My First Cake from Scratch

I have mentioned before, that just a few years ago, if it didn't come from a box... I wasn't cooking it! It was the same for baked goods. I would play the "No one ever taught me how to cook" card all the time. Well, I am still waiting for someone to teach me and since no one seems to be jumping at the opportunity, I have ventured out and attempted to teach myself. :o)

There have been some successes and some failures... this venture was definitely a success!!

I love, love, LOVE all things banana - as long as it's not in it's original banana form. I mean, I don't dislike bananas, but they're not my favorite and I like them much better baked in something. :o) Browsing Pinterest the other day, I came across this pin that leads to this Bake or Break blog with the recipe.

Here is what a professional photo of it looks like:

Here's the recipe:

Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375°. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, oil, and sugar. Beat in eggs and egg white, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas with milk. Set aside.

Gradually mix half of dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mix in bananas. Mix in remaining dry ingredients.

Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack.

Frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped toasted nuts (optional - I opted out)

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and vanilla. Reduce speed and gradually add confectioners’ sugar.

Spread frosting on cake. Sprinkle with nuts (optional).

And.... here's what my lame photos of it look like:

 

It was delicious. It has more of a banana bread texture than a light and airy cake texture, so a little goes a long way. Only negative - we were all left wanting more frosting. I think next time, I will double the frosting, cut the cake in half horizontally, slather some frosting, but the top half of the cake back on and slather some more frosting. MMMMM! I cant wait to make this again!

 

Chicken & Dumplin Casserole

I love... I mean, LOVE, comfort food. One of my favorites is Chicken & Dumplins. A friend of ours makes some of the best. She's given me the recipe, but it intimidates me. Boil a whole chicken? I've never even boiled a chicken breast. LOL

So when I found a pin for a Chicken & Dumplin Casserole, I was pretty stoked to try it out.

I got the full recipe from the Plain Chicken blog, which I copy and pasted below:

• 3-4 cups of cooked chicken (I use a rotisserie chicken)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.

Melt butter in the microwave and pour into bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Shred the chicken and spread it on top of the butter.

Whisk together the milk and the flour, baking powder and salt.  Slowly pour over the chicken.  Don't stir.

Whisk together chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Pour in veggies and gently stir in broth and soup mix. Pour soup over the flour and milk mixture.  Don't stir.

Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, or until dumplings are golden brown.

The original recipe didn't call for mixed veggies, but K loves a veggie and always says Chicken n Dumplins would be better with veggies in it, so I tried it. It turned out OK, I think next time instead of  mixing the veggies in with the chicken broth and cream of chicken soup, I will probably put it in the bottom layer with the chicken. 

Overall, it was a pretty tasty dish. Next time, I might take the extra step to do fresh veggies instead of frozen. Key word there? Might.

Bon Appétit

Grandma Merry's Beef Stroganoff

K's most favorite meal is Beef Stroganoff. I may have mentioned in the past, before K and I got together, I didn't make anything that didn't come out of a box. So after I had been cooking for a while, I wanted to try my hand at her favorite dinner.

Her sister provided me with their Grandma Merry's recipe. It is not only delicious, but pretty easy too! It all cooks in one pot making the clean-up quick and easy!

I forgot to take a pic when I cooked it, so these are the leftovers.

Here is the recipe:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tbsp instant minced onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced (I do more of a chop... I'm not a huge fan of the texture of mushrooms so the smaller the better.)
• 1/4 cup red table wine (I just use water.)
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups uncooked wide noodles
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Paprika (optional - I opt out of this.) 
• Chopped Parsley (optional - I opt out of this, too.)

Melt butter in large pot. Add ground beef, instant minced onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until meat is no longer red.

While meat and mushrooms are cooking, microwave 1 and 1/4* cup water for about 3 minutes or until boiling. Remove from microwave and add 2 bouillon cubes and juice of the lemon. Stir until bullion cubes are fully dissolved.

*The additional 1/4 cup of water is to substitute for the wine. If you are making it with wine, I suggest not heating it with the water and simply pour it into the pot with the beef bouillon mixture.

Once the meat is cooked, pour beef bouillon mixture into pot and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered.

Add noodles (and more water as needed), cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until noodles are done.

Add sour cream. (I usually do a little more than 1/2 a cup. Ssshhhh)... Add salt and pepper to taste. (The bouillon cubes make it pretty salty so be sure to taste test before you add the salt and pepper.)

Serve with a side of garlic bread or simply warm french bread with a schmear of butter. A perfect cold and rainy comfort food meal! 

So what it's on a paper plate, Teenah. It's all I had at work.

Cover and Pass

One thing you should know about me is I love almost all games. I say almost all because I don't really like the games I am not good at. LOL That's not true, even if I am not very good at a game, as long as it's fun and involves laughter, I will like it. I grew up in a card playing family, but I love a board game and LIVE for game nights with friends! 

I sound competitive, and I can be as long as it's fun competition. Once it gets serious, it's no longer fun. You should see my best friend's husband and I play the game of Sorry. It is cut throat and takes forever to finish a game, but it is FUN!

In my "A Week with Inez" post, I mentioned we played cards. One of the games we played was Cover and Pass. This game is one of my favorites, so I thought I would share the fun and give the directions. 

