Cacio E Pepe Pasta Sauce with Angel Hair Pasta and Chicken

 Cacio E Pepe Pasta Sauce with Angel Hair Pasta and Chicken

    So, I was at the store recently and saw a product by Lotito Presto called "Cacio E Pepe Pasta Sauce Starter" (in English, it's a pasta sauce with sun dried tomatoes, pecorino cheese & black pepper.  On the lid, it says that it is a "traditional Roman recipe".   I decided to give it a shot, because there is no shame in using a sauce starter. Plus, I thought if I liked it, I could try and recreate it.  It's very easy, cook your noodles (I picked angel hair); put the dry sauce mix in a bowl; when your noodles are done, reserve one cup of the water you cooked the noodles in and drain your noodles.  Add the cup of water to the mix and stir.  Add the sauce to your noodles, stir and you are ready to eat.  It was just me tonight, so I just put my noodles back into the pan and added the sauce.  I also, diced up some chicken breast and cooked that with a little bit of garlic.  I stirred in the chicken after mixing the sauce and noodles.  I also added some red chili pepper flakes to the top of my bowl.  

    Back to the use of a starter sauce mix.  We've all seen sauce starter or meal starter kits at the store and like I said earlier, there is no shame in using a starter.  They're great to have on hand if you are pressed for time.  Plus, you are still cooking a meal, just with some of the ingredients already mixed together.  

    So, did I like the finished pasta dish?  Yes! Would I buy this product again? Yes.  Will I try to recreate it on my own? Also, yes, especially because I don't remember which store I found it at. The container of dry sauce starter mix is 6oz, so I'd use about that much cheese and there wasn't a lot of sun dried tomato, so I could add more or less to my taste. Will I try it with parmesan cheese? Probably.  Will it be just as good? I'm sure it will be.  

Crazy Cake - Success!!!

CRAZY CAKE!!!! 

           I made the Crazy Cake recipe which my grandmother submitted to that cookbook, referenced in my last post. I had to guess at oven temperature and pan size since it wasn't included in the recipe, then I started at the beginning (always the best place to start) by pre-heating my oven to 350 degrees, greasing and flouring an 8x8 square baking pan and collecting my ingredients.  I mixed the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa together. Then I added my wet ingredients one at a time, stirring after each addition and ending with the egg (the batter ended up nice and thick).  I spread the batter in the pan and you know what? It looked like I guessed correctly on the size, so  I popped the pan into the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes.  

        When the timer went off and I opened the oven, my first impression was that it looked awesome (It was pretty perfect looking) and it smelled good.  When I pulled it out and gently pressed on the top of the cake, it felt firm and I was confident it was completely cooked. I sat the pan on top of a wire rack for it to cool. Eventually, I cut into the cake and put a corner slice on a plate for myself. The cake was nice and moist and was completely baked, so I was spot on, on the baking time and the pan size (Go Me!!!).  Before I taste tested and just for fun, I actually used a measuring tape to see how tall/thick the cake had gotten and it was two inches.    

        Now, to the actual taste testing. Like I said, the cake was nice and moist.  I thought the flavor was so-so and it wasn't very, sweet. That said, I was okay with the fact that it wasn't super sweet. I had just hoped for a little more flavor. I didn't do a frosting on the cake, because I wanted to try it without.  I think it would be good with frosting. Because it's not overly sweet, a thick, sweet frosting would be fine.  Warmed, it would be a great vehicle for a scoop of ice cream, custard or mousse.  

        Overall, I was pleased with "Crazy Cake".  Would I make it again? Yes.  Would I try adding a little more flavor and/or experiment with different flavors like mocha or peppermint? Yes. Can you now try "Crazy Cake" because the 8x8 pan and 30 minutes at 350 degrees worked? Yes. I'd love to hear how it turns out of you make it. 

Pics below. 

Crazy Cake

 CRAZY CAKE

    It's been awhile since I posted.  Life has gotten busier.  I have a new boyfriend and I have a brand new Little Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters.  So, it's exciting times.  But, I started this blog for a reason and wanted to make a post, so I pulled out the Cook Book which started this all and was searching for a recipe to make this week.  It's time to start making something from it, even though I haven't finished drafting that list (that will take forever!).  

    So, I'm searching recipes and I land on page 55 and a recipe called "Crazy Cake". I look at it and the instructions are simply to "Put mixture together".  There's no direction as to what size pan or how long to cook the cake.  Truly a crazy, cake. Then, I look a the name of who submitted it, and it is my very, own grandmother!!!!  Like I said my great-grandfather (grandma's dad) was the minister of the church whose ladies created the cook book.  So, this week I will make Crazy Cake, starting with an 8x8 pan, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and no matter how it turns out, I'll share pics.  Recipe below:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup cocoa

Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni & Cheese

Yesterday, I made Macaroni & Cheese from my The Pillsbury Family Cook Book  (Copyright 1963; I have a 6th printing copy). This is one of my favorite cookbooks in my collection. Scratch that.  I did make Macaroni & Cheese, but I used the Medium White Sauce recipe and added colby-jack cheese to the sauce.  It's how I remember my dad making Macaroni & Cheese and I think is the same thing my mom did when we made Scalloped Potatoes.  

