Dump Cake

At the moment, the most delicious smell is wafting through the house. I just talked to Lucas and told him if he found me on the kitchen floor when he gets home from work, it is because I have just eaten an entire cake and cannot move. Seriously, this thing is dangerously good smelling. And also, dangerously awful for you. After just posting about how we are eating healthy and cooking with non-processed ingredients, I am completely contradicting myself with this post. None of this cake is from scratch. It took maybe 3 minutes to assemble. I don't even want to ask about the nutritional value. But, I haven't eaten it since college, and I have never made it myself, so it isn't like this is a normal occurrence (although maybe it should be...). And, I am further justifying it by the fact that it isn't for us (not all of it, anyway). In about an hour, if I haven't eaten the whole thing by then, it will be traveling to a friend/coworker's home, where she and her husband will join us in our self-destructive behavior. We are actually taking a whole meal over, as they are the proud new parents of a new baby girl, who we get to meet for the first time tonight! The Dump Cake was a last minute addition to the meal, because I had forgotten to plan a dessert. As previously mentioned, Dump Cake is super fast to make, so it was easy to through together in the last few hours before we head over there. I am hoping it is just as good as I remember, and judging by the smell, I think I'm in luck!

Dump Cake
ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 can sugar free cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple in water (don't drain)
1/2 c. butter, thinly sliced into pats

(I know, 4 ingredients, how can that even be considered cooking? Well, friends, deliciousness apparently is more concerned with quality, not quantity.)

directions:
1. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, or coat with butter.
2. Open can of cherry pie filling and spread over bottom of pan with spatula.
3. Open can of pineapple and spread over pie filling, mixing together.


(for those of you who are asking yourself, "Aren't those pineapple tidbits? I thought the recipe called for crushed pineapple!", congratulations on being so observant! That will pay off when you are at the store and looking at pineapple cans--be sure to look for the word "crushed." I obviously was not so observant...hence the tidbits in my cake above.)

4. Sprinkle cake mix over top of fruit mixture in an even layer.


5. Place cut butter pats across top of cake mixture.


6. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees, or until top is golden.
7. Try to hold off eating until you are actually at the dinner party (good luck with that).


I like to console myself by thinking that there are 2 types of fruit in this dessert. That totally counts as a serving of fruit. Let's forget that I plan to top this with a generous dollop of whipped cream, and can't completely rule out second helpings...mmmm.

Whipped Cream

To be honest, I really haven't done much worthy of writing about lately, so in the interest of posting for the sake of posting, I thought I'd write about whipped cream. Last summer, I had the time and opportunity to frequent the library daily (all right, not always by choice...we were in the process of house buying and due to the incompetencies of Comcast, spent nearly 2 months without internet, therefore sending me to the library daily to communicate with our realtor, lenders, insurance agents, utility providers, etc. More than annoying.) This did give me lots of time to peruse the shelves while waiting for a computer to open up, and I spent most of my time in the food section, reading books like Twinkie: Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger, Real Food by Nina Planck, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and most recently, Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In short, after reading those books I decided to eliminate a lot (not all, let's be reasonable...every so often, you are going to have to eat high fructose corn syrup...it is in everything. If you go out to eat at all, there is a good chance every item you order contains some. That is perhaps an over generalization, but I'm just trying to point out that even though I try to be really conscious about it, I am aware that I do eat some) of processed foods from my diet. Starting with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Which is why the Ward household no longer buys "frozen whipped topping" and instead makes our own whipped cream. Which is so easy, I am ashamed to admit that I just started doing this a year ago.

A note: I am only posting these pictures because they are the only ones I have of whipped cream making. They are from earlier this week, and the only reason I have them at all is because I used too small a bowl and splattered the whipping cream all over my shirt (and the kitchen), which Lucas found hilarious, therefore prompting him to fashion for me the "paper towel bib" you see me wearing in the photos. He thought he was quite funny, so he proceeded to take these pictures. Ha.


Whipped Cream
ingredients:
whipping cream
sugar or agave nectar
flavoring (vanilla, almond, liquor, etc)


Unfortunately, I can't offer you measurements or quantities for the ingredients. I just eyeball it to however much we need. I taste as I go until it is sweet enough for us. I like to flavor with almond extract, but vanilla is good too, and when not pregnant, I like amaretto or creme de caramel.



To make:
1. Pour desired amount of whipping cream into an appropriately sized bowl (I have learned that you should always go bigger than you think you need...).
2. Begin whipping with an electric whisk, or make in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. I suppose you could also whisk it by hand, but be prepared to be whisking awhile.
3. Gradually add sugar or agave nectar and continue whisking until cream starts to thicken. When soft peaks begin to form, add in flavoring and continue whisking until desired consistency. Don't over beat, or you will make butter. Very sweet and tasty butter, but probably not what you want on your dessert...

The almond flavored whipped cream is especially good with fresh berries. Mmmmm. Enjoy!

Peach-raspberry pie

Lucas and I had a few guys from his office over for dinner on the 4th of July. In the spirit of the holiday, I thought I would bake a pie, because what goes better with the 4th of July than pie? I had planned to make peach-blackberry pie, but when I got to the store after saving my shopping for the day of the holiday, I was saddened to discover they were sold out of blackberries. So, I swapped the blackberry idea for raspberries at the last minute. In hindsight, I maybe should have just made a peach pie and left out the other fruit entirely, but there's always next time. As a warning, peach-raspberry pie is very, very, sweet.

