St. Patty's Eve

I don't know why I love St. Patty's so; perhaps it's the idea of music and revelry enjoyed by even the stingiest of misers.....but -- it's nearly upon us!

I enjoyed a St. Patty's Eve cocktail of:

2 oz Irish cream

1 oz vanilla vodka

on ice. A wondrous companion for poking about the kitchen (if I do say).

Being in a festive mood, I made some Irish Cream cookies to bring into work.

Cream:

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c. Irish cream liquor

1 egg

Add:

2 c. flour

sprinkle salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

And let this refrigerate for at least two hours, while you run to the store and dye your hair and whatnot.

To wile away the time while this chilled, and to satisfy my forever longing, I made up this recipe:

IRISH SODA BREAD:

1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp powder

1 sprinkle salt

1 sprinkle baking powder

1/3 c. buttermilk (1/3 c. + dash lemon juice or vinegar)

Spoonful melted butter

1/4 c. raisins?

I know that I did not follow the recipe precisely; and so it is that I do not know if I will enjoy the concoction I conjured up for tomorrow's meal...will it be as I remembered? Will it give me a sense of good will and home?

Nevertheless, here is lunch for tomorrow:

The frosting for the cookies is as follows:

- mound confectioner's sugar

- dash Irish cream

- dash milk

and then add one or the other until it's a frosting consistency. I regret my lack of ability to be more specific, but you see.....you have to play baking by ear. It's the only way to do it!

Bee's Surprise

My dear, dear sister Bee. She turned 21 this weekend, and due to the planning of her lovely roommate Kandy, all four sisters (and many friends) were gathered together for one night of joyous dancing, drinking and revelry. The theme was green; my cake-making hands were eager. The results, though at first hopelessly ugly, turned into at least a somewhat enticing mess.

Bee is the type of girl you always want to surprise, and this is the second such party we've thrown for her over the years. In one bowl, I mixed:

1 c. sugar

Almost 1 c. flour

3/8 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c. boiling water

And baked it for about 1/2 hour.

Bean contributed a frosting heart to the quickly accumulating counter mess.

In an attempt to rectify all of my past cake-making experiences, I greasedand floured the pan....but half of the thing remained in there when I tried for the release. The precarious confection, held together by frosting (confectioner's sugar + milk + an extremely strong dose of food coloring), looked as if someone that crawled out of a nuclear swamp. Luckily the ever-ready supply of house chocolate allowed for a topping of powdered sugar, dark chocolate bits, and a Stracciatella truffle.

And its slightly strange taste was made up for by a weekend of sisterly reunion, and faces forever emanating joy!

Sean's Birthday :D

It was Sean's birthday yesterday -- he's a man everyone seems to adore (although, for good reason). His sister Mary came over to make him a confetti cake from a box, with rainbow frosting and a Jiggly Puff drawn in pink icing on the top. It was a sugary and surprising dessert, and delicious, although I'd pick chocolate cake any day (which may explain my not-quite-whole slice).

IRISH CREAM COOKIES

For St. Paddy's day, me Mum always used to make corned beef and cabbage and we'd all sit around the table as a jolly quarter-Irish family; eating, back-talking, dancing vigorously to homespun jigs, and somehow making it through the day with our feelings for each other intact.

Now, however, I'm at school, so I had to do what I could. And that involved making these liquor-filled cookies and drinking enough sprite & vodkas to feel a bit floaty.

I mixed up the dough the night before, because it was supposed to chill for hours and hours.

1. Cream:

1 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

2. Then add:

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg yolk + 1 egg

1/2 c. Irish liquor

3. When mixed, add:

4 c. flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

I used an approximately half-and-half mixture of brown and white sugar, because I realized too late that Bean and I have done so much baking at Dear Jeremy's house that we've completely depleted their supplies. I like cooking over here because there are always people (Jesse) around to eat what we make; the thing I like about baking is the baking, and not always the consuming. Hannah, though, is seemingly on some sort of (unnecessary?) diet, which makes me slightly sorry.

So!

I baked the first batch (~8 minutes at 350 degrees, on a wax-paper-lined sheet) and decided that they weren't sweet enough to please the general populous. For the next batch, I melted some of the leftover frosting from the confetti cake we made a few days ago, and mixed it into the dough.

These cookies taste like a variation of shortbread, and I like them a lot because they're far from sickeningly sweet.

cake cake keeps me awake

At midnight I got it into my head that we simply must have a chocolate cake at the earliest possible convenience. Having applied to some jobs, it seemed that then was that moment; and I had volunteers to help eat it, so I spent the next hour or so by myself in the kitchen. It was a happy humming time, strangely.

The cake recipe was standard:

1 1/3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 entire Lindt 70% chocolate bar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c. milk

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 c. butter

1. Mix all dry ingredients.

2. Add milk and vanilla; soften butter and add. Beat well.

3. Beat eggs and melt chocolate; beat both of them into the mix.

I baked this in a greased and floured pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. A weakeningly delicious aroma promised temporary happiness to a hungry girl. Here, however, disaster struck. The cake, though done, did not want to quietly leave its pan. Pounding from the bottom and coaxing from the top did little except separate the chocolate mass into innumerable pieces. The solution, then, was to scrape the whole thing out into a pie pan, chop it up, and reseat it. Then, the frosting was made:

2 c. confectioner's sugar

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp vanilla

Small amount of milk

All of this was whisked together and spread around the top of the pie pan, and then sprinkles (found neglected in not-my pantry) were added. Cake casserole. It would have been a failure except that crumbled cake tastes the same as cohesive cake, and none of my budsies seemed to care.

The casserole was gone by 3:00 in the morning, and no sleep was had by me for hours...