German Chocolate Cake
My birthday is this weekend and in honor of that auspicious occasion, there are 2 things I like to do to celebrate: have my once a year real honest-to-goodness hand mixed chocolate milkshake and make my favorite cake – German chocolate – which is something I also do only once a year.
And, like most other recipes, my German chocolate cake has to be from scratch using “German’s Sweet Chocolate” and not cocoa or any other kind of chocolate. To me, a REAL German chocolate cake is ONLY made with “German’s Sweet Chocolate.” And, in fact, whenever I see a German chocolate cake made with a Devil’s food cake, I shudder. It’s just not right. This recipe, however, is.
German Chocolate Cake
Cake:
1 pkg. (4 ounces) Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate
½ cup water
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup – 2 sticks – butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp. Mexican vanilla
1 cup of buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°. Cut 3 circles of parchment or wax paper that will fit into the bottoms of 3 – 9 inch – round cake pans. Spray pans with baking spray and place circles into the pan bottoms.
Place the chocolate and water in a small bowl and microwave for 1 ½ – 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted – stirring after 1 minute. Continue microwaving in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds until chocolate is completely melted. Don’t overcook or the chocolate will burn.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt – set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form – set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, blend in melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beating well after each addition.
Gently stir in the beaten egg whites into the batter and pour even amounts into the 3 prepared pans.
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately run a butter knife around the cake layers. Cool in pans for 15 minutes and then carefully remove the layers from the pans to wire racks. Carefully remove the paper from the cake bottoms and allow the layers to cool completely before filling and frosting.
Coconut Pecan Filling and Frosting:
6 egg yolks
1 can (12 ounce) evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk)
6 ounces of canned coconut milk (can be found in the Asian food section)
2 ¼ tsp. Mexican vanilla
2 ¼ cups sugar
18 TBSPS. butter
11 ounces (about 4 cups) of toasted coconut
2 ¼ cups of toasted chopped pecans
Toast pecans in one layer on a cookie sheet in a 350° oven for 5 – 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Toast coconut in one layer on a cookie sheet in a 350° oven for 5 – 8 minutes or until it just begins to turn brown on the tips. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a large saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, milks and vanilla until well blended. Add sugar and butter and cook on medium heat about 12 minutes or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add coconut and pecans, mixing well.
Allow icing to cool to room temperature – about one hour – stirring occasionally. When cooled, ice between and on top of the layers as well as sides.
Needed: More Gentlemen
A gentleman. Some might find it hard provide a definition but we all know one when we meet one. Sadly, there aren’t many to be found – especially in the under 30 set. Sadly.
Want to know the definition of a gentleman? A gentleman is simply a man with manners. Ah – and there’s the rub – who decides what constitutes manners in this day and age? Well, my personal favorite arbiter of manners is Peggy Post. She married into the family of Emily Post who began writing about etiquette in the early part of the 20th century. Peggy Post is carrying on her mission of educating folks about being polite, thoughtful and how to do the right thing in both their personal and business lives.
Which brings me to the point this blog – written for the young men out there. If there are any of you who are even remotely interested in being a gentleman – if for no other reason than you’d like others to think even more highly of you – then read on. However, if you are one of the multitudes of young men out there who don’t really care, weren’t taught the right way to behave and are quite satisfied with how you are, then the following will not be pertinent. Unfortunately – while not criminal – I’d bet you are somewhat thoughtless, selfish, boorish and arrogant. Yeah, baby – you’re all that – any woman is lucky to be with you. You aren’t interested in self-improvement because you don’t see the need for improvement. Yeah….
But for those of you who are interested in being/behaving like a gentleman – if for no other reason than you realize the benefits for you, especially socially – allow me to share with you just 3 basic things you need to know to set you on the right path:
1. If you are in the company of others, silence your personal device and give whomever you are with your undivided attention. You can do this….really.
2. If you are with a woman (any woman) whom you’d like to impress or to whom you’d like to express your respect, do so with your actions. Hold open doors, allow her to exit an elevator first, walk with her and not ahead of her – you know, think of her first. Be thoughtful – it is the hallmark of a true gentleman. Whether or not she appreciates or even protests that you don’t need to perform such niceities, believe me when I say that she’ll be impressed and think you quite the romantic. Still don’t believe me? Well, the proof lies in the fact that the best selling literary genre among women is romantic fiction and the top earning chic-flicks are all romcoms. Women. Like. Romance. And, gentlemen are romantic – boorish, ill-mannered men are not.
