Well, I took a few days off from the kitchen, and I certainly made up for that today. I don't think I sat down from 12:00 till 7:30 tonight! I think I overdid it....
Today is a football game. I think it's important, or something... I really could not care less. Everyone was talking about it and I knew we were going to have lots of people here, so I planned all week on making a few things for today. Little did I know that everyone else in New England also planned on cooking today! Stop and Shop was absolutely ridiculous; there weren't even any carts left. I had to use the old lady walker! It was crazy. But I needed my baby spinach and sweet potatoes for the chili-esque vegetarian meal that I wanted to make :) It's called slow cooker honey beans with spinach and sweet potatoes...and that was my first task of the day. It was also my first experience using a slow cooker! It was a little scary, throwing everything in there and not stirring it... or doing anything... but the "leave it alone" thing appealed to me as someone who likes to bake. While I was nervous at first, now I think I need to use the Crock Pot more often! The only problem was that, in doubling the recipe, it took longer than the 6 hours that it was supposed to, but the end result was delicious! It's a bit like chili because of the cumin, but the honey in it (and the sweet potatoes) gives it a hint of sweetness too. Of course, Kenzie made full-meat chili, so not too many people have partaken, but my mom and grandmother both tried it and loved it! Wahoo! Lots of leftovers for tomorrow now :)
Then, my mom left to go visit my grandfather in the nusing home. My uncle Gary came in to pick her up, and he asked how my cooking resolution is going. I said it was going well, and he said he had seen my blog entry about the cinnamon raisin bread, and wondered if there was any left. There wasn't, but I started to get the idea to surprise him after their visit with the bread! It's not hard, but it does take a while because of the yeast. I also had wanted to try this bread again, because it didn't look as beautiful and swirly as I had wanted it. Well, round 2.... still not to beautiful or swirly. But, on the bright side, the consistency of the bread is much better - lighter, fluffier. It's still quite a hit, even if it isn't swirly :)
Then came the part of the day that didn't go as well...the whoopie pies. This was mom's request, which was okay, until she said that she wanted me to double it. Normally that's fine, but we have the smaller-size mixer, and I knew that ingredients were running low! I knew it wouldn't all fit in one mixer, so I would have to make two batches. I had Kenzie pick up extra flour at the store, but didn't get to notice that I was going to need more cocoa powder. Uh oh... I ended up being about 1/4 cup short on the second batch. I figured that wouldn't matter too much... and, well, it matters. Apparently. I guess changing the ratio of wet - to -dry ingredients was a bad idea, because while the first batch looked nice and whoopie pie-ish, the second batch looked like whoopie pancakes :( And you know me when I mess up - I am horrified, grouchy, embarrassed, and depressed. But, I tried really hard not to freak out, and so when Mom gave me the idea of making a trifle with the flat ones, I decided to give it a shot. I broke up the flatties, layered it with chocolate pudding and extra whoopie pie filling, and, voila! Whoopie trifle! Nick and Ross have both tried it and gave it good reviews. The whoopie pies themselves have been raved about. So, even though they all may not have come out exactly as I wanted, I still made it work! |
| The Whoope Trifle! |
- Don't try too many things at once... even with my newfound confidence, making cinnamon raisin bread, honey beans, and a double batch of whoopie pies is a little overwhelming!
- Plan ahead... because you might think that 1/4 cup of cocoa powder won't matter, but it really does.
- Make the best of things... as I like to say, when life gives you flat cookies, make a trifle ;)
Recipes:
Slow Cooker Honey Beans and Spinach
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
Whoope Pies
You are just precious beyond words!!
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