let them eat cake

 I wanted to try my hand at making cake from scratch...so I decided to try something easy...and went with texas sheet cake...when it comes to frosting-even plain old box cakes I always try too soon and end up with a demolished cake and clumps of frosting...I still have emotional scars from ruining my moms 38th birthday...her cake looked like cake vomit...but she ate it because she loves me <3 thanks mama.  My brother started baking cakes in high school after my grandma Green showed him how- it was cool- and strange he rarely ate what he made (not a big cake fan) but loved to make them for peoples birthdays...I miss those days.

found the recipe here.

Texas Sheet cake V

Rated: Submitted By: Carolyn Herbert Photo By: foodaholic Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 35

"Chocolate cake made in a 10x15 inch sheet pan, covered with chocolate frosting and walnuts."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sour cream 2 eggs 1 cup butter 1 cup water

5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder   6 tablespoons milk 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup butter 4 cups confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch pan.
2.	Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix in the sour cream, then beat in the eggs. Set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then stir in the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until blended.
3.	Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4.	For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake. (my changes were I had no milk so i used evaporated milk, and i added a pinch of cinnamon to the batter) Dev couldn't have cake so I fed him his favorite- oatmeal and fruit...he didn't complain one bit!

pumpkin curry turkey surprise!

Usually on the last day of my hub's weekend we spend the day cooking several meals for the week ahead- its easier on me and its nice for my husband has something good to take to work so he doesn't have to depend on fast food...last night I wanted to make a curry with ground turkey and thought I'd add some libby's pumpkin to the mix...turned out so freakin' good!

only thing missing is some chicken stock I used to thin out the sauce

over medium heat softened  an onion, a shallot, and about 8 cloves of garlic

added the turkey, salt and pepper to taste- once the turkey had browned added the spices- I used allspice two kinds of curry powder, some house seasoning and let that go for a few minutes to warm up the spices.

next i added the can of coconut milk, half a large can of libbys pumpkin (not the pie mix) and some chicken stock until it reached the consistency I was looking for...let that cook down a bit.

cooked up some egg noodles and tossed those in...and lastly added half a bag of petite sweet peas....

Will definately make this again!

beautiful blond(ies)

This recipe was scary easy...I mean once I grabbed all the ingredients it took maybe 10 minutes to whip up and throw in the oven...food like that...is just dangerous to me and my husband lol...yay blondies!

the usual suspects

1 stick melted butter, pinch of salt, 1 firmly packed cup of brown sugar, one large egg, dashes coconut and pure vanilla extract mixed till smooth

1 cup a/p flour, and 1 cup each coconut and chocolate chips- ready for baking!

I lined an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and baked it for around 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Tada!

For this particular batch I browned the butter and let cool which gave it an extra nutty flavor...(my husband loves browned butter anything) and I think it turned out great. Not much left from the batch the next  day- next time I will try and double the recipe!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondies

(as seen on Two Peas and Their Pod )

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature (we browned ours)

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we added coconut extract too)

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, plus extra for sprinkling on top of the bars

1 cup chocolate chips




Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.


Stir together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy; beat in egg and vanilla extract until well blended.


Slowly fold in the flour and salt until just blended. Add the coconut and chocolate chips to the batter. Scrape the batter into the pan. Make sure the batter is spread evenly, smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle extra coconut on top of the bars.


Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until set in the center but still soft. Do not overbake the bars. Let cool slightly before serving. Cut the bars into squares.

(my favorite blondie)

A weekend out and about town

Thursday night we decided to head out to the Palm Springs Street Fair and I was able to take not one but two photographs while we were there before the camera battery decided to rest in peace...gah but I did manage to get a picture of this ...my husband wants to purchase one of these fiery creations one of these days...

had the camera held up I would have snapped a few pics of the delicous sugar vanilla roasted almonds along with the french pastry we devoured...the strawberries that were being sold $2.00 for two flats!(still scratching my head as to why we didn't buy any)  and the garlic we ended up purchasing 5 bulbs for $1.00 (already made its showing in a super yummy garlicky easy salsa recipe to follow) It was a fun night aside from it being too crowded...my husband and I hadn't been to the fair since before Dev was born and had forgotten that the snowbirds are back and in full force...but the neat thing was all the sweet compliments about Dev I kept hearing from random people...its great being a mom, especially to such a dang cute kid.

Friday we decided to go to the park....during the day! We have gone several times recently on walks at night and thought it would be neat for Dev to see the place all lit up...couldn't have asked for better weather...slightly overcast and not a whole lot of people at the playground...it was perfect.

Dev tried the swings, the slide, and grass on his bare feet for the first time...he took it in as he does all new things...laid back,

 some smiles,

and an occassional scowl

(wasn't a huge fan of grass at first haha)

A darn good weekend if you ask me...now here's that salsa recipe-

Mild Salsa Roja

Although the ingredients may also be boiled, roasting delivers a deeper and more robust flavor.



