A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Sunday Night is The Walking Dead Night: Carol's Cookies

It's Sunday night and that means The Walking Dead is on! Whoohoo!  Let's see whose butt Carol (my hero) kicks this week.  I'm hoping it's Daryl's--into the shower!  Kind of hard to be a sex symbol if he'd smell like a garbage dump in the real apocalypse.

 

 Also of note this week--so jealous of my friend, Amber, whose family went to the Kansas City Comi-con last weekend and got to meet Scott Wilson (Hershel). Loved that he still has his ponytail.

Appropriately, the "frame" I used to wrap around this photo is called "Splatter". Yup, that's definitely the perfect style for a TWD photo.

  

 

 

  Cook's Note: The one thing I did differently was to put the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes so I could dip it up with a cooking sprayed 1 Tbsp cookie scoop (like an ice cream scoop but smaller). Worked very well. Also, these are very VERY soft cookies when they're done baking. Do not skip the direction where it says to leave them on the cookie sheet to cool before removing or all you'll have is a big chocolatey lump. Once they're cool, though, they are delicious, little chewy brownies. They made exactly 12 cookies.                           

 

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The Walking Dead Parody: The Snacking Dead Cookbook by D.B. Walker

The Snacking Dead: A Parody in a Cookbook, by D. B. Walker.  "Walker"?  Really?  D.B. as in "don't be a"?  It's like an extra parody in the parody!

This cookbook was a gift from my cousin Jenn for my f-f-f-fiftieth (my second favorite "f" word) birthday. I've had tons of fun with it so far. My first foray into it was two weeks ago for the premiere of the new season.  I made three of the recipes:  "Dripping Ribs with Bourbon", "Squirrel Poppers", and "Li'l Ass Kicker Punch". I also looked at "Sweet-sh Fleshballs with Red Berries". That will be our next Walking Dead/Snacking Dead Sunday night while-we-watch dinner.  Our review?  We both LOVED the ribs. The citrus in the marinade/sauce is a great counterpoint to the sweet, sour, and heat.  Pre-baking and then grilling (or broiling for us that night) caramelized the meat for a sweet, savory, and fall apart deliciousness. We'll be using this recipe again and again.  Gene loved the "squirrel" (chicken) poppers; I was ambivalent. We both loved the chicken base (prior to shaping/breading/frying) so I'm going to use that recipe, with added vegetables, the next time I make chicken pot pie.  And the punch? Oh yeah! I did make one more southern (by my definition) ingredient substitution that I talk about later in this post. I made a smaller quantity punch than the recipe (party-sized) calls for but even so, the bottom of the pitcher was dry by the end of the night. 'Nuff said!

The book is available at all major bookstores. You can easily find your favorite in the drop down menu on The Snacking Dead's website by clicking on "Grab a Copy". 

 

Dexter Finale

Auntie Miranda brought this red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting to our Dexter finale party and then whipped out these Wilton royal icing knives and gel "blood" for appropriate decorations!  Love, love, loved it!  Tasty and perfect for a big laugh for the finale of a wonderfully quirky show.  Thanks for all the fun and entertaining evenings, Dexter!

 

Mark's Holiday Bacon Leg

One of my friends put this photo up on Facebook on 4th of July and I don't remember the rest of what he said about his family (sorry, Mark!) because I was too busy worshipping the divine bacon.  I confess I don't eat a lot of meat but I could also never be a vegetarian simply because of the divine-ness of bacon.  A few years ago, I said that to a friend and he said "Let me let you in on a little secret: even vegetarians eat bacon."  It was a joke, so no outraged letters from vegetarians, please, but I completely understood what he was saying.  There is something about bacon that no matter how bad it is for me...I really really want it.  Maybe that's the reason why.  Nah, it's really the salty, savory goodness that makes my heart go pitter-pat (or stop so I don't eat it often)..  I really do try to eat good-for-me stuff most of the time but, then again, we're talking about bacon and bacon breaks all the rules.

Then Mark posted another pic of what was inside the basketweave bacon leg and if I had not been sold before, I certainly was then.  Tater tots.  And cheese.  'nuff said.

Well, one more thing to say:  Recipe, please!   Mark obliged.  Gene looked at the pictures, made sure he gave me the recipe, and said "Thank you, Mark!" 

Pretty Olive & Cream Cheese Penguins All in a Row

 

Doesn't fun food make holidays and parties feel more celebratory? I think so too. Auntie Miranda made these for a family party and the little guys were the hit of the evening.  They're almost too cute to eat.  Almost.  Delicious!

