Thursday, July 31, 2014

Rosie Screws Up A Cake And Mr. Hawthorne Saves The Day!

I am such a FRAUD!

Daughter Hawthorne is home for a few days
and it's her friend's birthday.

I'm making him a birthday cake today - a Devil's Food cake.



Devil's Food Cake
Recipe from King Arthur Flour Cookbook.

1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cocoa
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 350°.
In a small bowl, pour boiling water over the cocoa, blend, and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, cream the shortening, then add the sugar.  Beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.
Blend the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the shortening/sugar mixture, stirring jus enough to combine them.  Gently blend in the cooled cocoa mixture.
Bake in a greased, 9 x 11-inch pan for 40 - 50 minutes.

First, I mixed boiling water with cocoa.

Then I took a break and shot pictures of the sleepy puppies.



Everything is mixed
and I'm making pretty swirlies with the cocoa mixture.


Spread evenly.
Bake 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking,
go hug a puppy.


Ta daa!

Frosting
1/2 stick butter
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
pinch Kosher salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup coffee

Melt butter and chocolate.
Add in powdered sugar, coffee, cream, and a pinch of salt.
Whisking constantly, bring to a boil.
Remove from heat, add vanilla, and continue beating until cool
and of spreading consistency.

Go shoot pictures of a cute kitty.

Hi, Dogwood!







OK.
Sometimes Rosie doesn't have the best of ideas.
I should have simply poured the icing over the sheet cake
and be done with it, but NOOOOOOOOO.
I decided to cut the cake in half and make a layer cake.
Bad idea.

Very bad idea.
Is this not the ugliest cake you've ever seen?
I'm turning it around so you get the full effect
and see all four sides.

This cake is freakin' hideous.
 
The problem with the icing is that it seized up very quickly
and went from spreadable to thick blob in a matter of seconds.
I tried wetting my offset spatula and spreading,
but that didn't work either.

Then I started thinking and worrying about
actually giving someone a birthday cake that looks so horrid.

I really like this young man
and this cake just doesn't say that.
If someone gave me that cake,
I would think they truly hated me.

 Mr. Hawthorne came to the rescue!
He suggested I fill in the bare spots with whipped cream.

And so I did.


Why, it looks like a wrapped up present!

Mr. Hawthorne saved the day!
It's a freakin' beautemous cake to be proud of!
Well, OK, not really.
But it looks better than it did.
 
And it was delicious!
Next time, keep it a sheet cake.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Accident On Colington Road Today.

For some reason, 
Beau didn't get enough seratonin yesterday,
so he's out in the sun earlier today than most times.
Note the shadow on his ass.
That's real early!

 I cooked breakfast for everyone -
buttered toast from homemade bread,
 bacon, lightly curdled eggs.

 
 Then I had a business meeting at the Blue Crab Tavern.
"Monkey Business," I tell ya!

We had just passed one of those rubber-necker moments,
so I was determined to go back and document it.

 I had Mr. Hawthorne park at the Blue Crab
while I walked back to shoot pics of the accident.

Notice the tire trails.

 Don't have details yet.

 Only the details from the Colington Barflies.
So it must be true!




Monday, July 28, 2014

Rosie Makes A Shrimp And Dill Dip.


 Here's a quick and delicious little appetizer for you-
Shrimp and Dill Dip.
 It's light.
 It's summery.
It's fresh.
 It's good on a Ritz,
but then what isn't?

 I had some cooked shrimp in the fridge
And I have a bunch of fresh dill from the garden.
I have a plan.

 Rosie's Shrimp And Dill Dip
1 cup chopped cooked shrimp
1 stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TB ketchup
2 TB chopped fresh dill
1 tsp lemon juice
a few drops Texas Pete

Mix mayonnaise, ketchup, and lemon juice.
Pour over shrimp and celery and combine well.
Mix in dill.
Add Texas Pete to taste.

 Serve on a cracker.
 Enjoy!



Saturday, July 26, 2014

Rosie Makes A Cheesecake.

This cheesecake started out as a case of mistaken identity.
Mr. Hawthorne and I have been buying the 
Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Potato Chips with 40% less fat,
so we can eat twice as much.
He's taken to making an onion dip
 with plain no-fat Greek yogurt,
not with fat-laden sour cream and mayo.
I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference
unless I had them side by side.
So last night, I wanted a little potato chip snack
with yogurt onion dip.
I scooped up a big dip on my chip
and it was ...  off.

I then realized Mr. Hawthorne had mistakenly
picked up VANILLA yogurt and used that in the dip.

For the record, chips, vanilla, and onion dip is not a threesome.

So now I have vanilla yogurt I don't really want.
I think it's time for a cheesecake.
I have blueberries and cherries
so I'll be using both for the toppings.
Rosie's Cheesecake
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. Greek vanilla yogurt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
In a food processor, blend cream cheese, sour cream, 
yogurt, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Blend in eggs, one at a time, processing after each addition.
Pour into prepared crust.
Bake in a 350° oven about 50-55 minutes
or until the cake is set and jiggles only a little bit when shaken.
Cool before covering and refrigerating.

Crust
1 package graham crackers, crushed (1 1/4 cups)
3 TB  brown sugar
6 TB unsalted butter, melted
Process all ingredients until well-combined.
Press into 9-inch springform pan.
Press the crust slightly up this sides.
Bake in a 350° oven for 10 minutes.
Cool before filling.

Cherry Topping
1 cup pitted cherries
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 TB sugar
1 TB cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to boil, stirring.
Cook an additional 1-2 minutes until thickened.
Cool completely before pouring over top of chilled cheesecake.

Blueberry Topping
Same as above except substitute 1 cup blueberries for the cherries.



Is this beautiful or what?


Oh, yeah.