Train Cake

Warren loves trains. He is the biggest train enthusiast I have ever met, and he is only 6 years old. He beats out our neighbor, who gets up at 4:00 AM every day just to watch the train pass. Warren is a kid in our primary class (ah-hem - our former primary class) and he constantly talks about trains. Today is his birthday, so we brought him a cake to share with the class as a final going away present.

Of course, I used the basic Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. It really has the best flavor and it is the easiest to make.

Are you wondering how I got so many yellow and blue M&Ms? It was quite simple:

1) There are quite a few of both of those colors.

2) I took a handful of M&Ms, used the blue and yellow ones, then ate the rest.

Using those principles in combination, it was a breeze to find just the right amount and color of candy pieces. In fact, I ate a LOT of the candy. For the gummy bears, I briefly considered eating all the red and orange ones and putting only the yellow and green ones on the cake. But then, in a moment of weakness, my conscience got the better of me and I decided that the kids wouldn't want only gross flavors, either. Ah, well...

I'd greatly appreciate it if you don't tell my bathroom scale about this little incident. I have a feeling it might try to retaliate....

Halfway through frosting the cake, I looked down and saw this.....YIPES!

As you can imagine, these cupcakes were CRUMBLY! The kids got really messy, then we ran away and let Kaia deal with it. Bless her heart, she must be a saint...

The cake is nothing special - it is just cake mix in this silicone cupcake set. Once you cover it with candy, the kids won't even notice the cake or the frosting. The fun thing about this set is it can also make a rocket or a truck.

Carnie Pizza

It started innocently. I sent Jen a link to Japanese pizza. A few months ago we got together for "Lentil Night" and had talked about getting together again to make other healthy recipes. I thought this pizza was hilarious and never expected anything to come of it.

But a few weeks later she said we should make the pizza. She loves cabbage, I love cabbage, and so we dove in head first and set up a time to get together.


Here is Jen looking stunning while she flattens the 'pizza'. I didn't get any pictures of the kitchen, but it is HUGE and she put in the cabinets by herself. She even got the marble slabs from the library remodel, sanded them, and finished them for her counter top. The whole house is a giant art project for them and they are refinishing the entire thing.

Jen made some soy milk to go with dinner. It was shockingly delicious. Apparently, she just soaks the soy beans over night, then puts them in her soy milk maker and out comes a delicious beverage.

Right before dinner was finished, Chuck came home. Rumor has it that he isn't an avid cabbage lover, but he was a great sport and ate his whole piece. We all smell like carnies (which is why we call it Carnie Pizza).

I know that I haven't made it sound appetizing, but that is only for effect. It really was quite tasty. I especially liked the cilantro on it, which really brought out the flavors. Don't think of it as pizza; think of it as a tasty healthy casserole. Sometimes it is hard to find main dish recipes for vegetables, and this is one that I will come back to time and time again.

The kids were playing outside so they completely missed the entire dinner experience.

Carnie Pizza

2 cups cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup leeks, well washed and chopped

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 t fine grain sea salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 T olive oil

Garnish: toasted slivered almonds, chives/ herbs, Parmesan cheese

Combine the cabbage, leeks, flour, and salt in a bowl. Toss until everything is coated with flour. Stir in the eggs and mix until everything is evenly coated.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a spray of olive oil. Scoop the cabbage mixture into the pan, and press it into a round pancake shape. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the bottom is golden. To flip it, slide it out of the skillet onto a plate. Place another plate on top and flip both (together) over. If you need a bit more oil in your skillet, add it now, before sliding the pizza back into the skillet. Again press down a bit with a spatula and cook until golden on this side - another 3 -5 minutes.

When it is finished cooking, sprinkle with toasted almonds and chives, and slide it onto a cutting board to cut into wedges. Enjoy immediately.

Sweet Potato Fries with Ginger-Peanut Sauce

Kevin walked up behind me while I chopped the sweet potatoes, wrapped his arms around me in a full, tender hug, and whispered in my ear, "Sweet potatoes are gross." So I get to eat all of them. This recipe is more work, and many, many more dishes to wash. But the fries turned out pretty darn good.

