Happy Birthday, Sis-In-Law!!!

Here’s wishing my lovely Sis-In-Law a HAPPY 26th Birthday!! May all your wishes come true!

 Photo borrowed from cabanaqueen @ PhotoBucket.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LING!!

How Would You Like A Hamburger Cake?

For Rob’s (belated) birthday celebration, I decided to craft him a hamburger cake. He loves his steak/meat..and I deemed doing a “Steak” cake a little blah. Hamburger Cake would be a little more interesting and colorful! =) I googled for ideas and samples and decided to go with a fondant covered cake instead of the butter cream kind.

For this cake, I purposely baked a Vanilla Cake to be used for the hamburger buns and Chocolate cake for the juicy beefy meat patty part. It surprisingly did not take me too long to create the whole cake. I thought the coloring of the fondant was perhaps the toughest part to do. I needed to knead the fondant to make sure the colors are well mixed and getting the right hue (that was the hardest)for what I’m using the fondant for.

I am happy to say the birthday boy loves the cake, so did my friends! Well, who wouldn’t want a hamburger cake, right? The only downside, I thought the cake itself was a little dry. =(. I enjoyed making this cake and was glad it turned out as planned. I told hubby if the cake did not turn out as planned, we’re heading over to the bakery and getting a store bought one!

How would you like a meat free Hamburger???? =)

Stuffed Mushrooms

The household especially the husband loves stuffed mushroom! I made some for my NYE’s dinner using a recipes I found on www.allrecipes.com. I again made some changes to it according to my preference. This was definitely better than the stuffed mushrooms I had in Macaroni Grill where the mushrooms were still raw and the stuffing were not hot. 

Here’s the recipe with my modification! The original recipe was submitted by a subscriber/reader and can be found HERE.

STUFFED MUSHROOMS RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 12 Whole Fresh LARGE Button Mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp Chopped Frozen Spinach, Defrosted & Water Squeezed
• 1 Tsp Chopped Parsley
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1 (8 Oz) Package Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1/8 Tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp Italian Breadcrumbs (Optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in chopped spinach, chopped parsley, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little knife and fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with some breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

June’s comments: Carefully make a bigger cavity in the mushroom caps by using a little knife to lightly scrap the sides and the insides (and save it for the filling) so that you can pile more filling in each mushroom. The mushrooms I used were about 2.5 inches in diameter. And after I made a bigger cavity, I still needed to pile the cheese high up! If you’re using smaller mushrooms, you either need to cut down the filling by half or perhaps double up the mushrooms.

The Different Types Of Cream

I subscribe to a few cooking/food magazines and do not pay a single cent for them. In attempts to keep my miles from expiring, I use part of my mileage accumulated to subscribe to some magazines and at the same time refrain my airline miles from disappearing completely! =)

I came across many interesting reads and recipes from these “free” magazines and thought, why don’t I start sharing some of what I’ve read here! I came across an article on Saveur.Com magazine (Issue #126 - Jan/Feb 2010 publication) called “Cream Of The Crop” discussing the various cream we often find in the grocery stores. I often see Crème fraîche in recipes and now I know what it is and how it would taste like. I hope these information will also be helpful to you as well! =)

Photo by Todd Coleman, borrowed from Saveur.Com

The following information are all extracted from Saveur.Com (Issue #126) titled “Cream of The Crop” by Katie Robbins:

1. Heavy whipping cream, also called whipping or heavy cream, is great for shrimp bisque and other hot dishes, where its 36 to 40 percent butterfat prevents it from curdling. Since it whips up fast into a stiff foam, it's also ideal for topping desserts like chocolate cream pie.

2. Light whipping cream is also good for finishing soups and whipping, but because it contains less butterfat (between 30 and 36 percent), it has a lighter, looser texture than heavy cream.

3. Light cream, also called table cream, can contain anywhere between 18 and 30 percent butterfat. Though too light for whipping, it's delicious drizzled over desserts like blackberry slump.

4. Half-and-half, a homogenized blend of milk and cream, contains between 10.5 and 18 percent butterfat. Richer than milk but not as thick as cream, it's perfect for making pie fillings, as well as adding body to sauces, like the one for crabs and spaghetti, where cream would bind them too tightly.

5. Clotted cream is the result of cooking nonhomogenized milk until a blanket of cream forms on top. With a minimum of 55 percent butterfat, this richest of creams is as thick as whipped butter, with a slightly toasted flavor. Delicious spread on biscuits, it can be found at most specialty food stores.

6. Double cream is British-style heavy cream, which—at 48 percent butterfat—makes for a thick, sweet dessert topping. Look for it where clotted cream is available, and whip it gently by hand, as it easily separates into butterfat and buttermilk.

7. Sour cream, made by adding mesophilic lactic acid bacteria to light cream (which thicken and sour it), lends tang to dishes like chicken paprikash. Mixing it with a sprinkling of flour before adding it to hot dishes keeps it from curdling.

8. Crème fraîche (the phrase is French for fresh cream) was traditionally made by letting cream sour at room temperature. At 30 to 40 percent butterfat, it's richer than sour cream and, thus, better able to withstand high temperatures, making it ideal for dishes like rabbit in mustard sauce.

Happy Birthday, Dad! XOXO

Here’s wishing my dearest father a Happy Happy Birthday! I wish you’re able to actually taste this cupcake that I baked!! I miss you and I wish I’m able to celebrate your birthday with you!

Dad,

Not many can have a father
Who’s half as great as you.
Others might try, but they fall shy
You’re a top-notch father, it’s true.

So that’s why on your birthday,
I want to make sure you know,
I admire you sincerely and love you dearly,
And those feelings continue to grow.

By Karl and Joanna Fuchs