Diamonds and Coals Edition of...Wedding Cakes

Diamonds: Our wedding cake [courtesy of Upstairs on the Square] was delicious. Moist vanilla cake with raspberry fruit filling and buttercream frosting.

Coals: The "top" layer that we're supposed to save for our first anniversary is enormous. This is no token wee little cake, it's an eight inch round. Who can devote that kind of freezer space to a cake for one year. It's some sort of classist elitist conspiracy.

Fortunately for us, a friend generously offered us freezer real estate in her chest freezer. I still don't get why we have to eat frozen old cake...the germaphobe in me can't get on board with this nonsense.

"Are You Starving?"

...asked plasticmom during our weekly phone chat. "No," I responded, "I've been doing all the cooking and I'm a pretty good cook." Unconvinced, plasticmom probed further, "What are you making?" I countered, "I made chicken salad, potato salad, coffee, pork chops and other things." plasticmom contemplates, "Hmmm, isn't there a dumpling place near your house?" I wondered where this was going as I replied, "Yes, there are lots of restaurants on our street since we live on a major street." "Good," plasticmom concluded with relief, "you must not be starving.

Harumph, plasticmom holds two contradictory beliefs about my cooking...simultaneously.

1. I can't cook because I rarely do.
2. I could be a great cook because I love to eat and I know what food should taste like.

I can't tell is she has boundless faith in my cooking or the opposite. Heck, I even put Adam on the phone for his endorsement of my culinary abilities. He said, in general, that my food was tasty and that I "cut up fruit" for fruit salad. plasticmom seemed sufficiently mollified by Adam's endorsement, but I think she may still be a bit concerned since she offered, "I'm really glad you guys live in a city, there are places to eat close by so you won't starve." It's all very comical. That plasticmom...she's a real chuckle...she makes me laugh.

Sour-Cream Coffee Cake...DOUBLED

As requested by my lovely sister-in-law, Zara, here's the coffee cake recipe. It's from the March 2005 issue of MS FOOD with a few tweaks...I've doubled the original recipe.

plasticann's coconut/pecan sour-cream coffee cake the double portion

4 sticks of unsalted butter
6 cups flour
2 Tbs baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
4 tsp vanilla extract
Coconut/Pecan topping [3/4 cup chopped pecans + 3/4 coconut flakes + 1.5 cup sugar + 4 tsp ground cinnamon]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two bundt/tube pans with Baker's Joy baking with flour spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and baking soda

2. With an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla on high speed until light and fuffy, about 5 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three additions alternating with sour-cream mixture in two, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until moistened.

3. Spread a sixth of the batter in each pan, sprinkle with a sixth of the topping. Repeat twice, ending with topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. 60-75 minutes.

4. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Turn out of pan and cool, top side up on a rack.

5. Enjoy!

The Coffeecake Incident

MGDub was kind enough to give me a ride home on Monday when she, unfortunately, got sucked into the coffeecake incident. I'd baked two delicious sour cream coffeecakes that very morning. I had used my new Baker's Joy baking spray with flour and I'd swirled a delicious coconut/pecan topping into the cake batter. The coffeecakes released from their bundt pans beautifully and I was feeling pretty darned good. I even stopped by Adam's work to drop off some warm coffeecake. When MGDub and I walked into the apartment Monday evening, we found a very perturbed Adam assessing the coffeecake situation. Simply, he was overwhelmed by the amount of coffeecake in our apartment [1.5 cakes]. The following is a reconstructed conversation where MGDub gets sucked into a battle of wills over the coffeecake.

