Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Death By Chocolate

deathbychoctrifle

(Yeah, I'm all over the name of this recipe. What a way to go!)  This recipe got raves at a recent RS Christmas Dinner here. I am now sharing it with you. Because I refuse to be the only one with a big butt.

Death By Chocolate

1 Devils Food cake mix (bake per directions)
2 small boxes Jello instant pudding
1 12 ounce carton Cool Whip
6 Skor candy bars - crushed (Heath bars can be substituted)
1 Hershey chocolate bar - grated

This is enough to make three layers in your container.

♥  Make the cake - let it cool
♥  Mix the pudding.
♥  Crumble part of the cake into the bottom of the bowl.
♥  Pour a layer of pudding over the top
♥  Put a layer of Cool Whip on top - sprinkle some of the Skor candy bits.
♥  Repeat these layers 2 or 3 times - depending on the size of the dish.
♥  Sprinkle crushed Skor bar and grated chocolate on top.
♥  Refrigerate.

It looks pretty in a clear glass dish where you can see the layers. Use a trifle bowl if you have one.

picture credit

Why ObamaCare Was Defeated In Court

... because if the government can force you to buy health care, it can force you to buy anything. Having a deal now where the government chooses to restrict this power over you to health care is no guarantee that the deal won't be altered in the future. Sort of like this.

Flower Surprise!

My hubby is so sly! :P I came home from work today right as he had gotten home. He kissed me hello and went to close the gait to our driveway. As he was walking away he says "Someone sent you pro-flowers, I don't know who, the box is on the table." And naive little me believed that he didn't know who it was! So I run inside and open to box and head straight for the note that is usually attached; it said nothing!! So how am I suppose to find out who sent this?! He came inside and so I told him there was no note, then it hit me! It must have been him, duh! So I said, "Did you send me these flowers?" He didn't answer, but he tends to have this little smirk, which is too cute when he surprises me! So it was him!! And they are beautiful! Such a schemer he is, but a keeper!!



Love you dearest!!

That Sinking Feeling

... is shared today by two groups: insurance companies and sane Democrats.

Yesterday's court decision in the Virginia case that the government can't force you to buy a commercial product is a pretty serious blow to ObamaCare. There are two groups who are probably feeling sick right now.

First off, the insurance industry supported this bill for just this provision. They could deal with the price caps for everyone so long as they received legions of healthy customers forced through their doors at bayonet point. Without those healthy customers who would pay premiums, but not require service, the insurance companies are screwed. This deal is now all pain and no gain.

The other group has to be the Democratic party operatives who are not insane*. They just got killed in the elections in exchange for ... nothing. The entire effort to jam health care down our throats wasn't just a political disaster, it was a failure as well. ObamaCare is more unpopular than ever and now its financially untenable as well. Without the ability to force people to buy insurance, the whole thing falls apart. It's been a steady stream of failures already, but this removes the entire financial foundation of the scheme. A logical set of questions to ask the surviving, sane Democrats is this: "What in the world were you thinking? You actually thought you could tell us all what to buy? Are you crazy?"

Oops.

Think about this: If the government can force the healthy to buy insurance, it can force hipsters to get haircuts.

* - How to tell them apart: Use the phrase "Sarah Palin" in normal conversation and see if they go into a paroxysm of slanderous rants. If they can maintain their composure, they're sane.

Review: Healthful Life Purina Cat Chow

Our Maximum Leader loves the taste of Healthful Life Purina Cat Chow. I recently switched over to it from one of the Science Diet versions and she's completely bonkers for Healthful Life. It's nutritional value is great, too.

It is teh awesome!

Note: I get no recompense for this recommendation. She just loves it and I wanted to share.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple & Bacon

  
  

Blustery, breezy…bacony.  How do these go together?  With winter’s icy grip finally closing us in her grasp, strength is needed to withstand her chilly fingers.  Strength against the cold can come from foods such as squash, bacon and apple.  Bacon is savory, it is salty, it is smoky.  Energy can come from the hearty fall vegetables, nature filled with starch and vitamins.  Brightness can come from the apple, left over from autumn’s harvest.  Combining these three ingredients produces this wonderful butternut squash soup, which I prepared for Thanksgiving, and again this month.  Of the many ways to prepare butternut squash, this is one of the simplest, quickest and best.  You do not need to worry about steaming or roasting.  The secret to this soup from Fine Cooking October/November 05 is the same as a good stew, or I should the secret to making a good stew into a great Beef Bourguignon, cooking in the first rendered bacon fat.  Browning the squash and mixing in some of the bacon along with apple give both a slightly savory and sweet taste to this soup.  Add sage for an additional layer of flavor.  Serves 6.
   
