Sophia's Birthday Cake

Saturday was my younger daughter's birthday.  She asked for a red velvet cake.  I don't know why.  She never had one before.  I never made any because the recipe I had called for 2 ounces of red food coloring and that was all you tasted.  So I put a call out on the Penzey friends page on FB and got a couple of recipes. One from my friend Donna but it called for red beets to color the cake and Sophia does not like beets and did not want me to try it.  Then Linda added her recipe.  I made the cake but did not use cream cheese icing.

Linda Whitley's Red Velvet Cake

½ C Butter
1½ C Granulated sugar
1 tsp Penzeys Vanilla
2 Large eggs
1 Tbs liquid tasteless red food coloring
Just over 2 1/3 C unsifted cake flour (or 2 C unsifted all-purpose flour)
¼ C Ghirardelli or Penzeys unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp Penzeys kosher or sea salt
1 C buttermilk
1½ tsp baking soda
1 Tbs white vinegar

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs and food coloring; blend thoroughly. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and salt; add alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture. Stir baking soda into vinegar; fold carefully into batter (do NOT beat). Pour into two greased and floured 9-in round cake pans. Bake at 350° F for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Cook completely on wire racks. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (1/2 C), softened
4 C confectioners sugar
1 Tbs cream or milk
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add confectioners sugar in parts (2 C, 1C, 1C). Beat until smooth. Add milk and beat until smooth.

 I made 2- 8 inch rounds and let them cool for an hour.

You can really see the color in this photo! 

Only 1 Tablespoon of coloring.

I started putting on the crumb coat of icing and Frank took over.  

His first job in the US was as a cake decorator.

Sophia wanted an animal print cake. 

We found this sugar sheet at Walmart for $4.

That made it easy!

Here's the finished product.

Frank started getting carried away with the icing.

The cake was delicious!!

 Birthday Girl!!

A slice!

Here's a basic buttercream recipe.  I made half this recipe.  I only used butter.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature (use vegetable shortening when pure white icing is needed)
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla or other desired flavoring
2 pounds confectioners' sugar

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix at slow speed until smooth. If stiffer icing is needed, or if the weather is very warm, add a little extra sugar. This recipe is enough to cover and fill a 9 by 13-inch sheet cake or 2 (9-inch) layers.

Great Homemade Play Dough

Great Homemade Play Dough

2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 package of Kool-Aid (without sugar)
3 T oil
2 cup boiling water

1. Mix flour, Kool-Aid and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add oil and water.  Mix with spoon until it is cool enough to knead. 
3. When mixture is completely kneaded and smooth  - store in an airtight bag. 

It will harden if let out in the air!!

Mix up a batch to hand out at Halloween parties. You can make orange or lime!

Cherry Dessert

I got a half of a kilo of cherries at the mercato on Wednesday. What was i going to do with them??? So I cleaned and pitted them and put them in a small pot with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and let them boil for a few minutes.
I mixed up an all purpose cake batter.

1 1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 c oil, I used light in flavor olive oil
3/4 c milk

Mix together in one large bowl. Then add the cherry mixture. Pour in a baking pan. It will be thin. Bake at 350F/160C for about a half hour. Enjoy!

Note: I would have added a tsp of almond extract but I didn't have any!

It's really good. You can exclude the cherries and add 2 tsp of lemon zest for a lemony dessert.

Making fastnachts

Where we come from in Pennsylvania, yesterday was Shrove Tuesday. We would celebrate this by eating fastnachts. Check out this article from the internet: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8521.asp

If you make bread, it's not hard to do but it takes most of the day!

Sophia kneading the dough.

My turn to kneading.


Sophia cutting the dough.

All the fastnachts!

After they are fried.

Ready to get delivered!

Possibly Louisa May Alcott's Apple Slump

This morning when I went to the store I got some apples for € .69/kilo. What a super bargain! That's less than € .35 a pound. Now what am I going to bake with them?
I found this recipe on the internet: Possibly Louisa May Alcott's Apple Slump @ this site http://www.concordma.com/magazine/sepoct00/appleslump.html

What is a slump you ask? A slump is a baked or steamed homey, old-fashioned dessert with fruit on the bottom and a batter-based, cakey topping. It might be served with whipped cream or ice cream.

Here it is right out of the oven. A little of it baked over because my pan was too small.

I need to get one a little larger.

