A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

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!

 

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:

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