Becoming it all (and making amazing cakes)

Sometimes, with huge spurts of energy, I want to be one of those Moms who makes the coolest cake and is a Do-It-Yourself guru. The kind who you can’t tell it was DIY. The topic of DIY oscillates  Sometimes I want to be able to carve wood, update kitchens and bathrooms, or builds multistory tree houses. Other times, I want to return to sewing or learn how to bake amazing cakes.

This past week I came across Rosie Cake-Diva‘s amazing Facebook page!  Not only does she show of her talent, but she has step by step instructions on how to make really cool cakes.  While I will never to get her level, I think I could make a polka-dot cake.  Here are examples:

And this is what the directions look like— Please note that I have cut off part of the instructions on purpose so that you go and like her Facebook page.  I do not know Rosie. I have never had her cakes.  She is not sponsoring this post.  I just think it is so amazingly cool that she is teaching me, that I want to support her.

Pretty cool, right?

Cobbler

THE MINIMALIST; Easier Than Pie: Make It Cobbler
By Mark Bittman
Published: September 6, 2006 in the New York Times

FOR most of us, the two-crust fruit pie is a thing of the past, a calorie-bloated hassle that buried its contents under a mound of dough, and so dry that it begged for ice cream the way some cookies need milk. Tarts, in which the crust is enriched by an egg or two, are preferable, but they require work, patience and even a bit of practice.

Enter the cobbler, in which a very rich, quite sweet crust is spooned over sweetened fruit and baked until browned. The topping resembles cookie dough and turns golden as it bakes. Though the results are undeniably inelegant, they’re completely irresistible.

A cobbler can be made with nearly any fruit, with the exception of the most delicate, like strawberries and raspberries. Late-summer peaches and nectarines are fantastic, as are early fall apples and pears. Perfect, at this moment, are blueberries, which have a tartness that perfectly complements the sweetness of the dough.

I produce the dough in a food processor, but you can easily make it by hand. Soften the butter a bit first, then cream it with the sugar, stir in the egg, and then mix in the remaining dry ingredients all at once. In the food processor, this takes 3 minutes; by hand it might take 5 or at the most 10.

A few options: You can spice the blueberries with a little bit of cinnamon (no more than a teaspoon), or with a mixture of cinnamon and other ”sweet” spices, like ginger, allspice, ground cloves and so on. Better, to my taste, is to add a teaspoon or more of grated lemon zest to both blueberries and dough.

No matter how you season the cobbler, though, it will remain so moist and rich that ice cream becomes a luxury rather than a necessity.

Blueberry Cobbler
Time: About 1 hour

4 to 6 cups blueberries, washed and well dried, or other fruit (I like to mix fruit and berries– I know that apples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, currents all work as does adding some candied ginger).
1 cup sugar, or to taste (I use less because I never mix the fruit with sugar. I only put 1/2 cup in the dough)
8 tablespoons (1 stick or 120gr) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits, more for greasing pan (ou don’t need to Greece if you have nonstick or enamel pan)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F or 190 celcius. Toss fruit with half the sugar and spread it in a 1 1/2-inch-deep lightly buttered 8- or 9-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.
2. In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and pulse (or mix by hand). Add butter and process for 10 seconds, until well blended. Beat egg and vanilla together by hand and add to mixture.
3. Drop mixture onto fruit by tablespoonfuls; do not spread it out. Bake until just starting to brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve within an hour or so.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

I usually make this in a long rectangle pan and it never lasts long. For a 9×13 pan, I make a double recipe. I have successfully used: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, mangoes, apples, pears, and plums. Frozen fruit will work as well.

Here are two cobblers before going into the oven. These were made with fresh strawberries and peaches. Notice how the batter doesn’t cover the whole cobbler– no problem it will melt and get everywhere once cooked.

 

Spicing up the Holiday Cookie Exchange

sweet & spicy walnuts, originally uploaded by the boastful baker.

I have a huge sweet tooth and cookies, of all kinds, top my favorite food chart. That said, I decided that for the holiday cookie exchange, I wanted to spice things up. Just a little something spicy to cut the sweetness between trying all my neighbors’ goodies.

As well as gingerbread cookies, I brought a little bowl of Cocoa-Chile Candied Walnuts. This is my own adaption to a recipe published by Hershey’s chocolate.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups walnut haves
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons sugar (separate from sugar listed above)
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons hot cocoa mix (or 1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder)
4 tablespoons Chili powder
Slightly less than ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (closer to ¼ if you don’t love spice)

Steps:
1.Dissolve ¼ cup sugar in boiling water. Leave walnuts soaking for 15 minutes. Drain.
2.Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Once well mixed, toss in walnuts. Shake well.
3.Place coated walnuts on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 for 15 minutes. Stir or shake mid-bake if you remember.
I can’t say they were a hit, but the host did like them (and kept them). Guess I need to make a new back soon!

