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December
1st: Chapel Hill, NC, A Southern Season, 4 pm
1st: Cary, NC, Barnes and Noble, Cary Commons, 7 pm
2nd: Grand Rapids, MI, Schuler Books and Music, 2660 28th St. SE, 7 pm
3rd: Park Ridge, IL, Dominic's Kitchen Store, 116 Main St, 5 pm
7th: Montgomery, AL, Capitol Books & News, 1140 East Fairview Ave, 4 pm
8th: Birmingham, AL, Books-A-Million, 757 Brookwood Village, 7pm
February
13th: Columbia, SC, Books-A-Million, 164 Forum Drive, 7pm
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This year I’m giving to my local food bank, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. And I’m helping to arrange a food drive for Second Harvest through my son’s school. It’s easy to give canned goods for emergency food boxes. And it’s simple to organize a food drive at your local school, church, or place of business. The most needed items are canned meat, beans, fruits, vegetables, and peanut butter.
To give to Second Harvest, click here, or visit FeedingAmerica.org to find a food bank near you.
For those of you in the Lexington, KY, area, Joseph-Beth Booksellers is arranging a food drive for God’s Pantry, a local food bank, in conjunction with my book signing there at 7 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 3.
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From left: Wedding Cake, Double Chocolate Kahlua Cake, Apricot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling, Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Coffee Cake, Nancy's Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake, a platter of Whoopie Pies, Houdini Bars, and Music to my Mouth Brownies, Strawberry Covered Chocolate Cake (the book cover cake), Blueberry Muffin Crumble Cake, Smith Island Cake, Red Velvet Cake, and the Margarita Cake.
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1. Cook with what’s on hand – corn, tomatoes, zucchini, blueberries, etc. I cannot get enough of summer food. So dinnertime for me is never a chore – it is a thrill.
2. Remember deviled eggs. Top with chopped fresh herbs like tarragon or chives.
3. Change up your typical marinades for chicken or flank steak by adding lime juice instead of vinegar, chopped cilantro for fresh Mexican flavor, and garnish the grilled meat with chopped tomatoes and avocado.
4. We grill burgers – of beef or turkey – over charcoal. If you’re serving a crowd, offer up buns and also big leaves of iceberg lettuce for those who are going bun-less to save calories. Offer your own or a good bottled pesto sauce along with the standard condiments.
5. Add a pinch of good curry powder to your favorite rice salad for an Indian flavor. Marinate chicken breasts in plain yogurt and crushed garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, then grill, and serve the chicken with fresh cilantro sprigs and sliced mango, alongside the rice salad.
6. In a pinch, bake brownies using a mix, but be sure to underbake them and chill before cutting. Cut into small squares or triangles, then dust with confectioners’ sugar before toting them to the picnic. Place strawberries and raspberries on the platter, too, for color and good health.
Q. I have a recipe for a banana chocolate chip Bundt cake made with yellow cake mix and banana pudding. The cake is very light and moist but it has a cloying artificial banana flavor to it due to the pudding. Do you have any suggestions as to how to make a similar cake to this but with real bananas rather than pudding? Any help will be greatly appreciated. This is my husband’s favorite cake, but it’s just too fake tasting for me to serve to guests. – Annie Hesser
(Annie’s recipe calls for 1 package yellow cake mix, 1 package instant banana pudding mix, 1 cup oil, 4 large eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup whole chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped chocolate chips).
A. Annie, use vanilla instant pudding mix instead of the banana. Then substitute mashed fresh bananas for some of the oil and milk. Use 1 cup mashed bananas, which is about 2 large ripe bananas, then use just ½ cup oil and ½ cup milk. Keep the chocolate chips the same.
Annie followed my instructions and reports great results. She turned the batter into cupcakes, 24 of them, baked at 350 degrees for 22 minutes. She suggests a chocolate frosting, and I am thinking cream cheese frosting would also be yummy!
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Put on your red dress and bake a red velvet cake for Valentine’s. Just as that dress gets everyone’s attention so this cake turns a few heads, too. And when the batter is turned into cupcakes, there is more to go around, perfect for sharing with sweethearts large and small. Take these to the office, to school, to the weekend basketball game.My favorite way to make this batter is to begin with a German chocolate cake mix and add buttermilk and a few other add-ins. These cupcakes are a fun twist in that the cream cheese frosting is flavored with a little peppermint extract and then topped with crushed peppermint candy. They are moist and memorable, a sweet token of your affection.
Red Velvet Cupcakes With White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting from Cupcakes! From the Cake Mix Doctor
Try these other great Valentine's Day recipes:
Warm Chocolate Cupcakes with Molten Centers
Triple-Decker Raspberry Chocolate Cake
Love Cake with Rose and Pomegranate Buttercream Frosting
Lemon Lovers' White Chocolate Cake
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Cheddar Cheese Ball
Makes 2 cheese balls
Prep: 15 minutes
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup chopped pecans (preferably toasted)
1. Place the cream cheese and Cheddar cheese in a large bowl. Blend with an electric mixer until the mixture just comes together. Add the onion, Worcestershire sauce, and the cayenne pepper to taste. Continue blending until the mixture is smooth.
