Our next Route 66 dinner featured “New Mexican Posole” like they serve at the Silver Moon.Cafe in Santa Rosa, NM, according to the recipe in The Route 66 Cookbook. This was a new experience for us…we’ve never tried hominy before. It was super delicious, and we’ll definitely be making it again!
For dessert I made a “Strawberry Whipped Cheesecake” like they make at the historic Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, IL. It’s a no-bake cheesecake with a shortbread-style crust, a lovely fluffy cheesecake layer, and strawberries on top…I really enjoyed it!
We love breakfast-for-dinner, so our next Route 66 dinner was “Grilled Thick French Toast” like they serve at Chicago’s own Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant and Bakery…it was pretty similar to my regular recipe, but with even more vanilla, which I love!
I still have quite a few Route 66 recipes left to make this summer…stay tuned!
Happy 6/26, or as it’s known around here, Stitch Day! This year is extra special because we got to have a Double Stitch Day of 6/26/26, so of course we had an extra special dinner to celebrate! The main course was double chicken skewers…”Galactic Kebabs” which marinated in a siracha-sesame oil mixture, and “Meteoric Teriyaki Chicken Skewers,” both from Lilo and Stitch: The Official Cookbook.
We also had double drinks: “Coconut Coastal Delight” with coconut, pineapple, and ginger beer (and yes, I cracked a coconut for a cup!), and “Pleakley’s Pink Stuff Frosé” made with pink lemonade, watermelon, strawberries, and sparkling apple cider:
For dessert I made “‘Ohana Bread Pudding” like they serve at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort at Disney World. It featured cinnamon brioche baked with pineapple, topped with a caramel sauce inspired by Bananas Foster, and served with vanilla ice cream.
And of course I had a tropical outfit featuring a Lilo and Stitch print dress and the perfect Stitch-inspired accessories!
Today is Sonic the Hedgehog’s 35th birthday! To celebrate, I made a few different recipes from Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Cookbook, starting with “Seven Rings in Hand” donuts for breakfast and dessert. There are four different varieties…white chocolate glaze in Sonic’s iconic blue with celebratory sprinkles:
Chocolate glazed with salted caramel crunch topping:
Strawberry glazed:
And matcha glazed with lavender-vanilla finishing sugar:
They made a colorful display!
You can’t celebrate Sonic’s birthday without chili dogs!
To go with dinner I also made color-changing “Imperial Tea.” The butterfly pea iced tea was flavored with lavender and lemon and changed from Sonic blue to Blaze purple!
We’ve had another pair of Route 66 dinners in the last week!
First, I made “Bang Bang Burgers” from The Route 66 Cookbook like they serve at Hoppers Pub in . Waynesville, MO. The Bang Bang Sauce was amazing, and an onion ring is a great topper for a burger!
For dessert we had “Butter Spritz Cookies” like they serve at Jubelt’s Bakery and Restaurant, a Route 66 stop a little closer to home in Litchfield, IL.
Next up was a German feast…all items I’ve made before, but with new twists from The Route 66 Cookbook. The main course “Pork Wiener Schnitzel” like they serve at Westside Lilo’s in Seligman, AZ. It was very similar to how I usually make schnitzel, but with lemon pepper added to the breading…I will definitely be using that tip from now on!
To go with the schnitzel, I made Späetzle like they serve at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, OK. I make Späetzle A LOT, but this recipe was very different from what we’re used to. It was still good, and it’s nice to have another option!
I kept the German theme going with dessert, and the recipe for apple strudel was from a restaurant near and dear to my heart…The Berghoff in Chicago. I’ve never made strudel with phyllo dough before…it was light and lovely and the recipe is a definite keeper!
I already have a few more meals planned for our culinary journey down Route 66!
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!
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!
May the Fourth Be With You! (But watch out for the Revenge of the Fifth!!!)
We have once again enjoyed a duo of Star Wars Days, starting yesterday with a breakfast of Circumtore Hoops (buttermilk donuts flavored with nutmeg and topped with a vanilla glaze and freeze-dried strawberries) from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. I also made Huyang Tea, which was flavored with coconut milk and honey, from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks book.