***Please note the picture is not mine; I forgot to take one. These are beautiful in any case and if you click on the link the photographer gives you her recipe.

Mixed fruit with Riccotta cheese

Mixed fruit with Riccotta and Cream, originally uploaded by Sam Felder. Please note that this is not my picture.  When I make this, I try and put equal parts fruit and cheese mixture. 

It is always interesting when I move to a new country to figure out what ingredients are available locally and how I can adapt my tried-and-true recipes to the local market. Here in Albania, I have access to wonderful Italian cheeses and good local fruit (changing with the season). Our new favorite dessert is Crema di Ricotta alla Frutta Fresca or basically ricotta cheese with whatever fruit I can get my hands on.

This recipe is loosely based off of something on the Williams Sonoma Website. My husband loves this desert because it is not too sweet. I love this dessert because my daughter will eat it and it is very healthy. I love this because no matter what is available, it makes the fruit even tastier.

Ingredients:
•2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (if you can get fresh, this is best—however, the recipe will also work with ricotta that is so old you don’t want to use it for anything else because it was forgotten in the back of the fridge)
•1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
•1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
•Pinch of ground cinnamon
•3-4 cups of fresh fruit cut up (a little lemon juice or orange juice will keep fruit looking good)

Directions:
In a bowl, using a fork, beat the ricotta cheese until smooth and creamy. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until blended.

In a small bowl, combine fruit. Using 1 or 2 spoons, toss well, being careful not to bruise the fruit.

Spoon the fruits into goblets or other attractive serving vessels. Top each serving with an equal amount of the ricotta mixture (note the ratio should be 1:1 not like the photo). Serve immediately. If you have extra, combine put cheese and fruit in fridge separately. Combine when ready to eat.

Apple festival

I spent the weekend in Korca, on the border of Macedonia and Albania. Highlights of the trip include an apple festival, Eco-trail in Dardha, amazing wedding dress stores (rentable), meals with course after course if amazing Albanian cuisine, and a beautiful hotel. However, in this picturesc corner of the county, I think my favorite thing was the traditional roofs! ( I think Little Elephants favorites were the apples and the way her stroller bounced on the cobblestone streets).

Never too much garlic

2012-08 ALB (283), originally uploaded by coming2cambodia.

If you know my cooking, at all, you know that it includes lots of garlic. My basic assumption is that all recipes should have 3 or 4 times more garlic. So, when I saw a whole stack of garlic at the wholesale market, I couldn’t resist taking a picture. Sadly, the seller wasn’t around, so I didn’t get to take it all home.

Maybe next time….

The accidental melon

My husband has started composting. Or rather, we have started in a hap hazard way keeping organic material until he has time to go out back and bury it.

Some of my friends are great at actually composting and following all the rules— I have actual tips for you below.  We, just bury stuff.  And, the coffee grounds? They really are just scattered in the garden.  Nonetheless, some of our soil is starting to be more fertile.  And, those melon seeds that were buried?  Some of them are growing!

If you really want to compost, here are some great tips from Composting 101:

Composting Tips

1. Grass clippings add necessary nitrogen to a compost pile, but be sure to mix with the “brown” materials that add carbon. Both are necessary for quick decomposition and rich compost. Piles made up of just grass will compact, slow down and start to stink.

2. Do not compost fats, pet droppings, or animal products. They will attract pests to the pile and can spread disease.

3. Newspaper or plain white paper from the computer is excellent for composting – just remember to shred it first to speed up the process.

4. Got compost? When finished it should look, feel and smell like rich, dark soil. You should not be able to recognize any of the items you put in there.

5. Worms love coffee grounds!

6. If adding ashes to your compost bin, do so sparingly. They are alkaline and affect the pH of the pile. In contrast, acidic materials include pine needles and oak leaves.

7. Plants that have been treated with pesticides and/or herbicides (weeds and lawn clippings) should be avoided.

8. The microbes responsible for breaking down your compost pile need a balanced diet of nitrogen and carbon. Nitrogen comes from green materials such as food scraps, manure, and grass clippings. Carbon comes from brown materials such as dead leaves, hay, wood chips and shredded newspaper. A ratio that contains equal portions by weight (not volume) of both works best.

