Where, Oh Where . . .

. . . has Oklahoma Granny been?

Well, I've been around. I've been visiting my favorite blogs, sometimes leaving comments, sometimes not.

It just seems there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done that NEEDS to be done and do the things I WANT to do too.

Is it like that for you?

I haven't even taken many pictures lately, hence the header you see above. It's from 2011. I don't mean to mislead you. We haven't had any snow at all this year unless you count the few flakes that fell last week - or maybe it was week before last.

With the exception of a handful of days that you could say it was truly cold, we seem to be having a very mild winter. That's kind of nice right now  for those who don't care for the cold but I'm afraid we'll have a ton of bugs this summer. 

Oklahoma needs rain! We have a good chance for some of the wet stuff tonight and tomorrow.

Rainy and/or cold weather is the best time for comfort food, don't you think? I bought a new cookbook a couple of weeks ago. It's one of those marvelous church cookbooks that translates to tried-and-true recipes.

This one is filled with lots of recipes that are new to me and I've picked out several to try.

I'm going to share one with you that I have already made. Both AD and I really liked it. It's called Goulash but it's not like any goulash AD and I have ever had. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Goulash

1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 onion, chopped (I used dried onion because AD isn't a fan of onions)
1 box Macaroni & Cheese
1/2 stick of butter or margarine
1 can chili (no beans)
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)

Brown the hamburger and onion and drain well.
In a separate pan, cook the macaroni and drain it well. Stir the butter into the macaroni and then the packet of cheese that comes in the box.
Mix the mac & cheese into the hamburger mixture along with the chili, Rotel tomatoes, bean and drained corn. Heat through and enjoy.

NOTE: When AD and I talked about the dish we decided it might be good to kick it up a bit the next time by adding a bit of taco seasoning or some diced jalapenos.

More of a How To Than a Recipe

There's a recipe making the rounds on the internet for Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread. It's a simple recipe and would be good for a special weekend breakfast with the kids or if you are having guests.

I wanted to try it last week but I was the only one at home since AD had already left for work that day.

So I tried it using a single hard roll.

Basically what you do is slice the roll (or round loaf of bread if you're serving several people) in roughly 1/2 inch cuts going one way. Don't slice all the way through - just slice until you get fairly close to the bottom but the roll (or loaf) is still connected.

Spread honey butter (I have included my recipe for honey butter below) on all the exposed bread between all the cuts.

Now turn the roll (or loaf) 90 degrees and slice the other way. Spread honey butter between the new cuts.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar liberally between all the cuts.

Wrap the roll (or loaf) in aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes (or 30 minutes for a whole loaf).

After removing the bread from the oven, unwrap, move to a plate or serving tray and drizzle with a simple glaze made of powdered sugar and a bit of milk. It might be nice to add a drop or two of vanilla to the glaze.

For the roll I used one spoonful of powdered sugar and stirred in just a couple of drops of milk - just enough to make a thin glaze.

It was a sweet treat on a cool morning.

Honey Butter

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and keep refrigerated. Serve at room temperature.

It's HOT! But I Can't Wait for August

And here's why.

HOMEMADE Butterfingers.

Yep. That's right. I said Homemade.

I found the recipe here.

Note that the original recipe calls for the ingredients in ounces. After researching those amounts, I have converted the recipe to read in the terms of cups for 2 of the ingredients.

Although Steph posted it last November I just came across it last week.

I can't remember exactly how that happened but I'm glad it did.

And I still had an unopened bag of candy corn from last Fall.

Candy corn? Yes, that's right. It's one of the THREE ingredients that this recipe calls for.

Candy corn, peanut butter and chocolate candy melts. Put them altogether and you get homemade butterfingers.

Here's how you do it.

Pour 2 and 1/2 cups candy corn (I used Brach's) in a microwave safe bowl that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. (I also sprayed the spatula I was using to stir the melted candy.) Continue microwaving at 15 second intervals and stirring after each 15 seconds.

