Piece of cake? Not exactly.

My dad's birthday was this past Sunday and he requested a German chocolate cake, which my mom asked me to bake. I was excited to do it, since I rarely make cakes or frosting from scratch. Based on recommendations from the What's for Dinner board on the Nest I used the Baker's recipe for both the cake and the frosting. Things with the cake started off rocky. What a pain in the a@@ that cake was! Separating eggs, melting chocolate, whipping egg whites, folding ingredients. It honestly took me close to an hour to prep my baking pans and mix up the batter for the cake. The cakes went into the oven just fine though, and after 30 minutes they were brown and crisp on the edges and tested done in the center. When I tried to remove them from the pans, however, each layer fell completely apart. They did not seem to be cooked all the way through, although they had seemed to be done... After a mini temper tantrum on my part (which may or may not have included me cursing and hurling broken chunks of cake into the sink) I ended up making the cake with a box mix the next morning. I did, however, proceed with the coconut-pecan frosting, and that turned out wonderfully! And the cake looked beautiful, homemade or not. I'm posting only the recipe for the frosting, because that cake recipe can go to hell. Happy birthday, Dad!

Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting

4 egg yolks
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (about 2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups PLANTERS Chopped Pecans

BEAT egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with wire whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter; cook on medium heat 12 min. or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
ADD coconut and pecans; mix well. Cool to room temperature and of desired spreading consistency.
USE to frost your favorite cake or cupcake recipe.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Mmmmmm. That's all there really is to say about these delicious rolls. They are soft and light and just a tad sweet - perfect nice and warm slathered in some butter. Ever since my success with the Hawaiian rolls I have been dying to make more fresh rolls and bread. I found the recipe for these rolls on Amber's blog, but I followed the instructions from All Recipes and kneaded the dough in my breadmaker. I also decided to try the crescent shape - for the most part it went well, but I think I let them rise too long because they came out huge! But hey, bigger is better, right? I halved this recipe and got 8 rolls.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS
Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle; press Start.
When cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Cat Crackers

One way to guarantee that you won't snack on what you're baking? Bake something for your pet! There's nothing like a little tuna in the dough to keep you from licking the spoon :) My pet rescue group often participates in local craft fairs for fundraising. We always have tons of goodies for dogs - bandannas, homemade dog cookies, toys, etc. - but rarely anything for the cats. So for an upcoming craft show I decided to make some cat treats for our table. This recipe came from SimplyPets.com. There were many cat treat recipes on the Internet, but I chose this one because it was quick, required only 3 ingredients and called for tuna. What cat can resist tuna? So go ahead and treat your kitty to these crunchy snacks - and let HIM lick the bowl!

Cat Crackers

6 ounces (1 can) undrained tuna packed in water
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into treat sized pieces.

Place on a greased cookie sheet. (I used non-stick cookie sheets and just stirred the treats occasionally while they baked rather than greasing the pans - they came out fine.) Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool.

These treats are Roger approved ;)

Paradise!

I am embarrassingly proud of these rolls. I admit it . I adore bread of all kinds, but aside from using my bread machine, I have never made yeast bread from scratch. I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and give it a try, and when I saw these Hawaiian Rolls on Pennies on a Platter I knew they were destined to be my first. I did not, however, have high hopes for their success. First of all, I may be the only person on earth who does not love her stand mixer, but it's the truth. I don't think I ever properly bonded with it (or learned how to operate it) but when I tried to use it to knead this dough I wound up with a big, frustrating mess. I ended up kneading it by had. Then, the dough didn't appear to rise after it sat for 2 hours. In fact, I almost tossed it right then, certain it was ruined. But then I figured I had come this far and I might as well finish.

I was a little more optimistic after I shaped the dough into rolls - they did seem to rise this time, which was a good sign. So I crossed my fingers and popped them in the oven. I can't even describe how excited I was when I opened the oven door 40 minutes later expecting flat, white rolls only to be greeted by these big, fluffy golden beauties. Woo hoo! And even better, they tasted as good as they look. They were soft and subtly sweet with a hit of pineapple. Yum! Joe and I both had 3 each. I can't wait to make these again. I halved the recipe, since I didn't need 18 rolls, but now that I know how good they are I may make the whole batch next time!

