Jolene's Recipe Journal

  I hope you're enjoying #BrunchWeek as much as I am!  For my second  recipe I'm going with a classic, coffee cake.  I found myself with an overload of chocolate chips and I found Trish Q's recipe on the Taste of Home website.      I only made one small change to the recipe, I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the batter and used Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips. It'd be great with dark chocolate chips too but my guys are die hard semi sweet fans.       The recipe says to put half of the batter on the bottom of the dish. I used my kitchen scale to make sure that I was putting half the batter on the bottom layer and not shorting myself on the top or vice versa. Mine took about 35 minutes to cook through because I used a glass pan.     For the topping, next time I'd cut the reserved sugar to toss with the cinnamon and chips to 1/4 cup, I think that's plenty.  In fact, I actually took a pastry brush and took some of the excess sugar off the top. Thank you to Ch

I'm kicking off #BrunchWeek with my latest obsession, stuffed waffles !  Today's version is a peanut butter waffle chock full of bacon and banana, also known as the Elvis Stuffed Waffle. To get the peanut butter flavor into the batter I used PB2, which is a powdered peanut butter product.  If you can't get your hands on it or just want to use regular peanut butter, you can dollop it on top of the bananas. I put about 1/4 cup of batter into the bottom of the preheated and non stick sprayed iron and then topped it with about half of a sliced banana.    Next up is a slice of cooked and crumbled bacon. Then you add another 1/4 cup of batter on top, close the iron and let it cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.   They are delicious as is or you can top them with more sliced banana and bacon.    Just look at that perfect layer of bacon and banana!  The waffles are crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.    They're also great with powdered

Happy National Grilled Cheese Day! I actually didn't eat many grilled cheese growing up but now I'm  a huge fan.  My guys like the classic, American cheese on white bread but I'm much more adventurous.  When I saw this Cinnamon Raisin Apple Grilled Cheese on Taste of Home I knew I had to give it a try!

“There are five elements: earth, air, fire, water and garlic.”  Louis Diat April is #NationalGarlicMonth and today I'm getting together with some foodie friends to celebrate the delightful Alium.  Being Italian, garlic is a staple item in most of my favorite dishes and I always have some on hand.

“I see recipes calling for one clove of garlic. One clove of garlic is not enough for any recipe unless it’s a recipe for ‘How to cook one clove of garlic’ – even in this case, use two.”   Unknown April is #NationalGarlicMonth and today we're sharing some of our very favorite recipes.  Garlic is in the Allium family along with shallots, onions, leeks and chives. It can be consumed raw or cooked. I've exclusively used it in savory dishes, but there are recipes for garlic ice cream and other sweet treats out there.

March has flown by and it's #MuffinMonday again!  Sometimes I choose my recipe based on a holiday or a theme but this month's choice was brought to you by the bunch of bananas that my guys asked for but then didn't eat.

It's the final day of Spring Sweets Week and I sure hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have! Actual spring is still quite a few weeks away here in New England, but it's been great getting together with all the talented bloggers and sharing recipes.

For my second Spring Sweets Week recipe I whipped up some scones.  They are super simple to make and really pop when you load them full of freshly squeezed citrus juice and ginger! This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product from sponsor companies to help in the creation of my recipes.  All opinions are mine alone.     I've had the pleasure of working with Melissa's Produce in the past and this year they totally went above and beyond with the variety and quantity of items they sent.  Among the selections were Cara Cara oranges, Seedless lemons and Key Limes.  I knew I wanted to make scones but couldn't decide on one flavor of citrus so I went with all three! Using a microplane is my favorite way to zest whether it's a lot or a little. Fast and then I pop it right on the top rack of the dishwasher. Selefina Spices also sent some fantastic items.  I knew right away I wanted to put the cinnamon in these.  After snacking on a few pi

Today kicks off one of my favorite events of the year, Spring Sweets Week. Winter has definitely overstayed it's welcome this year and nothing helps lift your spirits like bright spring flavors! This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product from sponsor companies to help in the creation of my recipes.  All opinions are mine alone. I've been working on my madeleine making skills for a few years now.  When I saw the extract pastes that Taylor & Colledge sent for us to use in our recipes I thought a lavender one with a vanilla glaze would be lovely. The most important thing about madeleines is that you make sure to beat them for long enough, until the dough ' ribbons " and to chill them for long enough.  My first test pan of 6 I baked after 60 minutes chilling time and they did not get the classic hump. The second try they'd been chilling for two hours and look at how beautifully puffy they turned out! They are amazing plain, b