Is Fabio on Facebook?

My muse has blown a fuse.

I continue to choose to play 12 games of Spider Solitaire in a row over cooking delights like, say, quail leg confit with lemon and basil marmalade. My food mojo has gone to hell in a hand basket. Straight to Suduku hell. No, actually my WRITING mojo has done a Fabio face plant – and it doesn’t even have a charming Italian accent to fall back on.

The FOOD part of my life continues at breakneck and gluttonous speed….I still eat and think about food all the time. It's just that I’ve just lost some of my…interest….in taking pictures of it and writing about it all the live long day. Maybe it’s this process I’m in of designing and building a house. I’m a very busy, artistic, angsty person with all the design and building books I’ve ordered from Amazon….used, of course. I mean, you can get the most gorgeous design book measuring about about 3 feet by 5 feet, weighing 78 pounds, for something like 42 cents. I have dozens!!! So many ideas!!! This is will be either the most beautifully unique house ever built in the entire world or it will look like the monkey tree house at Disney World. Yes, I am very busy with this house business. Then, of course, I have to do Facebook….I have to send people cool applications! And pokes! Hugs! And raise money for blind hamsters in Azbakistan by sending roses and lollipops and little green trolls over and over and over to all my FB friends! All this creative activity takes a lot of time!

No wonder I am having trouble writing.

The Spousal Unit was badgering me (yes, SU, sir, you ARE a badger and a mighty fine looking one at that!) about my blog yesterday. “Why aren’t you writing? I can’t believe you aren’t writing! Didn’t you just fix your blog up? What did that cost? What’s for dinner? Can I eat that cheese? Aren't you writing anymore? Are you making dessert? Where are all these books coming from?? Are those grandma panties??? Are you turning into your mother?”

So I thought I’d give it a feeble shot today. No samples of exotic wood or appliance brochures came in the mail today, so I wandered into the kitchen with an old ratty copy of a recipe yanked from some magazine somewhere…coconut cupcakes. Yes, I can do this! These are very good things to eat. We’ll start there, I guess. Baby steps, people, baby steps.

Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 30 regular sized cupcakes
2 3/4 cups butter, room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon each of baking soda, baking powder, and salt
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together 2 cups butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in 1 1/2 teaspoons each of the vanilla and almond extracts.
2. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the tip of sharp knife, scrap the vanilla seeds from the split vanilla bean into the cup of coconut milk and stir. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with coconut milk. Stir 1 cup of the coconut into the batter.
3. Fill 30 paper-lined muffin cups in two or more muffin pans about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and springy to touch. Cool for 10 minutes before removing cupcakes from pans. Cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, toast remaining 1/2 cup coconut in small skillet until toasty brown. Cool. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup butter, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon each vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Frost cup cakes and sprinkle with remaining coconut.
Note: Sprinkle - oh, hell to the no sprinkles. I put the cupcake upside down into the coconut and give a twist.

Why Is This Man Smiling???

This is my man, Mr. Buddha. My garden Buddha. He keeps the peace amongst the marigolds, the basil, and the squirrels. He is always blissfully happy and when I pat his head in passing, I’m pretty sure he winks at me. He knows I have a conflicted interior. From a 5th generation Mormon family, who was raised Methodist, but went to Catholic school, who begged my parents to let me convert to be Jewish when I was 12 years old – it’s like the United Nations in my soul. I pray/meditate every day until something shiny catches my attention, which is about 10 seconds into it. When the bad stuff happens, I’m on my knees, making bargains, promises, and deals…when I have good things come to me, I forget to say “thank you” and just assume it’s because I’m so cool.

But my garden Buddha knows what’s up. He’s on to me, big time! That’s why he’s smiling. He’s knows what a rascal I am, how selfish and silly I can be. So he smiles at that nonsense. I think he thinks I’m the biggest hoot ever. It’s very humbling to think that a stone Buddha is laughing at your myriad efforts to be spiritual. So I decided to make a dessert while contemplating my confusing spiritual paths. Cooking has always been my best meditation. “Soften to room temperature” is a nice mantra.

