Lemon Poppyseed Cake

This cake is not only yummy, it makes a wonderful presentation. It's great for spring and summer (or a winter day when you WISH it was spring or summer!).

Let's get started.


I box yellow cake, 1 small box lemon instant jello pudding (the moist key!), 1/2c. oil, 2T. lemon juice, 4 eggs, 1 cup water, 2-3Tbsp. poppy seeds.


Add the cake mix and jello mix to a mixing bowl.


Add 1 cup of water.


Add 1/2. vegetable oil.




Add 4 eggs.




Add poppyseeds.  Look they almost match the counter!  I get my poppyseeds at a bulk store!


Dump them in the mixing bowl.


Add 2Tbsp. lemon juice (the stuff outta the bottle!).


Finally mix, about 3 minutes.  This is a big heavy cake.  Make sure it's mixed well.  I use the whisk attachment.


This is important with this, and any bundt.  Don't cheap out, I especially love this Pam with flour.


And coat that baby good!  Real good.  When you flip this cake, you want it to fall out flawlessly.


Put in your batter and bake for approximately 50 minutes at 350 degrees.


Check the cake with a toothpick.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool, in the pan, for 10 minutes.  I usually cool on an elevated rack so the bottom has a chance to cool.


After 10 minutes, I place the plate on top of the bundt, and invert.  The cake slides out.  Perfect.  Bingo-bango.  Time for glaze.


1 cup powdered sugar (either get the good stuff or sift it; you don't want clumps), 3Tbsp. lemon juice.  Mix.


Let this sit to thicken.  On some days; depending on the humidity, you may need to add a bit more of powder sugar or a bit more lemon juice.  If you pour it directly on the cake and it runs off; you had it too runny.  I like it pretty thick and allow it to crawl down the cake.

Keep this in the refrigerator.
Happy baking (and sharing this cake!),
SHERRI

Once A Month Cooking, January 2012

It had been approximately 30 days since I'd ventured to the grocery (except when I needed cream cheese for the 10-batches of truffles we made).  It.  Was. Empty.  In.  Here.  Chicken was on special at 1.99/lb and I had been toying with the idea to try Once A Month Cooking, especially with the new job. Previously I would beat Mr. Sweetest Designs (Mr. SD) home and would prepare dinner and have it mostly ready when he came home.  Now we're going to carpool 3 days a week.  What's a girl to do?  Push back dinners another 45 minutes?  Eat out?  Eat take-out?  $200 at the grocery, 4 hours later, several pans washed and rewashed and we have 26 meals in the freezer and fridge.  We have baked ziti, stuffed shells, cashew chicken, chicken pot pie, cripsy chicken wraps, savory chicken, taco bake, taco meat and spagetti sauce.  I actually have supplies for four other recipes (probably yielding another 12-16 meals), but had to quit when the freezer was full!!  I packaged everything in 8"x8" foil pans and ziplock bags.  This will also reduce the evening dishes!  In theory I can be doing better things in the evening - better than cooking and cleaning the dishes and kitchen.  (And if my math is right, we're at $5 a meal, $2.50/serving).

Some general notes about my adventure today:
The baked ziti made 4 full pans.  I could not find my cornstarch quickly, so that was skipped.  I added a bit more parm cheese to make it thicker.  Serve with a salad or garlic bread.
One pound of shells needed 4 cups of filling and used one jar of sauce (yep, cheated on that one).  I used lasagna filling and meat sauce.  This yielded three pans.  Serve with a salad or garlic bread.
As a time saver, I did not change the hot pasta water, I spooned out the cooked pasta, added a bit more water and the next batch of pasta noodles.
For the cashew chicken, I added water chestnuts, omitted bamboo shots and peas and used can mushrooms.  I didn't read the instructions carefully enough the first two times, so I have all the ingredients (including the cashews) in a bag.  I placed small baggies frozen flat.  I will reheat quickly on a skillet and serve with steamed broccoli and rice.
I also froze flat the chicken pot pie in baggies.  I will heat in a skillet and serve over biscuits.  I used fresh carrots and celery, canned corn and frozen peas.  It was a mish-mash of things I already had on-hand.
Because I boiled several pounds of chicken today, several meals are chicken based.  After the chicken was cool, I shredded and cubed the chicken.  I combined the meat-mixture for the chicken wraps and froze it.  I will heat the meat in a skillet quickly and assemble the wraps as instructed.
I am most nervous about the savory chicken (company's coming chicken).  Most of these are new versions of recipes we already use/have/like.  This is completely new but Mr. SD loves stove top stuffing.  I remember in college, he made it weekly.  I feel like it has way too much sour cream in it.  We'll see after it bakes.  This yielded three very full pans.
My sister-in-law made Taco Bake on vacation several years ago.  We have it in our rotation, but I've never tried to freeze it.  I've stopped short of baking it.  In addition to the chicken, we also browned several pounds of hamburger.  I used one bag to make the taco-meat for this dish.
One bag will join jar-sauce and frozen cheese ravioli's (they were already in my freezer).
I will update photos and reviews of the post-served meals.