3. Be thoughtful and considerate to everyone. Period. This may take some effort and research for those of you who weren’t fortunate enough to be raised by parents or grandparents who expected you to be and act like a gentleman. I’m truly sorry if you didn’t have this. And, if you were raised to think that you were and are the center of their universe and that everything/anything you do is acceptable and special, I am really sorry. I hate to be the one to break this to you – but the earth does NOT revolve around you. I checked. But you can self-correct – if you want to.
Now, if you’d like further clarifcation and more detail about specific circumstances regarding gentlemanly behavior, you might find a true gentleman’s book, Essential Manners for Men by Peter Post, helpful and of interest.
Banana Pudding
This is a family recipe that comes from my Uncle Gary. He calls it “Happy Birthday Banana Pudding” because one of his sons always wants it instead of a birthday cake. Uncle Gary was kind enough to share it with me and now I’m sharing it with the world. Anytime I’ve made it, most folks ask for seconds – it’s that yummy!
Banana Pudding
1 cup sugar
2 ½ TBSPS. cornstarch
1 ½ cups evaporated milk
½ cup milk
4 egg yolks, beaten
3 TBSPS. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Vanilla wafers
3 medium ripe bananas
Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch in the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the milk and place the top on the bottom of a double boiler which is about 1/3 full of water boiling over medium high heat.
When the pudding gets hot (steam is rising from the mixture), add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs and mix well. Pour the egg mixture into the milk mixture and whisk well and constantly until it is all incorporated.
Continue to cook the pudding over boiling water, stirring occasionally – scraping the sides – until the pudding is reasonably thick. This should take about 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla, mixing well with a whisk. Set aside.
Line a glass serving dish with vanilla wafers and slice 1 ½ bananas over the wafers. Spoon half of the pudding over the bananas/wafers. Repeat with another layer just as the 1st – ending with the pudding. Place plastic wrap of the top of the pudding to remove any air and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Cool and Creamy Key Lime Tarts
It’s hot – too hot for anything other than something cool and creamy, like ice cream or this amazingly easy and yummy key lime tart recipe. My friend Connie shared this with me several years ago and it quickly became a family and friend favorite. In fact key lime fans have told me it is the best recipe they’ve EVER tasted. I think that they might be correct!
COOL & CREAMY KEY LIME TARTS
Makes 18
3 packages of 6 prepared graham cracker crust tart/pie shells **
3 cups of sweetened condensed milk (not cans – cups)
½ cup sour cream
¾ cup key lime juice (don’t substitute regular lime juice – won’t taste as good)
3 TBSP of grated lime zest (divided use)
Redi whip whipped cream or Cool Whip
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together with a mixing spoon, sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, 1 TBSP. of lime zest and pour into tart/pie shells.
Place tarts on a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan and place in oven. You may have to bake the tarts in 2 batches, depending on the size of your pan. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until tiny pinhole bubbles burst to the surface. DO NOT BROWN!
Allow tarts to come to room temperature (about 45 minutes to an hour) and then refrigerate (at least 1 hour) until ready to serve.
To serve, spray a small dollop of whipped cream in the center of each tart and sprinkle a little of the remaining lime zest on top of the whipped cream.
** If preferred, you can use 1 – 9 inch graham cracker crust for one whole pie instead of 12 individual tarts. If you make a pie instead of tarts, follow the mixing, baking and cooling directions. To serve, spray a 50 cent piece sized dollop of whipped cream in the center of each cut piece of pie and sprinkle with about 1/8 tsp. of lime zest.
Bertha’s Biscuits
I got this unusual biscuit recipe from my sister-in-law who got it from her father who got it from his friend from the gym he attends with whom he swaps recipes, Bertha.
At first, I was skeptical as to whether they’d be good or not. They were – and, they were also very easy and simple to make. This is the first of two biscuits recipes I’ll post this month and there is a reason for this. You’ll learn the reason when I post my first recipe in August. So stay tuned – you won’t be sorry!
