"Noy of Cooking" Meatloaf Ground Beef Ground Mustard Green Pepper Onion -pork -veal Ketchup

german chocolate cake

I have been giving more thought to being healthy lately–being physically active in a different way, using more essential oils and less chemicals, giving up some foods that are bad for me,. But unless my life depended on it, I don't think I could give up birthday cake for one of my children.

So this May when Number Six asked for German Chocolate Cake, I was happy to oblige. But with all those "health" thoughts running around in my head, I immediately started to wonder if I could make a cake that was, in some way, actually GOOD for you. Well, I don't know if you'd call Rosa's birthday cakenutritious,but…it could have been worse. Here's what I did and what I will do differently next time. (Of course there'll be a next time!)

The big thing was that I switched out thewhite flour forfreshlyground organic whole wheat pastry flour. Cup for cup. Just switched it out. The sugar I used was labeled "100% cane sugar" and it was tan-colored. I don't know if it was the legit, no bone-char used kind or not. Next time I will look harder for that kind of sugar. And…that's pretty much the only change in the cake itself. I could have used baking powder without aluminum, but I'm not quite convinced that the aluminum kind is bad for you–and it works better, in my opinion.

For the frosting, instead of the regular sweetened grocery store kind of coconut, I usedorganic unsweetened coconut, which came in larger pieces than the little bitty flakes I've always used before. And Ithink the nuts I used were organic…maybe not. I used half pecans and half almonds, all lightly toasted. Same kind of sugar.

So how did it turn out?

Well, the cake was okay. Reminiscent of wholegrain muffins, which I like but are not the same as cake. After a short while, the cake became quite dry. Next time, I'll use less of it instead of substituting cup for cup; maybe that will make a heavier, denser cake (which I prefer), but not so dry.

The frosting tasted the same as the other kind. The coconut being unsweetened didn't seem to make any difference in the cake. It was pretty chewy. Are cakes supposed to be chewy? Probably not. But I liked it. (Why be like everyone else?)

So, there you are. I have another birthday cake coming up in June, and it is for an off-and-on health nut. I will definitely turn on the brain gears forit.

I've been thinking: Am I a snob? Sigh…I guess so. Darn. I mean, it isn'tniceto be a snob. I should not want to be a snob. But still…I want to be, and have truly believed that I am, quite wonderful in the kitchen. (I have pictures.)

Oh, to be a Martha! (Stewart, that is.) Or a Julia, or a Lydia, or…whoa–a Chris (Kimball). That would be so nice. To be unfailingly good in the kitchen. Always knowledgeable, alert, committed to the science and the art! Using the best–which means that you know what the best is! Instead, I find myself forgetful, inattentive, and over-confident with cooking to the point that I often, and I mean often, end up creating dishes that are quite ho-hum and not even as good as store-bought. B0000.

Some of my children definitely surpass me in the kitchen, and that is absolutely fine. It's great! Somehow, I feel like I have something to do with their successes. Ha! But I need to polish up my skills and my attention so that we can be peers, not examples of youth and age.

I have seen it happen to old people. They were well-known for their kitchen prowess back in the day, then they got tired, I guess, and just slid into home plate, dragging boredom and mediocrity along with them. I gotta snap out of it. I don't want to do that. That is, I don't want tokeepdoing that; I'm doing it already.

Some of my problem is just not devoting myself to the task. I don't leave enough time to do something well and end up rushing through it, which is not what I want. Heck, it's not enjoyable, either! I try to do more than one thing at a time, like cook and also write emails or watch a movie or read. This really messes with my cooking. I'm such a slacker. I must reform. Give it my best. Think well. Be a Martha. Be a Chris.

Well, if you see me cooking or serving sometime and I seem like a snob, let me know if you think I've earned it. If I'm going to be a kitchen snob, I might as well be a good one.

carrot beet cake

Yes, you heard it right. This cake has beets in it…and it is still good.

I wanted to make a semi-healthy cake for Fathers' Day for my husband, and (obviously) I thought of carrot cake. But I had these nice, fresh beets in the refrigerator fromCare of the Earth Community Farm,and since beets aregoodfor you, well, I had to use them.

Truly, that's only part of the reason. The other part is thatbeets are practically the only food my husband can't stand. I knew that you wouldn't be able to actually taste anything of the beet once you put a bite of the cake in your mouth, so why not have some fun? Hide that beet in Larry's cake! Ha!

So, I did it, and sure enough, you couldn't taste anything like beet flavor. But I have to admit that I was a little let down because the cake just wasn't that great. It was okay, but you don't shoot for "okay" when you make something special.

That was yesterday. Today I had my second piece. Overnight something had happened to that cake that made it no longer "okay", but "mmm…really good".

Disclaimer: I, myself, think this cake is great because I like a dense, moist cake with lots of stuff in it. Probably I am one of the ten people in the US who likes fruit cake. So if a dense, moist cake is not your cup of tea, better make something different.

