photo by Whitney Loibner

photo by Whitney Loibner

Snowball Cookies

3/4 cup powdered sugar (plus more for baked cookies)

4 cups flour

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups chopped pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Slowly add flour and powdered sugar until mixed in.  Scrape down sides with rubber spatula.  Add vanilla and nuts.

Shape dough into balls on parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.

Allow to cool.  Roll in powdered sugar.

Makes about 50 1- inch snowballs.

Did you enjoy this post ? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to the Chino House via RSS feed or by email.

Follow me Instagram or Pinterest to keep up with recipes!

The post Snowball Cookies appeared first on Alison Chino.

Here is our recipe for Swedish pancakes.  Taido makes this at least once every other week at our house.

We got it from some precious friends from our Chicago days, and they are melt in your mouth good.

Our kids eat these so fast they burn their tongues. There has been much debate in our family over the adjusting of this recipe. We have cut the butter a little bit and I believe we use half whole wheat flour.

I think you could cut the butter a little more, but Taido feels I have adulterated this recipe enough as it is.

They are supposed to be served with lingonberries, which are a little difficult to locate down south.

You can buy them at Ikea, or at specialty food stores.

Swedish Pancakes

4 eggs

1 cup organic milk

1/2 cup flour

2-4 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for the pan

4 tablespoons sugar

Cook 1/4 cup batter in a generously greased hot skillet until slightly browned (3 min or so) and flip to brown the other side for just a minute.

Spread lingonberries in the middle of the pancake and then flop the two sides over the berries, like a burrito.

If you’re feeling especially indulgent, you can top it off with fresh whipped cream.

The post Swedish Pancakes appeared first on Alison Chino.

A food system organized around quantity rather than quality has a destructive feedback loop built into it, such that the more low-quality food one eats, the more one wants to eat, in a futile–but highly profitable–quest for the absent nutrient.

from In Defense of Food, p.124

Quality rather than quantity.

It’s an idea that I think applies to all of life but most certainly in the area of food.

I am working on a promised list of meals that will last you a week and feed your body well, but for now I am just going to tell you what we had for breakfast.

Taido makes breakfast at least three times a week at our house, and this healthy waffle recipe is a regular. We have burned up two waffle irons since we got married and are now on our third.

Our kids have loved these waffles since they were toddlers in rainy Seattle. Move over eggo. Here are the best (and best for you waffles) we can think to serve up around here.

Make a whole bunch on the weekend and freeze them if you don’t like to make breakfast during the week.

Rise and Shine Waffles

Serves: 6 Chinos

1½ cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups organic milk or organic soy milk

2 eggs

¼ cup butter (melted)

3 tablespoons honey

1 cup rolled oats, not instant

1 cup chopped nuts (if you don’t like nuts you can leave them out and add ½ cup more of oats.)

most waffle irons take about 1/2 cup batter per waffle.

Serve warm with maple syrup and fruit.

The post Rise and Shine Waffles appeared first on Alison Chino.

I got up at 5:30 because I so wanted our first morning back to school to be a smooth one. It’s just so brutal if we end our break with a rushed morning and everyone yelling.

So, I made raspberry bran muffins, a new recipe from my sister.

And hot cocoa.

I haven’t packed away the snowman cups just yet.

Then I woke everyone up and told them that they could come put marshmallows in their hot chocolate as soon as they were dressed for school.

Including the homeschooler, who was a wee bit grouchy.

Then they all walked to school (even Simon, who will NOT be left out of the walk without all kinds of fits) in the 19 degree weather. They were so excited because they put a cup of water outside last night to see if it would freeze…and it did. You can’t believe the riotous giggling and gasps of amazement this small event caused. Who knew frozen water could be so enthralling? Hello. It’s just ice.

So now that the first day back is under our belts, I am off to find a sunny spot to nap.

Raspberry Bran Muffins

makes 4-5 dozen

2 c. sugar

1 c. melted butter

4 c. all bran

5 cups flour (I used half-whole wheat flour)

5 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoon salt

4 cups buttermilk

2 cup warm water

4 eggs

2 teaspoons lemon zest

4 cups frozen raspberries

Directions:

Pour warm water over all bran. Set aside to cool.

