Birthday Cakes!

What we do for our children!

Somehow, we've set a precedent for our children's birthdays. A day of fun, a scavenger hunt to find their birthday gifts (with all clues in verse), and a cake of their request. Believe me, I have no special cake decorating abilities, as you'll see if you look close enough. I have a couple of decorating tips, but only the ones that attach to the little tubes of colored frosting that you can buy at any grocery store. I rarely even use those. So you don't need any special equipment. Now if you want to make a simply beautifully decorated cake, go get some real decorator tips, take a cake decorating class...or go buy one. Those decadent bakery cakes are what I go for (better yet, just give me a big gooey and very chocolatey brownie), but for our children...they just want a cake that they've requested and looks cool to them. Here are some of their past requests for cakes that I've made.

"Mommy, can you make me a sleep-over cake this year?" was Mary Kate's request the other day. This sleep-over cake is made from a 9 x 13-inch cake with Twinkies for bodies, Reese's peanut butter cups for the heads, smashed large marshmallow for the pillows, and candies to embellish. I found this idea in Cooking for Kids Bible.



"Can you make a fun and yummy cheesecake?" was the request from Kathleen and Mikey. A tie-died cheesecake was the answer--red velvet cake on the bottom and swirled colored cheesecake mixture on top. I used the recipe from this site, but I'd strongly suggest that you only use about 1/3 of the red velvet cake batter and increase all the ingredients for the cheesecake proportionately to use 24 oz. of cream cheese instead of 16 oz. I made these changes, and was relieved I did. Otherwise it would have been like eating cake with a little cream cheese frosting.


Flower and bugs cake--made from one cake mix in a bundt pan, a small round cake pan, and a few cupcakes...and lots of colored frosting.


Soccer ball for our soccer super star--baked in a Pyrex bowl.


I used this recipe for the Mom Cat and Kitten Cakes--made from a couple of frozen pound cakes.


A monster truck made from a 9 x 13-inch cake, a couple of small round cakes, and candy for embellishments.


A cheetah cake made from a 9 x 13-inch cake and a small round cake with jelly beans as the spots.


A rainbow cake made from a bundt cake.


Flip-flop cake made with two frozen pound cakes, ice cream, whipped topping, and candy embellishments. Check out this site for the recipe. It can also be made with a regular cake and frosting. Get this recipe here.


Mike just HAD to have an Army helmet cake. I made one round cake layer and baked the rest in a Pyrex bowl. Check here for directions.


A lion cake--made from two regular cake layers and a small amount of batter baked in a small Pyrex bowl.


This cake was a big hit, especially since Mary Kate had a life-sized Raggedy Ann doll and had dressed up as Raggedy Ann for Halloween! I got the recipe here.


"A monster jeep riding up a mountain." That's what Mikey requested! It was made from a 9 x 13-inch cake and a couple of cup cakes. I sure could have done more with the "mountain" but when I need to make two cakes at a time for my twins, somethin's gotta give!


What will they ask for next?

Addendum:
(Here's what we've made since the original post.)

Mary Kate wanted a "volcano cake with tropical flowers." This is what she got.

The cake idea was from here, and the tropical flower idea from here.

Another "monster truck riding up a mountain" was in order. This time it was 3D, and I just winged it with various-sized cake layers topped with a cupcake for the mountain, the truck was made with a frozen pound cake, the boulders were krispie rice balls, and the rest was candy decorations and frosting.


This was an interesting order: a "tree with fall-colored leaves." My daughter ended up with this.

I formed stiff cocoa krispie treat mix around a drinking glass and added roots at the bottom. The "tree" was green-frosted angel food cake (I used a cardboard base to rest atop of the "tree trunk"), and the colored leaves were cupcake tops that were frosted green and rolled in fruity pebbles.

What have I started with these 3D cakes? I'm scared for the future!

Spiced Pecans in your salad

At Christmastime our next door neighbor makes wonderful spiced pecan halves from all the big and lovely nuts from her son's trees. What she may not know is how anticipated her tin of sweetly spiced nuts is at our house every year! Our entire family drools when they see the tin coming! Needless to say, they don't last long.

For a few years, I didn't want to have a recipe for these gems because I thought it may dampen the specialness of her annual gift. However, I've realized that we just can't go through a whole year without them...and I've thought of other ways they can be enjoyed, not just at Christmas.