Makes about 3 Cups

Ingredients

20 roma tomatoes, cored

6 chili de arbol

10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

11/2 cup chicken stock(or vegetable stock, tomato water, etc.)

salt to taste

1-2 green onions to taste

Procedure

*In a heavy, thick-bottomed, ungreased skillet, arrange tomatoes and roast over low heat until softened. Check and turn tomatoes regularly. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a very hot skillet, toast chilies until aromatic, about 1 minute. Check and turn continuously to prevent burnt spots. Remove chilies from heat and allow to cool enough to handle. Discard stems and remove most or some of the seeds depending on the piquancy desired. Remember, the narrower the chili arbol, the hotter.

Combine roasted tomatoes and chili peppers, garlic, onions, stock and salt to taste in a blender or food processor. Pulse thoroughly, adding more water as needed to achieve desired thickness. Keep in the refrigerator to cool and to allow flavors to meld.

This recipe makes about 20 oz. of salsa. For a hotter salsa add more chile de arbol


*(we ended up roasting our tomatoes in the oven at high heat watching them to make sure they didn't burn)

what a face...haha aka "MA! stop taking four billion pictures of me!"

new toy

under pressure!

I'd like to welcome the newest member of Smitty's kitchen...the Fagor Pressure cooker/canner. Hub's saw this online and really wanted to get it...he remembers his father using a pressure cooker and really liked the idea of trying our hand at canning...(the man would have us fill our pantry and our bellies with canned salsas!)  I am kind of nervous...I am unfamiliar with pressure cooking and can't help but invision our kitchen covered in an explosion of hot food...but have to admit browsing the web for recipes I am excited about the idea that things that take hours to cook can cook with the same results in less than an hour...Artichokes done in 10 minutes! Sign me up sister.  The canning aspect makes me remember summers on my aunt's farm slicing millions of sweet apricots for her preserves...look out friends...Jam's and Jellies from mama Jules coming to you from sunny socal for christmas! ;)

First few things I'd like to try with Fagor is this and canning that!

my silly boy

C is for cookie and P is for Pollock

I have never drizzled anything on a cookie in my life...I went a bit nuts as you will see in my attached photo...but I'd like to thank Pollock for inspiring me to drizzle with wild abandon!

Shortbread cookies happen to be my husbands absolute favorite... so when I got the urge to bake this last weekend I decided to scour the web in search of a great recipe...I ended up trying this:

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of cake flour
1/2 cup strawberry jam

Drizzle #1
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon milk

Drizzle #2

Ghiradelli melting chocolate (melt chocolate according to directions on package)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. (I used parchment paper for easy cookie removal) Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies. Melt chocolate and repeat the drizzling!

addapted from this recipe

Roasted Green Chile Stew

A week ago a friend of mine let me know about this fantastical site and my husband and I have been browsing the recipes non-stop since. Over the weekend I found a recipe for  green chile stew which inspired me to make my own version...mostly meatless :D (does bacon grease count as meat?)

Started off roasting anaheim and poblano peppers (the broiler function on our oven sucks so the roasting could be better...next time I will have hubs fire up the BBQ!)

while the peppers roasted I started chopping the veggies, and got the bacon grease melting over medium high heat.

Once the onions and garlic softened i started adding the other veggies (except the kale and potatoes) and covered it in the flour/seasonings mixture. Poured in the stock and let that come to a boil then turned it down to a simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes I tossed in the kale and potatoes and let that simmer for 15 minutes, then added the sliced zucchini and let it cook on low for another 15 minutes.

The result was a spicy and delicious mostly veggie soup that would cure just about anything that ails you...this could easily be made for veggie lovers just removing the bacon and grease and using veggie stock instead of chicken stock. The prep time takes a moment with all the veg chopping but its really worth it...!

2 Tbsp. bacon grease

2 large onions, finely diced

4 to 6 garlic cloves thinly sliced

2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and finely ground (the toasting is key to great flavor!)

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned (I used canned)

6 large carrots, peeled and chunked1 cup (or more)

roasted green chiles

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour with salt, pepper and garlic seasoning added to taste.

8 chicken broth (I used 4 cups chicken bullion, and 4 cups chicken stock I had frozen)

a small bag of waxy potatoes

a large bunch of Kale washed and chopped

several stalks of celery

3 zucchini sliced

three slices of bacon finely diced

I'm just here for the food

I remember the first time I blogged. It was some time in 2002 or so and I was turned on by a crazy girl at work...told me about a lil place called Livejournal. I started pouring my sad sappy heart and soul into cyberspace and became addicted. Then came Myspace, and currently Facebook (skipping a few unmentionables that landed in between). With this blog I hope to chronicle my endeavors in the kitchen as well as maybe drop a line or two about my son who inspires me every day. I want to be able to share this blog with my fellow foodies who live all over the place and hopefully feel a bit more connected to those I wish were closer geographically!

So....here goes nothin'!