ChocoMom

Its been a while since I ventured out to the garden. The May knee injury has sidelined me from the usual ultra-busy summer gardening regimen I'm accustomed to. Today was a new day though....the long-awaited Curcumin supplement arrived yesterday, and today, I'm 5 doses in- and feeling much better. So, I cautiously approached the garden, found a solid pathway, and set about to locating what the storms have left us with. We had another 2+ inches early this morning, and the ground is quite soft and squishy yet. Navigating once I got out there was interesting. What I found: 9 potato hills still MIA. The rest are growing well, and do not appear to have been munched on by the dreaded potato beetles. Some are growing blossoms. The carrots!!! I found the carrots!!! They are not where I planted them, mind you. But, they are still there. After weeding the areas, there is some optimism in the air regarding a decent harvest. The beets are still MIA. Yellow Beans....A group of them washed downwards to the back area of the garden, and are growing in patchy areas with what I presume are some of the green beans that I thought were MIA. They hadn't been visible previously- because of the weed/grass growth around them. I did a little weed pulling while out there, to solve that. Tomatoes. Lost 3 of the 9 plants. That's the bad news. The good news is, I started 5-6 more plants in the house, and they are doing well enough to transplant outside. I will keep some for indoor growth through the winter. A root vegetable....I do not know what it is. Either turnip or rutabaga- is my best guess. Can't be beets, as they were no where near that area. So, we shall wait and see. Squash. There are various plants mixed and splattered all over the back area- but clearly they are not in the hilled areas where I had planted them. Its maddening, because I've organized it so well other years. Not quite up to root-tilling just yet, but if the progress continues, I might take a stab at it next week. In the meantime, the knee is on ice- and the chickens are dealing with George's distant Michigan relatives.

@Kerry Beal How'd the Mordor cake go over with the staff? I think its wonderful that you did one from scratch, too! The texture of both look lovely in the photos. Hoping they tasted yummy!!!

Instant. dry--- right out of the box.

There was, but it went down in the house fire. It was my Grandma's basic chocolate cake recipe that I had tweaked over the years. I lost my Betty Crocker cookbook too, but as far as I can recall- Grandma's basic was close to the BC version with the flour/sugar/salt/baking powder/and baker's chocolate and wet ingredients- except she had instant coffee crystals in hers. In tweaking, I believe I lowered the amount of sugar some, used the cake flour, no vanilla, and I swapped the baker's chocolate for the dark powder cocoa. Previously, I know I used Bensdorp roasted black cocoa mixed with an equal amount of the dark cocoa too. And, I swapped coffee crystals out for the espresso powder. Originally, I think butter was used, but I opted for oil. Why, I do not recall. If more comes to mind, I will relay to you. I had the measurements written down on a note pad in my workshop, alongside a pile of Gran's recipes that she had jotted down on the back of magazine articles, coupons and one was on the back of an obituary. (Probably was something she ate at a wake and got the recipe there.) I don't cake make as much as I used to, so a little out of practice.

I'll start by saying that if not for this damned knee, I'd have made it completely by scratch. But instead I started with a box of DuncanHines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix. (gasp). Added to it: 1 box of chocolate fudge pudding mix 2/3 cup Hershey's special dark cocoa powder (You can add 2-3 TBS of Espresso powder- which I normally do, but I couldn't quite make the walk to grab that from the chocolate shop this time.) Whisk all the dry ingredients so they are mixed well. Ignore the directions on the box. Add in: 4 eggs 1 cup of buttermilk 1 cup of oil. I used avocado oil. and 3/4 cup Mayo or Miracle Whip. Mix until everything is moistened well. I only use a wooden spoon, and make sure not to over mix it. Baked it in a 9 by 13 at 350F for about 25-30. I wasn't watching the clock closely - just trusted the sniffer. =) This comes out as black as Mordor, and is incredibly rich, tender and satisfying, even without frosting. I attribute the tenderness to the use of buttermilk in place of water. And, it is not sickly sweet, esp with the addition of the espresso powder.

Mordor chocolate cake and coffee. Not just because its my birthday, but I happened to LOVE chocolate cake and coffee and will eat it anytime anywhere.

