Baked Pasta and Cheese: When the one you love drives you nuts

I really love my husband. We dated for seven years before our marriage nine years ago, and altogether that makes sixteen years with him.  Sixteen loving years.  Sixteen interesting years.  And in those sixteen years there are moments of frustration.  Let me be honest.  There are LOTS of moments of frustration.

As much as I love him, there are things that he does that annoy me to pieces.  My biggest pet peeve is regarding his grocery shopping habits.  Irregularly, and I mean very irregularly, he will go off track and decide that he wants to get something to eat at the market.  I groan and roll my eyes because it means he'll want to pick up junk or unhealthy or inappropriate foods.  90% of the time this is not an issue but the 10% of the time he gets it into his head to buy something, I just lose my marbles.

If he decides to go shopping with me, my strategy is to lose him.  I'll say that I have to get my things and I'll bolt to which ever section I need to, leaving him to muse and think about what he wants to eat to tantalize his palate.  Invariably I'll find him in the chips and chocolates section, because these are foods I do not buy for our home.  However, this one particular trip I found him staring at a wall of dairy.

"Do you want some yogurt?" I asked.
Husband shook his head.
"Are you thinking about pudding perhaps?" I venture again.
Another shake of the head.
"Perhaps you'd like some soy cheese then?"
Husband threw me a dirty look, and finally responded. "I want cottage cheese."
I cocked my eyebrow and said, "Wah?"
"Cottage cheese," he replied firmly.  I want to eat a tub of cottage cheese."
"Honey, you know you're not going to eat it," I protested.  I had visions of having to eat the cottage cheese myself and it wasn't all that appetizing to me.
"No I really want to eat it."  He picked it up and stuck it into the cart with a firmness that seemed to say that this cheese was going to be consumed by him goshdarnit.

However, during my quest to eat out my fridge, I found the cottage cheese, one day away from expiration, sitting uneaten, unopened, and unloved in the back of the fridge.  And my blood began to boil, because Husband was NOT around to eat it, and it meant that I had to either eat it myself OR throw it away.  Neither options appealed and I came up with a third - cook it.  Use it in something.

I happened across a pasta dish that used cottage cheese in it.  I decided to make it, and at the same time clean out my cheese drawer that had odds and ends of sliced cheese in there.  I had some grated mixed mexican cheeses, some sliced cheddar and some sliced swiss.  I simply cut it all up into small pieces and tossed it with sour cream and cottage cheese.  I also added some green peas.  That's called cleaning out your fridge.

In the end, I had to be somewhat thankful for husband's ability to make me nuts, because in the process I cleaned out the cheese drawer in my fridge, used up cottage cheese and sour cream, and actually discovered a really yummy easy to make baked pasta dish.  So although he does make me bonkers, there is always something good that comes out of it.

Baked Pasta and Cheese
Adapted from Pam Anderson's Perfect One-Dish Dinners

Salt
1 pound medium sized pasta (shells, macaroni, or radiatore)
1 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese (I used sliced deli cheese cheddar, swiss and jack - cleaning out my cheese drawer)
16 ounces cottage cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
16 ounces light or regular sour cream
1 cup frozen peas (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chopped scallions or fresh parsley
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13X9 inch baking dish.

Bring 2 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to boil in a large pot over high heat. Cook pasta according to package directions, one minute LESS than package recommendation. (If package says 9-10 minutes, cook 8 minutes) Drain.

Meanwhile, mix cheese and sour cream in a large bowl. Add hot pasta and toss to coat. Adjust seasoning, including salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to baking dish.

Mix bread crumbs, parsley, and butter in a small bow and sprinkle evenly over shells and cheese.

Bake until casserole is bubbly and crumbs are golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve.

Printable recipe

Out of husband's annoying habit comes this dish.

Indian Spiced Chicken with Spinach: When you have a champion

For MB

I experienced something this past weekend that I don't think I've experienced in recent memory.  I had someone be my champion, and what I mean by that is that someone championed for me, on my behalf.  What she did was this - in front of an audience where I was feeling awkward, she proclaimed my greatness, my wonderfulness, my awesomeness, my blog's greatness and awesomeness for all to hear.  In a moment where I was feeling uncomfortable and unsure, she unexpectedly built me up and made me feel so loved and appreciated.  It was a moment I'll not soon forget, because in that moment, she did something that I could not do, which is brag about how great of a person I am. Although I may feel great from time to time, I'd never brag about it out of modesty, so having someone else to do it for you in front of your face is an amazing feeling.

