TWD: Perfect Party Cake

Ever since I got my copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, I look for an opportunity to try something new. Lately, I've been handing the book over to birthday boys and girls so that they can choose their birthday goodie. I haven't been able to get to everyone (because I'm at the busiest time of year with my new job), but if I missed your big day, you'll get a turn. Half birthdays always need to be celebrated! Anyway, last Wednesday was David's birthday. When I gave him the book, he stopped on the Perfect Party Cake and didn't go any further. He had no idea that it was my "assignment" for this week! I told him that I wouldn't be able to make it in time for his mid-week actual birthday (the 24th, which was a Wednesday), but I promised to make it for him on the weekend. I was off work last Friday, so I got to work making the cake. It took some time and attention, but it really wasn't difficult.

The pictures of the cake in the book looked delicious, but I wasn't sure I'd really like a lemon cake filled with raspberry preserves and topped with lemon buttercream. That just seemed like a lot of flavors, and a lot of lemon. But oh, was I ever pleasantly surprised! The cakes baked up beautifully, but didn't bake up as tall as I had hoped. That's partly my fault, though. The recipe says the cakes should be baked in two 9-inch round pans. I only have two 8-inch round pans, so I didn't use all the batter. I didn't want to have to clean up a big mess in the oven. But I could have used all the batter, and I think my layers would have been higher. Oh, well. I enjoyed eating the batter, anyway! You live and you learn...next time I'll use it all in the 8-inch pans.
I was also a little nervous about making the frosting, as well. I'd never made a hot-meringue frosting, but it was super simple. It was much easier than the frosting for the Devil's Food White Out cake. I would definitely make the frosting again, even though it does use three sticks of butter. Did Paula Deen help Dorie with this recipe?!

The only real problem I had with this cake was layering the raspberry preserves and the buttercream for the filling. Instead of being two distinct layers, mine kind of muddled together. It didn't look as pretty, but it tasted great! If I had been able to think outside the box, like other TWDers, I would have done as they did and layered buttercream, chilled it, then slathered on the raspberry preserves. I'll try that next time. And there will be a next time. This was just too good to make only once. If you've got a celebration of any kind coming up soon, make this cake. It's absolutely delicious! Thanks to Carol at mix, mix...stir, stir for picking a winner!

Sun Tea!

When I was growing up, I spent nearly every Saturday night with my Granny and Grandydaddy. We had tons of fun...swinging on the porch swing with Granny, going to KFC for chicken littles, watching Hee-Haw with Grandydaddy. Those were the days. And Granny always had a pitcher of sweet iced tea in the refrigerator. She may not have been the greatest cook in the world, but man, could she make some good sweet tea! I wouldn't want to guess how much sugar she put in it, but it was absolutely delicious! Strangely, though, at my house, we didn't drink iced tea. We mostly just drank water. Soft drinks were pretty rare at my house growing up, and I think we usually kept some apple juice, but mostly, it was water. But it never failed...during the summer, Mom would get out that big glass jar and make sun tea! I always forget about it until about mid-summer when I'm strolling through Wal-Mart and I see the sun tea jars. I always reminisce about having sun tea, but I'd never bought a jar of my own. Until yesterday! I was so excited to make my first batch of summer sun tea! Check it out...
This is the sun tea this morning at about 7:30 when I put it out on the porch. I used 4 family-sized Lipton tea bags. I felt like I should use more, but I like to err on the side of caution. I wanted to see how strong it would be with four bags.
This was the sun tea this afternoon at about 5:00! It's deceptively dark. I just poured me a glass, and it's a little weak. Oh, it's still delicious, but a little weak. I think for the next batch, I'll use 6 tea bags and see what happens. It's officially summer, folks. Break out your sun tea jars! You can't get any "greener" than this!

Sun Tea

6 family-size tea bags

1 gallon water

Plenty of hot, summer sun

Fill your sun tea jar with water and add your tea bags, leaving the strings hanging outside the jar. Place the full jar in a warm, sunny location for 6-8 hours (or longer if you want). When you bring the tea inside, take out the tea bags and squeeze out the excess tea. Sweeten to taste, and enjoy! If you like a fruity flavor, use 1 or 2 flavored tea bags, along with 4 or 5 regular tea bags.

Italian Tilapia

The other night, I remembered that I have a ton of tilapia fillets in the freezer and that we hadn't had any in a long time. This is a super-simple, light, and tasty meal. You can probably make it with ingredients you have on hand.
I started out with about 5 tilapia fillets. The "stuff" I put on top is usually enough for 5-6 fillets, just depending on their size and how much you like to have on top of your fish. First, grease a cookie sheet (one with sides), and put your tilapia fillets on it. Salt and pepper them to your liking.
Then, I mix a can of (drained) diced tomatoes, some sliced black olives, a couple of cloves of garlic, some lemon juice, fresh parsley, and fresh basil. Then I layer the mixture over the tilapia, like this...Then, you bake the fillets in a 350-degree oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until your fish flakes easily. We had a starch-filled dinner this time...peas and corn. It was delicious!