This is my humble homage to my garden Buddha. I just wish he’d quit laughing at me.


Heavenly Spiced Chocolate Cakes with Ginger Whipped Cream and Toffee Topping




Makes 6 Big "OM" Cupcakes

½ firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 large egg
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons honey
2 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground ginger
About 1/3 cup powdered sugar or to taste

6 ounces Heath bars, roughly chopped into lengths for “stacking” on cakes (see pics)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 6 hole over-sized muffin tin by lining with paper cups or greasing with butter.

2. In a large bowl, stir together with a fork the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and ginger. Add the butter, egg, whipping cream, and honey, and beat with electric mixer at slow speed until well combined. Increase speed to medium and continue beating until caramel colored and smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate.
3. Divide mixture between the muffin cups. Batter will be stiff, like soft cookie dough.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until dark golden brown and springy to the touch. Cool completely before topping with whipped cream.
5. Whip the cream until peaks form. Add the vanilla, ginger, and powdered sugar. Beat a bit longer until well-incorporated.
6. When cakes are cool, slather on the whipped cream, and arrange the Heath bar slivers on top. Scatter any little pieces of toffee over the tops.




Say “Shalom”, “Om”, and “God Bless You” as you pass them around to others – because, you know, it’s important to give to others. Without expecting a nice baked treat in return.

"Simply Irresistible"

This is my entry to a reallllly cool Blogging Event...."Eat to the Beat!" Check it, peeps!
Food and music - woo hoo!

Remember Robert Palmer? Kinda hot! Maybe not to you whippersnappers, (Emiline), but back in the day, I totally rocked the spandex….pretending I was a 'Robert Palmer girl'. Too bad the babysitter and the kids laughed so hard when I came downstairs in my red lipstick and slicked back hair. And it didn't help when I took a header in my 4 inch heels. While dancing. And doing air guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3geoXOdnJQ

And how about these ooey gooey puppies, eh? Looking pretty rockin’?? They are SO "simply irresistible" and, (because you all know what a lazy, sketchy, and paranoid baker I am), VERY easy. Nothing can go wrong. Except getting the butterscotch caramel syrup in your hair. That was messy. And NOT very Robert Palmerish.

Oh, dear Lord, what kinda of deluded 80's memories am I serving up these days????

I used my Texas sized muffin pan – because Texas goes with shoulder pads, spandex dresses, and…oh, never mind. These are just big ol’ irresistible Robert-Palmer-girl-over-the-top muffin cakes. And you MUST use Mrs. Richardson's topping...it's the best.



"Simply Irresistible" Banana and Butterscotch-Caramel Muffin Cakes

Makes 6 – I really suggest the “Big Pan”

For Muffin Cakes:
6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup brown sugar, packed (light or dark, whatever)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup cake flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup smashed overripe banana (about 1 small one)
1/3 cup sour cream
1-2 tablespoons milk, as needed

For Filling and Topping
1 jar Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch-Caramel Ice Cream Topping Sauce
½ cup heavy cream, whipped
2 medium nice bananas, sliced very thinly
About 3 oz good dark chocolate (I used Sharffen Berger), shaved

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 6 hole muffin tin (Texas!) with paper liners or grease with butter and dust with a little flour.
2. In a medium sized bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well after each one. Beat in the vanilla.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, allspice and nutmeg.
4. Add the banana and sour cream to butter mixture.
5. Stir in the flour mixture, just mixing in and not beating too much. Add milk if necessary to obtain a nice banana bread type batter.
6. Divide mixture among baking cups and smooth with spatula. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch.
7. Remove to rack, cool for a few minutes, then remove muffins to cool completely before filling.
8. Cut cakes horizontally into three slices. Re-assemble cakes with caramel and 4 banana slices on the bottom and middle layers. Place top layer.
9. Fold 3 tablespoons of the butterscotch caramel topping into the whipped cream – don’t over mix, it will appear streaky, which is good!
10. Dollop the top of each muffin cake with whipping cream and top with chocolate shavings.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all you love bugs! I have a little treat for you! This is fast, easy, delicious. Not even any baking! These gems are kind of a cross between a cupcake and a huge piece of candy. What would you call that – a cupdy?? Or cakecan??? I just call them wonderful. They remind me of a chocolate popcorn ball…they’re messy, gooey, chocolate-all-over-your-face good. If you make them for your kids, they will probably clean up their room.