Our children eat a lot of green salad when I add fruit and nuts. So the addition of these nuts ramped it up quite a few notches. I just add them to the greens with a little green onion and whatever fresh or dried fruit we have on hand. Add some cheese if you like. I usually top it with the salad dressing I make for Napa Salad.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

16 oz. pecan pieces (not the teeny-tiny cookie pieces though)
1 extra large egg white
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 large zip-lock bag
Parchment paper

Whip the egg white in a large mixing bowl with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold the pecans into the whipped egg whites. Stir the nuts into the meringue thoroughly so they are all evenly coated and moistened.

Put the sugar, cinnamon and salt into the zip-lock bag and shake up to mix. Put the pecans in the bag and seal it (leaving a little air in the bag to mix well). Shake well to coat the pecans with the sugar mixture.

Dump the pecans out onto a large, parchment-lined sheet pan or cookie sheet. (I use two pans so I can really spread out the nuts.) Spread out the pecans evenly on the cookie sheet.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and cool thoroughly. They will get crispy once they are thoroughly cooled. Store them in an airtight container.

Use the extras for a snack by itself or add some pumpkin kernels and craisins for a fantastic treat!

NOTE: If you're not making a full batch with 16 oz. of pecans, make sure to remove the appropriate proportion of egg white from the bowl before you mix in the nuts. If you use all of the meringue, the nuts will have too much coating and it may flake off the nuts after cooling, instead of adhering to them.

This is where I found my recipe for spiced glazed pecans.

Apple Monster Snack

It's been too darned HOT to cook much these days. As of yesterday, we've had 36 days of triple digits so far this year (Yow!) and it's also what's forecasted for the rest of this week. So, let's all refrain from creating MORE heat. That is, until you can't stand it anymore and your stomach cries out for something baked, or cooked, or heated. But, if possible, wait until that point. It's just too hot!

When most folks here in the South head for the lakes all weekend in the summer, I go cower in the house, close all the shades and try not to move to stir up any body heat. It's not that I have anything against sweat, I just like to chose WHEN I sweat. If I decide to go out for a brisk walk or some other predetermined exercise this time of year, of course I know I'll sweat. But just sitting in the house? No sweat for me, please!

We can still have fun with the kids and food...and not stir up the heat, right? Of course. I even made these funny little guys for Dad. After all, they're gluten free, and if you just use peanut butter, they're also lactose free.

Aren't they kind of cute?
As you can guess, these are just apple wedges, peanut butter, slivered almonds, raisins, and little dabs of cream cheese.

Sometimes, when my cheese girl asks for an even quicker snack I'll hand her one of these. A monsterfied "cream cheese lolly pop".
Or for my almost-non-meat-eating daughter, I may give her this kind of monster instead of a regular peanut butter "lolly pop", as they've always called them.

But the apple guys are our favorite. They're a tasty and complete snack.

So, stay out of the heat! Keep it fun! Keep it silly! Keep it scary cool!

This snack is not my original idea. I was going to give credit to my Cooking for Kids Bible, but after scouring it I couldn't find the little critters. So, I'll have to wait to give credit for the Apple Monsters to the appropriate source after I find it.

Garbanzo Cake (gluten free/dairy free)

In my quest for gluten-free baked goodies, I came across this recipe in a Mexican cookbook. It’s a great alternative to a sweet quick bread we almost never have anymore since we don’t like to torment Daddy with glutenous treats too often…unless it’s Spiced Pumpkin Bread that our kids usually beg me to make at least once a month--and more like once a week around the holidays. Each serving of this “cake” has 2.7 g. fiber and 9.2 g. protein! It's a very dense and moist quick bread-type cake. Our kids thought it was a big treat! They didn't realize it was a gluten-free bread...otherwise they may have been suspicious. With its sweet spiced flavor, you sure wouldn’t know it has a couple of cans of chickpeas stashed away in all its goodness—replacing the flour and adding additional moisture, fiber and protein! All the kids asked for more, but they’ll have to wait because this recipe only makes one loaf!

Ingredients:
2 -10 oz cans Garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

(Cans of chickpeas around here are 16 oz., so you can use the leftover chickpeas to make a half-ish recipe of Hummus. Why not? You'll already have your processor out, and it'll make just the right amount to snack on while you're waiting for your cake to finish baking!)

