Living 2 Eat |

For those who can fully appreciate a great cake like this, but do not have the energy to bake there is great news… head to Cracker Barrel.  They have a seasonal dessert – Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake — and it is wonderful.   And, they will sell you an entire sheet cake uncut for $20.   I can personally guarantee you that no one would know that you did not bake it yourself.

Old Fashioned Coca-Cola Cake

Cake:

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups small marshmallows

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup Coca-Cola®

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons Coca-Cola

1 box (16 ounces) confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, sift sugar and flour. Add marsh- mallows. In saucepan, mix butter, oil, cocoa, and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil and pour over dry ingredients; blend well. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well. Pour into a well-greased 9 x13-inch pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.

To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour over confectioners’ sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.

*The cake recipe was contributed by Lee Avery Catts to “Atlanta Cooknotes”, published by The Junior League of Atlanta.

The World’s Largest Menu Burger…  The Spartan, a 254lb monster burger at the Clinton Station Diner in Clinton, New Jersey.

Two (2) 44lb buns

Two (2) beef patties — one 65lbs, the other, 68lbs

40lbs (980 slices) of cheese

10lbs of ketchup; mustard, tomatoes, lettuce and onion.

Five (5) teams of three (3) eaters each gathered to attack the burger. Amongst them, an elite team of American eaters from the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE), including Ian Hickman, Elizabeth Canady, and Pete Maurizo. It was a Team USA vs. Team Japan rematch from (AICE’s) trip to Japan in December 2007.

Check out Miss Glutton’s Bliss for all the details!

Candy corn is believed to have originated in lllinois in the 1880s by the Goelitz Candy Company. Some people think it may have been homemade before its introduction to a candy factory, while others maintain that it has always been processed in a factory. Regardless, this homemade recipe from Denise Oliveri will make about a pound of candy corn. The recipes take a while to make and can be tedious. Have a candy corn making party.

Traditional Candy Corn

2-1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1/3 cup nonfat powdered milk

1 cup regular sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon of salt

5 tablespoons of salted butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Yellow and red food coloring

Bring the regular sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil over medium high heat in a large heavy saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat.

While boiling the above, put the powdered sugar, powdered milk and salt in a large bowl and set it aside.

Add the vanilla and powdered mixture into the hot mixture in the saucepan. Be sure and mix it well. Then let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes or so until the mixture is slightly warm.

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and put one in each of a small mixing bowl. Add orange (mix red and yellow together) food coloring to one part and yellow food coloring to another. Knead the dough until the color is well blended. Also knead the white dough until smooth. You may want to put on plastic gloves or a zip-loc bag to protect your hands from the food coloring.

If you like the Girl Scout Cookies Samoas (also known as Caramel De-lites), I’m quite certain you will like these! I found the recipe on the excellent website “Baking Bites”, and posted by a wonderful baker named Nicole. Thank you Nicole, for cracking the code for these delicious cookies.

Click here for the recipe.

This Lowcountry dish combines okra, rice and shrimp for a hearty one-pot meal. Legend has it that Limpin’ Susan was the wife of Hoppin’ John.

Chef Rick McDaniel

Chef Rick’s Southern Cooking

Limpin’ Susan

1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound okra, stems and tips removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 pound shrimp, peeled
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

In a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and pepper in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn it.

Add the rice and stir well with a fork until the grains are coated and cook, stirring often about 3 to 4 minutes or until rice is opaque. Add the okra, stock, salt, and black and cayenne peppers and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and and simmer, covered, until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Adjust seasonings, stir in the shrimp and cook until the shrimp curl and turn pink, about 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

NOTE:  Chef Rick has a fantastic website, check it out!

Fending off some tough competition in the Dixie Classic Fair’s Creative Collards Contest, Dinah Reece of Pfafftown, North Carolina won with her collard-greens cake.

Dinah Reece of Pfafftown (NC) prevailed with her collard-greens cake to take first prize. Reece’s cake is “like a cross between an apple cake and a carrot cake,” she said. It’s flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg, and studded with raisins and chopped pecans.

