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A Word from Anne A Word from Workman Recipe Swap Bits & Bytes Next Issue

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This has turned out to be one of the most beautiful springs I recall in Nashville with redbud, dogwood, cherry, and now azaleas in bright full bloom. It has also turned out to be one of the most costly seasons as we can’t decide what is getting more expensive—gasoline or food? We can carpool and consolidate errands to buy less gasoline. Saving money at the grocery store is just as challenging but a bit more enjoyable.

Last night I grilled flank steaks that had been marinating for two days in an oil, vinegar, and garlicky marinade in the fridge. The leftovers are going into black bean chili for tonight. Dry black beans are soaking as I write this column. I will cook them until tender with onion and garlic, then fold in the chopped flank steak, canned tomatoes, cumin and chili powder and cook down until thickened. To the side—corn cakes on the griddle, like my mom used to make, using white corn meal mix—and a green salad.

And because the cost of lettuce is rising, I’m putting in a salad garden by my back door. I may have to compete with the rabbits for it but at least I’ll feel I am doing my part to bring our grocery bill down.

Cooking well and saving money may take practice but it can turn out delicious results. Some of my favorite meals are what I call “peasant food”—beans and rice, stratas, stews, and pot roast. They are flavorful, feed many, and are loved by all.

Here are a few of my suggestions for making the most out of this expensive time at the supermarket:

• Learn to love peasant food—beans of all types, pasta, meatless meals, and omelets.
• Cook lentils and serve with yellow rice and garlic bread. Follow the package directions, and I use a couple of chicken bouillon cubes for flavor, added to the water, as well as two bay leaves, four whole cloves, a chopped half of an onion, and two chopped carrots. Cook 40 minutes, until they are soft. We love lentils with grilled fish, especially salmon, and with sausages, too.
• Cook your own whole roasted chicken and get a second meal out of it by removing the meat from the bones and turning it into tomorrow night’s chicken potpie. Or make chicken salad, chicken burritos, or chicken soup on day two.
• Clean out the fridge, knowing what’s in there so foods don’t go to waste.
• Buy generics if they are less costly. I buy store-brand tomatoes and beans all the time.
• Stop eating out and begin eating in. Take your lunch to work. Brew your own cup of coffee at home.
• Plant a vegetable garden for summertime harvesting.
• And since you already like to bake, you’re way ahead of the game. Bake, don’t buy! Save by buying chocolate chips, vanilla, oil, eggs, and other staples at warehouse stores. Try the 365 Whole Foods semisweet chocolate chips—they taste like premium but less expensive than the gourmet brands. Buy butter if it ever goes on sale and store it in the freezer up to six months. Freeze leftover cookies and bars for future meals.

I’d love to hear your money-saving ideas! Let’s call these ideas Cheap Eats. Send them to anne@cakemixdoctor.com. We’ll share them on the Cake Mix Doctor homepage. For the month of May, the best idea of the week gets a copy of the “Cheap. Fast. Good” cookbook from Workman. It was written by the authors of Desperation Dinners and is filled with great ideas for saving money on food.

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But a more travel-friendly and year-round cake is the following recipe, which I adapted from one sent to me from Jerrie Chilcote of Nashville. This is similar to a lemonade cake her friend makes and you can prepare it with pink lemonade or limeade. Jerrie suggests using prepared white or lemon frosting, but I prefer the whipped cream. Bake and serve right from the pan with sliced fresh strawberries - perfect for spring. Enjoy!

Pink Lemonade Party Cake

Makes 16 to 20 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 to 35 minutes

1 package (18.25 ounces) lemon cake mix (plain or with pudding)
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
Glaze:
1 6-ounce container frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Frosting:
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Mist a 13-by 9-inch metal baking pan. Dust with flour and shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the mixer speed to medium. Blend for 2 minutes or until the batter lightens. Turn the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until the center springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let rest 15 minutes.
4. For the glaze, combine the lemonade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Poke a long-tined fork into the top of the warm cake every 1/2-inch, wiping the fork occasionally to remove crumbs. Drizzle the lemonade glaze over the top of the cake.
5. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 2 hours. Remove the pan from the refrigerator, spread the whipped cream over the top, slice and serve.
Note: It is sometimes hard to find a 6-ounce can of pink lemonade concentrate. You can buy a 12-ounce can, thaw and just use 3/4 cup.

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I always love to travel to Florida on tour (especially when it’s cold in Nashville!) and see Libbie Jae, a great cook, caterer, and media escort. When I was in Tampa, Libbie was catering a large party and told me the cutest way to present salad for a crowd. She made phyllo cups to hold the salad, and placed these on a pretty platter. To make the cups, line large muffin tins with three layers of phyllo pastry you have brushed with melted butter between each layer. Press the phyllo into each cup, then bake at 350 degrees for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven, let the cups cool, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Can bake the day ahead of serving.

And food stylist extraordinaire Gloria Smiley in Atlanta gets the most beautiful award for her presentation of my 12-Layer Taco Dip, assembled in a springform pan. Gloria made sure to press cubes of avocado or olives or tomatoes into the sides of the pan as they layered the dip, so that when it was unmolded there was a pretty ring of tomatoes, and avocadoes and olives around the edge of the mold.

In Need of Wedding Cake:
Terri Clayton says she will be making her first-ever wedding cake in June. “It will be a 3 or 4 stacked tier chocolate iced cake. First off, I am NOT a professional and this will all be at my expense. The bride (and groom) is a “chocoholic”. She would like the top keepsake layer to be a devil’s food type cake tier. She would like each of the other 3 tiers to be different from each other. BUT all need to blend with the chocolate icing. I have not decided whether to try a chocolate ganache,(which I have never done before, but will practice with between now and then) or a chocolate buttercream. We have been talking about a chocolate mint tier but have found no recipe for that as of yet. We are also discussing having a regular “white” wedding cake tier maybe with a strawberry or raspberry filling. I would like to know if you have any suggestions for cake flavors (and the recipe) and maybe a filling or two.” Send wedding cake ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com and I’ll share them first with Terri then with you in the summer newsletter.

Getting Closer to the Unusual Spaghetti Sauce:
Kerry DeWolf of McDonough, GA, writes in response to my request for a quirky spaghetti sauce recipe using canned soups. “My dear late mother used to make a sauce that contained all of the ingredients listed except for the chicken and rice soup. In fact, I cannot remember her making spaghetti sauce any other way. It was very simple–brown a pound of ground beef with some chopped onions, then add a can of tomato soup, a can of mushroom soup, and a fairly hearty amount of chili powder, and a little water if needed. I love Italian food, and this was always the dish I requested for my birthday dinners. I know it sounds weird and not very Italian, but it was a family favorite for all of us, too.” It sounds a little odd but also delicious, Kerry, and I think we are getting closer to uncovering the recipe Patty Kent of Winnetka, IL, requested in the last newsletter. Does this sort of spaghetti sauce recipe sound familiar from your past or family recipe files? Send it to anne@cakemixdoctor.com

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