this that and pancakes

I need to clean my house today.  So therefore, i am limiting this post to just a quick review of 4 recipes that i have tried in the past week. 

the first was AMAZING if you like indian food.  if you don't - i would skip it.  but if you are a fan of aloo gobi, you will be so proud to make it yourself.  it is the Smitten Kitchen's Indian spiced cauliflower and potatoes.  so so good.  i plan to make her yellow dal and chana masala next.  i actually intended to make the chana masala with the cauliflower and potatoes, but i just ran out of time and didn't want to eat dinner at 9:00 at night.  so michael had to eat vegetables and rice for dinner- once again.  i am pretty sure that this will not be the last time, either. 

the next is Joy the baker's Black and White cookie.  I made these for our 4 1/2 mile church hike on saturday.  The hike was awesome, the cookie was - eh.  the icings are really nice, but the cookie is much more of a cake than a cookie, which is weird because you think that you are going to be eating a cookie, but it turns out to be a cupcake top that is flipped over and iced on the smooth side.  i did of course eat many of them, but michael and i both had a real problem with the nomenclature of this recipe. 

The third recipe of the week is the Pioneer Woman's salsa.  Amy said it was good, and it was yummy.  really yummy.  the recipe is for Restaurant Style Salsa, and that is exactly what it tastes like.  it reminds me of shannon's recipe also, but if i refer to this website, i don't have to type out her recipe, which i didn't ask her permission to do, and i hate typing recipes, anyway.  Note: it makes A LOT of salsa, you could half it if it is for just one family.  i have a problem of not thinking things through when i cook, and if i had envisioned just how much a 28 oz can of tomatoes plus 2 cans of rotel would make, i would have halved it.  we'll be eating salsa all week.

at kelly's recommendation, i tried Edna Mae's Sour Cream pancakes.  they rock.  they are from the PW's cookbook, but were featured on the smitten kitchen blog.  doesn't all this recipe sharing from blog to blog seem incestuous?  maybe so, but we are getting good recipes for free, so bring it on! 
The sour cream makes them so different from any other pancake.  My only issue, is that in my home we will always have to double this recipe, because my boys can pack away the pancakes.  (seriously, i made them for frank, ford and me - and i only got one little pancake.  these boys could win a pancake eating contest.) 

I have many pancake recipes that i love, and I will continue to make them all depending on what ingredients are in the house and what we are in the mood for.  i am also crazy about the Pam-cakes that were on the cover of Southern Living 2 months ago.  they are made with buttermilk and are perfect.  My favorite healthy pancakes are from Everyday Food and are made with whole wheat flour, buttermilk, and brown sugar.  And of course - you can never go wrong with the Joy of Cooking's Buttermilk Pancake recipe.  it is just plain good, but you have to look that one up yourself, because i've got laundry to do.