Birthday Cake.

Happy 85th Birthday, Gramma Eva!

This is one of my favorite pictures of my Gramma, my mom, (Gayle) and me at my wedding three years ago.

This is the cake I made in honor of my Gramma's birthday. (My mom made the real birthday cake for her birthday party.) Clearly I haven't mastered the skill of frosting a cake well quite yet. At least not with this frosting...

The cake did still turn out to be pretty good. Unfortunately, the layers cracked as I was transferring them out of their pans, so they got a bit dry. The frosting helped a bit, but we ended up eating most of the leftovers in a bowl with milk poured over top. (A good solution for a dry cake, but really just a good way to eat cake regardless. If you haven't tried it, do.)

The recipes for the frosting and the cake are as follows. I regularly use this frosting recipe, it's an old family favorite, from a cookbook published in my Gramma's hometown the year I was born. The cake was a new recipe, and I haven't decided yet if I'll try it again. It was good, but there are so many spectacular cake recipes out there to really justify wasting time on one that's just good. Still, it was very quick, simple, and with a whipped cream frosting, any dryness that may result would easily be covered up. (As opposed to this frosting, as much as I love it, it develops almost a candy shell, which with the right type of cake is fabulous, but with a dry cake only exacerbates the problem.) Either way, I highly reccomend using either recipe, but perhaps not together. :)

Gold Layer Cake, from The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar, sifted

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 egg yolks, well beaten

1 t. vanilla extract (I used this)

-or-

1 t. grated lemon rind

2 c. cake flour, sifted before measuring

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. milk

Directions:

Sift sugar. Beat the butter until soft, then gradually add sugar. Blend until creamy. Beat in the egg yolks. Add vanilla or lemon rind.

Sift before measuring the cake flour. Resift with the baking powder and salt.

Add the sifted ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating in three parts with the milk. Beat the batter until smooth after each addition.

Bake in two greased 8 inch layer pans in a 375ºF oven for a half hour. Spread layers with a good frosting or dust top with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

My Favorite Chocolate Frosting, from Sharing Our Best, Turton Centennial Cookbook

(Recipe by Sylvia Biffert and Judy K. Hansen)

Ingredients:

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:

Bring sugar, butter and milk to a boil and add chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Spread on cake.

Additional hints with this: If the frosting cools too much, it will harden before you can spread it well. Simply reheat and add a bit more milk, and you'll be fine. If it gets too thin, add a few more chocolate chips. You'll want to frost when it's just barely too thick to drizzle. Enjoy!

Blueberry Cobbler.

I have made this cobbler SO many times this past summer. When blueberries were on sale, $3 for 5 lbs? I made it three times. In a week. Yup, it's just that good. (Please note, I shared the cobbler with other people. Three cobblers to myself? I don't think even I could handle that sugar high.)

The original recipe is for blackberry cobbler, and, well, blackberries are nice and all, but my husband hates the seeds. Thus, blackberries are not often spotted in our home. You can make this with any sort of berry, or maybe even other fruit, sliced small, but fresh works better than frozen. I've done both, and the frozen berries tend to juice a bit too much and it gets soggy. That said, if you let them thaw, drain them, and dry them, it should be fine. Here's the recipe. 

One last thing. The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't been introduced yet, oh my, but you need to be. I've yet to have a recipe of hers come even close to failing, and most I make again and again. On top of all that, she's hilarious. :) 

Enjoy!

Texas Meat Marinade from Former First Lady Laura Bush.

When Chris and I were wed, my mother gave us a lovely gift. She wrote to friends and family, as well as our current politicians in office, and asked for well-loved recipes. Pres. George W. Bush was in office at the time, so she wrote to First Lady Laura Bush as well. Some of the recipes received are of the sort that my family simply will not touch; this is not one of those.

This marinade is amazing, and simple to boot! There are no photos as I didn't think to snap one before we sat down to dinner, and also because, delicious as it is, it dulled the color of our steaks to a shade that would not make for a nice photo. :)

Any meat can be used for this, but I do highly recommend using beef. As I've not access to Yucatan Sunshine Habanero Pepper Sauce at my supermarket, I simply use Tabasco sauce. 

Texas Meat Marinade, from Former First Lady Laura Bush

Ingredients:

1/2 t. dry mustard

1/2 t. thyme

1/2 t. marjoram

1/2 t. fresh ground pepper

1 t. Yucatan Sunshine Habanero Pepper Sauce

1 T. Worcestershire sauce (I sub in soy sauce here)

2 t. chopped garlic

1/4 c. corn oil

1/4 c. olive oil

1/2 t. salt

Directions:

Mix the dry mustard, thyme, marjoram, and pepper together. Add garlic, Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce), hot pepper sauce, corn oil, and olive oil. Mix well and pour over your meat of choice covering entire piece of meat with mixture. Marinate for a few hours. Sprinkle with salt just before cooking. Enjoy!

Calling all to help. (Not a recipe.)

This is not a recipe post. This is asking for help from the foodie community to help this family back on their feet. The full story is posted at this address. http://friendsofivoryhut.blogspot.com/ If you are able, please consider aiding them in their recovery from this tragedy.

Basil Ricotta Omelette.

Delicious Simplicity. I love having this for a quick and easy lunch. Five ingredients, less than 10 minutes to make, and it tastes beyond restaurant quality.

I found this recipe in a lovely FREE downloadable cookbook called Stone Soup, from a blog by the same name. The whole philosophy of the blog and cookbook alike are minimalist home cooking, an idea I can get behind wholeheartedly, even if I do fall short of the idea often enough. :) Really though, it's free. Check it out, you won't be sorry. :) If you're adventurous, try the Laksa Soup. Yum.

Basil Ricotta Omelette, from The Stone Soup Cookbook, by Jules Clancy

I modified this slightly to serve one person.

2 eggs

1/2 T. Butter

A Splash of milk (Whisked into the eggs, makes them fluffy and gives a bit more volume, opt.)

2 T. Ricotta

A few basil leaves (Yes, basil is shown above, I happen to have a miniature variety growing in my garden)

Directions:

Whisk the eggs lightly together and add milk if preferred. Heat an omelette pan or sauce pan over medium/medium low heat and melt butter. (Recipe says med-high, this scorches my meal...adjust as you see fit.) Quickly pour in your eggs. Stir continually to move cooked egg off the bottom.

When the egg is almost cooked, drop small bits of ricotta on top and let melt. I folded my omelette in half and allowed some cheese to cook inside, but this is again optional. When omelette is cooked sprinkle with basil and additional cheese if you like. Enjoy!