One of the first recipes I have kept from my college years is my recipe for rum cake. It is my favorite kind of recipe- easy, fast, and flexible. The basic recipe is roughly the same as this one. I have made lots of variations on this, but today's is definitely the most creative!
Yesterday, my mom brought home several green tomatoes from Grandma E. I have been very curious about green tomato pie, so after some searching online, I decided to try out my rum cake formula with a green tomato as part of the formula. STAY WITH ME PEOPLE!
I wanted to keep it healthier, so along with the box of spice cake mix, vanilla pudding, and eggs, I omitted the oil, water, and rum. Instead, I used orange juice, chunky apple sauce, and a chopped green tomato (1/2 c for each). I also added a splash of vanilla and another teaspoon of cinnamon. I put the batter into mini loaf and mini muffin pans and baked it up. YUM!
While I am all about using weird recipes like this, I do tell the people eating them what's in my cooking. Partly do to my icky relationship with garlic, partly due to my promise to my husband to never sneak in olives/mushrooms/his other non-favorite foods into things without warning him. It does remove some of the fun shock value of cooking things like green tomato cake, I do feel like my husband and friends trust and appreciate my cooking more by me being open about the secret ingredients.
Now, I have 2 green tomatoes left. I may try fried making the traditional fried green tomatoes, but I may try another experiment. Who knows? Stay tuned!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
A Song to Honor the Programmable Coffee Pot
I started singing a new set of lyrics to the tune of "God Bless America" while prepping my magical coffee maker for tomorrow morning. Not bad for my first attempt.
God bless my coffee pot
Brew that I Love!
Works in AM, and PM!
And the light glows so green with its love!
From the Dark Roast to the Light Roast,
To Cappuccino, white with foam!
God Bless my coffee pot, in my home sweet home!
God Bless my coffee pot, in my home sweet home!
Delay Brew!
(Play Ball!)
Tonight's was laundry time, so all I really wanted was some ramen noodles and a glass of fruit slush punch. I made my own seasoning packet because I recently browsed through the new Lucky Peach magazine, and its focus was on ramen. Their best piece of advice was to just throw away the packet o flavored salt that comes with the noodles. Long story short, flavor of the evening was a teaspoon or so of Chicken "Better than Bouillon" paste, a couple of shakes of Tobasco, a squirt of lime juice, and a bit of black pepper. It was the best ramen I've ever had!
The fruit slush punch is a recipe from my mom. When I was little, she'd make it for wedding showers or family parties but I couldn't have ANY because "it was for adults and has booze in it." Mom, it has TROPICAL KOOL-AID in it! How can it not be for kids?? I'd only sneak a spoonful, because red Kool-aid tongue and alcohol breath is quite the smoking gun.
Rough recipe- empty ice cream bucket, 1 orange juice concentrate, refill can with alcohol of choice, refill again with a can of water, add packet of unsweetened Tropical Kool-Aid, and a Bag of Frozen Strawberries, and mix & freeze! Once frozen, should be a scoop-able consistency due to the alcohol. Serve in a glass with sprite or other chosen carbonated beverage.
God bless my coffee pot
Brew that I Love!
Works in AM, and PM!
And the light glows so green with its love!
From the Dark Roast to the Light Roast,
To Cappuccino, white with foam!
God Bless my coffee pot, in my home sweet home!
God Bless my coffee pot, in my home sweet home!
Delay Brew!
(Play Ball!)
Tonight's was laundry time, so all I really wanted was some ramen noodles and a glass of fruit slush punch. I made my own seasoning packet because I recently browsed through the new Lucky Peach magazine, and its focus was on ramen. Their best piece of advice was to just throw away the packet o flavored salt that comes with the noodles. Long story short, flavor of the evening was a teaspoon or so of Chicken "Better than Bouillon" paste, a couple of shakes of Tobasco, a squirt of lime juice, and a bit of black pepper. It was the best ramen I've ever had!
The fruit slush punch is a recipe from my mom. When I was little, she'd make it for wedding showers or family parties but I couldn't have ANY because "it was for adults and has booze in it." Mom, it has TROPICAL KOOL-AID in it! How can it not be for kids?? I'd only sneak a spoonful, because red Kool-aid tongue and alcohol breath is quite the smoking gun.
Rough recipe- empty ice cream bucket, 1 orange juice concentrate, refill can with alcohol of choice, refill again with a can of water, add packet of unsweetened Tropical Kool-Aid, and a Bag of Frozen Strawberries, and mix & freeze! Once frozen, should be a scoop-able consistency due to the alcohol. Serve in a glass with sprite or other chosen carbonated beverage.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Too cute for eatin'
Back on the band wagon!
This week has been a tornado of activity. I've started the great process of applying for new jobs (yes, my current job knows). I did make several 'creative' new dishes this week. Part of this is due to the side project of "Well, we're moving soon. Better start using up what's here!" One of the dishes I made was from Cat Cora's latest cookbook, a Tex-Mex Tuna Casserole. I also made breakfast burritos Friday morning, before work!
At the moment, I am waiting to see how my first loaf of 'no-knead' bread comes out. I used a version of the recipe from a blog I visit, unlike the famous New York Times version, this one has the addition of beer.
But the real reason I started this post is I want to make these....Cake Batter Rice Krispie Bars!
I think I will bring these into work for my birthday.
At the moment, I am waiting to see how my first loaf of 'no-knead' bread comes out. I used a version of the recipe from a blog I visit, unlike the famous New York Times version, this one has the addition of beer.
But the real reason I started this post is I want to make these....Cake Batter Rice Krispie Bars!
I think I will bring these into work for my birthday.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
It's ice cream time!