This pie was my first attempt at a lattice top pie. I made the crust from scratch, and probably should've made a bigger batch as it turns out I made a crust for a regular dish pie, and the dish I own happens to be deep dish. So, the edges weren't turned under as nicely as they should have been, and there are fewer lattices than I wanted, but an overall respectable attempt. Last summer I found an all butter pie crust recipe that I loved, and then promptly lost it. I have tried several times to replicate said pie crust, but cannot recreate the delicious flaky butteriness of the original. This crust was just a version of the Better Homes and Gardens red plaid cookbooks pie crust, substituting butter for the shortening. Eh. Nothing special.

Peach-raspberry pie
1 recipe for a double crust pie (use your favorite)
7-8 peaches, peeled and sliced
1.5 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 c. sugar
3 T. all purpose flour
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1.5 T. unsalted butter, cubed (I forgot this step. Do Not forget this step!!)
1 egg, mixed with a little bit of cold water (to brush on the crust)
sugar (to sprinkle on the crust)

Directions:
1. Make pie crust for double crust pie. Divide dough in half and refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Roll one half of dough to 1/4" thick and place in 9" pie plate. Allow dough to overhand the edges.
2. Mix peaches and raspberries with sugar, flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon into crust. Dot with the cubes of butter.
3. Roll out second half of dough to 1/4" thickness. Use a pizza cutter, pastry wheel, or knife to cut 10 strips of dough 3/4" thick. Weave into lattice top over filling. Turn bottom crust edge over edges of strips and roll and pinch together.
4. Brush egg over the strips and sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake 40-50 minutes on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven (based on original recipe. my oven never works right, so I baked it close to 1.5 hours. maybe your's will work better...). Crust should be golden brown and filling should be bubbling when done.

Garden

So....haven't posted anything for awhile. I have had a few failed baking attempts (I entirely blame my oven. More on this later), have started a backyard garden, went through a few weeks where I made things, but didn't think to photograph them (guess we'll just have to make homemade ice-cream with homemade caramel sauce again...oh well!), and was mostly lazy. I thought I'd attempt to make up for my laziness by promising a series of posts--as in one each day this week. This is a lofty goal, however, and you will be lucky to see one every other day. Though I will try my best.

Today I thought I'd share about my garden. Since we moved in a year ago, I have been talking about the wonderful garden I would have now that I had my own backyard. I suppose I could have managed something during the "apartment days," but the closest I got to gardening then was my window oxalis, which could live anywhere and I'm sure could be tended to by a hamster or other small brained creature with moderate rate of success. Pondering just how we were going to get anything to grow in our clay soil lasted nearly the whole first year we were here. Then, our neighbor told us about square foot gardening, which would eliminate any soil preparation and contain the garden to a set spot all at the same time. Perfect!

3 weeks later...


We have a garden! Looking at the picture above, from the bottom left hand corner, going from bottom to top, then top to bottom: 2 squares of watermelon, cherry tomatoes, basil, empty square (was going to be zucchini, but no stores seemed to carry those seeds this late in the summer), zinnia, mesclun, zinnia, spinach, empty square (was to be zucchini, again), 2 squares of peppers, 2 squares of squash, parsley, and mesclun. All except the tomato and zinnias were from seed. I also have a larger tomato plant in a container on the deck. So, we'll see how well we do! I've already found a worm and some sort of tiny grasshopper looking thing eating the leaves on the watermelon sprouts, which is why I have thinned the sprouts back yet. Want to make sure I leave the strongest one! I am pretty sure I have over planted in terms of big plants--the book recommended one squash plant for every 3 squares. I went ahead and planted 2 next door to each other. Oh well. If one doesn't make it, I guess I have a back up.

In the picture, you will also notice the presence of our dog, Wembley. He thinks it is his job to dig up any bark, pieces of mulch, or large clumps of dirt that might be present in the garden. If you spend any time near our yard, you will most likely hear the sounds of: "Wembley! No! Get out of there!", followed by a crazed black dog streaking through the yard at a speed way to fast for a human to catch. He will then proceed to streak straight by you, through the garden, and start the process over. We are going to look into a small fence. This in lieu of Lucas' suggestion to just get rid of the dog. Deep down, I think he really does like him.

Tomorrow (or the next day, whichever...): Peach-raspberry pie

Breakfast Couscous

In an attempt to eat a more varied breakfast, I made this Breakfast Couscous dish last week. I had made it once before and remembered it was easy, so decided to give it a second try. It is in fact very easy to make. I adapted it from the original recipe found in Cooking Light because I didn't have all the ingredients. Also, the recipe was intended for use while camping, so it did provide directions using dried milk, but I went ahead and used regular 2% milk instead. It made enough for 3 breakfasts, about 2/3 c. each serving.


Breakfast Couscous
adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. uncooked couscous
1/2 c. dried cranberries (or 1/4 c. dried cranberries, 1/4 c. raisins)
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
optional: toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped

Directions:
1. Boil water and milk in a small saucepan.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients and remove from heat.
3. Cover and let stand 10 minutes.

See, very very easy!