Bertha’s Biscuits
Makes 8 – 9 biscuits
2 c Bisquick
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c Sprite
Preheat oven to 450°. Stir ingredients until soft dough forms. Place on surface sprinkled with a little extra Bisquick mix. Knead 10 times.
Roll dough to ½” thick. Cut with 2 ½” round biscuit or cookie cutter; place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 – 10 min. or until golden brown.
Cheater’s Pasta Meat Sauce
This is a recipe that I actually developed and has proven to be a crowd-pleaser every time I’ve served it. When my son was younger, he loved to invite friends over for dinner on a moment’s notice. Not wanting to discourage him from offering hospitality, I began keeping all of these ingredients on hand so that I could whip up a hearty meal for growing boys. Over time, his friends would ask for this. I remember one even saying that my spaghetti sauce was better than his mother’s. I cautioned him NOT to tell her that he felt that way as I didn’t want to make an enemy!
So, why is it called “Cheater’s Pasta Meat Sauce?” I was inspired to give it that name after seeing an old “Everybody Loves Raymond” episode. Raymond’s father disclosed that Raymond’s mother – reknowned for her Italian cooking -often used jarred pasta sauce if she was running short on time. Oh the shock that followed! She was accused of “cheating” as her sons had always thought that their mother’s pasta sauce was “from scratch” and that it took all day to cook – as a good Italian sauce sometimes does.
I never tried to hide how I made the sauce if asked – but I didn’t necessarily volunteer the secret to my success either ;). Anyway, this recipe is really easy, really tasty and really quick to prepare.
Cheater’s Pasta Meat Sauce
1 pound of extra lean ground meat
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
1 24 ounce jar of Prego Veggie Smart Italian Sauce (or your favorite sauce flavor)
1/3 cup of water
Spray a large pot with cooking spray and brown ground meat over medium high heat. Add garlic powder, salt and black pepper and cook until meat is thoroughly cooked. Add jar of sauce and water, bring to a boil, turn heat down to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring periodically.
Serve over the pasta of your choice.
Let a Boy be a Boy
I was reading my local newspaper this morning – I know, how quaint – and ran across New York Times jounalist David Brooks’ column about the “boy crisis.” Here is the link so you can read what he wrote: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Schools-must-make-cultural-adjustments-for-boys-3697105.php
O.K. – so here’s my take.
First of all, if you are a regular reader or have ever met me you know that I unabashedly admit to liking men. Come on, get your mind out of the gutter! While I do like men in “that way,” what I’m saying is that I appreciate the differences that men bring to the table of life. I like the complimentary tension that exists between men and women. Always have and always will and have therefore NEVER expected a boy or man to be like a woman. That’s what my female friends are for – to be girls – when I need what women bring to that same table of life. And, some of the best advice that I think I’ve ever given another woman is to not expect a man to react to/process an event or emotion the same way a woman might. In other words: don’t try and turn your male significant other into your “girlfriend.” It’s simply unrealistic and not fair.
Second, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Brooks’ statement that, “The education system has become culturally cohesive, rewarding and encouraging a certain sort of person: one who is nurturing, collaborative, disciplined, neat, studious, industrious and ambitious.” Folks, I’ve just described the traits of most women I know. Now, don’t go getting all mad at me thinking that I believe that men can’t possess some if not all of those qualities. They can and they do. But…..what if they don’t? Well they are penalized in some form or fashion. And, according to Mr. Brooks’ research, boys who are penalized because they can’t fit into this mold of behaviors disengage in school and often in life. Again, read his article in the above link and you’ll get the full gist.
So, let boys be boys and girls be girls, unwaveringly raising both genders to be people of strong character with this single set of values with the acronym “ICE”: (1) integrity – no lying, cheating, stealing or tolerance of those who do; (2) commitment – their word is their bond and if they give it they keep it as long as that “word” is moral, legal and ethical; (3) empathy for others – they AREN’T the center of the universe and while unique, individually they are no more special than anyone else. This quality alone will serve them and humanity well and is the hallmark of a person who is polite, possesses good manners and “does unto others as….”
Wild Rice and Tuna Salad
I cannot recall where or from whom I got this recipe. All I know is that it is particularly satisfying on a hot summer day because it is cool yet filling. My salad averse handsome half will even eat it!
