GG's Carrot Cake

Isn't it funny how once you have kids you start referring to people how your kids do? I rarely refer to my mom as mom anymore...it's usually Gaga. My grandmas have become GG and Granny. I guess it's just easier and avoids confusion as to whom you are discussing or trying to talk to. My mom? Your mom? Me? My grandma? My mom as grandma? Yeah, it's a lot simpler using whatever term my kids use.

My grandma, whom my kids call GG, makes a fantastic carrot cake. It's always been my dad's favorite and always what he chooses for his birthday. At some point the boy became obsessed with carrot cake. I'm not sure how or why as I don't think it's a favorite of most four year olds, but who knows. My mom's birthday was earlier this month, and the boy wanted to make her a carrot cake. I said why didn't we make carrot cake cupcakes instead. He went for it, which was good because I knew I could easily sit and eat a plethora of pieces of GG's carrot cake. Several years ago I took my scanner over to my grandparents' house for a day so I could scan my grandma's recipes. Not to be morbid, but I figured when she passes away there would be an annoying fight over who got her recipe cards, plus this way I could have copies of them in her handwriting. This was one that I scanned.

GG's Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 cups grated carrots
1 can (8-1/4 oz) crushed pineapple
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1-1/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients. Do not mix a whole lot. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes or until cake is done. Makes 3 8" layers or large flat pan.

Frosting

1 cup margarine or butter
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 package powdered sugar (I assumed 1 pound)
1 cup nuts
2 tsp vanilla

Cream margarine and cream cheese together. Add sugar, vanilla, and nuts. Spread on cake when cool.

*****

I was really good and stuck to my diet and only had one cupcake. Well, one at my mom's party. I had one the day before sans frosting to make sure they tasted okay. And I have to say...I'm not entirely sure how a carrot muffin is all that different from a carrot cake cupcake. This is definitely one of my most favorite cakes ever. I heart my grandma so much!!

The boy helped me put this all together and was really pleased with himself for helping make Gaga's (see...there I go again!) birthday cupcakes. They were a huge hit. Oh, and I used chopped walnuts as my nut of choice for this...mostly because it's what my mom said my grandma uses when she makes it (GG was at lunch when I needed to know what kind of nut to get). I wasn't sure how long to bake them, so I did some Googling and found 15 to 20 minutes would be the ideal cupcake baking time. Changing this into cupcakes I got 24 cupcakes and an 8x8 square dish single layer cake out of it. I was pretty pleased with my creativity and cut the square cake into fourths and made a little layer cake out of it for my dad (I mean Baba since that's what my kiddos call him).

And I should probably admit that I'm completely frosting inept. I cannot frost a cake to save my life. Well, maybe if I really needed to save my life I could do a decent job frosting one, but normally they look pretty horrible. Or like my almost two year old did the job for me. Sadly I'm not exaggerating that much. Maybe that's a subconscious reason why I chose cupcakes instead of a regular layer cake...



I'm fairly certain my baby is going to be a ninja. Or a football player...but a very stealthy one. Somehow he managed to sneak three cupcakes down from the counter, take them to the table, sit down, and start eating them without the husband or me noticing. I didn't know whether to laugh or be mad when I saw him. He was very methodical about it all, too. He lined them up, then he'd take a bite from one and put it down, move to the next and take a bite and put it down, move to the next and take a bite and put it down, then start the cycle over again. What a goof!!

Honey Walnut Shrimp

One of the things I miss about living in Seattle is the really good Asian food you can get there. There are a couple Chinese restaurants in Phoenix I like, but I have yet to find anything that compares to Seattle Chinese restaurants. I've lived here 10 years--trust me, I've checked! I think I've found my most favorite Chinese restaurant up there, Lee's Asian Restaurant in West Seattle. It's so deliciously yummy and tasty!! I've eaten there the last two times I've been in Seattle, and it's like heaven on a plate. When we were up there a month ago I think I had thirds when we got take-out from there for dinner one night. And then ate leftovers for breakfast the next day. Oh man...I dream about good Chinese food!

One of the menu items we've gotten each time from Lee's is honey walnut shrimp. My brother is a pescetarian (vegetarian who eats fish, for those of you not "in the know"), so we get a few shrimp dishes so he can eat with us. The first time I tasted this I was amazed--it was so good! I was kind of surprised because I thought the sauce tasted like it had mayonnaise in it. I did some Googling after dinner for recipes and found out that the sauce does indeed have mayo in it! Crazy!

