Texas has it's own cake?

Here's a post from our guest blogger, and my very BFF, Wendy. Wendy and her family all moved to Houston and she recently sent me an email informing me that Texas has it's very own cake! It's called...wait for it.... Texas Sheet Cake!

She made the cake for her dad's birthday and here's what Wendy wrote about the experience: "I had success with the 'cake.' Some call it a Texas Sheet Cake, I call it Diabetic Coma Inducing Deliciousness. It's like a brownie that is frosted with fudge. This recipe uses no eggs but calls for a LOT of butter." (Melita: Just for the record, I love lots of butter in anything, so this recipe already has my complete devotion)

Ingredients

CAKE:
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup water
1/4 cup baking cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream

ICING:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: In a large saucepan, bring the butter, water and cocoa to a boil. Remove from the heat. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; add to cocoa mixture. Stir in the sour cream until smooth. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
If you are not a baker, like me, you will find the consistency of the cake mix to be more like pudding than cake batter.

In a saucepan, melt butter; add milk and cocoa. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, add vanilla. Whisk in the confectioner's sugar until smooth. Spread over the warm cake. Cool completely on a wire rack.

I put a dollop of whipped cream on top of the cake because I didn't think the 3 3/4 cups of sugar I put in the icing was enough....

Thanksgiving at 642

I can't find the camera Kate gave me and the other camera only has 15MB of storage which is about 5 pictures (all of Charlotte) so I'm glad Derek was on hand with his camera to capture some of the feast. Next year we'll be sure to get better pictures of the delicious Thanksgiving food! I'll also try and post some recipes although it could take while since I always cook from memory and don't have anything written down. This year we had two turkey's. Cody smoked one in the smoker (his first turkey!) and I gave up on butterflying mine as I had planned and just threw the whole thing into the oven like I normally do. Cody's mom seemed a little shocked when I said it would be done in 2 hours. She asked how it could cook so quickly and that's when she noticed I had the temperature set at 500. I cook pretty much everything at 400 and above which is a total time saver if you ever want to try it yourself. This year's menu was 2 turkeys, mashed potatoes, the BEST gravy ever invented (I finally nailed it this year!), traditional stuffing, corn & bread pudding, no cranberry sauce this year since I'm the only one who ever eats it so I used left over IKEA lingonberry jam, green bean casserole, and butternut squash. Lise and Derek brought desserts to add to Dee Dee's apple and pear tart. SO yummy! I had so much stuff leftover that I've spent the last 3 days making soups: Ginger, carrot, and coconut soup, turkey and vegetable, Papa Pomodoro, and French Onion. I hope everyone else had as delicious a Thanksgiving this year!

dinner inspiration?

I think the hardest thing about cooking dinner is deciding what to make... here's what we had last night which is so super easy & deliciously fresh tasting

bbq some chicken tenderloins (or fish tastes great too) covered in a little olive oil & pepper & salt. if you don't feel like cooking at all buy a bbq chicken & pull it to pieces

slice a mango, an avocado & a cucumber (just peel up the side of the cucumber with a potato peeler) & some baby spinach (not shown here as we didn't have any...)

mix 1/4 cup lemon juice & 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce

Stack the plate with baby spinach, then the chicken (or fish), then the mango, avocado & cucumber on top. pour the sauce all over it and enjoy!

Bloody Mary Popsicles!

I love bloody marys and these popsicles look so good! I can't wait to make a batch one a nice warm day. Here's the recipe:

2 1/4 cups tomato juice (18 ounces)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon bottled horseradish
3 or 4 drops Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup vodka
Equipment: 8 (1/3-cup) ice pop molds and 8 wooden sticks

Blend all ingredients with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a blender until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, pressing on and then discarding solids. Pour into molds. Freeze 30 minutes. Insert sticks, then freeze until firm, about 24 hours.

Strawberry and Cucumber Sandwiches

I found this recipe on the Whole Foods website. The ingredients are unusual for a sandwich and I think I'll try making them for our upcoming family trip to Portola next month.

