Happy Weekly Food Fun to You!

Last week was a cake week for us since it was our son’s birthday.

A Warm Fudgy Pudding Cake with the family on his birthday, recipe link here.

For his party with Friends he wanted a lemon cherry cake.

I didn’t get the cake made the day before like I was supposed to, which would have given it time to chill in the refrigerator overnight, and give me time to plan the process a little more.  Since it was all done in the morning before the party, it had its share of smiles and trials.

The lemon cake recipe was from Food Network, Ina Garten
The Cherry Pie filling from Allrecipes I used frozen sweet cherries, and only used about 1/4 cup of sugar instead of a cup.

First trial, I forgot to buy buttermilk.  I did the make up buttermilk,  a tablespoon of lemon juice in the milk, stir, let it sit for about 5 minutes.  You can also use vinegar, although since it was a lemon cake, I used lemon.  Problem fixed, now a smile.
Second trial,  I only had 3 sticks of unsalted butter and needed 4.  I substituted a stick of salted butter and omitted the salt from the recipe.  Hoping this would turn to a smile, and it did.
Third trial, there was a fault line on the top layer of the cake, there was an earthquake and it split in half.  Well, actually as I was lifting it to put it on top it split in half. My mind screaming.. “this is not going to become a smile!” just hoping I can get enough frosting to cover it up.  Luckily one side of the cake the split wasn’t as noticeable.
Fourth trial, cherry pie filling.  I knew this was going to be an issue.  What I should have done was cut out a center part of the bottom layer of cake, leaving the edges.  That way the cherry filling would sit happily inside.  Instead, I just spread it out like frosting, which became like a waterfall of cherry filling spilling out from the center of the cake. No smiles here, this is not going to be pretty.
Fifth trial,  the cherry waterfall wanted to take the broken top layer of cake with it.  I am thankful I had a pack of bamboo skewers, stuck them into the cake to hold it in place for a quick fix.  Although, I did need to decorate them in some way… hmmm.  The candy circles and frosting, yes, that should work.   So I stuck the circles together with frosting and stuck them on the top of the skewers.  Yay, smiles.

Through it all it turned out to be a cute cake, yet a little off.  It did taste really good.  My son made a good choice on mixing cherries and lemon cake.

Dinners –

Enchilada, burrito pizza type dinner.  I happened to buy some corn tortillas at the store, and some enchilada sauce planning on giving Enchiladas a try when I got brave, this turned out to be the week.  I cooked up the ground beef with taco seasoning.  I put the corn tortillas in a dry skillet to heat and crisp a little.  Put about a tablespoon of beef on them, rolled and placed in a pan on a layer of red enchilada sauce.  I covered with cheddar cheese and topped with more sauce.  Into the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese was melted.  Another new one was sort of fry the corn tortilla, sauté some onions, layer the corn tortilla with beef mixture, black beans, cheese, then onions and heat until the cheese is melted.  Top with sour cream, salsa and sauces.

Elk, it is always good.  It does take a little bit more work than beef, some sort of marinade helps tremendously.  Since the roast didn’t thaw out as fast as I had hoped, dinner plans changed.  Instead of roast in the crock pot it turned into elk and broccoli stir fry.  I cut half the roast into little strips.  I marinated the strips in olive oil, garlic, ginger and a little marsala for a couple hours.  Then yes I cheated on the mixture.. I used a packet of Sun-Bird Beef and Broccoli Seasoning Mix, just adding more ginger.  Served it over fried rice and topped with sesame seeds.  It was a nice treat.

Day two of the Elk roast, I cooked it as a roast.  I marinated it overnight in olive oil, a little marsala and garlic.  In the morning I put it in the crock pot with beef onion soup mix, covered it with oregano, tarragon, salt, pepper.  It cooked on low for about four hours.  It turned out very flavorful and tender.

Enjoy the Fun of Food!

Next week…should I say???

Ok, I will give a menu preview-  sweet and sour chicken and tater tot casserole.