Elementary Chef

It just isn’t Mardi Gras unless I’ve had some King Cake. The King Cake is really more like a cinnamon roll than cake. Well if you slathered icing all over your cinnamon roll. Most King Cakes come with a filling like cream cheese or strawberry. This just adds to the rich taste of the cake.

The history of the King Cake dates back to the 12th century. The cake was made in conjunction with the celebration of Three Kings Day that is also close to the beginning of Mardi Gras. The cake is made in a circle to signify the route taken by the kings to see the Christ child. Something was hidden into the cake to represent how Christ was hidden after his birth from the king. Now a baby is hidden in the cake and whomever finds the baby has to buy the next King Cake.

Here is a simple King Cake recipe to enjoy.

For cake and filling:

1 box (16 ounces) Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix, prepared according to directions on box
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
For icing:
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 cup granulated sugar (large crystals)
3 or 4 drops of purple, green or yellow food coloring.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cream the butter, sugar and cinnamon together.

Make the dough by following the instructions on the Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix package. Put half the dough onto a floured surface, and roll into a 2-foot-by-1- foot rectangle. Spread half the butter and filling mixture on top of dough.

Roll the dough toward you into a long circular shape approximately 2 inches in diameter. Do the same with the second half of the dough. Place dough roll seam-side down on a well-greased baking sheet. Curve each roll to form the circle and pinch ends together.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

To prepare the icing, mix the sugar, lemon juice and water.
Slowly add more water by the teaspoon until it spreads as easily as a thin icing.
Place 1/3 cup sugar in three small jars. Add three drops of food coloring to each. Cover with lid and shake.

Coat the cake top with glaze. Sprinkle colored sugars in 2- to 3-inch alternating rows of purple, green and yellow.

The mini cupcake pan is one of my favorite kitchen items. It is great to make small, bite-sized cupcakes and muffins - ensuring that you can cut calories while still enjoying your favorite treat. It’s also fun to make these for bite-sized treats at parties.

The mini cupcake pan can not only be used to cook cupcakes but other yummy foods, too. Sausage balls are an easy recipe that makes a great addition to any party. Instead of rolling out the balls and placing them on a baking sheet, put the mixture into a mini muffin pan to make uniform, bite-sized goodness. It really makes this finger food favorite more appealing and ascetic.

Brownies are also another party treat that can be baked in a mini cupcake pan. Once again you will have a uniform snack food that is portion-controlled. Besides it will really stretch the batter since it will only take about a teaspoon to fill it up. You will have dozens of brownies. It’s just enough to get a good taste of brownie without overkill. Too much brownie is not a good thing. Believe me. If you are looking to take a nap, then by all means eat a big brownie.

There are plenty of other tasty treats you can make in your mini cupcake pan. Here is a list of mini cupcake recipes that range from really sweet ones like the peanut butter cup tassies to ones that could be served as appetizers like the taco cups.

The mini-cupcake pan might seem like an unnecessary kitchen item especially when you have a muffin pan. But it offers a great way to make small, bite-sized foods for either a party or for dinner.

Monday, February 16th will be a great day to catch up on ‘Ace of Cakes’ on the Food Network There will be an Ace of Cakes Marathon beginning at 11am. The marathon will run until 4pm - that’s five hours of some of the best, most creative cakes around.

Ace of Cakes has become part of my must-see TV. Recently they helped the cast of LOST celebrate their 100th episode with an awesome LOST-inspired cake full of small details from the show. I can’t wait for that episode that is suppose to air in early May.

Ace of Cakes airs on Tuesday and Thursday on Food TV and thank goodness for DVR so I won’t miss a single episode.

When we were first married I cooked a lot of Hamburger Helper. It was easy and for a new cook was a dish I could make that tasted like it should. My poor husband finally asked if we could take a break from Hamburger Helper. Now I cook it less but still rely on it at least once a month.

My husband still isn’t wild when I cook Hamburger Helper but since he has become fond of eating supper, he will eat it when put on his plate.

There are so many flavors of Hamburger Helper that it is easy to serve this a few times a month and never eat the same meal twice. There is also Tuna and Chicken Helper to mix it up a little bit.

To make that Hamburger Helper meal more appealing, there are a few things to serve with it. First have a bread. Not just white bread but a french loaf slathered with butter and toasted in the oven. The meal may be quick but make the bread restaurant-quality.

