So, a few weeks ago I was at the market and there was a package of Uncle Ben’s Taco rice in the Manager’s Special section. I thought, hey, why not? It might be good. I prepared it according to package directions on Tuesday. When Spane tasted it, he made a face. I tasted it, and I made a face, too. I even put Tapatio on it, and sour cream, and it still tasted like dirty, old socks. Mind you, I’ve never tasted dirty, old socks, but I imagine they probably taste like that rice – horrible. Moral of the story, don’t by Uncle Ben’s flavored rice.
After that debacle, I was determined to make good Mexican rice, but my stove, Bertha, is on the fritz. I had to find another way to make it.
I also had a pork loin roast, and I wanted to marinate it, but, it too, could not be roasted in Bertha. I had to find another way for that as well.
The PTA at John Muir Elementary School puts on a staff luncheon every year. Parents are asked to bring in their best dish. Our teachers and staff are very lucky, as a lot of our parents are very good cooks. This year, in fact, the recipes are going to be collected and the PTA is publishing a cookbook. The luncheon was going to take place in the newly planted Teachers’ Garden. I decided to make a cake and decorate it as a garden.
The cake looked lovely tilted up at the dessert station. In fact, it looked so lovely, and so real, that no one ate it. Some guests thought it was too pretty to cut, a few thought it was art, and a few didn’t think it was really edible. I wound up taking it home and will share it with family and friends.
I was so looking forward to having barbecued corned beef and putting my corned beef on the Weber, but I got rained out. It didn’t turn out a bad dinner, though. I used the baby Nesco, and that brisket turned out just fine.
The other day, when I was perusing Pinterest, I came across something that looked fabulous. It was strawberries stuffed with cream cheese, and it was called Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries. I pinned it and decided it would make a nice treat for the kids in Spane’s class going to the Planetarium field trip. Last year, I made White Chocolate Rum Raisin Cookies for Mrs. Mary’s class when we went to The Natural Science Museum.
I lucked out, and strawberries were Buy One box, Get One Free. There are 24 kids in Spane’s class, plus the teacher, and possibly one or two more parents who, like me, volunteered to go on the trip to help with the children. There were enough strawberries, with a few extra for the house.
I decided to change the original recipe a little and dip the strawberries in chocolate. All the recipes on the Internet tell you to add shortening to the chocolate to temper it. I don’t like shortening, and I knew that I had dipped strawberries before without it. Of course, looking in The Joy of Cooking, I found that I didn’t need shortening at all, just a candy thermometer, that I have a nice glass one with a clip. There are instructions later in this post about how to do this.
Barbecued Potato Chip Tuna Casserole may not by the prettiest casserole in the world, but it tastes very good. My mother would make this if we had leftover potato chips. My mother wasn’t much into snack food, so this was not something we had a lot, but it is one of those comfort foods that I remember fondly.
For my birthday, I wanted to make myself a special cake. I love chocolate, and I love sour cherries. The combination is fabulous.
This is my favorite cake in the world. It’s a very rich cake, and takes time and effort to prepare, but well worth it. My only suggestion to you is not to make it when you have a lot of other intense dishes to make, you’ll look like me when you’re done! Don’t let that deter you – you and your guests will be impressed with this luscious cake.
Yesterday, I made Rose Fudge Truffles and Black Forest Fudge for Founder’s Night at Spane’s school, prepped Rose Petal and Lobster Salad for my birthday, and made this cake. By the time we got back from Founder’s Night, I was so pooped that we decided to have the cake tonight. Amber and Noelle came by, and the four of us enjoyed cake together. A good time was had by all.
When I was a little girl, my mother used to go on about how she loved going to her grandmother’s house when she would serve Lobster and Rose salad. I was always hoping that my mother would recreate the recipe, but she never did.
When my great-grandmother was making this salad, lobster was a lot less expensive. I decided that for my birthday, despite to cost, I would recreate Christina Jacobsen’s recipe myself.
Immerse yourself in the floral elegance of rose-infused sweetness of Rose Fudge or surrender to the rich depths of dark chocolate and cherry in the iconic Black Forest Fudge.
