Cake!

I have always loved cake. Wedding cake is my favorite. What I wouldn't do for a slice of White Wedding Cake from That Special Touch in Pearl, MS. They made my wedding cake and it was "to die for".

But, I have never been too good at decorating cakes. I figure I need to work on this before I start having kids so that I can make fantastic birthday cakes! I am sure I will never be on par with the professionals but one can always try.

I wrote about my Valentine's Day cookie cakes previously. During the NBA playoffs, when my Rockets were playing the yucky Utah Jazz, and the New Orleans Hornets were playing the yucky Dallas Mavericks, I made a cookie cake for work. We have quite the Houston/Dallas rivalry in the office, and one of our managers is from Utah. It was a fun week (Houston and New Orleans won that night, unfortunately the Rockets ultimately were knocked out, in the first round, again).

I thought I did a pretty good job on my cookie cake, but my decorating still has some work. I decided that my traditional icing, though it tastes fantastic, is just not the best for decorating. It's a little too thin.

My friends Erica and Kelly both shared this icing recipe with me so I decided to give it a try and made a cake last night. The cake was just Duncan Hines yellow cake. I baked the cake according to the package directions for two 8" round cakes. Layer cakes have never worked well for me, they always fall apart. I have always blamed the thin icing... but mmm, its so yummy.

After letting the cakes cool, I trimmed the tops to level them out. Then I applied a thin layer of icing to stack the layers and a thin layer on the whole cake to seal the crumbs. I put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes while I cleaned the kitchen. Then I applied a second layer of white icing and got a pretty nice, even coat with very few crumbs.

I decided to be cute and do a little decoration. I have a mechanical pastry bag from Williams-Sonoma but I have not liked how it works with icing. The icing sort of seeps out inside the tube so I end up wasting a lot of good icing. I was watching Rachel Ray the other day and saw this cake baker making parchment icing bags, so I gave it a try using the tips from my mechanical pastry bag. It worked really well. Here's the finished product.

I haven't cut into it yet. I made it to bring to work but I left it on the counter. I guess Ryan and I will cut into it tonight and then I'll bring the rest to work tomorrow. The icing is not as yummy as my normal, but I think it will work. I think I'll try the Pure White Icing (stiffer consistency) next time.

Back In Aggieland!!!

I spent two (long) years in College Station, TX while getting my Master's at Texas A&M University. I say it was long because school was hard, work was hard, writing a thesis was hard, I didn't know many people. I spent lots of time on the "farm roads" between College Station and The Woodlands visiting Ryan. I was really ready to be done with school by the time I finally graduated in August 2005.

I did enjoy my time in College Station and did meet some good friends through my fellowship program through PEER and the NSF. I learned how to live on my own, pay rent, find my way around a new city, go to Division 1 sporting events, and ultimately found a great job through the A&M career center. I enjoyed the food! As you can tell from this blog, I like food, but I am not a food snob.

One of my favorite places is called Pita Pit. Its just a sandwich shop, but its great. They grill your meat (chicken, philly steak, deli meat, etc) and stuff it in a pita with whatever veggies and dressing you want. I am a big fan of the Chicken Caesar--Chicken, Bacon, Romaine, Parmesan Cheese, lots of Caesar Dressing. My other favorite was the Philly Steak. I think I ate Pita Pit at least twice a week. It was walkable from my classes/office.

Most Aggies would crave a trip to "The Chicken" (The Dixie Chicken) or Freebirds World Burrito. Both are great, but me, I crave Pita Pit and Kolache Rolf's. (I didn't get to see Rolf this trip, maybe next time.) I guess this is just another reason why I am a "two-percenter".

My job has client in College Station so I got to spend 2 days there. I'm actually writing this from College Station, with a belly full of Chicken Caesar Pita. It was as good as I remembered it.

Note: Here are some interesting articles that might help you understand what a "two-percenter" is. Essentially, you're a student at Texas A&M that isn't all wrapped up in the numerous traditions of Aggieland... like standing up for the ENTIRE football game, not taking your hat off for "yells", not GOING to football games (gasp)...
Campus Newspaper 1
Campus Newspaper 2
Aggie Terminology 1
Aggie Terms from Wiki

Fish, Fish and MORE Fish!

Ryan takes a fishing trip each year with Amegy Mortgage. The travel to Hackberry, Louisiana and stay at a "resort" called Hackberry Rod & Gun. The guys go out in pairs with a guide on a salt water lake called Lake Calcasieu. Ryan's first couple of years, he didn't come home with too much fish. Maybe a couple of bags. Last year the tide turned for Ryan, and his buddy Ryan from Amegy, and he came home with more fish than we knew what to do with--Redfish, Trout, and Flounder. This year was no different. I think they caught even more than last year.