After a day of work that can only be remedied by Real Ice Cream, I broke down and got some Ben & Jerry's. Jimmy Fallon's new flavor is Late Night Snack Attack. It is vanilla bean ice cream with a salted caramel swirl and chocolate covered potato chip bites. Yep, it's good. They did a nice job with the chocolate-'chip' bites.
And for those of you cursing me for dragging you down this road of sin, might I also point out the Edy's makes a VERY GOOD key lime pie frozen yogurt blend. We're out of it, and the co-op carries Ben & Jerry's. Blame them. But don't give them too much grief, because I do love the co-op. Did I mention I had a $1 off coupon for Ben & Jerry's? Oh yeah!
Dinner was a Stouffer's frozen lasagna. I love lasagna, but I hate making food I have to cook twice (lasagna, twice baked potatoes, and other foods of this nature).
And for those of you cursing me for dragging you down this road of sin, might I also point out the Edy's makes a VERY GOOD key lime pie frozen yogurt blend. We're out of it, and the co-op carries Ben & Jerry's. Blame them. But don't give them too much grief, because I do love the co-op. Did I mention I had a $1 off coupon for Ben & Jerry's? Oh yeah!
Dinner was a Stouffer's frozen lasagna. I love lasagna, but I hate making food I have to cook twice (lasagna, twice baked potatoes, and other foods of this nature).
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Typical Tuesday cooking
When it's warm, we cook simple because our apartment warms up quickly. Tonight is bbq mini weenies (the best kind, from the co-op), grapes, and green beans. Yep, that's fancy!
But I will have more time to watch my new favorite summer show- The Voice. I have never been a die-hard Idol fan. I do appreciate that most of the performers on this show are decently talented. I've sat through enough auditions and karaoke nights to have a low tolerance for watching crap performances. I'm also attempting to re-watch all of Scrubs before I leave the bank in September. It's a great project for my lunch break.
Last night's dinner was fairly interesting. I made a variation on a vegetarian chili dip that was served at a cast potluck this spring. I used a can of Rotel, some red beans, some hamburger, and a packet of cheese sauce, spiced with chili powder, onion powder, celery salt, cumin, and coriander. Mix together, sprinkle with cheese and bake until bubbly. In my toaster oven, it was around 25 minutes at 350.
This weekend, I decided that I really wanted to make red beans and rice soon. Since I had some time on Sunday, I cooked a bag of dried beans up. I did let them soak most of the day, and it was pretty easy after that. I plan on freezing some of the beans because there is no way we will eat a whole bag of beans in a week. YIKES!
I'm also putting together a wedding shower for my cousin Kirsten. I don't want to post too much now, but it will be awesome! She got married in early May, and we decided that it would be fun to have a party AFTER the wedding since schedules were crazy this spring/summer. We also have 3 cousins that graduated high school this year, so there have been all kinds of parties for our clan!
Speaking of parties, we got to go see Troy's brother swim at his state meet for Special Olympics this weekend. He kicked some butt and was an awesome leader for his relay team. We are so glad we got to experience that race. Total medals collected, three gold and a bronze! WHOOOOO!
Time for dinner, Troy's home!
But I will have more time to watch my new favorite summer show- The Voice. I have never been a die-hard Idol fan. I do appreciate that most of the performers on this show are decently talented. I've sat through enough auditions and karaoke nights to have a low tolerance for watching crap performances. I'm also attempting to re-watch all of Scrubs before I leave the bank in September. It's a great project for my lunch break.
Last night's dinner was fairly interesting. I made a variation on a vegetarian chili dip that was served at a cast potluck this spring. I used a can of Rotel, some red beans, some hamburger, and a packet of cheese sauce, spiced with chili powder, onion powder, celery salt, cumin, and coriander. Mix together, sprinkle with cheese and bake until bubbly. In my toaster oven, it was around 25 minutes at 350.
This weekend, I decided that I really wanted to make red beans and rice soon. Since I had some time on Sunday, I cooked a bag of dried beans up. I did let them soak most of the day, and it was pretty easy after that. I plan on freezing some of the beans because there is no way we will eat a whole bag of beans in a week. YIKES!
I'm also putting together a wedding shower for my cousin Kirsten. I don't want to post too much now, but it will be awesome! She got married in early May, and we decided that it would be fun to have a party AFTER the wedding since schedules were crazy this spring/summer. We also have 3 cousins that graduated high school this year, so there have been all kinds of parties for our clan!
Speaking of parties, we got to go see Troy's brother swim at his state meet for Special Olympics this weekend. He kicked some butt and was an awesome leader for his relay team. We are so glad we got to experience that race. Total medals collected, three gold and a bronze! WHOOOOO!
Time for dinner, Troy's home!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Cake Whore
Candyland CAKE
May has been Krrrraaaazzzy so far. Lots to share. Mainly, Disney was AWESOME.
As far as my cooking adventures, I am getting back into the swing of things. For lunch today, inspired by The Breakfast Club, I made a peanut butter and Captain Crunch sandwich for lunch. Hey, it was on wheat bread!
Troy and I saw Thor tonight. We had to wait 40 minutes while they figured out how to get the correct ratio from the projector onto the screen, but we got free passes to a future movie for our patience. Now, I'm getting sleepy. A much more interesting series of posts will follow soon.
May has been Krrrraaaazzzy so far. Lots to share. Mainly, Disney was AWESOME.
As far as my cooking adventures, I am getting back into the swing of things. For lunch today, inspired by The Breakfast Club, I made a peanut butter and Captain Crunch sandwich for lunch. Hey, it was on wheat bread!
Troy and I saw Thor tonight. We had to wait 40 minutes while they figured out how to get the correct ratio from the projector onto the screen, but we got free passes to a future movie for our patience. Now, I'm getting sleepy. A much more interesting series of posts will follow soon.
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