Once the candy corn is totally melted, stir in 1 and 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter. (I personally used Jif because it's my favorite.)

Pour the mixture into an aluminum foil-lined 8x8" pan that has also been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (I used a 9x9" pan because that's all I have and it worked out fine.)

The candy will harden - not totally hard, just very firm - as it cools. Anxious to see how the candy would turn out, I put the pan in the refrigerator to cool. But because I was doing other things, time got away from me and the candy was in there for a couple of hours or so.

Once the candy is cool, take it out of the pan and cut into individual pieces. Melt 16 ounces of chocolate candy melts per package directions and dip each piece, coating completely. As you are dipping the pieces, let the excess chocolate drip off each one before placing it onto waxed paper to harden.

I'm telling you - these candies taste exactly like the store-bought kind! While they don't have the "dry, flaky" texture of store-bought, once you start chewing a piece, it definitely has the crunch.

Besides the taste, it's that crunch that just blows me away. It's exactly like eating one of the store-bought candy bars!

So why can't I wait for August to get here? 

I checked several stores and couldn't find candy corn in any of them right now - at least reasonably priced candy corn. I did find some in a mall candy store but I just couldn't justify spending $10 a pound for it. Then I asked around and found out that candy corn usually starts making its appearance on store shelves sometime in August.

You can be sure I'll be stocking up. I think boxes of homemade butterfingers will make great Christmas gifts.

So Many Recipes . . . So Little Time

Almost every single day while reading blogs I find at least 2 or 3 recipes I want to try. I copy them down and file them for future use.

Some days I have to try them that very day. Sometimes I even have to make a special trip to the store to pick up some of the ingredients. Not so though with the last couple of recipes I couldn't wait to try.

A few days ago I found a recipe for Cheeseburger Macaroni at kevinandamanda.com. Granted it takes more time than Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper but OH. MY. GOODNESS! It is SO worth the little bit of extra time it takes to make it.

Here's the recipe. Sorry, I didn't take any photos but you can click here to jump over to Amanda's blog to see her beautiful photos of the whole process.

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Cheeseburger Macaroni
adapted from kevinandamanda.com

1 pound lean hamburger meat
1 package taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth (or water)*
1 cup elbow macaroni

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 minutes until macaroni is tender.

While the meat and macaroni is cooking, prepare the cheese sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese**
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.

Serves 4.

*I didn't have any beef broth and I wanted more flavor than what water would give so I dissolved 2 teaspoons of beef bouillon in 1 cup of water that I'd brought to a boil in a small saucepan.

**I was out of cheddar cheese but I did have Velveeta crumbles and used those as a substitute. They worked great!

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It was DE-LISH-OUS!!!!! Luckily, G1 and G2 happened by after we'd eaten. (No leftovers to tempt me the next day!) They hadn't had supper so they put the leftovers in the microwave for a minute or two. G1 gave it 2 thumbs up. G2 was too busy eating to offer his opinion. But by the way he ate it, I'm sure it received a passing grade.

Today I found a recipe for Root Beer Float Cupcakes at howsweeteats.com.

It just so happened I have Root Beer Concentrate in my pantry along with the rest of the ingredients so I made them tonight for a special treat.

To see Jessica's recipe click here. She also does an incredible job at photographing her process.

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Root Beer Float Cupcakes
adapted from How Sweet It Is

makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons root beer concentrate
1/3 cup root beer
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Add root beer concentrate and root beer. Mix until batter is smooth. Line a muffin tin with liners and using a heaping 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Vanilla and Root Beer Frosting

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon root beer extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. On low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time, increasing speed to bring the frosting together. Add milk and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Remove almost all of the vanilla frosting, leaving behind about 1/3-1/2 cup in the mixer. Set vanilla frosting aside. Add root beer extract to remaining frosting in the bowl and beat until it comes together.

