Exhausted from all the rich holiday food and such-like, I present to you a pictorial of things I made and/or ate. Scroll your arrow over the pics to see what it was all about.

Pfefferneusse that have not yet found their coating.

The pfefferneusse are complete.

A pasta dish made with wilted spinach, sun-dried tomato and sausages.

This is where I started slicing the hardened caramels to make treats.

Olive oil muffins. Yes, you heard me right. Don't look at me as though I were insane. They were delicious.

I burnt this bacon-onion stuffing. Can you tell?

And finally, the mouth-watering Christmas duck.

I will be back on Sunday for a whole new year of recipes, stories and what not. I hope your holidays were awesome.

I realize that it’s only the 14th but seriously, I feel so left behind. I bought these really cute cellophane bags with Christmas trees on them at the store so I have visions of me filling them gleefully with cookies and candies but I have yet to decide which recipes I am going to do those with. And guess what? Time’s a-wastin’. I should’ve started doing stuff Saturday but I was so hungry for pancakes—the delightful Matt had his dance card full so no help from that quarter—that I made my own pancakes. THEY TOTALLY SUCKED.

I used a recipe from the sainted Mark Bittman so I have no clue what I did wrong. I suspect that my electric griddle (hee, I love that word, “griddle”) wasn’t hot enough. Anyway, I include it below for sake of symmetry and nothing more. I had better luck with the BLT pizza I whipped for us Saturday night, though. I keep harping on this, my lack of homemade pizza-dough making, but the kind I am getting from the IGA works a treat. Pile some roasted chicken on there, along with bacon, sliced green onions, cubed tomatoes, add shredded cheese and you’ve got a treat. The “L” part? Some nice bitter arugula, which I heart.

One of the things I used to pick up all the time at Whole Foods was their gingerbread. I heart gingerbread big time. When it’s done right, it’s the perfect amount of sweet, the perfect amount of gingery heat with a pleasant moist crumb. For years, I thought about either trying to get the recipe from them or just finding one elsewhere that might give me the same result.

I think I found a keeper. I searched Smitten Kitchen (of course) and Deb has the gingerbread recipe from Gramercy Tavern. I’ve made it twice in the past two days. It’s what I’ve been looking for; it owes a lot of its rich depth to the oatmeal stout the recipe calls for. Seriously, don’t substitute it…besides, you get to drink the leftover stout you didn’t use.

Also: this recipes works well in smaller loaves, just keep an eye on it to make sure there’s no burning.

But wait, there’s more! Yesterday’s fancypants breakfast was migas with tomato-chipotle coulis. But you know me, I made some minor adjustments.

Bad Mexican that I am, I used—gulp!—tortilla chips instead of freshly fried tortilla chips. I can explain! I have a couple of huge bags of them in the pantry and decided to use them up.

Also, I increased the heat of the coulis by using a whole chipotle in adobo. By the way, what do you guys do with your leftover chipotles? I don’t want to waste them but I don’t have anything coming up where I need them. Can I freeze them?

So: I am a busy bee. But not too busy to keep you guys informed.

Everyday Pancakes
Adapted from Mark Bittman, New York Times 12/20/06

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar, optional
2 eggs
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter (optional), plus unmelted butter for cooking, or use neutral oil.

1. Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat. In a bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Beat eggs into 1 1/2 cups milk, then stir in 2 tablespoons melted cooled butter, if using it. Gently stir this mixture into dry ingredients, mixing only enough to moisten flour; don’t worry about a few lumps. If batter seems thick, add a little more milk.

2. Place a teaspoon or 2 of butter or oil on griddle or skillet. When butter foam subsides or oil shimmers, ladle batter onto griddle or skillet, making pancakes of any size you like. Adjust heat as necessary; usually, first batch will require higher heat than subsequent batches. Flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms brown, after 2 to 4 minutes.

3. Cook until second side is lightly browned. Serve, or hold on an ovenproof plate in a 200-degree oven for up to 15 minutes.

Gramercy Tavern’s Gingerbread
Claudia Fleming

1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Accompaniment: Unsweetened whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. (She is not kidding about this. I used a nonstick pan with a butter/flour spray and still lost a chunk of cake. I will be more generous next time.)

Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.

Do ahead: This gingerbread is better if made a day ahead. It will keep 3 days, covered, at room temperature. I am sure it will keep well-wrapped in the freezer even longer.

Sue Torres’ Migas (Mexican-Style Breakfast)
Adapted from Sueños Restaurant, NYC

Tomato-Chipotle Coulis

2 large, round tomatoes or best available
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 white or Spanish onion, minced (Torres says the white onion is more commonly used in Mexico)
1 chipotle en adobo, from a can (I used half of one and thought it had a plenty-big kick, you can always start with a quarter and add more if desired)
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Puree all of the above in a blender jar. Heat a sauce pan over high heat. Add oil to coat. Once the oil it hot, add the sauce. Cook for 15 minutes or so and season to taste.

Demonstration tip: Torres said that if you ever end up with a sauce too spicy, you can add a splash of cream to cool it off.

Migas
2 links Mexican or Spanish chorizo, removed from casing, diced or coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons oil (a mixture of corn and olive oil works best)
8 eggs, lightly beaten
20 corn tortilla chips, preferably fresh
Fresh cilantro for garnish

First, cook the chorizo. Heat a medium-sized stainless steel saucepan over medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of oil. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring frequently, until the chorizo is golden and cooked through, about ten minutes. Add the eggs and after a minute, the chips. Use a wooden spoon to crush the chips as you stir to cook the eggs. Cook for about five minutes (mine took less) or until almost cooked through.Remove from heat.

[Deb note: I'm a stickler about not overcooking/drying out scrambled eggs -- blech -- and always remove them from the heat while they still look a little damp; they continue cooking in their residual heat even once plated.]

Set up four plates for serving. Ladle some coulis in the bottom of each dish, top with some of the egg mixture and sprinkle with the cilantro. Serve immediately.

I made a variation on chili the other night; I browned some ground turkey, added salsa, kidney beans, frozen corn. I spiced it up with judicious use of chili powder because I like-a things spicy (like mice-y).

Add cheese and crumbled tortillas as well and you have something made of WIN. At least, WIN if you’re looking to make something hearty and easy. The leftovers were fantastic!

I know, I know. NaBloPoMo, right? Posting everyday for a month so that I can give myself that big ole congratulatory pat on the back? Well, life interferes sometimes so I guess that pat on the back can come later. This weekend I just wanted to have a weekend. Me, my husband and whatever food took my fancy.

I didn’t set out to make breakfast Saturday morning. I even toyed with the idea of waking Matt up and asking if we could go out for it. But thinking back on something I read in last year Saveur’s breakfast issue and something Matt has made me before, I went with baked eggs. Frankly, I love that I married a guy who has the sort of ramekins I need to do this. Essentially, I baked some bacon, crumbled it and set it aside. In an ramekin that should hold about 5 to 6 ounces, you crack a couple eggs. You can arrange some spinach as a bed before you do so if you like, but it ain’t necesssary. Got some tomatoes? Good, slice them into quarters and put them down in there with those eggs. Now put your bacon in, a little bit of fresh thyme if you got it (dried is fine if you don’t), salt and pepper and then cover everything with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Slide them into the oven at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how set you like your eggs. I think I will make this a go-to breakfast from now on.

Despite my breakfast-y success, Saturday night dinner was a disaster. I roasted these peppers because I was going to stuff them with some ground chicken and zucchini. Well, I was frying up the veggies and chicken when I asked Matt to come into the kitchen for a second. He obliged me, asked what I needed. I told him that the chicken smelled funky to me and not the kind of funky where you can get into the groove.

“I can’t smell it but if you can, we’d better not risk it,” he replied.

Into the trash it went. Left without my main plan, I went into Action Mode. I whipped up some couscous, peeled and sliced those peppers, added pine nuts and a really lovely creamy local feta to the whole thing and BANG!

It was a very satisfying vegetarian dish. Oh, and I added chopped kalamatas even though Matt’s not a huge olive fan. The best laid plans of mice and men…

Immediately after he cleaned his plate this morning, Matt looked at me and said, “That was probably the best breakfast you’ve ever made.” “Really?” I replied. “Better than the huevos rancheros last weekend?” He nodded solemnly, “Better than the huevos rancheros.”

