I LOVE macaroni and cheese. Let me say that again- I LOVE macaroni and cheese. It is probably my favorite dish of all time- it's easy to make, it's universally liked, and who complains about mounds of cheddar cheese? Certainly not this guy.

My recipe switches every now and then- truffle oil comes and goes, I'll try different cheeses, and whatever else I can alter. It's like soup in that there are so many different ways to make it taste really good that sticking to the same recipe really isn't my thing. My macaroni recipe has never actually used macaroni- I've always used other noodles.

Macaroni and cheese is such an easy dish to make that if you want to make dinner with or for your significant other and you aren't all that great at cooking, this is an ideal dish to make. As always, I've approximated some of the measurements in the recipe below, but you can alter them to your liking.

1/2 box of penne

1/3 stick of butter

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup milk

1 table spoon of garlic salt

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of pepper

1 8oz bag of mild cheddar cheese

1 8oz bag of colby/jack cheese

1 16oz bag of sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil the penne until the noodles are soft. Drain noodles, but do not rinse.
3. Cut the stick of butter into thin pats; it will be mixed in to the boiled noodles.
4. Mix all of the ingredients EXCEPT for the sharp cheddar cheese together in a large bowl or pot.
5. Empty the mixture in a large pan and lay evenly.
6. Cover the top of the dish with the sharp cheddar cheese. Depending on how large the pan's surface area is, you may need to use the whole bag of cheese.
7. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the top cheese is brown enough for your liking.

Oranger than a Jersey Shore cast member. Cheesier than your mom's jokes. More customizable than any car at West Coast Customs. THIS is macaroni and cheese. Enjoy making it as much as you'll enjoy eating it- later days!

Potato Soup

Yeah, I had nothing better to put for a title- might as well keep it simple today.

The weather in Springfield has been dipping into the 40s- the 30s late at night even, and that means soup season has begun!

I found this great recipe on Allrecipes.com, and made my own little adjustments to it; I used green onions instead of regular ones, I used garlic salt for a little more flavor, and added bacon. It turned out really good- I would definitely make it again.

I consider soup to be one of the toughest dishes to make, since it can be altered so many ways and there's always room for improvement. There's something about soup in the winter that just makes it taste better during this time of year. I'll definitely be perfecting this recipe as the season goes on- I'll keep you all updated on the process!

I Want My Baby Back Baby Back Baby Back....

I totally forgot that I had a slab of ribs in my freezer that I intended to barbecue over the summer. Well, today was the day. By the way, why do people call them baby back ribs? It seems like it would be less appetizing with the word "baby" in them. After all, we don't call scrambled eggs "unborn chick fetuses", and we don't call veal "baby cow cutlets". i guess if you keep the name of the slaughtered animal out of the dish's name, then it's okay.

Anyhoo, I started by making a glaze for the ribs. Rather than search for a recipe online, I decided to take a bunch of items that were in my kitchen and make my own rub. This is a list of the items I used:

Sea Salt

Red Pepper Flakes

Black Pepper

Brown Sugar

A1 Steak Sauce

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Famous Dave's Rib Rub

The glaze looked pretty gross and had a consistency somewhere in between oatmeal and cement. It was delicious.

I applied the glaze generously to both sides of the slab; some of it came off and fell in the pan, but I just added a little water to the dish to help it possibly cook into the underside of the ribs and apply a little moisture for the oven in the process.

Of course, the second I was about to cover the pan, I realize we're out of aluminum foil, as reference by the bed that the baby back ribs now had. I had to get to class in 20 minutes, so going to Wal Mart to pick some up really wasn't an option. So what to do? Why, use a cupcake pan, of course!

Wrapping the baby in a tinfoil blanket until it's tender and edible.

Into the crib you go!

Two and a half hours later, these beauties were ready to come out of the oven and be basted. My will shall be done.

I'm still pretty bad at plating items; they tasted really good, but even a professional photographer couldn't save my butchering of these ribs. They fell off the bone, so it really wasn't my fault when I was cutting them. But then again, I cooked them, so I was responsible for the meat falling off the bone. But then again, I could just blame the butcher for selling...oh, forget it. It was my fault. I need to learn to plate food better. Period.

Anyways, the ribs were amazing, and I kinda wish I had written the quantities of ingredients for the glaze so I could use it again. They were a little spicy due to my overuse of red pepper, but tasty nonetheless. What are your best rib tactics? Any questions for me? Well, hit up the comments section below, and I will get to you as soon as I can! Later days!

Pancakes No More

Well, as you may see from the title, the pancakes in the blog's title have been retired. Anything I do on this blog has a thoughtful reason, and this change is no exception. I have always been a breakfast guy- I am one of those people that advocates cooking breakfast food for dinner. Hell, I had a breakfast dinner twice last week. But at this point in my life, cooking gives me this cathartic release- it's something I know I do well, and breakfast is not a meal where I get too adventurous.

Now baking- that's where my stress goes away. Making something really good and cheap that I can share with my friends is a great feeling for me. No matter what's going on in my life, baking will make my problems disappear in the meantime. Cupcakes are at the top of my list of things to bake, and as you've seen from the last few weeks, it's something I love to make. Now everybody wants birthday cupcakes and the like. I kinda feel like that episode of Arthur when he keeps asking his dad to make cakes for school functions so that Arthur can be popular.

Anyhoo, it's a lot of fun for me, and I genuinely feel at home when making cupcakes. So the blog's name has changed...for now.

