Ray's Birthday Cake

This is basically a "German Chocolate Cake," except that the cake part is a different recipe, taken from the 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook, and the icing recipe is somewhat enhanced, mostly in quantity.  You need a total of 7 eggs.

I used to make this as a layer cake, in 3 layers, lining them with parchment paper and all that, but it's a hassle and I found that I would end up eating the layers separately, anyway.  Now I make it as a sheet cake, in the largest pyrex pan that I've got, which is almost 10"x15".  If I had a larger pan, like a lasagna pan, I'd use that, but you can make do with 9"x13", or you could use multiple smaller pans.

 Cake

2 c  sifted cake flour

3/4 c cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 c milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg whites

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c shortening (crisco)

1 1/2 c sugar

2 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Start by separating the 2 eggs, putting the whites in the bowl for beating to warm up, retaining the yolks.* 

Sift some cake flou; measure 2 cups of it back into the sifter, then add the cocoa, baking powder, and salt to the sifter and sift it all together into a bowl.  If you decide to skip this step, I am not responsible for the result.

Make a meringue of the whites by beating them to soft peaks, then slowing adding the 1/2 c sugar while you continue to beat.  Remove to a second bowl.

Cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 c sugar.  Add the yolks and beat well.  Add the flour/cocoa mixture alternately with the milk/vanilla in about 4 steps, mixing thoroughly after each addition.  Gently fold in the meringue by hand.  Pour into greased baking pan(s).  Bake just until a toothpick comes out clean.  For the 10"x15" pan, that's 25 minutes.  For three 9" round pans, it's less, more like 20 minutes.  Be careful not to over bake.

Icing

1 large can evaporated milk

1 1/2 cup sugar

5 egg yolks

4 T butter

1 1/2 c chopped pecans (I usually use roasted, salted pecans)

2 1/4 c grated coconut

1 T vanilla

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, yolks, and butter, in a large saucepan (nonstick is good).  Bring to a boil.  You can do this on medium-high heat if you stir often, and stir constantly when it's about to come to a boil, as that when it's most like to burn, which is a drag.  I use a whisk.  Once is boils, start timing 12 minutes of boiling.  Stir often, alternating between a whisk and some flat-bottomed wooden spoon and/or heat-resistant silicone spatula, to make sure none of it hangs out too long in one place on the bottom of the pan.  By the end of 12 minutes, it will be pretty thick and a light caramel color.  Remove from heat; add pecans, coconut, and vanilla.  Spread on the cake.

You can, of course, eat some immediately, but it will get better over the course of the next 24 hours.  Freezes well.

*Since I use the same KitchenAid mixer bowl for both beating the meringue and mixing the batter, I do the whites first and then transfer them to a holding bowl.  I used to beat the whites directly in the second bowl with hand mixer.  Your call. 

Jim's Spicy Tortilla Soup

Ingredients for Soup: 

(Heaping) cup coarsely chopped onion (Ruth's job)

3 Tbls vegetable oil (may require a little more) 

5 corn tortillas coarsely chopped

6 cloves minced garlic (more is fine, less is unacceptable) 

1 Tbls chopped cilantro (or more!)

10 3/4 oz cans of tomato puree 

2 quarts chicken broth

2 Tsps of chili powder 

1 Tbls cumin 

1/8 Tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

2 skinned, boned chicken breast halves, chopped

Directions: 

Chop onion and set aside. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Cook chopped tortillas, garlic and cilantro until tortillas are soft. Add chopped onion and cook a little longer before adding tomato puree, chicken broth, cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer at least 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Stick bay leaves in your ears (they will do as much good here as they do in the soup). When you are ready to serve, heat the soup through and add chopped chicken, warming until chicken is warm. 

Directions for garnish: 

Cut 5 or more tortillas into thin strips and fry in hot oil over medium high heat. HINT: to get them crispy you will need to wait until the oil is very hot, and don't try to cook too many at once. Garnish soup with tortilla strips, cubed avocado, shredded cheddar cheese (sharp) chopped cilantro. Enjoy immensely.