I've only perused this thread briefly, and saw a mention of Felchlin. I can't possibly convey all the joys of Felchlin here. The taste, texture, incredibly easy to work with. Yes, it might be a little on the high side in terms of pricing, but worth every. single. penny. or franc, or whatever. I only use it for one or two pieces, and it is such a treat!!!! My workhorse is E. Guittard, which has no soy lecithin. The soy has been replaced with sunflower lecithin in most, if not all, of their chocolates, as far as I know. I've got 4 different ones here, and none contain soy. Do give the Felchlin a try, if you have the opportunity.

@Thanks for the Crepes It is a gorgeous lodge, but the meal offerings have gone WAAAYYYY down hill. They used to employ some amazing chefs, and the meals were incredible. Now, its down to burgers, frozen fries, and hot sandwiches. Very sad. The banquet conference rooms are beautiful and roomy, overlooking gardens. The current management there is terrible. I hope someone brilliant takes it over and restores it to its previous standards. When we arrived, our party of 10 began to seat ourselves in the larger section of the restaurant, and the manager came over and literally scolded us (quite loudly) - making us move to a smaller area. They had no hostess, so what were we supposed to do? As for the knee.....welll. Let's just say the water in Lake Superior is so cold, it numbed the knee- which was my sole purpose for going in. (I use the term "swimming" lightly.) Its not really much better, just tolerable once its damn near frozen. Hoping it will heal with rest, but I think I may need to visit Fred ( my ortho) in the near future.

Because this makes me happy!

I had planned to do a cookout at the house, but, with our Georgia relatives here and the weather being excellent--- we opted for an adventure. First, headed up US41, stopped at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge for lunch, then to Fort Wilkins, parked the cars at the end of 41, piled everyone in the truck and went on a treacherous ride out to High Rock. Its the highest point in Michigan, going beyond Copper Harbor. ( I jumped off the cliff 2 years ago- on a bet. Won $20. Lake Superior is really cold. So, everyone else did it this time.) My knee was not having any of the hiking, but the rest of the gang hiked out to the Nasa rocket launch pad up there for a looksy. Then hunted agates for awhile. We suntanned, snacked and swam. Drove back to Copper Harbor for an incredible firework display right in the harbor. We had ice cream and coffee at a local shop before the fireworks. It took forever to get home, and we crashed in our beds immediately. If anyone is interested in owning a historic lodge on 177 acres up here- complete with cabins, lodge, restaurant, conference rooms, and golf course...its being auctioned on July 26.

Wild Strawberry Cheesecake....

The actual garden has very few plants and seeds left after our little flash-flood/rainstorm last week. Roadrunner, the little heifer, has done a lovely job eating around the edges of the garden to keep the weeds down. I am anxiously awaiting the blossoms and growth from the tomatoes, the few beans and other random veggies that might pop up, though. (The tomatoes were piled high enough that they didn't all get washed away.) To thwart the constant eating of the garden by the chickens, my wonderful hubby purchased a 2ft tall fake owl- with the bobble head, and installed it on one of the posts of the garden. The head spin around with the wind, kind of like an exorcist owl. Now, the unofficial garden areas are the spots where I know other goodies grow - which I did not plant. My most favorite spot is the wild strawberry patch here at the house. Thus far, I've picked 415g of wild strawberries for the chocolate business. Considering how dinky they are, that is a LOT of berries! Done two batches of wild strawberry puree for bon bon fillings. Picked another 60g last night for hubby to have over some lemon sorbet. Pics are mostly the garden and Mr. Owl

First off, a very happy and joyous birthday wish to @Darienne !!! As for cakes, I LOVE making cakes- for me and anyone else. Now, for surprise birthday parties- which my hubby is notorious for throwing - he opts for the DQ ice cream cakes.

@Darienne...SMILE!!! And laugh. I realized when typing this out, how much fun, joy and laughter was had during these times. Its quite powerful- recollecting moments that involved cake. Who knew?! The heartache of losing my parents, and my grans is eclipsed now by these joyous memories. I lost many of the photos that memorialized the occasions, however, the smiles are etched in my mind- and make me laugh when I recall these events. If I could find a pic of that particular Grandma, I'd post it for you to see. Her bright blue eyes twinkled when she laughed and I was overjoyed to see her in that state of utter happiness and silliness. At 95 she could giggle and snort. If that's not something to laugh about, I don't know what is!

