Graveyard Pudding Cups

Milano cookies
chocolate chips
pudding cups
Oreo cookies
candy pumpkins

Melt chocolate chips (about a 1/4 cup) in microwave--30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir. Pour into the corner of a zip-lock baggie. Cut the tiniest hole you can in the corner of the baggie and pipe the "RIP" and "Boo". You can make a nice ghost by piping two round eyes and an oval mouth. 

Pulverize the Oreo cookies in the food processor.  Sprinkle over pudding cups and apply the decorated Milano cookies and candy pumpkins.

Lasagna (No Boil)

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 onion, grated
4 ounces baby bella mushrooms, chopped (optional)
3 clove minced garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

24 oz jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz can tomato sauce
8 oz cup water

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus more to sprinkle on top)
2 cups ricotta cheese (full fat version, please)

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 8 oz package wide lasagna noodles, uncooked

Cook ground beef and onion in large skillet.  Season with salt and pepper. When almost completely cooked, add mushrooms.  Cook until meat is fully cooked and mushrooms are tender.  Add garlic and cook for a minute more.  Add spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and water.  Stir until combined.  Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and gently simmer 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine Parmesan cheese and ricotta cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a 13x9-inch glass baking dish, layer 1/3 of sauce mixture, 1/2 of the uncooked lasagna noodles (I use three length-wise and break one more to fit cross-wise), 1/2 of ricotta mixture, and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with sauce mixture. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 1 hour. Uncover, sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Basketball Birthday Cake

Sarah wanted a basketball cake for her birthday.  This one turned out to be pretty simple.  You will need:

2 boxes cake mix, baked according to directions in round cake pans
2 tubs vanilla frosting
1 tube orange gel food coloring
1 tub chocolate frosting
red and brown M&Ms
1 drinking straw
wax paper

Bake the cakes according to the package directions and let them cool completely (take them out of the pans 10 minutes after coming out of the oven).

Put half a tub of vanilla frosting in a sturdy zip-lock bag (or a piping bag fitting with appropriate tip).  Color the remaining 1 1/2 tubs of vanilla frosting a nice shade of orange.  I used the entire tube of Betty Crocker's Neon Gel Orange Food Coloring.

Glue (with a dab of frosting) first layer of cake (positioned upside down so that the level surface is on top) to a cake board or whatever you will be serving your cake on.   At this point, take time to place thick strips of wax or parchment paper under the edge of the cake.  This will keep your surface clean while you decorate the cake.

Frost the top of the first layer with orange frosting.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes (this firms up the frosting and keeps it from moving around while you decorate the rest of the cake).  Position the second layer of cake right side up and frost the top.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Repeat for third and fourth layers (no need to frost the top of the fourth layer).

Carving the rounded shape is the hardest part of this cake.  All I can tell you is to use a good serrated knife, and look closely at the picture of the cut cake and try to match the angles shown.  Notice how steep the angle of the top layer is.  The bottom layer should not be carved at all, leaving a nice straight edge.  You will have a lot of leftover cake.  Make some kind of trifle with it, or throw it away without guilt (think of it as leftover craft supplies).

Now that you have a lot of cut cake to frost, you want to put on a crumb coat of frosting.  Put a thin layer of orange frosting all over the basketball part of the cake.  Don't worry about all the crumbs that work their way into the frosting.  They will all be covered up by the next layer of frosting.  You don't really need a crumb coat on the bottom layer, since it was not cut and should have a nice edge on it (if you really dumped it out of the pan 10 minutes after coming out of the oven).  But if you want to, you can do a crumb coat of chocolate frosting on the bottom layer.  Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.  You want the frosting really firm.

Now for the final coat of frosting.  Spread it on nice and thick and do your best to keep a neat, straight line where the orange and chocolate frosting meet.  Keep the frosting smooth on top.

Cut a small corner of the zip lock baggie for the white frosting to come out.  Pipe on the "net" by essentially making large connected "X"s all around the bottom layer.  Cover the line where the orange and chocolate frosting meet with a row of red M&Ms to make the rim.  (I was in a hurry and if you take more time than I did it may look a little nicer).  Use brown M&Ms to make the lines on the basketball.  To make the texture on the basketball, refrigerate the cake for 15-30 minutes, then use the edge of the drinking straw to make little circle marks all over the ball.


Carefully remove the wax paper strips.  Keep the cake refrigerated until serving (just my personal preference--I think cakes taste better chilled and the decorations stay in place).