We had a snack of Kullgroon Drops (frozen grapes tossed with blue raspberry Jell-O) from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. I don’t even like grapes, but I thought these were really good…freezing them makes a ton of difference!
For dinner we had our favorite Ronto Wraps made with pork tenderloin, sausages, a tangy slaw, and a spicy peppercorn sauce on homemade flatbreads, just like we had at Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World!
To go with dinner, I made Yocola Azalus, a kiwi and matcha based drink from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook:
And for dessert, blue raspberry flavored Csaplar Shakes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook:
Of course I had a fashion for the day…I wore the same skirt as last year, and added a new pair of earrings also inspired by Padmé:
For the Revenge of the Fifth, we had “Darth Donuts,” my own creation that was a twist on the previous day’s recipe for breakfast.
For dinner, I made Sakhet’s Special from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. It featured soba noodles topped with steak and a sweet sauce made with tamari, mirin, ginger, and sesame oil.
Our drink was the Red Kyber Crystal from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks book. The main flavors were watermelon and mint, and included a Pop Rocks coated piece of watermelon on top!
I made Nectrose Crystals, a homemade candy from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook:
Which went on dessert, the Mimbanese Mudslide. from the same cookbook. It’s chocolate pudding with a touch of cinnamon and topped with whipped cream and crushed Oreos in addition to the candy:
This is one of favorite celebrations of the year, and I love coming up with menus and trying new things for it!
Lent went by especially quickly this year, and Holy Week was no exception…it was a complete blur!
On Palm Sunday, Ladybug turned my palm into a cross as she always does:
On Monday, we baked hot cross buns:
Tuesday, Chickadee and I visited the Tulip Trail at Eckert’s with the hope of cutting our own tulips for our Easter table…that didn’t work out, but it was still a beautiful experience!
On Wednesday, I made one of our favorite Lenten dinners, fish tacos:
Thursday found us at church for the first service the Holy Triduum:
Before Church on Friday we made this year’s Paschal Candle, and Bunny and I did some pre-Easter baking:
On Holy Saturday I prepped some salads and our mini donut tray for the year…I found a record 18 different kinds!
The Great Vigil of Easter is still my favorite church service of the entire year (even when we have to start indoors because rain made the church garden too mucky)!
After church, we stoped at Wendy’s for fries and a Frosty for everyone:
Easter morning was a bit chilly, but clear and beautiful!
The church looked glorious, as always:
And we got a nice family photo after the service thanks to our field worker from the seminary:
Easter is the one day a year we have a big, fancy breakfast…I even put a little extra effort into setting the table, using some pretty plates I found at Aldi a few years ago that are just the perfect color palette for the day:
We had a pretty traditional meal…biscuits with a choice of sausage gravy or Pflaumenmus (plum butter), scrambled eggs, sausage patties, brie (also good with the plum butter!), fruit salad, pomegranate and orange juices, and did I mention mini donuts?
We had a fun afternoon watching the first two Big, Fat, Greek Wedding movies, and then it was time to reset the table for dinner:
We went Italian for Easter dinner, featuring Peposo (beef cooked with garlic and peppercorns in red wine), lemon-parmesan risotto, braised radicchio with a balsamic glaze, breaded baked artichokes, antipasto salad, and Colomba di Pasqua (a sweet Italian Easter bread) with more Pflaumenmus.
And for dessert, panna cotta with a blueberry-lemon sauce and fresh berries:
This was a great, although busy, Holy Week and Easter! Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
We decided to celebrate today because it was the best day this week for a family feast. We started by setting the leprechaun trap…at this point, I can only assume that “Lucky” is taunting us!
Of course there were Lucky Charms:
And I made myself my favorite green drink this afternoon…the lavender matcha!
I love baking soda bread:
And we had our traditional corned beef dinner with all the fixin’s:
For dessert I made Guinness mousse to go with the Guinness cake Bunny baked:
This is truly one of my favorite dinners of the whole year!
