Martha Mondays is back and we’ve retooled it a bit. We’ll now be making a recipe the first Monday of each month and it will be a somewhat challenging or interesting recipe. We welcome new members, so if you would like to participate let me know.

This month’s recipe is Caramel Chocolate Cake, chosen by Megan’s Cookin’.

You make this on a jelly roll pan, then cut it in half and layer it with the buttercream frosting. I found it a bit hard to maneuver around. The cake was too big for any platter I had and it wanted to break when I lifted it. I ended up using a cutting board to transfer it and to serve it.

I also had some trouble with the frosting. Mine was pretty runny. I should have refrigerated it before I tried to assemble it. I eventually got it together and we enjoyed this cake very much! The cake is moist and delicious. The frosting has WAY too much butter in it (a whole pound) and I thought it was a bit light on the caramel flavor, but it was still good. I did not make little spiderwebs on the top like you are supposed to: cake decorating is just not my thing.  I liked this cake a lot though and would probably make it again with a different icing, and in a different pan.

Martha Mondays is back and we’ve retooled it a bit. We’ll now be making a recipe the first Monday of each month and it will be a somewhat challenging or interesting recipe. We welcome new members, so if you would like to participate let me know. This month’s recipe is Caramel Chocolate Cake, chosen by … Read more →

I chose this recipe for today’s Martha Mondays. I recently spent some time with the new Martha’s American Food cookbook (disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy after I requested it). This is a really great collection of regional specialties from around the country. I have marked a lot of recipes I want to try! The  blueberry crisp was very easy to put together and turned out nicely. I served it with vanilla ice cream. I modified the recipe to include cinnamon in the filling and the topping (a pinch in the topping and about 1/2 tsp in the filling) and I also increased the amount of sugar in the blueberries by about 1/3 cup. Also, as I was typing in the recipe below, it hit me that I forgot to add in the baking powder, so the recipe works even if you forget that! I loved the bit of crunch this gets from the oats. This is the perfect summer dessert. We really enjoyed this, and my in-laws whom I served it to loved it!

A note about Martha Mondays: We’re going to take a break for a couple of weeks. I was going to suggest resuming on 8/20, but Pru is taking a blogging break for August and I thought maybe everyone would like a break during the hottest part of the summer as well.  How does getting started again on Sept 3  with a pick from Megan sound?

Blueberry Crisp

For the filling:

6 cups fresh blueberries (3 pints)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp coarse salt

 

For the topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional – I did not use this)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Make the filling: Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Transfer to an 8 inch square baking dish.

Make the topping: In a medium bowl stir together flour, oats, nuts, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer on medium, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir flour mixture into butter. Using your hands, squeeze topping pieces together to form clumps.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake until filling is bubbling in center and topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

 

I chose this recipe for today’s Martha Mondays. I recently spent some time with the new Martha’s American Food cookbook (disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy after I requested it). This is a really great collection of regional specialties from around the country. I have marked a lot of recipes I want to try! The … Read more →

It’s my turn for the 23rd and I’m going with a recipe from Martha’s latest cookbook Martha’s American Food:

Blueberry Crisp

For the filling:

6 cups fresh blueberries (3 pints)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp coarse salt

 

For the topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional – I did not use this)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Make the filling: Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Transfer to an 8 inch square baking dish.

Make the topping: In a medium bowl stir together four, oats, nuts, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer on medium, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir flour mixture into butter. Using your hands, squeeze topping pieces together to form clumps.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake until filling is bubbling in center and topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

 

It’s my turn for the 23rd and I’m going with a recipe from Martha’s latest cookbook Martha’s American Food: Blueberry Crisp For the filling: 6 cups fresh blueberries (3 pints) 1/2 cup sugar 1 tbsp cornstarch 1 tsp lemon juice 1/4 tsp coarse salt   For the topping: 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled … Read more →

Usually I like to have my Martha Mondays post up in the morning, but I didn’t get to make this until just now. Greek Chicken Cutlets was chosen by Tiny Skillet. Greek food is always a winner in this house.