I had to look up "parboil." Why can't they just say "partially cook" if that is what they mean? Sheesh....it has to be so confusing. Also, I like sweet potatoes dipped in frosting mixed with cinnamon better than the peanut ginger.


Sweet Potato Fries
4 sweet potato fries (about 2 pounds)
1 t sea salt
1 T olive oil

Cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch fries. Put them into 3 quarts cold water and 1 teaspoon salt in a large pot over high heat. Parboil (cook partially) uncovered for 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and pat dry with a clean dish towel.

Toss the potatoes in a large bowl with 1 T olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes to ensure even browning, until tender.

Ginger-Peanut Dipping Sauce
1 t ground ginger (or 1 T minced fresh ginger)
1/2 c peanuts
1/2 c apple juice
1 t sugar
1/8 t cayenne
1/4 t salt

Blend until creamy.

What a Ham

Yoga was especially hard tonight. About halfway through I was soaked with sweat and there was a strange smell that I couldn't quite place. It was familiar but what exactly was it?

Then it hit me: it was remarkably similar to the spiral sliced ham that we have been working our way through. Hmmm.....who votes for me eating less ham?

Johnny Blaze Cakes

We drove on Johnny Cake Road in Apple Valley on our way to a quilt shop with Mom several years ago. She sang us the song:

Come girls, come, and listen to my noise.

Don't you marry the Mormon boys.

If you do, your fortune it will be,

Johnny cakes and babies will be all you'll see.

Here's the thing: I married a Mormon boy. So far I've seen no babies, and this is the first batch of Johnny cakes. Go figure. It may be far batter if there were a few more of both.

The batter is pretty lumpy and thick.

In Vegan Soul Kitchen, where I found this recipe, the Johnny cakes were perfectly round. He said to shape then with a wooden spoon. The results were wildly different when I tried it. It must be my spoon....

They are nice for variety, but I am glad they aren't the only thing besides babies that I have around.

Johnny Blaze Cakes

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 1/2 cups boiling milk (the original recipe called for unflavored rice milk)

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and cayenne. Set aside. Boil the milk in the microwave or in a saucepan. Add the milk to the flour mixture, stirring as you pour. Add the jalapeno and mix well. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Grease a large skillet on heat to meduim-high. Add 1/4 cup of batter to the skillet per cake. A large skillet should hold 3-4 cakes.

After about 1 minute, shape each cake with a wooden spoon (hah) so they are 3 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the cakes for 8-10 minutes per side, adding more oil after turning, until they are golden brown and crispy. Transfer the cooked cakes to the oven to keep the cakes warm until all the cakes are cooked.

Strawberry Shredded Wheat vs. Honey Nut Cheerios

Kevin was driving to school when he got a phone call. Angie and Amanda wanted him to pick up a box of Honey Nut Cheerios for the teacher. The teacher had once told a story about the tension in his home created by running out of Honey Nut Cheerios. Angie thought it would be funny to give him a box during the final class.

Standing in front of the row of cereals, Kevin forgot which one to pick up. So he called Amanda and said, "What kind do you want?"

A 60 year old woman was choosing her cereal nearby, and smiled sweetly at Kevin. "Are you picking that up for you wife?"

Of course, Kevin responded by saying, "No. My wife likes Strawberry Shredded Wheat."

Then his rascally side welled up and he stated cheerfully, "These are for my girlfriend."

The woman stopped smiling. Her mouth fell open. Kevin smiled and walked away.

Then he chuckled to himself the rest of the night. And once, in the middle of class, he accidentally laughed out loud and disrupted the class.

Inside-out Cheeseburgers

Kevin, the master of all things made with burger, has done it again. He fired up the grill and whipped up some extra juicy inside-out cheeseburgers. The best thing is they are really easy. All I did was sit back, pay Kevin a few kisses, and WALLA! Dinner was served.


It was a bit more work for Kevin. First, patty out a pound of ground beef into 12 thin patties. Then put a handful of cheese into the center of one patty.