Here's side view - you can see the apples and their juice. I had to have a piece. It is good, kinda like shortcake already on top of the fruit. If I had vanilla ice cream it would have been great with it. You need to try this because you can use what ever fruit you want.

Possibly Louisa May Alcott's Apple Slump

Serving Size: 8

Filling:6 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp double-acting baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Toss together the apples, sugar and spices and place in a buttered baking dish. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
While this is baking, prepare the topping, starting by sifting together the dry ingredients. In separate bowl, mix the egg, milk and butter and add this mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring till just combined. Spread the topping over apples and bake at 350F for an additional 25 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Busy Day Cake

I was hungry for cake the other day and made this.

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

zest from 1 lemon

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup shortening

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Note: I rubbed the lemon zest into the sugar. I feel it gives a more lemony flavor. Also for people living in Italy: Since our baking powder has vanilla in it you can either leave out the liquid vanilla or reduce the amount. I also used strutto for the shortening.

Grease a 9 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan (or equivilent). In a small mixing bowl combine all ingredients and a 1/2 teaspoon salt. Beat with electric mixer until combined. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Turn into pan. Bake at 375 F/190 C for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool. Serves 9.

What's Cooking Wednesday

Make your own frozen treats - you will save some $$$ and you can get one flavor. Plus you can make them whatever size you want!

POPSICLE:
1 (3 oz.) pkg. Jello, any flavor

1 pkg. Kool-Aid, any flavor

1 c. sugar

2 c. hot water

2 c. cold water

FUDGESICLE:
1 (3 oz.) pkg. chocolate instant pudding

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. cream

2 c. milk
Mix and pour into molds. Freeze.

For sugar-free Popsicles just use sugar-free ingredients and omit sugar.

What if you used the oreo pudding mix, or cheesecake or white chocolate! Yummy!

Popsicle Molds

http://prairiemoon.biz/icepopmolds.html

Check out this link. They have tons of different kinds! Plus more recipes.

Weeds from your yard!

The King has been bringing in these "weeds" from the yard for me to cook for him. In Italy it is called rape. Like rah pay.. In the US it is similar to the broccoli rabe you would find in the produce section.

I blanch the greens in boiling water for 2 minutes then immerse in ice water for 2 minutes. Drain throughly. You can pop it into a freezer bag and eat it later.

OR you can heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Throw into some minced garlic and then add the greens. Fry until they change color slightly, about 5 minutes. Then sprinkle some grated cheese on and enjoy! You can also boil up some orecchiette pasta and toss it into the rape. That's good too!

French Yogurt Cake

While I was doing my blog reading, I was mesmerised by the cake on Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. I found the recipe here. http://cookbookaddiction.blogspot.com/2009/03/french-yogurt-cake-with-marmalade-glaze.html I made mine a little differently than the recipe.

I baked mine in a 9 inch round.

I used vanilla yogurt instead of plain,

lemon olive oil instead flavorless oil,

I juiced the lemon that I took the zest from and mixed in some 10X sugar and glazed the cake with that.

I LOVED this cake! I recommend you bake this cake for dinner tonight! This recipe will go into my favorite recipes.

The King loved it. He prefers pie to cake.

Did you know that today is Pi Day - 3.14

I got an email from Pillsbury.com about this. It was filled with pie recipes!Try this one:
Cherry-Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS
1 box (15 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1 egg white, slightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bag (16 oz) frozen red cherries, thawed, drained and juice reserved
1 box (10 oz) frozen strawberries in light syrup, thawed, drained and syrup reserved
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Maraschino cherries, if desired
Fresh strawberries, if desired

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 400°F. In 9-inch glass pie plate, unroll 1 pie crust; brush with egg white. Set aside.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, tapioca, cornstarch and salt. Stir in reserved cherry juice and strawberry syrup. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 to 10 minutes or until juice becomes thick and boils. Remove from heat. Stir in cherries, strawberries and lemon juice. Pour into crust-lined pie plate. Dot with butter. Place second crust over filling. Flute, and cut slits in top crust to vent.
3. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool completely. Decorate pie with cherries and strawberries. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

Making Bread My Way

My bread recipe:

5-5 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

First you add the yeast, sugar and water to the mixing bowl. Let it sit until it looks like this. This what it looks like when the yeast is working!

Meanwhile, put 3 cups of flour and the salt in another bowl. Have your oil handy.

Add the flour salt and oil into the yeast mixture and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. It will look like this.

Gradually add the rest of the flour until the dough is not sticky anymore. Sometimes you will use it all, sometimes you will not depending on the humidity. Kneed the dough for about 8 minutes while adding the flour.