I got to thinking more about cakes after I wrote that post. I really love cakes! I did a lemon-raspberry one a few times, that (I think) was designed by Wilton. I remember thin layers of lemon cake, a raspberry filling alternated with lemon frosting, and then frosted, I think- pale yellow. There were green vines piped all over, and then decorated with sugared raspberries. Anyone ever see that one online anywhere? I recall that it got rave reviews, but it was some work to produce. Beautiful though. As I got a little older, and refined the baking and decorating skills, I'd do cakes for the landmark birthdays- mainly for my parents and my Grans. My Dad's mother was in a convalescent center at the time she turned 95. All the sons, families, grandkids and great grandkids gathered at the center's big conference room for a surprise party. I was tasked with doing the cake. --Not really a task, as I was overjoyed to do this for her! But, at the time, I lived a ways away, and transporting it was a bit of a nightmare. It was huge- 4 tiers, (12 layers plus a tiny bundt on top), and decorated with a combination of fresh and icing flowers. I was aiming for Grandma's favorite color scheme, and ended up using some purple statice to fit that brief. In my haste to get the cake there on time, I forgot the candles. So, I dropped the cake off, and ran up to the nearest drug store to buy candles. I did not read the package- I just grabbed the ones that had the right colors and quantity. After everyone was assembled, we lit the cake, and rolled it into the conference room. Grandma did a damn good job blowing the candles out. We were all laughing and congratulating her on well she did, and then it happened. Those candles were the re-lighting sort- which I was not familiar with. As they began to relight, we didn't notice until it was too late....the flames had caught the statice on fire, cause quite a bit of smoke, which set off the fire alarms. Grandma had a most memorable 95th birthday. Unforgettable. My Mom used to live in Hawaii in her 20's, and loved all things Pineapple themed. So, I made a cake shaped like a pineapple, using gum paste to create the green spikes,, and multi-shaded frosting with tools to create the criss-cross design and texture on the pineapple. That cake was a riot. My Mom didn't want to cut into it. She must have taken 20 pictures of it. I loved giving her things that made her smile and remember all those happy times in Hawaii.

I saw this thread, and it made me giggle. My Mom did a fair amount of baking for special occasions. We had the Angel-food coconut bunny cakes on Easter. She'd make whatever cake we wanted for our birthdays. When he was younger Daddy liked the cake from a boxed mix called Butter Brickle - which I can not find, or German Chocolate. My brother liked the super moist yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I briefly got hooked on that cherry-chip cake with the pink frosting. At my 12th birthday party, one of my friends spilled a bottle of Hawaiian punch on the table as my Mom was cutting the cake. The punch saturated cake the making most of it a mushy mess. Couldn't quite get back into liking that cake again. But, every year, no matter how old we were, we'd always go to Bill Knapp's restaurant on Greenfield Road in Dearborn, for two reasons. One, however old you were turning on your birthday- that percent was deducted from your meal; Two, the free chocolate birthday cake! OMG....if there was ever a chocolate cake and frosting I'd love to replicate, its that! Bill Knapp's, back in the day, was known for making everything from scratch- including these cakes. At some point before they closed down, the company sold the recipe/production rights of that cake to Awrey's Bakery. So, you can still buy them at Kroger's. =) We took my Grammie there when she turned 90....got 90% off her meal, and her free chocolate cake too! Another cake, not homemade, but memorably fantastic- was Sander's Bumpy Cake. I think those can still be purchased at Krogers. It's a classic Sander's chocolate cake, with chocolate icing, only there are two massive "bumps" under the icing- filled with a delicious cream. Think: Speed bumps on a cake. The homemade cake- and I can eat a whole one shamelessly, is a Wacky cake. It needs no frosting. One of my college friends taught me how to make it, and said it was an old Quaker recipe passed down for generations in her family. There are no eggs. The dry ingredients included flour, cocoa, baking soda and sugar. Once that was mixed together, it was poured into a square pan, and you'd make three "pools" in the dry ingredients. One for oil, one for water, and one for white vinegar. You'd mix it all together with a fork, and it would bubble like crazy because of the vinegar and soda. Then into the oven. The combination created a sticky, crater-like top to the cake, and it was incredibly moist and delicious. The only other store-bought cake I really get a hankering for once in awhile is the Pepperidge Farms Coconut cake. Mom used to buy these when we'd have company - on short notice. I remembered them as a kid, and LOVED them. Honestly, now I am only after the coconut and chilled icing. Couldn't give a damn about the cake part. But that icing with the coconut.... freaking amazing! Has to be partially frozen though. (These are some of the many reasons my doc put me back on the Whole 30 diet again. )

