Carrots Do Have A Place in Cake

Carrot cake is like a presidential candidate. Everyone knows carrot cake. Many like it and some can't stand it. Everyone has an opinion.
"It's more about the cream cheese frosting than the cake."
"Next time you should make little orange carrots out of the frosting."
"Carrots have no place in cake."

These are just some of the opinions I collected when I brought carrot cake into work. I was reluctant to bring it in because I thought it was a delicious recipe and wanted to keep it all for myself. But I figured it would be best to not eat half a sheet cake.

Who thought to put carrots in a cake? It sounds like a ridiculous idea, and yet it's delicious. Are there any other vegetables we're forgetting to put in desserts? Cabbage eclairs? Artichoke ice cream? Cucumber flan? Radish rice pudding? I could go on...

My recipe was from Cooking Light, noted as receiving the test kitchen's highest rating at the time it was published in 2005. It was a traditional rendering of the cake. Packed full of moist shredded carrots, a touch of cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and eggs. Buttermilk added moisture without as much fat. Nothing unusual like coconut, pineapple, raisins, or nuts in the recipe. The cream cheese frosting was similarly straightforward, blending cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. No distinct flavors like maple, orange, or Irish cream. (For these and other unusual carrot cakes, search on Epicurious) A plain and simple traditional carrot cake was exactly what I was looking for, and it turned out exactly right.

Growing up, I had no idea about cream cheese frosting. I didn't know that a requirement of carrot cake was that it was cut square with a thick white layer of frosting on top or cut as a wedge just so each piece got its own orange frosting carrot. I thought carrot cake was baked in a bundt pan, sliced so that each piece was the shape of a gumdrop, and served unfrosted. I thought this because carrot cake was the only American dessert my mother knew how to make (now she makes whiskey cake quite often too), and that was how she made it. She had acquired a recipe from someone, and made it every time we had guests - which was often since my parents love to entertain. I remember standing at the mixer adding in coconut and mounds of carrots, watching the batter turn a pale orange, folding in the nuts. It was a hearty and dense cake. It could have taken you out back and roughed you up a little, so you didn't forget it was made of vegetable. It was its own breed of cake.

Traditional carrot cake is gentle, with a light, airy crumb. I like my Cooking Light version for those characteristics, and for not being too sweet or rich, but it does leave you craving more cake. I liked my mother's cake for being ultimately satisfying and filling.

Cooking Light recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1054818

Mom's recipe: TBA

The white death

Or at least that is what people in Cincinnati call snow. No one in Cincinnati can function when it snows. They act like it is going to bury them a live if they even have touch it. Okay so maybe that is a little exaggeration, but still. People cannot drive down here in the snow. Either you get behind someone going 5 miles an hour or someone tries to pass you and dodge oncoming traffic.

Last night we got about 4 inches of snow. What is usually a 35 minute commute to work, ended up being 1 hour today. My boss went through our caseloads and cut a bunch of therapy minutes on people so we could leave early. So I left after 6 hours, in freezing rain. It is still freezing rain outside and we are suppose to get around 4-5 inches of snow again tonight.

All I can say is that I wish I was on vacation already in North Carolina. Be thankful you are in Florida, Sarah!! I'm jealous!

John Doherty’s leaving the Waldorf

January 27

John Doherty is hanging up his chef’s toque, leaving the Waldorf-Astoria after working there for 30 years — 23 of them as executive chef.
It’s hard to know for sure, but it looks like he’s leaving of his own freewill and has hired a PR company (Hall) to announce the formation of his new restaurant development company, JCM Hospitality Group.
John’s really one of the nicest chefs I know, and he’s partnering with a couple of interesting guys.
One is Mark Wood, who has worked with both culinary wunderkind-cum-vegan and raw food enthusiast Matthew Kenney, and with hard-nosed restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow.
The other, Christian Palikuca, worked at Sign of the Dove and then Daniel (he was director of operations at both) before falling in with the Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation (aka and dba MARC), which owns A Voce, becoming its chief operating officer.
John also will apparently be working on a book on leadership, producing a television project, and going on leadership speaking engagements. He plans to do consulting too, but who doesn’t?
Meanwhile, back at the Waldorf, executive sous chef Peter Daledda is running the show.

ur suicide note

dear ainaa amira,

" i dont really know how to tell you this, but ur nostrils are insulting. i think i realized it when i quoted Santa under a state of trance and i saw u pull the clothes off my best friend. i'm sure u're middle-class enough to understand that extreme home makeover sucks. i'm returning ur ring to u, but i'll keep ur suicide note as a memory. u should also know that I never openly mocked our friendship go burn."

aqilah amin

Based on the chosen answers, just fill in the blanks in this LETTER MEME :
Letter Meme:

Dear _____(the last person who left a comment on your blog):

“…I don’t really know how to tell you this, but ___1___. I think I realized it ___2___ ___3___ and I saw you ___4___ ___5___. I’m sure you’re ___6___ enough to understand ___7___. I’m returning ___8___ to you, but I’ll keep ___9___ as a memory. You should also know that I ___10___ ___11___ .___12___…”

-Your name-

Then, tag no less than 5 other people, and leave them a comment, informing them that they have been tagged.

