We had two Route 66 dinners and desserts from The Route 66 Cookbook in the last week!
For the second dinner of our Route 66 Summer I made the Super Burger from the Western View Diner & Steakhouse in Albuquerque, NM. What really set the burger apart is the green chile sauce served on top! Also, this was the first time I made the hamburger patties myself instead of just buying frozen ones, and I’m pretty sure my family is never going to let me go back!
And is there a more classic Route 66 dessert than a malt? The recipe for the most chocolatey malt ever (and I’ve made chocolate malts pretty often in the past!) was from the Fair Oaks Pharmacy in South Pasadena…so delicious!
Our third dinner featured Goulash from the Streetcar Station Coffee Shop in Galena, KS. And when I say goulash, I mean the American kind, made with chili seasonings and macaroni. It was tasty, but confusing because we’re used to Hungarian goulash!
For dessert we had a classic Egg Cream like they serve at the Monarch Pharmacy and Soda Fountain in Baxter Spring, KS. Again, confusing, because there is neither egg nor cream in this chocolate soda, but again, super tasty!
We’re looking forward to more culinary travels down Route 66!
St. Louis has a really cool pop-up that’s going to be in town until June 28!
The Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe opened in Chicago earlier this year, and I was really bummed because it was so close, but not close enough for us to get up there before it closed. You can imagine how excited we all were when they announced that they were going to be opening in Nudo House Delmar for a couple of months!
The interior design is really cool, especially the rings everywhere:
And the food was outstanding! I tried the “Buzz Bomber Brisket Sandwich,” which just debuted over the weekend. The brisket was fantastic, and let’s face, an eye-catching blue bun is a unique culinary experience!
The rest of the family tried a variety of things, including “Rogue’s Gold Heist Bites,” (gouda mac ‘n’ cheese balls), “Sonic the Hedgehog’s Classic Chili Dog,” and “E-123 Omega’s Red Hot Revenge,” (a St. Louis special of a Red Hot Riplets chicken sandwich). Everyone was very happy with their selections!
Turkey also tried the “Sonic Boom Lemonade”:
And we shared an order of “Chaorros” which came with a fudge miso dipping sauce:
This was a really cool experience…I’m so glad St. Louis got to play host to it! It still has a couple of weeks left, so there’s still time to visit, but you have to go fast before it’s gone!
We’re having a Route 66 summer! We kicked off the centennial celebration last week with a dinner from The Route 66 Cookbook, a volume that has recipes made famous at restaurants from one end of the Mother Road to the other. The main course was the “Route 66 Pup,” a hot dog with chili, onions, mustard blend, and homemade jalapeño spread, all topped with French fries, inspired by the menu at Tail o’ The Pup near the end of the route in California
For dessert I made the “Docs S’mores Sundae” inspired by the one served at Docs Just Off 66, a location a little closer to home in Girard, IL.
Stay tuned as we try more recipes from The Route 66 Cookbook!
I don’t do a lot of vegetarian/vegan cooking, but I wanted to try something new for our Lenten Friday. I decided to really step outside of my comfort zone and make burritos that are not only vegetarian, but even use plant-based cream cheese, making them vegan as well. I was little worried that they might be a little too unconventional for my family, but they turned out to be a huge hit, and I’ll definitely be making them again! (I may try a version with cheese and maybe even chicken in the future, though!)
6-8 “Extra Grande Burrito” flour tortillas
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
1 large onion, chopped
3 red bell peppers, chopped
1 large jalapeño, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
3 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
8 oz. plant-based cream cheese
2 bunches cilantro, lightly chopped
Preheat oven to 350.
Sauté onion, red peppers, and jalapeño with salt in large pan in oil until soft. Add garlic, cumin, and cayenne, and cook for another minute. Add black beans and continue cooking until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and allow to melt. Remove pan from heat and toss in cilantro. Fill and fold tortillas, wrap in foil, and place on baking sheet. Cook in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
Bunny and I made a trio of varieties this year, starting with a Milano Cortina 2026 fusion flavor that was filled with cannoli filling in honor of the host country of the Olympics:
We also made plum butter Berliner, filled with homemade Pflaumenmus, which was sehr lecker!
And our final variety was filled with our favorite Guinness mousse and topped with a chocolate glaze:
It was a tasty trio!
As long as I was already frying donuts, I also made German Mutzen from the Rhineland, which turned out very much like beignets:
And here’s a bonus look at our Mardi Gras dinner of “Bayou Queen Punch” and “Tiana’s Famous Gumbo” from Entertaining with Disney:
We had a nice day of feasting, and now we’re ready for Lent!
