Chocolate Chess Pie

So the other day Riggs and I were playing as Avery was at Mother's Day Out.  I was craving something but didn't know what.  Then it hit me..... like a bolt from the blue....  CHOCOLATE CHESS PIE.  I absolutely HAD to have it.  And I was willing to risk being a teensy bit late to pick up Avery so I could bake it.  Fortunately from start to finish, this pie only took a little more than an hour and a half, and that's with a 60 minute baking time, so I was able to finish it AND go pick up our little monster.

I think Food.com has my favorite recipe:

1 1/2 cups sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 partially 9-inch baked pie crust
Directions:

1  Preheat oven to 325F degrees.
2  Combine sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt.
3  Blend in milk.
4  Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
5  Add butter and vanilla, beat until smooth.
6  Pour into prebaked pie shell.
7  Bake in 325* oven for 55-60 minutes.


I whipped up my new pie crust recipe and baked it for ten minutes at 375 while I mixed the pie filling in the same bowl in which I prepared the crust dough.  So easy, so delicious.  Don't even try to taste this stuff without some whipped cream on top.  And it's even better the next day.  

Thank you to Food-in-Mouth for the above photo.

New Pie Crust Recipe

It's a rainy, rainy Monday afternoon.  Both babies are napping, as should I be, but I wanted to jot down my new go-to for a pie crust before I forget:

Makes 1 pie
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Water

With your fingers, crumble the shortening into the flour and salt until it resembles coarse cornmeal.
Do not overwork.
Add water - it works better very cold, but that's not necessary - until desired consistency.
Roll out onto floured surface.

Pistachio Cupcakes

So..... Ever since I signed up to bake strawberry cupcakes, I've been in a cupcakey mood. Do you have any special requests? Because if Mike and I continue eating said cupcakes at the rate I'm baking them, we're both going to have coronaries in the next 5-10 years. But oh, we will die happy.

Mike particularly likes pistachios, and this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen was the first to come up when I Googled "pistachio cupcakes." I've never really done an altered box recipe before, and Oh. My. Gosh. Does this one live up to the hype. It's the fluffiest cake part of a cupcake I've encountered in a while. Of course I am enamored of the oddity of ingredients and simplicity of the batter: literally just dump white cake mix, eggs, pudding mix, canola oil, and CLUB SODA (of all things!) into a mixer and beat. I'm seriously considering looking for strawberry instant pudding next time I go Krogering.

The icing is pretty special too: it's whipping-cream based instead of a classic buttercream, so it's light and fluffy. Kinda like me.

Pistachio Cupcakes

Cupcake:

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 (3.5 oz) package instant pistachio pudding
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup club soda

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
• 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 1 (3.5 oz) package instant pistachio pudding
• 4-6 drops green food coloring
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachios, optional

1. In a large bowl, beat together all of the cupcake ingredients with a mixer. Mix on low for 30 seconds then increase speed and beat for 2 minutes. Beware that the club soda with cause the ingredients to puff while adding them to the bowl.
2. Place batter in muffin tins that have been lined with liners. You only need to line 21 muffin tins. Fill tins about 2/3 of the way full with batter.
3. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes until golden. Allow cupcakes to cool.
4. Once cupcakes have cooled you can make the frosting. In a large bowl, whip together the milk, whipping cream, and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. I did this in my kitchen aid.
5. Then beat in the package of pistachio pudding and food coloring until combined and firm peaks form. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Sprinkle each cupcake with a little of the chopped pistachios if desired. Makes 21 cupcakes.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen.

S'mores Cookie Bars

A good friend of ours (who will remain nameless since she hasn't yet "come out" in the blog world) is expecting a little girl in November. We are all over the moon excited for her, and we're hosting a couples' baby shower for the sweet expectant couple in September. I've been put in charge of desserts.

Now, this friend is just a darlin' and wants a good, old fashioned cookout, complete with burgers, hot dogs, and s'mores. The guys will probably completely forget that they're even attending a baby shower, and you know, that's probably for the best. Mike once went to a baby shower and took a bottle of Jack Daniels with a nipple on top for the parents. I thought that was inspired for a single guy - that's EXACTLY what we needed somebody to give us just before we had Avery.

But I digress.

Anyway, I started thinking - as much fun as s'mores are, there's also a certain amount of danger involved. True, that danger provides a lot of the flavor, but I'm not sure what the fire insurance policy looks like for the hostess whose house we're using. Fire + marshmallows + long sticks + alcohol + a crowd of people might not = such a great idea. What to do, what to do......