I liked this – especially how easy it was. I served mine over orzo, which was good. I don’t cook with mint often. But I did plant some in the herb garden this year, so I was happy to have an excuse to use it. I like no-cook tomato sauces like this in the summer. I made the chicken on the grill which made it even easier to put together. A great weeknight dinner.

Usually I like to have my Martha Mondays post up in the morning, but I didn’t get to make this until just now. Greek Chicken Cutlets was chosen by Tiny Skillet. Greek food is always a winner in this house. I liked this – especially how easy it was. I served mine over orzo, which … Read more →

Greek Chicken Cutlets is our next project, with thanks to Tiny Skillet, who had her daughter make this pick.

Greek Chicken Cutlets is our next project, with thanks to Tiny Skillet, who had her daughter make this pick.

Pru at Perfecting Pru chose this week’s recipe, cabinets. I had never heard of these before! They are essentially a milkshake on top of a sweetened, cooked fruit puree.syrup. Martha says they are from Rhode Island. I visited Rhode Island only once, when I was looking at Brown University (it’s probably where I would have gone had I not met my husband and decided to stay local to be with him). I didn’t have a cabinet when there. About the only thing I remember about Providence was my mom complaining that there was no place nice to stay or eat when we were there, which she found hard to believe with such a prestigious university in town.

I was intrigued at the idea of this drink I had never heard of and did some Googling. From what I read, Martha’s recipe is not really a cabinet at all. A Rhode Island cabinet is actually called a coffee cabinet. They make a drink called “coffee milk,” which is milk with coffee syrup. When you add ice cream to this to make it a milkshake, it’s a coffee cabinet. Fascinating. Now I will have to go to RI to sample one!

Anyway, I’m always excited to try something new and this was definitely new! I made the raspberry/strawberry/cherry fruit mix. I really don’t like raspberry seeds though. I am unsure how you are supposed to eat this. Spoon? Straw? Both? Some of the fruit was too big to make it up the straw. I liked it best when I mixed the fruit in completely because then it tasted like a smoothie and it wasn’t so tart (the fruit on its own just tart compared with the sweetness of the milkshake).

This was really pretty when put together and is a fun way to make a milkshake something classier or more grown up!

Pru at Perfecting Pru chose this week’s recipe, cabinets. I had never heard of these before! They are essentially a milkshake on top of a sweetened, cooked fruit puree.syrup. Martha says they are from Rhode Island. I visited Rhode Island only once, when I was looking at Brown University (it’s probably where I would have … Read more →

Perfecting Pru has chosen Vanilla Cabinets with Fresh Fruit (actually a kind of milkshake) for 7/9.

Perfecting Pru has chosen Vanilla Cabinets with Fresh Fruit (actually a kind of milkshake) for 7/9.

Thanks to Sassy Suppers for choosing bruschetta for today’s project. I cheated and used pita bread for this. I have to say I am not much of a fan of bruschetta because I always feel like it needs something else – cheese, or some other vegetables or just something. It was good, but in general I just don’t find it too exciting. I would rather slice the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and eat with some fresh mozzarella than this way I think.

This photo is a total cheat by the way. I completely forgot to take the pic, then when I remembered the grill was off so I just recreated it on an ungrilled piece.

Thanks to Sassy Suppers for choosing bruschetta for today’s project. I cheated and used pita bread for this. I have to say I am not much of a fan of bruschetta because I always feel like it needs something else – cheese, or some other vegetables or just something. It was good, but in general … Read more →

Sassy Suppers has chosen bruschetta for Monday’s project. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Sassy Suppers has chosen bruschetta for Monday’s project. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ chose today’s project, Coconut Balls. These look a lot like Mexican wedding cakes (or what my family calls Russian teacakes). In full disclosure, I used gluten-free flour in mine, which explains why they didn’t hold their shape well at all. I thought they were really good though – so delicate and soft. The coconut was good in them. This is a nice alternative to Mexican wedding cakes. I’ll bet they would be good with some nuts added – maybe finely chopped macadamias.

Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ chose today’s project, Coconut Balls. These look a lot like Mexican wedding cakes (or what my family calls Russian teacakes). In full disclosure, I used gluten-free flour in mine, which explains why they didn’t hold their shape well at all. I thought they were really good though – so delicate and … Read more →