blue ribbon lamb cake

this is a molded easter lamb cake baked in a blue ribbon bakeware easter lamb mold using the blue ribbon bakeware lamb cake recipe. the mold belonged to my great grandmother, and she used this same recipe (which came with the mold). last year i tried to use a joy of cooking white cake recipe and it turned out really hard and dry, so this year i'm using the recipe that's worked for 60+ years because, to quote the recipe, "in all our testing and use there was no leakage of batter-- no breakage of the nose or ears and the cake was removed very easily."

ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup milk

prep:

• grease & flour mold
• preheat overn to 375*

actual cooking:

• combine flour, baking powder & salt, set aside
• cream butter
• add sugar
• add eggs & vanilla
• add dry mixture alternating with milk
• place mold on edged baking sheet
• pour batter into the front side of the mold
• place the back side on top
• bake for 45 minutes
• remove mold, back side first and allow cake to cool upright
• frost & decorate

because i hate coconut, i frost the cake with white frosting (after an attempt at boiled butter cream & regular butter cream yesterday, i settled on duncan hines fluffy white for this) and sprinkle green sweetened coconut around it. you could, instead, gently press the coconut into the frosting. i made the lips with 1/4 of a pink jellybean and the eyes with a split black one, but the traditional decorations are 1/2 a cherry and 2 raisins.

batter poured into the face side of the mold

back side of the mold on top

cake removed from mold (face-up)

the bow is at one end of the ribbon and secured to the other end with a dot of frosting

hearty banana muffins

this is a huge cheat of a recipe since the main ingredient is a banana bread mix. but, LO! some lady made a damn fortune writing books about making box cakes, so bear with me, k?

ingredients:

• banana bread mix (mine was trader joe's, naturally)
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup apple sauce
• 1/3 cup egg whites OR 2 large eggs

prep:

• none, this recipe takes ten minutes
• oh, and preheat to 325*

actual cooking:

• combine ingredients in a bowl
• spoon into lined muffin tin (i did 12 regular-sized muffins)
• bake for 30 minutes

the recipe on the box (with eggs & oil) makes nine servings at something like 370 calories each. my recipe make 12 at 175 each. good deal, right? plus, mine have way more fiber since neither eggs nor oil have fiber, but applesauce and oat sure do. but i didn't do that math.

mu shu vegetables

mu shu vegetables is about my favorite meal currently, up there with veggie fried rice and veggie lo mein, so i had to take a stab at making it. in fact, i stabbed so close to the mark i just may have to stab and stab and stab until i get it right.

ingredients:

• 1 small shredded carrot
• 1 head of cabbage shredded
• (or a bag or two of cole slaw mix)
• 1 small onion in thin wedges
• (optional: handful of mung)
• (optional: sliced mushrooms)
• (optional: handful of chopped green onion)
• (optional: 2 beaten eggs)
• flour tortillas and/or rice
• hoisin sauce
• water

prep:

• slice & dice until everything is more or less the same size

actual cooking:

• (scramble eggs, set aside)
• (set rice to cooking. 1:2 rice to water, pinch of salt, bring to a boil, lower to a loooooow simmer and cover)
• saute carrots in a little water for 2-3 minutes
• add cabbage, continue sauteeing 2-3 minutes
• add mung, onions, green onions, mushrooms, whatever else (not egg), saute for 2-3 minutes
• allow liquid to evaporate
• add 2 tbs hoisin sauce, cook for 1-2 minutes
• add egg back in, stir
• warm tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds each

we ate this with trader joe's chicken egg rolls (which you want to pierce all the way through before baking, and spray with oil), which are a staple in my asian cooking and will probably stay that way since last week's spring roll experiment was a massive FAIL.

it was a little sweet, and i'm thinking... soy sauce? garlic? i don't know. maybe i just need to use bok choy instead of the pre-shredded cabbage. it was still good enough that the leftovers are my lunch today.

fastnachts: mardi gras pennsylvania dutch style

mardi gras, fat tuesday, fatty/fattening tuesday, shrove tuesday, pancake day, fastnacht day or paczki day is the day before ash wednesday when, depending on your language and tradition, you use up all the "luxurious" ingredients in your pantry before lent starts and they all go to waste, by making doughnuts, pancakes, crepes or parade floats. you know, those luxuries like eggs, butter and sugar.

the pennsylvania dutch call their doughnuts fastnachts (yeah, that means "fast night" as in "fast and abstain" not "i blacked out!" that's more mardi gras...) and make them without holes and out of potatoes. i didn't really make fastnachts. i made doughnuts without holes. close enough.

i started with the black & white donut hole recipe from williams-sonoma. then i doubled it and cut the bullshit.

ingredients:

• 7 cups flour, plus 1/2-1 cup for dusting
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups sugar (2 for the dough, 2 for coating)
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (half a stick or 4 tbs) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• vegetable oil for deep frying

prep:

• sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon & salt
• beat eggs until frothy
• add 2 cups sugar to eggs and beat until lemony-yellow
• add buttermilk & butter to egg mixture
• pour egg mixture into the center of dry mixture and combine to form a very soft, sticky dough
• roll out to 1/3 inch on a generously floured board
• cut out 3-inch circles & 1-inch circles
• refrigerate overnight

actual cooking:

• heat 3 inches of oil in a large saucepan or deep fryer if you can get your hand's on one (thanks mom!) to 380*
• fry doughnuts in small batches

• turning frequently until golden (about 5 minutes)
  

• remove from oil with a skimmer
• deposit on paper to drain
  
  
• put remaining sugar in a paper bag
• drop in warm doughnuts & shake to coat
  
  
• wake up your loved ones
  
  

i started frying at 3:45 this morning, had my doughnuts packed up for delivery (3 1/2 dozen regular ones + a few dozen little ones) by 5. i was eagerly greeted at the door by della, dottie & ginger (the dogs). ginger even mustered the strength to jump from the floor to the dining room table without a chair stop-over for the first time in her 12 years to snag a bite. everyone seems pretty happy with the results. as a matter of fact, the only person who got doughnuts that i haven't heard from today is anthony.

recession challenge: dinner for two all week from one pound of sausage

this week's dinners are: flatbread pizza with sausage, onion & brussels sprouts, sausage sandwiches with provolone & wilted spinach, macaronis with sausage & cheese served with sauteed zucchini & creamy tomato florentine soup with sausage.

ingredients:

• 1 pound sausage (cheating. my dad makes it, so i have no clue how much a pound of sausage costs. sorry.)
• 2 1/2 cups flour (pantry staple)
• 2 tbs psyllium husk* (negligible, but a canister of psyllium ran me ~$5)
• water
• provolone cheese (i'm not sure how much by weight cost us ~$4, but only about 5 slices will be used for dinners, so maybe $2 worth?)
• tomato gravy/pizza sauce (~$1)
• brussels sprouts (i paid $2.30)
• onion (i don't know, $0.50?)
• 4 slices good bread (we buy this anyway for bill's lunches, but maybe a third of a loaf will be used for dinners, so ~$1?)
• baby spinach ($2)
• 1/2 pound short, curly pasta like shells (~$0.50)
• scratch cheese (pantry staple)
• zucchini (i paid $2.30)
• veggie broth ($2)
• mirepoix ($3, but i'm using the some left from last week's soup)
• canned whole tomatoes ($2, but also leftover from last week's soup)
• butter (pantry staple)
• 1/2 pound ditalini ($0.50, also leftover from last week's soup)

i'm using more and more pantry staples, so the things i actually had to buy this week ran about $15. of course, i didn't buy sausage, so that could add, what, $5? $8? i really don't know.

*about psyllium. ummm, it's a milled seed thing... that turns into this gelatinous mass with water... it's the main ingredient in most fiber supplements... and also an egg replaces/stabilizer thing. i THINK that you could sub 2 eggs in the flatbread recipe, and obviously use less (or maybe no?) water. but no promises. yet.

prep:

• put 1/2 pound sausage in the freezer for 30 minutes
• remove it and slice it into thin rounds, remove the casing if you're weird like us
• chop mirepoix if you need to

actual cooking (meal 1):

• preheat oven to 400*
• combine 2 cups flour, psyllium, salt & fresh or dried herbs to taste & 1.5 cups water
• allow to sit for about 5 minutes
• with damp or greased fingers, press out the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet to desired thickness
• bake for about 20 minutes (see? easiest pizza crust ever.)
• while shell bakes, quickly cook sliced sausage on an ungreased frying pan (use only half for the pizza! refrigerate the other half), chop some onion, slice brussels sprouts & shred 3 or four slices of provolone
• top pizza shell with pizza sauce (or leave it white if tomato gravy isn't a staple in your pantry), cheese, sausage, onions & brussels sprouts (eta: i used wilted spinach. brussels sprouts are going in the pasta.)
• bake until cheese melts and bubbles lightly

actual cooking (meal 2):

• preheat oven to 300*
• quickly saute some (up to half) of the baby spinach in olive oil until just wilted (it will shrink when you cook it!)
• on 2 slices of bread, layer cold sausage slices, wilted spinach & a slice of provolone (eta: i added a bit of thinly sliced onion on mine. fab)
• toast all 4 slices
• make sandwiches.
• (eta: i also made some fries: cut 1 potato per person into 1/2 inch sticks, arrange on an oil-spritzed baking sheet, spritz with oil, season with salt, pepper & garlic powder, bake 20-25 minutes at 400*. and yes, i'm going to wait until AFTER i cook the meals to post them from now on.)

actual cooking (meal 3):

• boil water for pasta
• roast brussels sprouts, sliced or chopped as you prefer, with olive oil
• in a medium frying pan, out of it's casing, saute the rest of the sausage
• set half aside to drain
• add cooked pasta & brussels sprouts to the other half and remove from heat
• liberally add scratch cheese

actual cooking (meal 4):

• do the regular mirepoix thing, i don't have to spell it all out anymore, do i?
• add broth
• add drained sausage, spinach, ditalini & tomatoes with their juices (chopped up)
• while ditalini is cooking, make a roux (melt 4 tbs butter in a saucepan, quickly whisk in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup milk)
• add roux to soup once the ditalini is cooked
• top with scratch cheese

the soup might need to be altered... check back in about 5 days once i've made it.

super-brownies

i made these in miniature cupcake pans for bill's office farewell party today. you could probably make them as regular brownies, but i think it would take longer... like 35 minutes? not sure.