Next cook a favorite vegetable as a side dish. If your family is tired of Hamburger Helper, it will look more appealing sitting next to some good vegetables.

Sometimes I tend to just fix Hamburger Helper as the whole meal but forget how much more appealing it would be with a salad or a dessert. Hamburger Helper is one of the easiest and cheapest homemade meals around. Even though it can get old if served often, you can add a few touches to the meal to make that Hamburger Helper more appealing to the whole family.

At one point in time, I had three cutting boards. I think I’m down to two. This wood one is my favorite. The cutting board was a wedding gift from a friend in Australia. It has held up for 14 years and still looks really good. Besides this one, I have a plastic green on that I use exclusively for vegetables mainly because it tapers off at one end - making it easy to dump the veggies into a bowl or pan.

Since you can buy cheap plastic cutting boards, I have bought some strictly to use for crafting. It gives a great workspace when working with beads or small items - especially if you have anything to cut. It will save your table top that’s for sure.

Some cutting boards are really thick like a butcher’s block. Sadly I don’t have room for a big cutting board but if I did then I would definitely have one. Some kitchen islands have a butcher block for a top - making it a great multi-functional kitchen accessory. Again I don’t have room for one but would love on as well.

I have never seasoned my wood cutting board. You can season it with beeswax, mineral oil, coconut, almond, or walnut oil.

To clean a cutting board, you can use dish soap and water, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, or diluted bleach. I just use dish soap and water. I always clean my cutting board right after I use it. I then towel dry it, too.

I mainly use my cutting board for vegetables as I rarely cook chicken and usually the meat is already cut. When I cooked more chicken, I had a special plastic board for it because I was always worried about bacteria. Now I buy more pre-cooked chicken since it tastes better to me(never been wild about how my cooked chicken turns out) and don’t have to worry about cutting it up.

So tell me about your cutting board. Do you have more than one or a favorite type?

Baked potatoes are a good, quick dinner. It’s a comfort food that is cheap and so very easy. Making baked potatoes with all the fixings means that everyone can have their potato their way. How many times do you have a dinner that everyone raves over? Probably not often if your home is like ours. But serving baked potatoes definitely helps to cut down on the whine at dinnertime.

You can either microwave or bake the potatoes although microwave is a lot faster. If you microwave, then be sure to poke them with a fork and to keep an eye on the potatoes. When they start to get done, then they will begin to shrink and toughen. So try not to overcook the potatoes. Cooking time will depend upon the size of your microwave.

There are so many toppings for baked potatoes. This is where the fun comes in. Have butter, sour cream, bacon, and cheese so that your crew can prepare their potato their way. You can also have chopped ham or other family favorites on the table. Serve baked potatoes with leftover chili. You can get your family to eat leftovers if they get to dribble it over a nice, hot potato.

Baked potatoes are not only a good choice for dinner but can be a great lunch. Even leftover baked potatoes can make an awesome potato cake for breakfast.

Baked potatoes can be a great choice for a main dish or a side dish. They can be whipped up fast, so it’s good for those days when dinner is running late. Plus potatoes are always yummy and should please even the pickiest eater.

Do you love to create your own recipes or have you ever thought about trying to create one? Recipe contests can net you some extra cash and prestige. From the county fair to the online contests to national TV shows, there are plenty of places to enter recipes.

But first let’s talk about what makes a good contest recipe. First the recipe needs to be good and well tested. Enlist anyone you can to sample your dish and to give honestly brutal feedback. It’s so important to get several taste buds’ opinion of your recipe to be able to tweak it properly.

Don’t go for over complicated. In fact the simpler you can make it, the better. I’m surprised to see so many winning recipes to be something that I could make in my home right now. There’s no fancy spices but just everyday kitchen staples or at least ingredients I can find at my local grocer. While it might be tempting to use some exotic seasonings, remember that your recipe will most likely be featured and there will be a lot of people testing it out. You don’t want them not to be able to make it and neither do the judges or sponsors.

If the recipe contest is sponsored, then, if possible, use one of their products in your recipe. This might even be a requirement for some contests. Be sure to read all of the rules carefully. If you have to use an ingredient, then make it a cornerstone ingredient instead of something just thrown in to meet the rules.

When naming your recipe, make it stand out. A unique name will make a lasting impression and could pique more interest in your dish.

Work on presentation. The better the dish looks on the plate, the more likely it is to be remember favorably.