And then our friend Mary Straton sent me this recipe from Crepes of Wrath....... Yes, I made it. Yes, I ate the entire pan.

S’more Cookie Bars
from Baking Bites

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars
1 1/2 cups marshmallow Fluff (not melted marshmallows because they harden when they cool)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and/or line an 8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Don’t worry if it seems thin; the baking powder will allow it to rise.

4. Place chocolate bars over dough (don’t layer the bars, just break them to fit if you need to), then spread the marshmallow Fluff over the chocolate bars. Finally, top the Fluff with the remaining dough by forming the dough into sheets with the palm of your hands and laying it down (as shown above). Don’t worry if the dough isn’t covering everything! It’ll spread out as it bakes.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. If the top is browning too quickly, you can always cover it with tin foil for the remaining baking time. Cool completely before cutting into bars. If you don’t allow them to cool completely, they will crumble when you try to cut them. Makes 16-20 bars.

Thanks to What's Cooking America for the s'more photo and Crepes of Wrath for the fabulous recipe.

Best Banana Pudding Ever

So I was stalking around on FaceBook the other day, and one of my friends Lola posted a photo of banana pudding that she had made with Chessmen cookies instead of Nilla Wafers. What?!? That's blasphemy..... ...or is it? I poked around on the Interwebs and presently found this amazing recipe for banana pudding.

Ingredients
2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding (I used plain vanilla.)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I used Neufschatel.)
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream (I used 8 ounces.)

Directions
Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.
In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Banana pudding will never be the same.

This recipe is super rich and creamy, and it makes a VAT of puddin'. Like take it to Wednesday night church vat. But it won't last long - I've made myself sick on it several times already this week. It makes a great breakfast.

Thanks Paula.

Martha Washingtons

This is one of my favorite Christmas candies, and unlike fudge and divinity, anybody can do it. You don't have to wait 'till it stops raining, and there's no mystic mumbo-jumbo of letting it set up and harden. Basically, it's just a chocolate-covered fondant, but oh, what a fondant it is.

When I was little, I didn't like these very much. They seemed really labor intensive, and the dark chocolate just wasn't my thing. But the other day I decided that nothing would do until I'd made a batch. I forgot that one recipe makes a TON of these babies. I made them twice as big as they're supposed to be and still ended up with over 125. But I turned on some Christmas music, started grooving on down, and had a great time making a mess in the kitchen.

The recipe from which I worked comes from More Saintly Servings from the First United Methodist Church in Canton, Mississippi, where Cha-Cha and Papa Doc were members. It's one of those old recipes from the 1950s with vague descriptions like "1 can Eagle Brand milk," "3 boxes confectioners' sugar," and "1 can coconut." I hate those recipes. Who knows how big cans of coconut were 50 years ago?!? Give me exact measurements, dammit!

So I'll leave it at this: these measurements are give and take, as long as your fondant center is a consistency so you can pick it up and roll it in a ball between your hands and it will hold its shape. Usually I do this with very clean bare hands, but the pregnancy hormones have made me such a hot mama that I had to wear latex gloves so as not to melt the mixture. I love latex gloves in the kitchen; they're just kind of a luxury, so I don't use them often.

Fondant

2 Tablespoons vanilla

3-4 boxes (pounds) confectioners' sugar, to the correct consistency. I used about 4 pounds just to make the mixture stiff enough to roll.

2 sticks melted butter

1 14 ounce can Eagle brand condensed milk

1 can coconut (I just used about 10 ounces flake from a bag, but you can certainly add more to taste)

2 cups chopped nuts

Coating

12-24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, depending on whether or not you want to double-dip

1-2 ounces paraffin wax (you can usually find this in the canning or baking aisle)

Toothpicks. Lots and lots of toothpicks.

• Mix fondant ingredients well and roll into balls.
• Place balls on waxed paper and refrigerate as you go. Once you're done with the last tray, the first tray that you put into the fridge should be cold enough to hold their shape during dipping.
• Using a double-boiler, melt chocolate and paraffin wax, mixing together well.
• Stick a toothpick into each ball on the tray and use this as a handle to dip the chocolate.
• Once you're done dipping all of the balls on that tray, remove the toothpicks. You can re-use them if you like - just keep a small glass nearby to catch them.
• Using a teaspoon, scoop up a little chocolate and use that as a finishing topper to fill the toothpick holes. When I was young, Mom and I used to try to fill them up perfectly so all the balls were neat little spheres. But now that I'm older and more creative, I an reveling in letting the chocolate luxuriously drip down the sides. Then while it's still wet, you can add fun stuff, like nonpareils.

