Baking!?!?#&*@

Well I'm baking today. Yes, I LOVE to cook but cooking is not baking. It probably sounds strange, engineer by training you would have thought I loved measuring my ingredients and following a certain order of events. This is definitely not the case. The only cakes I've ever baked from scratch are coffee cakes which really isn't the same. If I have to make cookies I tend to stick to chocolate chip using the recipe from the back of the bag. My favorite thing to do is use a box mix and either add ingredients to the base mix or a topping to the finished product. Today we have a fini-flight of a close friend who doesn't have a significant other. I wanted to bring some special dessert treats for the occasion. Ugh, time to bake!

I decided cupcakes would be extra festive for a party so I'm making yellow cake (from a box) with Willie's Frosting. Willie's is a recipe my mother used my entire life. It is a buttercream that has it's sweetness cut by a cup of milk that is turned into a roux using just flour. The roux is not browned at all and then cooled and added to the butter/crisco, confectioners sugar and vanilla. It has always been a favorite and has a fantastic flavor. You can also substitute lemon extract for the vanilla for a great citrus frosting. You cream 1 cup of butter/crisco (I use a half and half mixture) with one cup of confectioners sugar until it is super creamy. Add a teaspoon of vanilla and the 1 cup of milk and 3 tbsp of flour roux mixture (about the thickness of paste, cooled). Beat until you get a good frosting consistency and add coloring if you choose. I tend to keep it white and frost my cakes with a rough texture because I'm lazy and I like the home made look.

The other recipe I'm using I came up with by accident. I bought a Ghiradelli brownie mix for a spouse event and figured I should bring something a little fancier than the standard brownie. Luckily the box had a recipe for Seven Layer Brownie Bars so I decided to make those and bought the ingredients. When I was making them I used the directions for making the brownies and added the "Seven Layer" part after the fact. When looking at the recipe closer I realized I was only supposed to add butter to the mix to make a crust and then add the seven layer part on top of that. So I ended up cooking the brownies on their own for 15 minutes and then adding the Seven Layer part on top of that for the remaining 35 minutes. The brownies were a hit. They were so addicting a few people ate more than one. So my mistake became a favorite standby. I had to go back to the commissary to get another box with the recipe so I had it for a repeat performance. In any case, I use a small pan recipe boxed brownie mix (Ghiradelli in this case) and make it per the normal directions on the back. I put the brownies in a 8 1/2 x 11" greased pan and in the oven. While they bake for about 15-20 minutes I combine 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup butterscotch chips, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped pecans. Place that on top of the semi-cooked brownies then top with 1 - 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk on top. Bake for remaining 30-40 minutes until slightly brown. Let them cool before cutting them up. They are decadent and a huge hit!

I guess with a little boxed mix help baking isn't so bad. It is hard to be more of a purist in cooking and then really cheat on the baking. I feel a little guilty calling myself a foodie. Of course in the Northeast there is a great bakery in almost every town and ours was in smelling distance of my house. I definitely could never top Rambauch's baked goods so I suppose I get frustrated trying.

Finally, happy Lent everyone. I'll be trying to post some Lent friendly Friday meals that my kids like soon!

I am still full from last night's Super Bowl fare. We had a few people over and I made quite the Mexican flavored spread. I fixed some Tequila Lime Ribs, Steak Fajitas with all the fixins', taco dip and guacamole. Our friend brought some potato skins and cookies and brownies. It was a great meal to pick at for a few hours. The tequila-lime flavor is AMAZING on ribs. It is a recipe I found on Food Network and every time I make it everyone loves it. The glaze has mango/pineapple jam, lime juice and tequila with cilantro flavoring...mmmmmm.

Now to think of something for dinner. I don't know which direction I'm going tonight. It is really cold and rainy which makes me feel like soup. I'll probably whip up a quick chicken based soup. The beauty of soup is I always keep frozen chicken, chicken broth, carrots, celery and onion around. Then I just have to add egg noodles, ditalini or rice and we have a good meal. I have some yummy baby spinach for a salad too. The boys are all nursing a mild cold, hopefully this will clear up the last of the sniffles!

A Night Out

So tonight is a typical parent dilemma. My husband and I are going out and a babysitter is coming over to watch the kids. Obviously I'm not going to go all out on an elaborate dinner for the three boys but at the same time I want it to be healthy. Enter the now famous "Semi-Homeade" meal. Our kids love pizza so that seems to be my go-to item for a sitter.