Wild Rice and Tuna Salad
1 6 ounce box of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice Original Recipe
1 cup of mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
3 stalks of celery – finely diced
1 cup of chopped cashews
1 bunch of green onions
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 dashes of hot pepper sauce
2 7 ounce cans of solid white Albacore tuna, water packed – drained
Use 2 cups of water to cook the rice instead of the recommended amount on the back of the box. Then, follow the rest of the box directions. When cooked, remove the rice from the heat and let cool to room temperature – 1 to 2 hours. When cool transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Place in the refrigerator and chill for several hours or overnight.
Particularly tasty when served in a lettuce cup with yeast rolls. A nice side that compliments the flavor of the dish is seasonal fresh fruit salad that includes fresh (not canned!) pineapple. Serves 8 – 10.
It’s Independence Day!
June 23, 2011. That was the day last year when I saw my son off for his second deployment. It wasn’t any easier the second time than it was the first.
Today is Independence Day in the U.S.A. and I couldn’t help but recall what I was doing last year and in 2008 on this day – praying. Praying for my son’s safety as well as for the other deployed soldiers. Praying for the leaders of the various nations of the world – that somehow they’d wake up and realize the evil of war and all seek to end it for good. Praying that somehow I’d be able to breathe a single deep breath during my soldier’s deployment as I waited for each day to end without a visit from the Department of Defense – “we regret to inform you….” Thankfully, my son came home – safe and sound. Some of his colleagues and friends did not.
So today is July 4th, 2012 and my heart is doing a happy dance. Why? Well besides the fact that my son is not deployed any longer, I’m grateful for so many things that our military has made possible over the 236 years our nation has existed. It was a struggle for freedom and liberty from tyranny in the 1770s and, sadly, the struggle continues today. That struggle that has cost so much will be lost if we take for granted the sacrifice that is, unfortunately, necessary.
I, for one, do not take my freedom and liberty for granted. As a mother, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was to send my child off to war. Yes, he was a man – but he was still my “little boy” in my mother’s heart. So, folks, I made a sacrifice for our freedom and liberty – but, thankfully, not the ultimate one. He. Came. Home.
If you are one of the majority out there who have never served in the military or have anyone currently serving in the military, please be mindful of what soldiers and their families are going through. It’s not pretty or easy. And, remember who they are doing it for – you. You see, it takes a special mindset and sense of purpose for anyone to risk possibly having to sacrifice their own life to save others. I believe that people who have that sense of purpose are higher evolved beings than those of us whose sense of purpose revolves around “me, myself and I.” Think about it.
And, while you’re thinking, think about doing something concrete for service members. Be generous with your time and money. Consider what they are doing concretely for the nation and by extension for you and yours. Be grateful – and show it.
Happy Birthday America! I love you.
Paula’s Ranch Veggies
We have some very dear friends who have a south Texas ranch that they retreat to on weekends. They work hard while there maintaining things and although it isn’t too far from the nearby town of Beeville, going into town to eat is just too much of a bother after a long day of ranch work.
So, Paula brings perishable provisions with her each time they head up to the ranch. She also keeps non-perishable and frozen foods well stocked so that once there – they needn’t go into town.
We visited one weekend and she prepared an absolutely delicious vegetable dish with a unique and nutritious blend of veggies that was so delicious, even my veggie-phobic handsome half liked it. He even went back for seconds which still shocks me when I think about it! I’ve tweaked it just a bit – added butter and garlic – just because I personally like the flavor of both. But it is fine without those additions.
Paula’s RanchVeggies
Serves 4
½ TBSP. butter
1 TBSP. oil (I use neutral flavored coconut oil by Jarrow)
1 TBSP. minced garlic
1 Bell Pepper – red, yellow or orange is preferred – seeded and sliced
1 16 ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 6 ounce bag of spinach
1 ½ tsp. Gordon’s Grub Rub (www.grubrub.com) – more or less – divided use
¼ cup water or chicken stock
Heat the butter and coconut oil over medium high heat and add the garlic and sliced bell pepper. Sprinkle with some of the Grub Rub. Turn heat to medium and sauté for about 10 minutes.
Add the bag of mixed vegetables, the water or chicken stock and some more of the Grub Rub. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the bag of spinach, sprinkle with remaining Grub Rub and sauté until the spinach is limp and the water/stock has evaporated.
Medora Online 