I feel like a Godiva chocolatier. What I wouldn't give for some edible gold leaf right about now.

When you're done, just keep them in the fridge until you're ready to consume. Mmmm. There's something about the crunch of the outer chocolate shell and the soft coconutty goodness inside that tells me Merry Christmas!

Mike asked me why they're called Martha Washingtons, and I had to tell him the same story that my mom told me: I have no idea.

Christmas Candy

Atmospheric conditions have been perfect to make divinity, and oh boy, have I been cooking up a storm. Three batches of divinity later, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a few more batches of candy. Nesting instinct? Maybe. But really, I know this time next year I'll be chasing a little kid around, so I decided to make the most of a quiet kitchen while the peachick is as manageable as she'll ever be.

Also, I have somehow been volunteered to do desserts for all of the Christmas parties to which we've been invited this year, and what hostess wants to deal with plates, forks, knives, etc. involved when a pie or cake is brought? This way guests can definitely have their fill of sugary indulgence by using only their fingers!

So it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the kitchen with.....

Martha Washingtons
Traditional walnut divinity
Chocolate peppermint divinity, a brand-spanking new creation in the kitchen. I added 2 teaspoons peppermint extract instead of vanilla and 12 ounces mini chocolate chips instead of nuts.
Peanut clusters with and without pretzels
Pecan divinity and...
Martha Washingtons with sprinkles.
'cause life's just more fun with sprinkles.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

The only drawback of pumpkin spice muffins is that they don't use a whole can of pureed pumpkin. A standard can is 15 ounces, and 3/4 cup is (if my math is correct) only 6 ounces. Sure, I dump in more pumpkin to make it more of a full cup, but that still leaves 7 ounces of pumpkin hanging out in the kitchen.

Then I decided to bake another batch for a friend, so I had the better part of a whole can of pumpkin hanging out. Hmm. What to do, what to do. Mike had the solution:

"Why don't you put it in ice cream?"

Did I mention this man is brilliant?

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

8-12 ounces canned pureed pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 teaspoon, or to taste, ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon, or to taste, ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon, or to taste, ground allspice

1 teaspoon, or to taste ground cinnamon

2 cups whipping cream

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, pumpkin, and spices until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the whipping cream and whisk for another 30 seconds or so. Whisk it just long enough to incorporate some air into the whipping cream but not long enough to actually whip it.

Slowly pour into an ice cream maker and churn for 20-25 minutes, or until it reaches desired consistency.

Goes well with chocolate syrup.

And it tastes just like chiffon pumpkin pie.

Photo courtesy of Eliza.

Wedding Cake Love

I adored our wedding cake, but how much fun would this have been? Mosey on over to the Sunday Sweets section of CakeWrecks.com to see more ostentatious peacock.

Smitten Kitchen's Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

I love how Deb over at the Smitten Kitchen starts off this recipe with the dire warning that these bars are not good for you. But I beg to differ: they have cereal in them! Whole grains! And peanut butter. That's protein, right? And there's no doubt that dark chocolate can be good for you. So there you have it. These are actually whole grain, protein, anti-oxidant bars.

Mr. Peacock, the dog, and I are vegging on the couch this afternoon, desperately hoping for the rainy day that was forecast but will probably never come. The weekend was a lovely, long one: Mike was off on Friday, so we spent the day setting up our registries at Babies R Us and Target. I started off by gently kidding him about all the new gadgets and doohickeys that he would learn about in the next few hours, and before it was all over (and six hours later), we were both shellshocked. The sheer volume of stuff necessary for a new human being is astounding. The pack n' play, the swing, the splat mat, the mobi wrap, the monitors, OH MY. How did our parents ever make it without a rubber whale to cushion the bathtub faucet so we wouldn't bash our heads?!?

Then, so Mike could keep his Man Card, we spent yesterday afternoon looking at handguns. I don't know who had more fun: us or the guys behind the counter working with a mean pregnant redhead who obviously knows her way around a gun. Or the crazy toothless redneck customer who followed me everywhere I went.

It was all fun and games until the smallest piece I handled - a teensy tinesy Walther PPK .380 old James Bond gun (he currently carries a PPS) - bit me on the left thumb. It was brand new, and the spring was really tight and the metal still really sharp. It's certainly not the first time I've been bit in such a manner, and it really didn't hurt much, but dang. I bled all over the place. It was probably the extra blood I'm sporting to support this little girl, but I was positively dripping. There were even drops on the floor.