9. Algae and seaweed make excellent additions to your compost pile. Be sure to rinse off any salts before using.

10. Finished compost is usually less than half the volume of the materials you started with, but it’s much denser.

11. Keep your compost pile in a black plastic bin and in direct sunlight to continue the composting process through the winter. Hay bales can be used to further insulate the pile.

12. Wooden pallets make excellent compost bins. Start with one pallet on the ground. Drive two metal stakes into each side. Slide additional pallets over each support and you have a bin ready for compost.

13. Straw is an excellent source of carbon for your compost pile. However, it may contain weed seeds, so make sure the pile is “cooking” properly.

14. Compost decomposes fastest between 120 and 160 degrees F. Decomposition will occur at lower temperatures, but it takes much longer.

15. The perfect size for a compost pile is one that is at least 3′ x 3′ x 3′. It’s not only a manageable size to turn, but it’s ideal for retaining heat while still allowing air flow.

16. For faster composting keep your pile or compost bin in direct sun.

17. Don’t throw away your kitchen waste in the winter – try an indoor composter.

18. Compost piles should remain damp but not too wet. As you build your compost pile, make sure that each layer is moist as it is added. The surface should also remain damp (think of a wrung out sponge), especially during the summer months.

19. Does your compost pile smell? It’s probably due to a large number of anaerobic microbes, which are working hard to break down your compost, but creating a smelly situation in the process. To cut down on the anaerobic process, aerate your pile regularly, creating air spaces and limiting the anaerobic microbes while stimulating the less stinky aerobic microbes.

20. Help start a new compost pile with aged manure, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, blood meal, or compost starter. They are rich in nitrogen and help jump-start the microbes responsible for breaking down organic matter into compost.

21. Anything that was living at one time is great for compost bins. Think of leaves, vegetables, and grass clippings.

22. Compost piles can either be layered – thin layers of alternating greens and browns, or they can all be thrown in together and mixed well. Either way works!

23. Soak finished compost in water to “brew” compost “tea,” a nutrient-rich liquid that can be used for foliar feeding or for watering plants in your garden, backyard, or houseplants.

24. Apply finished compost to your garden about 2-4 weeks before you plant, giving the compost time to integrate and stabilize within the soil. Click here for a guide to vegetable gardening.

25. For faster results, use a compost turner every two weeks to aerate your pile.

Plum recipes?

Plum tree in the backyard

Turns out that my new place came with fruit trees!  I was excite about having a yard; this is a huge bonus. In fact, I have three plum trees– with many ripe plums and two lemon trees — with many green lemons.

Anyone have good recipes with plums?

So far we have made pork chops cooked with plums.  But I am willing to try most things, savory or sweet.

Monthaversary 10 & 11: Mango baby takes a tumble

Dear Little Elephant,

You are your own person, clearly full of ideas, opinions, and jokes that you want to tell us.  You are so communicative despite having no language.  You say “Mama” when talking about me.  Last week, you knew I was asleep upstairs and your Abue (Grandma) was walking you up and down the hall downstairs.  Each time you past the staircase you would point at it and say “MAMA”, demanding to be brought to me.  It was an argument, but you won and my nap lost.  You also say “Maaa Maaaa Maaaa Maaaa” when you want us to feed you more.  This is particularly true when you are getting to taste some new treat off the dinner table.  You say “Mamamamamamamaa” to refer to mangos in any form.  You say “Mama” to refer to Dada sometimes; although, you appear to also be learning both “Dada” and “Papa”.  You should have them in the next month.

Have I mentioned how much you love mangos? You discovered them while in Thailand and will eat them in any form.  You drink mango smoothies, either straight or with other fruits or vegetables (such as passion fruit, cucumber, carrot, berries, melon, watermelon and more).  You also eat them mushed or cut into small pieces.  Once, you father let you attack one whole!  He peeled it and held it in his hands. You threw your entire body, wide open mouth first, into the mango and took huge bites. You ate the whole thing yourself. You are a very happy mango baby.  Sticky too.

Studies say that children who grow up in bilingual households often speak later than their peers.  Studies also show that by kindergarten bilingual children have caught up to their peers in BOTH languages.  While our multi-language house and lifestyle might be slowing you down—your desire to communicate, I am sure, will speed things up.

These last two months have sadly taught you that the world is not as soft as you thought.   When you first started moving, Mama or Dada were always there to catch you.  Now that you are faster (and walking without our hands), you have clunked your head a few times. I know that everyone tells me that accidents happen and that toddlers fall.  I know that as soon as you were distracted or nursing, you would stop crying. I know that the tears were more fright than pain.  I know that you don’t remember any of this.  But, I do.  It kills me to watch the crocodile tears fall.  To wish I could have moved faster or been in a different place.  I have no idea what I am going to feel when you get an actual bruise!