4 eggs, beaten (or 1 cup of egg beaters)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon

If you're concerned about using cinnamon for any reason (like if your tongue goes numb like my friend's!), you could use a mixture of nutmeg, all spice, cloves, and ginger instead.

Grated rind and juice of 1 orange (since I didn't have an orange, I just threw in 1-1/2 TBSP frozen OJ concentrate and 1 tsp. of dried lemon peel)

Cinnamon sugar -- 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tsp ground cinnamon
(or make spiced sugar using alternate spices)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove any noticeable chickpea skins, and put the remaining peas in a food processor (or blender) and process until smooth. (You may need to process the chickpeas in a couple of batches.) This is what it looks like when you're done processing--kind of dry looking but holds together when you press it.

Spoon the processed chickpeas into a bowl and gently stir in the eggs, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, orange rind, and orange juice. Grease a 1-pound loaf pan and line with parchment paper.

Pour the cake mixture into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and leave to stand, in the pan, for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan, place on a wire rack, and leave to cool completely before serving. Or if you're like us, wait just another 10 minutes or so before diving in!) Serve with sliced fresh strawberries, pineapple or other fruit...or just sprinkle each piece with additional spiced sugar and enjoy.

(12 slices/servings)

The above recipe based on one from: The Complete Mexican, South American & Caribbean Cookbook

Lemony alternative:
Instead of using orange zest and juice, use the zest and juice of one juicy lemon. After the cake is done baking, squeeze more lemon juice over cake, and sprinkle generously with confectioners sugar.

Or try a chocolate version here.

Disclaimer: Please forgive me for the frozen berries in my photo. I went to grab some fresh strawberries from the fridge, and discovered that they mysteriously disappeared. If you know their whereabouts, please fill me in. Hey, what's that red stuff on your cheek, Jimmer? Oooh...and you too, Kathleen. Aha!

(Not Your Average) Nachos

So, what do you do with your extra brisket...or any other tender leftover meat?

We came home with a nice load of cooked and sliced brisket from a luncheon the kids and I attended yesterday, so I thought I'd show you a summer dinner no brainer. Nachos...a more manly version!

I don't know about you, but the taste of those taco seasoning packets don't really do it for me, so I've never been crazy about nachos that use taco flavored ground beef. Nope! I much prefer the pure taste of slow-cooked, smoked brisket. Something you can shred...and taste all the smokey goodness (Let's just SAY it's good for us). Using lots of spices was really only started in ancient times to mask the bad flavor of rotting meat, right? Well, with such modern conveniences as...REFRIGERATION...we don't need to partake in that nonsense anymore. Okay? So toss those silly packets and make your brisket. And don't slather it with all that barbecue sauce either! Down here in these parts we usually only use the sauce as a condiment with sliced brisket.

Mmmmm--just like fajitas, quesadillas, and (in cooler weather) tortilla soup--I could go for these nachos just about any day of the week! I could even do without the meat if I didn't have it handy. I always have the other ingredients at the ready anyway! For the real gift (at least in our house)--it's also gluten free! What's more? If you use CRACKER BARREL or KRAFT "natural" sharp cheddar cheese, it doesn't even have a measureable amount of lactose either!! This is just really making my day!

Ingredients:
Leftover cooked brisket (maybe 1/4 pound for covering one baking sheet), shredded
(You could also use shredded leftover pot roast. Extra fajita chicken would also be fabulous! I'm a reasonable girl--use what you've got!)
Tortilla chips, whatever kind y'all go for
1 to 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I go for MORE!)
1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced black olives, (chopped a bit more), optional
1/4 cup onion (green or red are great!), finely diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
1 large avocado, finely diced [and tossed with
1 tsp. lime juice]
2 TBSP fresh cilantro, minced
Sour cream, optional
Pico de Gallo, optional

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Spread out the tortilla chips all over a (roughly 12 x 17-inch ever-so-slightly-greased) baking sheet. Lining it with aluminum foil makes for a quick clean up. Make sure you cover most of the pan overlapping the chips a bit as necessary so you don't end up with a bunch of gooey cheese all over the pan instead of all over your nachos! Evenly distribute the shredded meat, onion, olives, and cheese over the chips.