What I did was take Wednesday’s leftover Mexican rice and fashion it into cakes (using a binder of egg, flour, sugar, salt). I then pan-fried said cakes on both sides, slid them on a plate and topped them with fried eggs.

I am now thinking of making this for a holiday breakfast this year but coming up with a salsa hollandaise of some sort. Because sometimes you’ve got to gild the lily.

My favorite breakfast place in Atlanta was, hands down, Gato Bizco. Aside from the cute cat kitsch, the staff were super friendly and the food was affordable and oh-my-goodness-cram-your-face yummy. I still maintain they have the best pancakes on Earth. Another delectable dish was their huevos rancheros.

Admittedly, it was a very different take on huevos rancheros, but you really didn’t care because they hit the spot. I don’t know why some people do not like eggs and salsa. They’re perfect for each other! Moving on, the version of huevos rancheros I made the other morning (courtesy of Smitten Kitchen) isn’t authentic either, but Matt and I gobbled up every last bite.

If this were missing one thing, I would have said home fries. Ah, well, maybe next time…

…me. If only by the hair’s breadth that is Matt making me pancakes on any weekend morning I want. These weren’t as awesome as the banana pancakes he made me a couple of weeks ago, but dammit, they were good pancakes. I am pleased that I married a man who has amazing pancake proficiency.

Currently, I am being accused by Matt of “phoning it in” when it comes to this year’s NaBloPoMo entries. He’s not entirely off but when you have post something food-oriented every day, you take the little opportunities you usually ignore. I don’t chronicle every time Matt makes pancakes but maybe I should. In any case, tomorrow there will be an honest-to-goodness recipe. No, really, come back tomorrow!

I am trying to give Friday nights back to Matt in terms of cooking. It sounds sad, doesn’t it, that I allot him one weekend morning and one weeknight for cooking? He’s going to roast the duck in December so that’s fair! Anyway, using some delicious goat cheese ravioli, he made an interesting pasta sauce for them. Using a basic white sauce as a base, instead of a roux made with butter, he used bacon grease. Yes, bacon grease. It was…tasty but odd. And I would’ve dropped the bacon grease in the mix.

Is it wrong that sometimes, on Fridays mostly, that Matt and I go to Costco for a cheap lunch?

After—at my behest, of course—we prowl the aisles for samples, we settle in at the snackbar for a hot dog. I wanted to go with pizza today but if it means choosing between pizza and Quebec’s greatest contribution to junk food, frites avec sauce, then I have to go with the frites. I have yet to meet a potato I didn’t like, people. So yeah, some Fridays, we go there, sit at the snack bar and feel like complete and utter white trash. Only more well-dressed (Matt especially). So maybe, next time, pizza?

For hangovers and/or quasi-hangovers, I am a firm believer in the high fat/high protein restoratives. Despite my prodigious drinking during Fakesgiving the day before, yesterday was merely slightly headachy and slow-moving. Regardless, I whipped some fatty decadent pasta to eat for lunch.

I freakin’ heart pasta carbonara. This is a super simple version of it; you can chopped parsley, sauteed mushrooms or peppers, whatever. Consider my brain power was extremely limited yesterday, I just did the easiest one I could think of. Bacon, parmesan, pasta…what’s not to love?

Pasta Carbonara

1/2 lb. of pasta of your choice (I used fettucine)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

4 slices bacon

2 eggs

salt and pepper

Bring large pot of water to boil. As you wait for the water to boil (don’t forget that lid!), chop the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Fry bacon over medium heat until it’s done to your liking. Put aside bacon pieces; reserve one tablespoon of fat, if able. Cook pasta for time directed on package. Meanwhile, lightly beat the two eggs in a bowl; add 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. Once pasta is done, drain thoroughly. Quickly back the pasta back into the hot pot and pour the egg mixture over it. Working swiftly with tongs, coat the egg mixture all over pasta. Once the pasta has absorbed egg mixture, season with salt and lots of pepper. Add bacon pieces and the pork fat if you want. Finally, garnish that baby with the leftover Parmesan. A bowl of this and some ginger beer and you’ll be all right.