If you have pastry bags fill one with vanilla frosting and the other with root beer frosting. Alternately you could use Ziploc bags and cut a small hole in one corner to squeeze the frostings through. Or you can just use spoons and/or spatulas to frost the cupcakes.

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, fill each one with root beer frosting much like filling a cream puff, then top with vanilla frosting. Top with hot fudge or cocoa syrup.

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I did make a few substitutions but nothing earth-shattering. I used diet A&W root beer and light sour cream. I mixed the cupcake batter up in my KitchenAid mixer instead of by hand. Also, rather than use milk in the frosting, I opted to use heavy cream because I was trying to use up the last of what was left in the carton. And although I had hot fudge sauce in the fridge I didn't use it. Maybe next time. And there will definitely be a next time.

It did take my cupcakes about 20 minutes to bake but all ovens are a bit different.

AD and I each enjoyed one after dinner tonight. I'm taking a few to the scrapbook store tomorrow to share with friends and AD is taking the rest to work. I sure don't need those tempting, tasty little sweets at the house calling my name.

Do you enjoy finding and trying new recipes?

Comfort Food: A Twist on an Old Favorite

One of my scrapbooking friends mentioned that she'd tried this recipe from the Betty Crocker website.

Can you guess what it is? It's Pizza Tater Tot Casserole!

Now we like Tater Tot Casserole at our house (Son doesn't like it for some reason though) and we like pizza so I thought I'd give it a go.

I made a few changes to the recipe because #1 I didn't have pizza sauce but I did have spaghetti sauce, #2 I didn't have an onion but I did have dried onions, #3 I prefer my green bell peppers to be cooked through so I browned them with the ground beef and dried onion, and #4 I wanted to have some leftovers so I doubled the recipe. 

Oh, there's a #5 too. I baked the casserole at 350 degrees F. because I was using a glass baking dish and I think I read somewhere when you do that you should lower the baking temperature by about 25 degrees. Whether that's true or not, my casserole came out perfect.

So here's the recipe as I made it:

Pizza Tater Tot Casserole
adapted from the Betty Crocker website

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 tablespoon dried onion
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 cups spaghetti sauce
4 ounces (approximately 56 slices) pepperoni
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (32 ounce) bag of tater tots

Heat your oven to 375 degrees F (unless you're using a glass baking dish, then heat to 350 degrees F. like I did.) Spray a 13"x9" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and green pepper over medium-high heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain any grease from the meat mixture.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the undiluted soup. Cook until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Spoon the beef mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spoon the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top. Arrange the slices of pepperoni over the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange tater tots over the cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

AD and I both enjoyed the twist on an old familiar comfort food dish. I hope you will too.

Two Candy Recipes

Monday I made a couple of batches of candy. Both are fairly quick and easy to put together if you have a candy thermometer.

The first one I made is Praline Pecans. The list of ingredients are: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon rum extract and 3 cups pecan halves.

In a heavy saucepan combine both sugars, water, honey and cinnamon. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. Insert a candy thermometer into the syrup and heat until the thermometer reads 240 degrees F. (Soft Ball Stage).

Sorry but I didn't get a picture of that last part. 

Remove the pan from the heat and add extracts. Cool to lukewarm without stirring.

When the mixture is lukewarm, beat it with a mixer for 2 to 3 minutes our until creamy. Then stir in pecans until coated. You need to work quickly before the candy hardens too much. Turn onto waxed paper (the mixture will be a bit sticky) and separate into small clumps.

Cool for a few hours or until dry and sugary. Store in an airtight container.

 

The second recipe is for Caramels. My older sister gave me this recipe years ago and people always seem to enjoy it.

The list of ingredients is: 1 cup butter (or margarine), 1 pound brown sugar, dash of salt, 1 cup corn syrup, 1 (15 ounce) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. If desired, chopped pecans can also be added.

First melt the butter in a heavy, large saucepan.

Stir in brown sugar until it's melted.

