Eating
This pantry cake is naturally dairy & egg-free. It’s a World War II recipe to grab what’s already in your pantry and bake up a storm. My paternal grandmother was pretty amazing. And so is her cake. My mom’s creamy chocolate frosting makes a double-deckered delight! It’s Ash Wednesday today, so most Catholics are beginning to gird their loins and offer something up for Lent. We always give up treats. I ate a ton of this cake on Fat Tuesday. And now those of you who aren’t into Lent or didn’t give up sweets can eat a ton of it too! Ingredients & Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix: 2 cups sugar 3 cups flour 1/3 cup cocoa 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt Add & beat: 3/4 cup canola oil 2 cups warm water 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 teaspoons vinegar Pour into oiled 2 round cake pans or one large rectangular one. Bake for 25-30 minutes or til toothpick is dry. If you’re my mom, you insist on not using parchment paper. And then every time you try to jimmy the cake out of the pan, but leave a little delicious bit for me. Bad for the cake, great for me. Let the two cakes cool before frosting. But it’s best to freeze the whole shebang if it’s going to be a day or two before serving. Never refrigerate (just dries it out). Bring to room temp before serving. My mom’s chocolate chocolate frosting! Melt on stovetop:…
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So I’ve been writing an awful lot about parenting lately, neglecting my foodie followers (okay, so there are maybe three of you who love the food posts and not the tantrum ones–shout out to the people in the back!). As promised, a week of recipes complete with photos. Today I’ll begin with one of my easiest and favorites: beef tacos. Prepare yourself for IPhone photos. They’re not the best. Sorry, not a real food blogger who cooks during daylight. Let’s preface this with my big I-Hate-Mexican-Food disclaimer. I know, you’re going to chide me by saying, but Nell, you haven’t tried real Mexican food. My retort: yes, I have. That’s the kind I hate. I lived in Las Vegas for one year. My boss loved Mexican. We went to Donna Maria’s regularly. It was awful. I mean, it was high quality and authentic. It was made by and for native eaters. I hated it. Chipotle? Sure, I’ll eat it. I order the blandest thing ever. It’s not real Mexican. My brother in law, a great cook, loves and cooks Mexican. I can barely stomach it. I’m a gringa, what can I say? That behind us. Whew. This is Mexican I can stomach. The chihuahua sauce is optional, thus I can handle the rest of it. This feeds 5-6 adults, with a little leftover for AA’s lunch. Ingredients things to cook 2 pounds raw ground beef from our local cattle farmer 3-5 big cloves of garlic, chopped 2 medium-large yellow onions, chopped…
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Camp Patton: have you visited? She’s a mom of three, hilarious, honest, great dresser, and makes parenting a roller coaster of laughs and squeals to watch along with her. I was pleased as pudding when she said yes to my offer to guest post about food. See it here: Healthy & Easy Toddler Snacks & Meals. I scoop on what we snack on, and my easiest 4 meals that almost make themselves, but are healthy. If you’re of my camp and love butter (ha ha. . . . camp!). Check her out, subscribe, like her on the facebook, the whole works. You’ll be glad you did. Thanks for the chance to guest post!
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We are thankful, and grateful, for so much. For our families, for our friends, for our food, for our faith, and for the wonderful ability to share with our journey of familyhood with you all. Yesterday I roasted & pureed 4 butternut squash for soup & some of our “pumpkin” pies–which actually are a great paring with real pumpkin. Somehow SuperBoy and I made the dough for 10 pies–we’re serious about pie for Thanksgiving. I brined the turkey. I cleaned up the junk around the kitchen, and I finished the order email for a new retail spot for the Sig Items. (!!!!!!) Oh, and we had homemade pizza for dinner. Because after all that flour and water in the bowls, on the counter top, and crusting over my fav wooden spoon, why not quick make a little dough. And I’ve been craving it lately. Easiest homemade dinner for me! Last year I just photoblogged our Thanksgiving feast. This year, I will include photos & links again. Some amazing bloggers and chefs publish their recipes & shopping lists ahead of time (do you follow Wellness Mama? Because you should). I’m not that fabulous in the kitchen, nor ambitious that you all be inspired by our feast. I do think I’ll post on pie crust from scratch before Christmas because although it sounds daunting and like too much work, you will never ever buy a store bought crust again. Same goes for roasting your own squash/pumpkin for the innards of a pie.…
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My sister Bridget is a fan of home canning. If you can seal it into a glass container with a lid, she’ll do it. I photo blogged our latest raspberry jam exploits. Two ladies, good music, delicious snacks, and an afternoon jamming. Her supplies: a Ball canning recipe, lemons, apples, raspberries, and lots of patience and sugar. She doesn’t use commercial pectin because it’s the devil, well, almost. It’s really bitter, so you have to use a lot more sugar in the jam. If you use a high pectin fruit as the base, you can use less sugar. If you start with homemade apple sauce as the base, you won’t have such a problem for it to “set.” The speediest ingredient is commercial pectin, though it’s not ideal because with it, you must add a ton more sugar to the recipe. Jam already has a ton of sugar. Better to not add more if you don’t have to. Especially if you’re going to feed it to a little one like SuperBoy. Setting is jam-like and goopy. The old test is if it will stick to the back of the spoon. Bridget prefers the test of dropping jam on a cold plate, and then assess whether it’s still runny or it sets up well. You can make jam with just the raspberries and no apples. But it might take an extra HOUR of stirring. “We are not crazy people. We did not actually buy a survival sack of sugar. Our friend did.…
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I was too quick to discount my husband’s amazing garden efforts in discussing our failed garden here {Recap on Garden: Don’t Use Seeds}. Here at the end of October, the carrots and parsnips came out of the ground. Mostly because SuperBoy has been wildly couped up indoors and I needed a specific task for him to help me with. So we unearthed what I thought would be remarkably puny carrots and parsnips. O contraire mon frere. Only one beet made it out alive. I think the nasty squirrels went for those stalks hardcore. AA hates our squirrels. A lot. The carrots were so sweet and crunchy! Guess who dipped them in applesauce and humus for lunch? Oh, Mr. SuperBoy. SuperBoy declared victory over the garden. And a great chance to get lots of dirt everywhere. Including in my hair. Woot!
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