Happy Memorial Day

This past weekend I was asked to make some cupcakes with a patriotic theme in honor of Memorial Day. I have seen lots of different ideas, so I took a few of them, combined them and used ingredients that were available to me to make these cupcakes. They are quite good, not because of anything I did, but because they are strawberry-vanilla. Strawberry vanilla is one of those classic flavors. It reminds me of creamsicles, Italian sodas from the coffee shop where I worked, and strawberry shortcakes. I think its a wonderfully festive flavor for this day, because strawberries, Memorial Day, and barbecues are synonymous with the arrival of summer-there is something inside of all of us that says summer is truly here!
Maybe this recipe wasn't here for your Memorial Day celebration, but they would be great for 4th of July, Veterans Day, or Columbus Day, for that matter. Anytime you decide to make them I am sure they will be well received.

I made my own frosting, which really was a cinch, and tastes great, but if you are in a rush, by all means, buy some frosting. I also think they would look adorable if they were decorated with red licorice ropes and/or stars cut from some blue Airheads or something.


Patriotic Strawberry Vanilla Cupcakes


For the Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix
1 cup water
4 egg whites
1/3 cup corn oil
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup strawberry jam
1 teaspoon red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, water, egg whites, corn oil, sour cream, vanilla, and salt and blend until smooth. Place in prepared cupcake liners. Microwave jam for 30 seconds. Add food coloring and mix well. Place about ¾ teaspoon of the strawberry mixture onto the center of each cupcake. Use a butter knife to gently fold the strawberry mixture into the cupcakes, being careful not to overmix. Bake for 16-21 minutes.

Frosting:

1 cup shortening
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
4 cups powdered sugar

3 to 4 tablespoon milk

 
I dyed the blue frosting using a sky blue and a bit of violet. The red I achieved by adding A LOT of Christmas red, and cocoa powder.

Easy as Pie

Part of my original purpose for creating this blog was to have a place where I could write and record my favorite recipes. Instead of having magazines, recipe cards, recipe books, and boxes, I wanted to be able to keep all of my recipes in one place, that I could access at any time (which, actually, has turned out to be quite helpful).
I also wanted a resource, as I have mentioned in the past, where people could find simple recipes for everyday items.
An extremely common household recipe that people seem to need is pie crust. I find it interesting that most recipes call for ready made pie crusts, and many people I know do not like their own pie crust recipe. I started making my own crust as a teenager, and the recipe I found that worked for me had egg and vinegar. I had tried my mom's shortening crust and it was just horrendous for me. It worked great for her, but when I tried it, it was a dry lump of dough that I couldn't get to do what I wanted.
After a bit I lost my pie crust recipe. I searched high and low and couldn't find the same recipe. I tried to recreate it from memory, but it ended up quite vinegar-y tasting. I tried my mom's again, and I tried to experiment with some other crusts. I wasn't happy with mine for about a year and a half.

I received a copy of Bon Appetit's cookbook for Christmas one year. It had a pie crust recipe that was made entirely out of butter, so I decided to give it a try. It came together in the food processor, and worked like a charm. I really, really loved the texture. If you didn't know this, shortening makes crusts short, like shortbread cookies. They crumble in your mouth. Butter makes pie crust flaky, because the pockets of butter in the crust melt while its baking and the resulting steam creates little air pockets. Anyway, I really love it. I've won a couple of bake-offs with it, too!

Just a little side note, if you have a hard time with crust, try empanada dough, also called cream cheese dough. It is less finicky than butter, and seems to work like a breeze. The texture is a bit different but its still great, and its great to start with. So, I have included both, here:

Easy Cream Cheese Pie Dough

(from the Art and Soul of Baking)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar (omit for savory crust)

Pinch of salt

1 stick cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 package cold cream cheese, cut into 9 pieces

Place flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and process for 10 seconds. Add the cold butter pieces and process for 8 to 10 seconds, until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add the cream cheese and pulse 30 times (1-second pulses) or until large, shaggy clumps of dough form.

Turn the shaggy mass out onto a work surface and knead gently 2 or 3 times to create a cohesive dough. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until you are ready to use it.

Butter Pie Crust Dough

(from Bon Appetit)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 Tablespoon sugar (omit for savory crust)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

6 Tablespoons (or more)  ice water

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter, using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 Tablespoons water. Using on/off turns, blend just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; divide dough in half. Flatten each piece into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

Pie Crust (from Amish Cooking pg. 182 - This is, by the way, the BEST pie crust recipe you'll ever find anywhere)
3 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1 c. shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
5 tbsp. ice water
1 tsp. vinegar
Mix flour and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in shortening. Combine egg, water and vinegar. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture until a soft dough forms. (If necessary add more ice water 1/2 tsp. at a time). Divide dough into two or three equal portions.

Pie Crust (adapted from pg. 182, Amish Cooking by Pathway Publishers)
Yield: 2 single crust pies OR 1 double crust pie
2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. vegetable shortening
1 egg
5 Tbls. ice cold water
1 tsp. white vinegar

Sift the flours, spices and salt into a medium sized bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture until mixture forms course crumbs. Beat the egg; add the water and vinegar. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry cloth. Gently kneed the dough, 3-4 times (DO NOT knead the dough excessively). Divide the dough in half. Form the halves into disks and roll out, using a cloth covered rolling pin

A rose is a rose

It is very important that it sounds good. Have you ever noticed how menu descriptions are? Sometimes they make me giggle because they are redundant or absurd, and sometimes they are outright disturbing. Like the restaurant we ate at for breakfast while travelling through Washington. One of their sides was 'SOS'. 'What's that?' I asked my husband. In a hush voiced he explained it to me. Why would I want to order that?
Maybe its name is deceptive, I thought to my self. Well, sure enough, one of my companions ordered it and I tried it. The thick mass of white gravy was all wrong. Way too much hamburger and no other seasoning. It was very aptly named.

There is also the matter of how much description you use. Names, like "sauteed chicken" sound so boring, while on the opposite end of the spectrum you have names like "Poulet Saute aux Herbes de Provence" which can be discouraging or daunting if you don't speak French, and yet you would be eating the same thing.

I fear I have to gift for fanciful names that inspire people. When I am asked for the names of my dishes I usually reply with something boring like, "chicken, uh....with white sauce?" Somehow I make it sound like a question. My mom is usually the one asking. As she did when I made this dish. It might not sound amazing, but its pretty darn good.

Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes with Parmasan

5 fist-sized red potatoes (my fist, or about the size of a baseball) 
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons rosemary, very finely chopped
1/4 cup Parmasan cheese
3 cloves garlic, smashed

Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces, try to be uniform in size so they all cook at the same time. I usually cut them in half, then in half again, then cut those pieces into thirds. Place them in a 9x13 baking pan. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. Place in oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, toss, then bake for an additional 20 minutes more. They might need a bit longer. Be sure they are tender when pierced. If they are browning too quickly, cover with foil.