I have a goal to stay out of the grocery store for another 30 days, except for lunch food.  We also pack our lunches; the meals are 8"x8" foil pans packed full.  I'm sure there is more than 2-3 servings in the pans; but I was working with limited freezer space and wanted the pans full (to mitigate air in the dish.  air = freezer burn).  I will take any left-overs for lunch the next day.  I'm always looking for fresh new things to try for lunch.  Leave me any comments with what you pack for lunch.

Here's to a great 2012.
SHERRI

Pioneer Woman

Swoon. That's me and her in Fairfax earlier this week. She was so very lovely. We had a great conversation while she was signing my books (including her mismatched earrings). Thanks for bringing the country to the big city. A shout-out to my Capitol Hill friend Jemma - hope you made it home safely. And sweet Pam for snapping this photo (minus the man in the YELLOW shirt in the background).

What's For Dinner?

Hi friends.  It's the most wonderful time of the year (not that Mr. Bing didn't know what he was talking about), SPRING.  Yes, it's wonderful.  It's still daylight in the evenings, a gentle breeze, kids are out playing, birds are chirping and we're grilling.  Yesterday evening, I decided to nix my dinner plans and instead GRILL.  This was a complete in-promptu change.  I stopped at Roots and picked up two nice steaks, some green beans and a small container of strawberries.  When it's truly warm in the summer - I hate turning on the oven.  Here's how I served dinner in record time and minimum preparation.  I phoned ahead and asked the grill to be turned on.  I did not have time to marinate the meat, so I used

Montreal Steak seasoning.  Coat it real good - it's got salt, it's got pepper, a little garlic all in ONE shaker.  Coat the steaks, them 'em on the grill.  I brought two pans of water to a boil.  While those are boiling, wash and snap the beans.  Here I've dumped the beans in.  Beans take just a few minutes! 

I washed the berries and added a small can of pineapple chunks from the pantry.  Yes, I paired fresh and canned fruit.  I'm a rebel!!  The second pan of boiling water was for (gasp!) instant mashed potatoes.  A nice garlic-herb blend.  Sorry mom, I'm a workin' girl (she wouldn't understand a powdered potato product; trust me!).  Here's what was for dinner last night (the steaks are a nice dark color because of the seasoning):

Have a great grilling weekend!

SHERRI

Easy Spanakopita

I found this great recipe over at Tasty Kitchen!
1 lb. fresh baby spinach.
Wilt spinach in Tbsp. of olive oil. Make in batches. Remove from heat, cool, sqeeze out liquid. Chop.

Saute 1/2 small onion, 4 Tbsp. parsley in olive oil until the onions are translucent.
Add to spinach mixture.

Add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 well-beaten egg, 1/2 lb. Feta cheese, 1 tsp. nutmeg.

I cheated and used these adorable little cups (one recipe yields 60 cuppies!!). I left the box in the background so you can see exactly what I used! Fill the cuppies, bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

I made the mixture the evening before serving these lil' delights at brunch. Minutes later the tray will be EMPTY!

Taco Dip

A famous appetizer. And it's so quick.
Ingredients: Cottage cheese, taco seasoning, tomatoes, green bell peppers (or orange, yellow, red), cheese.
I use about half of a large container of cottage cheese and one packet of taco seasoning. Mix the seasoning and the cottage cheese in a pie plate or deep serving dish.
Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese, approx 1 cup.
Sprinkle the chopped tomatoes and peppers.
Serve with your favorite tortilla scoop chips.

