Oh. No. Kate Spade sample sale. Trouble beckons. Well, it would if I had more money. If I had another couple hundred bucks I could totally almost justify it to myself. Especially because there is a bag named after my alma mater. And in our school color! Sigh. I am coveting hardcore. And I only just got over the Coach Factory sale. (Which, in Coach's defense, is a way better deal - sorry KS!)
So two quick things. Something dessert-y to come tomorrow.
First - I don't know about you guys, but I go through food fixation phases (score for alliteration!). I went through a serious pickle phase while in college, and a (shut up, yes I know the next one will make some of you - boyfriend included - go ew) A1 steak sauce phase when I was around 11 or 12. I've had bread and dip fixations, caper fixations (after many many years of caper hatred), buffalo sauce fixations, jam fixations (I'm pretty sure having five or six jars of different jams qualifies as having a problem), cilantro fixations, lemon (both sweet and savory uses) fixations, and Biscoff spread fixations (and before you think I'm jumping on the Biscoff bandwagon, I was eating that stuff well before it blew up across the food blogging world). I still like (love even) all of these flavors, I just don't need everything I eat to be slathered in A1 or topped with pickles (including pickle flavored chips and cashews). For the most part I'm more about variety and the spice of life and whatnot, although occasionally I need something spicy or tangy to accompany everything I eat in a week and will plow my way through a bottle of Frank's buffalo wing sauce. It's true. Some weeks I DO "put that shit on everything". And sometimes all I can think about are capers, and build entire meals around them.
I love foods that are tasty by themselves but are also blank canvases in a way. Like mac and cheese. I have been having a love affair with mac and cheese since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I eat significantly less of it these days because A) it is not so forgiving to my thighs and B) boyfriend thinks it is gross. Don't ask. I don't get it either. Now some days all I want is plain mac and cheese (the ULTIMATE in comfort food, it's like eating a hug, if I'm eating mac and cheese I probably just want a snuggle buddy, and hugs and kisses) - either homemade or Velveeta reduced fat if I'm feeling lazy and guilty about my calorie intake. But other days (like today) I want to gussy it up a bit. Sometimes I stir in some canned tomatoes, some days turkey dogs, some days capers (by far the most winning combo in the list), some days buffalo sauce and a sprinkling of blue cheese. But I was a little limited in ingredients today - that is on the whole I'm trying to buy fewer processed foods (and yes I know, Velveeta is a ridiculously processed food, I'm not dumb, but I AM willing to give in to a craving) so all I really had on hand was some fresh herbs. Cilantro. CilAAANNNtro. I would rub it all over the house if I thought boyfriend wouldn't put the kaibosh on that. It smells completely fantastical. The smell alone reminds me of hundreds of tasty meals I've had. Thai. Mexican. Things boyfriend turns up his nose at. Yum. And the taste...oooh baby. I know cilantro is kind of a controversial herb. Let's just say I have NEVER met anyone with blinding hatred and disgust for basil or rosemary or dill; cilantro on the other hand...I have met individuals (plural) that won't touch anything they even think has touched cilantro. It boggles my mind how someone could refuse that earthy, pungent goodness. Oh well. More cilantro for me. So that's what went into the mac and cheese today, and ooohhh it was sooo complimentary. I get shivers just thinking about it again.
So there's that. I think I was going to tell you about something else too. Maybe the steak teriyaki? Hmmm... well I could, but I haven't actually eaten it yet. It's still marinading away in my fridge with some more cilantro. And Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce (only the best there is!), a little soy sauce, worcestershire, fresh lime juice and zest, brown sugar, and a splash of rice wine vinegar. I have high hopes for this. Although I haven't decided if it's going on the GF (George Foreman) or just in a pan. Probably GF, although let me tell you, that thing is a bigger pain in the behind to clean than I ever anticipated.
Showing posts with label semi homemade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label semi homemade. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Friday, March 25, 2011
Cake Doctoring
So I know I called a moratorium on cake eating a little while ago, at least until my birthday/my brother's wedding, but I forgot something - one of my very good friend's birthdays. I found out last week that nobody was planning on making a cake for the party that she was having this past Wednesday. So I felt that this was a tragedy and offered. She requested red velvet cake and as I am pro from scratch cake I figured piece of cake (hahahaha, see what I did there?). Until I checked my bank account. (Yikes, that is a scary place). And so I was going to compromise, I was going to do box mix cake and homemade frosting, because honestly I don't have too many bones with box mix cake as much as I find frosting from a can to be utterly revolting (which considering how much I've been accused of being a sugar addict is kind of strange). I went to the store only to discover that my particular store of choice does not carry a red velvet box mix, and I really couldn't muster the motivation (or the gas in my car) to go on a multi-store search. So I re-evaluated. I found a chocolate mousse cake mix. Now there was something I could work with because there would be no canned frosting involved (!!!). And because I felt guilty that I wasn't delivering exactly what was asked of me I compensated by also making two dozen funfetti cupcakes which did unfortunately get the canned frosting because I know some people like that junk.
