Monday Cashew Chicken – I love this recipe. I’m going to try to make brown rice in the rice cooker, and hopefully I won’t totally screw that up.

Tuesday I’m going to a dinner in Brooklyn (WOOT) so I won’t be home. I think Hubby is planning to order Chinese or something.

Wednesday Hubby is going to grill some fish, and I’ll probably make whole wheat/flax seed couscous on the side. I am sure the excitement is knocking you over RIGHT NOW.

Thursday We’ll be bringing the boys up to Connecticut so dinner will likely be sandwiches or road food (ew).

So: what’s your favorite travel food? When you’re on the road, what places do you look for? And if you’ve ever been to Quebec City, what do you recommend?

Thanks!

In addition to the traditional matzoh, charoset, horseradish and assorted other Seder-y type foods, we’re serving:

Matzoh Ball Soup: using the Cooks’ Country recipe (Login required, I’m sorry!) and using the recipe on the side of the box for the Matzoh balls.

Hard boiled eggs and Deviled eggs.

Baby Spinach Salad with red onion, toasted almonds, and cranberries (recipe on the back of the Craisins bag). I’m omitting the feta, as some folks don’t like it.

Turkey breast, tenderloin and grilled rosemary potatoes – cooking by Hubby, recipes also from Cooks’ Country.

Meichel: matzoh farfel with mushrooms, from “Passover by Design,” by Susie Fishbein.

Steamed green beans

Dessert:

Berries with dark chocolate

Matzoh Bark!

Inspired by Angie’s recipe for cracker candy, I’m taking matzoh boards, and covering them with melted and boiled brown sugar and butter. After baking, I’m going to (very) liberally sprinkle them with pecans, sliced almonds, cranberries, dark chocolate chips, and salt. Yay!

Chag sameach!

Hubby commandeered dinner: garlic-herb standing rib roasted on the grill, with herb potatoes, green beans and honey oat bread. I decided to make them a mini wedding cake for dessert. I have no idea what got into me, but I was all over this project, and it took me almost a week to accomplish. Tuesday through Saturday every night after work and after the boys were in bed, I was cooking or mixing or covering every counter inch with cornstarch or confectioner’s sugar.

I didn’t take pictures of every step because there were some moments that were so sticky, there was no way in hell I was touching a camera. But I have lots of pictures of the finished product.

First: the cake. I kid you not, this is the cake I used:

Yes, it wasn’t the best option and yes, I could have made a cake from scratch, but I was not up to it after a full day at work, and I didn’t have a whole lot of time. So, box cake it was. I did check, though, and this was the top-rated box mix from Cook’s Country (registration required) and damn if it didn’t stay moist. And with a little extra vanilla extract and a LOT of beating with a whisk, it was very moist and very yummy.

Tuesday: Shopped for supplies. I found the cake mixes for $1 each (woo!) and bought butter, pure cane confectioner’s sugar, and cake tins. There was a huge Wilton’s selection at the A.C. Moore near me, but only one 6″ cake tin. I figured if I had to, I’d bake two cakes in there one after the other. I also bought no-taste red dye and red satin ribbon. Oh, and dowels and cardboard cake rounds to make each layer on.

Wednesday: Made fondant. Everything I needed to know about fondant and making cakes at home, I learned from reading Peggy Weaver’s tutorials online. OH, my GOSH is this woman rocking my world. Thank you Peg!

Everything you need to know about making fondant at home is right there. Seriously. I read that page about six times before I got down to it in my kitchen.

Her marshmallow fondant recipe was kick ass. It tastes delicious, too. I couldn’t find a 16oz bag of marshmallows, so I guessed by using all of a 10oz bag and a little over half of a second 10oz bag.

She is not kidding when she says grease your hands with Crisco. The fondant was so sticky and such a mess when the marshmallows came out of the microwave, I didn’t think it was going to work. Eventually, I kneaded enough sugar into the wet marshmallow that I could work with it and not feel like I was never going to unstick my fingers from one another ever again.

In the end, I couldn’t incorporate all the confectioner’s sugar but I did have a soft, kneadable mass of fondant about the size of a human brain.

I also made easy vanilla buttercream from Cook’s Country (registration required – I’m sorry). My variation of the recipe is as follows:

2.5 sticks of softened unsalted butter. (And I mean softened. I left them on the countertop under the undercabinet light for over 2 hours. They were shiny and very soft and made huge fluffy icing.)

2.5 cups of confectioner’s sugar. Make sure it is pure-cane.

