This week calls for simplicity in my book of life. A little slower approach to the week, and a dish you can make for the office staff, before you go into work. Everyone enjoys a morning where another employee brings in a warm coffee cake or a batch of cinnamon rolls. It creates a good start for everyone, from the maintenance staff to the CEO. Plus, it has the ability to create a feeling of family or community, which aides in bringing people together.
The first time I enjoyed this yummy coffee cake was when one of my student’s mothers brought it in for me, while I was teaching school. When I realized how simple it was to create, plus a cinnamon brown sugar crumble, I was in hook, line and sinker. I’d like to see this young man again, perhaps I’ll try reaching out through messenger. He even created some of my cooking class covers when I was first getting started in the culinary field. His first name was Lane, and I can see he and his mom like it was only yesterday. Now everyone knows what I’m doing after the column.
When you approach your baking remember not to over stir the ingredients. I never had to worry about this issue because most of my cakes were always stirred by hand. I remember mom telling me how you don’t need to get out a mixer! Why dirty if up? When I first started using cake mixes the back of the box stated to stir it about 50 times or until things were well blended. If you take 50 strokes to the modern ‘KitchenAid’ we’re talking about a ‘few’ seconds in the mixer. When we walk across the room and leave it running; we are actually drying out the cake, by bringing in too much air.
I’ve had friends through the years whose baked goods were always dry. For a long time, I thought it was because they overbaked, in the oven. In reality it was dried out during the mixing, at the very beginning.
By the time you serve the cake you’d better have a big dollop of ice cream to accompany each serving.
When I was teaching; I remember a terribly dry chocolate cake, from the cafeteria. I poured a bit of Dr. Pepper over the cake & got it wet enough to swallow. I freaked out a couple teachers who thought I was nuts! The cake was so dry the only way to moisten it was to pour on a little liquid. In my grandma Lucy’s day, grandmother would make a little vanilla sauce to pour over a dry cake. when a cake became dry after sitting around a few days, Grandmother would make a little vanilla sauce to pour over the cake. The sauce was good, and we never wasted the cake!
Many of you are aware that I do a great deal of research both in my job and with my cooking. This week I was starting the preparations for a fall cooking class with our clients. The setting is a fall campfire and the simple foods that make cooking and the outdoors so much fun. The first thing most of us think of are roasting hot dogs. I don’t care how healthy we all try to be, there are times when I need a good hot dog with fried onions, relish and mustard. I sorta’ have a feeling a great deal of people feel the same way. Thus; the study on the preverbal hot dog began. The biggest things we need to watch in our hot dogs is the use of nitrates. We don’t want these nasties going into our bodies, you’ll find there are leading hot dog makers who still have nitrates in their products. I compare this to using store bought liquid smoke, which is filled with nitrates or purchasing an organic version, (on line) with absolutely no nitrates. Other things you may be seeking in a hot dog besides good flavor is texture, sodium, protein and about a zillion other issues. With so many people suffering from alfa-gal these days, you may be reaching for a chicken or turkey dog. Be very careful, and read the label thoroughly. You want to make sure you are eating real turkey or chicken. Your best choice would probably be to use the Oscar Meyer label or another label called, Applegate Naturals. If you need chicken or turkey hot dogs. Petit Jean hot
dogs and Nathan’s are also great all beef hot dogs. These hot dogs are ‘uncured’ another thing you are looking for in quality. If you have a Trader Joe’s near, you also might consider their products. The key thing I’m leading up to is watching for what is called MSM, mechanically separated meats. You don’t want this low-ball ‘sludge’ in your food. They pressure cook the bones after the quality meat has been rendered and actually pulverize it down, before they will use it in things like sausage, brats, hot dogs and canned meats. So, you are watching for Mechanically separated meats, uncured and nitrate free hot dogs. A few years ago, I had the most wonderful hot dogs, and I asked the cooks if they would tell me the brand. The hot dogs were Sam’s quarter pounders, wow, they were good. As the night progressed I could not quinch my thirst, I kept drinking all night. Today when I researched this hot dog, I can tell you the label had more sodium than any hot dog I have ever eaten, it crested to slightly over 1000 mgs. So now take a look at the sodium before purchasing your hot dogs! I would recommend all-beef franks as long as you can eat beef, over the turkey or chicken.
What happened here? I planned on a normal column, I started in on the hot dog research and poof, look where that went. Next time you’re invited to a campfire, volunteer to bring the hot dogs! You can even take the coffee cake because it’s so yummy it would also work for dessert. Happy Fall- Simply Yours, The Covered Dish.
Honey Bun Breakfast Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup oil, your choice
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon-
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Mix first 3 ingredients well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13- inch baking dish. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Swirl into the batter. Bake at 300 degrees for 40-60 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Mix the glaze together and pour over the cake while still warm. Serves 10-14 people.
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Recipe shared by Carey Buckler