Coffee Cup Champagne and Birthday Cupcakes

Last night was Homecoming Night, and guess what that means? Classy Wine Night! Classy Wine Night, or CWN, is a concept that my neighbor Michael Watson came up with. In a nutshell, all of us dress up very nicely and drink copious amounts of liquor- preferably wine. Since I'm not a wine person, I drank champagne (hey, it IS sparkling WINE). The best part about the night is that we top load the liquor, so we're pretty wasted for the majority of the night.

Michael Watson- Godfather of Classy Wine Night

Last year, we had a problem- the party spilled over into our house, but two guys fought and broke the upstairs bathroom door. Not a good first impression, I'd have to say. But we've learned from our mistakes, and this time around was bound to be better!

Oh, wait- my roommate Li was scheduled to have a birthday party on the same night! So what did I end up with? A Classy Wine Night Birthday Party! So I got double duty when it came to drinking and partying, and I feel that I shouldered the load quite well. All in all, the entire night was awesome- I didn't have champagne flutes, so I drank all of my liquor out of my trusty red coffee mug. I also taught Li's friends how to shotgun beer, and they taught me various Chinese curses. Funny thing- apparently Chinese people really don't have swear words- they just insult people in the same way that you would if you couldn't swear. Anyways, enough from me- the pictures tell the story better than I could. Check the pics and captions below!

My roommate Li blowing out the candles- 27 birthday cupcakes for the 27 year old!

Li's friends were plenty- and they all drank. Can't argue with that.

Li top loaded his liquor too. He was about ready to pass out when we pulled the cattle prod on him.

As you can see, he recovered nicely.

The Godfather, with the guy who broke our bathroom door at the last CWN in the background.

Only one of the people in this pic is old enough to participate in CWN...I wonder who....

Meagan (left) and Maithili (right) think we're all friends. I guess this picture solidifies it.

Aftermath- the next morning, our place was just about trashed.

All in all, it was a great night, and I definitely can't wait for CWN 3, which is going down this spring. Since it will be the last time we all will be together, it's bound to be a hot mess. Check back soon for more madness!

Salmon Croquettes w/ Wild Rice

I love salmon croquettes. They're such an easy dish, and they're not half bad for you either. Take a can of pink salmon, about the size of a soup can, and debone and deskin the fish. Take what's left, and mix in two large eggs- this is to keep the patties together while they fry. Throw in some onions, green peppers, tomatoes, or whatever else you like, too. Canned salmon already has a salt in it, so you shouldn't have to season it too much, lest they become salty.

Coat the patties in a mixture of flour, bread crumbs, and lemon pepper seasoning. Lay them in a pan of hot oil until brown and crisp on both sides. Like pancakes, you should only have to flip once. Flip too much and they may end up soggy.

A can of salmon makes 3 to 5 patties, depending on how big you've made them. Serve with rice or pasta (I just made a box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice), and serve.

Personally, I like my croquettes plain, but some people make a tartar sauce or other dip to go along with them. If cooked correctly though, these should taste fine all by themselves.

Sent from my Windows Phone

Cooking With Jeremy- The Best Breakfast Sandwich- EVER.

I love breakfast. Point blank. If you can't tell by the title of my blog, then there's something wrong with you. I am a huge advocate for breakfast for dinner- it's a nice way to mix things up. So last night, I couldn't sleep, and I was hungry. What did I do? I made this:

This sandwich needs a name. Even when properly plated, it doesn't look like it came from a 5 star restaurant.
But damn it, this was tasty.

It's toasted sourdough bread with three strips of bacon, three scrambled eggs with three cheeses (Cheddar, Parmesan, and Mozzarella), and some green onions. I always have fun when I'm cooking, and your dishes tend to taste better when you have fun with the cooking. It opens your mind and lets you be more creative.

Happy cooking, and happy eating!

Cooking With Jeremy- Kickstart Smoothie

I despise mornings that start with my phone alarm screaming at me to wake up. It's intrusive, but since the sun only wakes me up on time during the summer months, most of the year I have no choice but to soldier through alarm clock hell. On mornings like this, most people tell me to suck it up and drink a lot of coffee. Well, I like coffee, but not enough to make it my morning drink of choice more than one work day a week. Any more and I'd jitter and crash all day.

So, what do I drink? One word. Smoothie.



My morning saviour, in a Starbucks mug no less.







I've only been on a smoothie kick for about six weeks now, but for me, they trump morning coffee in just about every category I care about: I have more energy, they taste great, they're filling, they have less sugar than my morning coffee, and I've got a couple of servings of real fruit at the top of each day. Here's my recipe

4-5 strawberries

1/2 cup orange juice

1 slice of lime

1/2 scoop of lime sherbet

1 handful of chopped ice

Just blend all of this together in a blender until you can hear no more ice chopping; the other ingerdients basically blend themselves. This recipe makes 12-14 ounces.

Now a lot of these ingredients can be swapped for others; maybe you like cranberry juice better, or maybe you want to throw some apple, banana, or pineapple in there, or maybe you want to use yogurt in lieu of sherbet- go ahead! The great thing about this smoothie is that the recipe is  interchangeable, so when you get tired of certain flavor combinations, just switch things out. You can even throw some rum, tequila or vodka in this recipe to mae this smoothie more "adult". Have some fun with it!

Well, I'll be cooking all throughout the summer, so stay tuned for more!

Cooking With Jeremy- The Adventure Begins!

I love to cook; it's therapeutic for me, especially after a long day at work. I'm sure it won't seem that therapeutic once I have a family and cooking becomes a chore during the week, but I plan on keeping "fun cooking" as an integral part of my life.

Anyway, I made a pan-seared tilapia tonight, and it was amazing. The outside probably could have been a little crispier, but overall, it turned out great. This, hopefully, will become a regular feature on my blog, with pictures and recipes and more.

Happy Eating!