1/8 tbsp of salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. I used Mexican vanilla so my icing was a light tan color, but it was inside a cake so I didn’t care. You can buy clear vanilla in baking supply stores or supremely well-stocked grocery stores.

2 tablespoons of heavy cream.

tiny sprinkle nutmeg. Like, really a little.

I used the whisk attachment to my stand mixer, fluffed the butter (ha) for 30 seconds, added the sugar and let that fly around the bowl for about a minute. Then I added the salt, vanilla, cream, and nutmeg. I whipped that for more than the recipe calls for – about 5-6 minutes instead of 4. Then I folded it with a rubber spatula so it was smoother and didn’t have so many air bubbles.

Thursday: I crumb-coated the cakes with a 1/4-1/2 inch coating of butter cream. I had to take the buttercream out of the fridge about 2 hours before I planned to use it. I then, per Peg’s instructions, let the iced cakes sit out on a high shelf inside my kitchen cabinet so the icing would get very crusty – except for one cake that didn’t get iced all the way because I ran out of icing.

Friday: Fondant time! I took the fondant brain out of the fridge about 2 hours before I planned to mess with it. I also made another batch of buttercream icing. The cake that had the fresh icing: WAY easier to work with and smooth out once the fondant was on. The cakes that had crumb coats that were 24 hours old were not as smooth.

I cut the fondant into smaller pieces, about fist sized, and microwaved them for 10 seconds to warm them up slowly (per Peg’s instructions again). Seriously. Peg knows everything. Then I coated my rolling pin mat with a freaking ton of cornstarch, and rolled out the fondant into a 1/8″ thick somewhat-circle-but-not-really. I wrapped the fondant around the rolling pin loosely, and lowered the fondant over each cake, smoothing the sides down and using my pizza cutter to trim the excess.

The fondant from marshmallows rolls out like a dream once it warms up. I did have to coat my rolling pin with cornstarch but it was easy to work with otherwise.

I bought a small container of no-taste red dye and used that to dye one small mound of fondant a deep red.

Let’s get to the decorating, shall we? That was the fun part!

A long time ago, I taught arts and crafts, and pottery, too, at a summer camp in West Virginia. Most of the skills I learned there went into working with the fondant, but I didn’t have any decorating plans in mind when I started working. I knew I had red dye and a monster load of fondant, and that I wanted to use the red ribbon I had bought. Since the 40th anniversary is the “ruby” anniversary, the red could be pretty much anything.

I thought about polka dots, stripes, or even a weave, but in the end I loved the look of the matte white fondant (even with the folds and wrinkles) and didn’t want to do much to it.

Somewhere online when I was researching how to build a two-tier cake, I saw little candies made of fondant, with fondant crimped sides that looked like wrapped hard candies in different colors. I figured with red fondant, I could make little peppermint candies (note: I did not flavor the fondant with mint. I hate peppermint).

So I made long thin ropes of red and white fondant, stacked six together and rolled them out, twisting them together as I went. Then, I broke off sections and rolled them into tiny swirls. I rolled out a flat sheet of white fondant, cut squares out of it with the pizza cutter, and crimped the edges to make a small fan. I dipped the point in water and stuck them to the back of the red and white swirls. I tell you, with fondant, a little water and you are so in business.

I made about eight of them, and put them all over the second tier of the cake in different positions.

You can totally see where my fondant over the tops of the cake is imperfect. I had a few wrinkles and divots and scratches, but one thing Peg said that I kept repeating was: this is a homemade cake. It is going to be eaten and no one is going to microinspect for flaws. It’s meant to be enjoyed, so enjoy making it. I so did, even with wrinkles.

I had no idea what to do for the top and had no plans while I decorated the sides. I thought about doing a W for their (and my) last name, but hadn’t decided how to do it. Then, I remembered that I had big block letter cookie cutters that would work marvelously. So I did a big red W on top of a white W (both out of fondant) and did one more mint candy made of fondant for the top.

I had a layer that I had intended to go into the middle, but there wasn’t enough width difference between the three layers, so I made that one it’s own cake. I figured my inlaws could eat it on their actual anniversary if they wanted to. For that cake, I wrapped the outside with ribbon (SO FORGIVING of the FONDANT WRINKLES I cannot even TELL YOU) and made a bow for the top:

So the bottom of the two-tier cake was an 8″ round and a 6″ round on top, and the other cake was a 7″ round. I think there needs to be about 2 inches of difference if you’re doing a shorter cake, but I don’t know diddly about baking tiered cakes so I’m just going by what I wanted it to look like.

