Thanksgiving is a wonderful prelude to the Christmas season(which begins the day after Thanksgiving, thank you very much now go turn off your Christmas lights).
This week we give thanks for blessings. I have decided to work on being thankful for people in my life -- only I don't mean the people who bless me with their love, support, friendship, or example. They're the easy ones. I'm talking about the difficult people.
You know what I mean.
I hope you know what I mean.
I like people. But sometimes they bug me. Which of course really means I choose to be bugged. Whatever.
Okay, I know it's me. True, there are weird personality quirks that can get on anyone's nerves. But usually it's just me judging someone else's behavior.
There. The ugly truth is out there for everyone to read on my blog. Please be kind.
I probably don't mean you, anyway.
Anyway, to complete this unattractive portrait of myself, here are some of my sweet thoughts:
Why does he/she do that? Doesn't she know it is hurtful?
Why can't he/she just play nice?
Everyone is busy.
If they don't like the way it was done, why don't they give it a try?
I would have done that sooner/faster/simpler.
See the irony in those last two?
I've noticed that these gems get directed to people "who should know better." Because some people get a pass. You know how someone who is having a hard time or has been through a lot often gets the benefit of the doubt? It could be sickness / financial trouble / relationship issues / emotional stress, etc.
Does this sound familiar? I hope so. It would make me feel better.
Of course, the giant beam-in-my-eye flaw in this reasoning -- beyond the fact that it not my place to jugdge -- is how do I know what someone else's life is like?
In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see...
I should know better.
I'm working on it.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Chocolate Idiot Cake
Looking for a rich chocolate concoction to throw into the traditional Thanksgiving mix? Are you gluten-free?
Try this cake. You'd be an idiot not to.
Actually, the name refers to the fact that even an idiot could not screw it up. I have to agree, because one time I forgot to cover it with foil before baking (pretty major oversight) and it still turned out delicious. Closer to a brownie than the truffle-like ganachey goodness it normally is, but still really good.
When I make this cake I like to take a small round cookie cutter (from my set of graduated round cutters) and cut idiot cake buttons. Because it is so fudgy and rich you don't need an entire slice.
Really.
I sometimes sift powdered sugar onto the buttons, just to make them look pretty. For a party one time I piped a blob of whipped cream onto them and topped it with a raspberry. Yum.
You can read all about the idiot cake from the man behind it, David Leibovitz, here.
He recommends using fancy-pants chocolate in this cake but I follow America's Test Kitchen suggestion to use Hershey's Special Dark as your go-to baking chocolate (ubiquitous and surprisingly good quality) and have never been sorry.
Here is the recipe:
Chocolate Idiot Cake
One 9-inch (23 cm) cake
10 ounces (290 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
7 ounces (200 g) butter, salted or unsalted, cut into pieces
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F (175C).
1. Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. If you suspect your springform pan isn't 100% water-tight, wrap the outside with aluminum foil, making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave), stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and cover the top of the pan snugly with a sheet of foil. Put the springform pan into a larger baking pan, such as a roasting pan, and add enough hot water to the baking pan to come about halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. You'll know the cake is done when it feels just set, like quivering chocolate pudding. If you gently touch the center, your finger should come away clean. (Cliffnote: mine always has a dot of chocolate residue when I test.)
5. Lift the cake pan from the water bath and remove the foil. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack.
Serve thin wedges of this very rich cake at room temperature, with creme anglaise, ice cream, or whipped cream.
Storage: This Chocolate Idiot Cake can be wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
I know you'd like a photo. But I gave it all away... and besides, it doesn't really photgraph well. It is a dark chocolate moon, complete with little moist pockmarks when done. Just make it.
You can thank me later.
Try this cake. You'd be an idiot not to.
Actually, the name refers to the fact that even an idiot could not screw it up. I have to agree, because one time I forgot to cover it with foil before baking (pretty major oversight) and it still turned out delicious. Closer to a brownie than the truffle-like ganachey goodness it normally is, but still really good.
When I make this cake I like to take a small round cookie cutter (from my set of graduated round cutters) and cut idiot cake buttons. Because it is so fudgy and rich you don't need an entire slice.
Really.
I sometimes sift powdered sugar onto the buttons, just to make them look pretty. For a party one time I piped a blob of whipped cream onto them and topped it with a raspberry. Yum.
You can read all about the idiot cake from the man behind it, David Leibovitz, here.