It should resemble this when it is done.

Then put it in a greased bowl so it can rise. May take an hour or so. Cover with a cloth.

When it has risen it doubles in size.

Form the dough into whatever shape you like. Put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Let it rise again. Cover with a cloth.

Preheat the oven at 450 F with a dish of water inside the oven.

When it has risen, slide it in the oven for 13 minutes. Then lower the temp to 375F for another 12 minutes.

When it has finished baking it will look like this!

Put on a wire rack to cool!

Then enjoy!

What's Cooking Wednesday

Roasted Asparagus

Yesterday, the store had some great asparagus, so I bought some. Today I decided to make it for lunch. But how? I got the latest Eating Well magazine and they had an article on asparagus. They featured roasted asparagus. So that is what I did.

1 bunch of asparagus, washed and the tough ends broken off. Preheat the oven at 425.

I put them in a bowl and drizzled olive oil and salt over it and tossed them to coat each piece. I used a baking sheet with a piece of parchment on it. I placed the asparagus on the sheet in one layer and roasted them in the oven for 15 minutes. Talk about delicious! OMG, they were great. But I did not take a photo. I found this one on the internet. It looks just like my lunch! The photo is from a cool website http://www.dinnerwithjulie.com/.

Check out her post on chocolate bowls! http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2009/02/14/chocolate-bowls/

Dump Cake

The other day I made a dump cake. I wanted to use some items from the pantry AND Iwanted something sweet. We were also celebrating the 100th day of school for Little P.

It was so easy. I used a can of apple pie filling and dumped it into a 8" by 11" pan. Then we added some frozen blueberries. Then I had a pineapple flavored cake mix and dumped it on top. I took a stick of butter and cubed and we added that to the top of the cake mix.

Threw it into the oven for about 35 minutes at 350F.

VERY EASY - VERY GOOD.. THe King had 3 helpings in a row!

NO High Fructose Corn Syrup!

I have tried to eliminate HFCS from our diet. But there are some things you "need" that contain it like syrup and soda. I am down to ONE Dr. Pepper a day. Some days I don't even have one. But Little P loves pancakes. What to do about syrup? Robin over at "A Little Greener Every Day" is in the same predicament. Check out her post http://robinshreeves.blogspot.com/2008/11/almost-giving-up-green.html

I got a great idea, well it is Nigella Lawson's idea!

I put 5 or 6 frozen strawberries in a bowl and nuke them to soften them up a little. Then I add some powdered sugar, about 1-2 tablespoons, depending on the sweetness of the berries.

Then I take my immersion blender* (you can use a regular blender) and grind it up!

Voila, strawberry sauce.

*I always wanted an immersion blender but they were too expensive. Then last year some time I was looking on KitchenAid .com for a price on a pasta maker to attach to my mixer. I looked at the clearance section. There was one for $15. Baby, I snatched that right up! 2 weeks ago i got a cooks catalog in the mail and they listed the same blender for $150. Outrageous!

Ravioli Vegetable Soup

I made this soup last night. It was really good.

Ravioli Vegetable Soup

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrot, peeled and diced
5 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon dried basil (more if fresh)
1 bay leaf
1 can diced tomatoes - pour half in food processor and grind up
1 can cannellini beans - drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 to 9 ounces fresh or frozen bite size ravioli (cheese or meat filled)
Black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium soup pot or large saucepan. Add the onion and carrot. Saute over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is clear.
2. Add the stock, basil, bay leaf, tomatoes, beans and salt to the pot. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a low boil. Add the ravioli and bring the soup back to a low boil. Cook it for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes longer. Add the pepper during the last minute or so. Makes about 5 servings.

Classic Gingerbread

Yesterday I was going through my lastest issue of AllYou magazine. I make sure I don't miss any coupons or good articles.

I came across this recipe. The recipe calls for it to be baked in a Bundt pan but I used 2 -8 inch pans and popped one in the freezer for later use. My small family cannot eat a whole Bundt cake. Plus we will have one for later if company comes.

I like to serve my gingerbread with whipped cream!

Classic Gingerbread

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 ground cloves

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg white

1/2 cup dark molasses

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3 Tbsp confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. In a separate bowl, mix applesauce with baking soda. In a third, large bowl, whisk eggs, egg white, molasses, brown sugar and oil until smooth. (HINT: Spray the measuring cup with PAM or whatever before you add the molasses. It will slide right out.) Add to dry ingredients and gently stir to form a smooth batter. Fold in applesauce mixture.

