Patron Saint Cake

I may have to name all of my children after saints who also have their own brand of liquor. Al Capone* is being Christened this weekend and we are having a party. Every good party needs desert. Enter St. Brendan's Irish Creme Cake. We discussed using the bottle as a baloon weight, but decided that might be a little much.

Our first child will grow up with a Patron Saint Cake.

1 (18.255 ounce) box butter cake mix

1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix.

4 eggs

½ c. vegetable oil

¾ c. Saint Brendan's® Irish Cream Liqueur

1 (18.255 ounce) box chocolate cake mix

1 (3.4 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix.

4 eggs

½ c. vegetable oil

¾ c. Saint Brendan's® Irish Cream Liqueur

Frosting:

2 cans cream cheese frosting.

4 Tbs. St. Brendan's Irish Cream

Combine with electric mixer

Preheat oven to 350˚.

NOTE: Prepare each cake mix recipe sepatately

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add Saint Brendan’s®. Spoon into 9 inch round cake pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until top is golden and sides pull away. Cool on wire rack.

Alternate layers of chocolate and butter cake mixes and frost with cream cheese frosting.

*To learn more about Al Capone click here. I promise I didn't really name my child Al Capone.

Fudge pt 2

The title of this post should really be Fudge Disaster 08. I always make and give away fudge during the holidays. This year was a little different. My fudge making was doomed.

The first batch of fudge suffered from a condensed v. evaporated milk mix-up. For those who are familiar with these two types of canned milk. They come in the same size can and are generally placed next to each other on the grocery store shelf. While my fudge recipe (see below) calls for evaporated milk, I somehow came home with condensed milk. Condensed milk is basically sugar with a little milk, while evaporated milk is unsweetened milk with less water.

Batch 1 was a total disaster. As I poured the evaporated milk in the pan, I remember thinking it was a little odd. When combined with granulated sugar and marshmallow fluff, the mixture was quickly on its way to hard candy consistency. I threw that batch away.

Batch 2 was a quickly modified batch that I tried to pull together from a couple of online recipes for condensed milk fudge. Instead of my mint fudge, I opted for peanut butter fudge. It was edible, but very grainy and way too sweet.

Enter Batch 3. I was sick all week and needed a diversion from the couch, so I decided to try one more time. I'd seen a very cute fudge presentation on television where the fudge was poured in small muffin tins to set, making little fudge cups. Since my usual fudge dishes were dirty, this seemed like a great option. This method, however, relies on very precise lining of the muffin tin with foil. My best attempt at precision, however, was not sufficient. Instead of lovely little fudge cups, I got semi-cupish shapes with deep groves and ridges, many of which had bits of foil stuck inside. This batch of fudge is now in our fridge because I cannot in good conscious give away fudge "cups" with little bits of foil hidden inside.

After batch 3, I was placed on bed rest due to some breathing issues and the type of umbilical cord the baby has, so there were no more tries.

So technically, I did make fudge this year, I just didn't make giftable, edible fudge.

Either way, here is the recipe, in case you want to try your own luck.

Thin Mint Fudge
2/3 cup EVAPORATED milk
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
7 oz (1 jar) marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup Thin Mint cookies (or Grasshopper cookies) chopped
1 tsp vanilla

In a large, heavy pot, combine milk, sugar, marshmallow fluff, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips, chopped cookies, and vanilla until melted and smooth. Pour mixture into 9x9 pan lined with foil. Chill two hours or until set.

Things I miss about Springfield (Chinese Food Edition)

When we lived in Springfield, MO I developed a love/hate relationship with Chinese food. It seems to continue to this day, but when I think about Chinese food, I think of Springfield. Here's why I think of Springfield (and some of my frustrations with cooking it):

• It was impossible to be in Springfield and not be near a Chinese restaurant, but unfortunately I couldn't eat most of it because of my carrot allergy.
  
• I've yet to learn the Chinese word for carrot, so communication about my allergy usually ends up with me getting extra carrots instead of none.
  
• We moved to Illinois and while there are Asian restaurants, the fact that you might actually have to drive a couple of miles to get to one seems unacceptable now.
  