The freezer is running over with fish! I will not be buying fish for some time. We bagged and froze the fish in two person servings--30 bags! Our freezer is STUFFED!

And there is more in the door! We have already eaten fish 3 or 4 times in the past two weeks. We are also giving away fish to any and everyone who wants some! Come and get it!

Stay tuned for posts about how I actually cooked the fish!

"Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells"

I moved in to Ryan's house a couple of months before the wedding. Within weeks, I was in desperate need of new, easy and quick recipes. Ryan and I were both getting tired of Spaghetti, Poppyseed Chicken, Stouffers Lasagna, Pot Roast and Chicken Spaghetti. I think that is all I cooked the first few weeks of living together.

I had heard many raves about Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (and I think my Dad had a little Food Network crush on her) so I bought her Express Lane Meals cookbook. This is a good cookbook that teaches you how to grocery shop. The premise is that you stock your pantry every couple of weeks then hit the grocery each night to pick up the perishables (meat, veggies, etc). I put my own twist on this, hitting the grocery once per week to get the meats, veggies, fruits for the week and trying to keep my pantry stocked with necessities as I run out -- like Cream of [fill in the blank] Soup, Tomato Sauce/Paste, Canned Veggies, Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil, Spices, etc. I got one of my favorite meals from this cookbook, one I will blog about one day.

Ryan bought me another RR cookbook, 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds that has recipes written for 2, 4, 6, and 8 people (haha, bet you couldn't figure that out.) I found several great recipes in this cookbook, but our favorite has been the Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells.

Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Rachel Ray

1/2 box frozen chopped spinach
8 jumbo pasta shells
3/4 lb lean ground beef (RR calls for meatloaf mix)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and halved
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Defrost Frozen spinach in microwave or in colander with hot running water. Wring dry in paper towel. Set aside.

Boil water for shells and cook according to package directions (6-7 minutes). Drizzle with olive oil. Set aside.

Brown meat with chopped garlic and onions. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook 5 minutes more.

Mix meat and spinach in a bowl. Add bread crumbs, egg and half the cheese (sometimes I add a handful of grated mozzarella too).

Fill the shells with the meat mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 11-12 minutes.

While the shells bake, heat halved garlic in one tbsp olive oil in small pot over low heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove garlic. Add red pepper flakes and cook one minute more. Stir in tomato sauce and let simmer until shells are done. (I typically add another dash of garlic powder, and normally some extra red pepper since Ryan really likes it.)

Place shells on plate and pour desired amount of sauce on top. Sprinkle with a little more cheese if you like.

I have adapted this recipe a little to our liking. I cut back the spinach (RR called for a whole box) because there was just more spinach than meat and we can't have that! I have found that this proportion of meat and spinach is enough to perfectly fill 8-10 shells. I also double the sauce (RR only used 8oz tomato sauce). Ryan really likes this simple sauce and covers his shells with it so the original recipe just didn't cut it.

This is now one of our favorites, and it looks pretty too! :)



Enjoy!

Tuna Casserole

I hate canned tuna. I hate the smell of it and therefore the thought of eating it is enough to make me gag a little. Ryan on the other hand, is a big fan. And, he had a favorite dish growing up... Tuna Casserole. I rarely make this dish for Ryan since I don't eat it. The first time I made it, I think I wore a bandanna around my nose and mouth so I didn't have to smell it. Okay, I don't think I went that far but I know I lit several candles.

Tuna Casserole is the dish I make for Ryan when I know I won't be home one night. A couple of weeks ago I made plans for dinner and a play with one of my girl friends so I decided I treat Ryan to one of his favorites. I think a night of XBox360 or Wii and a big plate of Tuna Casserole was like a dream come true to him!


Tuna Casserole
From the kitchen of Ryan's mom

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 small cans white chunk Tuna, drained
1 cup milk 10 oz Rotini noodles
1 tsp mustard
Pepper
Plain Potato Chips (Lays, Ruffles, etc)

Cook noodles per package instructions.

Mix all ingredients together. Season with pepper. Pour mixture in a greased 9 x 13 dish.

Top with crushed potato chips. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Tornadoes, Family, and a Wedding

Ryan and I made a trip to Jackson last weekend for our friend Trey's wedding. The weather was looking a little rough for Friday morning's flight which seems to be the norm for me... flying in windy, turbulent weather. Fortunately, after a 1 hour delay, we landed safely in Jackson.

