WEEKLY MENU 07.31.22
It’s party time during the Weekly Menu 07.31.22!
We’re partying hardy during the Weekly Menu 07.31.22. Why? It’s Bert’s Birthday! Hip Hip Hooray! Bert is a little bit of a cake monster, and at his birthday he always (rightly) wants his favorite cake: International Bakery made yellow sheet cake with cream and raspberry filling. How delicious does that sound? “Happy Birthday, Pops” will be festooned across the top in manly colors. I’m thinking blue and green this year.
We had a party celebrating Bert’s milestone birthday last year, and it turns out that Bert is not the only one that loves himself some cake. The buffet with food was raring to go when the party got started, but all anyone wanted to know was when the cake was going to be cut.
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Bert is mostly an equal opportunity cake guy~
He’s crazy for the always healthy Carrot Cake, especially at Easter. It’s an Ina Garten recipe that is actually for cupcakes. Bert does NOT like cupcakes: he thinks they’re a waste of his time. So I make the recipe in three 8″ cake pans, and double the cream cheese frosting. And I use whole walnut halves. (Is that an oxymoron?) It’s never failed me. And it doesn’t have any pineapple. {Shudder}
Everyone loves Italian Cream Cake. It also has a wonderful cream cheese frosting, which is why I think Bert likes it so much. The only problem with both of these cakes is that they are absolutely ginormous. We generally power through about half of either one, then I wrap the other half in plastic, then in foil, and stow them in the freezer. Of course I never label them, and they look pretty similar at first glance, so I put them on the menu months later as “Mystery Cake”.
All of my people have a favorite cake.
The OG Baby Boy is a Paula Deen Coconut Poke Cake all the way.
D is particularly fond of frosted Toll House Pan Cookie Cake. (Toll house cookies spread in a 9×13 rectangular pan. If you get a chance, check out this 9×13 Rectangular Baking Pan from USA Pan Bakeware. I bought it originally to make Detroit Style Pizza (it worked great!) and it has morphed into my go-to pan for baking.
Baby Boy is a traditionalist. Triple layer chocolate, chocolate chip, chocolate frosting cake. Don’t tell anyone, but for this I use a box cake mix, and premade chocolate fudge frosting. I add a little brewed coffee to the tub of Betty Crocker frosting (only the best for my baby) and mix it up well before applying to the cake. I usually shave some more chocolate on top – I wouldn’t want it to be underwhelming.
Me? My favorite cake is White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake. I use copious amounts of No-Stick Cooking Spray with flour to make sure it doesn’t come out in pieces. (But if it does… it’s Trifle time!)
What are your family favorite cakes?
If you were wondering, Bert will NOT be having a smash cake for his big day. It is my favorite tradition for baby’s first birthday though. And how happy is the little guy on the post pic? It took a little bit to warm up our boysies to get into the cake: none of them knew what to do with it at first. Smart to let this little guy go at it without a shirt….
Weekly Menu 07.31.22
Now that I’m sweet-starved, I guess it’s time to hit the Weekly Menu 07.31.22. There’s nothing on there for Bert’s Birthday because we’re going out for Italian. Which always works for me!
We’re kebobing on Sunday – which is to say Bert is grilling chicken. Again. But it will be in little pieces, on skewers with some fabulous spices. When we make kebobs, I usually put just one item on the skewer – in this case just chicken. No veggies. Why? If everything is uniform it cooks evenly – no burned onions and raw chicken. If you want to grill some vegetables too, try our Rainbow Veggie Skewers. Super pretty.
Summer = Grilling in Erieland.
Both of the salads scream summer, and although they are new to us, look pretty simple. I’ll get fresh corn in rotation any way I can. Dessert is a super, duper easy lemonade pie. (Can you say premade graham cracker crust and four other ingredients?) I know we should skip dessert on Sunday with the (1/2 sheet) cake coming in on Wednesday, but this pie is just so darn refreshing!
Speaking of fresh corn, my seester recently told me that the corn is planted several times during the season to extend it’s edible life. She was basically told, “you didn’t think they just planted it once, did you?” (Yep. Yes we both did.) Mind blown – I never could figure out how the corn didn’t start to get old and nasty later in the summer. A farmer, I am not.
WEEKLY MENU 07.31.22