Hawaiian Rolls

1 1/4 cups pineapple juice
2 packages instant dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour

1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and butter. Beat in the yeast packages and the pineapple juice. Beat in 3 of the eggs, the vanilla, salt and ginger until well combined. Add 3 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour (about 2 1/2 cups) to make the dough easy to handle.

2. Using the hook attachment on your stand mixer, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes, using up to 1/2 cup more if necessary. Place the dough in a greased bowl and turn greased side up. Loosely cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Dough is ready if you poke it and the indentation remains.)

3. Punch down the dough and divide in half. Divide one half of the dough into nine equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball and pull the surface taut by tucking the dough in at the bottom of the ball. Place in a greased 9-inch round cake pan, tucked side down. Continue until the pan is filled. Repeat with the other dough half. Cover the rolls and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, lightly bat the remaining egg. Brush over the rolls and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of sugar. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.

Recipe Exchange: Grilled Shrimp with Citrus Dipping Sauce

I love to try out new recipes, especially ones that come recommended by other food lovers, so I was excited to participate in a recipe exchange with the girls on the What's for Dinner board on The Nest. The theme for this exchange was healthy recipes, and I received Grilled Shrimp with Citrus Dipping Sauce. Joe and I both love shrimp so this dish sounded perfect. Unfortunately, neither of us liked it at all. I think it was the strong orange flavor of the sauce that didn't appeal to us. I won't be making this again, but I don't think it was a bad recipe, just not to our tastes. Since my shrimp were small I drizzled the sauce directly over them rather than using it for dipping.

Grilled Shrimp with Citrus Dipping Sauce

1 cup cooked rice
Cooking spray
2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Coat a stove-top grill or griddle with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat to preheat. Season both sides of shrimp with salt and pepper. Place shrimp on hot pan and cook 2-3 minutes per side, until bright pink and cooked through. Sprinkle shrimp with cilantro.
Meanwhile in a small saucepan whisk together orange juice, lime juice, ginger, cornstarch and garlic. Set pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer 2 minutes, until mixture thickens. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer sauce to a serving bowl. Serve 2/3 of the shrimp with the rice and dipping sauce on side.

More fun with Fritos

Oh Fritos, how I have underestimated you all these years. I always viewed you as a greasy snack chip that I had no interest in. But if only I had discovered your versatlity sooner. First, you dazzled me in Frito candy, and now you helped me create the most delicious chili I've made to date. In fact, I'm not sure I can ever enjoy chili WITHOUT Fritos again!

This recipe came from the March issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray. Two things make this stand out to me - one, of course, being the Fritos, and the other being the fact that the cheese is melted into the chili while it's still in the pot. The result is creamy and just delicious! As you can see, Joe and I were not the only ones unable to resist this chili.

Tex-Mex Corn Chip Chili

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (15 oz) black beans
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans (I used kidney beans)
1 (10 oz) can tomatoes with green chilis
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (I omitted)
12 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese (I used cheddar)
Fritos corn chips

In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook 7 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, chili powder and cumin and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the beans, with their liquid, and the tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occassionally, until thick, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the cilantro then top with cheese. Cover and let stand until cheese melts, about 5 to 10 minutes. Place a handful of Fritos in each bowl and top with chili.

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

It's no secret that I love my crockpot, so when I came across the Easy Slow Cooker Cookbook on clearance in Barnes & Noble last year I snatched it up. For some reason though I haven't made many recipes from it, but last week I decided to make dinner from it. The Hawaiian Chicken jumped right out at me. While I am not a huge fruit fan, I LOVE pineapple so this recipe was right up my alley. I liked it a lot, but it is pretty sweet - Joe isn't a fan of sweet meals so he didn't love it. But if you like pineapple and a little bit of sweetness for dinner, give this a try!

Hawaiian Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt to taste

1 (15 ounce) can pineapple slices, juice reserved

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup cornstarch

Place chicken in slow cooker sprayed with non-stick spray and sprinkle with a little salt. Place pineapple slices over chicken. In a small bowl, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cornstarch and stgir until combined. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or hight for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Serve over rice.