Time for a last look back at the festive feasting season!
We started Thanksgiving week by baking…Christmas Funfetti cupcakes? There’s never a bad time for Funfetti!
Of course, the main attraction Thanksgiving week was the turkey dinner:
And seven pies!
We celebrated Nikolaustag with chicken Döner Kebab and gingerbread tiramisu:
The next special dinner was a week later, for Santa Lucia Day, featuring potato pancakes and kielbasa, with cranberry fluff for dessert…and let’s not forget the lussekattes for breakfast!
We had a gingerbread layer cake filled with gingerbread mousse and frosted with molasses cream cheese frosting on Christmas Eve:
And our favorite cherry coffee cake for breakfast on Christmas Day:
But the best meal of the year is the Christmas Day pick-out dinner!
For our “fancy” Christmas dinner, we had bolognese, breaded artichokes, and fresh baked Italian bread:
In keeping with the Italian theme, we had cannoli for dessert:
On New Year’s Eve, we had black bean soup and corn bread:
And our traditional hot chocolate bar, of course!
Our New Year’s Day dinner was enjoyed a day late…I made pork medallions and spaetzle:
And we had a Glühwein-Kuchen for dessert:
We also had a special “Lord of the Rings Day” celebration (on Tolkien’s birthday!), featuring one of the fanciest chicken recipes I make, and “Westfarthing Fairings” from the Recipes from the World of Tolkien cookbook:
For the last feast of the season, Ryan’s birthday dinner, (which also happens to be Epiphany), we had fry bread and chili:
And Boston Cream Pie for dessert:
We did lots of other baking along the way, including a pair of Italian Christmas cookies for Christmas school:
And all of our favorite fancy Christmas cookies…chocolate crinkles, linzer augen, chocolate peppermint, raspberry almond thumbprints, peppermint meltaways, and fig thumbprints:
With the addition of a few of the pudding cookies Bunny made, they created a beautiful Bunter Teller!
For our New Year’s Eve hot chocolate bar, we baked two kinds of hot chocolate cookies:
In addition to the Christmas cracker candy I usually make, we also tried a new recipe that had sliced almonds on top:
And on the last day of Christmas, we baked and decorated sugar and gingerbread cookies:
I made a couple of bonus pies along the way, too:
And a bevy of festive drinks, including standards like egg nog and wassail, and some frappe kits from Aldi:
And just as we made a special dessert at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, we ended Epiphany week with a carrot cake:
I think that’s it for festive feasts and holiday baking…I’m ready to close the Markel bakery for a bit!
It’s kind of become our custom to have our “fancy” Christmas dinner a few days after Christmas, instead of on Christmas Day or the day after like we used to. But this year, I had to stretch the definition of fancy, because with grocery prices the way they are, there’s no way I could justify buying something like a beef tenderloin or standing rib roast or pork crown roast like I have in the past. So I decided to run with the Italian theme of our Christmas school, and make bolognese, which isn’t exactly fancy, but is really nice, and also a favorite of everyone here that I don’t get to make a lot because it takes a lot of time. I also baked Italian bread and some breaded artichokes, and made a tossed salad to go with it…it might not be the traditional definition of fancy, but it worked for us!
For dessert, I made cannoli, and if that isn’t fancy, I don’t know what is!
It may have different from our usual Christmas fare, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!
Place pork shoulder in slower cooker and salt and pepper to taste. Drain pineapple slices, reserving juice. Combine one bottle Hawaiian barbecue sauce with reserved pineapple juice and pour over pork. Cook on low 8-10 hours. In last hour, shred pork and drain off most of cooking liquid, then return pork to slow cooker with additional barbecue sauce if desired and finish cooking.
Serve on Hawaiian buns with pineapple slices, pepper jack cheese, additional barbecue sauce if desired, and a generous portion of jalapeño-cilantro slaw.
Today I’m sharing a recipe for one of our family’s top three favorite beverages…Brazilian lemonade, which I’ve been making ever since the 2016 Rio Olympics! Spoilers…there are no lemons in this drink, but rather limes, which makes it even tastier! I usually double (or even triple) the recipe because it’s so popular!
2 limes, washed well and quartered
3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
4 handfuls ice cubes
Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain and serve over additional ice, if desired.
I’m still playing around with milkshake flavors, and this week, I’m sharing a non-alcoholic variety inspired by the famous Moscow Mule, with ginger syrup and lime juice. I topped it with ginger whipped cream and lime zest for a little extra punch of flavor, too!
2 cups vanilla ice cream
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup ginger syrup
1/4 cup lime juice
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