Adam: We have too much coffeecake.
plasticann: I'm going to freeze it so we can have coffeecake anytime.
Adam: There's no room in the freezer and if we have coffeecake readily available, I'll eat it all.
plasticann: But, it's...so good.
Adam: It is really good, that's why we should give it away. MGDub, would you like to take a whole coffeecake to share with your neighbors?
plasticann: A whole coffeecake...there won't be any left to freeze.
Adam: Wouldn't you enjoy baking more coffeecake?
plasticann: Well, I like the idea of stockpiling coffeecake and other treats in the freezer, but our freezer is filled with frozen veggies so there's no room.
MGDub: I don't really want to be responsible for passing out coffeecake.
Adam: Is there anyone you'll see in the next day that would enjoy coffeecake?
MGDub: I'm just packing and I don't really want to be passing out coffeecake.
Adam: Would your landlord like coffeecake.
MGDub: I guess I could take a few slices for them.
plasticann: Would like like a slice for tomorrow?
MGDub: Alright, I guess I'll have a small slice for tomorrow.

We have one small sliver of coffeecake left in our house...we disposed the rest appropriately, namely not in our own tummies. The lesson here, I've got to stop baking for 20 because it's just the two of us and we should get a chest freezer to keep my baked goods.

Blueberry Festival

A bunch of us went down to Verrill Farms in Concord on Saturday for their Blueberry Festival for pancakes in the "country." The blueberries were fresh, the pancakes were piping hot, the bacon was ultra crisp and the maple syrup was real. There was even a blueberry pie eating contest to boot, basically kids/adults cramming their faces into pies with the goal of polishing off the entire pie first. We stopped by their little store where Adam found a banana split cake in their bakery. We admired the produce, but didn't end up buying anything. Our next event, the Taste of Cambridge this Wednesday in Kendall Square. $30 presale tickets at Whole Foods. Come early and eat more than your share of samples. Afterall, it's for charity.

Gourmet Greatness

I started my internship this week at the Phantom Gourmet where I'll be rewarded with an enriching experience and with food. Steve hooked me up with this internship through his vast network of camp connections and his friend "Zan," one of the guys who run the operation. I also knew Steve had [un]helpfully passed along my blog to Zan, but I chose to ignore that tidbit of information. Turns out Zan did read my blog because he asked me if I was going to blog about today's taping. Unfortunately, that's a loaded question since Zan swore the entire set to secrecy about today's episode so no, I will not blog about it...my lips are sealed. On another related note, I made dinner tonight and in honor of my newest endeavor, I asked Adam to create a plasticann scorecard for our meal. We fudged with the categories and took the liberty of introducing "bonus points" to the accounting.

The Menu
Homemade Bagel Chips topped with Jarlsberg Cheese
Tomato, Basil, Avocado & Mozerella Salad with a Balsamic Vinagerette
Artichoke Mashed Potatoes
Cookie/Rice Krispie Dolci

Atmosphere: 6 [stacked empty boxes and scattered kitchen items detracted from hominess]
Menu: 8 [menu was preset by plasticann, no need to make choices]
Appetizers: 4 [bagel chips were badly charred and "tough"]
Entrees: 8 ["Fresh and Tasty" and the lime water was refreshing]
Dessert: 8 [pillaged by plasticann from Phantom Gourmet]
Portions: 7 [Adam ate plasticann's leftovers]
Service: 6 [dinner was promptly served, but Adam had to do his own dishes]
Cleanliness: 6 [Adam noticed pepper on the table, but plasticann insisted that the table had been "wiped down"]
Value: 8 ["gratuity and tax paid in kind"]
Location: 10 [Home Sweet Home]
Subtotal: 71
Presentation: 10 [Adam says, "Bonus Points"]
Grand Total: 81 [Gourmet Greatness...Zakun style]

Boring

Steve called me on Wednesday because "unemployment is boring." He'd been unemployed all of two days, but he was finding it to be "boring" since all his other friends were still working. Since I'm temporarily a "housewife," Steve jogged over to our apartment and sat on our brand new couch. I was happy to make him a cup of coffee in our Chemex and chat about this and that while I putzed around the kitchen baking. I always appreciate an excuse to avoid errands/chores so Steve can stop by for a cup of joe anytime...almost anytime.