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 7/8 cup flour
• 1 tbs instant coffee powder
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• baking spray, shortening or butter for greasing pan
• (about 1 tsp cocoa & 1 tsp powdered sugar for decorating)

prep:

• preheat oven to 350*
• grease pan (or use paper liners, but they stick!)

actual cooking:

• put butter & baking chocolate in a micro-wave safe bowl & nuke for 1 minute or until butter is melted (1:50 for me, but my butter was frozen)
• stir until chocolate melts
• add sugar, coffee powder & cocoa, combine
• add eggs & combine
• add flour & combine
• fill mini muffin tins about 2/3 (i put the batter in a heavy zippy bag & cut off a corner and pipe it in)-- makes about 48 which is TWO pans, so either have two pans or chill the first one in the fridge for 10 minutes in between batches
• bake for 15 minutes
• remove from tin after 5 minutes, allow to cool at least an hour
• (dust with cocoa & powdered sugar, or both)

next time i make these, i think i'll try some mini chocolate chips-- ideally dark chocolate! i don't have a report from the office yet, but bill, kevin & anthony agree that they're AWESOME.

recession challenge: dinner for two all week from one ham steak

for my next trick, we'll be enjoying a ham dinner, a ham fritatta, pasta e fagioli and a lovely zucchini risotto.


ingredients:

• i pound ham steak (i paid ~$7)
• 4 potatoes (~$1.60)
• 2 medium/large zucchinis ($3)
• 1 3/4 cup rice (negligible-- pantry staple)
• kidney beans (~$2)
• veggie stock (~$2)
• chicken broth (~$2)
• crushed tomatoes (~$2)
• 4 eggs (like... $1)
• mirepoix (~$3)
• an onion (negligible, $0.69 per pound, i think.)
• butter (pantry staple)
• veggie oil (pantry staple)
• scratch cheese (pantry staple)
• 1/2 pound ditalini or other smallish pasta-- NOT noodles (~$1 a pound)

total here is less than $25! we'll probably add a frozen veggie to meal 3.

prep:

• chop the mirepoix
• divide ham steak in 3 sections for meals 1, 2 & 3 (or 4 for all 4 if it's bigger)
• shred portion of ham for meal 2
• chop portion of ham for meal 3
• slice 1 zucchini
• (butter for baked potatoes?)

actual cooking (meal 1):

• warm the ham through-- do not overcook
• bake potatoes
• saute sliced zucchini

actual cooking (meal 2):

• saute mirepoix in a medium/large pot with veggie oil for about 10 minutes or until golden
• add canned tomato
• add veggie broth and bring to a boil
• add ham
• add well-rinsed kidney beans
• (add water if there's not enough liquid to boil the pasta)
• boil pasta as directed (8 minutes, i think)
• season with salt & pepper to taste

actual cooking (meal 3):

• slice & lightly fry 2 potatoes in veggie oil
• drain
• beat 4 eggs, add ham & season with salt & pepper
• pour eggs & ham into pan over potatoes
• cook, gently pulling back edges with a fork to allow egg to fill in
• (if you have a fritatta pan, you'll close it and flip the fritatta and ta-da! all done. if you're using a cast-iron pan, you can stick it in the oven to cook the top. i've used a pie plate and baked it all the way with little success.)
• once bottom is very well cooked and secure, gently transfer fritatta to a plate
• then transfer it back to the pan upside down to finish cooking

actual cooking (meal 4):

• boil chicken broth
• saute chopped zucchini & onion in 2 tbs butter
• add uncooked rice to the pan, saute briefly
• slowly, 1 cup at a time, add boiling broth to the pan allowing it to completely absorb before adding more (until rice is done to your liking)
• stir in 1 tbs butter & scratch cheese
• (enjoy with ham, if you have some left)

i haven't made the risotto or fritatta yet (i'll edit the recipe if necessary after i do), and we haven't eaten the pasta e fagioli yet, but it looks wonderful. the upshot to this little series is that we're eating really good and for pretty cheap (or, at least, on a budget). next week we'll have sausage, which is cheating because my daddy makes our sausage so i have no idea how much sausage costs. the week after will be turkey breast, which i also have no idea what i paid for because i bought it in november. there's also a pound of bacon in my freezer, so i'm wondering how many different things i could do with that.

edited to add: i missed the scratch cheese in the risotto the first time through! i used two slices of finely chopped asiago. we also put asiago on the pasta e fagioli. we like asiago. bill had the genius idea to add sauteed onion to the fritatta, and it was really perfect. so try that. about 1/2 and onion.

this has been tons of fun so far, which is hysterical because this is, you know, how people ate before convenience became our religion.