Italian Tilapia

4-5 tilapia fillets

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

4 oz. sliced black olives, drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

juice from 1/2 of a lemon (or more if you'd like)

chopped fresh parsley (or you can use dried)

chopped fresh basil (or you can use dried)

feta cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and place tilapia fillets on sheet. Salt and pepper to taste. In a mixing bowl, mix tomatoes, olives, garlic, lemon, parsley, and basil. Spread tomato mixture evenly over each tilapia fillets. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. If you'd like to use the feta, put it on when there's about 5-7 minutes left of baking time.

Thrifty Thursday: In a Pickle

My little sister, Allison, was definitely "the creative one" between the two of us. She still is. She's always been very artistic, and had the most active imagination as a child. We had a set of those Childcraft books in the house, and Allison's favorite was Make and Do. It was full of little craft projects, and I think she must have done every project in that book at least twice. She was a busy kid. She would go to her room and disappear for hours, and when she came out she had made something fabulous out of junk she found around the house. One of our very favorite stories of Allison's creativity is this: one afternoon, she got a great big box and took it to her room. We figured she'd make something like a playhouse, or a boat, or something. An hour or so later, she emerged from her room, excited and triumphant. In her hands, she held a small box. She was beaming, and she said, "Look Mom! I made a box out of a box!" We love that story. It cracks us all up every time we tell it, which is often.
Today, for Thrifty Thursday, I feel like Allison. I made pickles out of pickles! They start out as regular old dill pickles, and are then transformed into a sort of dill pickle/bread and butter pickle crossbreed. My mother- and father-in-law suggested this to me for Thrifty Thursday a couple of weeks ago (they're a staple at their house), and I initially resisted. I love these pickles, but why would making pickles out of pickles be thrifty?

Generally speaking, I don't like bread and butter pickles. I like dill pickles. Therefore, I only buy dill pickles (David has no real preference, that I've been able to discern). They're pretty cheap. So I asked Shirley, "Why don't you just by bread and butter pickles?!" She looked kind of surprised, and said, "Because they're more expensive." I had no idea. So the next time I was at the grocery, I checked out the pickle situation. Sure enough, the jar of dill pickles above was $1.05. A similar sized jar of bread and butter pickles was nearly $3.00! What the heck is that about? I guess it's the sugar. So I decided that it was time to make pickles out of pickles for Thrifty Thursday.
As you can see in the picture up there, it's really simple. You need the whole kosher dill pickles, a cup of sugar, and some plain white vinegar. Drain the pickle juice, cut up your pickles, mix the sugar and vinegar, add the pickles, and shake. In about two more days, you'll have crunchy homemade bread and butter pickles!

How to Make Pickles Out of Pickles

Earl and Shirley Orr

1 jar whole kosher dill pickles (1 used a 32 oz size)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

Drain all the juice from the pickles. Save the juice to use later for some of the neat ideas from previous Thrifty Thursday posts. Slice your pickles into the size slices you like. (Shirley likes 'em thick, Earl likes 'em thin.) Pour sugar into pickle jar, then add the vinegar. Stir to combine. Add your pickles. Close the lid really tight and shake the jar for about a minute or so. Place the jar upside down in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Take the jar out and shake it up good again, then put it back in the refrigerator right side up for 24 hours. On the third day, enjoy your crunchy new pickles!

It's David's Birthday!

Today is David's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID! I've been telling him for at least two weeks that he needs to get Dorie's cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours and pick out his birthday treat. Finally, last night he got it out and made his selection. What did he pick? You won't believe it. He picked the Perfect Party Cake! What's the big deal? Well...unbeknownst to David, that's the TWD assignment for next week! It's a little too involved for a weeknight birthday treat, so I promised that I would make it for him this weekend. But for tonight's actual birthday treat, I have Joy the Baker to thank. I was looking around her beautiful (and funny!) site and came across Blackberry Pie Bars with Lemon Sugar. They looked delicious (and simple), so I decided to give them a go. The base layer is a pie-type crust made with lemon sugar (lemon zest rubbed into sugar, so that the sugar becomes lemon flavored/scented). You can even see the little flecks of lemon zest in the crust:

The next layer is a mixture of blackberries, sour cream, eggs, and sugar, and then there's a little more of the pie crust topping. After a stint in the oven, this is what you'll be rewarded with:

These were absolutely delicious! The crust is amazing. I'll be using that for other things in the future! I was thinking of a blueberry pie, perhaps. Mmmmm. Anyway, instead of birthday cake, David had a big ol' Blackberry Pie Bar with ice cream. I think he looks pretty pleased...
The recipe makes a ton of Blackberry Pie Bars, so the remainder will be heading to work with David in the morning. I hope the folks at CUB like them!
We've got some pretty sweet news to share, too. See the picture below? That's me and David, standing in what will be my new kitchen in about 6 or 7 months! We broke ground Monday morning on our dream home in David's hometown. We're so excited! We've found the perfect house plan, a fantastic builder, and we're on our way! Don't worry...I'll keep you updated! I may need some advice when it gets closer to kitchen planning time!