Put a patty on top of the cheese and seal the edges.

Grill 'em up.

And enjoy! We have a few left over, and if you come over right now we will give you one. And Kevin won't even make you pay for it with kisses (I hope.)

Idiot

Steve is a prankster. So when somebody gets the chance, Steve usually gets a prank played on him.

Kurt was giggly and told me to check my email. I found a message from Steve with the subject line "Idiot."

Inside it said:

I am an IDIOT.
Sorry
Steve

He got a smattering of responses:

Ed: What did you do? Let us all in on it. (Ed thought Steve really had called himself an idiot.)

Megan: We know but we won't hold it against you.

Lucas: I may hold it against you, as soon as I figure out what it is

Mike: It's not official until you fill out an ID10T form and send it to Stephanie. Please do it ASAP.

Todd waited until Steve left his computer, then sent out another message:

I'm sorry that I'm such an IDIOT!!!!
Kindest Blessings,

Steve

Steve isn't the kind of guy who would wish a blessing on anyone, so that makes it especially funny to get an email from him signed like that.

Steve never did fill out his ID10T form.

No Waiting Required

I slept in. Then I fiddled around in the kitchen. Then I checked my email. By the time I was usually finished at the gym and in the office I was just getting around to hopping in the shower. Ugggh. What a morning.

I arrived at work just in time to overhear Steve telling Kurt about his aches and pains. He was not looking forward to getting old. I happily chirped up and said that the good thing was that he didn't have to wait. Steve corrected me with intense seriousness. Everyone had to wait to get old. Getting old was better than the alternative.

But I reminded him that he didn't have to wait - he was already as old as the hills. He stopped complaining about his aching back, said, "Gee, thanks," and sat down. Today might be a lot more fun than I had thought.

Steve is 43. Tehehe. He drinks like a fish, so he is aging a bit faster than most, but he is certainly not old.

Crunch Wrap Supreme

There is no doubt that the one fast food item far superior to all others is the Crunch Wrap Supreme at Taco Bell. I happened to run across a recipe at Hungry Girl for a version to make at home, and I jumped for joy. Then I ran into the kitchen and fired up the burner.

Do you want to know the best thing about this picture? It shows the pretty half. The other side didn't fare so well, but what the heck....I ate it just the same.


This is remarkably easy to make. Hungry Girl uses soy crumbles but even using that word makes my stomach turn. I eat meat.

Crunch Wrap Supreme at Home
1 large tortilla
3 corn chips
1/3 C ground beef, cooked and crumbled
1/3 C refried beans
1/4 C shredded cheese
1/4 C shredded lettuce
1/3 tomato, diced
1 T sour cream
1/2 t taco seasoning

Combine the cooked ground beef and taco seasoning. Spritz the skillet with oil and place the tortilla on it. Spread a layer of r fried beans, then sprinkle on the ground beef. Put the cheese on top of the beef. Next comes the corn chips. Putting them next to the cheese helps them stay crispy. Then layer the sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Leave 2 inches of tortilla around the entire edge. When everything is hot, fold the bottom edge of the tortilla up. Then fold overlapping sections all the way around. Flip so the folded side is down and heat for 3-4 minutes on each side to brown the outside of the tortilla.

Artichoke Chicken on Whole Grains

This recipe comes straight from the FlyLady emails. It is one of our favorite meals, and we use it whenever company comes over because it makes us feel fancy. We usually bat our eyelashes as they say it looks good, then smile demurely and thank them for the wonderful compliment.

Never mind that we eat cold cereal just as often as a real dinner. Please don't let our secret out.

We get the jars of artichokes at Aldi's, and it comes with olives, pimento, and artichokes. We then leave out the red peppers and mushrooms. The sauce made out of the artichoke marinade is what makes it yummy, so we experiment with the other ingredients.

