So That's Why They Use Fondant!

I ruled out another career option last night: Cake Maker. I am so NOT the Ace of Cakes!

I decided I wanted to make a cake from scratch, as I had not yet crossed that off my culinary to-do list. I began the ill-fated escapade yesterday afternoon, choosing a "perfect" chocolate cake, according to the recipe. The actual making, mixing, and baking was not so difficult. And the house smelled really good, chocolate-y and fresh. The cream filling and the frosting was good.
However, I did not anticipate the amount of time the whole ordeal would take, nor did I have any idea that piecing the cake together would be so difficult. Did I mention that this was to be a three level cake? And that the tiers were not all the same size, because our cake pans are not all the same? And that one of the cakes broke in half when I took it out of the pan? Oops...
Piling the cakes on top of each other was also tricky, as was guessing the right amount of cream filling and frosting.
But once it was all assembled and frosted, though it looked a bit of a mess and towered over the counter, it was still pretty tasty. Just to give you an idea of what it looked like: If you've ever seen the seen the scene in Matilda where the chubby little boy has to eat Trunchbull's cake, yeah- it looks like that! That's all you get. I am too embarrassed to put a picture up.
At least I can truly say that it was a learning experience.

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Such is the scene when everyone in my family participates in making dinner at once.

On our second night at the beach, my family wound up cooking for over 20 people. 20 people crammed into our small beach house dining/living room. What do you cook quickly for that amount of people? Spaghetti, of course. But good spaghetti. With a semi-homemade pasta sauce. Canned sauce, with a few additions: fresh veggies, Italian sausage, spices, and fresh herbs brought from the garden at home. Sandra Lee would be proud.

But the real feat of the night was dessert. Two desserts, made by my sister Jennifer and me. To begin, an ice cream sandwich cake. My sister made this one: a layer of ice cream sandwiches across the bottom of a 9X13 pan, topped with a layer of whipped cream, another layer of sandwiches and cream each. My only contribution to this was smashed and crumbled Heath bars on top, smashed by hand with the handle of a whisk. That's hard work.

Our second dessert was a peach and blueberry cobbler, one that we have made in variations before. Double the fruit, double the yum! Production was more of a group effort, due to my snacking while peeling the peaches. Oops. It turned out very very well, and was promptly devoured after its removal from the oven. Boy, did our house smell good that night!

Life's a Beach

First week in August means just one thing to me: VACATION. And more specifically, the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We always stay in Corolla, which is at the northernmost part of the islands, less touristy, more relaxed, and pretty much heaven.

We arrived yesterday afternoon after a longer than normal drive, due to inclement weather and a huge amount of traffic. The best part of the drive is the stop at Sonic. Sonic, one of the greatest fast-food chains in America, and one of the very few that I trust. The only problem is there is not one single Sonic within an hour or two of my home in Maryland. I guess this might be one of the reasons it is so special, because I can only have it once a year when at the beach. The burgers and shakes brought straight out to the parked car, like an old drive in diner (I'm assuming, since I don't go back that far). And the shakes... amazing!

Anyways, we arrived at the beach in the afternoon. Yay!!! Unpacking followed, as well the first trip to the beach. The water was calm and perfect, the heat was pretty bad, the sun unbearable and the flies biting hard. Perfect! Sort of.

And for dinner we had Carolina BBQ from this cute little bbq shack and this cute little beach village. Its a yearly tradition to start the week with this yummy food, followed by continued stops throughout the week. Pulled pork, whole barbecued chicken, sauces, slaw and potato salad. Delicious. Nothing like it!

"Paris Holds the Key to Her Heart"... Paris Part 1

I seem to be getting some cosmic messages here. For the past 2 or 3 days, I have been constantly reminded that I haven't yet written about my trip to Paris. First I watched on TV Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations in Paris, followed by An American in Paris the next day. I've heard about Paris on the radio, in conversation, a good friend just left for a European study trip of her own, and of course, my dad keeps reminding me that I haven't written of my trip yet.

So here goes.

At the end of May I took my first trip overseas, to Paris to be exact, for a study abroad trip with the Classics department at my university. Studying the classics, mythology, history, and art, we visited a lot of museums and churches, and all that good stuff. But the real meat of the trip (pun intended!) was the food, experiencing the culture and the cuisine.

First and foremost, I can't go any further without talking about how good the city smelled. Disregarding the bathroom-like stench of some of the metro stations, the city as a whole smelled wonderful, like clean air, fresh flowers, butter, sugar, and fresh baked bread. It is that scent that I will always associate with Paris, and one that I wish I could have bottled up and taken with me. There's no other smell like it, and no matter how many cookies or loaves of bread come out of my oven, I cannot duplicate that fresh baked smell of Paris.

During the first whole day, I experienced one of the greatest culinary aspects of Paris. Crepes. Even better, crepes prepared to order on the streets. There really was nothing better than watching the crepe batter spread across the hot skillet, with the topping spread overtop; the scent of melting cheese, or of warmed nutella wafting through the streets. Yes, this street food was so much more fulfilling, and classy than what we often have back at home.

Belated 4th of July

It's pretty clear that my blogging habits are in a sad state. I am literally months behind! There is no way that I can catch up in chronological order, so prepare yourself for some very random posts.

Today's comes from 4th of July, almost a month ago!
The 4th is all about patriotism, and when it comes to food, there is some pretty standard American fare. But in Maryland, on the 4th of July, national patriotism turned to state pride, and a desperate desire to have the first crab feast of the summer.

If I remember correctly, the day was kind of disappointing in terms of weather. It was very hot, humid, and rain clouds were threatening the sunshine all day long.

My sister and her boyfriend ( whose family's house we would be celebrating at later that night) spent all morning searching for good crab supply. With crabs in high demand and low supply (check the state of the Chesapeake if you have any doubts), and jacked up holiday prices, the search was not easy. They finally arrived at seafood market in DC (I don't know the details), where they bought 2 bushels of live blue crabs. AWESOME! They brought them back home, and put them on ice for a few hours to kind of put them asleep before their imminent deaths.

Meanwhile, I went grocery shopping for ingredients for a Gooey Butter Cake. What is a Gooey Butter Cake, you may ask? Why, the answer would be ... heavenly divine. Its a St. Louis specialty, born of a cake-baking mistake. There are now a large variety of recipes, some featuring cream cheese as the gooey top filling. But in many opinions, there is none better than the true gooey butter filling. (The St. Louis Bread Co., now referred to as Panera outside of the city, has a gooey butter cake danish, which is actually the only gooey butter cake I remember for my early childhood in St. Louis.)

We made two versions, by combining 3 different recipes, which might not have been a good idea. Cake A was made with a pound cake bottom layer and a cream cheese filling on top. Cake B was made with bottom layer from yellow cake mix, and a very very very gooey butter filling on top. Any guesses which took the cake? (HA! pun intended)
Cake B, no questions asked. There is no way to beat that much butter.

The heavy storms arrived just in time for our holiday crab feast. Of course. But nothing can stand between Marylanders and their blue crabs. So we pushed on, and steamed them in both our family's turkey fryers. It was awesome. But since the weather was so crappy, we had to feast inside. Not really that much of a problem. But if you have ever been to a crab feast, you will know that the indoors is not ideal for this type of eating.

The day as a whole was great, full of delicious food and memorable moments.