Blackberry Pie Bars with Lemon Sugar

Joy the Baker/The Pastry Queen

For the Crust/Topping:

3 cups AP flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3 sticks butter, chilled and cubed

zest from 2 lemons

Blackberry Filling:

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup AP flour

pinch salt

6 cups fresh blackberries

For the Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jellyroll pan generously. Zest both lemons. Place sugar into a bowl; add lemon zest. Using your hands, rub the lemon zest into the sugar until the sugar seems to feel a little wet from the lemon oil. Combine the lemon sugar, flour, salt, and butter in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is dry and crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the jellyroll pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

For the Filling:

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sugar, sour cream, flour, and salt. Gently fold in the blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. You may need to distribute the blackberries evenly over the crust. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Cool for 1 hour before slicing into generous servings.

Asian Pasta Salad

So you've seen the dismal cupcake failure on Father's Day. You know what makes it even worse? THERE WAS NO DESSERT AT THE FATHER'S DAY PARTY. Nothing. Until David's cousin Connie went home and made cookies! God bless Connie. She's a woman after my own heart. She also made some of that yummy cracker-sugar-chocolate brittle stuff. She saved the day, for sure. You can't have a potluck without dessert!
Anyway, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the pasta salad I took to the party. I wanted something I could pretty much throw together in about 15 seconds between getting home from church and running to Earl & Shirley's house, and something that didn't have mayo or cheese in it, since I knew it would be sitting out for a lot of the hot and humid Kentucky summer weather. I got out my trusty Taste of Home magazine collection and found this delightful recipe for Asian Chicken Sesame Salad (except I kind of adapted it, as you'll see...namely, there is no chicken involved). It's very simple to put together. There's a simple dressing made from...

canola oil, sugar, pepper, teriyaki sauce, and white wine vinegar. I had also planned to put in some toasted sesame oil, but got addled and forgot it. I really missed it. Then you have the salad ingredients...

bowtie (farfalle) pasta, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, honey roasted peanuts (super-yum), water chestnuts, spinach, green onions, and parsley. All of the ingredients are combined, and you get this:

It was pretty good, but darn it, I wish I had remembered the sesame oil! Here's the recipe...I didn't add the chicken (I didn't figure we'd need it with the rest of the spread at the party), or the sesame seeds (I couldn't bring myself to pay $4.28 for them).

Sesame Chicken Salad

Carolee Ewell, Taste of Home Magazine

16 oz. bowtie pasta

1 cup vegetable/canola oil

2/3 cup white wine vinegar

2/3 cup teriyaki sauce

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 cans (11 oz. each) mandarin oranges, drained

2 cans (8 oz. each) sliced water chestnuts, drained

2 cups cooked cubed chicken

1 1/3 cups honey roasted peanuts

9 oz. fresh spinach, torn

6 oz. dried cranberries

6 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh minced parsley

1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and place in a very large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, teriyaki sauce, sugar, and pepper. Pour over the pasta and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Just before serving, add the remaining ingredients; gently toss to coat.

Yield: 22 servings (1 cup each)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (FAIL)

Happy Father's Day! To my dad, my stepdad, and my father-in-law, I love you guys! You are all very special to me, and I appreciate you more than you know! Without a doubt, I'm one of the luckiest ladies in the world to have three awesome dads in my life!
Today is the annual Klingenfus Family Father's Day Bash at my in-laws house. This thing is like a huge family reunion, except it's really just two branches of one family three. The Klingenfuses are prolific people, and they love to have a good time. I've mentioned it before, but on Father's Day every year, we all get together to enjoy time with our dads, eat, and play games. Everyone brings a dish (or two), and the fun begins!
I'm taking a pasta salad dish, but I wanted to take a dessert, too. (remember, it's what I do). Only the problem is that I've had an absolutely crazy week with work. I work for Lindsey Wilson College and their School of Professional Counseling, and we're right in the middle of recruiting for our incoming class, so life is hectic. AND, I taught all this weekend (Friday night and all day Saturday). I really enjoy my job, and I like the teaching responsibility, but this week it really cut into my cooking/baking time! I didn't get to complete my TWD recipe (Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise), and I just knew I wouldn't have time to make a dessert for the Father's Day party today. I looked around at my usual food blogs, and Susan, from She's Becoming Doughmesstic made some chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, that looked easy and delicious. I decided to go for it at about 11pm last night.
They look nice, don't they? The trouble is, I'm scared of 'em. I didn't use Nestle cookie dough (even though if I had some that had been recalled, I'd still eat it myself...I'm not scared), I used the Wal-Mart variety, which was all that was left. But I'd probably have picked it anyway instead, even without the e.coli warnings. I'm all about the value. And the problem isn't the cookie dough at all. I'm scared of the cupcakes. Well, not personally. I'd eat all of them, but they feel soft...not quite done....even after a short re-bake early this morning. I have no fear of uncooked eggs. I'm the chief batter eater at my house; it's my favorite part of baking. But these will be served to fifty-some Klingenfuses this afternoon, and I just can't be responsible for a salmonella or e.coli outbreak. They're probably fine (I followed Susan's directions to the letter), but I'm just too concerned to serve them.

If you want one, you can have one. I have nearly 2 dozen in my kitchen RIGHT NOW. I just can't bring myself to take them to the party. They're tasty, but I just can't do it!