Dishing: Friends with Recipes, Busy Day Cake

Each week I intend to share a recipe from a friend. I have some culinarily talented friends.  Anyone wanting to share, please forward your recipe to candysdish@gmail.com

Today's recipe for Busy Day Cake comes from my friend, Linda.

This is a quick and easy recipe for a chocolate cake requiring no butter or eggs. When you need a dessert in a hurry, this will do the trick. You can frost it if you like. I don't. Use your imagination for ways to serve it. ie. raspberry coulis, creme anglaise, ice cream or even fruit.  Honestly, my family prefers it as is, no frills.

                                                     


Pictured the cake is topped with sifted confectioners sugar over a homemade template. You can make a template to suit the occasion.

You will also be delighted by the lack of clean up.

BUSY DAY CHOCOLATE CAKE

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350

In an 8 inch square baking pan, whisk together,
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Step 2

Make a well in center of flour mixture and add,
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup cold water
Whisk until well combined.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle, comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.  Let cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Serves 8, but bigger slices required for chocolate lovers!

                                              
                                              ENJOY!

Today’s Dish: Search for Mother-of-the-Bride dress

Finding the Mother-of-the-Bride (MOTB) is no simple task.  If you’ve had this experience and found it easy, consider yourself lucky.

This is not my first time at this rodeo. The last time I employed the “buy a dress, but keep looking for something better” technique. Nothing better came along.  I was happy with my selection in that it coincided with the “all white wedding” theme and was comfortable.

This year I ask, “Where are the dresses?” Hopefully with the Oscars behind us a new crop of formal wear will soon appear. And could we get some dresses in color. Please! Thus far several dresses were possibilities but they all were black. I am determined not to wear black at my daughter’s wedding. That’s just a personal choice, not reflecting anything but my desire to wear color in June.

Dresses in color only exist on the runway.  Note to designers: the everyday woman would t enjoy color too. I must ask Lisa Vanderpump where she shops. Lisa, if you read this, give me a call.

 I guess it all comes down to how  do you see yourself on that day.  Of course part of me sees a svelte forty-five year old with toned arms, no wrinkles and flowing hair. Now back to reality. I am on the wedding diet, sixty-two year old, with wrinkles aplenty and hair usually in a ponytail. So there, that’s what I’m working with. And I can’t believe I’m alone in my frustration.

After visiting several bridal boutiques, I know why so many MOTB share the same matronly look. The long gown with the long sleeved boxy jacket made with cheap taffeta in muted colors. I blame no one for wearing this because that is what’s out there.

Designers need to understand that we old girls have the money and we’re willing to spend it to look good. So cough up some decent dresses that don’t add years and pounds.

I will continue my journey because I have no choice. Any tips on where to find great MOTB dresses are greatly appreciated.  Pass them along to me… PLEASE!

Naturally I will inform you of my decision and until then I will suck it in and try to keep a smile on my weathered face.

Dishing on Oscar Fashion: Best Dressed Fab Four

#1

Charlize Theron in Dior. She can do no wrong

#2

Kerry Washington. Color and beading perfection meet in this Miu Miu confection

#3

Naomi Watts wows in Armani Prive.

#4

Octavia Spencer continues her smart dressing courtesy of Tadashi Shoji

Who were your favorites on the red carpet????

*All photos courtesy of http://oscar.go.com/

Today Dish: Oscar Sunday

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!!

Downtown for brunch at RL; Drinks at NoMI in the Park Hyatt; Champagne purchased; the perfect start to Oscar Sunday.


  

Take Two

Grazing meal preparation.

Oscar Sunday is a great day to serve finger food on an Oscar inspired table.

Ballots for voting insure heated discussion while munching on French lamb chops, potato pancakes with smoked salmon topped with crème fraiche and fresh chive, fish tacos, asparagus, prosciutto and havarti wrapped with puff pastry and charcuterie tray.

Chocolate tuxedo strawberries accompanied by champagne provide the needed touch of class. 

                                             

Plain chocolate covered berries are easily made but can be found several places such as Edible Arrangements. For tuxedo berries Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant has them available daily. But again they are time consuming to make but not difficult.

Get as much as possible on the table to streamline fuss during the telecast. Lauren “Formal Wear” plates suit the occasion, especially the “Bow Tie” canapés and the “Cocktail Dress” salad plates.

                                                                     

 Drinks, glassware, plates, napkins and food provide everything needed to let us feel part of the Academy festivities.

Black Tie Optional!

Today's Dish: Storing Dishes

I inherited this set of china from my mother-in-law. They are Royal M by Mita and no longer seem to be in business but can be found on replacements.com.

Royal M by Mita

 They are pretty enough although not ones I would purchase.

When I got the plates, I bought these plastic storage bags and stored them in my basement. Big mistake! Storing plates is a mistake.  Once stored seldom will they be used because they require too much work. They must be taken from the packing then returned individually to the zippered bags.

I first used them on a past Mother’s Day and soon realized, I wouldn't use them again perhaps ever, if it required all that work to get them on the table.

Since then, I store all my dishes stacked sans plastic bags on the main floor of my house. When deciding which dishes to use for a particular event, getting to them easily is a consideration. I found I was using the more accessible plates most often.

I also found that I was more likely to use these plates if I could make them less old-fashioned looking. By using chargers and bolder colored table linens the plates take on totally different feels.  Now they are used, instead of stored.