2. Shape the mixture into two small balls. Roll each ball in the pecans. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until time to serve with crackers and fruit.
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Baking your own holiday gifts is a special and delicious way to show friends and family that you care. The Snowman Cupcakes (page 213) and Holiday Gift Cupcakes (page 216) recipes from Cupcakes! From the Cake Mix Doctor look as great as they taste, and their unique appearance makes the gift all the more special. Both recipes are also great choices for a special dessert at an office or classroom holiday party.
Snowman Cupcakes recipe from Cupcakes! From The Cake Mix Doctor
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Thank goodness Halloween is just days away. It might cheer us up from all the dire economic news. I walked into a grocery store last week just to wander the aisles while my teenage daughter was shopping next door for a Halloween costume. I was overcome by the pleasant sights – big piles of pumpkins and apples, cinnamon wafting through the air from the bakery, gallons of apple cider in the cooler. For 10 minutes I felt as if I had been transported out of my real world and to the mountains of New England. Food – the sight, smell, and taste of it – has a way of comforting you. It might be the vision of fresh apples or the smell of your mother’s apple pie or the taste of a pie, cake, or muffin you only savor once a year.
We tend to bake with pumpkin just in the fall, and mostly around Halloween. I will roast wedges of small fresh pumpkins, drizzling them with olive oil and sprinkling with garlic slices before baking. With any leftovers, I’ll make pumpkin soup, pureeing the cooked pumpkin, stirring it into sautéed onions, adding chicken stock, then a splash of cream at the end. We stock up on canned pumpkin, too, because it’s tough to find in the stores after Christmas. Then I bake pumpkin muffins. All these thoughts danced through my head as I walked through that store. My daughter found her costume, I was refreshed and renewed, we turned the radio to music, not news, and smiled on the drive home. Here is a simple five-ingredient muffin recipe to bake with your family this weekend.
Pumpkin Muffins from Cupcakes! from the Cake Mix Doctor
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My husband and I are not old enough to be children of the Depression (our parents were) but we have survived the financial ups and downs of family life by simplifying. Baking cookies is just one way to step back and savor the downturn. The kitchen smells wonderful, the ingredients are so basic you probably have them on hand, and your family will love you for it.
Other ways of cutting costs? Shop less, take catalogs immediately to recycling, drive less, eat out less, and pare down your schedule so you and your children do fewer activities. When you are at home more, your children are generally happier and more rested. You have more time to plan meals ahead, thus saving money. I won’t go so far as to say there is a silver lining to this economic mess we are in, but some of my favorite meals are pasta, beans, and a nicely roasted chicken. And oatmeal cookies.
Barbara's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from What Can I Bring?]]>
"My parents and I are Cuban immigrants. This recipe was a way to make ends meet as my parents were working on that American Dream. It brings back nice memories." So true that cooking on the cheap is pleasurable and memorable.
Here is Elvia's recipe, with my suggestions. Enjoy!
Tuna in Sauce (Tuna en salsa)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (6 ounces each) tuna packed in water, drained
2 cups or as needed tomato sauce (can really stretch the recipe with a 26-ounce jar pasta sauce)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Dash salt
(I added a pinch of crushed red peppers and 1 tablespoon capers)
Cooked rice or pasta
Place the olive oil in a medium heavy saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and stir and cook over medium-low heat until the onion softens, 3 minutes. Add the tuna, tomato or pasta sauce, wine, salt and seasonings. Stir until the mixture bubbles up, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve over rice or pasta. Makes 4 servings.
My Cheap Tip of the Week:
This summer we've been making all our breakfasts from scratch. Not only are pancakes, waffles, French toast, omelets, and sausage and biscuits cheaper when you make them yourself instead of buying them frozen, but there are two other huge benefits. Number one: taste! Number two: your children learn to cook. I have one daughter who makes unbelievable pancakes and waffles, filled with blueberries or chocolate chips. My son (10) is learning how to make an omelet--he has successfully made his own twice--and helps with the dipping of sliced bread into eggs and milk for French toast. With the school year so rushed, summer is our time to slow down and learn something along the way. In the end, hopefully, we'll save money on groceries, too!
Keeping sharing your ideas for saving money on food and gasoline to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.
According to Carol, school lunches have not only risen in price but they are often not filling enough for her sons who will be in 8th and 10th grades this fall. In addition they are not always as healthy as a home-packed meal . . .
]]> File this money-saving advice away for fall when your children or grandchildren head back to school or use it now to pack lunches for work and camp. Carol O'Shea of St. Louis is the latest winner in our Cheap Eats contest for creating what she calls lunches from leftovers.According to Carol, school lunches have not only risen in price but they are often not filling enough for her sons who will be in 8th and 10th grades this fall. In addition they are not always as healthy as a home-packed meal. "Both schools have microwaves available and neither boy minds carrying a lunchbox," and Carol adds that lunchbox design has improved with the boxes more like a backpack or gym bag. She buys plastic containers in school colors to fit in the bags.