She is whom I thought of when I made this dish, because I know that her husband liked the Chicken Biriyani I had made a while back.  She slaved away making that dish for her husband and I thought that perhaps if I made an easier Indian dish, it might be good for both her and her husband.  This is what I came up with.  It's really a dish of Indian flavors, with some Indian technique, but not as strict as the other one.  It is really wonderful and comforting over basmati rice, and I have to say that Daughters really enjoyed it. Their only complaint was the spinach however, so if you're not into the spinach, feel free to leave it out.  The spinach also tends to get dark and unattractive if left to sit too long, so if you're not into that leave the spinach out. 

Indian Spiced Chicken with Spinach
Serves 5-6

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion chopped
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves of garlic
1 inch knob of ginger, peeled
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed (if you want it less spicy. If you like it spicy, just keep it whole)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 14.5 ounce can tomatoes, crushed
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into large chunks (each thigh into about 3 or 4 pieces)
1 cup yogurt
6 oz bag baby spinach (two bags if you want a lot of spinach)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro.

In a mini prep, or by hand, chop and mince garlic, ginger and jalapeno.

In a large frying pan, heat oil over low heat. Add onion and cinnamon stick and cook until onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno mixture, and cook stirring occasionally an additional 2 minutes. Add chicken and stir, cooking for 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, cumin, coriander, tumeric, paprika, cardamom and salt.

Cover pan, and allow chicken to cook and release juices, about 10 minutes. Remove lid and stir, allowing liquid to evaporate and mixture to thicken up, another two minutes. Add yogurt and spinach leaves, stirring until spinach leaves have wilted and become bright green, about 2 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and serve over basmati rice.

Printable recipe

Hopefully satisfying to my champion.

Asian Steak Salad with Mushrooms and Ginger Dressing: Fear, Humility, and Reunions

For the WSC Almighty Class of '90 and EC, JC, EC, and BS who made it possible for me to go

I just came back from my 20th high school reunion.  And if that number 20 alone doesn't boggle your mind...this series of numbers might.


13 hours in a car alone with
3 kids to spend
12 hours with friends from
20 years ago.

I actually made the decision to go about a week before the event itself as I wasn't sure if I had the guts to drive all the way to southern California alone.  I spent a good amount of time trying to convince other classmates from the Bay Area to join me so that I wouldn't drive solo but they were not convinced.  I would have to conquer the road and seven hours driving alone. I decided that this was something too great to be missed and decided to do the drive, even if it meant that I had no co-pilot (or at least a second voice to help me tame Son and Daughters).

While driving down, I had many hours to think about what was to come in the next 48 hours of spending time with my old friends and potentially old enemies.  In between trying to pacify Son and Daughters in the car and repeatedly answering the question ,"Are we there YET?" I thought about my high school years.  I mostly remembered the learning, fantastic teachers, time with friends, great relationships, funny jokes and silly antics, but I did have moments to reflect on the pain as well.  I experienced some cruelty at the hands of some who didn't know better at the time, but nontheless cruelty that hurt me very much when I was young.  It is an experience that I pray Son and Daughters never have, although I know that it made me stronger.  Thinking of those harder moments added some fear to my excitement and my palms got very sweaty as I drove and yelled at Son and Daughters on the way to the reunion.

I think I mostly wondered about how people would be after not having seen each other for 20 years.  My school was very small and my graduating class had maybe 93 people.  During high school everyone knew everyone's name and so this reunion would be rather intimate.  All faces would be familiar but perhaps not all the names would be remembered.  In my mind I mentally cataloged which faces would be familiar and which names would roll off my tongue.  I also remembered the faces that were kind and those that were cruel.  The first night of our reunion (ours is over two days) my classmates and I met at a restaurant where one of our classmates is the executive chef.  It ended up being one of the more surreal and interesting evenings I've had in a long while.  I heard the voices I had not heard in many years, and yet found those voices strangely familiar and comforting.  And I laughed so much.  It was fun seeing how much people had changed and seeing how much people had not changed.  I felt lucky that most people thought I still looked as I did in high school, but I attribute that to the low lighting in the restaurant and the quantity of alcohol consumed.

