I like experimenting with my pancakes. Ive done pancakes with strawberry, pancakes with Banana and almond, pancakes with choco chips, caramel pancakes, mango pancakes – i could go on and on!

I saw this great recipe from one of my favorite chefs – Jamie Oliver and he used ppears in his pancakes. Its easy – and you’ll have great tasting pancakes in 3 easy steps! Whats even better is if you sweeten the batter and add more flour to thicken it, you can use it to make muffins!!!

1. Put the flour, milk, egg and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Once combined, grate in the pear, core and all then stir it through with a spoon. 
2. Put a large pan on a medium heat and add a knob of butter. Once that melts, add the batter, a spoonful at a time to the hot pan. You’ll need to cook them in batches, cooking them for a few minutes until golden on the bottom then flipping over and cooking for a few minutes more until they’re done.
3. When they are golden and fluffy serve them right away with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some runny honey drizzled all over the top. 

Click here for the full recipe.

I watched his show earlier today and the exotic ingredient was mangoes – both ripe and unripe mangoes. As you may know, we Filipinos LOVE our mangoes. Friends from all over the world say that there’s not a place in the world that can produce mangoes as yummy as the ones you’ll find here in the Philippines. Its sweet and very flavorful, so different from the mangoes in the United States. I have a couple of friends from New York who swear that there’s no contest, Philippine mangoes win hands down! They even ask family members to send them dried mangoes or bring crates of fresh mangoes when they come and visit.

Anyway, Chef Roger featured this great recipe – mango salad with bell pepper, bean sprouts and onions – ingredients I never thought would go well together. Here’s the recipe (he shares a recipe for the herby lime vinaigrette as well):

Herby Lime Vinaigrette:

1 Tsp Sugar

3/4 tbsp Rice vinegar

1/2 tbsp Sesame oil

4 tsp Fresh Lime juice

1/4 tsp Mint leaf fine chopped

1 tbsp Cilantro stems fine chop

1/8 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Water

In a small stainless steel mixing bowl add sugar and salt. Add vinegar to dissolve dry ingredients then add water, oyster sauce and lime juice. Whisk in sesame oil then add mint and cilantro stems.  Mix well.  Store in the refrigerator.

Mango Salad:

1 C. Mango cut into strips

1/2 C. Red pepper cut into strips

1/4 C. Red onion fine cut into strips

3/4 C. Fresh bean sprouts

2 Tbsp Cilantro leaves rough chop

1/8 Tsp Kosher salt

1/4 Tsp Black peppercorns cracked

2 Tbsp Cashew nuts crushed

In a small skillet heated to medium heat add Cashew nuts, stir often until lightly toasted.  Set aside.

In a larger mixing bowl add first 5 ingredients.  Add Herby Lime vinaigrette and mix thoroughly.  Season with Salt and Black pepper to taste. Plate salad and top with toasted cashews.

I immediately went to the kitchen to see if I had enough ingredients to make it, but I didn’t have fresh cilantro leaves (if I don’t find any, I’ll use the dried ones) and rice vinegar. What a disappointment. I will definitely try this recipe – the mango fanatic in me cannot pass this up!!!

For more Roger Mooking recipes, please visit his website www.rogermooking.com.

This year, I am going as one half of the Wonder Twins. Do you remember them?

Or maybe as Morticia Addams.

Anyway, this year, we are hosting THE halloween party for our friends and i have been looking online for great halloween themed food. I saw this really interesting website!

Admittedly, i wouldnt eat all the food posted there (the Witches’ fingers, the  Eerie Eyeballs) because they look very real to me but i’ll definitely serve the Spooky Sugar Cookies, Ghoulish Graves and the Creepy Cheese & Crackers.

Visit the Britta website to see the highly creative recipes! I am sure your guests will be amazed by your food preparation, thanks to the folks responsible for these recipes.

Who are you going as for halloween?