My in laws were so surprised by the cake. I know my mother in law, Charlene, likes yellow cake best, and hates fruit filling, so it’s vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream, and fondant on top. And having tasted parts of each layer, I can tell you it is some good cake.

I thought making the cakes on Tuesday would mean they would be dry, but as I lifted them off the cardboard cake rounds to put on top of the dowels (yes, you have to put dowels inside the bottom cake so it can hold up the top cake) they were plenty moist underneath.

I love cake, but this may serve as my sugar fix for a month or more.

Here’s a look at the source of the recipe, which you can read here. Get a load of that vintage Martha action, eh? Doesn’t even look like herself. This originally printed in 1997, but was reprinted in the “Best of” issue I saved. I have this theory that there’s one step in every Martha Stewart recipe that insures the recipe you make doesn’t come out like hers, but this one is pretty damn spiffy. So let’s get started.

Gross, right? It’s grated ginger, raw. I usually buy a few ginger roots, and stick them in the freezer. I find them much easier to work with partially frozen. Scrape the outside skin off with a vegetable peeler, get the box grater, and off you go. You need a LOT for this recipe.

I’m reprinting the recipe below but trust me on this: while you grate the ginger, boil water for this tiny amount of leavening that goes into the cookie. Otherwise you wait there and are like, “I’m waiting for a tablespoon of water and a half to boil? I could eat this dough now!” Then you do. Then you feel ill. Trust me on this. Boil early.

Now it’s time for My Venture Capitalist™ to hook me up with smell-o-vision for the internet because OH MY HEAVENS it’s the sweetest smelling flour mixture in the world.

There’s flour, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cocoa powder and cinnamon up in there. Go on, scratch the screen of your computer and have a whiff.

Once you whisk it together, it’s even BETTER. Seriously, it’s the best smelling dry ingredients on earth. Which is matched only by the wet ingredients for this recipe.

You start off with an ENTIRE STICK of butter, and the grated ginger, and mix that mess until it’s all white and creamy. Then you add brown sugar, which is always yummy.

Then you add molasses.

Now, I couldn’t get a pic of this part, but here’s a tip: when working with molasses, especially in a measuring cup, spray the cup with nonstick cooking spray. Saves a LOT of time on cleanup.

So once the molasses, brown sugar, and butter and ginger are all happy together, you add some of the sweetest smelling flour mixture in the world, some baking soda that’s dissolved in boiling water, and then more of the sweetest smelling flour mixture in the world.

Then the chocolate chips.

Then your stand mixer starts cursing at you because this batter is like molding clay.

Then, you get this pile of awesome.

There’s no raw egg in there – have some! Seriously, it’s delicious and you want to start the baking right away, but no. NO. It’s goes in the fridge. DAMMIT. So wrap up that dough and shove it in the fridge and try not to think about it. (Good luck with that.)

Then, it’s fun time! Take that cold dough out, run your hands under cold water and dry them so they get nice and chilly too, and start rolling little cookie balls.

Then, put the naked cookie balls on a cookie sheet and… put them back in the fridge! Yes! Because they’ll bake in there! No, I’m kidding. Back in the chilly they go. Then, you take them out and roll them in sugar. THEN… you bake them!

They cook for 10-12 minutes, but watch carefully. It’s really easy to burn the bottoms, and that just sucks.

This is what you’re going for: slightly cracked on the top, and spread out a good bit.

They are delicious.

They are chewy.

They are impossible to keep around because you just eat them one after another. Good thing I only make them once a year.

Now, I’m going to include the recipe below, but please note: like that annoying guy who yells all the time about kicking it up a notch, or the guy from Home Improvement who always grunted about “More power!” I like to jack up my spices to “Damn, we need to buy ginger already?”

I love more spices. So kick it up a notch and add more power and let heaping spoonfuls of the measurements below be your guide.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, circa 1997

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger (*PLEASE. 1.5 teaspoons is perfectly fine*)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (*HEAP THAT BABY HEAP IT HIGH!*)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (*CLOVES ARE YOUR FRIENDS. TRY nearly 1/3 tsp or more!*)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (*PAH. HEAPING 1/4 is good for everyone!*)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (*YOU GET THE PICTURE, RIGHT?*)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (Since I grate it frozen, it gets mucky and packs in tight. Adds heat to cookie so beware!)
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Line two baking sheets with parchment or use Wearever baking sheets and don’t use the parchment at all. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. Grate ginger while water is boiling for baking soda part (below).

