So this Friday I am going to be delivering my first tiered cake. It is for a friend's birthday party and my gift is a cake, don't act too surprised people!
Since I have yet to have an excuse for a tiered cake I think this is it! I plan on keeping it simple with two tiers.
She has requested chocolate and strawberry but left the rest to me so this is my idea...
Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with strawberry filling for the first layer (12" round). A white cake with strawberry filling for the second, since some people don't like chocolate (silly people) (8" or 9" round). The tiers will be covered in a chocolate fondant (I know Sarah but you need to try MM fondant, it's actually made with marshmallows!) with chocolate covered strawberries lining the edges and accents of red fondant decorations on the sides and top. Since I am new at fondant I am not committing to many decorations until I know it will look ok. I am a perfectionist but I think all my ceramics experience will pay off in this task...
Wish me luck and I will definitely post pictures and recipes after I am done!
Live, Laugh, Love
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Fish Sticks
Who didn't have fish sticks growing up? I know that was always a staple in our freezer and then my uncle would come visit and say how horrible it was to eat fish like that and just last week he made his own fish sticks from fresh fish he brought back from Alaska the day before... you get the idea :)
My love for fish sticks was developed from my youth, regardless of what my uncles thoughts on the matter were, and I will say that even though I agree that fresh fish probably tastes better, here in SoCal, really good fresh fish is pricey. Besides that, I am not about to eat anything that comes out of our coast, they close the beach because of a sewage spill but hey, lets eat what's swimming in it! Really???
So which ones do I like? Well for starters I am not a breaded fish stick indulger. I prefer the battered kind. Why? Well breaded typically uses bread crumbs and I am not a fan of the consistency on fish, since fish is so delicate. I find the breaded are typically crunchier and if that's what you like then fabulous, I just prefer the delicate crisp-ness of the battered fish.
For brands, I really like the Van De Kamp's. They have a few options, such as beer battered or regular battered, halibut vs cod and other flavor varieties. I chose the classic but have been tempted to grab the halibut ones, I presume the fish would be firmer and that might be a good thing.
So you ask, besides Fish sticks with carrots and tater tots, a typical meal when I was young, how can one enjoy fish sticks? Well, here is a few ways you can prepare them and the ones with the star are JL approved :)
- Fish Tacos, just bake them and cut them into slices
- Fish Sandwiches*, great with cheese, lettuce, tomato, tartar sauce on a french roll
- Fish Fillets on a salad
- Fish Burrito (I know, duplicate... kind of)
- Instead of baking them, you can fry them...*
- Stuffed and then baked, just thaw them out for a few minutes first
- Served with fries* :)
As you may know, I am not a fan of the processed salad dressing so you can presume I am not a fan of jarred tarter sauce, unless I am the one making it... Here is an easy way to whip up some tarter sauce for really cheap!
Mayonnaise
Pickles (diced)
Lemon Juice (or Pickle Juice)
Pepper
Paprika
Onion Powder
Combine about 1/2 cup of mayo with a splash of lemon juice.
Add in the pickles, as much as you like.
Add in a dash of pepper & onion powder and two dashes of paprika.
Combine and taste.
As you can see this recipe is a "wing-it" sort of recipe so make sure and taste it and add the flavors you are missing. Paprika gives a bit of a sweetness where the lemon juice gives the tart-ness. I typically don't add salt to this since the pickles are usually pretty salty already but its up to you!
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
P.S. This heat is not letting me enjoy a fish stick since I can't possibly imagine turning on my oven. At 106 deg it may just cook us all, why use an oven :/
My love for fish sticks was developed from my youth, regardless of what my uncles thoughts on the matter were, and I will say that even though I agree that fresh fish probably tastes better, here in SoCal, really good fresh fish is pricey. Besides that, I am not about to eat anything that comes out of our coast, they close the beach because of a sewage spill but hey, lets eat what's swimming in it! Really???
So which ones do I like? Well for starters I am not a breaded fish stick indulger. I prefer the battered kind. Why? Well breaded typically uses bread crumbs and I am not a fan of the consistency on fish, since fish is so delicate. I find the breaded are typically crunchier and if that's what you like then fabulous, I just prefer the delicate crisp-ness of the battered fish.
For brands, I really like the Van De Kamp's. They have a few options, such as beer battered or regular battered, halibut vs cod and other flavor varieties. I chose the classic but have been tempted to grab the halibut ones, I presume the fish would be firmer and that might be a good thing.