What was most interesting to me was the collective graciousness of everyone present.  In this space, with old friends and acquaintances, twenty years of separation seemingly melted away.  Old friends, although we had not spoken in twenty years suddenly were friends again, with the same laughter and same warmth.  The people that were not close to me or even friends with me in high school tried to remember my name, came pretty close and were effusively sharing with me about their lives.  People listened to one another and shared the history of past years that had not been told.  Even those who had been cruel to me in high school suddenly were different people, kinder people, a gentler people.  I think friend JL analyzed it best when she said that at the ten year reunion, there is still cockiness, obnoxiousness, and a lack of humility; after all, most people are five or six years out of college, still young and invincible.  However, the second ten years, the years after are when real life happens - the life that knocks you down, makes you struggle and causes pain.  The collective suffering and struggles in the room that night, the failed marriages, divorces, job losses, mental struggles, addictions, death of loved ones, and bankruptcies made the entire class grow into more humble people who understand life a bit better than they did twenty or even ten years ago. 

What it really made me want to do was have a party and invite all my old friends over to my house.  I spent part of the evening with another friend trying to convince southern California residents back up north for a visit.  I want to cook for these old friends.  I want to feed them.  I want to make them enjoy food and have fun with me.  I would cook this salad as one of the items I think, because it is delicious and really is easy to prepare.  Perhaps with this post, I'll entice those said friends up north for a fabulous meal and lots more laughter and fun.

Asian Steak Salad with Mushrooms and Ginger Dressing
adapted from Bon Appetit | November 2010
Serves 4

Ginger Dressing
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (chili sauce)
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup cilantro

Whisk ingredients together. Set aside.

Sauteed Mushrooms
8 ounces crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, quartered
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

In a large non-stick pan (you will use this same pan to cook the steaks, so plan accordingly) heat vegetable oil. Add mushrooms; saute until browned, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer mushrooms to a plate.

Steak
2 12 ounce ribeye steaks
2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Rub 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil on each side of each ribeye steak. Sprinkle steaks with salt, pepper, and toasted sesame seeds. Press firmly to adhere. Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil to skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Add steaks; cook to desired doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer to cutting board and let rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Slice.

Salad Assembly

8 cups mixed greens
Ginger Dressing
Sauteed Mushrooms
Sliced steaks

Toss mixed greens with dressing in large bowl. Divide greens among plates. Top with steak slices and mushrooms and serve.

Printable recipe

Come on over guys!  I'll get this ready for you in a jiffy!

Pumpkin Stuffed with Deliciousness and More: On Cooking with My Kids

Before I had children, while living in Hong Kong, I had a small business where my friend IS and I taught young children how to cook.  (We called it Short Chefs.)  She was more the business end of it, taking care of sourcing things, finding students, explaining to parents what we did, mostly because her Cantonese was better than mine.  I was the face of the operation, the actual teacher, the one who came up with the recipes and figured out what I would teach, how I would break a recipe down and how we would get the kids cooking what they needed to cook.  I prepared the materials, recipe cards, and helped produce these little booklets as well as labels so that our students could go home with a completed dish or a bunch of cookies or something to show for their work.  Every Saturday we'd be busy with multiple session of kids, teaching them how to make something and getting them through recipes. It was a fun experience and I really learned a lot from it.

However, I will confess something to all of you; I really do not like cooking with my kids.  Perhaps you may judge me, saying, "Well - you're a food blogger, you should love cooking with your kids" but the fact of the matter is that I do not.  I am much faster at cooking alone, and stopping to ask my children to do something when I can do it 100 times more quickly, neatly, precisely than they can simply makes me nuts.  Daughters often WANT to help, asking if they can crack an egg, giving me both the egg and eggshells, or mix something and then leaving a trail of flour all over the table as well as their hair, or just continually asking me WHAT I am making.  I try to pause and let them join in when I can, but usually I am rushing around like a madwoman trying to get the cooking done so that I can be a teacher, a chauffeur, a butt-wiper, emailer, laundry-er, facebooker, or something else.  The cooking is something I prioritize as being an important part of my day, but after that comes many other roles that need to be completed.  My solution for that is that Son and Daughters don't get to cook because it just slows me down.

But then this recipe entered my life.  It is Dorie Greenspan's Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good.  She herself calls it an "arts and crafts project" and when I started doing it, I could NOT keep Daughters out of the kitchen.  It was fascinating to them to see me carving the top of a pumpkin and they clamored and got excited asking me what it was to become.  When I explained that it would be dinner, they both got so animated, I decided to put my own reservations aside and include them in the process.  I allowed them to help me do almost everything, and the great thing about this recipe is that it is really a great one to do with your children as a lot of precision and accuracy really isn't all that necessary in this dish.  My kids cleaned out the pumpkin, they cut herbs, crumbled the bacon, cut cheese (with scissors), mixed rice and stuffed it into the pumpkin shells.  They loved every moment of it and were incredibly proud when it came time to eat their dish later that evening.