Probably should have taken pics, as it was a pretty impressive spread for all that happened today. But, pics did not happen, except for dessert (on the pastry and baking thread). For the Father's day lunch/dinner, I went with their favorites: Slow cooked beef short ribs, basted with Thai chili sauce, mirin, and some BBQ sauce- then baked. Coca-cola baked beans with beef bacon. Potatoe salad: Red potatoes, serrano chili, grilled, sliced shallot, coriander and cumin seed, cilantro- and nice vinegar based dressing. French bread char-grilled corn on the cob. And the lemon curd pastry creme-blueberry Mille-feuille with passionfruit/blueberry sorbet for dessert.

Dessert for Father's day ended up being a lemon curd/ pastry creme and fresh blueberry Mille-feuille, and passionfruit-blueberry sorbet on the side. I took the pic prior to adding the sorbet, but I promise...I did put some on the plate before serving!

@robirdstx ... Thank you! When I see it in photos, it looks lovely. Its supposed to be 90F and humid here on Sunday, so boiling anything is the LAST thing I want to do! Thanks again! Andrea

So, I am allergic to corn and almost never buy or cook it. ( I grow some for my chickens, but that's about it.) However, Sunday is Father's day, and it ended up on the menu as my hubby and FIL love it. I decided to grill it, but I don't know if it has to be par-boiled first, or do I just throw it on the flame? And, for about how long does it have to cook? I know this must be amongst the silliest of questions, but I'd like to make it right- and appreciate any direction on this. Thanks in advance. =) Andrea

Pan fried chicken breast stuffed with spinach-shallot puree, over pasta and diced tomatoes. Sprinkled with a little grated parmesan.

@Anna N I had second thoughts about posting that, worried that you all might think I'm crazy. I'm so glad to see I am not the only one who uses hosiery like that!! Thank you!!!!

At some point in the near future, I'd love to do his class. I've been following all the posts, and the ones about straining cocoa butter caught my eye. @gfron1 and @Jim D. were discussing the issue of straining the cocoa butter. I was very dismayed with the amount of cocoa butter that seemed to get caught up in cheesecloth, coffee filters, etc. So, being the girly-girl I am...my mind traveled in another direction. Pantyhose. I bought a package of the knee high's, washed and dried them, cut them in sections, and I will just say they are marvelous for straining cocoa butter! It catches the tiniest bits, and absorbs almost none of the beautiful colored CB. It's a little weird and unorthodox I guess, but it works. So, I'll just throw that out there if anyone wants to test it out.

@blue_dolphin I love a runny yolk, but I have a formidable sweet tooth that challenges my doctor's orders and the Whole 30. (Probably part of the reason my BP went up.) Even though it's summertime now- a time for fresh fruits, etc., my mind always wanders back to being a kid this time of year. Driving up to Grayling from Detroit for our 3 week family vacation. Before getting to the cottage, we'd always stop at Goodale's Bakery in town, and load up on salt-rising bread and delicious pastries. For the following few days, Daddy and I would get up early to indulge in the goodies before anyone else... and he'd let me dunk my pastries in his coffee. I know I need to man-up and behave better around sweets and pastries, but it's not easy!

This breakfast is one of my "Whole 30" favorite concoctions. Normally, I'd be perfectly happy with eclairs, pastry creme, or coffee. But due to a rise in BP, my doctor put me back on the diet yesterday. So today we have a baked sweet potato drizzled with avocado oil and Jane's crazy salt, topped with a poached egg. I love the cascade of runny yolk! It replaces (sort of) that deliciousness of butter. Or so I pretend it does.