It's time to pack it in when your husband says, "Um, do you have an extra handkerchief so I can wipe blood off the gun?"

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

These bars are sticky and indulgent and not good for you in any way, so before you even ask, perhaps you can make them with organic, low-fat peanut butter, whole grain bio-crisped rice cereal or a sugar substitute but you shouldn’t. Nobody likes a party pooper.

For the crispy crust
1 3/4 cups crisped rice cereal
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted (their recommendation) or salted (what I used, and liked) butter, melted

For the milk chocolate peanut butter layer
5 ounces good-quality milk (their recommendation) or semi-sweet (what I’d use next time) chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup creamy peanut butter

For the chocolate icing
3 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72 percent cocoa), coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted (their recommendation) or salted (what I used, and liked) butter

Make the crispy crust: Lightly spray a paper towel with nonstick cooking spray and use it to rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan.

Put the cereal in a large bowl and set aside.

Pour 1/4 cup water into a small saucepan. Gently add the sugar and corn syrup (do not let any sugar or syrup get on the sides of the pan) and use a small wooden spoon to stir the mixture until just combined. Put a candy thermometer in the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 235 degrees F.

Remove from the heat, stir in the butter, and pour the mixture over the cereal. Working quickly, stir until the cereal is thoroughly coated, then pour it into the prepared pan. Using your hands, press the mixture into the bottom of the pan (do not press up the sides). Let the crust cool to room temperature while you make the next layer.

Make the milk chocolate peanut butter layer: In a large nonreactive metal bowl, stir together the chocolate and the peanut butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for about 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust. Put the pan in the refridgerator for 1 hour, or until the top layer hardens.

Make the chocolate icing: In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter.

Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the chilled milk chocolate peanut butter layer and spread (actually, I found it easier to just roll it around until it coated smoothly, avoiding the risk of picking up any of the peanut butter layer with it) into an even layer. Put the pan into the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the topping hardens.

Cut into 9 (they say, I say 16, at least!) squares and serve. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator, covered tightly, for up to 4 days.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

"Sakes Alive" Chocolate Fudge Bars

Life is so good around here lately. Sure, I'm worried about Mom's potential cancer coming back, but I'll worry about that on Wednesday, when we meet with her doctor. The sermon at church today was about how God will take care of us, and I have to trust that. Even though last week I had a bit of a panic attack of worry regarding how I'll be able to handle the next six months of potential chemo on top of my own doctor appointments on top of an already busy schedule.

And January. Goodness, how will I make it through W-2s, W-3s, 1099s, 1096s, financials, State transmittals, sales taxes, and all the other good stuff that comes with the end of the year, on top of being 40 weeks pregnant?!? God will take care of us and not give us more than we can take.

Where was I? Oh yeah. The good. There's a sexy man sitting on the couch next to me, watching Star Wars. A sleepy dog is sacked out next to said sexy man, and a bratty cat is meowing at our feet. We have a busy and productive week ahead of us that's sure to keep us relatively out of trouble. I can feel the beginning vestiges of the welcome fall creeping up on us (knock on wood), and if you live within 100 miles of where I sit, you can appreciate that.

What sort of foods do you like best during the autumn? Any recipes you'd like me to research and try out? I'm looking forward to spices like nutmeg and cinnamon and savories like pot roast and shepherd's pie. Snuggling with a hot toddy and a hot man and a warm puppy dog while watching Miami Vice reruns. Football games and back to school....

Oh damn. I forgot the maniacal school buses that drive like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride through the neighborhood. Truly, I believe they think they'll win a prize if they hit us.

But if it means temperatures and "real feels" (what the heck happened to heat indices?) below 112 degrees, Dante and I will happily brave the sadistic bus drivers.

We had dinner with some really good friends last night, one of whom commented that my two biggest sections of this blog are Desserts and Travel. Those are just two of my favorites in life. The thing is, I've learned during my short tenure on this planet that families who know what's coming for dinner are generally happier, so I incorporate a new entree only once or twice a month. Otherwise, I tend to do similar entrees to the recipes I've already posted,and as there are currently only two of us, leftovers are an inevitability. But I figure desserts are special and can be varied. So that's where I find my adventure.

This recipe actually turned up in last Sunday's paper, next to a coupon for Martha White muffin mix. I thought that was a particularly fun way to sell muffin mix, so I decided to take them up on it. And boy, am I glad I did. Even though they perhaps should be renamed "Dirty Every Pot in the Kitchen" Chocolate Fudge Bars.

