Smores Cake!

So father's day hit me a little by surprise this year, and since I had a cake mix around the house, I decided to bake a cake! But of course, I can never just make a normal cake, so...
Introducing- the Smores Cake!

It was delicious.

Ingredients:
-1 box yellow cake mix + eggs and oil (or whatever your mix calls for)
-marshmallows
-chocolate bars
-graham crackers
-chocolate frosting

Directions:
-Make yellow cake according to directions on box. Bake batter in two 8 inch round cake pans. Take one cake out of the pan and let cool.
-Take the second cake out of the cake pan, and place it on a baking sheet. Place sliced marshmallows and chocolate all over the top. Place it in the oven on broil- and broil your toppings until they look nice and toasty like a smore.



-Take the 2nd cake out of the oven and let it cool. When cooled, gently move the cake to whatever tray/dish you want to present it on. A giant grilling spatula works well for this. Place the 1st cake on top of the second cake.
-Frost the layered cake.
-Crush graham crackers into small pieces, and sprinkle over the top of your cake. You're finished!



Love, Nicole B.

Super easy chinese tofu! (or whatever your meat preference)

We've been neglecting this poor blog...

So Bird's Eye, and several other vegetable companies have made it super easy to whip up a tasty, and healthy Chinese meal!

Bird's Eye Steamable brown rice
Bird's Eye Steamable Asian vegetable medley
I usually use Teriyaki sauce mixed with a little honey (I like sweet teriyaki), but I've also used Sweet and Sour sauce
Extra Firm tofu
Sesame oil

First chop up your tofu into little cubes.
Sautee them in a little sesame oil until the edges are a golden brown (you can use any oil, I just like sesame for chinese dishes)
Steam your veggies in the microwave.
Mix veggies with tofu, and pour in your sauce. Heat together in a pan.
Steam your rice in the microwave.

Voila!

You could do the same thing with any other meat- chicken and shrimp would probably work out really well!

Love,
Nicole B

The LB Orgasm

by bryn

Laura and I "invented" this. And it is awesome.

*1 packet Nestle butterfinger hot chocolate (yes, it must be Butterfinger!)
*1 cup hot H2O.
*1 shot (in theory... in practice more like 2 or 3) Buttershot or butterscotch schnapps.

Margaret's Swiss Cheese Fondue

Margaret's Swiss Cheese Fondue

*1/2 pound emmentaler, grated

*1/2 pound appenzeller, grated

*1/2 pound gruyere, grated

*1 cup of white wine, plus extra

*about half a shot of Kirsch (I believe they sell bottles of this. I had gotten a bunch of little bottles in Germany so I just use though. They're about half a shots worth. Whatever variety works fine). 

*1 onion, chopped

*3 garlic cloves

*3 tablespoons of rosemary

*2 tablespoons of olive oil

*loaf of bread, baked (I usually use rosemary rolls, but something like ciabatta would work as well)

*pepper to taste

*Pre-heat oven to 350. Once heated, put the bread in the oven for maybe 5-10 minutes (or however long you think it'll take to heat up the bread and make it hot and crispy). Cut into small cubes once cooled.

*Start by heating the olive oil in a medium sized saucer. Keep the heat low the entire time. Once heated, add the onions and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, then gradually add the white wine. Bring to a slight boil and then start gradually adding the cheese. Add extra wine if needed. I usually whisk it together, it mixes better that way. Once mixed together, continue stirring and add the kirsch, rosemary and pepper. Mix together for a couple minutes, then transfer to the fondue pot. 

Cod with Tomato Ginger Sauce

by bryn

1 Tablespoon cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree
*I've found chopping up a real tomato and using Trader Joe's Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper soup tastes a lot better than canned stuff.
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 (8 oz.) fillets cod or scrod
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley

In a large deep frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften (about 3 minutes). Stir in the ginger; cook, stirring, 2 minutes longer. Add the tomatoes and salt; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 10 minutes.
Add the fillets and black pepper to pan and cook, covered, until just done (10 or 12 minutes longer for 1-inch thick fillets). Stir the cilantro or parsley into the sauce.
Serve the fish topped with the sauce.

Makes 4 servings.


I love cod and this is incredibly easy to make. If cod or scrod isn't available, or you've found it to be ridculously overpriced (I'm looking at you, Chicago... no higher than $6.99/lb!), any light-tasting whitefish should do. Atlantic and Alaskan-caught cod work best, avoid it if the fish was shipped in from China (will taste unnaturally salty and fishy).

Bryn's Lentil Curry Stew

1/2 of a spanish onion, diced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium red potato
1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed
6 cups H2O
4 vegetarian bouillon cubes
1 piece from the brick of a Java Curry block, or 2-3 bricks from other brands
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cups carrots, thinly sliced

a.) In a large soup pot, cook onions in hot oil until tender.
b.) Add H2O, lentils, bouillon cubes, rosemary, potato, and carrots. Cook for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until lentils and carrots are tender.
c.) Add curry bricks approximately 20-30 minutes in and reduce heat. Curry will thicken the stew.
d.) Allow to simmer, no longer than 20-30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Very savory and great on a cold day. The lentils and potato balance out the curry so nicely even people who don't like spicy food will enjoy the stew. Rosemary's the absolute key, so don't skimp. It brings everything together and gives you that fuzzy-warm-full-naptime feel.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

by bryn's Mother

Cookies:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
48 maraschino cherries

Topping:
6 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 cup condensed milk
4 teaspoons cherry juice (from the maraschinos)

Dough:
Stir together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla.
Gradually add dry ingredients. The batter gets pretty stiff, so by this time I usually discard the beater and knead the dough with my hands. How so much dough ends up in my mouth I've no idea.
Shape into 1" balls then press your thumb in the center and put in a cherry.
Cover each cherry with 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate (or whatever looks good).

Topping:
Melt chocolate.
Add condensed milk and cherry juice.
If the mixture seems too thick, add more cherry juice.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

*soy vanilla yogurt and margarine may be substituted for condensed milk and butter, respectively, if you want a non-dairy version of the cookie.