Ingredients:
6 thin slices of bacon or 3 thick slices, cut into ¼” strips
2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½” dice (about 6 cups)
1 Granny Smith, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2” dice (about 1 cup)
1 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground salt
4 cups chicken broth
    
Directions:
In a large pot over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.  Pour off all but 2 tbsp of the bacon fat and increase the heat to medium high.  Add the squash and cook 6 minutes, stirring just once to allow the squash to brown.  Add the apple, sage, salt and pepper and cook another 4 minutes.  Add the broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook a further 6 to 8 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add half of the bacon bits.  Puree the soup with a stand blender, or food processor in batches.  Adjust seasoning as desired.  Serve the soup with remaining bacon bits on top.
   

Bakewell Tart: an almond dessert


baking over: risen and golden

Well, I have just been on the internet researching Bakewell Tart. Predictably, it says that originally it hails from the picturesque town of Bakewell in the Derbyshire Dales near the Peak District in England.It already sounds romantic, doesn’t it?  And that there is a difference between a Bakewell Tart and a Bakewell Pudding. Both of them need a pastry base and then an almond- based filling, pretty similar as far as I can see. Ah, no, I see that the tart uses shortcrust pastry while the pudding is made from puff pastry.  All I know is that it is my Turkish husband’s absolute favourite English dessert – he can’t resist it! And another thing, so long as you know how to make good pastry, it is really such an easy yummy dessert to make. It is described as a ‘Comfort Pud’. At this time of year, it has real taste appeal. Is it those almonds?
Here in Istanbul, finding ground almonds is one of those magical, tantalizing quests: sometimes you are lucky and sometimes, especially when you are really counting on them, you just can’t find them. We have almond trees in our garden in Assos but you know what, almonds are not easy nuts to crack.Literally. You have to be really determined to get to the heart. So when we were in Lisbon in October and I saw a generously-sized bag of ground almonds in the nearby supermarket, we grabbed it. I should have grabbed five. It does simplify matters.
Ingredients
Serves 6-8
175g/6oz plain flour
85g/3oz chilled butter, cut into dice
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp good-quality raspberry jam
25g/1oz flaked almonds
FOR THE FILLING (known as frangipane)
85g/3oz ground almonds/toz badem
85g/3oz butter, at room temperature
85g/3oz golden castor sugar (I used simple granulated sugar)
3 eggs, beaten
1-2 drops of almond essence
FOR THE ICING
25g/1oz icing sugar
Method
§  Gently heat the ground almonds for the filling in a small frying pan, stirring often, to lightly brown. Cool. Rub the flour and diced, chilled butter together with your fingers to make fine crumbs (or use a food processor). Stir in the icing sugar, then the yolk, then gradually add 3 tbsp cold water or enough so the dough comes together. Gather it into a ball.

toasting the almonds

§  Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a 4cm deep 20cm fluted flan tin, fitting the pastry into each flute so it doesn’t shrink while baking. Chill 1 hr.

§  Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake for 12 mins, then remove paper and beans and bake a further 5 mins. Lower the heat to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Cream the butter and sugar for the filling with an electric whisk until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition – the mixture will look curdled. Lightly fold in the ground almonds and almond essence.



yes, it does look a bit curdled

adding in the ground almonds

§  Spread the jam over the base of the pastry. Pour over the almond filling, sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 25-30 mins until nicely brown.


all set for the oven

 Cool slightly. To make the icing, sift the sugar into a bowl and stir in a few drops of cold water to make a thickish consistency. Drizzle it over the tart.

                                      Will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight tin.
cooling on the rack before drizzling with icing sugar
Tips

1.    This recipe is tried and tested and comes from one of my favourite sources, BBC Good Food. Other recipes I read, including Jamie’s, use much more butter than this. He also uses 50g semolina which is mixed in along with the ground almonds for the filling which may or may not be a good thing. And finally he recommends sifting a little icing sugar over the finished tart instead of doing the drizzling. I saw the picture and prefer this look! In fact, there are lots of images on the net of all sorts of different versions of this, including as an iced tartlet with a cherry stuck on top (Cherry Bakewell), with much more jam than I have here, and with much less flaked almonds on top. Again, I think sprinkled all over looks best.

2.    It really should be raspberry jam but of course if you haven’t got it, use another red jam. Failing red, whatever you have!

3.    Oh, and I have a confession to make: the recipe says the pastry should be chilled for 1 hr. Well, I put it in the fridge and then twiddled my thumbs a bit; I went off and made the bed and still only half an hour had passed. And then I took it out and carried on! It was fine. And as for that business with the paper and beans, I didn’t do that: I simply pricked the base all over with a fork and that was fine too.

4.    We had guests for dinner on Saturday night and this is what I made for dessert. I served it with whipped cream and it was delicious.Turhan had the last little sliver for breakfast.

Two Links for Tim

... and anyone else who like beautiful bugs.

Why dragonflies were larger in prehistoric times.

A very nice dragonfly video. Try it in HD.