He recommends using fancy-pants chocolate in this cake but I follow America's Test Kitchen suggestion to use Hershey's Special Dark as your go-to baking chocolate (ubiquitous and surprisingly good quality) and have never been sorry.
Here is the recipe:
Chocolate Idiot Cake
One 9-inch (23 cm) cake
10 ounces (290 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
7 ounces (200 g) butter, salted or unsalted, cut into pieces
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F (175C).
1. Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. If you suspect your springform pan isn't 100% water-tight, wrap the outside with aluminum foil, making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave), stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and cover the top of the pan snugly with a sheet of foil. Put the springform pan into a larger baking pan, such as a roasting pan, and add enough hot water to the baking pan to come about halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. You'll know the cake is done when it feels just set, like quivering chocolate pudding. If you gently touch the center, your finger should come away clean. (Cliffnote: mine always has a dot of chocolate residue when I test.)
5. Lift the cake pan from the water bath and remove the foil. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack.
Serve thin wedges of this very rich cake at room temperature, with creme anglaise, ice cream, or whipped cream.
Storage: This Chocolate Idiot Cake can be wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
I know you'd like a photo. But I gave it all away... and besides, it doesn't really photgraph well. It is a dark chocolate moon, complete with little moist pockmarks when done. Just make it.
You can thank me later.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Toyota Heaven
That's the name of the salvage yard I found yesterday. Eventually. First I followed my google map directions to a residential street in Arlington. The real Toyota Heaven, in all it's chain-metal fence and barking dog glory, is in Kennedale. Duh. In case you don't know, Kennedale is somewhere SE of Fort Worth.
I didn't know, either.
I live NE of Fort Worth. With a detour to Arlington it is quite a trek. And then with my standard can't-drive-back-from-Fort-Worth-without-taking-the-wrong-freeway detour, it took longer than it should have to get back home to immediately chauffeur the girls to and from overlapping activities. My bum was numb.
Anyhoo, I was at Toytoa Heaven to get a seat belt for my car. Because I've been driving around with a non-functional one since the end of summer. At least I think it has been since the end of summer -- it's the back, driver-side belt and it may have been broken for a while before Anna casually mentioned it one day. Not sure.
Why not just order a new one? Well, my friends at Firestone did. That's how we found out that standard replacement belts for my aged car only come in black.
My car is tan inside. Rude.
So I went to the place where Toyotas go to die. And Hondas. Mazdas. Nissans. And Toyota Heaven/Honda Heaven, being no respector of autos, even had a few Acuras and Lexuses. All resting peacefully in various stages of decay, grass growing around their picked-over frames.
There were three Avalons that were close to age of mine. Apparently they had six more last month but those had been so picked over they were crushed. Hmmmm.
Anyway, I found a near-match to my belt and my friends at Firestone have graciously agreed to install it for me.
And I'm grateful. Because we can't even get to church (about 4 minutes away) with the girls sitting that close without bickering.
And we're driving to Tennessee in a few weeks.
I didn't know, either.
I live NE of Fort Worth. With a detour to Arlington it is quite a trek. And then with my standard can't-drive-back-from-Fort-Worth-without-taking-the-wrong-freeway detour, it took longer than it should have to get back home to immediately chauffeur the girls to and from overlapping activities. My bum was numb.
Anyhoo, I was at Toytoa Heaven to get a seat belt for my car. Because I've been driving around with a non-functional one since the end of summer. At least I think it has been since the end of summer -- it's the back, driver-side belt and it may have been broken for a while before Anna casually mentioned it one day. Not sure.
Why not just order a new one? Well, my friends at Firestone did. That's how we found out that standard replacement belts for my aged car only come in black.
My car is tan inside. Rude.
So I went to the place where Toyotas go to die. And Hondas. Mazdas. Nissans. And Toyota Heaven/Honda Heaven, being no respector of autos, even had a few Acuras and Lexuses. All resting peacefully in various stages of decay, grass growing around their picked-over frames.
There were three Avalons that were close to age of mine. Apparently they had six more last month but those had been so picked over they were crushed. Hmmmm.
Anyway, I found a near-match to my belt and my friends at Firestone have graciously agreed to install it for me.
And I'm grateful. Because we can't even get to church (about 4 minutes away) with the girls sitting that close without bickering.
And we're driving to Tennessee in a few weeks.
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