I made two versions in two different type of pumpkins - one dairy free and one dairy FULL.  Both were yummy in their own right.  I also tried two different types of pumpkins - a Cinderella pumpkin and a sugar pumpkin (sometimes called a pie pumpkin) and I definitely preferred the texture of the sugar pumpkin when cooked.  Don't even bother with the big beautiful Cinderella, because it becomes a bit too stringy and not as lovely soft as the sugar pumpkin.  This is a recipe that invites lots of improvisation, using what you have available to you in your pantry and kitchen.  Don't hesitate to add and subtract those things you might think might be a lovely addition.  I'm sure they will be.

Invite your kids to join you on your special project, and by participating, I bet they'll eat more.  Mine sure did.

Pumpkin Stuffed with Deliciousness and More
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table
Serves 2 as a main course; serves 4 as a side dish

1 3lb sugar pumpkin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled OR 1 sausage chopped (pre cooked kind), OR ham or any other cooked meat
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped or pressed (add more if you like)
1/4 lb of cheese - choose cheddar, gruyere, gouda, jack, Emmenthal - cut into cubes (rough chop is fine)
1/4 cup chives or scallions
1/2 cup heavy cream (or less depending on how much rice actually fits into the pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 350.  Using  a sharp knife, cut the top of the pumpkin off.  (Inserting your knife at 45 degree angle and slowly cutting around works best.)  Carefully remove the top.

Scoop out all the seeds and all string.  Using a spoon to scrape the inside and then scooping out with your hands is the best method.  (Daughters did this.)  Season inside liberally with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, get all bacon or sausage, cheese, garlic, chives and rice all mixed together.  If you want a short cut, use a pair of scissors to cut up all the ingredients.  Season if necessary. (Cheese and bacon will season, but just in case.)

Place pumpkin into casserole dish.  Take rice filling and begin stuffing the cavity of the pumpkin with the rice mixture.  Pack it almost to the top.

Carefully pour 1/2 cup of cream over the mixture.  You want it well moistened but not swimming in cream.

Seal the pumpkin back with the lid.  Bake for 1 1/2 to  2 hours, until the side of the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a knife.  Check oven at 1 1/2 hours to make sure it is not over cooked.  (Although it is pretty hard to mess up.)

When the pumpkin is tender enough, remove lid.  Begin pulling cooked pumpkin from the side into the center of the rice and mixture and being swirling it together. 

Scoop out fragrant, steaming spoonfuls into bowls.  Enjoy!

**Dairy-free option.  Leave out cheese.  Use 2 cups of rice and toss it with the ingredients.  Instead of cream, mix equal parts of coconut milk and chicken stock to moisten the rice.  Pour over on top.  Cook everything else as directed.

Printable recipe

The book from where this recipe came.













Beautiful square baker that I love

Kimchi Pizza: When you take things for granted

Thanks to Project Food Blog, the competition that pushed me to create this.  (It's always been a recipe I've wanted to do, but just haven't been motivated to attack it until the food competition.)  I'm no longer in the competition, but still completed this post.

Growing up, kimchi was a part of my daily life.  As my father couldn't survive a meal without it, it appeared daily at my dinner table, if not also lunch and breakfast.  The pungent smell was so much a part of my childhood that even now, when I smell it I think back to the happy days of being fed my mother's good food and the carefree way in which I was able to enjoy food.  I loved kimchee back then and would ask to eat in non-traditional ways, like with fried chicken or pizza.  In fact, a Saturday ritual for our family was my mom making homemade pizza for the family; I would demand that she also put some kimchee on the table.  I'd take the big chunks of kimchi and place it on top of the pizza and just gobble down slice after slice.  It was the perfect pairing for me.

I've always just taken the presence of kimchi for granted.  In any place I've lived, I've always found a way to get it, even make it (when I lived in Hong Kong) and just have it in my fridge.  It is the food that I assume will always be there for me to eat.  It's just always expect it to be there.  If there is no kimchi in my house, I just go and get it somewhere.  But right now, in Korea, motherland of kimchi, there is a major kimchi shortage due to a problem with the napa cabbage crop this fall.  Normally fall is the time for making massive amounts of kimchi to store up and save for the winter - only now, it is not available.  What was normally about $1 for a head of napa cabbage now costs upwards of $10 to $14 for each head.  Suddenly what was a staple and readily available for making and consuming has become costly and precious because of scarcity.  (Read about this national crisis in the Korea here.)