Serves 4
When summer fruits are at their sweetest, peaches make a worthy substitution for the strawberries in this recipe.
Ingredients
8 large strawberries 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) Neufchâtel, softened 1 tablespoon chopped mint 1 teaspoon lemon zest Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced 1 bunch watercress, long stems trimmed 8 slices whole wheat sandwich bread
Method
Chop 4 of the strawberries and slice the remaining 4. In a large bowl, mash chopped strawberries with a fork. Add Neufchâtel, mint, zest, salt and pepper and mix until well combined. Spread strawberry mixture evenly between slices of bread then arrange cucumbers, sliced berries and watercress over half of the slices. Top with remaining slices to form sandwiches then halve each and serve.
Nutrition
Per serving (about 6oz/170g-wt.): 230 calories (70 from fat), 8g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 20mg cholesterol, 670mg sodium, 28g total carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 7g sugar), 10g protein

Scalloped Potatoes

....still trying to use up all the vegetables we bought at Costco last week. We bought a huge bag of red potatoes and I've been making potato themed dishes non-stop. Here's a picture of the scalloped potatoes from last night's dinner. I took about 8-9 red potatoes and thinly sliced them and then arranged them artfully in a greased pie dish. I added salt, pepper, and shredded Parmesan cheese (also from the Costco run) in between the layers, poured in about a cup of milk and baked in a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Once the potatoes were cooked I sprinkled with more cheese and broiled uncovered for about 4 minutes so it was all brown and crunchy on top. I ate mine with a drizzle of truffle oil on and Cody had his plain. Next time I'm adding cooked onions and garlic for more flavor, but overall it was very good and hearty.

Spinach and Bacon Baby

I've been trying to use up all our left over frozen vegetable and include more vegetables and fruit in our meals so I came up with this version of the Dutch Baby on Sunday. It has spinach in it, but still ended up not being very healthy although it was absolutely delicious and would make a great dish for brunch or a potluck.

Preheat a large pan in a oven to 425

Mix 4 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of flour w/pinch of salt, dash of worchestershire sauce, 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup of crumbled bacon, and 1/2 bag of thawed and drained spinach.

Use a potholder to take the pan out of the oven and swirl in 3-4 tbs of butter (I told you it wasn't healthy) then pour in the egg mixture. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden and pufy and a knife comes out cleanly. Let it cool for a bit then enjoy!

Rich and Delicious

Here are pictures from the last couple of dinners I made from my shopping madness at Whole Foods. First, I re-created the delicious scallop appetizer I had in Santa Cruz last week. I have never made scallops before and they turned out really well, if I do say so myself. I guess hours of watching cooking programs has paid off. There were a lot of steps and I was surprised at how quickly everything came together. First I made the hollandaise (I used extra lemon which is why it looks so yellow in the picture) and seared the scallops until they were golden and crusted, then I steamed the asparagus and drizzled the whole thing with truffle oil. Even though it tasted great, this was a VERY rich dish and I think next time I'll make less sauce and maybe only make half as much.

The picture above is from last night's dinner and was so quick and easy to make. Again, this was a very rich dinner so next time I'm only making half as much. I used store bought fresh porcini ravioli and store bought alfredo sauce. While I boiled the pasta I broiled some pancetta and made sourdough garlic bread. Once the pasta was cooked I poured out the water and threw in some frozen green peas, the chopped crispy pancetta, and the stirred in the alfredo sauce. On the side we had a romaine, tomato, and avocado salad. Although I love them, I'm getting a little sick of eating these heavy meals though and think tonight is going to be veggie night with a nice bike ride to downtown San Jose for Music in the Park.

BLT and Arugula Salad

I've been trying to pay more attention to what we eat since I wanted to include lots of food pictures and information on recipes, etc on our page. The other day I was craving a BLT hard so I went shopping for delicious red tomatoes then went home and put this together. I may even make another one now. The arugula salad pictured is from a previous recipe I posted awhile ago and it remains one of my top 3 favorite salads. It's super simple to throw together, goes with everything and is especially good in the summer since you can let it sit out and it just gets more delicious.