Add salt, corn syrup and Eagle Brand milk. Stir well.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thermometer reaches 245 to 250 degrees F. (Firm Ball Stage).

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Chopped pecans can be added at this time if desired. I use 1 and 1/2 cups chopped pecans.) 

Pour candy into a buttered 9x13" pan. (I sprayed my pan and lined it with parchment paper so that 2 of the ends extended over the edges. That way I could just take the whole slab of candy out of the pan later.)

Once the candy is cool, cut it into pieces and wrap each in a piece of waxed paper.

It was much easier for me to take the whole slab of candy out of the pan before cutting into pieces.

Enjoy!

It's Almost Cookie Time!

My friend, Lanyardlady, is gearing up to spend the day with her daughter making holiday cookies for their friends and family.

I love making cookies for the holidays so I'll be checking her blog on Sundays for any recipes she cares to share. I'm sure she'd love for you to stop by too.

When I read her blog entry yesterday evening I immediately thought of the incredible recipe I found for gingerbread men last year. You can go here to see it or I've added it below along with a couple of slight changes I made to the instructions - just as personal preference.

I made the small gingerbread house and men shown above and I must say they were by far the best gingerbread cookies I've ever eaten. I'll be making them every year from now on.

The two changes to the instructions I would suggest are -  (1) it says to roll the dough out to 1/8 inch but I like my cookies on the soft side so my dough was rolled to about 1/4 inch thick.

(2) instead of rolling the dough out on a floured board or counter top, I use equal parts of flour and sugar that have been mixed together. It keeps that flour-y build up off the bottoms of cookies.

Here's the recipe:

Gingerbread Men

1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare baking sheets by greasing them with a little shortening or by applying a light coat of non-stick spray. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks. 

One Yummy Recipe

Most people who know me know that I love to cook. The recipes I look for and use are down home recipes, comfort foods if you will.

There are some things I've just never tried using.

Puff pastry is one of those things.  A week or so ago I found a recipe that looked like fun on Picky Palate. It involved puff pastry, Nutella and marshmallows. Easy enough for someone using puff pastry for the first time.

The name of the recipe is Nutella-Mallow Pillow Pockets. And it is SO simple. The first thing to do is to remove the two pastry sheets from the box and put them on the counter to thaw. I put them on waxed paper to thaw.

Next, unfold them

and cut each one into four equal squares - well, as square as you can get them.

Get out the Nutella, a bag of mini marshmallows and some sugar. The original recipe calls for granulated sugar but I used raw sugar instead because the granules are a bigger.

Approximately 2 tablespoons of Nutella are spread to within 1/2 inch of the edges of each square and I did just that.

Let me say here that these are VERY rich pockets. I think in the future I'll cut the Nutella back to 1 tablespoon or so per puff pastry square.

Next, top the Nutella with 10 to 15 mini marshmallows.

Fold over each square to make a triangle and seal using the tines of a fork. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Oops! I forgot to take a photo of the next step. Mix 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon of water and brush each triangle with the mixture. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 22-25 minutes or until the pastry just turns golden.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. The pillow pockets can be sprinkled with powdered sugar but they are good with or without it.

That was my first experience with puff pastry. I think I'll be trying other recipes using it sometime soon.

Boys' banquet and a Recipe

Last night was the boys' racing banquet. G1 is pretty proud to be the points champion this year.

G2 came in second. His trophy was really nice too.

Both boys got trophies for perfect attendance at the track. Those trophies were just a smidgen taller than me. (I'm 5' 4".) Here's AD with G1. 

And here he is with G2. I think it's pretty cool that G2's AE shirt has the number 9 on it. 

Here's a picture of the boys with their parents. It was a good night. 

G1 won this in the prize drawing. G2 won an air compressor. Congratulations to both boys on their race season!

I haven't posted a recipe in a long time. As I was blog hopping the other day I came across a recipe for

Cinnamon Bun Caramel Corn. It is outrageously wonderful. If you try it, you might want to invite some people over. It makes a bunch!

