Big Damn Movie Debut!

(image is a screen grab from Sci Fi channel website)

Serenity to air on Sci Fi channel
Preempting my previously scheduled post to jump for joy at the cable debut of Serenity on the Sci-Fi channel. That's right! For once a departure from the greasy, crap-tastic standard fare that Sci Fi airs in its weekend lineup. It's the Big Damn Movie broadcast (ain't it just) and it's gonna be shiny.

Now to go make some Fruity-Oaty bars and I'll be all set. You won't find any questionable concoction labeled Mudder's Milk at Silly Hat Central. A girl's gotta have standards.

Anyone want to come over for a shindig?

Of course you can bring your Jane Cobb hat. Toy dinosaurs and Hawaiian shirts too.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge

Mmm, chocolate is food of the gods. So when Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella emailed me about her Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge, I jumped at the chance to participate.

Did I want to bake chocolate cake and not have to share it enter for a chance to win a prize? Is this a trick question?

So I put the kettle on for tea and set about choosing a cake that was dense and decadent.

None of the recipes I found were exactly what I wanted so I adapted two recipes into one sinfully rich, satisfying confection. Et voila! A Chocolate Rum Cake was born.

NOTE: Several recipes called for chocolate frosting (or chocolate mousse frosting - yum!) and/or chocolate shavings. I chose to forego frosting and shavings in favor of a buttery rum glaze.

Next time, I will try dusting the cake with powdered sugar to showcase the lovely fleur de lis pattern.





Chocolate Rum Cake
4 eggs
6 Tbsp. butter
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 Tbsp. Rum Extract or dark rum
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
Dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
½ cup dark cocoa (unsweetened)
2 cups sifted flour
1 ¾ tsp. baking power
½ tsp. salt
⅔ cup milk

Rum Glaze:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
2 Tbsp. water
½ cup dark rum

In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy; gradually add sugar and lemon peel, beating well. Add eggs. one at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add rum; beat until blended. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Bake in greased and floured pan at 350 degrees F, 50-60 minutes or until cake tests done. I used a 10-cup nonstick Fleur de Lis Bundt^® pan.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out on cooling rack. While cake is cooling, prepare glaze. In saucepan, combine sugar, butter and water to make a syrup and heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil for a minimum of 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Add rum.

Transfer cake onto serving plate. Pierce cake with a toothpick, cake tester or fork in several places. Pour warm glaze over cake. Serve warm or cold.

Makes 16 servings.

Sources: NordicWare Bundt Cookbook, Swedish Rum Cake, pg. 7.
Grandpa's Chocolate-Rum Cake, AOL KitchenAssistant recipe

Click on links to go to The Ultimate Chocolate Cake Challenge hosted by Not Quite Nigella

Special thanks to Not Quite Nigella for hosting this contest. I had great fun and got to eat cake!

Nigella Lawson — Banana Bread†Scrumptious Banana Bread Pudding

The other day I went on a baking spree, resulting in a loaf of banana bread and 6 1/2 dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. The cookies turned out great. The banana bread did not.

My apologies to Nigella Lawson. Her banana bread recipe has been my go-to gold standard since I started feeding bananas to Little Sprout sometime last spring. But I got overconfident.

Attempting to execute her recipe from memory, I added a whole stick of vegetable shortening (1 cup) instead of the ½ cup of butter called for in the recipe. Remarkably, the baked loaf held together. (Just barely.) It had a light crumb but an oily texture.

I'm not afraid to admit when I screw up. What I like even better is turning a failure into a success! So the greasy banana bread got a makeover into a dessert pudding.

Banana Bread Pudding ^‡
⅛ cup apricot brandy
½ cup raisins
1 loaf banana bread
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
½ bag (6 oz.) mini morsels chocolate chips
2 cups milk
½ cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
4 eggs

Put the raisins and the brandy in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and leave for an hour, or until the raisins have absorbed most of the liquid. Drain remaining liquid into a mixing bowl.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 2 quart baking dish with non-stick baking spray.

Crumble banana bread into baking dish. Add graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips and drained raisins. Mix thoroughly.

Combine milk, butter, vanilla, and eggs into the bowl with drained off brandy. Beat until blended. Pour over bread mixture, soaking thoroughly. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until set.
____________________________________
† Link to original post about Nigella Lawson — Banana Bread and the Banana Bread Bake Off contest sponsored at Not Quite Nigella

‡ Special thanks to the incredible cooks in my dinner group for their advice on how to salvage a greasy loaf of banana bread.
You are my foodie heroes.

For examples of mouth-watering dishes my dinner group has made in the past year, read Food, Glorious Food

Sugarplum Pie on My...

...2^nd Anniversary!

Today marks two years since I started this blog. Happy Blog-iversary to me! Instead of passing around the cupcake tray, I've decided to share a recipe I found over at Emiline's Sugarplum blog (my newest food blog addiction). This recipe has a festive feel to it and it results in a purple pie. A fine choice for a celebration!