And to fill those bags, Carol cooks dinner for eight instead of four. "As I make up plates for dinner, I immediately make four lunches for the next day," as Carol and her husband take these leftover lunches to work as well."Occasionally I make a homemade 6-inch sub sandwich or chef's salad with lots of toppings. But those are always planned ahead so fresh hoagie rolls, deli meat, and salad makings are bought."
And if that isn't impressive enough, Carol says she has a two-month rotation of menus "so meatloaf never gets the 'not this again look.' " Her sons' favorites? Carol's beef stew and vegetable soup - anything from one pot.
My money-saving tip for this week?
Fewer trips to the grocery store, less gas consumed, and produce from a local farm. Carol O'Shea and her family have a garden that offers a bounty of summer produce. Our home is not blessed with the necessary full sun a garden needs. So I purchased a share in a local farm, what is called a CSA or community supported agriculture. Every Sunday we pick up our share and it has contained fresh Tennessee strawberries, onions, radishes, broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, and fresh peas. This week we got yellow squash and zucchini and you would have thought it was a surprise party with all the fanfare as we opened the box. A love the fresh supply of new produce, grown organically, ready for cooking and savoring and saving me trips to the grocery.
Our favorite recipes so far? Roasted cauliflower, believe it or not. My husband broke the cauliflower into florets, tossed them with olive oil and a little salt and roasted them at 375 degrees until tender, about 20 minutes. And strawberry shortcake - bake biscuits (homemade or frozen) until golden, split and lightly butter. Fill with sliced, sweetened strawberries and top with a dab of whipped cream. Yum!
Sandra's favorite cook in bulk recipe is chicken enchiladas. She and her daughter will spend an afternoon making chicken enchiladas. "She and I get to spend time together, she gets some homemade enchiladas to put in her freezer and my husband gets a supply of one of his favorite dishes." Sandra does the same with pasta sauce, meatloaf, and meatballs, making them in quantity then freezing in dinner-size portions. She also buys produce and flowers at the farmer's market. The prices are cheaper, the merchandise is less expensive, and "I like making friends with the local growers."
Sandra says her ideas are not new, but "I like to think that I'm doing my share to help save where I can. I'm also putting in a small vegetable garden - mostly for the tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes - salad by itself if lettuce becomes too expensive. I'm of Greek descent so lettuce is not mandatory!"
And my Cheap tip of the week? After making tomato and cucumber sandwiches for the Steeplechase, the local horse race here in Nashville, I saved the scraps of bread and placed them in a big plastic bag in the freezer. I have toasted some of these and placed them in the food processor with a clove of garlic and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese for bread crumbs (to bread chicken or fish) and I have chopped some into bite-size pieces to saute in olive oil for crunchy croutons to top a salad. And the rest I have turned into an inexpensive strata or overnight souffle. Layer bread scraps or slices (4 cups) with cheese and ham in a 3-quart casserole. Beat eggs (about 6) with 3 cups milk and pour over the bread. Season with a little mustard or hot pepper if you like. Cover and let this "casserole" rest in the refrigerator at least 6 hours before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for nearly an hour, or until it puffs up and is golden. Serve at once with salad.
Keep those Cheap Eats ideas coming! Send your tips for saving cash to anne@cakemixdoctor.com. You might win a cookbook! You might help others save money at the supermarket.
1. Meal One. Carol trims the breast meat from the chicken, and uses it as follows – Cheddar Crusted Chicken. "I brush the boneless skinless chicken breasts with garlic-infused melted butter, dip them in a mixture of bread crumbs, shredded extra sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese. Tuck the ends under to create a roll and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour."
2. Meal Two. Carol takes the remaining chicken, places kosher salt, fresh herbs, sliced onion and celery in the cavity, props it up on crumpled foil in the slow cooker. She sprinkles salt and more herbs on top, then cooks it without added water until done, or 6 to 8 hours on low, depending on your slow cooker. "This provides us with cooked chicken for a casserole or salad."
3. Meal Three. The liquid that remains in the slow cooker is the beginning of a quick soup. Or, it can be frozen for future meals.
Carol receives a copy of Cheap. Fast. Good! from my friends at Workman Publishing. You can, too, by sending me your wisdom on how to save money on food and yet still feed your family well – anne@cakemixdoctor.com.
My Cheap Tips of the Week: Ice cream and pizza are definitely favorites in my household, as I have three kids, ages 10, 14, and 18. But these foods are indulgences. So instead of purchasing the gourmet brands, I am opting for whatever ice cream and pizza are on sale. I bought the house brand of ice cream (with really nice flavor, I may say) for $3 a gallon and three large frozen pizzas to stick in the freezer for less than $10. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than delivered pizza, and the only thing better and cheaper is to make your own. But that’s for another week!
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