I found the recipe here. Check out other recipes on the site. There's so many I want to try.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate

aka Cinnamon Bun Caramel Corn 

Recipe from Our Best Bites

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup kernels)

1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1/2 cup (1 stick) real butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 squares almond bark (about 4 oz)*

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. 

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 liter capacity microwave safe bowl.  Mix well.  Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture.  Pour corn syrup over the top of everything.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine.  Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes.  Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more. 

Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.  Stir to combine.  Mixture will foam and rise.  Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir very well so everything is well coated.  

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.  Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  

Remove from oven and spread out on a large piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.** 

Melt almond bark according to package instructions.  Drizzle over popcorn mixture.  When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

*my note: In the package of almond bark that I used 2 squares equalled 4 ounces. Be sure to check your package.
** I thought I could skip this step because the caramel corn was already on foil. Ummmm - no! The caramel corn really does need to be moved to another piece of foil, parchment paper or waxed paper. I used parchment paper.

Brownie Heaven!

I have seen the following recipe on two different blogs, Picky Palate and Kevin and Amanda and I've tried the recipe both ways. Although both are out-of-this world wonderful, I prefer the one from Picky Palate.

The best thing about this recipe is that each cook can decide for herself (or himself, as the case may be) what special ingredients they want to include. Kind of a "make your own signature" dessert, if you know what I mean.

The list of ingredients is fairly simple: one brownie mix, oil, eggs, chocolate chips, hot fudge topping and ice cream. It kind of screams wonderful right there, doesn't it?

How you make this your own recipe is by choosing your favorite brownie mix, hot fudge topping(I used dark chocolate - OH. MY. GOODNESS!), semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (heck, I'm thinking peanut butter chips or mint chocolate chips would work depending on your favorite ice cream), and your choice of ice cream (I used chocolate fudge brownie ice cream this time but I used cookies 'n cream ice cream another time.)

First you stir the brownie mix together with 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil. Mix it by hand but be warned that it is a VERY thick batter.

To that mixture, add a heaping 1/2 cup of your favorite ice cream (I just measured 3/4 cup ice cream. After all, wouldn't that be a heaping 1/2 cup???), 1/4 cup hot fudge topping and 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

It will take some muscle to mix it altogether but you'll get it done.

Spread the brownie mix into an 8x8 inch baking dish* that has been coated very well with non-stick cooking spray. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F. oven for 45-50 minutes or until the brownies test done using the toothpick method.

*If you prefer thinner brownies I'm sure it would be perfectly fine to spread the mixture in a sprayed 9 x 13 inch pan but the baking time would need adjusting.

Cool, cut into bars and enjoy!

Note: Amanda spread half the mixture in her pan, added a layer of whole Oreo cookies, then spread the remaining half of the brownie mixture over the Oreos before she baked them. The first time I tried the recipe I did it that way. They were delicious but I just prefer the brownies without the added Oreos. Go figure!

Ice Cream Sundae Brownies

1 box brownie mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup of your favorite ice cream
1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup hot fudge topping (chilled)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl mix the brownie mix, 2 eggs and oil until combined. Add ice cream, hot fudge topping and chocolate chips. Mix in until evenly distributed. Spread in an 8x8 inch baking dish that has been generously sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake brownies for 45-50 minutes or until they test done with a toothpick.

Cool completely, cut into bars and serve.

Mexican Bean and Rice Salad - My Way

I found a recipe for Mexican Bean and Rice Salad on allrecipes.com. I want to share my version with you but you can find the original version here.

Mexican Bean and Rice Salad My Way

2 cups cooked (and cooled) brown rice*
1 (15 ounce ) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained well
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained well
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
4 to 5 green onions, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large tomato, diced
A few jalapeno slices, chopped fine**
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
juice of 1 lime
1/4 to 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

Mix altogether and chill thoroughly.