So the chocolate mousse cake was pretty much your standard chocolate cake mix although I couldn't for the life of me get it to release from the pans. I found a handy tip/trick from Bon Appetite online and totally warrants sharing. Now this only works for metal or non stick pans (do NOT do this with glass pans unless you would like them to shatter or otherwise get ruined). But if your cake was stuck (like mine were), you can turn a burner on your stove on (gas or electric works, but if it is electric give it a chance to heat up). And pass the bottom of the cake pan through the flame or on the hot burner for several seconds. Then when you flip it and shake it should finally release (though still slightly unwillingly). So the cake gets made, the mousse mix gets made and as I'm inspecting my mousse mix and the cake mix box I realize that there is only enough mousse to go on top of and in between the cake layers. I consider that this will probably be fine and then I consider that my cake had some stickage problems and is a little unsightly. I want to put mousse mix on the outside edges too I decide, which means one of two things - I can run out and by another box of just chocolate mousse mix and hope that it matches in flavor and consistency to the one I already have or two I can find something else to put in between the layers, thus giving me enough mousse mix to put around the sides and hiding my cake's flaws. I opt for door number two. So I open the fridge and stare blankly into its portents and unearth some "fancy" jam (I call it fancy because it is a) not Smuckers and b) costs around 7 or 8 dollars a jar) which is my favorite type of jam to bake with (hello jam cookies!) because it is usually thicker and stands up to heat better than say Smuckers. So I now have the better half of a jar of fancy red raspberry jam (I used Stonewall Kitchen jam, I love love love this stuff). I dump the entire contents of the jam jar onto the bottom layer of the cake and spread it around with an offset spatula. Now bear in mind this jar was not full, although I think an entire jar of jam would work well on a 9" cake, because I ultimately found myself wanting more jam when I had a piece. Then I slapped on layer number two and slathered the whole thing with chocolate mousse et voila a chocolate raspberry chocolate mousse cake! I grabbed a bottle of raspberry wine that was sitting around my room (which paired PERFECTLY, don't knock fruit wines until you try them) and served that up for a semi homemade cake doctored birthday dessert. It was definitely a huge hit.
So the chocolate mousse cake was pretty much your standard chocolate cake mix although I couldn't for the life of me get it to release from the pans. I found a handy tip/trick from Bon Appetite online and totally warrants sharing. Now this only works for metal or non stick pans (do NOT do this with glass pans unless you would like them to shatter or otherwise get ruined). But if your cake was stuck (like mine were), you can turn a burner on your stove on (gas or electric works, but if it is electric give it a chance to heat up). And pass the bottom of the cake pan through the flame or on the hot burner for several seconds. Then when you flip it and shake it should finally release (though still slightly unwillingly). So the cake gets made, the mousse mix gets made and as I'm inspecting my mousse mix and the cake mix box I realize that there is only enough mousse to go on top of and in between the cake layers. I consider that this will probably be fine and then I consider that my cake had some stickage problems and is a little unsightly. I want to put mousse mix on the outside edges too I decide, which means one of two things - I can run out and by another box of just chocolate mousse mix and hope that it matches in flavor and consistency to the one I already have or two I can find something else to put in between the layers, thus giving me enough mousse mix to put around the sides and hiding my cake's flaws. I opt for door number two. So I open the fridge and stare blankly into its portents and unearth some "fancy" jam (I call it fancy because it is a) not Smuckers and b) costs around 7 or 8 dollars a jar) which is my favorite type of jam to bake with (hello jam cookies!) because it is usually thicker and stands up to heat better than say Smuckers. So I now have the better half of a jar of fancy red raspberry jam (I used Stonewall Kitchen jam, I love love love this stuff). I dump the entire contents of the jam jar onto the bottom layer of the cake and spread it around with an offset spatula. Now bear in mind this jar was not full, although I think an entire jar of jam would work well on a 9" cake, because I ultimately found myself wanting more jam when I had a piece. Then I slapped on layer number two and slathered the whole thing with chocolate mousse et voila a chocolate raspberry chocolate mousse cake! I grabbed a bottle of raspberry wine that was sitting around my room (which paired PERFECTLY, don't knock fruit wines until you try them) and served that up for a semi homemade cake doctored birthday dessert. It was definitely a huge hit.
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