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. Stick your nose in the bowl and breathe deeply. You might want to dab some behind your ears.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Spray measuring cup for molasses with a bit of nonstick spray and then add molasses; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. See? Boiling water and you need 1.5 tsp. Go ahead and use the microwave until it’s holy cow hot – works just as well. Just don’t let it cool off and get all gritty and cruddy on the bottom.

Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more. (OH THE AGONY.)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. (AAAAAAAYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!)

Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. BEGIN NOM like NOMMING HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.

Enjoy – happy eating!

Spread out your crackers in on a jelly roll/cookie sheet pan. One with edges that you’ve lined completely with foil. Trust me on this, line the pan with foil. I decided to do a mix of soda crackers and club crackers, because I thought the buttery taste of the club crackers might be divine in this recipe.

Melt the butter, add the sugar and bring to a boil for three minutes. I think there’s an official candy-making term for this. Soft ball stage? I don’t know, I’m totally making crap up now.

Pour the butter mixture over the crackers. All over the crackers. You won’t be able to get them all coated just by pouring, you’re going to have to pour it as evenly as you can (I didn’t do that and made it a little harder on myself) and then go back and spread it out with a spoon.

It should look like this, all cracker surfaces covered with butter goo. Now put the crackers in the oven on 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Set a timer. You’ll be ticked if you leave them in too long and burn them. And that can happen.

While your crackers are in the oven, grab your commercial-size can of cashews–what do you mean you don’t have one? Everyone has one, right? Well, anyway, at this stage, if you’re going to use nuts like pecans, walnuts or cashews, even peanuts, you’re going to want to chop them up.

Like this. I used my handy countertop Black and Decker chopper. You’ll see this featured a lot in my cooking posts. I just chopped the cashews until they were appropriate for topping. I use cashews because I like them best, but you can use whatever you want. A cup of cashews unchopped resulted in enough chopped cashews for the entire pan of cracker candy.

Here’s a shot of the crackers in the oven. This was longer than five minutes because I had to run upstairs and tuck Brianna in.

I pulled them out of the oven, see how they look kind of brown? That’s not bad, but you don’t really want them to get any darker than that. Don’t try to go for any particular color. Just bake them for five minutes and pull them out.

Now sprinkle the chocolate chips over as soon as you pull them from the oven. I also had an industrial size bag of dark chocolate chips (hey, I shop at Sam’s Club) so I had to guess at how many to put on, but it’s hard to have too much chocolate. I use dark because it’s my favorite. The chips will begin to melt immediately, but get them sprinkled on and then worry about spreading. You have lots of time. I spread one side out, the other side looks like they’re still formed but really they’re melted too. Spread the chocolate evenly. I had to move some around because I had a bare spot after I was done.

Look to see if anyone is around.

Lick the spatula. You’re done with it, it’s okay. Now put it in the sink and wipe the chocolate off the corner of your mouth. Be glad no one saw you.

At this point, you can just leave your cracker candy naked. You don’t have to do anything more to it if you don’t want. You can be done now.

I added cashews to only half, because I do like naked cracker candy too. Instead of adding nuts, this year Jennifer added Christmas color candy sprinkles to hers. I almost put some fancy sea salt on one corner of this, because dark chocolate and sea salt? Yum. But I didn’t want to get the salt out (I’m lazy).

Now the hard part. Waiting. Let it cool in the fridge or freezer. Possibly overnight on the counter if it’s cool in your house, but you might need to stash it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up. You don’t want the chocolate to be soft at all. You want it totally set. Now break it apart. You can be anal and break it into the cracker squares, or you can just break it into random pieces. It really doesn’t matter. It all tastes the same. Addictive. Oh, and next time? I’m making them all with club crackers. The extra buttery taste made them insane!

Cracker Candy

35-40 Saltines
2 sticks of salted butter -do NOT use margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 bag of milk (or semi or dark) chocolate morsels
Sliced almonds or any other nuts

Line cookie sheet with foil (sides too). Lay saltines side by side in one layer, sides touching. Melt butter, add sugar and boil 3 minutes. Drizzle over crackers, (keep crackers together). Bake 5 minutes @ 400°. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate over baked crackers. They will start to melt – spread over crackers. Sprinkle top with nuts. Refrigerate until cold, even overnight. Break into pieces.