barefoot bloggers

I actually made and ate the chowder on Thursday. I just didn't have time to take a picture or post anything. It turned out to be a long day. Oliver didn't nap at all. I guess I jinxed us. He called me into his room about 45 minutes into his nap ( he usually sleeps 2 1/2-3 hrs). He was saying "mess mess". I was looking at him and I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. I finally looked down and noticed he didn't have his pants or diaper on. That's when it hit me that he peed in the bed. Ugh. Why are crib mattresses so hard to change? So no nap that day.



He was saying mess in this picture.



The chowder was pretty good. It isn't a thick chowder at all. Maybe that's how they like it in the Hamptons. I like a thicker chowder. I made a lot of changes to the recipe. I decided to make crab corn chowder. I halved it because it was huge. I left out the potatoes because I knew I would end up freezing it and potatoes just don't freeze right. I subbed 1 cup of clam juice for 1 cup chicken stock. I added a chopped pepper and used less bacon because I didn't want to overwhelm the crab. I think you can leave it out altogether. The same for the cheddar cheese. I meant to add fresh cilantro, but completely forgot.

It was a good easy recipe. It was fun one for my first barefoot blogger challenger. Thanks Jill of My Next Life www.jillbuker.blogspot.com for choosing the recipe.




The next recipe is a souffle. I've always wanted to make one so I'm excited. Does anyone know if I need a special souffle dish?

Oh my gob I made a whoppie pie

Whoppie pies are the new big thing around here. It's kind of like the new cupcake except the cupcake will never go away so maybe it's the new beef cheek. Oliver and I had them at a fall festival the other day. They weren't nearly as good the ones I had growing up. Oliver loved them so I decided to make them. My Aunt in Johnston, PA is the queen of the whoppie pie except we call the go's. I'm not really sure why. I think I read somewhere that it looks like a gob of coal. Neither name is that great, but they taste so good.

I've tried making them several times over the years and they never came out. This was the best batch yet. Not saying much since the others were inedible. But this were really good. The key is crisco. I know you'll be tempted to change it to butter, but don't. I've done that and it just tastes wrong. There must be something in the crisco that makes them taste right.




This recipe from Aunt Katie makes 20 Gobs.

My gobs can out a little too big. I think I would make them smaller. I also burnt one whole tray. They do spread during cooking. I also added a 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to the icing because it didn't taste sweet enough. Speaking of the icing. I didn't think it made enough. Since I only got 13 Gobs it was enough, but I think it could/should be increased.
Pre-heat oven to 350.

Cakes:

Cream 2 cups sugar and 1/2 c. crisco

Mix together with a whisk 4 cups flour, 1 cup cocoa unsweetened, 2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt.

Add 2 eggs to sugar mixture. Mix. Add flour mixture and mix. Add 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup buttermilk, and 1 cup boiling water.

Put about 1 tsp sized cakes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure you have enough tops and bottoms. Bake 8 minutes. You want them firm not soft.

Frosting:

Heat 1 cup milk until warm. Add 5 tbs. flour. Mix until thick. Try to get out lumps. Let mixture cool. Beat 1 cup crisco, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar together. Add cooled mixture. Beat until smooth. You can put mixture through a strainer. I didn't.

Once tops and bottoms are cooled ice. They last a couple of days in the fridge and freeze very well.

Enjoy

better

We are all finally better. Oliver ended up having my bronchitis. He really had a hard time with it. He was waking up all night coughing. We've been so lucky with his sleep. I give those families so much credit that have kids who don't sleep. It sucks. It was so hard to function the next day. It only lasted three days, but it was hard. We are all better now. It is great to be able to get out of the house and do all the fun things we normally do or just run to the supermarket for food.

Speaking of food. In an effort to come up with some new things to cook I joined a cooking group. Barefoot bloggers. www.barefootbloggers.wordpress.com

Twice a month they make a recipe out of one of Ina Garten's cookbooks. Today my first recipe is due. It's corn chowder. I had grand plans of making it earlier in the week so I could blog about it first thing this morning. Of course that didn't happen. My chowder is on the stove cooking away as I write. I'm loosely following the recipe. We'll see how it goes. I'll post pictures later. I haven't taken any pictures of Oliver in two weeks now. Maybe I'll get a picture of him eating the chowder. Yeah right. He may be a good sleeper, but not so much of an eatter.