So you ask, besides Fish sticks with carrots and tater tots, a typical meal when I was young, how can one enjoy fish sticks? Well, here is a few ways you can prepare them and the ones with the star are JL approved :)
- Fish Tacos, just bake them and cut them into slices
- Fish Sandwiches*, great with cheese, lettuce, tomato, tartar sauce on a french roll
- Fish Fillets on a salad
- Fish Burrito (I know, duplicate... kind of)
- Instead of baking them, you can fry them...*
- Stuffed and then baked, just thaw them out for a few minutes first
- Served with fries* :)
As you may know, I am not a fan of the processed salad dressing so you can presume I am not a fan of jarred tarter sauce, unless I am the one making it... Here is an easy way to whip up some tarter sauce for really cheap!
Mayonnaise
Pickles (diced)
Lemon Juice (or Pickle Juice)
Pepper
Paprika
Onion Powder
Combine about 1/2 cup of mayo with a splash of lemon juice.
Add in the pickles, as much as you like.
Add in a dash of pepper & onion powder and two dashes of paprika.
Combine and taste.
As you can see this recipe is a "wing-it" sort of recipe so make sure and taste it and add the flavors you are missing. Paprika gives a bit of a sweetness where the lemon juice gives the tart-ness. I typically don't add salt to this since the pickles are usually pretty salty already but its up to you!
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
P.S. This heat is not letting me enjoy a fish stick since I can't possibly imagine turning on my oven. At 106 deg it may just cook us all, why use an oven :/
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Pulled pork and lots of wine...
The other evening we had a couple of friends over for some pulled pork sandwiches and wine, lots of wine... I made some coleslaw but it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to, a little to tangy, but it was a delicious contrast to the sweet BBQ any way. I used a bit of this and a bit of that, the ingredients are listed below but not sure how much of each I added...
Shredded cabbage
Fresh lime juice
Low fat mayo
Milk
Sugar
BBQ spice rub
Salt
I mixed up the dressing and then added the cabbage. I also had the leftovers the next day and the flavors were more developed and better but I have to say the fresh crispness of the cabbage was refreshing, especially when it is way too hot...
For the pulled pork, I made that a couple days before so I could just shred it and toss it with some carmelized onions and BBQ sauce. I would highly suggest you try and get pork butt since it will be easier to shred and take less time to "fall apart". I used shoulder and needed to be cooked for a loooooonnngggggg time... (Its what was one sale...) I would also advise you to try and use a slow cooker if it is hot.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Shredded cabbage
Fresh lime juice
Low fat mayo
Milk
Sugar
BBQ spice rub
Salt
I mixed up the dressing and then added the cabbage. I also had the leftovers the next day and the flavors were more developed and better but I have to say the fresh crispness of the cabbage was refreshing, especially when it is way too hot...
For the pulled pork, I made that a couple days before so I could just shred it and toss it with some carmelized onions and BBQ sauce. I would highly suggest you try and get pork butt since it will be easier to shred and take less time to "fall apart". I used shoulder and needed to be cooked for a loooooonnngggggg time... (Its what was one sale...) I would also advise you to try and use a slow cooker if it is hot.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Say what???
Monday JL decided we needed to go to the store and get groceries for the week, in an attempt to save some money we agreed that we need to make dinner at home more often. I love the idea that he wanted to help me, took some of the weight off my shoulders! As we were wandering we had to think of meals, seven of them. I came up with a few and then he throws a curve ball at me... "What about fried chicken with mustard?" I simply replied, "Are you crazy?" I couldn't think that dipping chicken in mustard was an excellent combination but frying it, for me, seemed to just be wrong... Although I was totally aghast at this combination I decided why not? The worst case scenario I would have a can of tomato soup on standby, so I said ok.
Tuesday rolls around and I decide lets get this over with. I had planned on making a vegetable saute with the mustard chicken and thought we should use the veggies while they were still relatively fresh so Tuesday was going to be the day... (Soup was standing by.)
Funny, but it really was as simple as he explained. He took out about 8 drumsticks and covered them with mustard. While he was getting more mustard on his hands than the slimy chicken, he had about 1/2 inch of oil in a large fry pan heating up. Once the oil was hot (on medium heat), but not smoking, he lightly placed all the drumsticks in the pan and walked away... Hmm... I peered at the bright yellow chicken and thought, well I really like mustard so this may not be that bad... Plus, as JL says, "anything fried is delicious!" LOL, not sure about that, but almost everything is better when its fried... Throughout the cooking time we rotated the pieces as they browned so all the sides would be crispy. The cooking time took about 30 minutes.
The review on last night dinner? It was DELICIOUS!!! It didn't taste like mustard at all, it actually resembled the chicken from El Pollo Loco but a little more crispy, which I like better. Yes it was fried but without the breading it really wasn't that unhealthy since it didn't soak up much oil at all. The only thing I might suggest is to let your chicken marinade in the mustard for a little bit or overnight.
We did have this with a vegetable saute but next time I would just try and mimic a meal from El Pollo Loco, with fresh salsa, tortillas, a salad and some spicy pinto beans.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
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