Today Trifle, Tomorrow the World

When my mother-in-law texted us that she'd be coming up to visit, I knew it was time. Time to tackle the trifle.

Sure, I've had my troubles with classic British Isles desserts (see: figgy pudding). But I've also had success (try my Wellington Squares).

But I really felt it was time. And my husband was very supportive. He loves trifle.

So I ordered a trifle bowl using Shipt because sometimes even a trip to Target is too much work.

I gathered the ingredients. Ladyfingers, berries, heavy cream for whipping, chocolate, and Bird's Custard power. I had to order that on Amazon to order Bird's Custard Powder because you've can't find that around here.

(You know what else I've had trouble finding? Chickpea flour. I asked a bunch of grocery stores if they carried it and all said no. Then when I went online and saw it was also sold as garbanzo bean flour. I got pretty mad thinking all those grocery stores might actually have had garbanzo bean flour but didn't know it was also chickpea flour. So I went back and asked and they didn't have either. I wasn't mad anymore.)

Here's what Bird's Custard Powder looks like:

Instructions for preparing it on the hob are on the side of the container, so don't be scared to try it. My MIL and I mixed it up and waited for it to cool. We layered ladyfingers in the trifle bowl, and I realized the ones I had weren't really great for getting to the corners of a round bowl. I might try the traditional madeira cake next time.

We mashed some berries next. My masher wasn't good at cutting the berries, so my MIL did it by hand. This was a mix of blackberries and strawberries. She said frozen berries are fine to use, too.

Then I busted out the new stand mixer my mom gave me. She earned it by putting in hard work at the casino. I'm not complaining, because it made great whipped cream!

We spooned the berries on to the ladyfingers. Sadly, we lost the visibility of the ladyfinger layer. But the berries do look like jewels. Then my MIL spooned the custard to the berries. Next I spooned the whipped cream on.

The youngest gave it "visual approval." This means he thought it looked good, and that he may try it.

We popped it into the fridge then went to get dinner at Ki Ramen (try the crispy pig's ears) and cheer for the Riverhounds in their first playoff game at home. It was rainy, sleety, and cold, but they played hard. Sadly they lost in penalty kicks, but it was still really fun.

We came home and grated chocolate on the trifle and then dug in.

It was a hit.

It's even good right out of the bowl for breakfast.

Let This Bread Tell Your Fortune ... and Other Things I've Baked

I like to bake but I'm not always successful at it. I am successful at watching The Great British Baking Show and being inspired to get better at baking. In September, I felt inspired to try a few recipes. Some worked out well, some were not so great. 

My best results came from barmbrack or (bairin breac), a traditional Irish holiday cake. I followed a recipe from Allrecipes that does not use yeast. 

Barmbrack is a fortune telling cake. Items are baked in the cake and when you find an item in your slice, that's your fortune. If you find a ring, you'll be married in a year. Find a thimble or button and you'll never marry. Find a pea and you'll go hungry, find a cloth and you'll be poor. Find a coin and you'll be wealthy, find a matchstick and you'll be beaten. So there's a mix of good and bad results. 

Since this was to be a family cake and our first barmbrack, I didn't really want anyone to get a matchstick or think they'd be hungry. I worked with my husband to substitute some items. We used the ring and the coin, but we also put in a key for luck and a knot to symbolize that you'd solve a problem.  

I also substituted orange marmalade for the lemon marmalade but I think the family liked that flavor better.

Cakes like barmbrack are winter holiday cakes and include a lot of dried fruit that would be a real treat in the winter. 

I used orange essence prunes and sultanas (golden raisins) in this cake.

The dried fruits are soaked in tea. I used Bewley's Irish.

It was really aromatic.

Mixing this cake was easy and it baked quickly in the ring pan.

It's quite a moist cake and very fruity. My kids said it reminded them of stollen, another one of my favorite cakes. I love stollen, and I love that my kids know what stollen is. We usually buy it from Black Cat Bake Shop.

We usually enjoyed a slice with a nice slab of salted Kerrygold butter. You can use American butter, but why would you?

Since I zested an orange for the barmbrack, I decided to try to make candied orange slices. Yes, I saw them on GBBS and it seemed easy. I should have known it required more skill than I have right now, but also it required orange juice and I didn't have that either. I wouldn't call these a success, just a good learning experience.

While I was rummaging in our cabinet, I found the bag of masa flour and thought about trying to make tortillas. AGAIN.  Months ago I finally found a tortilla press and bought it but never used it.

Also, we had a friend sleeping over who is gluten free and I thought, corn tortillas are gluten free! And so is taco meat!

So I decided break in our tortilla press and make some corn tortillas. They were OK.

 

I mean, we still ate them. 

But I just can't figure out the right wetness to make the tortilla balls so that they flatten out nice and thin in the press AND slide off the paper easily onto the grill AND cook without tearing and breaking. 

Maybe I'm not grilling them long enough? Or hot enough?

We fried some up in the pan after grilling them to see how that tasted, and it was good. But I still haven't come anywhere close to making tortillas that taste like restaurant ones. 

Coming up this month? I'm thinking of attempting a trifle and maybe a swiss roll. Stay tuned. 

Word Search Battle 2 and Word Search Battle 3

The second word search battle was between me and the clock. I think I went slower than normal because I didn't have a physical opponent circling words right next to me, forcing me to scan quicker, find words faster..

