Kitchen Explorations + Kale Chips
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Is anyone else out there as surprised as me that it truly is November 2 today?
I just voted.
It was 46 degrees out.
What happened to fall?
The Seasons Greetings volunteer is already happily ringing his bell outside of the mall for donations.
THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS HERE!!!!!
Wow.
Kitchen Explorations
This weekend was full of unexpected moments. Unexpected moments in the kitchen that is!
I put on one of these
(well, I imagined that I did. I actually don't own an apron. Would really like a fabulous one from Anthropologie one day)
We had some surprise guests over on Friday and ended up cooking a most fabulous meal on our grill. It might be one of our last using our outdoor grill as cold nights have arrived fast and furiously!
And Saturday morning. Oh it was such a perfect morning! Our surprise guests included one adorable 5 year old (my niece!) and I just had to give her one of my favorite Saturday breakfasts:
A lazy pancake morning.
But I have a confession to make.
Since moving to Boston I have never and I repeat never made pancakes. I've eaten pancakes at family breakfasts or when out to brunch but I haven't actually made them myself in over 8 years. Weird I know.
And I love them, especially homemade.
We pulled out a container on Stonewell Kitchen Pumpkin Pancake mix that was hiding in the back of my pantry (a gift from last year!) and I went to town. I had my little helper standing on the stool right next to me and we pushed out nearly 20 pancakes for us to enjoy.
The topping bar was my favorite
Nutella, pumpking butter, peanut butter and maple syrup. Now that is perfection!
My first plate had pumpkin butter with a bit of warm peanut butter on top. Oh dear me was it incredible. Enjoyed with a cup of pumpkinilla coffee. The house was oozing with pumpkin!
And don't you worry your pretty little head. This belly had room for 2 more pancakes. One plain, just to enjoy the subtle pumpkin flavor in the background and then one with just pumpkin butter because I am obsessed. Truly.
It was one of the best mornings I have had in a while. We sat around the table eating, drinking, enjoying for nearly 2 hours. And then we proceeded to stay in our pajamas and curl up to watch a movie (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to be exact!).
I have now reentered the world of pancake making! Expect more to be displayed soon.
And then…
Then…
Sunday was a day of exploration and experimentation!
Kale Chips
I had bought a giant bunch of kale from our local farmer's market this past week. It was time for me to try the famous Kale Chips that so many people are talking about in the blog world. I had no idea what to expect but I was ready.
And I felt a cold coming on and wanted to eat GREENS!
Following Kath's recipe I preheated the oven to 350.
Then I began by showering the gorgeous stems with water to clean.
How beautiful is that!
Then I tore the leaves in large bite size pieces and placed on a cookie sheet.
There was a lot of green folks
Then I drizzled just a bit of olive oil around and cracked fresh pepper n a bit of salt on the greens.
Threw that bunch of green in the oven for 15 minutes and presto!
Crispy on the edges!
The verdict?
I really enjoyed kale chips! We stood over the oven and ate them directly off the sheet. 
All of it! Maybe a bit too much to take for the first round but they were tasty.
I won't lie to you- these don't taste like potato chips as some claim! Are they salty and crispy- yes. The flavor was almost a combination of extra roasted broccoli + asparagus. Really tasty! But I don't want to fool you and say it is like opening up a bag of Lays.
My next attempt will be to get these greens crispy throughout the whole leaf. Some of the pieces were still a bit too soft at the bottom which gave a texture that I didn't really enjoy!
Kale chip exploration a SUCCESS!
'Til next exploration!
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Deeeelish, Jenn! I just made them tonight for the first time.
Thanks for encouraging others to try this tasty and healthy recipe!! It's a keeper in my book, for sure.
Colleen @ What's Baking in the Barbershop´s last [type] ..Savory Pumpkin Pizza Dough!