There have been some other major changes.  We have left Kazakhstan.  Of course, to make things interesting, you got sick as the movers were packing up our stuff.  Dada called from T-Raz’s house, where you and he had taken refuge, to ask if I had a thermometer or meds.  Sadly, we had not set them aside and the movers had already packed that area.  The night before we had no idea you would be getting ill.  You spiked a fever over 103.  Boy did we worry.  And we tried to love the sick out of you.  And we tried to medicine the sick out of you.  And, in the end, the fever broke 5 days later just as we were about to board the plane.

Speaking of plane rides— you have been a rock star.  In the past two months you have flown from:

• Thailand to Kazakhstan
• Kazakhstan to Holland
• Holland to USA
• USA to Chile

Basically, you have crossed the entire globe.  On every single flight, you were complimented by the flight attendants for what a wonderful baby you are.  You slept. You played. You cooed at everyone in sight.  You rarely cried.  You nursed.  And, you let Mama get some sleep.  We joked after the flight to Chile, that it might have been my best night of sleep in months.

Leaving Kazakhstan, we had to say goodbye to a lot of people who love you.  Uncle Dennis refused to say goodbye.  Auntie Anya writes almost everyday and is planning to visit in July (See, Ann, it is official because it is on my blog), Uncle Jimi Jimi and T-Raz miss you too.  As does my office and our local friends.  I hope that many of them will stay a part of your life and continue to watch you grow.

On one side of your nose, you grew five tiny little white heads that formed a perfect pentagon.  I know! How could white heads be cute??? I am sure that in your teens, they will be the bane of your existence—along with pimples.  I am sorry for that.  I hope, for your sake, that it is a malady you only suffer in your teens.  Not in your 30s, like Mama, or in your 60s, like Grandpa.  Still, the pentagon was endearing.  Your Dada’s desire to rid you of it was less so.

The last two months, you have gotten to sample a HUGE variety of new food.  Much of this is thanks to some much needed spoiling by your grandparents.  While not all foods will be repeated for a while, the list includes: artichokes (a huge hit, a personal favorite of Mama, and very hard to eat with two tiny teeth), sugar, frozen yogurt, cheese, manjar, prickly pear, melon pear, cheese, pastel de choclo, many types of beans and much more!  Yum! You are a great eater despite being skinny and in the lower 1/3 of average baby weight for your age.

Playing, you pretend to answer the phone.  If people let you, you will take their cell phone away, hold it to your ear, and babble to your heart’s content.  You also are learning to throw things.  You have a good pitching arm, both left and right! Still, above things, you prefer people.  And above people, you prefer Mama.  And above all else, your Mama loves you.

Next month, my little researcher, you will be one year old.  I have loved every minute exploring the world with you and can’t wait for all that is to come.

Hugs and kisses forever and ever,

Mama

Yum! Tastes like Chile

torta de mil hojas con manjar, originally uploaded by 1novelgirl.

Overall, I think that taste in deserts is different in different countries and people tend to like best what they have known since childhood. And, while I like treats in Chile, I usually prefer stuff from home.

Except, I do love the Torta de Mil Hojas– Cake of a Thousand layers. When I was in high school, my host mom and I would spend whole days making this cake. Each layer has to be rolled out and cut individually. It is not complicated, but it was long as we could only cook two layers at a time.

Now that we are visiting my parents-in-law, I have had this cake multiple times. Granted, both they and my own host family, buy it already made. Equally delicious!

If you want to try for yourself:

Ingredients

* 4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 7/8 cup butter
* 3 egg yolks
* 1 cup milk
* 2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup chopped walnuts
* 1/4 cup orange juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix together the flour and baking powder; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Blend in the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. The dough will be stiff like a cookie dough. Divide the dough into 10 pieces and shape into balls. Roll each ball into a 9 inch circle. Place on cookie sheets and prick with a fork in several places.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside.

4. Make the Manjar Filling: In a sauce pan, boil the unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours. Monitor the water closely, to make sure there is always water in the pan. Remove can from heat and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. In a small measuring cup, combine the orange juice and the manjar.

5. Place one cookie layer on serving plate. Spread with the Manjar. Sprinkle with nuts. Continue stacking until all layers are used. (Nuts are optional and can be used in the layers or just on top or not at all)