My food isn't pretty, but it tastes damned good.

Jane asked me to make this cake for her birthday:

This is how it turned out.

We used the red velvet cake that I cut away to make the "blood" crumbles.  She loved it.  Yeah, clearly I'm no pro, but it was fun and I'm not interested in all that perfection.  I actually can make cakes look nicer.  I just don't care to...(still not pro)


I did not do the cake from scratch.  I did not have any red dye and it was cheaper to buy a box mix that to gather the ingredients I have run out of in my house.  I did splurge and try a fancy box mix, though.

I admit, it was almost as moist and lovely as a home made cake - which I do prefer to Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and other box mixes.  It cost me $4 instead of around $1, but when you consider buying a cake (My favorite store cake is $17 from Costco, but that is also among the cheapest) $4 doesn't seem like much.  The frosting is home made cream cheese.  I don't think I've bought canned frosting more than 3 times in my life and every time I'm disappointed so now I refuse.

Yeah, his box seems super pretentious.  I have been avoiding these products popping up all over the place, but I wanted to make a good red velvet cake for her birthday and I did not want to deal with lots of red food coloring so I took my chances.  Also pretty pretentious that it costs 4X more than the cheapest box on the shelf, but it was definitely better than the generic mixes I've tried in the distant past.

Cooking

I've divided myself into so many pieces I don't know how to become one again.  Note to the right, I have several blogs.  Well, I probably should just have one for everything.  Was dieting, working on low cal menus and such, but lately I don't care and I also miss baking A LOT.

So:

Pinata apples.  Just found these at local farmer's market.  Well, they call themselves a farmer's market, but I'm a little hesitant because one bonus of farmer's market shopping is supposed to be supporting the local economy and reducing the emissions of transportation, yet this particular place ships products from all over central and south america.  Still, their fruits and veg last longer so we shop there often.  Pinata apples are super crisp and just the right amount of sweetness I personally like.  Plus, of course, they're pretty!

BBQ beef sandwiches.  Used this bread recipe (from my sister's webpage) to make the buns and will be putting the bbq pork version on our webpage soon.  The bun was perfect with this sandwich!  I'll be doing that from now on.

I could go on and on, but I just did a bunch for St. Patrick's Day.  We started off with a "traditional" breakfast...according to sources on the internet that don't seem overly reliable, but at the same time it makes sense.  Ireland is full of farmers, moisture, and people who would likely raise goats, pigs, sheep, and/or chickens.  The ingredients are easy to grow, farm, or produce in such climate so it seems pretty logical.  Oh, and of course a side of coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream Creamer (made into a cheap latte, basically.  I don't spend $5 of lattes.  I just use sweetener and extra cream as a treat sometimes.  Tastes even better than Starbucks, imo.)

Next we made soda bread.  It was a very traditional recipe until we added the craisins and dried blueberries.  It was good, but I think I can do better.  Jane loves.  I mean, it really is pretty good, but Sprouts Market (the aforementioned farmer's market) makes a really sweet and tasty one we have bought for dessert.  This is much more bread, less sweet.  I'm thinking it might make a delightful piece of french toast later this week.  YUM.  (The vein of green is food coloring, just to be clear.  Hubby helped mix it up.)

For dinner, I've never been fond of the smell of cooking cabbage.  Corned beef can be pricey and, well, beefy.  I don't like beef a lot.  We're sort of weaning all meat from our diet, but very slowly.  Since my hysterectomy, I can't see a huge logical reason to need much iron, vitamin b, than we can get from beans, spinach, and a well rounded diet.  Anyway, we went for another popular dish in the area - Bangers and Mash.  These are apple and sage chicken sausages  Only, mine's satanic bangers and mash.  With an Irish sharp cheddar smile.  Then I moved it around and added more delicious tomato.

Afterwards, we went for the greener side of the day; mint brownies.  These were delicious, but didn't turn out very pretty.  As usual, the brownie part was blah.  I have tried half a dozen home made brownie recipes and have yet to find one that is half as good as Ghiradelli's box mix.  I know, I know!  I have never, ever said home made is not as good as box mixes before, but I just cannot find a recipe with the perfect blend, texture, and taste of that mix I pick up at Costco - although I haven't bought it since we went on our diet.  Even though we are, in most senses, off of our diet, I still try not to buy mixes and keep that kind of thing around the house.  I figure if I want it, I'll have to make it from scratch - which often keeps me from making goodies - better for waistline.  It doesn't always work, but it helps.