Word Search Battle 2 is now live.


Word Search Battle 3…well, it was a whole new game.
I thought I was so good at this.
I was wrong.

Over labor day weekend we traveled to Delaware to be with family. While we had a classic delaware shore lunch at Grotto Pizza, I challenged my lifelong competition partner -  my husband - to a kids' menu word search. He won. Quickly. So the next week we were both up early-ish and I quickly set up the word search battle arena and challenged him again.

The best I can say is…it was over fast.

It was decisive.

I now know how Apollo Creed felt, facing Drago.

Word Search Battle 3 is also live, if you're ready.

Cooking with Cast Iron

If you have followed my blog for anytime at all, you already know I'm not any kind of "genius chef." In fact, I struggle a lot with cooking.
It's probably because I'm easily distracted and a little forgetful.
But I don't like giving up.
And I like to eat.
And I like trying new things!

So when I saw a hefty, powerful cast iron skillet at the store, I thought, "I'll get that and try using it!"

Then when I came home, I realized we already had one…same brand….same size…in the same drawer. Which I had never used.

I used the skillet once. My husband asked if I had seasoned it. I said "What do you mean?"

Both skillets sat in the drawer for awhile, then I decided me and my vegetarian son needed more iron in our diets and I read cooking with cast iron is a great way to add iron. I pulled out the skillet(s) and gave a frittata a try. It went OK.

Then I picked up the Will It Skillet? cookbook at Half Price Books and found a handy guide with easy recipes. I've tackled several, jotted down notes in the cookbook, and enjoyed some tasty results.

Here's a sideway photo of the potatoes I cooked for a spanish version of a frittata. I was surprised all those potatoes fit in the skillet. 

Next I tried making the parmesan tulies, but because I wasn't using store-shredded cheese, I think I didn't have much luck.

After gaining some confidence with the skillet, I set out my own to make a pepper, sausage and cheese frittata. This was so tasty even my non-egg-loving husband liked this.

Next, the middle and I tried some skillet mac-n-cheese. Again, the amount of pasta that fit in there was surprising. I need to increase the cheese, milk and salt levels next time for more flavor.

For my husband's birthday, we did our first dessert skillet experiment and made a chocolate chip cookie in the skillet. It was surprisingly easy and really tasty, except for one large note we wrote in the cookbook:

NEEDS MORE CHOCOLATE. 

Word Search Battle #1

Our family is slightly competitive. So when I bought a word search book at Half Price Books and brought it home, of course we turned it into a game.

WORD SEARCH BATTLE!!

My oldest and I got comfy on the deck and raced each other to find the most words in the puzzle.

In the first match-up, we tied.

In the second match-up, we tied!

In the third match-up, we tied!!!!

Finally, in the fourth match-up, I beat him by one word.

We had to keep playing until he won, and in the fifth match-up, he finally beat me by one word.

We had such fun we decided to race each other to complete a full word search. So the middle made copies of the same word search, we set up the phones to record videos, got our pens, and the middle said "3, 2, 1 GO!"

We call this Word Search Battle #1.

It's a video on YouTube, and it's less than 6 minutes.

My pen started failing right away, but I switched and persevered…until… well, you can watch the video and find out. Our plan was to have two videos side by side showing us each completing the puzzle, but unfortunately his video only shows the back of his head.

Now, if you want to join in the competition, you can print out your own copy of Word Search Battle #1, go to our Word Search Battle 1 video on Youtube, get your pen ready, then hit start and compete against us. But you better be fast!!

Summer of 2018

The Summer of 2018 isn't over yet but it's been a busy one so far! We traveled up and down the east coast exploring and having adventures. Here are some of the highlights and a few photos of our fun.

Orlando, Florida and Amelia Island, Florida

• Our condo had a little backyard pool
• Disney's Animal Kingdom - safaris and okapi and  Expedition Everest
• Disney's Hollywood Studios -  Jedis, Storm troopers, Muppets
• Universal Studios - Super heroes, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter!
• Gatorland - feeding the gators (Mayonnaise…) 
• Amelia Island - playing in the waves, another pool with lots of raccoons, palmetto bugs, miniature golf and amazing shells

New York City and the Catskills

• Visiting friends
• Our flat with a terrace
• Central Park Zoo
• Bronx Zoo (meeting JP!)
• School of Rock on Broadway (Stick it to the Man)
• dumplings!
• Ice cream!
• Museum of Modern Art and a powerful thunderstorm 
• Yankee Stadium
• Salamanders, frogs, bees, butterflies, birds
• Hiking and swimming in the lake

Easton, Maryland and Rehoboth, Delaware 

• Visiting family like godmothers and great-grandmothers!
• Oysters and crabs
• Frog patrol
• Fishing
• Swimming
• Funland and the Boardwalk 
• Sailing 
• Gameshows with grandparents

Summer Goals 2018

I never stop learning. Here are my summer goals for 2018.

Off-list achievement: I made my first gin and tonic at a Highlights Foundation workshop at the end of June 2018. It was kind of a magical evening in my cabin, reading, listening to some Irma Thomas, sipping my very own handmade cocktail. I didn't have lime, but I got along just fine. 

I know the world is dealing with some horrible stuff right now, and me learning to grill isn't going to save it. But me learning to make a margarita can help me relax, refuel, and get back out there.