Recipes

Short cuts

~ MaryG ~ 2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What food would you say is your specialty?
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I am not a great cook, but I am in possession of several good and reliable recipes that I make a lot and sometimes get asked to make. These include my swiss & mushroom quiche, my carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and my blueberry muffins. Even with those, I will use short cuts like pre-made pie crusts. Let’s face it, those Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts (in the long red box) are really good!

Speaking of short cuts, I have discovered what I think is the single best cake mix in the world. I had read about it somewhere and put it on my grocery list, where it stayed for many months annoying my husband. He kept wanting to cross it off, but I would not let him. I had heard it was really good and wanted to try it. I asked the staff at Trader Joe’s about it and they said it was “seasonal,” but the season never seemed to arrive. Was it a holiday item? A summer item?

Finally, one day, there it was on the shelf: Trader Joe’s Meyer Lemon Cake Mix with Lemon Icing. There were two boxes left. I bought both. It did not disappoint. If you like lemon cake, you really need to try this. It smells so lemony and is so moist and delicous. It’s both very easy to make and very “special” looking when it’s done and glazed. It’s good for company or family, breakfast or dessert, summer or Christmas. Be sure to use an 8 x 4 loaf pan, like it says on the box. My only additional recommendation would be to lightly flour the pan, after you grease it, to be sure the cake comes out easily. After it’s on your cake plate and completely cooled, drizzle on the lemon glaze. Trader’s Joe’s also makes a “Blood Orange Cake Mix with Icing,” which I’ve tried. It’s also very good, but not quite as good as the Meyer Lemon. So, don’t pass this up if you see it on the shelf at TJs. It may not be “in season” again for a very long time.

When you chuck the cookware too

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

Write about your most epic baking or cooking fail.

You know it’s a truly epic fail in the kitchen, when you not only have to throw out the food, but also the cookware.

I have a recollection of chucking a roasting pan, filled with burnt-on mess, into the garbage can. I cannot remember what I was trying to make, but it was clearly an epic fail. Perhaps I was angry with the pan and it could’ve been cleaned, but I deemed it unsalvageable at the time. Poor pan.

By the way, I successfully made The Silver Palate’s Chicken Marbella last night, with some assistance from my husband. (Chicken “quartering” was required.) This was my second attempt at this classic 80s dinner party entree.

The final result
Are you even GenX if you didn’t have a Silver Palate cookbook?

Sweet tooth

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite types of foods?
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I don’t enjoy cooking much, or even really eating. I’m not a big foodie. I didn’t cook at all until I became a mother, and then it suddenly felt like part of the job description. One day, after my husband was back at work and I was home all day with the baby, I remember thinking, “I should really cook something for dinner.” Going to the grocery store with a baby was an adventure all its own. It could take hours just to get out the door with the grocery list, car seat, and well-rested, pre-fed, happy baby, dressed in appropriate clothing for the weather. Picking out the items, while seeing all those people, could be a fun morning activity, if everything went smoothly.

Despite not caring all that much about dinner, I’ve always loved desserts and sweet foods in general. As a kid, I would always order french toast in a breakfast restaurant – never eggs. When I was pregnant, I craved baked goods and had lengthy dreams about cakes, pies, brownies, cookies, congo bars and other bakery items. I’d wake up and have apple pie or carrot cake for breakfast, if we had it.

Now that I’m an empty-nester, I’ve been trying to make something a bit interesting for dinner about once a week–something beyond our usual standbys (roast chicken, turkey meatloaf, pasta and meat sauce). I’m finding I still gravitate to the recipes with a sweet ingredient or two. I made the NYT Cooking’s Skillet Meatballs With Peaches, Basil and Lime (weird, but good) and this week I will be attempting (for the second time), the Silver Palate’s Chicken Marbella. It contains both prunes and brown sugar, thereby addressing my sweet tooth.

If ever there was a GenX/Baby Boomer crossover recipe, Chicken Marbella is it. Many people love it. I’ve had it and liked it. But the first time I tried it, something went horribly wrong with the oregano. Wish me luck.

My version of Skillet Meatballs With Peaches, Basil and Lime

Blueberry Mug Cake

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What are you doing this evening?
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Anyone who thought that Massachusetts was somehow exempt from the climate crisis (except for those hurricane-exposed coastal towns like Scituate), learned the truth this week. It’s coming for all of us.

We’ve been having incredibly heavy rains, thunderstorms, and floods. I couldn’t make it to a nearby town for a hair appointment last Friday because of downed trees, flooded roads, and non-functioning traffic lights. A town very near me, Leominster, is a total mess because of unbelievable, historic flooding from Monday’s storm. I grew up visiting cousins in Leominster, so these images are particularly upsetting. Leominster is inland Massachusetts!

Today we are again under an “Areal Flood Watch,” starting at 11am, until Thursday at 8am. I should really get outside for my walk now.

Anyhoo, I discovered an adorable and delicious dessert for one that you can make in about two minutes in your microwave. I have a feeling that I’ll be making another one of these tonight. Sharing the recipe and a few photos of the process. WARNING: do not make this dessert if you don’t have at least a little bit of vanilla ice cream on hand to top it off.

Recipe from the internet: thanks Pamela Reed, whoever you are
Step 1: mix it up in a mug
Step 2: nuke it for about 80 seconds and then let sit for a minute
Step 3: enjoy

The Old Recipe Box

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite recipe?
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I think my generation may be the last one to have recipe boxes. I got my mine as a wedding shower gift in the early 1990s. I still use it – all the time.

For those who don’t know, recipe boxes are small, rectangular boxes with hinged lids. They can be wood, metal or plastic. When you flip up the lid, you see they are stuffed with index cards sorted into various categories with pre-printed dividers: Appetizers & Snacks, Soups & Sauces, Meat & Fish, etc.

In the olden days (before the internet), if you liked a dish your friend made, you would ask her for the recipe and she’d write it out for you (by hand) on a lined recipe card. What an act of love! The recipe card would have her name on it somewhere. For example, many recipe cards were pre-printed with the words “From the Kitchen of” at the top.

I’ve scanned and transferred some recipes to my computer, but they’re always hard to find when you need them. Plus, who wants their laptop on the counter while they’re cooking? The recipe box really was an ingeneous invention.

Here’s one of my favorite recipe cards from my mother. This very simple recipe for rice pudding was her mother’s. It’s a great thing to do with leftover white rice.