Chicken sandwich

Tonight for a late night snack I grilled up this chicken and brie sandwich. It's crispy, ooey gooey, and totally decadent. I really didn't want to share it, but did let Cody have some because I was thinking of the outrageous calorie count this thing probably has. Secretly I was hoping he'd hate it since he has a thing against mixing sweet foods with savory ones, but he loved it and was eyeing my piece after he finished his. I butter two slices of sourdough, add cut up meat from a rotisserie chicken, thinly sliced brie, put a layer of strawberry preserves on one side and grill until crunchy and melty. Apologies for yet another blurry photo - I can't seem to focus properly!

Dutch Baby

This morning I made a Dutch Baby for breakfast and it was delicious! They're simple to make, but are very impressive because they get all big and brown and puffy. And they're delicious! They're sort of custardy in the center and crispy at the edges. Here are some pictures of today's baby with a side of turkey sausage with apples and onions.

Here's some bonus video of the bubbly thing that happened to my egg mixture when I added the vanilla. Weird.

Dutch Baby recipe

Put a large heat proof metal pan in the oven and heat to 400 degrees

Mix 4 eggs with 1 cup of milk & 1 cup of flour until smooth.

Add pinch of salt a little sugar and as much vanill as you like (I probably added a tbs to mine)

When the oven is heated take the pan out, using a pot holder of course, put in 4 tbs of butter and swirl around until melty then pour the mixture carefully into the pan. Bake for about 18-22 minutes until puffy and golden and a knife comes out cleanly when you stab the center. I like mine drenched w/lemon juice and powdered sugar. Cody has his with berries and maple syrup. I think the recipe could serve about 4 people, but we ate the whole thing.

Turkey Polenta Enchilada

Tonight's dinner was a recipe I made up that turned out to be a winner. I sliced up a roll of polenta, brushed both sides with olive oil, sprinkled with grated parmesean and baked at 400 for about 25 minutes. While the polenta was cooking I browned some turkey, added fresh corn kernals (2 whole ears), and a bottle of Trader Joes enchilada sauce. I let this simmer until the polenta was done then covered the polenta with the turkey and topped with low fat sour cream. Very yummy and easy!

Thai dinner at home

Tonight I made a pretty good red curry w/chicken and red peppers. I used red curry paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, basil, red peppers, coconut milk, and chicken. After cooking the chicken in a pan, I removed it and added the curry paste, cooking until fragrant, after the cury was ready I aded the coconut milk, chicken, and everything else and simmered for about 10 minutes. Cody loved it and even finished my bowl! We had these pot stickers on the side w/light soy sauce mixed w/rice wine vinegar and a little chili paste. Yummy!

Macaroni recipe from Sunset Celebration Weekend

We tried this recipe in the test kitchen at the Sunset party last weekend. I noticed Cody slipping back into the kitchen to grab a sample, but when I saw he only had one little cup instead of two - meaning he grabbed one just for himself and not for anyone else - I naturally started banging on the window, shouting "don't be a jerk!" until he went back and got a second sample (which was quite tasty).

Here's the recipe from Priscilla Yee, San Jose Regional Winner in 2005 Tillamook Macaroni and Cheese Recipe Contest:

Kicked-Up Monterey Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 4
8 oz uncooked dry radiatore or rotini pasta
5 Tbs butter, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 Tsp salt
2 cups milk (whole preferred)
1 1/4 cups Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/4 cups Tillamook Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
1 cup cooked small shrimp, peeled
1 cup quarted artichoke hearts, diced
1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1 Tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup plain panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup coarsley chopped toasted hazelnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large saucepan, cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
2. Spray 2-quart casserole w/nonstick cooking spray. In medium saucepan melt 3 Tbs butter over medium heat; add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Stir in the flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in 1 cup of cheddar cheese, 1 cup pepper jack cheese, shrimp, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, lemon zest, and the cooked pasta. Pour into casserole dish. Sprinkle top w/remaining 1/4 cup of each cheese. Melt remaining butter. Add breadcrumbs and toss to coat. Sprinkle bread crumbs and hazelnuts over casserole.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and crumbs are golden brown.

Blogger jackpot!

I absoultely love food blogs and I came across this link to a bunch of awesome food blogs when I was looking at the fabulous dessert pictures and recipes on Bunny's Warm Oven. Yum yum yum! I never ever make desserts, but after looking at Bunny's site I want to race home, turn the Kitche Aid on, and NEVER EVER TURN IT OFF.