        A little about White Sauces.  White sauces are milk based and thickened with flour.  You can use a white sauce as a base for other sauces: cheese sauce, curry sauce and  mornay sauce.  As an aside, white sauce is used in Eggs Goldenrod (Goldenrod) which is a breakfast dish my dad made when I was growing up and I have made as an adult.  In Goldenrod, yolks are separated from the whites of hard boiled eggs.  The whites are chopped and added to the white sauce (pepper and/or salt can be added & I think my dad used to put a little bit of ginger in it also).  The yolks are crumbled up in a small bowl.  To serve Goldenrod, the white/egg sauce is spooned over hot, buttered toast and the crumbled yolks are sprinkled over top.  

    Anyhow, back to my Macaroni & Cheese.  I added salt and pepper to my cheese sauce and then added the cheese sauce to my macaroni noodles.  I like to sprinkle chipotle seasoning or sriracha sauce when I serve my Macaranoi & Cheese.  Sometimes I add cooked, crumbled bacon, because it's bacon, duh.  Bacon was not added yesterday.  That is part of the fun of experimenting when you cook; trying different recipes or variations is fun and sometimes you find something you really like and sometimes, you don't.  And the best part about making my Macaroni & Cheese, was that the person I made if for liked it!

*Due to my not wanting to take any chances of violating copyright laws, I am not going to add the picture of the recipe from the book I used*

    

The First Cookbook I Bought...

The First Cookbook I Bought

        The first cookbook I remember buying is this Betty Crocker New Choices Cookbook (published in 1993).  I bought it in 1993/1994 at a shopping mall in Rockville, Maryland.  I think it was a Waldenbooks store and I was with a room-mate of mine.  I've no idea why I remember this, but that's the story.  This book includes nutritional information for each recipe, which is nice.  It gives how many servings each recipe makes, but not how big the servings and I don't know know about you, but a half cup to a cup of anything doesn't seem like much of a serving.  

      I flipped through the book last night for the first time in a long time although the recipes and pictures are familiar, I cannot remember which I've made.  I know there are several I would like to make.  "Lemon-Chive Fettuccine" sounds good and easy to make.  It's 125 calories per serving. Chicken-Vermicelli Salad with 305 calories sounds yummy also.  Cajun Turkey Burgers at 345 calories with the accompanying Tomoato Mayonnaise also sounds good.  

    The book has sections titled Meal Planning and Menus, Appetizers and Beverages, Breads, Vegetables and Salads, Meats, Poultry, Seafood, Meatless Main Dishes, Desserts and the last section is called Eating for Good Health.  

    So, decisions, decisions.  I need to get my act together and decide recipes to make, but with hundreds of cookbooks, I've got lots to choose from. 

My First Post!!!

Hi, everyone! My name is Kathy, aka Lemonchick. I've never done anything like this.  I am not a writer, I just was inspired to create this blog after I inherited a cookbook which had belonged to one of my great-grandmothers. My aunt knows I collect cookbooks, that I am a very sentimental person and that I would cherish it.  And I do.  It hits several marks.  It is a church recipe book (a church my great-grandfather was minister of, but I'm not sure if he was, when this book was made) in which member ladies submitted recipes; it belonged to a relative; it is old, it has handwritten notes; it has different types of clipped recipes in it, the first page is separate from the binding and it has taped pages and cooking stains.  

I decided that it would be fun to make all of the recipes in the book.  Like, author Julie Powell did with Julia Childs' cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The difference for me, is that I will not be making any recipes which have shellfish (I have an allergy) or organ meats and I'm not setting a time limit to accomplish this goal.  There's also a recipe which was noted to have been a specialty dish of the lady's "mammy". I wasn't sure I wanted to do that one (can't recall which recipe it is off-hand), but as I started to type this I decided I would.  This cookbook is in the 1940s - 1960s era. At the time it was not unusual to see something like that, but it shocked me. When I get to it, I will specially dedicate this recipe to all the African American women who have cooked and cared for so many families in our history. We owe a great debt to these women. 

 

A little about myself, I am 49 years old and I live with my small herd of little dogs (6) near Dallas, Texas. One of my favorite things, is my collection of cookbooks.  I have hundreds, ranging from pamphlets, booklets, the church/community fundraiser type, brand/food/type/dessert specific, soft cover, hard cover, old and new.  My favorites are the old cookbooks I've purchased at either estate sales or flea markets and that were obviously used.  They'll have stains, bent/torn pages, check marks, handwritten notes (Did they like it or not?  Was it too salty? Was it better with an adjustment), scotch taped pages or recipe adjustments and sometimes they have dates a recipe was tried. Sometimes they'll have recipes cut out from newspapers or magazines. Sometimes they'll have clippings from store circulars or handouts.  

So, I have no idea how long this adventure will take.  I am currently still making a list of the recipes in my great-grandmother's book and didn't want to start until I had finished, but I will play that by ear. I am not going to place a time limit on this, because I have enough stress in my life (like we all do, especially right now). I will work my way through the book and when I am done, I plan to randomly try recipes.  My hope is that I will also share stories of what is going on in my life, providing a little bit of entertainment, escape from the daily wear and tear and sharing with and learning from you all also. Be gentle with your comments, as I am totally stepping outside of my comfort zone. 

I'm not sure I'm ready, but the best way to start is at the beginning.....