Artichoke Chicken

1 jar of marinated artichokes

3 chicken breasts

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 jar roasted red peppers, sliced

3/4 C chicken broth

1/2 C apple juice (or more chicken broth)

1 T cornstarch

2 cups barley, steamed like rice

Drain the artichokes into a skillet on medium high. Cube raw chicken with kitchen shears, then cook it in the liquid for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in mushrooms. Cook 4 more minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in artichokes and peppers.

In a medium bowl, combine apple juice and corn starch. Gradually stir into chicken mixture. Boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute until thickened. Put grains on your plate and top with chicken mixture.

I Can't Quite Recall

Microsoft Outlook has a handy feature that lets you recall an email you have just sent. The only problem is that it doesn't work. Once the email is received into an email inbox it will not be pulled out of it. But that doesn't stop people from trying. There is then a second message sent to everyone stating that the recall failed.

The most memorable recall happened right after a company wide meeting. When I looked in my email inbox, I noticed that a failed recall message was there, and of course I immediately opened the email to see what egregious sin someone had committed that would warrant trying to recall the message.

This particular time it happened to be Toni. She was the president of engineering and this was the first time she had tried to recall a message. Needless to say, my interest was peaked.

The email she had sent was a feedback form for the company wide meeting where the 2 guys in charge of the entire office had spoken and had had technical difficulties which prevented the carefully prepared PowerPoint slides from being presented. Toni's review was negative. The most memorable statement was "He was actually coherent. Never give him PowerPoint again." One of the guys just happened to be who she reported directly to.

What is the lesson to be learned from this?

1. NEVER hit "Reply All"
2. If you accidentally break rule #1, don't try to recall your message or it will only draw more attention to it.

Garden Fresh Zucchini and Whole Grain Bake

Do you ever have a craving so big you can no longer ignore it? Try as you may, it sneaks up on you and whispers your name until you give in. This happened to me. It was caused by the Popcorn S'mores. I ate way too many, and felt positively sick after two days of binging on them. Dang it, I wanted some vegetables!

It is hard for me to eat enough veggies. I like them, but they require a lot of work. A. Lot. Of. Work. Like 10 minutes a week to chop them up. That is too much for me. Yes, yes. I know I spend several hours making junk food. Let's not get technical here.

Ann gave me this recipe, and I have made it four times so far. It says you can use shredded zucchini or chopped broccoli, but Ann made it with zucchini and I've always stuck with that. It has really expanded my zucchini recipes - I used to only make zucchini bread, and now there is one more thing I can make.

When I told her that I love the recipe but it is a lot of work, we commiserated on why we both needed a slave boy in the kitchen. I need him because I need somebody strong to shred the zucchini. Ann thought I was nuts for not having a food processor to shred and chop. I told her they were out of my price range, and she said they came in all price ranges. So.....can you give me any ideas on which food processors you like?

The smell of it baking in the oven makes my stomach beg for a piece. All of this begs the question: if I like vegetables, and I crave vegetables, why don't I eat more vegetables? Let's not get philosophical here. Let's just eat some zucchini rice bake!

Garden Fresh Zucchini and Whole Grain Bake

2 t chicken bouillon

2/3 C whole grains, uncooked (or 2 cups cooked)

1/2 C chopped pepper, green or red

2 C shredded zucchini or chopped broccoli

2 beaten eggs

1 C skim milk

1/2 t onion powder

1/2 t dried basil

1/2 t dried oregano

1/8 t pepper

3/4 C shredded cheese

4 ounces cream cheese

In a saucepan, combine the bouillon and 1 1/2 C water. Bring to boiling; add grains. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine pepper and 1/2 C water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Add shredded zucchini or chopped broccoli. Cover and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or till tender-crisp. Drain. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs then add milk, onion powder, basil, oregano, and pepper. Stir in cream cheese. Stir hot grains into the egg mixture. Stir in cooked vegetables. Spoon into a 9X13 casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Let stand 5 minutes before serving (if you can wait that long.)

Luck Is My Middle Name

Have you ever lost a raffle? I win them. Somehow my name just always gets drawn. This wasn't always the case.

