Hole in the Fence

You know the old adage, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?” I don’t know who said this but they sure knew what they were talking about.

When I  applied for a job at Brooks-Rent-A-Car in Waikiki and Patrick interviewed me it was love at first sight. I knew the moment I saw him he was the one. Winning him over was not going to be easy. This was Hawaii after all.  Hawaii is full of beautiful, gorgeous, sexy, woman and Patrick, being a gorgeous hunk himself,

A Happy Camper

was in paradise.

I was hired as his assistant dispatcher. I knew from nothing about dispatching. I had a lot to learn.  There was some strong competition going on with a little red-headed thing that worked as an agent in the front office.  She was always poking her flirty little self into our dispatchers office with some stupid question like “What time is it, ( wiggle, wiggle, giggle, giggle )” Shameless. Patrick was loving it. I needed a counter attack.

I asked him if he had ever had carrot cake. He laughed and said no. He laughed because he knew and I didn’t, that he hated anything that even remotely suggested vegetable.  I promised him he would love it and still I was getting this I-don’t-think-so-look.   Then to really sell it, I compared it to what was an all time favorite at the time, tomato cake. Oh yea, not good, that just made it real easy for him to made a yucky face and say No thanks.  Burn.  I am batting zero here. And little Miss perky, come and get it, was hot to trot.

So, I baked up the carrot cake anyway and brought it in.  I waited until the day before payday when everyone was broke and really hungry. I left it on the counter. He finally tried it. He loved it. He asked me out. I accepted. He asked me to marry him on our first date. I accepted.  No time to play hard to get, especially since the carrot cake was my ace in the hole.

Here’s the recipe that is sure to win hearts.

CARROT CAKE

CRAZY CAKE

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (good chocolate makes the best cake)
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted room temp butter
• 3/4 cup very strong hot coffee
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar in it (you just made buttermilk.)

O.k. here comes the tricky bit. Add all your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.  Make a little hole in the center. Put the butter in the hole and pour the hot coffee over it, then add the remaining ingredients and mix. It may be a little thin. Not to worry.

Grease and flour a bundt pan. Pour batter into pan. Cook at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Don’t peek for the first 30 minutes.

I make a fudge like frosting by mixing 6 tablespoons of unsweetened chocolate, 1/2 cube of butter, tsp vanilla, about 2 cups of powered sugar and just enough 1/2 and 1/2 to make it spreadable. Or you can just put powered sugar on it. It’s all good.

OVEN BAKED APPLE PANCAKES

Apple pancakes from the Pancake House

My mom worked at the original Pancake House on Lincoln Street in Anaheim. After Mass on Sunday morning everybody headed to the Pancake House. There was always a line.  Mom got me my first job there.  We worked for the Burkland’s in the early 60’s.  His name was Ray and kind of a stinker but the food was the best ever. Never got the original apple pancake recipe. This is my version. And I have to say it is pretty darn close.  So enjoy. The batter is a Yorkshire pudding recipe with sugar and vanilla added. Works great.

3-4 TBSP. sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2  teaspoon salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Additional butter, cinnamon and sugar.

Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla and milk until light and foamy. Stir in the flour/salt mixture just until incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and keep at room temp for a couple of hours. Can make up the night before, keep in frig. and then get it to room temp before using.  Whisk the batter before you pour to break down any lumps and add some air.

3 med. apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
freshly squeezed lemon juice sprinkled over apples to keep them from browning.
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 c.  brown sugar or just regular sugar works fine too.
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Saute apples in the butter, sugar and cinnamon until soft.

Place about 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch cast iron or stainless skillet, place skillet in oven to melt butter.  When skillet is hot and butter is melted remove from oven and carefully add batter, then spoon cooked apples on top. Immediately put skillet back in oven. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until puffed and brown. Serve dusted with confectioner’s sugar.

All these recipes are basic stuff.  Add more or less of anything and make it your own. Have fun. Hope you enjoyed these. I sure did. I had to test them all before I put them up here.  Oh the sacrifices I made for these blogs.

Happy New Year EveryoneFrom the Blackwell’s.