This is a great, quick, festive-ly colored HEALTHY dish. This is best served chilled, and does not keep well. Serve and eat in the same day.

Thanks for stopping by.
SHERRI

Croissant Breakfast

Hiya.
Quick, easy, just a couple ingredients. (Milk not shown)
You can throw this together in the morning in minutes. In fact, let's say, for instance, you just spent a couple hours shoveling mammoth amounts of snow and realize you're so very very hungry. This is perfect.

Here I'm making a smaller portion - but if you need this for a crowd, there's a large portion-sized recipe at the end of this post.

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees.
I'm going to make a sausage croissant today. You can substitute cubed ham (left over from the holidays) or crumbled bacon bits or just have it plain - egg and cheese. I usually use the hot breakfast sausage because we're admist a blizzard here in MD, I had to make-do with other sausage (seems we won't be grilling out for a long long time!). Fry up your sausage. If you're using ham or bacon that's already been cooked, you don't need to fry it. You can skip to the next step. Spray a 5"x7" glass dish or a 8"x8" would work too. Open up the refrigerator croissant and press it into the dish.
Sprinkle meat over the croissant.
Whisk three eggs. Add a dash of pepper and 1/2 cup milk.

Pour the egg mixture over the meat.

Top off with 1 cup of shredded cheese. Yummm.

Bake about 15-20 minutes (until the egg is completely baked).




To make a larger croissant for the crowd:
Grease 9"x13" pan.
One package of refrigerator croissants. This will be less crusty.
Use one roll of breakfast sausage.
Whisk 5 large eggs with 3/4 cup milk.
Top with 2 cups shredded cheese.
Bake 20-22 minutes at 425 degrees.

A Cake Journey

Hiya. Wow, it's been a long time! I have been baking and cooking, but I wanted to share with you the largest consumption of my time: cakes.

I have several large events coming up and I needed to brush up on my cake decorating skills. I have some tips and tricks I want to show you soon (and a tour of the new kitchen!), but first let's look at what I've been doing.

My first attempt with piping gel for the rainbow outline. Filling in large areas are super easy (but it gives me hand cramps!).

There were several techniques here - I'll share some more soon. We made faces (babies, bears, bunnies), but I had made blue icing that day. They looked funny so I didn't share those photos!

Mastering the Wilton rose. This was my first attempt.

Here's a closeup. Need to practice more!

I took my own advice. Flowers, flowers, everywhere.
I also practiced drop flowers because I think they may become a focal point on a certain set of wedding cupcakes. Practice, practice.

I didn't want the roses and drop flowers to go to waste, so I made a cake (yes, my coworkers are LOVING this!)

I've also heard more of you want to know: what's for dinner? We'll still focus on sweets, but I'll start sprinkling in some dinner recipes and crowd pleasers! Keep the suggestions coming!

Have a good day,
SHERRI

Tips and Tricks

I get some great questions via text, email, comments, IRL: How do I do it all?
First, I must be gracious, and say thank you.
Now, I must be honest, and say, I really don’t get it all done. Not even close. Trust me.

I make a rough outline of a weekly menu and a grocery list. I match coupons with sales. This is a tad time consuming, but I’ve streamlined it and found what works for me (and what works for me may, or may not, work for you!). I find that the time planning is much less (long term) then standing in my kitchen every night trying to determine what to make, and make 3 trips to the store for ingredients a week. That’s a huge waste of time. That’s not to say I’m perfect. Just last week I rattled off a dinner for A to make (he was home first) and he called needing me to pick up milk! It happens. But not often. My store triples coupons about once a month, so I stock up on staples (fiber one bars, baking items, spaghetti sauce). I shop early in the morning to get the discounted meat. The stores can’t freeze their fresh meat, but I can (and you can too). I’ll take it home, repackage it, label it, and toss ‘er in the freezer. Hello bargain. On an index card stuck to the refrigerator is where I list the possible dinners. It doesn't say: Tuesday tacos, Wednesday: Zucchini Italiano, but it does say the various meals I have the stuff to make: Tacos, Zucchini, Shredded Chicken.