In third grade, I let Cassie cut in front of me in the cafeteria line, and she was the 100th student and won a prize. Much to my dismay, she didn't automatically hand over the prize to me, it's rightful owner. Drat. I thought it was my fate to always be in the background.

But around my junior year of college everything changed. All of a sudden my name was always drawn out of the hat and I was always at the 'right' spot in line. It got to be such a hassle.

At the Christmas party this year I had the most uncomfortable (but sexy) shoes, and I was really worried that I would have to wear them to the front of the room only to get a heavy door prize and have to wobble back to my seat with a TV or something just as hideous. Now I consider it lucky to NOT win more clutter to take home, but I usually manage to win and then have to pawn off the prize.

Here's a picture of my shoes. That tiny little heel is super cute but not so easy to walk on. It is kinda hard to see in the photo, but there are 2 lines - the heel and it's shadow. The heel is skinnier than a #2 pencil.

Here's an close shot of the shoes. I didn't walk for the rest of the weekend.

As luck would have it [and my luck never seems to run out] my ticket number wasn't called at the Christmas party. I did consider jumping up in shocked amazement and running up there to claim my prize when a different number was called with the hope that they wouldn't check my ticket stub, but everyone at my table kept me under pretty tight wraps.

Are you wondering why I feel especially lucky today? I just read Paula Begoun's newsletter, and she will be at the Barnes and Nobles in Edina. I LOVE PAULA! She helped me find Cetaphil (a gentle cleanser that has the added bonus of being cheap.)

Before her, I was using *gasp* bar soap on my face. I figured I was tough and could handle it. It was not pretty. In high school I accidentally wrote on my face with a red pen AND NO ONE COULD TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY PIMPLES AND THE INK. Now I use Paula's 2% beta hydroxy acid along with Cetaphil and a fragrance free moisturizer, and my pimples are confined to a couple of times a month - mostly when I haven't changed my pillowcase for a while.

Paula wrote "Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me" which is my all time favorite self help book. In it she reviewed many different products and she recommends specific formulations and knows all about effective ph balances. We gave it to Miranda this year so she can start learning about marketing gimmicks and avoid wasting money on worthless products.

It is extra lucky that she is coming to Edina because it is 20 minutes from my house and there is hardly any traffic. It seems like when authors come to town they always book the downtown Barnes and Nobles so I either have to fight with Minneapolis traffic or skip it. Generally I skip it. I am giddy with excitement.

Does anyone want to come meet Paula with me? She will be at the Barnes and Nobles in the Galleria at 7 PM on Monday, April 13th. A great family home evening would be learning more about gentle products and how to properly treat our sensitive skin. She will be speaking about Skincare Mythbusting.

The Problem

There are many, many discussions in my group about what precisely is the problem. I work on integrating the operating system and the hardware, so my group has to buffer the issues that arise before we can ship our stuff to the customer.

The operating system developers are sure that the errors are all because of the deficiencies of the hardware design. The hardware engineers write off every problem as either an operating system bug or a test software deficiency and thus ship the product to the customer. It doesn't help that the software and hardware teams are two different companies who had bid on the contract together to win the work, and now have to execute to a joint standard.

Chris is the guy on our team who has to write an explanation for every time a failure occurred, and why it is still OK to send the product to the customer, or alternately decide if we need to rework the unit before shipping it. He harasses us to no end in his attempt to figure out what happened during testing.

A few days ago Chris came to talk to Kurt about one such problem. One out of every 4 sentences started with, "The problem is....." and ended with, "the hardware folks can't make hardware," "there isn't enough time to integrate," "the software folks aren't developing on real hardware" and a million other problems that had reared their ugly heads.

Finally, Kurt had had enough. He raised his voiced a few decibels and stated through clenched teeth "THE PROBLEM IS..." and we waited.

And waited.

I looked up from my computer to see the exchange that was about to happen. Would Kurt say it was the hardware? The software? The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Finally, Kurt lowered his voice, shrugged his shoulders, and stated flatly, "yours. Go deal with it."

It was classic! The mantra of the day then became, "The problem is yours."