I tried to consider what the equivalent of scarcity of kimchi in Korea would be in the US.  I narrowed it down to two commodities that could potentially seriously deprive the US diet.  If the entire supply of US grown tomatoes was destroyed or if an entire crop of US potatoes were destroyed, I think that eaters in the United States would be in an uproar.  Of course we could always import the missing food products, but if that wasn't an option, or if that pushed food prices unbearably high, what would our food world be like if we didn't' have tomatoes?  Pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, lasagne, salads, tomato soup, sliced tomatoes for sandwiches and burgers, and let's not forget ketchup would suddenly be so expensive that you would actually have to stop and think before you bought it.  But if it was something your family absolutely expected and wanted with their meal, what would you do?  If you consider the same thing with potatoes that would be costly, suddenly french fries, mashed potatoes, potato chips, home fries, and hash browns taken on a whole new identity of being luxury items.  This is the calamity facing Koreans right now and it is a situation that made me pause.

I know that I often take the food and ingredients I have at my fingertips for granted.  Therefore, when I made this pizza dish, I thought of how fortunate and lucky I am to have available to me what I have.  Every single ingredient is wonderfully needed and appreciated and that is what I thought of when I made it.  Never mind the fact that it is actually REALLY yummy to eat this pizza, or that your friends will be clamoring for you to make more (as mine did).  Enjoy all the precious ingredients that go into this dish and taste every single flavor.  Savor it, enjoy it and make this one often.

Kimchi Pizza
Enough to make 4 pizzas (you can make 2 immediately and then refrigerate remaining ingredients and make two more later - or simply cut the recipe in half if needed.)

Sesame Oil Pizza Dough (adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
Makes 4 1lb loaves. This recipe is easily doubled or halved

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (I bought the Fleishman's Yeast in a jar, and then stored it in my fridge after opening)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar (I substituted 2 tablespoons of honey)
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a 5-qt bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container or in the stand mixer with the dough hook attached.

Mix in the flour without kneading, using a large wooden spoon. (because of my hand problem, I did use my stand mixer with the dough hook. You do NOT need a stand mixer, just mix with a large wooden spoon.)

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. It will rise and get super big. You can use the dough at this point, or refrigerate and use over next 12 days.To make one pizza, pinch off a grapefruit sized piece of dough. When you do this, your dough will deflate. This is okay, as it will rise again later. Loosely cover and refrigerate the rest to use over the next 12 days.

Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
3 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons honey
1 28 oz can tomatoes

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and diced onions. Cook until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 2 minutes, to release their flavors. Add 3 tablespoons of sake and cook until sake coats the onions, another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and honey and bring to a simmer.. Use a hand blender and puree all the ingredients so that you have a smooth uniform sauce. Alternatively you can use a regular blender or food processor to process the sauce.

Kimchee Pork Topping
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 lb of Korean pork belly (samgyupsahl), cut into small pieces (about 1 inch) **you can substitute bacon if you wish, but it will increase salty factor considerably
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
4 cups of kimchi, roughly chopped

In a fry pan over medium heat, add both sesame and vegetable oil, pork belly ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally rendering fat from pork belly about 4 minutes. Add all of kimchi and continue to cook, until kimchi pieces have a slightly translucent quality, anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on the ripeness of your kimchee. Remove from heat when translucency is met.

Assembly
1/2 cup scallions chopped
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1 lb shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 500. Place pizza stone OR an inverted cookie sheet in the oven to also preheat.

Take 1/4 of the dough and with a bit of flour begin working it into a flat shape. I've tried stretching the dough but I have had the most luck getting the dough round and flat with a rolling pin. Don't worry about a perfectly round shape (I can't do it) and instead focus on getting a nice even base. (I don't do this well all the time either.)

I assemble pizzas once they are in the oven because I am not a pizza master. I open the oven and one by one lay down the necessary components onto the preheated pizza stone or cookie sheet. First lay down the pizza dough.

Spread about 3/4 a cup of sauce all the way around the pizza.

Spread a heaping cup of kimchee pork mixture evenly on top.

Sprinkle 3/4 cup to 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Finish by sprinkling a handful of the scallions and cilantro.

Bake at 500 degrees until cheese is melted and lightly golden brown. Remove from oven carefully and then wait 3 minutes before cutting. Slice and serve.