Pizza can be a bit of a bore when done the same way every time. Now I make up new varieties with our favorite flavors. My Mom will mock me for this but I did buy a pre-made crust (Mamma Mary's Thin Crust) and will be using mostly jarred or canned items to create a Chicken Fajita Pizza. I got this recipe from a magazine that I bought in the supermarket line a couple weeks ago (something I don't think I've ever done before). It is a Women's Day publication called "Cooking Light" and it has some great ideas in it. This particular recipe calls for canned Mexi-corn, grilled chicken pieces, picante sauce, avacado, cilantro and Mexican cheese blend. I think I'll serve some veggies and dip on the side. Another favorite I have made in the past is a Greek Pizza with grilled chicken (optional or sub in gyro meat), roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, feta cheese and lots of oregano and garlic. You can really go any direction with a little creativity and some leftovers. With the pre-made crusts making a fun meal is not as hard as you think!

The review on the pizza tonight was a big thumbs up from my 5-year-old and husband so Chicken Fajita Pizza is definitely a keeper!

Roasted Veggies

So last night was what I call a standby meal. Something I can make pretty quickly without a lot of lead in time or planning necessary. We had the standard steak, baked potatoes and roasted veggies. I have to comment on roasted vegetables though. Roasting anything but meat used to be an unknown to me. I never thought of cooking our favorite veggies in the oven, I was always into steaming. I have to say that as far as asparagus goes I will never go back to steaming. A light drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, pepper and garlic powder throw them on my Pampered Chef stoneware sheet pan pop in the oven and voila tasty, relatively healthy veggies. As long as you don't over cook them they are pretty fool proof. Sure, steaming is better for you but my kids much prefer the roasted version. Ultimately if you take it easy on the olive oil they really aren't that bad for you. I find the best veggies in this method are: peppers, asparagus, zucchini, squash, onion, carrots and potatoes. Whenever I make an antipasta for an Italian meal I roast some sort of veggie and serve it room temperature on the platter. Another great dish is roasting the veggies then throwing them on pasta or rice as a vegetarian entree. The key; once my kids fell in love with the roasted flavor they were more willing to try any veggie prepared that way. That makes for easier planning on my part and more balanced meals for them.

Tonight we have hot dogs on the docket. I know, I know, yawn. I think most parents make hot dogs pretty often. I was going to do kialbasa but Josh isn't eating dinner here so I just didn't see the point. Plus it is activity night around here (basketball to be exact) so we have to be finished eating by 5:30 pm. The one high point, homeade macaroni and cheese. It is so chilly and rainy today mac n' cheese will really hit the spot. It is pre-prepped from last night because I made a large batch for a squadron event so it is a pop in the oven kind of deal. The final decision to be made, what veggie will make it to the table? I can tell you, it will probably be roasted!

Journaling Food

Well I have finally decided it is time to start journaling the many foods I try out on my family. The passion for food runs deep for me and every meal is another opportunity to try new things. Keeping up with new flavors is a challenge with a young family. It seems little kids can be your biggest critics when it comes to food. Gradually everyone in this family is coming around to my experiments with different cuisines and my 5-year-old now uses many of the descriptions he hears on "Food Network" to put my nightly attempts into words.

This blog will document my successes and failures with new foods and tastes as I test them on my family of 5. Some of the foods I try will be from recipes but most of my food I make using just an idea of what I'm trying accomplish. These ideas come from TV, magazines, the internet and cookbooks I have. I will reference them when I can but I love to cook from instinct and find I can zero in on my family's tastes better that way. I'm hoping by documenting my experiences with food in my household I can help other families expand their food horizons and enjoy family meals the way we all should.

Tonight was an example of a great success in our household. It inspired me to finally sit down and put my food love out in a public forum. Tonight I roasted a pork tenderloin with a Jamaican Jerk rub and added sweet potato fries and a spinach, mango and avacado salad with raspberry vinegarette. The pork loin was a hit. All three kids ate a lot of it, so much so I am going to have to cook a different meal for my husband. The twins (21 months) devoured the sweet potato fries and liked the mango and avacado. The two of them still struggle a little with any greens so the spinach snub was no big surprise. My 5-year-old loved everything except the sweet potato fries. He ate them but couldn't get away from the fact that they didn't taste like typical French fries.

Chalk tonight up as a victory! Unfortunately I didn't anticipate the great response and ran out of salad and sweet potato fries for a late arriving husband...I guess he will have to live without the Jamaican feast.