cook: key lime coconut boxed cake mix

At the grocery store on clearance was this box of key lime (one of my favorite flavors) coconut cake mix plus the branding was so pretty (because I'm a sucker for beautiful marketing), which I bought. Like a box of Lego blocks, which I once opened at Toys R'Us to show a nephew how packaging can mislead the consumer on its contents, there were 3 packets--glaze, cake mix, coconut. I find key lime pie to sometimes be too cloying, and so cake sounded like a lighter and more appealing alternative. You merely beat 2 eggs and a 1/2 cup of oil before adding to the dry cake mix. Curiously, the batter was green.

 

I also didn't know when I bought the cake mix that it was one of Chrissy Teigen's production line of baking mixes called Cravings. At the box's suggestions, I toasted the packet of coconut flakes before adding some of the toasted coconut to the batter. The batter tasted pretty good, promising a good cake.

 

And because I've had this bundt cake pan for years and don't use it nearly enough, instead of baking as cupcakes or a sheet cake, I went for a 1950s-60s style dessert. I made the glaze a bit too runny, and because I like pretty, I grated lime zest and added lime wheels for decoration.

 

And oh my gosh, I forgot about the reserved toasted coconut to further embellish the cake.

 

Kind of messy, but t'was delicious. I liked the green color too, and a slice was perfect with hot tea. However, I want to bake my next cake from scratch, and since I just bought a bag of lemons, I'm thinking the lemon cake from Preppy Kitchen and then frosting it with his recipe in the piping style of Nothing Bundt cakes.

cook: bodega breakfast sandwich

While in a hotel in Monterey, I made a breakfast slider with a biscuit, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle sausage. Loved the spicy sausage and was inspired by the sauces at the breakfast bar--jalapeno ranch and red chile aioli. At home, I mixed ground pork (leftover from cooking Imperial rolls), pork chorizo, and chipotle sauce to make sausage patties. On a split Kaiser roll, I laid cheddar cheese and pickled jalapeno on both halves of the bread and then baked in a 350 degree oven to melt cheese until bubbly. In the meantime, I fried a sunny side up egg. Laid the chipotle chorizo sausage on one half with drizzles of sriracha mayo and the egg on the other half.

Did it again the next day and added pickled red onions.

 

Oh my gosh! Even better.

What I love about the kaiser roll is its circumference—big and plushy enough to contain the runny egg and not let too much yolk to ooze out. If ever called upon to cook breakfast at an Airbnb with friends, this is the meal I'm making.

clay: functional food art (toast and avocado and hard boiled eggs tic-tac-toe)

Clay Body: Laguna's Bmix 10 (Smooth)

Underglazes/Glaze: Amaco yellow underglaze; Leslie chartreuse underglaze; Duncan kelp underglaze; Leslie medium brown underglaze; Satin Clear

Method/Firing: Hand build/slab/Cone 5-6

There's a crack in the toast board, but it's already entered into the county fair as one of a grouping entitled "Games Preschoolers Play." I don't expect to win a prize, but I'm proud of it and just want to show it off.

cook: chicken gravy and biscuits

My neighbor, Cecilia messaged me the night before that she was going to bake biscuits, and so I ran to the grocery store the night before. I bought proteins to cook and eat for the week.

The morning of, I went to the herb garden and started chopping shallots and garlic.

Not sure why I decided to chop shallots instead of onion, but this article will explain when I've time to read it when best to use each allium. I browned the ground chicken and then sprinkled flour into the frying meat.

 

Then added chicken broth to turn the roux into gravy, which needed some richness, and so I added a bit of heavy cream. Chicken gravy done.

  

Cecilia's biscuits were done.

 

We enjoyed a fine Sunday breakfast, but now I've chicken gravy. And so the plan is to bake a small batch of biscuits to eat the rest of the gravy though I could also just cook mashed potatoes for one and consume the leftovers that way. I cooked that salmon with a Trader Joe's fettucine alfredo a couple nights ago and made a salad. I had hoped to have leftovers for a Niçoise salad--nope the salmon was that good. Luckily I've honey smoked salmon for that lunchtime meal as well as another Yukon gold potato and some celery for a salad.

clay: functional food art (waffle and berries tic-tac-toe)

Clay Body: Laguna's Bmix 10 (Smooth)

Underglazes/Glaze: Amaco Yellow; Western Pumpkin; Amaco Red + Coyote Blush; Leslie Marine Blue + Leslie Deep Purple; Satin Clear

Method/Firing: Hand build/slab/Cone 5-6

I consider this pot functional as it is not just for looking, but also a game for preschoolers.