Mix butter and sugar, add eggs and buttermilk.

Sift dry ingredients together. Fold them into the water/bran mixture.

Combine everything until mixed.

You can refrigerate at this point if you want to make the night before.

Before baking add 4-5 cups frozen raspberries.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

1 pound box powdered sugar

4 cups powdered milk

1 pound container coffeemate creamer

1 pound nestle quick

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ cup crushed candy canes

Use about 1/3 cup of cocoa for 1 large mug of hot water.

Cheers to hot cocoa for breakfast!  Enjoy!!

The post Raspberry Bran Muffins + Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix appeared first on Alison Chino.

We had such a classic summer in Arkansas weekend.

I have been kind of dazed and sleepy for the last day or so, just soaking it all in.

My kids went to the lake last week for the blue moon. I love for them to camp on an island at the lake in the summertime, because it feels like they are getting a piece of my childhood. if I close my eyes, I can feel the sun waking me up in my sleeping bag on the boat. My sister and I would jump straight in the lake, first thing. We slept in our bathing suits, I know, Gross!, but my kids did it last week. In fact Cole wore his bathing suit for about 48 hours straight, mostly without shirt or shoes. Good ole Arkansas. When I talked to Mary Polly Thursday night as they were roasting marshmallows around the campfire, she told me that Cole was asleep in a camp chair.

Even though they were all dog tired from being at the lake, they all had sleepovers the next night. When Mary Polly went to bed on Saturday, she said she wished she could just do the whole weekend all over again.

Then on Sunday, we had our annual anniversary church picnic. I love these events. They are so southern to me.

Church picnic food is classic: fried chicken, cole slaw, homemade brownies.

Everyone was supposed to bring a food according to their last name, which I felt free to completely ignore. I also feel that all church picnic food should be homemade, which everyone else feels free to ignore.

Though “C” names had dessert, I brought a salad that was perfect for a church picnic. The funny (and slightly disturbing) thing about church picnic food is that it sits out for sort of a long time, and salads become soggy and wilted. Everything in this particular salad is crunchy, so it holds its flavor and beauty throughout an entire two hour buffet.

I am happy to report that it held up great. I can’t say the same for the grocery store tubs of cole slaw and potato salad.

I made everything the night before and then added the grape tomatoes just before we went, because I never refrigerate tomatoes. Depending on how long it was going to sit out, you could add some feta to this salad as well.

Just so the fun would never have to end, Taido and the kids went with friends to see the 9pm showing of the newest Pirates of the Caribbean after the picnic.

So what if everyone was a wee bit grouchy on Monday? It was a great Arkansas summer weekend.

Crunchy Church Picnic Salad

1 sliced red pepper

1 sliced orange pepper

1 sliced yellow pepper

2 peeled, thinly sliced cucumbers

1 thinly sliced red onion

2 thinly sliced yellow squash

2 thinly sliced zucchini

10 baby carrots, julienned

1 lb. green beans, dropped in boiling water for 2 minutes, then shocked with cold water

1 lb. sugar snap peas, blanched just like green beans

1 lb. grape tomatoes

1 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons raspberry red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped strawberries, mostly for color

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon coarse, kosher salt

Prep and add all the vegetables together in a large bowl.  Mix the dressing with an emulsifier or in a blender.  Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving.

Enjoy!

*Photo from when I made this salad with P. Allen Smith, it was featured in his summer magazine along with two other Chino House Salads!

The post Perfect Arkansas Weekend + Crunchy Church Picnic Salad appeared first on Alison Chino.

I decided to make these this morning because my grandmother brought me some very ripe, fresh Arkansas strawberries that needed to be eaten. You can make them with any fruit.

These muffins are a favorite at our house, frequently requested.  I also love to serve these muffins at a morning shower or brunch party.

Strawberry Breakfast Muffins

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup milk (i often use soy milk)

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups fruit

Combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. in separate bowl, mix butter, milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla. fold wet ingredients into dry. stir just until mixed. fold in fruit. fill muffin cups 2/3 full. bake 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Makes 2 dozen.

Enjoy!

The post Strawberry Breakfast Muffins appeared first on Alison Chino.