The Royal Slice of Bread's Carrot Beet Cake

3 cups grated carrots and beets (I used one smallish beet)
1 cup crushed pineapple
3/4 cup grated apple
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
(OR 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 3/4 teaspoon cloves)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or a little less) and grease ten-inch tube cake pan.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl. Set aside.

Combine apple, pineapple, oil, and sugar in mixer bowl. Mix on high speed for 3 minutes. Add vanilla, then add eggs, one at a time. Stir in carrots/beets.

Gradually add flour mixture to carrot mixture, mixing well. Add nuts, raisins, and coconut, stirring only to combine.

Bake in prepared tube pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10-15 minutes on rack, then remove cake to rack. Glaze while warm with Buttermilk Glaze, recipe below.

Buttermilk Glaze

In small saucepan, combine

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and boil for five minutes. Pour over warm cake.

This cake is better the next day.

93c2a7fa92a1fe30c30770aa29485703[1]

I bake enough bread for my family that we usually have a loaf on the counter and at least one in the freezer. But last week I knew I wasn't going to have time to do that, and I really didn't want us to be eating white bagels from the store like we usually do when I run out of the bread I bake. Soooo, I made some whole wheat muffins with a *secret ingredient* and froze them. Oooh, they were good. The reason they were so good lies in 1) the *secret ingredient* and 2) the generous hand I used in adding extra good stuff–that is, more than the usual amount of good stuff.

If you would like the recipe, I would be happy to give it to you.

smallredbeans

I grew up with a somewhat limited experience with foods. I remember mostly vegetables from the garden and "ordinary" dishes like meatloaf, macaroni, top-of-the-stove kind of casseroles with ground beef and ketchup.

There were things Mama never made. And since I was so young when she died, I never thought to ask her why. As I got older, I heard about foods/dishes that never made their way in to our kitchen, and I viewed them with uncertainty. Were they bad-tasting? Hard to make? Just too exotic for country people like us?

Red Beans and Rice is one of those dishes that I wondered about. So a few years ago, I decided to delve into the mystery (if therewas one) and create this foreign affair in my own kitchen. I think the first recipe I used was one fromJoy of Cooking. It was okay, but not worth making again–even though I did make it several more times, somehow hoping for a happier experience. It never happened.

Child number Seven somehow heard about RBR and asked for it for her birthday meal last June, or so she tells me. (I don't remember; poor brain.) Sooo, having a reason to stake out a new path in red beans, I tried Paula Deen's recipe. I changed some things about the recipe, and out came something really good! Here's what I did, with Paula's assistance:

TRSB's Red Beans and Rice

3 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cups diced, cooked ham
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or several sprigs of fresh thyme)
1 pound dried red beans
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons hot sauce*
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon (or more) chili powder
One medium, whole peeled raw potato (helps makes the beans less gassy)
6 cups cooked rice
¼ cup sliced scallions
Chopped avocado

Sort through and thoroughly rinse the beans. Soak the beans overnight in a large amount of water. OR bring a large amount of water to a boil, remove from heat, then add the beans. Let them sit in this water for 1-2 hours. Drain the beans, and rinse them thoroughly.

In a large pot or a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the cumin and thyme and cook for 1 minute.

Add the beans, salt, hot sauce, bay leaves, chili powder, and enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring the mixture to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer, add the whole raw potato, cover, and cook for 1 ½ hours. Uncover, add the ham, and simmer until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened, 30 to 45 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Remove and discard the bay leaves and the potato–don't eat the potato. Serve over the rice, topped with the scallions and avocado.

*I usedLouisiana Hot Sauce(original). Other brands might be hotter; season appropriately.

NOTE: I wanted to make this again, but when I went to buy the red beans, the store I visited had none. So I got black beans, and used a 75/25 mixture of black and pinto beans. I was surprised that, though it was good, it did taste different from the red beans. I liked the red bean version better.

This year I decided I would not stress about Christmas. And—weird—I haven't. It's like I haven't even had totry. Nice.

We had our annual Lumberjack Pie dinner a few nights ago. Since I made some of the things ahead of time, putting the meal together was easy. And the end result (food, china, company) was lovely. It still makes me feel warm and calm as I remember the evening.

Today (Christmas Eve) I made bread for us and for others, then I mixed up a cheesecake for Christmas dinner tomorrow night. The cheesecake is in the oven. It's a new recipe; if it turns out well, I'll let you know all about it.

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to have pizza for supper, followed by homemade ice cream for dessert. The pizza has always been homemade, too. Tasty and festive…but a good bit of work. This year I told everyone that if it is okay with them, we'll get pizza from Dominoes instead. Dominoes…ah, just saying it makes me relax.

Tomorrow morning we'll be having quiche (that's new), sausage, cooked apples, and biscuits. Almost like Cracker Barrel!

Now I'm going to have my share of Luci's fruitcake and a cup of tea. Feeeel the calm.