Grilled Corn Salad with Lime, Red Chili and Cotija

Chef: Shannon Fuller

Ingredients

• 8 ears fresh corn, silks removed, husk on, soaked in cold water 30 minutes (or use Trader Joe's roasted frozen corn)
• Canola oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• 2 limes, juiced and 1 zested
• 1 tablespoons ancho chili powder
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup grated cotija cheese

Heat grill to high. Grill corn until charred on all sides, 10 or so minutes. Take off the grill and remove the kernels with a sharp knife. While you are cutting the corn, put a cast iron skillet on the grill to heat.

Add the corn and the remaining ingredients to the hot pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until creamy and heated through. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (with Mike's mom's pie crust)

Crust (Mike’s mom’s recipe)

½ cup flour

1 ½ Teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Stir ¼ cup of milk (we used buttermilk) and ½ cup of oil (we used canola) in with the above ingredients right in the pie pan. Spread dough out around the pan evenly (and up the sides)

Chill in the fridge while making the filling.

Filling (America’s test kitchen recipe)

1

Pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (7 cups)

1 ¼

cups (8 3/4 ounces) sugar

1

pound strawberries, hulled, halved if less than 1 inch, quartered if more than 1 inch (3 to 4 cups)

3

tablespoons flour

1.       While dough chills, combine rhubarb and sugar in bowl and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and continue to microwave until sugar is mostly dissolved, about 1 minute longer. Stir in 1 cup strawberries and set aside for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Drain rhubarb mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over large saucepan. Return drained rhubarb mixture to bowl and set aside. Add remaining strawberries to rhubarb liquid and cook over medium-high heat until strawberries are very soft and mixture is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 to 20 minutes. Mash berries with fork (mixture does not have to be smooth). Add strawberry mixture and flour to drained rhubarb mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.

Crumble topping

In a bowl, mix 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup light-brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and teaspoon cinnamon.

Cut 1 stick chilled unsalted butter into pieces ¼ inch pieces. With your hands, work in butter pieces, until large clumps form.

Prepare: 
Head the oven to 350 degrees

Put the pie filling into the pie pan with the chilled dough spread evenly on the pan

Make sure pie filling is evenly dispersed

Cover the top in the crumble mixture

Bake for 1 hour to an 1 hour and 10 minutes (make sure it is boiling the whole way through). Don’t let the top get too brown.

Butternut Squash Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash- peel and cube (dont forget to scoop out the seeds)
• 3tablespoons maple syrup
• 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
• 1 pound pizza dough
• 1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
• 1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese
• 1 cup arugula

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Cut the squash into cubes and place in a medium bowl. Toss the squash with the syrup, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the squash on a  baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Bake the squash until tender and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. (should be fork tender)

Keep the temperature on the oven at 375 degrees F. Roll out thepizza dough on a flour dusted piece of parchment paper to a 13-inch diameter. Place the pizza and the parchment paper on a baking sheet. --- I buy pillsbury doughboy pizza dough- it cooks super fast and put on the cheese after the dough is almost perfectly cooked- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the bleu cheese on the pizza dough. Bake in the oven until golden and cooked through and the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

 Top the cooked pizza with the cooked squash. Top with arugula (or spinach ) and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Slice and serve.

Grandma's Spinach Souffle

Set oven to 350 degrees. Cook the spinach and drain it - make sure to get all of the water out then loosen with a fork. Mix all ingredients together in a 2 quart casserole dish. Bake uncovered in the oven for an 50 minutes to an hour (time really varies by oven).Test by inserting knife halfway from side to middle. Should come out clean. A little spinach or cheese could show but not  runny stuff.

Ingredients: 

2 pkgs. chopped frozen spinach

l can mushroom soup

1 8-oz. jar (1 cup) Hellman’s mayonnaise (could use Light I believe tho I don’t)

2 Beaten eggs

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 large onion very finely chopped  (from Grandma - "I would leave this out if I could get away with it—just joking")

Grandma's Thin Pancakes

Bet you can't beat a young Shannon Leigh Turner's record - 14 in one sitting!

¾ cup of milk (warm up a little bit) (sometimes I add extra if batter is too thick)
2 TBLS melted butter
1 egg
mix together in a bowl

½ cup flower
½ tsp baking powder
¼ salt

Serve with powdered sugar and jelly and roll up like a burrito