Bites Around My House...then the Blogosphere

It's August! For us, that means back to school. School starts on Friday in my neck of the woods. We're getting ready: we finished school shopping, we organized closets and drawers; we labeled school supplies with names; we are going to bed early and waking up early in preparation for the Big Day. When does school start for your kids? How do you prepare?

Breakfast this morning is a recipe from the Taste of Home Cookbook. It's not often I cook other people's recipes, because the more of other people's recipes I cook, the less I can create my own. However, I wanted some inspiration from other people and places this week, so I'm starting with a very tasty breakfast recipe called the Chocolate Chip Dutch Baby.

Chocolate Chip Dutch Baby
from Taste of Home

What You Need:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup 1/2 & 1/2
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 3 Tbsp butter

How it's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. While it's preheating, stick the butter in a 9" pie plate and leave it to melt in the oven.
2. Meanwhile, beat eggs, 1/2 & 1/2, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine sugar and chocolate chips.
4. Remove the pie plate from the oven and carefully pour the batter over the hot butter. Sprinkle the chocolate chip mixture over top. Bake for 15 minutes or so, until the edges are puffed up and browned.
5. Serve right away, with maple syrup if desired. It's definitely sweet enough without the syrup, though.

I'm also looking for a few guest bloggers. Interested? I'm looking for home cooks who cook from scratch and would like to share their recipe here at All Home Cooking. Email me at all_home_cooking at yahoo dot com -- I'm looking for several bloggers to guest post over the course of the month of August. Hope to hear from you!

Speaking of other people's recipes, here are some that sparked my interest and that I will definitely be making in the future:

Peppermint Biscotti at Beat Until Fluffy

Plum and Raspberry Upside-Down Cake at Meet Me in the Kitchen

Fava Bean & Brown Rice Salad at So Good & Tasty

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam at Sugar Crafter

Blueberry Pie at What Megan's Making