Rice Cooker Cafe Rio Rice

1 32 oz box chicken stock
2 cups white long grain rice
3 Tablespoons butter
juice and zest of three limes
3 Tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Put everything in a rice cooker and press the white rice button!

Inspiration for this recipe comes from here.  I will say, sauteing the rice in butter adds a pleasant depth of flavor if you wanted to take the time to do that.

Spicy Sweet Potato Hash

1/2 sweet onion, small dice
1 pound country sausage*
3 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper**

1 pound yams (or sweet potatoes), peeled and grated

3 Tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
fried egg (optional)

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage and onion until the onions are translucent and meat is fully cooked. Add the spices and cook for one minute. Add the yams, butter, salt and pepper. Stir well. Cover with a lid and cook until yams are tender, stirring occasionally.

*If using plain ground pork, the following spices can be added for 1 lb of meat: 

1 tsp ground sage

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp paprika

pinch ground cloves

**For less heat, use ground pork and just a dash of cayenne pepper. 

Original Instructions: Place yams in a microwave safe dish, covered with plastic wrap, and cook for 3-4 minutes (you are par-cooking them--makes things faster).  In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage and onion until the onions are translucent and meat is fully cooked.  Stir in yams and spices and seasonings.  Cook until yams are soft.  Serve topped with a fried egg.  Enjoy!

Pink Party Sherbet

Pineapple Sherbet* 
Frozen Raspberries in syrup* 
2 Bananas, small dice 

Let the Sherbet soften just enough to mix in raspberries and bananas. Freeze. 

*Available at Harmons.

My Tips for a Great Chocolate Double Layer Cake

- Betty Crocker Butter Recipe Chocolate Cake Mix* made according to package directions.
- Use real butter.
- Use extra large eggs, lightly beaten.
- Butter and flour the pans (Kristen tells me coconut oil is an excellent replacement for butter).
- Mix the batter by hand.  Do not over mix.
- Bang and spin the pans.**
- Cool baked cakes in pans on a cooling rack for exactly 10 minutes, then turn pans upside down onto rack to remove the cakes from the pans and let them cool completely.
- Frost with 2 entire cans of Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Classic Chocolate Frosting.
- Put about a teaspoon of frosting on the serving platter to act as glue.
- Place the first layer of cake on the serving platter right side up.
- Put a thick layer of frosting on the top of the cake, not quite to the edge.  Put the cake in the fridge for awhile to let the frosting set.  This makes it so the frosting won't ooze out when you put the second layer on top.
- Put the second layer of cake on upside down (the curved top down and the flat bottom on top).
- Put a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake, making sure to fill in any space between the two layers.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
- Use the remaining frosting to cover the cake.
- and most importantly ...  SERVE COLD!  Store the cake in the refrigerator until serving  (at least one hour).

*Sometimes I can't find this cake mix, so I just use any chocolate cake mix, but substitute the vegetable oil for fresh, extra-light olive oil.

**Lift the pans about an inch off the counter and drop.  You will see bubbles rise and pop.  Do this several times.  Spinning creates a hollow in the center of the cake.  These techniques give the cake a nicely rounded, rather than humped and sometimes cracked, top.

I also found Pilsbury's Secrets to Successful Cakes.  If you are still having troubles with your cakes, try browsing their ideas.

Cheese Fondue

8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated
8 oz Muenster cheese, coarsely grated
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup apple cider
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

In a bowl or large plastic bag, combine the cheeses and and toss with the cornstarch to coat.

In a large, heavy skillet, bring the apple juice/cider and garlic to a simmer over medium-low heat.  Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring well (to prevent clumping) until melted.  Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Continue stirring until smooth (about 3-5 minutes).  Set the pot over a candle and serve with the following:

boiled potatoes (canned will do in a hurry)
steamed broccoli florets
steamed cauliflower florets
toasted sourdough bread
pepperoni


Update:
If you don't have apple cider, just use 1 cup of apple juice. Sometimes it's nice to get a bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. Then you use 1/4 cup in the fondue and drink the rest at dinner.

Way better potatoes:
Roasted Lemon Pepper Potatoes
Syracuse Salt Potatoes

Rather than steam the broccoli and cauliflower, it is much easier to buy a bag of California Style Frozen Veggies and microwave them.  They are larger and hold up better dipped in cheese. And it's just easier.

Our favorite meat right now is Genoa Sausage.