when bundts attack

I am a busy little beaver here at cornelius manor.  First off, I have put my mother on the school bus to work.  And we have been getting ready for various visitors and an impending trip from my dear friend jen.  So, when joann subtly asked me to to whip up a bundt for her (look I got all the ingredients for you!) I rolled my eyes and got started.  The truth is, there are a few things that seem to trip me up in baking: keeping cheesecakes from cracking and getting bundts out of the damn pan.  I spray those things like there is no tomorrow, I wait for them to cool and pull away from the sides and I go after them with a butter knife in manner that would make most criminal psychiatrists raise their eyebrows.  Still they stick.  So, I am going to conduct an experiment to see if there is a better way than Pam for cake release.

Here is the Pam cake:

Next up will be a butter and floor method.  Wish me luck.

Watermelon Salad

It is nearing the end of summer, and frankly I am kinda ready.  I miss my sweaters, jeans and chucks.  I also have an affinity for fall foods, soups and breads.   However, one culinary bright spot is this watermelon salad.  I made it often, but never took a picture.  It is delish, easy and bright.  I often ate this when my parents were having something i deemed gross, which is serval times a week. I did not even mind because I could chow down on what sounds like the oddest grouping of ingredients ever.  If it is not as hell outside this salad is a life saver, cool and refreshing.  You can also hollow out a watermelon and stick everything back in, making an deceptively impressive salad for guests.

So here it is... I did not always do the red onions, I am not a huge fan of raw onions, but still amazing.

3/4 cup of red onions, thinly sliced red onion
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 quarts seeded cubed watermelon
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted black olives (ok, I left these out too, did I mention I am a picky eater?)
1 cup cresh mint
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Place the onions in a bowl and add lime juice (this sort of mellows them out.). Let sit for 10 minutes
Add watermelon, feta, mint, olives and toss.  Drizzle olive oil on top and stir again.

Orange item of the week

This week Olivia is modeling the orange item.  My mother knit this while watching Top Chef with me.  It is a cute pumpkin hat and proof the Livi wishes she were orange.

Orange Item of the Week

I have not done one of these in a while.  To be honest, this one is more red than orange, but Stanley is colorblind.  Let's all agree to lie to him.  AND there are touches of orange.  Really.  This one comes from a window display at Lion Brand yarns.  This knitted octopus took up the whole window.  And if you look in e upper left hand corner there is a knit mermaid.  All very cool, and very NYC.

Oatmeal Cookies

I suddenly realized I put up the recipe for fat raisins, but forgot the cookies that went with them.  Oops!  So here are President Clinton's favorite oatmeal cookies.  They are so good, that my father has yet to make a Clinton joke while eating them.  A miraculous feet indeed.  As it turns out, William Jefferson Clinton is allergic to chocolate.  No wonder he is a sex addict.  If I could not have the great pleasure of chocolate in my life, I too might go off the rails.  This recipe comes from Baking by the Yard, by Sherry Yard the pastry chef at Spago.  (Filed under baking, Rick white people, nonNYC). 

President Clinton's Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
7 ounces softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups fat raisins 

Sift flour and baking soda and set aside
In the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until it is lemony yellow, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down sides of the bowl, and add sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Continue creaming the mixture on high speed until it is lump free, abut two minutes.  Again, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beat at low speed for 15-30 seconds.  

On low speed, add the sifted flour mixture, beating until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and on low speed add the oats and raisins.  

Divide the dough in half and create a log on wax paper, about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long.  (Do this with both halves.). Wrap up in wax paper and pop it in the fridge for a minimum of an hour.  You can keep it in the fridge for three days, or in the freezer for 1 month.  

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease cookie sheets or cover with parchment paper.  Slice off 1/2 inch rounds from the logs and space the cookies 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes and rotate cookie sheets.  Then bake for another 5-8 minutes.  Because I have a convection oven, I did not rotate the sheets.  

When done, remove from oven and side parchment onto work surface to cool.