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Dylan's Birthday Cake

Okay, here's the post you've all been waiting for (well, at least Bethany's been waiting for it). The birthday cake post! And here's a link to the post about the party.

Ever since I received all of my mom's cake decorating tools and books, I've been waiting for Dylan's birthday so i could construct a cake like my mom used to. She was an excellent baker and an even better cake decorator. When I was a kid, she'd make cakes for special events and did a lot of wedding cakes (including my wedding cake, much later on). And our birthday cakes were always special and beautifully decorated.

My mom made this cake in 1981 for her best friend's wedding. This was the groom's cake. And, my inspiration. I've seen her build so many cakes, I knew I could do it too.

Digging through my cake supplies bin, I found a book called Creative Cakes published in 1978. I flipped through and it had some good tips for planning at 3D cake. I made a few sketches to try and determine the size of cake I would need and just how I was going to build it. This book also had a buttercream frosting recipe that I ended up using for my cakes (It was quite tasty).

I started by making a large sheet cake (and by large, I mean large...I used a 13x19 cake pan). The recipe I used is the same one my mom always used. It's called a 1-2-3-4 cake and I doubled the recipe (I think I should have tripled it though for the cake pan I had). And let me just say that licking the beater brought back a lot of memories (that was my favorite part when mom was baking...at least until I got to have cake).

After the cake is baked, it needs to cool before doing anything else. I baked it during naptime, and then started cutting it up after Dylan went to bed. My mom's trick for cooling your cake (and keeping super-moist) is to put a piece of wax paper (or parchment paper) over the cake and turning it onto a plate (or in my case my large cutting board). It cools with the pan over and retains its moisture. She would bake cakes the day before decorating and leave them overnight with the pans on and they were sooo good. The plus side to this is the happy moist bits that stick to the wax paper when you pull it off. Run your finger down the wax paper and enjoy a delicious treat!

Okay, so now to the part where I put it together. I started by making a template for the base of the trains. I cut out 4 rectangles for the base of the trains. From there, I winged it. I would cut a piece for one train and use that piece to cut one for the second train. Then, I built the trains using the buttercream frosting as glue. Here's what they looked like unfrosted:

The next step after you've built your creation is to carefully apply a crumb layer of frosting. The crumb layer is a thin layer of frosting that catches crumbs and provides a "seal" so to speak for you to do your final crumb-free layer of frosting on top.


The crumb layer.

And then comes the decorating. I used Wilton disposable decorating bags with Wilton tips to do the decorating. I used one of Dylan's Thomas toys as my guide when building the cake and decorating. I did apply more blue and green frosting on top of the crumb layer to help smooth things out.

And here are the finished cakes:

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the process.

Chicken Meatball Alphabet Soup

This photo doesn't do the soup justice.

When the fall weather started last month and the allergies started kicking in, all I wanted to eat was soup. I didn't have any regular chicken, only ground. So, I made meatballs to go in my chicken noodle soup, and used alphabet pasta to keep it fun for my toddler. The result was quite yummy and has since been repeated.

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Toddler note: Dylan loves the meatballs (I've since given them to him over spaghetti noodles with a little parmesan and butter...that was a hit too). He also enjoyed picking out the letters, announcing what they were, and popping them in his mouth. He liked the mushrooms and would pick out a carrot or two, but would rather have his veggies separate.

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Chicken Meatball Alphabet Soup

Keep in mind that I really just throw stuff in the pot. My measurements are approximations...don't be afraid to cook like I do and throw stuff in. Just don't oversalt and pepper and you'll do fine. Also, fill free to substitute what you have on hand. Don't have celery...dont' worry about it. And use whatever veggies you have in the freezer to finish things off.

For the Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken

1 egg

1 palmful (or 1 tsp) grill seasoning

1 palmful (or 1 tsp) dried herbs de provence (or use 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp basil)

1 palmful (or 1 tsp) dried thyme

1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2-1 cup bread crumbs

optional (but healthier): about 1/4-1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained thoroughly

For the soup:

1 onion, diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

2 carrots (american sized) or about 1 cup of baby carrots, chopped

1 container of button or baby bella mushrooms, sliced (this is optional)

salt

pepper

1 palmful (or 1 tsp) herbs de provence

1 palmful (or 1 tsp) thyme (if you have fresh, use it and put in about a tablespoon)

1 sprig rosemary (no need to chop, it goes in as is)

1 bay leaf, whole

3-4 cups chicken broth

3-4 cups water

1 cup (or two handfuls) of alphabet pasta (I get the Earth's Best Organic with grover on the box)

a handful of frozen cut green beans

a handful of frozen peas

a handful of frozen corn

If you are going to make a large batch of meatballs and cook them in the oven (which is what I do sometimes), then go ahead and get them started. Basically put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix with your hands. Add more breadcrumbs as needed to make it into a nice dough. Make your meatballs all the same size. If cooking in the oven, set the temp to 350º and cook for about 15-20 minutes until golden). Otherwise, cook them in a little olive oil in a frying pan until they are brown all over, but not necessarily cooked all the way through (you'll add them to the soup to finish cooking).