No-stick cooking spray

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

2 (7.4 ounce) packages Martha White Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 (14 ounce) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (of course I used pecans)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Coat a 13 x 9 inch pan with no-stick cooking spray.
• Beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy.
• Beat in vanilla and egg.
• Stir in muffin mix and oats.
• Reserve one cup of mixture.
• Pat remaining mixture into prepared pan.
• Combine sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips over low heat until chocolate is melted, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat and stir in walnuts (PECANS!).
• Spread over muffin mixture to edge of pan.
• Drop reserved oat mixture by teaspoonfuls over chocolate mixture.
• Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool completely (in pan) on a wire rack.

Once reheated, this stuff is SO GOOD with vanilla ice cream.

Million Dollar Pound Cake

I've read somewhere that your sense of smell is most closely linked with memory. For instance, Mike gave me a perfume for my birthday one year when we just started dating, and to this day, that scent takes me back to the first fun days of falling in love.

Every now and then a recipe comes along that makes the whole kitchen and parts of the house smell like my grandmother's. I don't know if it was her cooking or Daisy's (I flatter myself to compare m creations to Daisy), but it feels like coming home and taking a trip back to my roots. Poached chicken breasts with onions and bell peppers and bacon for BLTs cooked in the cast-iron skillet are two in particular that hearken to the old days in a kitchen with brick floors.

And now I've found another.

This recipe is another that came from my new favorite book, Being Dead is No Excuse, and I love the simplicity of it. Truly, some of the most simple things in life are the best. Give a kid a gift wrapped in a big cardboard box, and you'll see what I mean.

1 pound butter, softened

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt (I added this to bring out the extract flavors)

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Cream the butter; gradually add the sugar. Beat well (as in, fluffy. I beat it for a full 5 minutes.)
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each.
• Add the flour and salt to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with flour. Do not overmix.
• Add the flavorings.
• Pour batter into a greased-and-floured tube pan (10-inch tube pan or 10-cup pan).
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until slightly firm to the touch.
• Cool in pan for ten minutes.

Voila.
I know it's odd to show the bottom of a cake, but it was just too pretty and decadent not to take a photo of that. I mean, look at all that lovely caramelized sugar. Yum.

Dump it out, and this is what you get. Can be topped with anything fancy - homemade whipped cream and raspberry coulis is one of my favorite combinations. Or you can be a purist and just enjoy it warm. This cake freezes exceptionally well, which makes it a great funeral dish.

But my favorite way to serve it.....

.... is toasted. With coffee. On a cool autumn morning (I know it's hot as hell out there, just bear with me). And not just any toaster will do. You have slice it up and broil this baby old-school. One day I'd love to have an honest-to-Pete gas broiler, but Mr. Peacock (wisely) doesn't trust me with an open flame in the kitchen. I suppose I'm lucky to have my gas stovetop.

By Popular Demand - Mint Chocolate Chip

Mint chocolate chip has always been one of my particular ice cream favorites. So much so that I've become a bit of an aficionado - Baskin Robbins is the best while Bryer's just doesn't cut it. Perhaps because Bryer's is missing the distinctive green flavor in its quest for all-natural ingredients. I remember as a kid my dad would take me to Baskin Robbins for a mint-chocolate-chip-Sprite-float, and boy was it good. Completely hit the spot on a hot summer day.

So I was SO pleasantly surprised when this Cuisinart recipe worked out perfectly.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

1-2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract (to taste)

2-3 drops green food coloring

1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips or your favorite bittersweet or dark chocolate bar, chopped

• In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes on low speed.
• Stir in the heavy cream, peppermint extract to taste, and green food coloring.
• Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout, and let mix until thickened about 25-30 minutes.
• Add the chocolate chips during the last 5 minutes of mixing.

I Scream, You Scream

I don't know about you, but there are few things in this world on a hot day better than homemade soft serve. Maybe ice cold watermelon, but usually ice cream just can't be beat.

Then again, one Thanksgiving Mike's aunt Nancy made a cinnamon ice cream to top pumpkin pie. It was so good, I made myself sick on that stuff. I still dream about it.

Where was I? Oh yeah, hot summer days, a melty cone of the freshest, softest cold stuff you can imagine. Don't forget to put a marshmallow in the bottom of the cone to prevent drips.