I [heart] Acapella

I admit it! I love acapella. Love the percussing, love the outfits, love the chipper attitude, love it all. My good friend Kellie is also a fan and I always knew I had someone to hit all the concerts with in college. We never actually made it to a Rockapella concert, but let me tell ya...we discussed the possibility. Adam and I were out to dinner with Aaron and Wheezy on Saturday when I discovered Wheezy's extreme hatred of all things acapella. I had called Wheezy earlier in the day to let her know that the ERS musical show was on the radio since she loves musicals. Later at dinner, I brought up an acapella song I'd heard on ERS. Wheezy gave me a horrified look and asked pointedly, "Is the musical show all acapella?" I quickly assured her that the musical radio show had nothing to do with acapella, but an acapella show followed the musical show. That's when Wheezy declared, "Oh good because I hate acapella...makes me want to murder people." At first I thought Wheezy was exaggerating her position to be "funny." After we discussed the finer points of why Wheezy hated acapella [goofy faces and pun based names], I finally realized she really does hate acapella. Fortunately, Wheezy does not seem to dislike acapella lovers. That's what I like about her, she's friends with meat eating acapella lovers even though she's a vegetarian acapella despiser. To better demonstrate Wheezy's point, I've used the actual name of my alma mater in the following reconstructed conversation rather than referring to it as a "college in Providence," or "Zrown."

plasticann: Why do you hate acapella so much?
Wheezy: I don't like the goofy faces they make during performances and I hate the pun based names.
plasticann: What, like the "Brown Derbies" or "Harmonic Motion" or "Brown'sTones?"
Wheezy: Exactly!
plasticann: But but the "Brown Derbies," they even wear brown derbie hats.
Aaron: [ringing in] The "Brown Derbies" are from Brown?
plasticann: Yeah! Have you heard of them?
Aaron: Yeah, my roommate had their CDs. I didn't know they were a college group. I guess I never made the connection.
plasticann: I think Rockapella was started by a bunch of Brown alums.
Wheezy: Ughh! Sounds awful.

Things Wheezy is also not fond of: Kevin Costner and rapping grannies.

An Odd Habit

I've discovered an odd habit of mine. When I'm panicked, I start speaking in Taiwanese. It's happened a couple of times, but last night, Adam jumped up early in the morning because he had a leg cramp and I asked, "Are you OK?" in Taiwanese before I realized. Must be some sort of reflex. Sort of reminds me of Steve who has been known to respond to "Happy Birthday" with "you too." DOH!

End of an era

Today is Steve's last day at work. It's the end of an era, but a start of something better. Steve, Leah, Amy and I went to McCormick & Schmicks by Fanuil Hall last night to catch up and enjoy their $1.95 happy hour menu. We each got a burger and we shared some mussels, artichoke dip and tasty buffalo wings. Not bad! The only downside, they wouldn't allow me to pack up my leftovers since it's a special.

Tonkatsu--Pork Cutlets

My apathy for packing and moving inspired me to cook dinner. I made Tonkatsu [Japanese pork cutlets] and Croquettes [Breaded potato patties] for dinner. plasticmom used to make Tonkatsu once a week and I would get to help her bread the pork and shrimp, but we've never made Croquettes before. I could tell my first solo Tonkatsu flight was a success because Adam cleaned his plate, but I think he was also famished.

Potato Croquettes
Note: You can pretty much use any souped up mashed potato to make the croquettes

Corn kernels from one corn approx 1/2 cup
5 small/med potatoes
butter
milk
salt & pepper

1. Make mashed potatoes
2. Use ice cream scoop to make little balls of mashed potatoes
3. Chill mashed potato balls
4. Flatten balls slightly to form a patty

Frying the Tonkatsu or Croquettes
Note: Use think pork cutlets, 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick

1. Heat 1 inch of oil in a pan. Higher rims are better to prevent splattering.
2. Find three shallow dishes with some depth such as a pie dish.
3. Start with 1 cup flour in the first dish, 3 beaten eggs in the second dish, 2 cups of Panko [Japanese bread crumbs] in the third. Add more of each ingredient as needed.
4. Dip and coat each pork cutlet/potato patty in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs
5. Fry in hot oil and turn over when each side is golden brown.

Serve with rice, veggies, Tonkatsu sauce [similar to A1 steak sauce], ketchup. The cutlets are also tasty inside a sandwich...yum!