I haven't been cooking much and am trying to eat breakfast in addition to lunch.

Less time cooking has meant more time for making. The tic-tac-toe game with waffle and berries was a lot of fun. And I was happy to dig into my box of neglected underglazes.

 

I thought I was not going to overglaze and fire this cone 10 clay in the gas kiln, but a too full kiln and a looming deadline made me resort to an electric kiln firing. And all the little playing pieces, because I decided to adhere a clear satin glaze, necessitated stilts. Luckily, I got to fussily place my tic-tac-toe bits onto stilts on a top kiln shelf.

The moment of truth....

 

At work the next day, I unloaded the electric kiln and you see my success at the top of this page though I had to use a Dremel tool to grind off sharp poking bits and touch up with acrylic paint. In the meantime, Zan unloaded the gas kiln. I made the plaster mold for this casserole dish, and she and a student burnished and added handles and used a combination of Cone 10 glazes of Coleman Red and Dark Blue. 

 

I fell in love with May's cups of Coleman porcelain with celadon glaze. And so summer, if I throw Cone 10 clay, pretty much by myself at the wheel, just practicing without observation even peripherally.

cook: potato leek soup

I'm still eating for fuel more than for fun. My lunch below is what I call a California Niçoise: a Yukon potato and celery and scallion salad dressed with just mayonnaise, lemon juice and a bit of Dijon mustard; edamame; Castelvetrano olives; boiled green beans; leftover broiled salmon with herbs; and a hard boiled egg.

I think my palate quickly became accustomed to simpler flavors, and cooking sure became easier.

Recently, hubs came home with a huge crop of leeks. What he thought were garlic shoots turned into 10 pounds of leeks. He said he wanted me to cook a potato leek soup instead of Colcannon. And so I obliged. I rinsed a lot of dirt from the leeks, the green leafy tops of which I boiled for 30 minutes with a tablespoon of salt, a huge bunch of lemon and English thyme, garlic cloves, and pepper. That was it! And the scent fragranced my condo as I was chopping the white and light green roots, the garlic, and the white potatoes. With the stove turned off and the broth cooling, I sauteed the chopped leeks in more than the 3 tablespoons of butter called for in the recipe. Once the leeks softened, I poured in the strained leek broth, garlic and potatoes and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

I had leek broth leftover. I borrowed Cecilia's immersion blender to puree the soup and unfortunately burned myself as well as drop a glass jar of the soup I was giving to Cecilia. I kind of gave up at that point.

The soup, however, was fucking delicious and because I used a lot of butter, no need to add heavy cream or even milk, nor the lemon juice called for in the recipe. So delicious that I plan on cooking the rest of the leeks for more soup with the pound of potatoes I have left.

cook: eating for nourishment and panang curry

These days for my postmenopausal health, I've been eating more vegetables and fruits for longevity and to fuel my body rather than just titillate my palate. Below is a school lunch of leftover stroganoff, a green salad with spring greens and crunchy vegetables, homemade dressing, and half and half for my morning coffee.

 

And for good measure, a tangerine for a sweet snack afterward.

Instead of my favorite grilled cheese after some hard paddling, I made a Saturday lunch last weekend of turkey, avocado, arugula, tomato, banana peppers, red onion, and broccoli sprouts on sourdough.

I loved my California Dagwood, but wish I had remembered to toast the bread. 

For dinner this past weekend, I did a fridge cleanout and instead of frying Chicken Karaage with tempura vegetables, I put that bell pepper, zucchini, and kabocha squash into a Thai curry. And to amp up the flavor of that panaang curry paste, I sauteed it in coconut oil with onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and then added brown sugar and fish sauce into the coconut milk as well as garnish the stew with lots of Thai and Italian basil. 

I had to cook another pot of jasmine rice because I burned the first pot, but it forced a slower and lower simmer of the vegetables in the curry sauce.

15 minutes of cooking another pot of rice and that very low heat kept the zucchini and bell pepper crisp and the kabocha soft but intact.

Thai food for a Sunday supper was comforting and delicious, but also healthier. Cecilia thanked me for serving her vegetables.