 For more on this most unique Winston-Salem Journal story, click here.

Collard Greens Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil, divided use

4 eggs, divided use

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups cooked fresh collards, drained and finely chopped

2 cups raw apples, cored peeled and finely chopped

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup raisins

¾ cup chopped pecans

Cream-cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

2 pounds powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup pecans

Milk

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three round, 9-inch cake pans.

 Beat sugar and ¾ cup oil in electric mixer until well combined. Add 2 of the eggs and the vanilla; mix well. In a blender, put remaining ¼ cup oil, remaining 2 eggs and all of the collards. Blend until smooth, until tiny flecks of collards remain visible. Stir collard mixture into batter along with the apples.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Use 2 tablespoons of flour mixture to toss with raisins and pecans. Stir remaining flour mixture into egg mixture; mix well. Fold in the flour-coated raisins and pecans.

Divide batter into the three prepared pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or just until done.

Cool the cake in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

 To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and pecans. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, to reach desired frosting consistency.

Assemble and frost middle layers, sides and top of cake.

NOTE:  To get the collards finely chopped, use a food processor.

“Frying” okra in the oven not only keeps fat calories in check, it involves less work (no oil or fryers needed)—and you can make one big batch all at once. But most importantly, it tastes just as great as traditional fried okra.   Recipe from Vegetarian Times, click here.

Crispy Oven-Fried Okra

2 cups cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 large egg
1 lb. fresh okra or 1 16-oz. package frozen okra, thawed

Preheat oven to 400F. Coat baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine cornmeal, salt, pepper and paprika in bowl.

Whisk egg in separate bowl. Dip okra in egg, then in cornmeal mixture. Work in batches to prevent clumping.

Spread okra on prepared pan. Roast 30 to 35 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from pan with slotted spoon, and serve hot.

Yield:  4 servings

This recipe is very filling and can be made rather quickly if using prepared biscuits.  If prepared in advance, top with biscuits just before baking.  You will not be disappointed with this dish.

Creamy Chicken n’ Biscuits

1 – 10 ounce package of frozen green peas

2 cups of cut up cooked chicken

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup of milk

1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

2 cups of Bisquick baking mix

1/2 cup of cold water

1 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Heat the peas, soup, sour cream, cut up chicken, milk, and black pepper just to boiling.

Mix the Bisquick and water, knead 5 times. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut out the biscuits with a biscuit cutter.

Pour the chicken mixture into an oblong baking dish and sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese on top.   Place biscuits atop this dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 425F.

NOTE:  If you wish to save time, skip the Bisquick and use frozen/canned biscuits.  Additionally, customize this dish by adding some of your favorite vegetables.

You can add more flavor to frozen vegetables by cooking them in chicken, vegetable, or beef broth.

 This recipe comes from a dear family friend, Louise Plunkett.   Mr. & Mrs. Plunkett live in Immokalee, Florida not far from my parents.  Growing up, we would eat at the Plunkett’s quite often and the meals always seemed to include – fried venison, cheeseburger casserole, fresh vegetables and Key lime pie. 

To this day, I can still remember eating a baked cabbage casserole with a cream cheese and breadcrumb topping… it was incredible.   Sadly, Mrs. Plunkett has no recollection of it.  Truth be told, she probably whipped it together and never gave it a second thought.   Mrs. Plunkett was a creator in the kitchen and my waistline can attest to it!

Below is Mrs. Plunkett’s recipe for a Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese.   Given our current economic times, this timely dish is one that can feed many and remain extremely affordable.

Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese

1 lb macaroni

1 lb grated cheese

1 can evaporated milk

1 can cheese soup

1 stick butter, melted

1 egg

¾ cup regular milk

Cook and drain macaroni.  Mix with the rest of the ingredients.  Put in crock pot on low for 3 hours.

NOTE:   ham is a great addition to this dish, and would provide a protein component to make for a more complete meal and/or hearty appetizer.