So this is the first recipe in the Hunger Games cookbook I have. My very first quiche like dish which turned out fantastic. This dish may have made me slightly optimistic about how great this book was. Even still this turned out great and ended up being one of my favorite things to make. This led to my love of making pies a year later. Something I'm very passionate about right now and is the story behind my Calligraphy Pie Series.
The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook
So near the end of fall semester my third year I decided baking was not enough for me. I needed to challenge myself and learn how to cook. So, not only did I not have time to bake but lets just cook during my non-existent free time too.. good idea Emily.
Anyways, I was out with my mom one day and ran across this gem. I was a big fan of the Hunger Games back in high school when the books were still coming out and Jennifer Lawrence had yet to arrive on the big screen. So when I ran across this cookbook inspired by the series I was pretty excited.
Again I had another cook book I vowed to work my way through. Not my best idea. This book is a little vague and requires me to make assumptions.. Never a good thing. Still, I have found some success with it and while I don't plan on cooking EVERYTHING, I do want to make my way through it and at least practice cooking a little more. I'm still in the process of working through it now but the next few blog entries will be the recipes I've tried so far
Dorito Crusted Chicken
I can hear healthy eaters just screaming at me now. This is a pretty straight forward recipe that I found online and was a little too excited to make. Basically they're just chicken breast cut up into small sections and coated with Doritos. I'm a little bit ashamed to say they were pretty good.. actually no, they were definitely good. If I can admit that I ate a garbage plate in 13 minutes, then I can admit that Dorito crusted chicken was a success. #NoShame.
And yes I am one of those people that use hashtags. Not stopping any time soon
Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel is one of those restaurants you see when you're traveling along the side of the road. Those rest stop restaurants that always live along highways and many people just pass by. Somehow this restaurant is a place I remember from my childhood. I think between trips to Florida and day trips with my cousins in Rochester we managed to end up in a Cracker Barrel several times.
It's one of those cute log buildings with lines of rocking chairs on the front porch with checkers big enough to cover the little coffee tables outside. Cracker Barrel is also a shop-restaurant combo which allows for us kids to look for toys while we wait for our table to be ready. With classic old school candy and toys it's fun shopping around and seeing all the things we grew up with that aren't really sold anywhere else anymore.
Some time during third year, I mentioned this place to one of my best friends. She looked at me very confused and had no clue what I was referring to so the next time we decided to go out to eat this place was on our list.
This restaurant is rustic and warm. It reminds me of being with my family when I was little and it just makes me happy. While I remember the chicken noodle soup being really great, now whenever I go, I always order my favorite thing when I was little - breakfast. It doesn't really matter what time of day it is, if I'm at Cracker Barrel, I have to have some sort of breakfast with hash browns. They're a must. This meal makes me so happy every time I get it. And I'm not much of a breakfast person, but at Cracker Barrel it's breakfast time every time.
Not Muffins
So, one of my friends caught wind of my baking frenzy and started sending me recipes that I should try, aka make for him. They actually turned out pretty well and were fun to make though!
S'more Bark
Cinnamon Apple Pie Egg Rolls
Unusual recipes but man were they good. The s'mores bark was so easy to make and tasted great. I ended up making them without graham crackers because they're so thick with them but they do add a good layer of flavor. The marshmallows were a little more fun when they were the mini rainbow kinds because of the variation in fruity flavor. Regardless, they're super easy because you just pour melted chocolate over marshmallows and call it a day!
The Apple Pie Egg Rolls however, are a completely different story. Let's just say that years of making real egg rolls with my mom came in handy. While it's pretty time consuming to make them, they came out delicious and were really fun. They're like apple pies to go! Just add whipped cream to dip and they're great!