The best part?  They'd be great for ANY holiday or party so we can make them all the time without having to wait for just one season or holiday!

So without a lot of chitchat, here's how to make the little fellas:

Magic Hot Dog Spaghetti!

One of the many fun recipes I've seen on Pinterest; this one I quickly passed on to my sister, Suzanne who has a daycare business.  Thought it would be something fun for the kids....and us adults to, to be honest.  It such a cute thing, who wouldn't love this?  So easy, it's sure to be repeeated.

She posted these pics on Facebook and said it was a huge hit with the kids.  They ate their Magic Hot Dogs with tater tots and ketchup and/or with Ranch dressing. 

The kids loved them as is but I think other ideas might be to go ahead and sauce them with spaghetti sauce, or cheese sauce (like from Mac & Cheese), or with a little butter and parmesan cheese.  But hey, maybe I'm overthinking it-- plain, with tater tots, ketchup, and ranch dressing works great too.

So glad the kids loved it as much as we hoped they would. I heard the teenagers in the house even got a kick out of it!

There is no recipe, exactly, it's as easy as it looks and even the kids can make it themselves: simply push as many dry spaghetti (long or short) strands through the chunked hot dogs (or whole dogs) as you'd like and then boil in plenty of water until the pasta is al dente. Drain, sauce or not, and serve.

Apple Cake with Caramel Apple Filling ("Dexter" Dinner)

 

Love fall and all the desserts that go with it, including this apple cake with fresh caramel apple filling!  Not to mention the Dexter aspect...hehehe!

Dexter Dinner: Timpano, Dexter Cake, & Death in the Afternoon Cocktails

 

Dexter premiered season six last night and we were there! Last year, my cousin, James, came over to the house on Sunday nights so we could all watch Dexter together since we were all huge fans.  We adopted Auntie Miranda into the cult and have been a Dexter Dinner foursome ever since. We always meet at Gene's and my house and I make dinner, usually using them as guinea pigs to test new recipes.  It's a win-win for me and for them and the safety net is that if it's ever is a win-lose, there's always pizza that can be delivered.

 

Literally, for years I've been wanting to make Timpano, the classic "mythic dome pasta" (Mario Batali) dish made famous by the movie Big Night from 1996 where Stanley Tucci, as one of two restanteur brothers (Tony Shalhoub is the other) makes this dish for their "big night" make it or break it extravaganza.  My understanding is that Tucci himself came up with the idea to use this recipe in the movie since it's one that his family actually makes for special occasions in real life. In 1999, following the popularity of the food from the movie Tucci's mother and the chef who consulted on the film authored a cookbook "Cucina & Famiglia: Two Italian Families Share Their Stories, Recipes, and Traditions" by Joan Tropiano Tucci and Chef Gianni Scappin.

This week I'll be blogging my version of the Timpano recipe starting with a 15 hour slow cooker meat sauce for pasta, Auntie's fruited salad and vinaigrette, the apple cake with caramel apple filling, and Death in the Afternoon cocktail created by Ernest Hemingway using Absinthe which is now legal in the U.S. again.

Let's begin with the meat sauce...

Slow Cooker Meat Sauce for Pasta

Timpano the Mystic Pasta Dome

Death in the Afternoon Absinthe Cocktail

Apple Cake with Caramel Apple Filling

Life on the Pop Culture Edge: Snack Cake Birthday Cake

For as long as we can all remember Gene and I have hosted a couple of summer family parties as birthday parties for the nieces and nephews.  At the end of May we celebrate Jordan and Isaac's May birthdays. In August we celebrate Sydney's July and Kaylee's September birthdays. 

I try to do something different and fun for cakes each time. One year it was a sculpted cake big rig, one year rice krispie treats molded into a car cake pan, one time a Twilight themed cake, and this year it was their favorite snack cakes built into a tower.



Even though Isaac will turn 11 this week and Jordan is 18 today, they (we all) still l love indulging our inner kid at birthday parties so the theme of decorations this year was both G.I. Joe Camo and Sponge Bob.  Hey, you're never too old for a little Sponge Bob.  As I often say: why did my siblings have children? To give me someone my own age to play with.

David Leong & Springfield Cashew Chicken VOA Story

 

The rough cut of the Cashew Chicken report Suli Yi of Voice of America made is up on You Tube.

To view, click here:  Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken

(Thank you Suli!)

For more info on the interview itself and recipes, click here:  Voice of America Embraces Cashew Chicken