Mmmmmmm! Coffee Cake!

Sit back and imagine for a moment if you will....you pulled an all nighter trying to get the last minutes of something important done, now you're tired. And hungry. And also in charge of having food ready for everybody when they wake up. 

Coffee Cake on my mind

Cold cereal would be okay....I mean, why not?  But after looking through the selection you come up with a different idea.  Something to warm the body and soul.

That exact situation is what got me thinking of coffee cake. I was too awake for sleeping, too sleepy for anything complicated but wanted something....something that tasted like morning that was good with coffee.

So here' my version of a Quick Coffee Cake.  This one doesn't have coffee as one of the ingredients, but a few of my other recipes do....so watch for them in upcoming blog entries!



QUICK COFFEE CAKE
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Cake
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (low salt is okay, too)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar - some folk like it sweeter. Start with smaller amount first.
1-2 tsp lemon or orange rind
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup margarine

A quick bit of heaven

Grease a cake pan.  (Release spray is fine, so is a thin film of butter and flour)
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt (if used). Add cardamon, mix and set aside. Cream butter, add sugar and cream some more. Beat egg, milk and salt (if used) together. Add to sifted ingredients. Add rind. Mix until well blended. 
Put batter into cake pan, spread it evenly around. Hit bread pan against counter to let air out and get dough even on bottom. 
Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle over cake batter.  Do not push topping into cake batter- let it rest on the surface. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Place in pan on rack to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into it.
Then grab a cup of java and enjoy!

If you have any suggestions, comments, questions, recipes or what ever that you want to share, please feel free!

KITCHEN THOUGHTS - Sam's On The Life Path

Sam's...great for burgers

I'm sitting here in the kitchen with a cup of tea. 
Didn't do any cooking last night....got a couple of burgers at Sam's - one of our favorite places.
It's just a good, honest burger done over a flaming grill just the way we like it.  Sam's has been around since forever and though it's just a hole in the wall everybody seems to go there.  The famous, infamous, non-famous and wannabes.

Everybody has a life path.  Sometimes we recognize it, sometimes we don't....but it's still there none the less.

Painting in tower at Grand Canyon

I know some people who've known what they wanted to do since birth and others who never seem to "do" anything. What does it mean?

Is one following their path and the other not?  Hmmmmm.  Gee....isn't this a cooking blog? Well, yes...but it's also a life blog - hence the title.  Regardless, there's always a little room for esoteric with the escargot.  Or at least there should be.  Otherwise, what is all this food business, anyway?

Think about it. 

Painting in tower at Grand Canyon

We started out just needing to eat....shoving anything in our mouths that didn't poison us or eat us first. Look at where we are today.   From cave fires to convection ovens in a blip of time.  Just by following our life path. And a lot of that following was stumbling....come to think of it, we're still stumbling about. 

Today is a non-recipe recipe...a four letter word that won't get your mouth washed out with soap.

LIVE

First Page and Green Chili Cheesy Casserole

The first page is the hardest, at least according to one of my Creative Writing teachers years ago.  That being said, the first sentence of the first page is particularly dicey.

But pretty or mean, it all boils down to first steps.....and for this blog, this entry is it.

I've blogged for over a year on the subject of "Fifty Five Is The New....," and some readers are wondering why I don't continue on the same vein. No longer being fifty-five has a lot to do with it. And I felt it was time to change things up a bit.

Randi's Recipe Box

Anybody who has read "Fifty Five.." knows that I love, love, love to cook, especially when it comes to creating recipes....learning new methods.....trying new recipes from others.....even watching the cookies rise in the oven.

With this blog I will be sharing recipes and thoughts; hoping to bring a little zest to the resultant reading experience.  Please feel free to try the recipes, comment on them and the rest of the site, and share some of your own recipes and thoughts, too!  Anything from the truly simple to the wildly complex....why not?  And if I try it, I'll chronicle the effort on this blog, along with pictures.

In some calendars, today is Easter Sunday.  Now there's a food holiday that's settling down into a tradition.
Ham is the usual fare, although many families are branching out into other cultures.

Jack's family is making Paella this year and they've asked everyone to bring a side-dish.  Paella is considered  a one-dish meal, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be supportive members at the table. So I kept with the theme and came up with a sort-of souffle using cheeses, eggs, diced chillies and other ingredients that should accompany the main dish without overpowering it. I call this dish Green Chili Casserole, and hope you enjoy it.

RANDI'S GREEN CHILI CHEESY CASSEROLE
Preheat oven 350               Serves 6
Ingredients
6 eggs    1 cup milk      1 tsp  salt        1 lb  Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated      1cup (8 oz) Cottage Cheese
3 oz Cream Cheese in small cubes      4 TBS butter, melted       11/2  tsp baking powder    1.2 cup cornmeal
1 TBS chopped pepperoni (optional)   8 oz roasted, diced green chilies or one 8oz can of diced green chilies, drained
Method
Grease 9" square baking dish. Set aside.  In large bowl mix egg, milk, salt, Jack Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Cream Cheese, pepperoni, butter, baking powder, cornmeal and green chili together until well blended. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes until the center is set. Serve hot or warm.
Note
If you want to double the recipe, use two cooking vessels rather than one large pan, this will insure even cooking.   Enjoy!

Launching the New Blog

Greetings and Welcome to Cooking and Life, my second blog.

Last project, Fifty Five Is The New...completed upon my fifty-sixth birthday on April 14, 2011 after a bit over a year of entries.  It included memories, thoughts, prayers, hopes, dreams, artwork, music and videos and became for me more than blogging; it was an adventure in self-discovery.

With this blog I'm incorporating two of my passions on one plate, so to speak.  I've been an absolute Cooking Enthusiast since knee high to a butcher block, and for years harbored a not-too-secret desire for a certified culinary education.

This "education" included not only Public Television, the Food Network and the many culinary themed t.v. shows, but remembering the many things taught me by my Mother, Aunt, Sister and Mrs. Schlosser, my home economics teacher.
Cordon Blu was my dream, but a severe lack of math skills and other things set my path on a different course...however food seemed to be part of that path....So I always took the opportunity to explore new flavors, try new recipes, cook with others.

Places like Original Joe's of San Francisco were the bees' knees to me because they had seats at the counter where I could watch the action in the kitchen.  I learned to recognize a few things...the Expediter, the Head Chef, Sou Chef and what each did....fascinating, maddening.....magical. I watched, hypnotized, as the just flamed garlic and wine sauce was drizzled over the fresh pasta, then finished with a sprinkle of cheese, cracked pepper and basil sprig.

To think of it now still makes my heart skip a beat.

With that sensation in mind, I christen this blog Cooking and Life.  Feel free to enjoy, share your recipes and stories.  Dig In!