Thundercake

Thundercake - the book and the finished product.

One of my stepdaughter's summer reading books was "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco. The book describes with wonderful illustrations a grandmother baking a special cake during a loud thunderstorm in order to keep her granddaughter from being frightened. The recipe in the back of the book (also found here) was easy to follow and a fun project for us to complete together after reading the book. The secret ingredient (tomatoes) really gives the cake moisture and balance - overall a great chocolate cake recipe. We topped it off with a homemade chocolate butter frosting - yum!

Amy's Lasagna and Peach/Blueberry Cobbler

Lasagna - the finished product.

First, the sauce.



The filling, with mushrooms.



Ready for dinner!

Amy's Lasagna

1 lb. Ground beef or turkey OR chicken, cooked and cut into strips or cubes (or use thinly sliced eggplant, squash or zucchini to make vegetarian lasagna)

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves (or more) garlic, minced

2 cup mushrooms (any variety), divided (if desired)

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1-2 cups tomato sauce, more if you like it juicy

2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed

1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

9 dried lasagna noodles

2 beaten eggs

1 2 lb. Container of ricotta cheese (regular or part skim)

1 10-oz. Package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

3 cups mozzarella cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese (the fresher kind in the dairy case)

Make sauce by cooking onion, meat, 1 cup mushrooms (if desired) and garlic in a large frying pan. If you are using a lower grade cut of meat, strain the fat. Stir in stewed tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, tomato sauce, basil and oregano. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. At the same time, cook the noodles for 10-12 minutes or until tender but still firm. Drain them and rinse with cold water. Set aside. For filling sautee the remaining 1 cup mushrooms in oil or butter. Combine the eggs, ricotta, spinach, sauteed mushrooms and ¼ cup of the parmesan. Put a couple of tablespoons of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a deep rectangular baking dish or divide to make several smaller dishes. Layer three of the noodles on top, followed by 1/3 of the filling, 1/3 of the sauce mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella and the remaining parmesan. Repeat until all 9 noodles are used up. Allow for a generous layer of cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and browns. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking.

Fruit Cobbler

Ever since my mom suggested it when we were in the mountains, I have been making summer fruit cobblers using this recipe. You can use any combination of fruits you like, but I am partial to peach blueberry. I cut the sugar in the fruit by half (only 1/2 cup instead of a full cup) and add several teaspoons of vanilla to the batter. Also, I use regular flour and add about 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder (instead of the self-rising flour). It's great by itself or with ice cream!

Boiling the fruit.



The cakey cobbler.



Yum! Ready to eat.

Fresh Produce is Here!

Fresh egg omelet with mushrooms and parsley; homemade butterfly biscuits.

Last Sunday I began my 17 week subscription to Small Farms CSA. In exchange for buying a share and becoming a "co-producer" in a farm cooperative, I receive a portion of fresh produce on a weekly basis from the participating farms. Sometimes I also get eggs, goat cheese, honey and/or grits. This week I got spinach, braising greens, lettuce, parsley, arugula and fresh eggs. There's something about knowing that the produce is local and fresh that makes it taste better!

I've had fresh salads for lunch all this week. I also made the omelet above along with fresh butterfly buttermilk biscuits. I cooked the braising greens in olive oil with lots of sliced garlic and mushrooms. Once the greens were cooked I added a splash of apple cider vinegar. Who knew greens could taste so delicious!?

Tonight I am going to bake with the fresh eggs as I wonder if there will be any difference in outcome/taste. Look for an upcoming post soon!

Homemade Individual Strawberry Shortcakes

Over the weekend I had the urge to make strawberry shortcake for my family while they were in town. I perused several recipes and cookbooks before choosing to bake homemade cream scones to go with the homemade whipped cream and sliced strawberries tossed in sugar that I believe make strawberry shortcake truly delicious. I toyed with making biscuits instead - and as anti-boxed-mix as I am, Bisquick actually makes very tasty biscuits for shortcake. Still, I'm glad I tried this scone recipe. The best thing about these scones is that they are very easy and quick to make because you substitute heavy cream for the butter and egg. While I believe a traditional scone made with butter may have a slight advantage taste-wise to the cream scone, these were pretty darn good. These would be great with a few chocolate chips or dried berries mixed in. Here is the recipe from "Joy of Cooking."

Cream Scones
Preheat oven to 425
Mix the following:
2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Add in:
1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

Stir until moistened. Knead a few times in the bowl and gather the dough into a ball. Transfer to cookie sheet or stone or granite/stone countertop. Pat the dough into an 8 inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer to cookie sheet or stone if not done already.

Sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon (if desired) and pop into the oven. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Hot cream scones fresh from the oven.

The finished product.

Love Still in the Air

Despite the fact that it's just past St. Valentine's Day, I decided to bake some heart shaped cookies for various events I'm attending in the next couple of weeks. I ended up freezing half of the dough, so hopefully it will be easy to work with once I defrost it next week. The recipe I used (Sour Cream Cut-Out Cookies) can be found here. The sour cream really gives these cookies a good moist flavor. I tried to underbake just a bit to retain chewiness. A couple of the thicker cookies broke easily - probably underbaked a little too much, but my are they tasty!

The dough, just before rolling.



Ready to go in the oven.



The finished product - yum!