Sugarplum Pie (Recipe by Emiline)
Ingredients:
Pie dough:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 Tablespoons (trans-fat free) shortening
5-6 Tablespoons ice water

Filling:
2 lbs. black plums, peeled, pitted, thinly sliced
3/4 cup coarsely chopped dried plums
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (not too coarse)
1 egg whisked together with
1 Tablespoon milk
1 Tablespoon Turbinado sugar (raw)

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Work the butter and shortening in, using a pastry blender or your fingers, until pea-sized lumps form. Sprinkle in the water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, stirring gently with a fork after each addition and adding only enough of the water to form a rough mass.

Using floured hands, divide the dough in half, and pat into 2 smooth, flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together plums, dried plums, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and pepper, until well combined.

Remove pie dough rounds from refrigerator, and allow to warm up a bit before you start rolling. Roll out one of your pie dough rounds, thinly, on a floured surface, and fit into a 9-inch pie plate; dust bottom of dough with a little bit of flour to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Pour the plums into the pie plate. Roll out the second pie dough round and fit it over the top of plums. Trim away the excess dough, and make the crust look all pretty. Brush the egg mixture evenly over dough.

Bake pie for 40 minutes; remove from oven and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Return pie to oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. If your crust or your crust edges starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil.

Cool pie on a wire rack to room temperature before slicing.

Yield: 8-10 slices

____________________________________

But, dear readers, that is not all!

I would like to thank you all for sharing in my journey. This blog started out as a journal/brag book of sorts, and has grown into a window into the world of first-time parenting in which I live, laugh and love.

In the beginning I expected this blog to fill a creative void. And it did (and does). The social aspect of blogging, however, took me completely by surprise. I didn't expect to make social connections: to post opinions and ask for others, to start conversations that often end in observations of things I have never considered before, to grow friendships from tiny seeds of ideas. The social aspect of blogging has made this blog worthwhile. So, hats off to all of you!

Taste of West Virginia Fall Giveaway

Today Ellie Lash posted about her foodie friend Tonia who is having a Fall Gift Basket Giveaway on her blog. If you go over and leave her a comment you’ll be entered to win a gift basket from vendors such as Happiness Spreads, Blue Smoke Salsa, Holl's Chocolates, Evan Scent Candles & more!

Click HERE to go there!

Plus she is a beagle owner, so you know I love her already.

Tonia has some great recipes and she writes nostalgically about food from time to time. Her S'mores Cupcakes recipe completely won me over. Go see for yourself and tell her IsDihara sent you!

Rosemary Skewers (à la Mario Batali) from an article in The Herb Companion

[Actual Date Posted: September 1st]
I know it must seem like I have skipped off to Mexico or some fairytale place far far away, but really I've just been a very bad blogger.

Actually I decided to impose a one-month moratorium on late-night blog surfing and digital scrapbooking on myself. The 30-day ban is over and I'm feeling more refreshed.

During the break I picked up the September issue of The Herb Companion. It has lots of great info on garlic, a story on late summer tapas, immunity-boosting mushrooms, harvesting and preserving your herbal crop for winter use and making herbal pet treats.

The article that surprised me was celebrity chef Mario Batali's two-page spread on Piastra cooking. Of course he's pitching his latest cookbook, Mario Batali Italian Grill, but the article includes a scrumptious Shrimp Rosemary recipe.

For this recipe you take sturdy eight-inch sprigs of rosemary, pull off most of the leaves from the top inch-or-so down and cut the bottom of each sprig on a diagonal to get a sharp point.

I have a thriving, waist-high rosemary bush in my back yard. This recipe gives me a delicious reason to go harvesting.

The recipe recommends leaving "a nice tuft of leaves at the top" to give the skewers a rustic, yet elegant look. The rosemary skewers infuse the shrimp with an aromatic, herbal fragrance. Of course, the skewers must be soaked first so they don't burn on the grill.

I say, this recipe is sounding better by the minute! Sadly, I drool over the photo in the magazine almost daily, but I haven't made this recipe yet. As soon as I do I will report back with photos.

Oh, and no, I am not getting paid to promote the magazine, Mario Batali or his grilling cookbook. I just really think this recipe looks scrumptious and am excited that I have the means to make rosemary skewers in my own backyard. Sometimes it pays to grow your own herbs, eh?

She's a Centenarian!

(Photo taken 2007)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Grandma!
Today my Grandma turns 100 years old and she's having a party! With Centennial Cake, root beer floats and lots and lots of love.

Because we can't be with her to celebrate, we're making a Centennial Cake too. And root beer floats!

Root beer floats are one of the finer joys of summer. Clearly my grandma's sense of propriety and good taste is firmly intact.

So lift your glass (preferably a heady mug of creamy root beer goodness) in honor of my Grams, and toast her longevity and prosperity in the days to come.