Unfortunately, it takes some investment for homemade ice cream: I highly recommend the Cuisinart model, as the brand is great, has excellent customer service, rarely breaks down, and comes with a fairly foolproof recipe booklet that covers all your basics and then some. Of course, I could also have used the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment, but I just didn't think about it.

But consider the benefits to homemade ice cream: you know exactly what's going in there. You know there are no preservatives, no weird hormones, just what you put in the pot and nothing else. And really, I don't think you can buy ice cream that tastes as good as you can make it.

Because I happened to have a bunch in the fridge that were about to go bad, the first batch I made was strawberry. I followed the Cuisinart recipe rather closely, and oh my, it was F.I.N.E. fine. The only difference is that I blended the strawberries in a blender with the lemon juice to make a more smooth cream and a more fun pink color. Will have to make some for Mike's buddy Karl when he comes to visit.

Ingredients
3 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 cup sugar, divided
1-1/4 cups whole milk
2-3/4 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• In a small bowl, combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar.
• Stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours.
• Strain the berries, reserving juices.
• Mash or purée half the berries.
• In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and remaining granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry juice, mashed strawberries, and vanilla.
• Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the reserved sliced strawberries and let mix in completely.
• The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture.
• If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.
• Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Flowers & Fruit Salad

Does this chocolate make my butt look fat?

I have recently been accused of making everybody around me chunky with my cooking. Thing is, I'm just as guilty of taking in calories as everybody else, as I'm the one stuck with all this food at the end of the day. So what if I bring a platter of brownies to the office every now and then? I have to spread the
fatlove around.

But yes, I suppose a little fruit here and there is in order. And it's the perfect excuse for me to buy a new gadget that I've been eyeing lately. Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes on (drumroll please)

A pineapple slicer! Actually, Williams-Sonoma calls it a Pineapple Easy Slicer, but that name is a complete crock. If you follow the link and watch the video, when it comes time to pull the pineapple rings out, you can see in that woman's eyes a glimmer of, "are you kidding me?" And it's true: this thing is not really easy. It helps to take a knife and run it around the edges after you've twisted it down into the fruit, but you should still expect to come out of this experience sticky and to have let fly a few expletives.

But it makes this possible:

I do love a crisp fruit salad. They're pretty, they're easy, and gosh darn it, you can't have a decent brunch without one. This one included the following:

1 pineapple

1/2 pound strawberries

1 pound black grapes

1 green pear

5-6 sprigs fresh mint

2-3 sprigs fresh basil

5-6 leaves fresh lavender

Chop it all up and throw it in a bowl. Or a pineapple.

Yesterday was neon limey green from all the pollen. Every year it's this way - the great equalizer, as everybody's car is covered in green - but yesterday was especially different as I could actually see the stuff in the atmosphere. Swirling, settling, puffing out from everywhere. It's strange, as last week it snowed on my tomatoes.

I had to work, so Mike scrambled around the backyard protecting them. The man must love me.
But spring is most definitely in the air.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi, my name is Fran. And I am a bad neighbor.

A while ago I noticed that a house down the street exchanged hands and that a nice new family had moved inside. I made a note to take them a happy once they settled in. And for a while I have seen the lady of the new household walking her dog up and down the street. Every time we passed, I'd speak and make a note to take them a happy later this week. Later this week turned into this weekend, which turned into next week which was forgotten until I saw the lady and her precious pup once again on what is quickly becoming Wisteria Lane.

And the cycle would continue.

Finally last week the rain cut Dante's and my walk short and I firmly decided to use that time to do something good. To become a real person, ditch my awkward shyness, throw out all excuses, and march myself right up and introduce myself to that nice new neighbor lady.

But first I wanted to make some cookies.

It's funny how you can find the best recipes in the most unexpected places. This one is from the inside of a Land O Lakes Butter carton. But I absolutely love it.

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) LAND O LAKES butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 12-ounce package real semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy.
• Add eggs and vanilla.
• Continue beating, scraping the bowl often, until well mixed.
• Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour mixture, until well mixed.
• Stir in chocolate chunks.
• Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 10-14 minutes or until light golden brown. (DO NOT OVERBAKE.)
• Let stand 1 to 2 minutes.
• Remove from cookie sheets.
• Makes 26 jumbo cookies.

Warm cookies in hand, I did march myself right up to meet the lovely new neighbors. They are from Pennsylvania, and it turns out they have been here since August. AUGUST. August. Which means I'd been putting off a visit for half a year. So I suppose they aren't so new as neighbors anymore. How embarrassing.