I had something else entirely planned for dinner tonight, but upon reviewing the recipe I realized that we don't have any cheese. We always have cheese, so I have no idea how this happened. I knew I had some shrimp in the freezer that needed to be used, so I looked up recipes for Honey Walnut Shrimp and was delighted to see I have everything on hand for it. Well, except walnuts, but I'm thinking of either skipping that or using pecans instead. I found this recipe on RecipeZaar.com.

Honey Walnut Shrimp
RecipeZaar.com Recipe #31581

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups oil
1 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 egg whites
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1/2 head shredded cabbage

Boil walnuts in 5 cups water for 10 minutes; drain. Place walnuts and 1/2 cup sugar into 2 pints of boiling water. Boil for another 10 minutes. Remove walnuts from water and coat with honey.

Heat 2 cups oil until almost smoking, then fry walnuts until they are shiny and brown, about 5-8 minutes. Remove and place on cookie sheet to cool.

Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky mixture. Mix shrimp into this mixture and set aside.

Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice and condensed milk in a medium bowl until smooth.
Heat 1/2 cup oil and deep fry shrimp until golden. (Put only a few in at a time or they will stick together).

Drain shrimp and then fold into mayonnaise sauce.

Serve over the cabbage the sauce is great with it.

*****

I'm skipping the cabbage because I don't have any, and I don't think it's really needed. I'm still not sure what to do about the nuts. I'll think on it while I'm getting everything ready. I'm going to make some WW fried rice to go with this, and we have some Trader Joe's egg rolls in the freezer. I'm really excited for this dinner!!

Beth's Broccoli Slaw

My friend Beth from MOMS Club made this salad for my friend Jen B. when her father passed away recently. Jen LOVED it and got the recipe from Beth. I think she's made it a couple times since then and has rave reviews every time. I've been anxiously awaiting broccoli to be on sale so I could try it.

Beth's Broccoli Slaw
In large bowl mix:
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets and finely chop about 1/2 of the stalks, cut about 15 baby carrots. Approx 1/2 cup of raisins, Approx 1/4 cup of cashews.

In medium bowl mix:
1 cup mayo, 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Directions:
Pour Mayo mixture over broccoli mixture, toss, and chill for minimum of 1 hour before serving.

*****

I almost didn't make this because the husband doesn't like broccoli. The boy and I, however, do, so husband lost out. More for us I figure, although I'm going to make him try one bite of it. I was a bit shy on the mayo, but hopefully that doesn't affect it too much.

Pecan Crusted Chicken

So, a few weeks ago my MOPS group had a Mom's Night Out at one of those Dream Dinners places, where you go and prep meals to stick in your freezer. I'd been really curious about them but didn't want to spend the money to actually go to one as the meals seemed on the expensive side to me. But this was free, so I figured it was worth going. We assembled pecan crusted chicken, and I made note of the ingredients in case it was good so I could make it again on my own. My friends Jen A. and Jen B. made theirs already and gave it mixed reviews. Jen A. really liked it, Jen B. thought it was okay.

I couldn't decide if I should type up the recipe like you're going to freeze it or make it, but I decided I'd do it as if you're going to make it. If you want the freeze directions, let me know and I'll post them as well.

Pecan Crusted Chicken
3 frozen chicken breasts
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 Tbsp diced garlic
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2/3 cup crushed pecans

Marinate chicken in buttermilk, thyme, and garlic for one hour to overnight. Combine Panko, salt, pepper, and pecans in a shallow dish. Discard marinade. Place chicken breasts into crumb mixture, pressing crumbs onto both sides.

Place chicken on cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Lightly spray top of chicken. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-18 minutes.

*****

We thought the chicken was only okay. It's probably not something I'd make on a regular basis, but it wasn't bad. I have chicken recipes I make that I like better. And I definitely wouldn't pay the $13 Dream Dinner charged for three servings of it. I had used closer to a tablespoon of garlic, and it kind of overpowered the flavor of everything else. I couldn't taste too much of the pecans. It was nice that it was all put together and all I had to do was stick the whole thing in the fridge to defrost this morning, but like I said I don't think it's something I'd make on my own.

Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheese Ball

I hope everyone had a good Christmas!! Ours was great, although it looks like a toy tornado swept through our house. My son is the only grandchild on my side of the family, so he gets completely spoiled. My family spoiled the husband and me quite a bit this year as well, so pretty much the entire downstairs of my house is pure chaos. We have some errands to run this morning and then I'm cleaning house and hopefully making this place look presentable once again!

I've gotten a few days off from cooking which has been nice. We spent Christmas at my mom's last night and had quite the feast. All I had to take was a cheese ball and cranberry sauce. I saw this recipe on Oprah a couple weeks ago and it looked freakin' awesome. I was so excited to try it.

Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheese Ball
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup finely minced green onions (white part only)
1 jar diced pimento, drained
3/4 cup Fisher pecans, divided (Of course, any nut will do!)
10 slices of bacon, cooked, drained, finely crumbled and divided
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Place cream cheese in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Speed Two and mix 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to Speed Two and gradually add milk, mixing until well blended about 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Add cheeses, onions, pimientos, half of the bacon and half the pecans. Turn to Speed 4 and beat until well blended, about another minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to a large piece of plastic wrap. Form into a ball and wrap tightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Refrigerate (or freeze) at least 2 hours.

Combine the remaining bacon and remaining pecans, parsley and poppy seeds in a pie plate. Then, remove the plastic wrap and roll the cheese ball lightly in the bacon/nut mixture until evenly coated. Wrap it back up in plastic wrap and refrigerate again until ready to use.

*****

I initially tried to make just one big ball, but that wasn't working, so I ended up spliting the mixture in half and making two. There were 13 people at Christmas dinner last night, and we only went through one of them. The finished product after you roll it in the mixture was really pretty--and festive with the red pimentos in the cheese and the green parsley. I just realized I forgot to put poppy seeds in it, but I don't think it made any difference. It was totally awesome, if I do say so myself. I served it with Wheat Thins, but really any cracker would do or maybe even celery sticks.

Tonight it's back on track for dinner. I think we're going to have pizza, but I'll decide for sure later in the day.

Four Layer Bars

Well, we are back from our trip to chilly Seattle. We had a great time, but man alive was it cold up there! My mom--who lived there for roughly 40 years--said on the last day, "I just don't know how people live here." Amazing what constant sunshine will do to you! :) We got to visit with a lot of friends and spend time with my brother. It was really fun.

My son was having major grandma and grandpa withdrawals yesterday, so I wasn't able to get much done while he napped, so I never had a chance to update my blog. My MOMS Club had a cookie exchange today, and this is what I made to take to it. These are one of our favorites. I stumbled across the recipe a couple years ago, and the husband goes crazy for them. The recipe came from kraftfoods.com

4-Layer Bars
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
3 cups JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
1 cup candy-coated chocolate pieces
1/2 cup PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine cake mix, butter and egg. Spread into lightly greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Top immediately with remaining ingredients. Bake an additional 2 minutes or until marshmallows begin to melt. Cool completely. Cut into 32 bars to serve.

*****

I had to make two batches to have enough to take today, and I messed up cutting the first one and cut 24 bars when I meant to do 30. I think I like them cut into 24 instead of 30 (or 32 as recommended here). The pan cut into 30 had pretty small pieces.

Oh, and to spread the cake mix, I usually just use my hands to spread it around.

Spiced Pecans

Turns out we're going to have dinner with some friends tonight, so I'm off the hook for cooking! I made a Christmas treat today and thought I'd share this recipe. I don't know why I only make these at Christmas--they're good any time of the year. The recipe comes from my mom's friend Nancy Kronoshek. Every time I walk into the kitchen I have one...I need to put them in some kind of container so they aren't just sitting out!

Spiced Pecans
1 egg white
1 t. water
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 lb. pecan halves

Blend all ingredients but pecans with fork in a large bowl. Add nuts and stir until coated. Roast on ungreased cookie sheet at 225 for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

*****

These are good on their own or they're yummy in salads, too. Like a spring mix salad with feta and craisins or spinach salad with strawberries, red onion, and balsamic vinegar.

I've got a toddler trying to climb into my lap, so I guess that's all I'll say about the pecans!