Centennial Marble Cake

Light portion:
2 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1/2 c milk
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash vanilla or nutmeg

Dark portion:
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1/2 c molasses
1/2 c milk
4 egg yolks
1 egg white

For the light portion, sift the flour and baking soda, cream the butter and sugar, add vanilla or nutmeg. Blend the creamed mixture with the flour, alternating with milk. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar then fold into the batter.

Follow similar prodcedure for the dark batter, then drop by alternating spoonfuls into a greased and floured tube pan, swirling with a knife to blend. bake 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour.

Oh, and as for frosting, use whatever is your favorite. (I'm using chocolate fudge frosting, but that's because I just can't fathom a marble cake without fudgy frosting. )

Cooks.com has a recipe for Centennial Cake too:
Centennial Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting

Roasting Pineapple

Have you ever roasted a pineapple?

I needed to make a "welcome to the neighborhood" pie for new neighbors. The new family suggested pineapple pie. So after a bit of research, I decided to make a roasted pineapple tart. Here is a photo of the finished tart. Please pardon the poor image quality. I was having trouble with my flash.


As banal as this sounds, eating roasted pineapple is stunningly delicious. Roasting fresh pineapple results in succulent fruit that is less sweet than canned pineapple, but with more concentrated flavor and a heady, luscious aroma.

And it is surprisingly easy. First, preheat your oven to 350°F.

Mix a sugar syrup of 1 2/3 cup sugar and ½ cup water in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from 2 vanilla beans. If you don't have vanilla beans you can substitute an equivalent amount of vanilla extract.

Boil your sugar syrup until it is an amber color, swirling the pan occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup water (syrup will bubble, see photo below), then ¼ cup dark rum. Stir over very low heat for 2-3 minutes. Let syrup cool for 15 minutes.



Cut the skin off the pineapple. Place it in a roasting vessel.


I used a 9x9 square glass baking dish. Pour your syrup over the fruit and turn pineapple to coat.


Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until tender. Baste often with sauce. Normally I hate basting (I don't even baste my Thanksgiving turkey.) and I basted this every fifteen minutes.

The fruity scent fills your kitchen and your senses with aromas that are so good they border on debauchery, so you'll be lingering around your oven anyway. Basting won't be a hardship.

Slice your roasted pineapple crosswise as thickly or as thinly as you desire. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself standing over your kitchen counter devouring the pieces of supple pineapple flesh and shivering with delight.

Nigella Lawson — Banana Bread from How to be a Domestic Goddess

What to do when you have overripe bananas lying around?
Make banana bread, of course.

I wanted to share some comfort food since the weather outside is so dreary. There is no better way to warm up a damp, rainy day than with homey aromas and sumptuous flavors. And Nigella does homey and sumptuous so well!

Nigella soaks golden raisins (also known as Sultanas) in bourbon or dark rum for this recipe. Apple or orange juice may be substituted if you’re looking for a non-alcoholic alternative. However, Nigella writes:

If you’re thinking about giving this cake to children, don’t worry, the alcohol doesn’t pervade: you just end up with stickily, aromatically swollen fruit. – Nigella Lawson, from How to be a Domestic Goddess

I can personally attest to the aromatic qualities of this sweet bread and must confess that the plump, juicy raisins were my favorite part. It tasted delectably rich and oh, so satisfying.


Don’t you just want to carve off a slice, slather on some butter and take a bite? Click on the Banana Bread Bake-Off event link below for the recipe, plus photos of Lorraine's loaf. (Loaves, actually. She baked four different ones!)

I found this Banana Bread Bake-Off event on the Not Quite Nigella website.

Click on the links to see how Nigella’s recipe fared against three competitors or send in your own banana bread entry.

This cupcake-lovin' blogger even has a recipe for Meatloaf and Mash Cupcakes!


Not Quote Nigella is my kind of creative baker! You go, girl!

Shrimp-Filled Piquillo Peppers in Sherry Vinaigrette

Doesn't this look yummy?

It is a tapas recipe I found in the July 2005 issue of Cooking Light magazine, in an article titled Spanish Nights, that was lying around my kitchen. Tapas reminds me of Old Madrid. (I traveled there on my first paid vacation as a working woman.)

Tapas are small, savory dishes served in Spanish bars and restaurants as hors-d'oeuvres or cocktail snacks. A tapas-themed dinner group gathering wouldn't be complete without Manchego con Membrillo and a sparkling Spanish Cava. On a couple of occasions, my dinner group has made theme dinners out of tapas and they were mucho gusto!

Is all this foodie talk making you hungry? A bit of delectable nibbling sounds so good! I think I will be working tapas into our weekly dinner menu since I've got it on my mind. I may even make Shrimp-filled Piquillo Peppers in Sherry Vinaigrette, since it seems to be beckoning me from the food mag pages. Here's hoping you give the festive finger foods of Spain a try. Bon Appetit!