Bake until the cheese is melted, about 7 minutes...but check around 5 minutes (because you care about your nachos, don't you?).

With loving care, sprinkle the rest of the ingredients (tomatoes, avocado, & cilantro) on top of the hot nachos, and serve to your manly (or just hungry) guests with sour cream and pico de gallo, if you like.

Knives, etc.

Yesterday, as I was visiting with a friend about recipes, kitchen tools, and handy appliances, I realized that it's helpful for people to know what gadgets others use and how they use them. So I thought about my most frequently used items, and I snapped a shot of them.

Here are some of my best friends in the kitchen.

I'm certainly no cooking expert. I'm just a busy mom who enjoys cooking homemade meals frequently for our family of six. So, I can tell you what I use the most. For me, it's gotta be functional and efficient (read--easy to find/use/clean).

I'm pretty basic when it comes to kitchen tools--probably because I can never find all those cute gadgets when I need them. That lemon wedge squeezer and that apple corer and the egg seperater are alway hiding in the back of my gadget drawer when I need them so I don't use them...then I forget I have them. I know you must have a drawer like that, don't you? Additionally, I don't really like to do dishes, so I try to minimize using more things that I will have to clean later.

Wusthof 7-inch Santoku knife
Thanks, Big Brother!
Do you all have a big, sharp knife in your kitchen? It really doesn't matter what brand as long as it's sharp and will rock as you slice and dice. If you cook often and don't use one, you're probably wasting a lot of time. You know what I mean if you've ever tried to dice a big onion with a paring knife! If you're afraid to use one, just give it a try. Just slice one thing a day--something fairly soft like a cucumber or zuchini. You'll be amazed how fun and easy it is...and how much time you save.

Paring/steak kniveParing knives have a very necessary place in the kitchen. You don't see one in the picture because I lost mine a while ago. (It's probably in that drawer!) As an alternative, I'm now using a nice, sharp steak knife...for slicing fruit and other smaller items that need more precision (cutting out apple cores, etc.).

My bread knifeA sharp, serrated gem. Even if we're not making and eating as much bread these days (due to gluten intolerant husband), I still use it quite a bit for tomatoes and when I make my kids a Pepperoni Roll, Stromboli Romano, or Spiced Pumpkin Bread. I also have a really long bread knife that I used when I made a lot of bread in the bread machine--before gluten intolerance struck our home...and before our bread maching broke!

I frequently use a pastry scraper--though not for scraping pastry.Since I chop a lot of veggies, I use the scraper to scoop up all the chopped goodies to place them either in the cooking pan or the serving bowl. It's sure better than having to constantly pick up and scrape off my big cutting board...or grabbing it all with your hands and getting your hands too messy to continue chopping with your knife.

I also use a few cutting boards each day: 1 to make lunches, and usually 2 for dinner (1 for meats; 1 for veggies, etc.). Let me not forget to mention my kitchen shears I use constantly. My kids are well trained to never EVER take use these scissors. (Do your things disappear also?) They're so well trained that they even remind Joe not to use them! ("Daddy, you're not supposed to use Mommy's kitchen scissors.)

Although I have a wonderful blender/food processor combo unit that I love (Thanks again, Big Brother!), I rarely use it to slice vegetables. If I'm going to use this unit, I'm going to make it worth my while to clean it...since you don't want to put this stuff in your dish washer.



I use the blender topper to make smoothies, Orange Julius, my Caramelized Espresso Frappe, and I think I'm even going to make this Pots de Creme tonight! I use the food processor attachment to make Hummus, Pesto, Fresh Cranberry Compote (I haven't posted that recipe yet), etc.

Since I only use the unit about once a week, I store it in a cabinet. I'm not one who uses it every day like a couple of friends of mine who have one of these. These Blendtec blenders are handy since they're also guaranteed to crush ice. If I make smoothies or frappes, I just use my good 'ol hand crank ice crusher.

What are your favorite kitchen tools and gadgets?

Sweet Southern Iced Tea

THE REAL THING

By "the real thing" I do not necessarily mean caffeine laden. (My body doesn't like too much of that stuff.) I mean that it is freshly brewed. I've learned that some people who call themselves "Southerners" actually use instant tea these days or settle for pre-made tea from concentrate, so I'm here to keep the REAL tea tradition alive (and keep some coins in your pocket) by showing y'all how to make it.