But I'm so glad to know them now. The husband works down at the power plant with Mike, and they know each other, reaffirming my belief in Clinton's small-world-ness.

So now you know how to be a good neighbor AND how to make damn good chocolate chip cookies. I just love this patronizing ad from the 1950s. Betty who?

Cookie photo courtesy of ehow.

Lessons Learned from Chocolate Cake

Yesterday was a complete waste of makeup. I won't go into it here, as I whined and complained plenty to close friends yesterday. You know who you are, and I thank you.

A few days ago, my friend Karli sent me a link to one of my new favorite blogs, The Way the Cookie Crumbles. The author had recently baked a recipe for a Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake that looked to die for. Yes, the photo above is from The Way the Cookie Crumbles. I might post photos of my cake later. Let's just say this cake is a prime example of why counter irritants do not help.

In my distraction, everything that could have gone wrong in the icing and construction of this cake went wrong, wrong, wrong. I forgot to tightly wrap and chill the cakes so they wouldn't be so crumbly, and BOY WERE THE CRUMBLY. I forgot that one part of the cake was so fresh that it split in half when I took it out of the pan, and of course that's the second one I picked up, so the two halves are going their separate ways on top of the cake. I tried to stitch it together with toothpicks but only used two, lest it become a frankencake.

The good side is it's such a fresh, moist, succulent, fluffy cake that it just falls apart and melts in your mouth. Meanwhile my grandmother is rolling in her grave that there is such a crumbly-iced cake sitting on the island in my kitchen.

I covered it with sprinkles. Everybody loves sprinkles. (Please click on the link. You'll laugh. I promise.)

It looks dreadful, but you know what? It tastes damn good. Best chocolate cake I've made in a long time. And I figure that's a good lesson to take from it. Sometimes life doesn't look so great. Often it's discouraging and things don't work out the way you want them to. Too many plans are forgotten or dissolve, confusion and disappointment ensue, and stuff just plain falls apart.

But at the end of the day, it's still sweet.

Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake
FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (I used 1 full teaspoon to make a fluffier cake.)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (optional)
GETTING READY TO BAKE:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper.
3. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

TO MAKE THE CAKE:

1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.
3. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is thoroughly blended into the butter.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, then the yolks one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
5. Beat in the vanilla.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk; add the dry ingredients in 3 portions and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); mix only until each new batch is blended into the batter.
7. Scrape down the bowl and, if you want, add the melted chocolate, folding it in with a rubber spatula.
8. Divide the batter between the cake pans.
9. Bake for 26 to 30 minutes, or until the cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the pans.
10. Transfer the cakes to racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners.
11. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (Once the layers are cooled, they can be wrapped airtight and left at room temperature overnight or kept frozen for up to 2 months.)

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

1. Place one layer top side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
2. Frost the top of the layer, then cover with the second layer, top side down.
3. Frost the sides and top of the cake, either smoothing the buttercream for sleek look or using a spatula, knife or spoon to swirl it for a more exuberant look.
4. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour (or up to 1 day, if that’s more convenient) to set the frosting, then bring it to room temperature before serving.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting (frosting pictured here)
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (about) (Give or take a cup, depending on how thick you want the frosting to be.
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

1. Cream the cream cheese and butter until fully incorporated and smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar until desired sweetness and consistency is reached.
3. Add 1 tablespoon heavy cream, whip until light.

English Toffee

Oh my, has the weather been dreary in Mississippi. It feels more like we're living in London. Not much rain, just a drizzle and fog that dampens everything in its path, including your spirits. Bad hair days are running rampant. And a cold, a wet cold that goes deep into your bones. We've been warding off the chill rather well so far, but the past two days have been downright soupy. So I figured I'd get in the kitchen and come up with something to brighten Mike's day when he gets home.

What to do, what to do.....

Well, what would the English do?
Wow do I have a new favorite recipe.

Remember how I once mentioned to never trust a skinny cook? You'll be able to trust me just fine now that I know how to make English toffee. It might just be really fantastic beginner's luck, but this stuff is easier than divinity. Easier than fudge. Hell, it's easier than brownies.

