Cartoon Network Studios

Steven Universe

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Together Breakfast
Even More Together Breakfast

I’d like to say that I’ve been a fan of Steven Universe since the show started, but then I’d be lying. Actually, I was quite late to the party. I was having trouble adjusting to newer shows, so I didn’t even give Steven a chance. But it’s not right for me to say I don’t like a show if I haven’t tried it, so I watched one episode. Then one more. And another and another and now here I am all caught up with everyone else. I felt so silly for thinking that the show had nothing to offer me because it has something for everyone. It’s weird and silly but serious and action-packed. Plus the characters are all so different, be it personalities, abilities, sizes, shapes, colors, whatever. And the amount of heart this show has surprised me. I love Steven’s relationship with the Gems and after I watched “Together Breakfast,” I knew I was hooked on the show.

The episode, just like the title food, is fun and sweet. Steven wakes up to an empty house and starts making breakfast. He’s got four toaster waffles with syrup. (Okay.) When he finds that the Gems still aren’t home, he adds some microwave popcorn. (Interesting.) The house is still empty. What does Steven do? He adds some whipped cream. (Now it’s out of control!) But wait, there’s more! He tops it all off with a strawberry. Now Steven comes to the conclusion that this is too good to be eaten alone. This is a “Together Breakfast” which should be eaten with the Gems like best buds. But when the Gems return, Steven’s breakfast gets turned down and ignored. Not letting that deter him, Steven follows Pearl into her room in the hopes of getting everyone together before his Together Breakfast becomes Together Brunch. This leads to him getting caught up in a waterfall, being chased by Amethyst, and sliding down to the bottom of the Crystal Temple. And just when everyone is together, they have to fight a smoke monster that takes refuge in the Together Breakfast. (“Now it has all the power of a breakfast. We have to destroy it.”) After the battle, they make a Together Breakfast that’s even more together and even more breakfast.

Recipe makes one shareable breakfast.

Ingredients

8 toaster waffles

1-2 bags microwave popcorn

Maple syrup

Canned whipped cream

Strawberry

 

Directions

Alright, this one’s easy. Toast the waffles according to the directions on the box. Place the waffles on a plate in two stacks of 4. Drizzle maple syrup over the waffles. Pop popcorn according to the instructions on the box/bag. Dump as much popcorn as you desire over the sticky waffles. Top with whipped cream and a strawberry. Now you can finally eat!

Steven Universe Together BreakfastSteven Universe More Together Bfst

Okay, so Steven and the Gems decide not to eat the Together Breakfast after all. (“Pizza’s a better idea.”) The Together Breakfast looks great! How can they pass that up? Well, it did try to kill them, so I guess I understand. But I live for food like this so whether I had to fight it or not, I’m eating it. Seeing Steven build the original Together Breakfast made me smile because I’ve been in his sandals and done the similar things. Just not with waffles and popcorn. Too bad the idea of eating the Together Breakfast is now ruined for Steven and the Gems because it’s even more fun to eat than it is to make. But it still brings them together, so it’s not a complete waste.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Goodbye to Bloo
“Sugar-Free” Foster’s Famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends is one of the most brilliant concepts for a cartoon. It’s fun to see imaginary friends as visible, living, breathing beings coexisting with humans. And when their children have to give them up, instead of just going “poof,” the imaginary friends can go to a safe place like Foster’s until they meet a new family. I’d be more than happy to adopt someone. (I’d snag up Wilt in a second.) But if I had the chance, I’d love to be in Mac’s shoes. He gets to play with all the friends he wants every single day. I know that he has to show up every day if he wants to keep Bloo, but spending most of my free time at Foster’s doesn’t sound too shabby. The whole reason for Foster’s existence is to get friends adopted, so it’s tough to have to let go, but having great friends for a little while is better than never making any at all. (And if the family isn’t the right fit, the friends find their way back to Foster’s sooner or later.)

When the tables have turned and those at Foster’s hear about Mac moving, they try to do something special for him to show how much they care. The sweetest gesture that I’ve seen in this show (And a whole lot of other shows for that matter.) is when Madame Foster bakes a special sugar-free batch of her Famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies just for Mac. He was surrounded by those cookies when Bloo decided to start selling them, but he was never able to try one because he can’t have sugar. So when Madame Foster presents Mac with a plate of cookies and he gets all excited, it’s really touching. There are some very important people in my life who have to watch out for refined sugar, (No, not because it makes them crazy.) so I’m always on the lookout for sugar-free desserts that actually taste like something. After a little experimenting, I finally made a batch of cookies that are really good.

The sizes seem to vary with these cookies, but I prefer the ¼ cup sized ones. Bloo mentions in “Cookie Dough” that the original Foster’s Famous Cookies bake at 250 degrees and the slow-bake method does indeed work. I’m just not patient enough for it, (My cookies were in the oven for 40 minutes!) so 350 degrees it is for me.