Now are you ready to hit the kitchen and start working on that winning recipe? Well here are a few recipe contests that might be of interest:

Tillamook Macaroni and Cheese contest

Taste of Home’s Best Loved Recipe contest

National Beef Cook-off

Chocolate Recipe Contest

Pillsbury Bake-off

Contessa’s Breakfast Recipe Contest

International Pancake Day Cooking/Recipe Contest

Meatloaf is one of those staple meals that everyone should have a good recipe for. It’s fast and easy. Sometimes meatloaf is not always scrumptious. My philosophy when it comes to meatloaf is to keep it simple. The more ingredients you add, the less appealing it becomes. So here is a simple meatloaf recipe that I turn when I want to make this very delicious meal.

What you will need -

2 lbs. ground meat
3/4 cut ketchup
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
1 packet of onion soup mix
1/4 cut hot water

Combine everything together except for the tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly. Then place it into a greased baking or loaf pan. Pour tomato sauce over top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

For added flavor, place strips of bacon over top of meatloaf before adding the tomato sauce.

You can also substitute the ketchup with barbecue sauce for more flavor.

You can use chopped onions instead of the onion soup mix.

For a lighter meatloaf, use lean ground beef or turkey. If you use turkey, then you may want to mix some ground beef in it or use extra ketchup as ground turkey is very dry.

This is a basic meatloaf. It has plenty of taste to it but you can always add green peppers or other family favorites to it.

Meatloaf makes a very good foundation for any meal. Serve with potatoes to have a really good comfort food meal. Keeping meatloaf simple not only cuts down prep time but also keeps the flavor in check. Sometimes meatloaf will have too many flavors and therefore is overwhelming. To me a simple meatloaf is best.

As I was going through some items in storage, I ran across a few of my cookbooks. I had wondered what had happened to them. But I must admit I’m glad to have them back in my kitchen.

There is just something about thumbing through a cookbook to find recipes. Sure there are plenty of online recipes that you can browse through but it just isn’t that same as looking through a cookbook. I have one of my grandmother’s cookbook and love to look through it especially at her notes and handwritten recipes. It’s just very special and wonderful to know I’m cooking something she really liked.

You can also browse cookbooks a lot easier than some recipe websites. Plus you can mark recipes in a cookbook. You could bookmark the web page but I tend to forget about bookmarks. A post-it note sticking out of a cookbook draws my attention.

Also cookbooks usually have an index, so it’s easy to find recipes using chicken or pork. I also enjoy the helpful cooking tips that are in a lot of cookbooks as well.

I have a few cookbooks that are on one subject like the one on baking or just chocolate recipes. Those are especially good for finding different recipes as general cookbooks seem to stick with tried and true favorites.

My favorite cookbook while dieting is The Biggest Loser cookbook as there are quite a few recipes that are mighty tasty and good for you. I’m always drawn to the cookbooks at the bookstore especially the ones on clearance. Sometimes they are just hard to pass up even if deep down I know I might even ever make one recipe from it.

If I’m not careful, I will wind up collecting cookbooks as a lot of people do. I can definitely see the appeal in it.

So how do you prefer to find recipes? In a cookbook or online?

Dirt Cake is an easy dessert that is so much fun to make. It also gets quite the reaction from kids - although sometimes it might not be the reaction you were looking for! I made this one Christmas and just knew my nephews would love it. But they wouldn’t even try it and said it looked nasty. I didn’t take offense and was quite pleased that my dirt cake looked so authentic.

Here are the ingredients to make the cake -

1 cup sugar
1 stick of butter
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
3 1/2 cups milk
2 small packages instand vanilla pudding
1 twelve oz. container of whipped topping
1 large package of Oreo Cookies(crushed)

To make it more fun, you will need -

1 clean flower pot
Some fake flowers
A clean spade for serving
1 package of gummy worms
Cling wrap to line the flower pot

Leave the cream cheese on the counter until it becomes room temperature or at least soft enough to mix. Mix sugar, butter and cream cheese together. Use another bowl to mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together. Combine the two.

Now it’s time to put the cake together. First start with a layer of crushed cookies. Then add a layer of the mixture on top of that. Then add another layer of cookies. End with a layer of cookies. Wrap cling wrap around the bottom of flowers and place in the center of the dessert. Play gummy worms on top of the cake.

I crush my Oreo cookies using my electric chopper but you could use a blender or just break them up with your hands - although that may take a while. Using the chopper really made it look like dirt and not just crushed up Oreos - hence the reason my nephews thought it was nasty.