3. Pour batter into Bundt pan. Bake in center of oven until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan on wire rack, then unmold to cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.

Muffins and cold mornings!

Saturday morning it was rainy and drap so I fired up the ole computer and got a recipe off of Eat Better America. Banana Cranberry Spice Muffins http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/global-flavors/banana-cranberry-spice-muffins.aspx
But of course I changed it! I have boxes of Fiber One cereal that got for almost nothing at CVS. I wanted to use it up.
I used 3 bananas that I had stuck in the freezer when they were getting too ripe. I just popped them into the microwave for 1 minute to thaw. The muffins were so good.

Banana Cranberry Spice Muffins


1 cup Fiber One® cereal
1 egg
3/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray, or use paper baking cups. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or crush in food processor).

2.In medium bowl, beat egg, milk and oil with fork or wire whisk until well mixed; beat in bananas. Stir in cereal; let stand 5 minutes.

3.Stir in remaining ingredients except cranberries until blended. Stir in cranberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

4.Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm.

This morning it was the same rainy, damp yuck! So I thought I will make muffins again. I didn't want to make the same ones so I used a recipe that I bought off of someone's website. They were horrible. I composted the whole dozen. I was bummed! Oh well next time i will make the same recipe!

Chili Mac

I was so hungry for something last night so I made Chili Mac. Next time I make it I will increase the chili powder and maybe add some cumin.
I got this recipe from Laura's Lean Beef.

Chili Mac
Ground beef and macaroni skillet recipe with beans and other chili seasonings.
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
· 1/2 cup chopped onion
· 1 pound lean ground beef
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 8 ounces elbow macaroni
· 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, undrained
· 1 large can (16 ounces) tomato sauce
· 1 cup water
· 1 teaspoon chili powder
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Preparation:
In a large skillet, brown onion with ground beef. Add macaroni, kidney beans, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, and salt. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; cover and continue to heat until cheese is melted.Recipe Serves 4.

"Green Eating"

The other day I was reading this post http://robinshreeves.blogspot.com/2008/10/buy-ingredients-and-save-money.html . Robin writes about how much cheaper it is to buy ingredients to make meals with than it is to buy processed foods. This is SO true. I agree with her 100%, plus it is better for you. Less junk that your body does not need, like High Fructose Corn Syrup and preservatives.
I had posted a comment about making two meals at once or doubling the amount you are making and freezing the second meal to thaw on a day you don't have much time.

I was thinking about my comment just now as I was vacuuming the house. My store has whole chickens on sale this week. I am planning to buy one tomorrow. I had a thought! Yes, it does happen some times. You can roast 2 chickens at once. It does not take anymore energy or time (in fact it is a time saver) to make 2. The first one you can have for dinner that evening. The second you can use the next day or so for another meal such as Chicken Soup or my Chicken Gumbo soup http://litlequeenrules.blogspot.com/2008/09/chicken-gumbo-soup.html.

There are a lot of recipes out there that call for cooked chicken.
Here's one from Giada - Fresh Fettuccine with Roasted Chicken and Broccoli Rabe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/fresh-fettuccine-with-roasted-chicken-and-broccoli-rabe-recipe/index.html
You can substitute dried Fettucine and broccoli and have the same taste.
Paula Deen's Chicken Empanadas http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-empanadas-recipe/index.html

Cooking with Kids

I saw this cute recipe on Family Fun. Little P is 9. She loves to cook. If I would show her this recipe we would be making it!

You could make it for Halloween or Thanksgiving!

Edible Indian Corn

Ears a sweet fall treat that's great for a classroom or scout meeting -- marshmallow cobs filled with colorful fruit kernels.
4 tablespoons of butter
4 cups of mini marshmallows
5 cups of puffed corn cereal
1 1/3 cups diced dried fruit (we used raisins, papaya, cranberries, and apricots)
Popsicle sticks
Fruit leather

Step 1 In a large pot, melt butter and mini marshmallows over low heat (about 5 minutes).

Step 2 Remove the mixture from the stove and use a wooden spoon to stir in puffed corn cereal and diced dried fruit. Allow the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes.

Step 3 Using buttered hands, shape each treat by pressing 1/3 cup of the mixture around a Popsicle stick. Add fruit leather husks to the bottom of the ear, slightly moistening them to help them stick if needed.

Makes 15 treats.