My Weekend in the Kitchen

Wow! It's probably not a good sign when it is Sunday night, and I am just as exhausted as I usually am at the end of the work week!  What a crazy couple of days - and I spent them in the kitchen :)

Yesterday was Rachael's birthday, and I knew we were going to have lots of people over.  We wanted to celebrate Rach while also keeping Kenzie's mind off everything before her appointment on Tuesday,  and if there is one thing this family knows how to do, it's keep busy!  I knew that I wanted to make an angel food cake, because it is Rachael's favorite, and we usually settle for a box mix, but I wanted to make one from scratch like my dad always used to do.  I also knew that angel food calls for twelve egg whites!  The fact that I would be wasting 12 egg yolks made me sick, so I figured I'd also make a batch of pudding with  4 of the yolks to make myself feel a little better about the waste.  That was my kitchen planning for yesterday; Tracy was coming to visit and bringing with her the makings of corn chowder and jambalaya, so I was off the hook for dinner.

The angel food cake was my first thing to tackle yesterday, and I was intimidated.  The egg whites alone stressed me out, but I was glad that I had made the merengue frosting on my cupcakes for New Year's Eve because I knew that to look for to get "stiff peaks."  I was also nervous when I had to abandon the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients, but I was so vividly able to picture my dad doing it when I was a kid!  I tried to copy his movements exactly and it worked.  I loved the feeling of the batter; it was so light and fluffy and completely unlike any cake batter I had ever made.  The cake came out great.  Then I mashed and sliced up some strawberries and sugar, and bought whipped cream, and voila! Rachael's birthday cake (see photo below!).  It was a big hit, and all that was left today was a tiny slice.  Success!

Then it was on to dessert number two, the puddings.  I had posted this recipe on New Year's Eve when I made it with leftover yolks from my merengue frosting, but tonight with all the people, I wanted to try to spice things up a bit.  I decided to try to see if I could make up my own flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and Oreo (see photo left).  This is pretty scary for me, because I am not good at making my own recipes; like I have said before, I love directions and following them, and straying from them scares me to death.  But, I tried it.  I made vanilla according to the recipe; then I chopped up some Oreos (Kenzie's choice!) and mixed them into one bowl, and some cocoa powder in another bowl.  The Oreo pudding came out awesome and is almost gone today.  The vanilla, as always, is popular and delicious.  Most people like the chocolate one, but I am not thrilled with how it came out.  The cocoa powder didn't seem to blend in well enough for me; there are little hunks of it that never seemed to mix.  Mom said to call it chocolate chip pudding!  Either way, I knew that I had to find a real chocolate pudding recipe and give that a try.  Anyway, the pudding is a big hit; today Tuck even told me that it is the best pudding he has ever had, ever!  I was pretty pumped about that.

I basically spent all yesterday in the kitchen, between my cake, the puddings, and also quickly making a box mix lava cake that Tracy brought when we realized the house was full to the brim at dessert time!  Not to mention the mountains of pans.... so I was a little reluctant to head back to the stove today, but Kenzie is queen this weekend, and the girl demanded pierogies, so pierogies she will get!  She also asked Tuck and Linda to come up and keep us company, so I figured I could impress them with my new culinary interests.  I had found a recipe on Pinterest for pierogies a few weeks ago (I eat these at the Big E every year like it's my job) and wanted to make them over vacation, but I never got around to it, mostly because there are just so many steps: make the dough, divide the dough, roll the dough, boil potatoes, saute onions and garlic, mash the potatoes and onions, fill the pierogies, boil them, saute them.... you see?!  It was a good 3 hours in the kitchen for these babies alone!  However, I am glad with how they turned out.  The filling is absolutely delicious, with mashed potatoes, cream cheese, onions, garlic, and fresh thyme.  The recipe called for farmer's cheese, which I had never even heard of, but I looked it up and was able to substitute cream cheese.  The outside is noodle-like, and crisps up a little when you saute them.  Add a little sour cream, and you feel like you're back at the Big E!  Or, in Poland, I guess.  The recipe said to serve it with sour cream and chive sauce, but after three hours, I really did not want to wait any longer to eat them, so plain sour cream sufficed just fine!

After cleaning the ridiculous amount of pots and pans that pierogis require, I needed a break from the kitchen - for a while, at least.  Marky made country-style ribs that slow-roast all day long, and when he went to the store this morning, I had him get the ingredients for a breakfast bread that I have been wanting to make.  Cranberry orange breakfact bread: doesn't that sound amazing?  I am always on the lookout for good, quick breakfasts since usually I rush out of the house in the morning starving, and I don't eat till 12:30 or 1:00.  I have this delicious cranberry-full bread in the oven right now.

And then, as if I couldn't spend enough time this weekend in the kitchen, I decided to try again with that chocolate pudding.  Mark's dad had surgery on Friday and so I wanted to make him chocolate pudding - one of his favorites.  Like I said, my own attempt at this wasn't the best, so I found a good recipe on the Food Network that I tried.  It was really quick - about a half hour.  What I did wrong yesterday, apparently, was adding the cocoa powder at the last minute.  This adds it first thing and cooks it down until it mixes in.  I packaged it all up for Mark and sent it off before taking any pictures - oops - but it was easy enough that I can make it again soon and get pictures then ;)  I didn't get to taste any more than a few licks of the spoon, and it's pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

Okay, whew. I bet you are tired reading all this - so imagine how tired I feel right now :)  Although I can honestly say that it has been a great weekend.  Thanks to all my family and friends for coming through and sticking by us when we Tuckers need to keep our minds on family, friends, and food!

Recipes:
Angel Food Cake
Pierogies
Orange Cranberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
Chocolate Pudding