Just Roll With It

             This past Saturday I visited my sister-in-law Heather in Sioux Falls.  (The one that likes to bake as much as me... remember?)  I hadn't seen her, her husband Jon and their daughter Eve since Eve's birthday party in November.  It had been way too long.  Heather and I agreed to get together Saturday and bake.  She wanted to make lefsa and Wheaties rolls for Easter.  I was psyched.  I've never made lefsa.  I'm not Norwegian or Scandinavian so I don't have a clue how it's made.  I have eaten it and it's good.  (Although, I did have to ask how to eat it the first time!)  Heather has a lefsa pan which looks like this:

I had never seen one so I took a picture.  The dough has to rest 8 hours for lefsa so Heather had made the dough the night before while we talked on the phone.  The dough looked like this: 

However, the dough was stickier than Heather remembered it being.  I was no help.  I'm an Irish girl learning how to make lefsa... how could I be of any assistance?  Jon called his grandma and she solved the mystery with her first question: "Did she add the flour to the dough the night before?"  Heather had done exactly that and apparently that's wrong.  Sort of.  Grandma Y (Jon and Steve's grandma) said that their grandpa like lefsa to be crispier, to the point where it wouldn't bend.  We could achieve this by adding more flour.  Heather wasn't too thrilled at the suggestion.  We scrapped the plans to make lefsa.  I will have to learn another time.

              We did make Wheaties rolls.  This is another of Grandma Y's recipes.  Steve loves them.  Wheaties rolls are similar to cinnamon rolls in the consistency of the dough but you don't let them rise.  And the recipe really does call for Wheaties.  After letting the dough rest in the fridge for a few hours (and getting Eve's bike), we rolled out the dough and sprinkled some cinnamon on it.  Eve was a big girl and enjoyed helping.  We had to give her a little piece of dough to work with.  The dough was rolled up and cut.  The smell in the house as the rolls baked was divine.  The final touch: maple flavored frosting.  It's delicioso.  Powdered sugar, butter, milk and maple flavoring and you have a very yummy frosting.

      All in all, it was a great day.  (And I did bring home some rolls for Steve.)

Spice Cake and a Fryer

No, we didn't have fried spice cake. And yes, I did briefly consider it. The spice cake was practice for Darcy's graduation. I'd never made it before and I didn't think Darcy's party would be the right time to try a brand new (old) recipe. The recipe is another of my great grandma's recipe. Like most of her recipes, it is very simple and has delicate flavors. The first part of the recipe says to boil the sugar, lard (or other shortening), water, cinnamon, cloves and salt. I was a little concerned because I chose to Crisco in place of the lard. The Crisco wasn't melting as fast as I thought it should. But it did eventually melt and the mixture boiled quite nicely. After it boils, you're supposed to let it cool. I left it alone for a good 5 minutes and then transfered it to a different container hoping to speed up the process. I left it alone for other 20 minutes. I was too anxious to wait for it to completely cool so I figured that was good enough. The second half of the recipe is flour, soda, baking soda and eggs. Mix the two components together and bake for 30 minutes and you'll have the most glorious, delicate-tasting spice cake ever. Yes, ever.

I frosted the spice cake with a cream cheese frosting. The frosting contains sour cream, NOT lemon juice like I previously wrote. The frosting is great. It doesn't have an overly sweet taste to it. The cream cheese flavr is definitely present but in a very savory, non-sugary way.

The second part of the title: Steve bought a mini fryer last night.

Now we can make fries and not have grease splattered all over the stove. We also have temperature control and a little fryer basket. We will NOT be picking up applications to McDonald's any time soon, though. Last night we had oven-baked chicken strips and crispy homemade fries. It was delicious.

Graduation Party Cakes

I had mentioned previously that I'm making the cakes for my little sister's graduation party. She wanted marble cake. I gave it my best shot but it is not something I can make. It turns out dry every time I make it. I've tried recipes and cake mixes. It's just something I can't make. I will be making a white cake, yellow cake, chocolate cake and a spice cake for Darcy's graduation. Darcy wasn't too sure about the spice cake but my mom and grandma both voted it in. Grandma will also be making a carrot cake. The frosting will be the fun part. The white cake will have chocolate or white... we haven't decided yet. The yellow cake will have chocolate because that's how my aunt always made it for her kids' birthday parties. (There's 8 of them so I ate it this way a lot. Trust me, it's yummy.) The chocolate cake will have butterfinger frosting! I had made this one for a church function and it was yummy! I made my aunt Patti's white frosting recipe and added crushed butterfingers. It's delicious! The spice cake and carrot cake will have cream cheese frosting. My mom has a great cream cheese frosting recipe. Mom adds lemon juice (I think) to balance the sweetness of the cream cheese. The frosting is still sweet but not so cloyingly sweet. It's delicious but I can't find the recipe so I'll have to get it from Mom. Last weekend I went through my Great Grandma's recipe box to find recipes for the cakes. I already have a recipe for the yellow cake and the chocolate cake (Texas sheet cake... now you're definitely coming to her party, right?). I have recipes for white cake but I always like to try new ones. Grandma had given me a recipe for spice cake when I was at her house last fall. I still haven't tried it! I think I'll make it this weekend.