              

When I was young my mom had this lovely set of Rosenthal china, which she used twice a year.

                                        

Using them was a big, big ordeal. She insisted they be hand washed and dried. No dishwasher for these beauties. A collective sigh of relief could be heard when the last dish was returned to storage with no breakage.

Recently the question of who wanted the dishes arose. No one,was the answer.  The colors aren’t good, they are dated were reasons no one claimed them. Not wanting them to end up in some consignment shop, I played around with them hoping to find a way to use them. Happy with this result, I will be taking these and using them.


                                                         

My advice is, don’t save your good china for holidays or company only. Live well. Use your good china often. Let the family use the good stuff.  Your china is beautiful.  Use it!

Today's Dish: Stop and Smell the Roses, Tulips, and Peonies, etc...

I have a friend who doesn't believe in spending money on flowers because they die. Quite honestly, I have no response to that.

When my kids were young, I thought it important to have fresh flowers in the house as much as possible. I am not certain whom I did that for but as a full time mom those flowers brought me joy.  And in that my children display fresh flowers in their own spaces today, I can’t help think they too enjoyed them.

I’m sure, at one time, fresh flowers in the home were an extravagance, but today with the blossoming of floral departments in grocery stores, flowers are now available to the masses at reasonable prices. Trader Joe’s Whole Foods, Mariano’s, Cost-Co, Jewel, and Dominick’s all carry fresh flowers.

For as little as $3.00-$4.00 you can purchase a beautiful bunch to grace your kitchen, bathroom, family room, well just anywhere your heart desires.

Flowers should always be part of your entertaining scheme, but they’re not just for entertaining anymore. I suppose we think flowers are just for special occasions, but by having them, everyday becomes special.

That $4.00 bunch of flowers can easily last for up to two weeks.  That’s a lot of bang for your buck.  Isn’t living well worth $2.00 a week. You are worth it.  Your family is worth it. And when they die, which they will, you be will eager to replace them and spend yet another $4.00 to bring joy and beauty to your life.

Now take a deep breath and go arrange your flowers.

Today's Dish: Bailey's Birthday Cake

Every year I make my daughter Bailey the same birthday cake. Her birthday is in February, close to Valentine’s Day. Consequently when this recipe appeared in the February 1990 issue of 

BON APPETIT, I tried it. Not only is this cake stunning it is really delicious.

I don’t recall the year this cake became her official birthday cake.  But according to this picture, it was when she turned two.

She turns twenty-five this year and I think it’s safe to say she has blown candles out on at least twenty of these.  These next two pics show subsequent cakes. 

                        

That’s lots of heart cakes and I include this year’s cake with the cover of BON APPETIT

  

I mention this for several reasons: One, to share with you a great recipe and two, to let you know about the “beet cake”.

Yes, I said beet cake.  Just because a dessert looks good doesn't guarantee good taste. I learned this lesson the hard way.

The recipe for the beet cake also came from BON APPETIT.  I followed it to a tee. The concept sounded wrong from the start but I was intrigued. What the heck, beets might prove to be that special ingredient  producing the worlds moistest cake.

This may be the only time I made food for company before testing it first.  Mistake #1.

Grating the beets gave new meaning to ”you are what you eat.” Beet juice everywhere. Corian counter-tops stained for days, hands having the appearance of third degree burns. Mistake #2.

Serving a sheet cake weighing approximately thirty pounds. Mistake #3.

Upon serving the cakes the faces of my guests told the whole story. No one spoke. No praises of a delicious cake. It was apparent; I needed to taste the cake. I tasted it. Then I picked it up, folded it in half and tossed the behemoth in the garbage.

I won’t pass on the recipe for the beet cake but perhaps your curiosity will compel you to search it out.  You’re on your own on that. Since then, I've seen other cake recipes calling for beets, but being faint of heart, I've never tried again.

I’m sticking with the heart cake.

Happy Weekend!

I'm off to a dinner party but not before whipping up a batch of these beauties... Turtles!

    I had some leftover caramel from a top secret caramel recipe ( more on that later) and decided in light of Valentine's Day to try my hand at homemade candies. It only made a small batch of about a dozen and needless to say they are history. Eat your heart out Fannie May!

Today's Dish: DISHES!

Villeroy and Boch French Garden Noel
Villeroy and Boch French Garden
Villeroy and Boch Verona Charger

I have a problem!
I don’t know when it began.  It developed over time. I wasn’t always like this.  My problem?  DISHES!  I love them.  All kinds of them: canapes’, everyday dishes, fine china, chargers, platters, I love them all.
When shopping for a dress I inexplicably find myself drifting toward the china department “just to look”.
When checking my emails, for no good reason, my computer finds “plate” sites.  I don’t know why these things happen.
This year while Christmas shopping, I returned home with a set of newly released Christmas plates to match my everyday Villeroy and Boch, but no Christmas gifts.
Who could pass these up? Right?
Adding this Christmas line is nothing short of genius.
The varied patterns of these dishes are perfect for me because they prevent me from becoming bored. You needn’t hesitate using these everyday dishes for company either. For viewers of the canceled soap opera, One Life to Live, these dishes were Vicki Buchanan’s everyday dishes but in a Pillsbury Crescent roll commercial they are used for a big family holiday dinner.
Oh, and the new coordinating chargers were displayed with the Christmas plates. Again could you pass on these?
Well obviously, I couldn’t. I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw them. Darn those Villeroy marketing people.
And did I mention, I have a problem!