Breakfast
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Baked Oatmeal
I got my love of oatmeal from my mom. Growing up, she would cook a big pot of oatmeal for breakfast, then ladle us generous bowlfuls of it. I remember leaning over my bowl and inhaling the warm fragrance of oats, steaming hot and creamy, studded with raisins and flecks of cinnamon, and topped with a drizzle of honey and a splash of milk. To this day, whenever I make a bowl of oatmeal with honey on top, it takes me back to my early childhood. It was a go-to breakfast for us, and it’s one of those classics that never gets old. That said, one of the best things…
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German Pancakes
Also referred to as “Dutch baby pancakes,” “puffed oven pancakes,” or even “oversized popovers,” all I know is that whatever you call them, they taste incredible. Apparently these were first created in the United States by Pennsylvania Dutch settlers, and fortunately the tradition continued from there. They’re light, buttery, not too sweet, and entirely delicious. They’re leavened with eggs, so they rise tall and golden in the oven, then after baking, they collapse into a perfect “bowl” for holding your toppings. These have been a family breakfast hit for as long as I can remember, and I make them often for my own kids now too. My Dad (who grew…
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Banana Bread Muffins
I can’t seem to get enough banana bread, and I especially love banana muffins. These are perfect for an on-the-go breakfast (or a lazy leisurely one too, with a mug of tea or warm milk), and they make a great snack any time of day. Even better, the flavor and texture improve overnight, so you can make them in advance and enjoy them for a few days (if they last that long). This recipe is a slightly adapted version of my great-grandma Florence Robinson Beck’s (1905-1998) banana bread. (Mainly, I took her bread recipe and turned it into muffins instead.) It yields muffins that are light and moist (not soggy…
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Banana Nut Bread
Top notch. Those are the words Jeremiah used to describe this banana bread when he tried it after I first made this recipe. He’s a bit of a food snob, and an excellent cook himself, so this is high praise indeed coming from him. Especially since I’ve made many, many loaves of banana bread during our time together, most of which turned out pretty good, and he’s never lavished them with such a title. But he’s right, I don’t know why this hasn’t been my go-to recipe all along, because it really is top-notch. This recipe comes from Eila Anderson Williams (1913-1991), and my grandmother, Ann Williams Stephens, notes that…
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Swedish Oatmeal
Sweet, creamy Swedish Oatmeal. This is the stuff of my childhood dreams. I grew up eating this dish and hearing my mother tell stories about our Swedish ancestors who used to eat it too. I would imagine them as children in the Swedish countryside more than a hundred years earlier waking up in the morning and having this for breakfast with fresh-picked blueberries and milk from the cow in the barn out back. Of course, I have no idea how close my childhood imaginings came to approximating the truth of this idyllic image, but like many old family stories, this had become the stuff of lore. At least I was…