1 pound butter or oleo
2 Tablespoons water
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely chopped walnuts (of course I used pecans)
8 ounces of milk or dark chocolate, depending on taste
About 1 1/2 Tablespoons Gulf candy wax (optional - it gives the chocolate a more shiny, more durable texture)

1. Combine butter and water in a 4 quart Dutch oven.
2. Cook over medium heat until butter melts.
3. Add sugar and salt.
4. Boil, stirring constantly.
5. When mixture begins to lighten in color (I waited until 250 degrees), add one cup of nuts.
6. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until it reaches 298 degrees.
7. Pour into a buttered 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan and spread to cool.
8. Slightly mark into 1 inch square pieces with knife and cool completely.
9. Melt chocolate and wax in a double boiler.
10. Spread over toffee and sprinkle with nuts, gently pressing nuts into melted chocolate.
11. Break into squares.
12. Makes 3 pounds.

Since this post began so drearily, I thought I'd end it with a little sunshine from a photo taken just last week. Could somebody please explain why the paperwhites on the right are growing so much taller than the paperwhites on the left?

London photo courtesy of Time.

Italian Cream Cake

Mike proposed to me on July 11, 2006. Mom was diagnosed with lymphoma on August 5 of the same year, and doctors started dumping cytoxin, vincristine, and rituxin in her body shortly thereafter. Everything turned out OK, but the process was difficult when we were in the midst of it.

Especially so because our good friends Cindy and James were getting married late that October. Mom had offered to bake the wedding cake, but there was no way she would be able to do it: the chemo had rendered her unable to hold a can of Coke, much less bake a quadruple-batch Italian cream cake.

So with much trepidation, I stepped up. I went for a simple design - very much like the one above that I baked this morning - but it was much larger and rectangular with two tiers. My favorite part of it was that I took Tropicana sweetheart cluster roses, clipped each bud to have about a 1 inch stem, and tucked them in a tight, neat row at the base of the cake. That way, everybody had a piece of cake with a rosebud on it. I wish I could find the photo of us during the reception - Cindy had Mike and me feed each other cake as practice for our own upcoming wedding. It was a hoot and a half.

We are still blessed enough to have Cindy and James as good friends, and I look forward to my visits at their place in the country. Meet Red and Spot, the calves James gave Cindy for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. Aren't they beautiful? They were bottle-raised and came from the Vet School at Mississippi State.

Happy anniversary, you two.

Italian Cream Cake
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small package coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
5 egg whites, stiffly beaten

- Cream margarine and shortening, add sugar and beat until mixture is smooth.
- Add egg yolks and beat well.
- Combine flour and soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.
- Stir in vanilla and add coconut and nuts.
- Fold in egg whites.
- Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 8-inch cake pans
- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick margarine
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Chopped pecans

- Beat cream cheese and margarine until smooth; add sugar and mix well.
- Add vanilla, beat until smooth. Spread on cake and sprinkle with pecans.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

Frost is on the pumpkin, but translated to Mississippi terms, it's raining cats and dogs. I hold firm to my original instinct that spring is my favorite season, but fall comes in at a very close second. The gray English days, the feeling that the world is slowly falling asleep, the beautiful foliage, and the coziness of an evening fire come together for one of the most distinctive times of year.

Last night was particularly spooky: Kearney has discovered the grandeur of the outdoors in the backyard. As soon as I return home in the afternoons, Kearney bolts to the backdoor and begs, whines, pleads, and insists that he be let outside RIGHT NOW. He has very important things to take care of out there. So far the score is Kearney: 1, lizards: 1.

I suppose along with his newfound freedom, Kearney has developed a territory all his own that encompasses the back yard. So at 2 this morning, when he discovered another cat in his territory, Kearney was none too pleased. The noises that came out of that cat raised goosebumps on my arms and the back of my neck. Woken from a deep sleep, my first instinct was to reach for the gun: there must be a zombie in the house. I soon realized it was just Kearney, as Mike was already out of bed and in the living room, trying to placate the feline. I fell back asleep with visions of the big tabby arched on top of a pumpkin.

So I decided to bake this cake.

And the smells this cake emits are almost even better than the taste. Even Mike came in wondering what the heavenly aroma was. And from his adventures in scuba diving, Mike can't smell a damn thing.

The most sincere form of flattery is imitation, so my friend over at The Food Librarian should be sincerely flattered. Like me, she loves bundt cakes and has started I Like Big Bundts: 30 Days of Bundt Cakes leading up to National Bundt Day on November 15th. It's worth the click to see the logo.

For cake
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-ounce can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

For icing
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well-shaken buttermilk
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar


Special equipment: a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

Make cake:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bundt pan generously, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour (2 1/4 cups), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter (1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

Make icing:
While cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Cooks' note:
Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Inspiration courtesy of The Food Librarian.

Recipe courtesy of Epicurious.