Here is the recipe from www.allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• yellow paste food coloring
• brown paste food coloring
• 3/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting
•  
• 24 orange chewy fruit-flavored candy squares
• 12 leaf-shaped spearmint gumdrops
• 3 large red gumdrops
• 4 large white gumdrops
• 6 candy lime slices
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat oven according to cake mix directions. Butter and flour one 8 inch round and one 9 inch round cake pan and one 2 quart ovenproof bowl 8 inches in diameter.
2. Prepare cake mixes. Pour 1 3/4 cups of the white mix into the 8 inch round cake pan, and the rest into the 2 quart bowl. Pour 1 3/4 cups of the chocolate mix into the 9 inch round pan.
3. Bake 8 inch cake for 25 minutes, 9 inch cake for 20 minutes and bowl cake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on racks.
4. In separate small bowls, tint small amounts of vanilla frosting red and yellow, to use as ketchup and mustard. Tint remaining vanilla frosting light brown, using brown and yellow food coloring.
5. For bun bottom, frost the 8 inch cake with light brown frosting.
6. For hamburger patty, spread top and sides of 9 inch chocolate cake with chocolate frosting Lightly press all around sides of cake with folded paper towel, pulling towel straight out to create rough edge of burger. center cake on top of bun bottom.
7. For cheese, arrange orange fruit chews in single layer on microwave-safe plate. Microwave on High 10-15 seconds or until slightly softened. With hands, press and flatten chews together to form 9 inch square. Place on top of hamburger patty. On work surface sprinkled with granulated sugar roll out 5 leaf-shaped gumdrops to 1/8 inch thickness to form 1 large lettuce leaf; repeat rolling with 6 more gumdrops to form another leaf. Arrange over cheese near edges of burger. For tomatoes, roll out red gumdrops individually to 1/8 inch thickness. Arrange over lettuce around burger edges. For onion rings, roll out white gumdrops to 1/8 inch thickness. With round cookie cutters or sharp knife cut out circles; cut 1/4 inch thick rings from circles with small cutters. Re-roll scraps to make additional rings; arrange rings over tomatoes. Arrange fruit-slice candies over onions for pickles. Pipe red and yellow icing around edges of burger for ketchup and mustard.
8. For bun top: If necessary, trim bowl cake so that it will be flat on the bottom when inverted. Invert firm paper plate onto work surface. Center bowl cake, trimmed side down, on top of plate. Starting from the top, spread remaining light brown frosting in lines down sides of cake, turning plate after each section. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Carefully place on top of the cake.

Enjoy making this cake! I sure will, and based from the reviews on the allrecipes.com website, it’s quite easy to make!

I love throwing themed parties! Fourth of July is coming up and I found this great Fourth of July inspired desert on Kaboose!

Ingredients

• Two packages (4 serving size) or one package (8 serving size) any flavor red gelatin (e.g., JELL-O)
• Two packages (4 serving size) or one package (8 serving size) blue gelatin (e.g., JELL-O)
• Whipped topping (e.g., Cool Whip) 
• 2-1/2 cups boiling water
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups
• Rubber scraper or large spoon
• Table knife
• Two 9×9-inch pans (or you can do it in one pan, one flavor at a time)
• Clear plastic cups (4 to 6 ounce size)
• Star-shaped cookie cutters
• Large tray
• Cherries (optional)

Cooking Instructions

1. Pour one flavor of gelatin into the mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups of the boiling water and use the rubber scraper to stir until all of the gelatin has dissolved (about two minutes). Pour the mixture into one of the pans. Repeat with the other gelatin flavor.
2. Put the pans into the refrigerator and let the gelatin chill for about three hours.
3. Put about an inch of warm water into the sink. Dip just the bottom of the pan (don’t let the water come up over the sides) into the water for just a few seconds. (Note: Be careful to not let it sit too long or the gelatin will start to liquify.)
4. Wash your hands thoroughly. Use the star-shaped cookie cutters or the table knife to cut shapes. Use your hands to lift out the shapes onto another tray. Repeat with both flavors.
5. Place a thin layer of  jigglers (blue or red) onto the tray, then add a layer of whipped cream. Alternate the jigglers and the whipped cream until you have a stack of jigglers. Top with a cherry if you would like and enjoy!

It’s a great dessert to serve, along with your other 4^th of July themed food!

Click here to view the full recipe.