I’ve also picked up some tricks to SAVE time. I’m all about SAVING TIME.

Numero uno: Cleaning the microwave. When I lived by myself, I cleaned the microwave twice. Once when I moved in and once when I moved out. However, somehow my microwave now needs cleaned more frequently. They’re tight spaces and the food is baked on. Yuck. Grab a large glass bowl or dish. Fill ½ to ¾ full, add a splash of lemon juice and place the dish into the microwave. Let this heat up for about 15-20 minutes. Use hot pads to remove the hot dish and water. The hot water will condensate and steam the interior of the microwave and you can wipe away the crud with a sponge and it will have a nice lemony smell. Easy. For an added bonus, when you’re finished pour the hot lemon water down the garbage disposal. It’s a good cleansing. I do this at work when 1) I’m having a bad day and need to clean something or 2) It’s too disgusting to ignore it and I want to use the microwave!

Numero dos: Clean up as you cook or bake. I know it sounds trivial, but while the water is boiling or the kitchen aid mixer is doing its thing – rinse the bowl, dispose of the egg shells. It’s multitasking and it’s golden baby. If you have a nasty George Foreman grill, while it’s hot and UNPLUGGED, splash some water on the grill surface (I wring out my sponge to get the vertical surface). The water will simmer off the debris, saving you the majority of the scrubbing time. This works if you grilled something in a skillet and it’s stuck. Add some water, turn on the stove for a bit and let the hot water loosen the food from the pan.

Numero tres: Before you start any project, get all the ingredients out. Then you’ll know instantly if you don’t have enough cocoa powder for the recipe. You don’t want to be in the middle of a recipe and have to stop for an ingredient. None of us live in Mayberry where you knock on your lovely neighbors’ door and ask for a cup of sugar. You’ll find things go quicker when you have everything out at your fingers reach. One big trip to the pantry is better than 7 small trips. Plus time between ingredients can be used for cleaning up (see #2), not gathering the next ingredients.

Quatro: Know when to cheat and when not to cheat. If the crust isn’t the focal point (maybe in a delicate cheesecake), use a store-bought crust (especially if you purchased it on sale and it cost you 25 cents). I have found a 35 cent coupon regularly appears. On triple coupon days at my store this is worth $1.05. Graham or Oreo crust at my store are usually on sale for $1.29. Score. NO ONE WILL KNOW! (Just don’t tell my mom!)

Cinco: This isn’t a time saver, but you’ll thank me all the same; crack your eggs in a separate bowl before adding them. If you get shells, you’ll now have an opportunity to get the shells out.

Let me know if you have questions, I'll post random posts similar to this one.

Snickerdoodles!

Hi friends. A yummy cookie today! Man oh man these are soft and WONDERFUL.

That's sugar in the top left and flour in the top right. Cinnamon sugar in the oblong bowl on the right.

Here's the Cream of Tartar. It's the secret ingredient in these cookies. And I get this from my favorite Amish Market!

Whip the SOFTENED butter around. It'll help the consistency of your cookies.

Add the sugar.

I make a habit of cracking my eggs in a bowl before dumping them into the mixing bowl (just to be certain I don't get a shell!). I'm not dirtying another dish (that'd be crazy), but rather I'm using the bowl I just emptied the sugar out of. Confused yet?

In the eggs go. ONE AT A TIME. Always add the eggs one at a time. Beating well in between.

See how light and fluffy this butter/sugar/egg mixture is?

Add some baking soda. Make sure your baking soda is FRESH. It's less than $1 a box. Get a new box frequently. I'll get a new box before I start the holiday baking!

Slowly add the flour. And I'll be honest, I rarely sift my flour. So maybe that should read, "Slowly add the unsifted flour."

Here's the dough with everything added. Yummy.

Because we have to roll this into balls, I'm going to COVER and place in the refrigerator fora couple hours. Let it chill so it's easier to work with.

Roll a teaspoon (or tablespoon if you like bigger cookies) dough into a ball. Roll in the cinnamon sugar.

Place about 2-3" apart on a prepared cookie sheet.

Yummmm, there they are. 8 minutes away from being in my mouth!

Take them out and let them sit for approximately 3 minutes. THEN you can remove them from the cookie sheet.

Gently place on a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.