• The restaurants here don't serve chicken nuggets in gravy ("cashew chicken") or chicken nuggets drenched in high fructose corn syrup (sweet and sour chicken) and then have a drive-thru dedicated to each dish. While I never ate at this particular establishment (which incidentally also sold buffalo wings), I miss seeing it.
  
• Chinese take out is extremely fast, but making it at home is very labor intensive and not so fast.
• I've yet to find rice directions that are accurate. Long cooking rice never takes an hour and quick cooking rice never cooks in five minutes. This results in either watery or scorched rice 90+% of the time.
  

"Gang Hangers" on Bikes

If been accused of being lots of things, but up until this afternoon I'd never been confused for a gang member. That's right, in case you missed it gang members are now 5'3 blonde females who wear grey yoga capris and pink Relay for Life t-shirts along with their blue helmets and backpacks while biking to the grocery store.

The Context: It's been a long day. It was a very long morning and then this afternoon my car battery decided to die and due to scheduling conflicts won't get fixed until tomorrow afternoon. So it's me and the bike. Tonight I needed to go to the grocery store, and Greg was up at the Lake. With the Camry out of commission, my only choice was to bike. I contemplated ordering pizza because I didn't really feel like making the 4 mile trek in the heat, but I went anyway. We shop at Schnucks which is about 2 miles northwest of our house and requires crossing at least two fairly busy intersections. While neither our house or Schnucks are in a bad area of town, the locals like to talk about the Ghetto and the gang activity that they associate with any area of town that is ethnically diverse.

The story: I was almost to Schnucks and approaching the little bit of the trip that requires me to get off the bike trail and navigate a congested area which people like to use as a "short cut." Thinking I would be a responsible biker, as I approached the first congested area, I used a hand signal to indicate that I was slowing down and possibly stopping. When it was my turn, I then indicated that I was turning right and shortly after that signaled a left turn. I noticed that there was a white Buick that was keeping more than a safe distance from me and when they eventually passed as I was locking my bike I waved to thank them for not trying to run me over.

The Accusation: As I walked into the store, the woman who had been driving the car said to me "don't think that I'm not going to tell the manager that he's letting gang hangers (sic) shop in his store." I said "excuse me?" thinking that I had missed something and mentally picturing what exactly a "gang hanger" would look like. She said "I saw you "tossing" those signals just like they talk about on tv." I explained that bicycles don't have brake lights or turn signals, so we use hand signals. She laughed and said, "I bet you use bring your own grocery sacks so that you can shoplift too."

I guess I'm guilty as charged. I am an ecologically minded gang hanger, whatever that means.

My Recipes Are Moving

I feel like my blog is getting a little crowded, so I'm moving all of my recipes (and eventually my Food Calendar) to a new home: Cooking Without Carrots. The recipes that I've already posted here will remain for the time being, but to see the new ones, you'll have to go to the new blog.

Wild Rice and Barley Salad

Based on a recipe from Cooking Light.

1 3/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked brown and wild rice
1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Bring chicken broth to boil, add rice and barley and simmer for 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. In small bowl combine vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper and whisk until mixed. Poor over rice and barley mixture. Add raisins and onions and toss. Top with basil and chill.

Magic Dish

We have a piece of stoneware that we call the "magic chicken dish." We call it this because it makes very tender chicken, but tonight I think it may really be magic. I was multitasking and put teriyaki chicken in the oven around 6:30. I was making lunches for the rest of the week, so timing wasn't really a big deal. I made the rice and stir fried the veggies, called a friend, talked to Greg, cleaned up the kitchen, and then about 8:15 thought "what's that sound." It was the oven, and the chicken was still in it. Not only was the chicken still edible, but it was still tender even after 400 degrees for nearly 2 hours. It really is the magic chicken dish.

Smokey Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes are somewhat of a comfort food for me and somewhat of a back-up plan. When I have planned to make hamburgers and it rains, I make sloppy joes, but I ALWAYS lose the recipe and start from scratch. Tonight I wrote down one version.

1Tbsp olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 bell pepper (red if in season) chopped (optional)
1 small onion chopped
1 can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 1/2-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (optional)
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion, bell pepper, and meat and saute until browned. Add other ingredients and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until desired thickness.