All of Mom's sister's were in Meridian visiting with Grammy all week, so Dad picked us up at the airport and off we went to join the party. About 20 minutes from Meridian, I called Mom and got no answer so I called her younger sister. She informed me that they were at a bank and Mom was on the phone with the neighbors as a tornado had just come through Jackson and there were lots of trees down. Apparently, the girls had walked into the Community Bank in Meridian and the clerk said "We're sorry, our computers are down because a tornado has hit Jackson and our branch on Old Canton Road is without power." Immediately Mom realized this was a bad sign, as the Community Bank in reference is a stone's throw from our house. She immediately started calling the neighbors and found out that our house was "okay", only some missing shingles, but that there were trees down and a couple of our close friends on the street had trees on their homes. At that time, she didn't really know the breadth of the damage, which we would later find out.

We arrived in Meridian and had a wonderful Southern lunch at New's (Catfish, Fried Chicken, Black Eyed Peas, Fried Pickles, Sweet Tea) while the storm blew over Meridian. The power went out and the wind blew hard, but there was no "freight-train". The storms had weakened by the time they got to Meridian, but still did some minor damage here and there.

We stopped by Grammy's new apartment so that Ryan and I could see it, and so that we could help her with her jig saw puzzle (Ryan's specialty). Her place is really cute and she seems so happy around all the other people. As we visited, it was obvious that we were all on edge and ready to get back to Jackson to check on things, so we packed up and headed back. It was a short trip to see Grammy, Rosanne, Dee and Becky but well worth it!

As we pulled into North Jackson, you could see that most every place was without power from about Northside Drive. This continued to my parents' neighborhood. As we pulled down Plantation, heading toward our side of the neighborhood, it was shocking to see the damage. There were trees and power lines down everywhere. Trees had fallen on homes and cars. The tornadoes had not touched down but the winds were strong enough to uproot and snap hundred+ year old trees. It was just so hard to drive through what is "home" and see the destruction.



When we finally made it to our street, after several detours due to down trees, we confirmed the neighbors reports that our house was okay. Some of our neighbors were not as fortunate. One had 3 trees on his house, one that went all the way through the ceiling of his inside utility room. Others had trees causing some surface damage, trees leaning on their homes, uprooted trees across driveways and streets with power lines tangled in them. Homes in other parts of the neighborhood could very well be destroyed by large trees that crashed through the middle. Mom and Dad were very lucky that the wind blew the way it did, and that Mom decided to cut all the trees in the yard down when I was still living at home.






The power came back on today but some in Jackson are still without. It was an interesting weekend at home, navigating the house by candlelight, hearing chainsaws and generators pretty much constantly and weaving through the neighborhood to try to get to someplace with power to eat dinner. James helped Dad get a generator at a store in Hattiesburg -- so Dad didn't miss the Final Four, though after UNC got spanked, I am sure he wished he missed it.

All the pictures taken by Ryan and Dad are here.

Ryan and I had Keifers (with Mom and Dad), went to the wedding
and hung out with our SAE friends on Saturday. Sunday morning we headed back home to Texas... to lights, air conditioning, cable and internet!

Sweet Sixteen!

Obviously we are BIG basketball fans. Ryan played basketball through college and basketball is probably my dad's favorite sport so I grew up watching lots of basketball. Friday afternoon we got a call from a work associate of Ryan's offering us tickets to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen Regional at Reliant Stadium. Ryan didn't even have to ask me first, he quickly accepted. Our seats were 5th row, floor, behind the goal. It was awesome.

The first game was Texas vs Stanford. Texas won by a good margin in the end, but it was a well fought, close game. It was practically a home game for Texas. the whole place was "Burnt Orange". I wore Red, just on accident, so I looked like a Stanford fan. Being an Aggie (self proclaimed "2-percenter") I just couldn't put on Burnt Orange. But, I did cheer for Texas (I think I am supposed to call them "t.u.").

The second game was Memphis vs Michigan State. Michigan State is the alma mater of the one and only Magic Johnson. He was at the game and walked by me at about 10 ft away. He is a BIG man.

Memphis was killing Michigan St by half... 50 - 20. Wow. We saw some great dunks toward halftime but by the beginning of the second half, the scrubs were in and it was just not that much fun so we didn't stay till the end.


It was a great night. Texas won and moved to the "Elite Eight".

If only Mississippi State had beat Memphis in the previous round, I would have been at the Sweet Sixteen watching my favorite team play. Life isn't perfect but its pretty good!! ;)

All the pictures can be seen here.