*I've given this recipe out to several folks and they always ask about the amount of rice. If it's 2 cups of rice before it has been cooked or after it has been cooked. The measurement is AFTER the rice has been cooked.

**I prefer a little heat so I used about 5 or 6 slices of pickled jalapenos from a jar. You can adjust to whatever heat you prefer your salad to have.
_________

Another nice addition would be diced avocado but that would never fly at my house as I'm the only one who will touch avocado. And this recipe makes a LOT of salad.

I've had many requests for this recipe. I hope you like it too.

A Special Birthday Cake

G1's girlfriend had a birthday last Monday and while he celebrated with her and her family on Monday, he wanted to do something special for her on Wednesday.

One of the things he wanted to do was bake and decorate a cake for her - by himself.

Mind you, the young man has never baked a cake let alone decorate one. I told him he could come over to the house on Tuesday and make it and I'd be there if he needed any help.

He used a recipe that I've had for awhile and have made with much success. You can find the complete recipe for the "Original WASC Cake" with tips here.

A cake mix is used as the base


with other ingredients added to it.


First the cake mix (any flavor - he chose chocolate) is mixed with 1 cup flour, 1 cup granulated sugar and a generous dash of salt. Use a whisk to mix it all together.

In a large mixing bowl stir together 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup water, 3 whole eggs and 1 tablespoon flavoring. NOTE: See the tips that are with the original recipe. My suggestion was to use 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla, 1 teaspoon butter flavoring and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for a chocolate cake.


Once the wet ingredients are mixed together, add about half of the dry ingredients and blend together. Since he was using my (OLD) KitchenAid mixer I advised him to blend it on speed #2.

Then the other half of the dry ingredients are mixed in for 2 minutes. My advice was to mix it on the #4 setting of my mixer.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake it in a preheated 300 degree F. oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. and continue baking for about an equal amount of time or until the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched. Of course you can also use the old method of inserting a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean, it's time to remove the cake from the oven.

According to the tips from the recipe, if the cake has pulled away from the sides it is over baked.

G1 used my large cupcake pan. There was a little too much cake batter so that problem was solved by making some mini cupcakes in a mini muffin pan.


After the cake was baked, cooled and removed from the pan G1 mixed up three quarters of a batch of frosting because the original recipe makes a LOT of frosting!

The following ingredients are for a full batch of frosting. G1 is pretty good with math and didn't have trouble cutting the recipe down.

Cream 2 cups Crisco until fluffy. Add 8 cups confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.


Add 1/2 teaspoon salt


2 teaspoons vanilla (use clear vanilla if you want really white frosting) and 6 ounces heavy cream. NOTE: Using my suggestion, G1 mixed the vanilla with the cream before adding it to the Crisco/powdered sugar mixture.

Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy. I think G1beat it about 3 or 4 minutes.

Since he was making a giant cupcake, he put half of the frosting in a another bowl. Then he added a couple of spoonfuls of cocoa powder to the frosting that was still in the mixer bowl and beat it into the frosting.

He used the chocolate frosting for the "paper cupcake liner". I showed him how to fill a disposable decorating bag and helped in with his choice of decorating tips. I also showed him how to hold the bag (not that he did it my way, but he got the job done) and how to pipe the frosting onto the cake.

Then he was on his own because I had some stuff to do in another room of the house.


Once he had the bottom of his cake done, I showed him how to put the second layer (or top) on using a big of frosting.

He wanted the top of the cake to be white and pink swirled together. The remaining white frosting was separated into two separate bowls. Pink coloring gel was mixed to one of the bowls of frosting and mixed in well. The white and pink frostings were then loaded into decorating bags and he was ready to go again.

First he went around the top with white frosting


Then he added the pink.

Once he was happy with the cake top he added some little pink, red and purple heart sprinkles.

Both he and I thought the cake turned out pretty well for a first timer's attempt.

G1's girlfriend liked her cake a lot.

And what's a birthday cake without candles and a wish?

Looks like her wish will come true.