I talked to a few coworkers and they are willing to be my taste-testers while I practice. Get ready world, I'm baking!

Food Network is my Crack

It's true. Food Network on Saturday mornings is my crack. I love watching their cooking shows. There are a few that I don't care for (Hey Neeleys, get it on before you tape your show... I don't enjoy being part of your foreplay!). I love Guy Fieri (Guy's Big Bite), Anne Burrell (Secrets of a Restaurant Chef), Rachael Ray (30 Minute Meals and Week in a Day), Sunny Anderson (Cooking for Real) and many others.

Guy Fieri is coming to Sioux City in May to do a live cooking show at the Orpheum. I'm so there! Even if I have to go by myself, I'm there. I'm just praying the tickets will not cost an arm and a leg. He's one of my absolute favorites on the Food Network. He's a little goofy but his goofiness adds a nice twist to his cooking show. And his food always looks good. (If I could hire him to be my personal chef, I would.) Steve and I love his show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Triple D) and even went to one of the dives he reviewed on our honeymoon. The dive was called the Wienery and truth be told, we probably would not have eaten there if it wasn't for Triple D. We were so glad we did! The food was excellent and it was super cheap! We got all of this:

for less than $11. We gave the guy a tip since the food was so cheap. I was smart and took a picture of the menu so we could recreate the hot dogs at home. I do wish we had the Vienna Beef hot dogs like the restaurant does. They were really yummy! If you want to learn more about the Wienery, check out their website at: http://www.wienery.com/

One of the other chefs I love on the food network is Anne Burrell of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. She's a little kooky which is always a great thing in my book. Let your weirdo/freak flag fly, people! Today I was watching her show and she was making a stuffed pork loin. This caught my eye. We were supposed to have pork loin last week but it didn't get made. I put it back on our upcoming menu so this episode is perfect timing. The meal was stuffed pork loin, mashed rutabagas and maple cream cheese pots de creme. Wow. The meal sounds delicious (except for the mashed rutabagas). I put down my knitting and watched the show intently. I'm pretty sure I can make the pork loin and the pots de creme. I printed the recipes off foodnetwork.com. Each recipe is listed as intermediate... which I think will be fine. Stay tuned for how the meal turns out!

What is the passion for food and where does it come from?

Today I started thinking that I had lost my passion for food, that I had lost the love of being in the kitchen. In reality, I'm overwhelmed. I spent the majority of the weekend in my pajamas watching movies... and it felt good. I got promoted (which is great) but now have to split my time between both positions again. (I guess my employer thinks I'm good at juggling... maybe I should stop faking that I am????) Fortunately and unfortunately, my supervisors have approved 2 hours of overtime a day while one of my coworkers is on vacation. (My training is normally done during the work day but they can't spare me while she's gone.) In reality, I'm tired. I don't want to cook when I get home. When Steve is home, he cooks for me which is great. But for 3 days out of the work week, I'm here alone which means I have to cook.

Recently a friend's family was hit with a medical crisis that I'm too familiar with. I wish I didn't understand what they are going through. This medical crisis is something that I would never wish upon someone I hated and it's happening to a friend. I wish she and her family weren't going through it. As I talked to her today, I started thinking about ways I could be there for her. People always say "Let me know if you need anything" but sometimes you really don't know what you need until someone does it for you without being asked. And I remembered how nice it was when our neighbors brought us over a big pot of spaghetti when my mom was sick. That simple thing meant the world to me and reminded me of why I love my neighbors so much. With that thought, my passion for food returned and two homemade lasagnas are now sitting in my fridge. I hope the lasagnas will help my friend's family.

Breakfast

I've struggled with what to eat for breakfast that will be healthy and long-lasting. In the past, I've eaten every 3 hours due to my fast metabolism. But with my current job, that eating schedule is not an option. I'm not a terrific morning person so I don't want to make eggs and toast or anything like that. This week I'm trying something new: yogurt with granola and green tea. I normally eat granola or string cheese in the morning but it doesn't last very long. My older sister had given me a recipe for granola and I finally made it last weekend. It's pretty tasty and seems really healthy. I add a couple spoonfuls to my yogurt and breakfast is ready. I'm thinking I will eventually buy plain yogurt and add fruit with the granola. The green tea part of my breakfast is replacing Pepsi. That's right. I'm giving up pop. I've been easing myself into it. I started last week. I'm replacing my morning Pepsi with green tea. I usually drink two cups so I don't have caffeine withdrawals. The bad part of this is that now I drink pop in the afternoon/evening. I'm hoping that once the pop is out of the apartment that will stop. I'll still have it as a treat occasionally but I'd really like to take it out of my daily diet.

Restaurant Review

I've been planning to include restaurant reviews in my blog for awhile. After all, the blog is called "For the Love of Food" which means that I don't necessarily have to make the food to love it. Steve and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Sunday because he works Monday evenings. We ate at a very intimate cafe. The tables had linen tablecloths, place mats and napkins. We ate by candle light.

The menu was incredible: cavatini, lettuce salad, glazed carrots, homemade applesauce and garlic bread. The only thing the cafe lacked was music.

Next time, we're definitely going to remind our servers to put on some music. The best part was it wasn't crowded and we were seated immediately. The name of this fabulous cafe, you ask? Cafe Krueger.