Did you know that you'd pay $13/gallon for a catering iced tea service? Full tea service usually includes one (only ONE) gallon of freshly brewed iced tea, lemon wedges, and packets of sugar--that'll make your cold tea gritty!

This time of year in the South you've gotta know how to make it. And I like it sweet. Not SWWEEEEEEET, just sweet!

So, here we go. Go to the store and get something like this, although any kind of tea bags really work...if you think you'll like it cold! Orange pekoe (Lipton's red and yellow box for caffeinated; green, red, and yellow for decaf) is most commonly used for good iced tea.Or, instead of going all the way to the store, just check your cupboards and grab some tea bags you probably already have. If you don't have any tea, maybe you're just not the tea type and wouldn't be interested in making the icy stuff anyway. But for the sake of your future house guests, read on, so you know how to make it for them!

Next, follow the directions on the box and enjoy!

Okay, I won't let you off that easily.

Now, take 3 of these larger iced tea bags (or 5-6 regular-sized Lipton tea bags) and put them into a heat-proof glass or ceramic pitcher. I know there are only two bags in the picture, just go with me on this. The instructions say to use 2 teabags for 8 cups (that's 2 qts.) of water. As long as we're not settling for that other iced tea, let's also not settle for (gasp) weak tea!

I've used a plastic pitcher before, but that's when I wasn't making REAL iced tea. I've mended my ways.
Next, fill the pitcher half full with boiling water. You know how to boil water, right? Start with fresh, cold water and boil it in your kettle.If you want to make your tea faster (since that happens sometimes when you start thinking about iced tea), it's nice to have one of these insty-hot spigot thingys like I do. Now don't get all snooty and tell me about how boiling fresh, cold water is better. This is MY life.
I love my insty hot water spigot because when I need boiling water...POOF, there it is, right there without getting the kettle out. Amazing! I mostly love it because it takes too much time out of my day waiting for our hot water to come clear across our house from our water heater to our kitchen sink. So, now I can fill up my sink with really hot water right away! Love it!

Let your tea bags steep for 5 minutes...or more like 8-10 minutes like I did today since I had to chase my kids back outside because they were running through the house with water-filled squirt guns they got at our neighborhood 4th of July celebration the other day. While you're at it, grab one of these.
No, it's not for chasing around your kids. It's to stir in some of sugar.

Try not to get all crazy and strong arm your wooden spoon into squeezing out every last drop of water from your tea bags like I did. If you do, your spoon may look like mine does now.
Once you have the tea bags removed and the tea is still hot, stir in your sugar--about 1/3-1/2 cup, depending on how sweet you like it.

I'm sure you've had that gritty sugary feeling in your tea before. Or you stir your sugar in and find that you drink mostly unsweetened tea...until the very end, when sugar is all that's left. That's because sugar doesn't dissolve well in COLD tea. So, keep the grit out and stir in the sugar while it's still hot.

Okay, I will confide in you. I DO have some instant iced tea mix in my pantry. I tend to get a little impatient when I'm really hot and thirsty, and sometimes I just want my tea NOW! (So keep in mind, it's best to just make your freshly-brewed tea early every morning in the summertime--before you get really hot and thirsty.) There are some fun instant tea flavors these days, it's hard to resist. It's okay to use it in a pinch. Even when using a mix, it's better to first add a little hot water to the mix and stir it up before adding cold water and ice. It'll dissolve the sugar and leave you with pure non-gritty, refreshing pleasure! Again, that's when I LOVE my insty-hot spigot thingy. Just a little bit of that hot stuff is needed to do the job nicely! Just don't serve this stuff to your guests. You don't serve instant coffee to them, do you?

Okay, let's finish our iced tea now, shall we?

Walk over to your freezer and fill up the rest of the pitcher with ice! Put it in the fridge until you can't wait anymore to have some freshly-brewed iced tea, then get it out and pour yourself an icy glass. And I mean glass...not plastic. It's for your own good, believe me!

If you like, add some lemon wedges. But promise me you won't decorate your glass with those silly circles of lemons. How will you get juice out of them anyway?

Change it up a bit and try this type of tea once in a while. In comes in peach too!
Now you can sit down, enjoy your tea, and watch the pretty Texas sunset. Or if you're not here, just imagine one. They're the realllly beautiful ones you dream about!