deb, adapted this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey recipe. Reading some of her viewers comments, they had a couple of good suggestions to enhance this dish which I've added to this recipe.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1-2 clove garlic, minced, depends on how much garlic you want.
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder*
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 plain tea bag such as Lipton
1/3 Cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (*; use a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir the cilantro, lemon juice, and salt. Place the tea bag in the middle of your skillet and cover it with some of the chickpea mixture. Let that sit for 5 minutes, covered, remove tea bag, and gently stir to combine the tea juices. Serve with rice or eat alone.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is easy to make and simply delicious. The texture of these cookies are soft but on the dry side. I also prefer using dark chocolate instead of semisweet chocolate as a substitute. Enjoy this quick and delicious recipe!
Makes about 48 cookies.
Ingredients:
2 sticks (1 Cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 Cup granulated sugar
1 Cup (packed) brown sugar, preferably light but dark works too.
2 Large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Cups of smooth peanut butter. Use half chunky and half smooth for an extra texture.
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Two 4-ounce bars semisweet chocolate chopped coarsely into chunks, or 2 Cups or semisweet chocolate chips.

1. Grease your baking sheets with nonstick spray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cream the butter sugars until well combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter, and beat until combined.
2. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the peanut butter mixture. Mix until you don't see any streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate.
3. Roll spoonfuls of dough into balls with your hands. Place the balls a few inches apart on the greased baking sheet. Use your palm to flatten the cookies.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Once done let cookies set on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Remove from baking sheets and let cool completely on wire rakes.

From The Year of the cookie by Rose Dunnington

Tortilla Pizza

I want to give a quick shout out for my Malaysian viewers. Thank you so much for your support and I would love to hear from you. It would be great if you could comment below about an easy recipe that I could post on this blog. A while back, my uncle suggested using flour tortillas instead of a yeast dough for pizzas. Now tortilla pizzas are a go to meal when I can't think of anything to make for dinner. The sauce is what makes this pizza so delicious. It isn't your typical bland pizza sauce. The flavors are fresh tasting and savory.
For sauce:
1 can (8 ounce) plain tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon oregano or basil, you can use fresh, but double or even triple the amount. Don't forget to chop up the fresh herbs.
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder, don't use fresh.
Mix everything together until evenly blended. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Other Ingredients:
Flour tortillas, any size
Mozzarella cheese
Any other toppings. e.g. cut up olives, peppers, onions, etc. 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Smooth some of the pizza sauce onto the flour tortillas. Place your desired toppings onto the flour tortilla. Sprinkle on as much cheese as you want. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.
2. Cook pizzas in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let pizzas cool for a couple of minutes then slice and serve.