Have you ever had a recipe that called for some ingredient you didn’t have? Well there are some common kitchen ingredients that can be made with other common ingredients. Today’s example is baking powder.

Some recipes will call for baking soda when others will use baking powder. While both are leavening agents and are used for basically the same purpose when baking, it really depends on the other ingredients as to which one is used. It’s all about taste, so some ingredients are better when you use baking soda and others with baking powder. I would expand more on the subject but really that’s about all I know.

Baking powder does contain baking soda but it also contains cream of tartar and starch. So in a pinch you could make your own baking powder with these ingredients.

Try 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon of both cornstarch and baking soda. You can double or triple the recipe if you need more baking powder.

Today I’ve learned something amazing. You can make your own graham crackers. There are so many times that I have needed graham crackers but don’t have them on hand. A recipe like this would be extremely handy especially for graham cracker crusts on pies or cheesecakes.

I love graham crackers and think it would be very interesting to make your own. This might be something to try sometime soon. The recipe is from AllRecipes.com.

Are you getting ready for the big game? If you are having people over, then you have probably been planning what kind of food you want to serve. Since there is a pre-game, right before game, halftime, and after game show, guests will be staying for a few hours. You’ll want to have plenty of snacks on hand.

Since everyone is always looking to lose weight and get healthy, the big party shouldn’t derail us from this goal. There are plenty of healthy snacks that you can add to your Super Bowl spread that will keep your guest happy and satisfied.

One healthy snack is nuts. They get a bad rap because of the oil content. But in moderation, nuts are very good for you. Pistachios are a good choice because they are packed with fiber and antioxidants. Since you have to crack them open, they take a little longer to eat. And that’s what snacking during the game is all about anyway - occupying your time in between the big plays or commercials.

Another good choice is popcorn. Popcorn comes in several flavors, so you can please pretty much everyone. There are even the 100 calorie packs to make sure those watching very closely what they eat won’t blow their diet.

A fruit or vegetable tray is the ultimate in healthy snacking. Add a dip and it will be a true crowd pleaser. Make your own instead of buying one. It will be cheaper and you can fill it with your friends’ favorite veggies and fruits. Shop at your local fruit stand for the freshest produce.

Some times the big game is a big letdown. All the more reason to make sure the food scores a touchdown.

Ace of Cakes is one of my favorite shows. It’s on the Food Network and is a reality show featuring the owner and staff of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, Maryland. Duff Goldman, the owner of Charm City Cakes, went to pastry school and then afterwards decided to open his own bakery where he does fantastically awesome cakes.

Each cake is custom-ordered. They do wedding cakes, birthday cakes, special occasion cakes, etc. Each show seems to center around a week in the life of the shop and features a few of their more challenging cakes. What is really great is you get to see a little of the planning, a lot of the decorating, and the reaction of the clients to the cake.

It really makes me want to bake more and try cake decorating. I doubt if my cakes ever come close to what they make but still it would be fun to try. I actually decorated the three-year-old’s last birthday cake and found it to be a rather pleasant experience. Maybe I won’t wait until her next birthday to give cake decorating another try.

As I have mentioned before, I am on a diet and have been eating a lot of frozen meals. Some are definitely better than others and I’m really picky when it comes to TV dinners as so many of them seem to smell and taste like garlic. Garlic isn’t a bad taste but when it’s overpowering, it’s a problem.

Since I’m doing Weight Watchers, I have been giving their Smart Ones brand a try. We love the Smart Ones desserts but wasn’t sure how I would like their entrees.

I chose the Smart Ones Salisbury Steak since it came with meat and macaroni and cheese.

What struck me when I took the meal out of the box was the steak. It was a nice size and very thick. After I read the microwave instructions, I waited patiently for the meal to be ready.

The steak was very tasty. No garlic whatsoever. There was some gravy and onions on top of it. The meat was thick, so when you took a bit it would take a few minutes to chew.

The mac and cheese was a little runny but still editable. It wasn’t the best mac and cheese I’ve ever tasted but was OK especially considering it was from a diet frozen meal.

The hardest part about dieting is getting used to smaller portions. Tasty meals like this one make you feel like you’ve actually eaten a meal. Overall, I would say that Smart Ones Salisbury steak was satisfying and filling. This will be one frozen meal I will buy again especially considering it was less than $2. It makes me also want to try even more Smart Ones meals.