I guess I’ll share them with my husband. Valentine’s Day is a rather touchy subject since the year he presented me with a Shop-Vac. I mean, I like a Shop-Vac as much as the next person, but there’s something about an appliance that picks up dirt that doesn’t bring to mind – romance. At least he put a red bow on it. And then there was the year, early on in our marriage, when he was working very long hours and we didn’t plan anything special for Valentine’s. He came home, dead tired, and woke me up at 10:30pm with a bouquet of flowers. I was so touched – he remembered! But then I read the card…”To Wanda, Love Harold”. Whaaaa???? Turns out he didn’t have time to go anywhere to buy flowers. So he flagged down a florist late that night, while he was driving home, and asked if he had any “spares”. The guy had one bouquet in the back of the truck and he couldn’t find the address to deliver it. So my husband bought it from him, neglecting to check the card.

So here’s to you, Harold. Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Wanda

No-Bake Chocolate Candy Cakes - "Cupdies"!

Makes 12

5 – 2 oz Milky Way bars
4 tablespoons butter
3 ½ cups crispy rice cereal (Rice Krispies)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Line a 12 –cup muffin tin with paper baking cups.

2. Chop 4 of the candy bars coarsely. Cut the remaining bar into slices.

3. In a medium saucepan, place the chopped candy bars and butter – heat over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth.

4. Stir in the crispy rice cereal.

5. Stir the vanilla into the melted chocolate chips (I melt them by placing in microwavable bowl, and nuking on high for 10 seconds, stirring, then nuking again in 10 second increments, stirring after each, until melted).

6. Press the candy bar/cereal mixture into baking cups. Spread with melted chocolate. Top each with sliced candy bar. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.

The Sweetest Thing

Our son leaves for Iraq in about 6 hours. We have spent the last several days (which explains the lack of posting exquisite recipes and witty commentary) completely devoted to him, and we then took him back to his base to prepare for his departure. Luckily, that was Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, which gave us opportunity for some beautiful beach time!

He has already served one tour in Iraq…that tour was relatively safe (if there is such a thing!) and pretty uneventful. But this tour is more intense…and his job and mission is very dangerous. However, I am finished crying and wringing my hands. What he needs from me now is packages of gum, toothbrushes, hard candy for the Iraqi kids, wet wipes, and cookies that don't crumble. That part is easy! I'll be a cookie bakin' fool!!!! The harder thing is to keep my head up and live each day in a happy mood and not worry. He would not like it AT ALL if I became all weepy, walking around sighing, blathering away about him…he’d be so embaressed if he knew I was writing this! But I am so proud of him and want to shout out what a great, great man and son he is.

AND….I’m finally posting my win in the Cake-Mate “Mother of All Bake Sales” contest. Mine are the "French Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes". There were 5 grand prize winners…just look at those beauties! I especially liked Beth Royals submission….so creative! We each won $1,000 PLUS an additional $1,000 to be donated to charity of our choice, which, for me, will be “Make-A-Wish Foundation”. This is a surprising win for me, mainly because I am not that great of a baker and also because this is a very simple recipe – the cupcakes are good, but I think I won because I used lots of the sponsors decorations in a pretty cute way. They were adorable and easy. I’m especially pleased with this win because it’s not often that a charity also benefits.


(This is my picture that I submitted...the one up top is a pic that the Cake-Mate people did...obviously, better photographers!)


So, life IS pretty sweet….I’ve got a son that sends my heart to the moon! And I get to make cupcakes with Barbie decorations that won some cash for a great charity! I guess it’s all in how you look at things, huh???

I wonder if Marines like cupcakes with flowers??? Hmmmmmm