Recipe makes about ten cookies.

Ingredients

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar free imitation honey

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons sifted flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ -1 ¾ cups sugar-free chocolate chips
(You may want to use less if your stomach’s not too familiar with sugar-free chocolate. Too much of a good thing can be bad for you if you get my drift.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and imitation honey until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by ¼ cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden and set, 18-20 minutes.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Now you can eat!

Variations: If granulated artificial sweeteners are more your style, replace the imitation honey with 2/3 cup of your preferred sweetener and reduce the amount of flour by 2 tablespoons. You can help the cookies brown by spraying them with cooking spray, but they won’t get that dark.

fosters-chocolate-chips-2fosters-cookies

Madame Foster typically only bakes her cookies once a year to keep them special, but there’s no way I could handle that. I’d turn into a raging cookie addict like Frankie did before or I’d at least down an entire plate in one go like Bloo. (Although he ate the cookies just to speed Mac along.) But now that I’ve started to work on cracking the sugar substitute code, I won’t feel as bad if I make these cookies a little more often than Madame Foster. (I’ve still got a long way to go because they’re not healthy.) I’ll try not to get too out of control and slip into a cookie coma. I just need to take my time and chew slowly enough to savor each and every bite.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Johnny Bravo

Posted on by cartooncravings


Episode: Johnny Bravo
Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

More often than I’d like to admit, I’ve released my inner Johnny Bravo on the unsuspecting world. I’ll say or do something Johnny-ish and my sister will immediately turn to me and say, “No more Johnny Bravo for you.” I can’t help it. It left quite the impression on me since I saw it on What A Cartoon! I felt like all of those shorts that went on to become Cartoon Cartoons were made just for me. (Forget all the popularity and demographic mumbo jumbo. They were made for ME and only ME.) There were so many things that went right over my head, but I didn’t care. That’s why now I appreciate quality shows with multiple levels. I hardly got any of Johnny Bravo‘s pop culture references, but I still enjoyed them. I wouldn’t love Donny Osmond as much as I do if I hadn’t seen him on the show. Sad but true.

And how can I not want to be Johnny Bravo? (Or Jenny Brava in my case.) In his own way, Johnny is kind of a good role model. Not the vain, meat-headed, pig side of him. That’s bad. (There’s something up with those sunglasses.) What I’m talking about is Johnny’s self-confidence. I want to get up every morning, look in the mirror, and have to call emergency personnel because I look that good. And he can deliver the goofiest pickup lines with ease because he truly believes in himself. Then when he’s crushed (literally) his confidence only wavers for a moment, if at all. He’s good. I mean, he’s the kind of guy that can break into song, pull a pot of hot oil out of nowhere, make a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and deep fry that bad boy in seconds. Sure, that’s probably because he’s a cartoon character, but I’d like to believe that that’s just one of Johnny’s superpowers. I can make a deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwich too, but it’s going to take me a couple minutes. And I can’t fry a thing with that kind of finesse. I better get practicing.

So, Johnny just plops a sandwich into the hot oil. That’s fine and dandy, but if I do that, all I end up with is soggy bread without a trace of peanut butter left inside. To protect the sandwich, it’s getting a nice coating of batter first.

Recipe makes 2 sandwiches.

Ingredients

Sandwiches:

4 slices of bread

4 tablespoons peanut butter (You can add more if you want but beware of leakage.)

1-2 large bananas (Depends on how much banana you like.)

Vegetable Oil for Frying

Batter:

½ cup milk

1 egg, beaten

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

 

Directions

Sandwich:

I know everyone has their own way of making sandwiches, so do what you need to make peanut butter and banana sandwiches. You can spread 1 tablespoon of peanut butter onto each slice of bread. Slice the banana in half, lengthwise, or into about ¼ inch slices. Lay either both banana halves or about half of the slices on one piece of bread. Top that with the second slice of bread.

Batter:

In a small bowl, combine the milk, egg, and vanilla extract. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until a smooth batter of dippable consistency forms. If you want it thinner, add more milk.

Putting It All Together:

Heat oil in a large pot/deep skillet or in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F.

Dip the sandwich into the batter and coat thoroughly. Allow the excess batter to drip off and use tongs to move it to the hot oil.
Fry the sandwich until golden brown on each side, 2-2 ½ minutes. Drain the sandwich on paper towels and repeat with the second sandwich. Serve warm!

Johnny Bravo SandwichJohnny Bravo Peanut Butter Banana

I understand that the zookeeper had a lot on her mind since a 900-pound gorilla escaped, but if I’m offered a deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, I’ll happily take it. Well, you probably shouldn’t take food from strangers, but I’d take one from Johnny. He was only trying to impress a pretty girl, but he went searching for the gorilla even though he had no idea what one looks like. His heart’s in the right place. It’s the Bravo brain that needs help.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!