Players: 3+ or teams

You need three decks of cards with Jokers. (It is much easier to shuffle if all three decks are the same size.)

The game consists of 7 "rounds". Each round has a different goal and one more card than the last.

The rounds are:

1. Deal 6 cards, get 2 sets of 3
2. Deal 7 cards, get 1 set of 3, on set of 4
3. Deal 8 cards, get 2 runs of 4
4. Deal 9 cards, get 3 sets of 3
5. Deal 10 cards, get 2 sets of 3, 1 run of 4
6. Deal 11 cards, get 1 set of 7
7. Deal 12 cards, get 1 run of 8

Once the cards are dealt the dealer turns over the top card from the stock pile and the player to the left of the dealer starts play. If the player wants the card the dealer flips up, they pick up the card and discard a card from their hand. If they do not want that card, they "cover" it with the top card of the stock pile and "pass" it to the player on their left. They then pick up the top card of the stock pile and play as normal, discarding as they see fit. (There should never be more than on card in the discard pile at all times.) This continues until one person has gotten rid of all their cards.

You want to wait to play your cards when you have completed all the runs and sets required for the round, don't play your runs and sets as you get them. Once a player is down on the board, the goal is to then get rid of the remainder of their cards. They do this by playing additional runs and sets of 3 or playing on what other players have laid down. (It is easiest if you just play the cards on what other players have laid down, rather than starting your own additional piles -- Points are not determined by the cards played.)

Wilds: Jokers & 2's are wild. In rounds 1-5 you may play one wild per run or set unless the wild is played as a "natural" - in other words, a two is played as a two, not a wild. In rounds 7 & 8, you may use up to three wilds, unless the 4th wild is played as a natural.

Once a player gets rid of all the cards in their hand, the round is over. The cards left in the other player's hands will count against them.*

Scoring:

Wild (Jokers) = 50
Wild (2's) = 20
Aces = 20 (may be played as high or low)
K-10 = 10
9-2 = 5

*If playing partners/teams, the team members/partner of the player that goes out, does not count the points left in their hand.

The player/team with the least amount of points at the end of Round 7 wins.

I hope you'll play. It's a lot of fun and guarenteed to bring hours of entertainment. K was not a huge fan of this game at first. She said the cards almost went into the campfire, but after playing with my mom and sister this last week, she is now a fan.

Feel free to comment if you have any questions. One of my most favorite people to play cards with, Ronnie Blue, says when there's a rule dispute, "Your house, your rules." You make the call, just remember to stay consistent. Happy playing!

A Week with Inez

Who, you may ask, is Inez? Inez is my wonderful Mom who came out to get out of the cold Indiana weather and visit her daughter in beautiful, sunny California.

Here's how it went:

We took my mom home from the airport via the scenic route down Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). One of the most breath taking views is at Crystal Cove where they just so happen to have a Ruby's Diner that over looks the ocean. Of course we stopped there to grab a bite to eat as we oogled at the ocean views!

Ruby's Diner, Newport Beach Coast, Crystal Cove

We spent quite a bit of time at various beaches.

Heisler Park, Laguna Beach

Heisler Park

Two of my most favorite women.

My beautiful Mom, San Clemente Pier

Found cool trees.

Coolest tree ever, Heisler Park, Laguna Beach

Me & K, Heisler Park, Laguna Beach

Second coolest tree, Main Beach, Laguna Beach

Watched some sunsets.

Aliso Beach

Montage, Laguna Beach

Out on the whale watching boat.

 Celebrated my Birthday!

Had a picnic on the beach, San Clemente Pier

Went for a walk on the Pier

Got the most perfect Birthday card

Followed by the most perfect Rockstar Monkey Birthday cake.

And blew out candles, which people missed so I fake blew out candles. LOL

Then my sister Melissa came.

As her son pointed out, if you look closely, her eyes are closed. LOL

We went Whale Watching. (We did see whales and dolphins on the trip, but they're too quick to catch on camera so you get pics of us instead.)

Waiting to board our Whale Watching boat.

She thought we were whale watching in Antarctica.

My mom refused to smile because she said I had hate in my heart. And did I ever, that day! At least until we got on the boat.

Our first whale watching trip together.

Take 1 - Enjoying each other.

Take 2 - Mom?? Hello?

Take 3 - There we go! :o)

 Laughed a LOT.

For some reason my mom would talk during pictures. Yelling "NO TALKING" would result in laughter and a great pic.

I laugh like no other when I am with my mom.

We made fun of her Antarctica coat and later realized we all wished we had an Antarctica coat. Brrr it was COLD on that boat!

I am pretty sure this is another "NO TALKING" shot. LOL

Took silly pictures.

TA-DA

Messing with camera settings.

Showing some sass.

Played lots of cards. (Sorry no pictures.)

And finally, after breakfast at our favorite spot in Laguna, we had one last trip to the beach before everyone went home.

Main Beach, Laguna Beach

It was a wonderful visit with memories that will be forever cherished. So many little side stories I would love to chronicle, but don't want to overwhelm my loyal readers with "you-had-to-be-there" stories. Melissa has gone home, my mom has continued on her journey to Arizona before heading back to Indiana, and we have returned to the daily grind. I definitely went through the vacation blues once everyone left, but when I reflected back on the week we had, I realized my gratitude and decided I will have to make these memories get me through until we have the chance to make some more. Many, many more.