For the soup, put about a tablespoon of olive oil in your pot. Add in chopped onions, carrots, and celery (I'm a firm believer in chop and drop, it makes things go quicker). Add in the herbs, a sprinkle of salt and a sprinkle of pepper. After a couple of minutes drop in the mushrooms, bay leaf and sprig of rosemary. Saute' until the veggies are softened. Then add the liquid and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and add the meatballs, the pasta and frozen green beans, bring the pot back to a boil. Set your timer for the pasta cooking time, minus a couple of minutes. Once the timer beeps, add in the peas and corn and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan on top. Enjoy!

salmon and how to use up the leftovers

My friend Tina told me about the Morey's frozen salmon at Sam's Club. I've since bought it a few times. It is pre-marinated, but not overly salty. Which makes for a delicious piece of fish.

I usually serve it the first night as you see above. I go ahead and cook all six pieces that come in the box.

The second night, I take the leftovers and turn them into salmon patties. I add an egg, a tablespoon or two of mayo, lemon juice, any fresh herbs I might have on hand (like dill or thyme), and breadcrumbs. I don't do exact quantities, just kind of put stuff in until it's a good consistency for forming patties. Form the patties and then roll them in any excess bread crumbs. Cook in a little olive oil until nice and browned on each side.

The third day, for lunch or dinner, I took one of my side dishes from the previous night (simply, peas, couscous and parmesan) and repurposed it for a pita sandwich. I browned a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, then added the couscous mixture. Once it is heated through, toss in some chopped flat leaf parsley and chopped basil and squeeze over some lemon juice. Put a generous spoonful of this in the middle of a warm pita and top with leftover salmon patties (or a leftover salmon burger...I used one of those the other day and it was tasty too). I made a pesto mayonnaise for the top by defrosting one of my cubes of pesto and mixing it with mayo. To make it lower fat, mix the pesto with non-fat plain yogurt, or just top with plain yogurt (like I did just the other day). Fold your pita and eat. This is one of my favorite leftover fixes.

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Toddler Note:  Dylan ate some of the salmon the first night.  Last time I served it he didn't.  Ditto the salmon patties.  He was not at all interested in the peas and coucous..he'd rather have his peas plain please.

pantry pasta

One of my favorite quick meals is what I have dubbed "pantry pasta". I basically take whatever I have on hand and turn it into a pasta dish. The latest incarnation incorporated some yummy spinach and asiago chicken sausage I picked up at Sam's Club.

I started by boiling pasta water for the whole wheat penne pasta. Then, in I put chopped onion, garlic and shredded carrots (I buy mine pre-shredded) into the frying pan. After the veggies softened up a bit, I pushed them to the side and browned my sliced sausage. Then, throw in some frozen cut green beans and halved cherry tomatoes. Toss it all around. You don't see it in the photo, but the last time I made this I also added in a can of drained and rinsed cannelini beans. Wow, they were a great addition. I'd add these in towards the end so they don't turn to mush. That's the beauty of pantry pasta, you add whatever you have that sounds good together.

When the pasta is done, add it to the pan and stir in some homemade or store bought pesto (I freeze my pesto in ice cube trays) and add in enough pasta water to make a nice sauce. Toss it all together and top it with parmesan cheese when serving.

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Toddler Note:  Dylan liked the pasta noodles and the sausage.  He didn't really pick out any of the veggies unfortunately.  I've learned to serve those on the side anyway.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Boulé bread.

While we were in Michigan, my Aunt Elinore shared a book with us: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. We also tried some of her bread and we were ready to order the book for ourselves.  And we've had fresh crusty loaves several times a week since then.

We've tried several recipes.  The Boulé bread is delicious, but I've been doing the Light Whole Wheat version and reducing the amount of white flour by using spelt.  We also really like the Oatmeal bread.  I roll it out and add a filling of cinnamon, sugar and raisins.  It's a delicious breakfast treat and is mostly whole grains.  You can also use the Light Whole Wheat (or some of the other doughs as well) to make pizza.  

Here are my dough containers. I purchased these at Sam's Club.

Here's how it works, you mix up a big batch of dough (enough for 3-4 loaves), let it rise and store it in a container in the refrigerator.  Depending on the dough, you can store it for up to 14 days and tear off some when you need it (the bread will take on a more sourdough flavor the longer it is in the refrigerator).  You shape the dough and let it rise.  No kneading is required.  You preheat the oven, flour and slash (or do an egg wash, or whatever other finishing touches the recipe calls for) and pop it in.  It's really helpful to have a pizza stone and a pizza peel or paddle.

If you are interested, I highly recommend that you buy the book.  That way you can try a plethora of recipes.  Enjoy!

Pizza with a base of pesto, topped with mozzerella, tomatoes, prosciutto and basil.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Raisin Bread

One of the last recipes in the book is for bread pudding. I used leftover Oatmeal Cinammon Raisin bread in this one. I also didn't have all of the ingredients like half and half for the recipe. I found out that substituting half milk and half yogurt for the half and half worked really nicely...without all the fat. I also used half the amount of eggs it called for. It was still delicious. The glaze on top is simply yogurt mixed with powdered sugar and drizzled on top.