1. What’s the color of your shirt?
Blue - Our romance is over
Red - Our affair is over
White - I’ll join the monastery
Black - I dislike you
Green - Our horoscope doesn’t match
Grey - You’re a pervert
Yellow - I’m selling myself
Pink - Your nostrils are insulting
Brown - The mafia wants you
No shirt - You’re a loser
Other - I’m in love with your sister

2. Which is your birth month?
January - That night
February - Last year
March - When your dwarf bit me
April - When I tripped on sesame seeds
May - First of May
June - When you put cuffs on me
July - When I threw up
August - When I saw the shrunken head
September - When we skinny dipped
October - When I quoted Santa
November - When your dog ran amok
December - When I changed tennis shoes

3. Which food do you prefer?
Tacos - In your apartment
Pizza - In your camping car
Pasta - Outside of Chicago
Hamburgers - Under the bus
Salad - As you ate enchilada
Chicken - In your closet
Kebab - With Paris Hilton
Fish - In women’s clothing
Sandwiches - At the Hare Krishna graduation
Lasagna - At the mental hospital
Hot dog - Under a state of trance
None of the above - With George Bush and his wife

4. What’s the color of your socks?
Yellow - Hit on
Red - Insult
Black - Ignore
Blue - Knock out
Purple - Pour syrup on
White - Carve your initials into
Grey - Pull the clothes off
Brown - Put leeches on
Orange - Castrate
Pink - Pull the toupee off
Barefoot - Sit on
Other - Drive out

5. What’s the color of your underwear?
Black - My best friend
White - My father
Grey - Bill Clinton
Brown - My fart balloon
Purple - My mustard soufflé
Red - Donald Duck
Blue - My avocado plant
Yellow - My penpal in Ghana
Orange - My Kid Rock-collection
Pink - Manchester United’s goalkeeper
None - My John F. Kennedy-statue
Other - The crazy monk

6. What do you prefer to watch on TV?
Scrubs - Man
O.C. - Emotional
One Tree Hill - Open
Heroes - Frostbitten
Lost - High
House - Scared
Simpsons - Cowardly
The news - Mongolic
Idol - Masochistic
Family Guy - Senile
Top Model - Middle-class
None of the above - Ashamed

7. Your mood right now?
Happy - How awful I’ve felt
Sad - How boring you are
Bored - That Santa doesn’t exist
Angry - That your pimples are at the last stage
Depressed - That we’re cousins
Excited - That there is no solution to this
Nervous - The middle-east
Worried - That your Honda sucks
Apathetic - That I did a sex-change
Ashamed - That I’m allergic to your hamster
Cuddly - That I get turned on by garbage men
Overjoyous - That I’m open
Other - That Extreme Home Makeover sucks

8. What’s the color of your walls in your bedroom?
White - Your ring
Yellow - Your love letters
Red - Your Darth Vader-poster
Black - Your tame stone
Blue - The couch cushions
Green - The pictures from LA
Orange - Your false teeth
Brown - Your contact book
Grey - Our matching snoopy-bibs
Purple - Your old lottery coupons
Pink - How awful I’ve felt
Other - Your memories from the military service

9. The first letter of your first name?
A/B - Your photo
C/D - The oil stocks
E/F - Your neighbour Martin
G/H - My virginity
I/J - The results of your blood-sample
K/L - Your left ear
M/N - Your suicide note
O/P - My common sense
Q/R - Your mom
S/T - Your collection of butterflies
U/V - Your criminal record
W/X - David’s tricot outfits
Y/Z - Your grades from college

10. The last letter in your last name?
A/B - Hate your guts
C/D - Never will forget
E/F - Always wanted to break
G/H - Never openly mocked
I/J - Always have felt dirty before
K/L - Will tell the authorities about
M/N - Told in my confession today about
O/P - Was interviewed by the Times about
Q/R - Told my psychiatrist about
S/T - Get sick when I think of
U/V - Always will try to forget
W/X - Am better off without
Y/Z - Never liked

11. What do you prefer to drink?
Water- Our friendship
Beer - Senility
Soft drink - A new life as a clone
Soda - The incarnation as an eskimo
Milk - The apartment building
Wine - Cocaine abuse
Cider - A passionate interest for mice
Juice - Oprah Winfrey imitations
Mineral water - Embarrassing rash
Hot chocolate - Eggplant-fetishism
Whisky - To ruin the second world war
Other - To hate the Boston Celtics

12. To which country would you prefer to go on a vacation?
Thailand - Warm regards
USA - Best regards
England - Good luck on your short-term leave from jail
Spain - Go and drown yourself
China - Disgusting regards
Germany - With ease
Japan - Go burn
Greece - Your everlasting enemy
Australia - Greetings to your frog Leonard
Egypt - Fuck off now
France - In pain

i tag;

emma

nora

nia

ryzal

syakey

semua yg rajin! =]

Darts for my sweetheart

MGMT - Kids

Un dardo me llegó ayer y se me clavó en el hombro. No contenía somnífero, ni ninguna otra sustancia aturdidora. No pretendía hacerme daño, ni siquiera molestarme. Era un dardo para llamar mi atención hacia algo que no me había dado cuenta hasta ahora.

Y es que resulta que hago más que usar mi paraguas para el Sol. O ponerme lacitos en el pelo, o comer piruletas.

Resulta que a la gente le gusta las palabras que salen de mi pluma o mi teclado. Resulta que escribo cosas que conmueven a la gente, que hacen sentir. Resulta que, después de todo, estabais equivocados respecto a mi persona.

Resulta que después de todo soy capaz de plasmar sentimientos en un insulso trozo de papel, en una ventana virtual. Resulta que a veces os gusta lo que escribo, y me siento complacida ante ello, sonrojándome hasta los huesos.

Resulta que las respiraciones burbujeantes, roncas y enfermas, les gusta.
Gracias, Estertor :D


http://brotes-brotes-brotes.blogspot.com/2009/01/soy-una-diana.html




Le han concedido a este blog el "Premio Dardo".
Dicho galardón premia los valores que cada blogger muestra en su empeño por transmitir valores culturales, éticos, literarios, personales, etc…

Ya haré las nominaciones pertinentes ;D