Printable recipe

As an additional note - I did another version with sweet potato rounds on top.  The sweet potato rounds cook with all the other toppings at the same time.  But you need to make the sweet potato rounds ahead of time.

You can make sweet potato rounds easily.  Recipe here.  This is really all the effort that goes into it.

Vanilla Bean Vanilla Bean Pan Cake: On relaxation and being myself

For all my amazing readers and supporters...thank you!

The Project Food Blog competition has officially come to an end for me as I was eliminated in the last round.  (They like to say that I did not advance. I say I got cut.)  Initially I felt some disappointment, but the end result was that I felt a huge weight being lifted off of me.  When I told Husband, he wanted me to be fired up and angry that I didn't continue, but really, there is none of that.  I think his exact words were, "You don't have to be a gracious loser" but I'm not a gracious one; I'm a liberated loser, for the blog competition was shackling me down to my blog in a way that I discovered is not really me.

I learned a lot from the experience and am very glad I did it.  Competing with my blog made me push myself to do different things and to try and elevate my food photography.  Only, circumstances didn't really allow me much time to elevate because I was still living my regular hectic life with the haphazard photography that I normally do.  Quiet, still, well-lit, uninterrupted moments for taking photographs for food - let's just say they are hard to come by in this house.  I felt great pressure during the food blog competition and nights and weekends were spent agonizing over the photographs and their lack of polish and editing and reworking the writing.

It made me realize that I still really only want to get people inspired to cook.  The other stuff - fame, recognition, money, financial stability from blogging, is very much on the periphery of my mind and what drives me and motivates me to blog is really about changing people's perception about cooking.  It should be easy; it should not be a burden, and at the end of the day it should be joyous when you feed those around you well, with yummy food.

To celebrate not having to answer to anyone except myself about my blog, I just wanted to bake something for someone.  I chose to bake for friend JJ, who will be celebrating her birthday next week.  Normally I like to pack a meal for her family and take her some cupcakes, but this year, I will not be in town and so I can't do it on her birthday.  Instead, I decided to bake her a vanilla cake (her favorite) with cream cheese frosting (her favorite) and do it in a 9x13 pan(also her favorite), so as to make things easier.  Dealing with layers, spreading frosting over multiple layers is not a simple task, but a 9x13 cake is.  I think MORE people are likely to attempt this 9x13 cake than the layer cake version I did before because it is much easier and simpler.  You don't even have to flip it out of the pan (I did only because I wanted my pan back so I could bake more cakes)

I happily, peacefully, joyfully made this cake and presented it to JJ later in the day.  She was so excited and went home to enjoy it with her family.  I got word later in the evening that it was just DELICIOUS. And that my friends, is all I really care about at the end of the day - does it just taste good!

You too can make this cake easily at home.  It's special enough for special occasions (because every occasion is MORE special with homemade cake) and easy enough for an every day dessert to make a day extra special.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Vanilla Bean Pan Cake
Makes one 9X13 cake

Vanilla Bean Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups super fine sugar, or regular sugar that has been put through a food processor and made fine
3 large eggs (taken out of the fridge the same time as the butter)
3/4 cup sour cream (taken out of the fridge the same time as the butter and eggs)
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm milk

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9X13 cake pan with cooking spray. Cut out parchment sheets the same size as the pan line pans and spray once again. Set aside until needed.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend softened butter and super fine sugar until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is well blended. Add sour cream and scraped out insides of vanilla bean, mixing until blended.

Add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined. and add half of milk and mix until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Add remaining half of flour mixture, mix until just combined and then add remaining milk. Mix until just combined.again. At this stage, the less you mix the better for your cake. (too much mixing makes for a tough cake.)

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertips. Cool slightly, then remove cake from pan and cool on wire rack until completely cool.

 

Vanilla Bean Frosting
1 cup of butter, softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
5-6 cups of confectioners sugar

In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until it is softened and uniform. Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform. Add 3 cups of sugar to the mixture and mix. Add scraped out vanilla bean seeds and 2 more cups of sugar. Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable. Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise prepare to frost cake.

Assembly
**Note: Handle your cake with care when moving it from pan to rack, rack to plate.  This is what happened while I was being a bit to cavalier.  Don't worry too much however, as you can always cover with frosting.

Carefully line your cake plate with a few strips of parchment. This allows you to be slightly messy with the frosting but prevents your cake plate from being completely messed up. Place cake on top. Use frosting liberally to coat top and sides.

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