The Fabulous Life of..."I [dot] J"

WTF?

2008-05-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

Oooh meeeee geeeee!

Mimi and Nick, what the hell is going on

5-Alarm/ 5-Bean Chili

2008-04-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

YUM-O (<-- all rights reserved by Rachel Ray) :)

Ok, so last night I tried my hand at chili.
Simple enough recipe, with my little spin on some "hot" ingredients.
I followed THIS RECIPE and simply added a few 'extra' items.

My alterations were:
2 lbs of ground beef
1 1/2 onion
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes (w/o jalapenos)
1 14oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 4oz can of diced jalapenos (I figured I get more heat this way)
2 habanero peppers (I KNEW I would get some heat by doing this)

(here's where you have to pay close attention)
I originally thought that I forgot to pick up the chili seasoning packets.
It wasn't until 1 hour into the cooking time that I even realized that I didn't season ANY of the chili. Panicking I immediately reached for my inventory of seasoning. Hmmmm, now what do I think goes into chili?
Paprika, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper...(you know this drill... just grab everything and hope that it'll taste good).
So while I was pulling different seasonings out of the cabinet (and at the same time adding them to the crock pot) I came across 1 packet of chili seasoning (from God knows where). Now what do I do? Oh, hell... just add it in and see what happens.

4 1/2 hours later, we have chili.... and DAMN good chili if I must say so. Damn good, HOT chili if you ask my son (who was sticking his tongue into his glass of water.

Maybe next time I'll just use 1 habanero

I challenge YOU to...

2008-04-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

...CHEESE CAKE POPS!
This month's DB challenge was a simple one. Simply make frozen pops out of cheesecake. Phew! I thought it was going to be all hard, but NOPE just take approximately 2 days to make a dessert (including prep, cook, cool, firm time). Then when you cheesecake is, well, cheesecake, roll into balls, insert the stick and freeze. Voila.

Now, I'm hoping that you sense a hint of sarcasm in my tone. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ME TO WAIT TO EAT THIS DESSERT? Sheesh! First of all it's cheesecake (can we just pause for a minute and honor the inventor of this dessert). On top of waiting the normal timeframe, we added another 2 hours of freezing time and another 24 hours of "refrigerate until ready to serve" time.

I.am.dead.

Nah.... it was really fun. The funny part was that I remembered that my daughter had to complete a diarama (sp?) project last year for school and we purchased like 1000 popsicle sticks from (good ole) Michael's. This was the first DB challenge that I've done where I didn't have to purchase any of the ingredients needed. Making the cheesecake was a breeze and when it came time to "roll; insert; freeze" I was all set. Until I went to get the sticks from out of our art supplies container, and realized I threw away all of those damn sticks, thinking that I would never need them again (or more likely that I would just purchase another box if I needed to).
So while improvising I decided to use the 4 "poker designed" cocktail stirrers I just purchased for my husband's party. I only had four so the other balls were S.O.L.

Oh, well. This time I'm taking a more literal approach to the challenge, and I'll be "popping" these little balls into my mouth. I guess, then, we can still call them Cheesecake Pops!

Thanks "Elle" and "Deborah" for such a wonderfully fun challenge.

Devil's Food Cheesecake

2008-04-20T21:39:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I am taking this opportunity to say that I LOVE watching Bobby Flay's Throwdown Challenge, that comes on the Food Network. Ever since I've been watching this program I've learned a lot of new recipes for foods that I've always loved. About 2 weeks ago I watched him challenge Junior's Cheesecake to the best cheesecake. Bobby made a regular cheesecake with carmel apple topping (he actually won the challenge). Junior's, however, made a recently newly created Devil's Food Cheesecake that immediately caught my eye. The judges (on the show) said that, altough it was a great cake, the amount of chocolate used along with the cheesecake overpowered the cake. It was a "cheesecake challenge" so the cheesecake should have been more overpowering than the chocolate. (*scratching my head*)

All I have to say is that, chocolate is never a bad addition to anything.

Here's the recipe... Now even though the recipe does not create the same looking cake that is shown on Junior's website (the recipe states to make 3 9" cakes) the cake is still really good. I chose not to add more chocolate on the cake. Also, my fudge frosting did not come out as dark as shown on Junior's picture. I honestly think that they altered the recipe to save their originality. I can't say that I blame them either.

Clif's big BIRTHDAY weekend

2008-04-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

The big 3-0!
So the weekend of April 8-13th (and yes there are more than 2 days to this weekend) began with us celebrating the end of Clif's 20s. We had a small gathering of friends and family, with a small cake (see my previous post for details) to say goodbye to his 20s. We were joined by Aimee, Mariah, Kiara, Chynna, Porche and then our family.

4/9 began with Clif getting his birthday gift from the kids (a hat) and then dinner with some more friends for SAKE BOMBS. Richard, Porche, Uriah joined just the three of us.

4/10 (in lieu of Clif trying to set up an outing to Saddle Ranch) included our good friend Art surprising Clif by driving down from Northern Cal to spend some time with the birthday boy, and showing up at our door. That night Clif, Felix, Art and Jorge heading out to The Standard for an evening of male bonding, but ended up at Barney's and then to Lucky Strike for bowling.

4/11 started off real slow. I headed over to the laundry mat, while Clif and Chris slept in. Art gave Clif a call and wanted him to get him from the Palms area of LA. He then managed to get Clif out of the house so that I could set up for Clif's surprise party (Poker and Spades Party). At ~9:30 Clif walked through our house door to be surprised to see Tanya, Malika, Malcolm, Dontay, Felix, Aimee, Richard and Porche. Art, Tony and Jimmy were all with him so they were not as much of a surprise. The night was filled with poker (Clif took home the pot) and a long, interesting game of spades (as only Malika could make it).

4/12 began at 12:00p when Malcolm and Dontay arrived to join Clif and Art in a game of laser tag. Malika and Tanya showed up late for tag, but were early to hang out at Lucky Strike, which was our next destination. The 6 of us began a game of bowling and was soon joined by Felix, Yasi and Dariush. After Clif swallowed the surprise of seeing D and Yasi, in walked cousin Lucy (and her friend) for yet another surprise.

After a few games of bowling, good food and drinks we had to leave Lucky Strike to get ready for our next outing which was Saddle Ranch in Universal Citywalk. We arrived at 8:30p and it wasn't long before we signed our life away to be able to ride the mechanical bull. Shawna and I cheated (holding on with 2 hands) while Jimmy and Clif were honorable bull riders (Clif got tossed though).

4/13 arrived (sooner than we liked it) and we were off to meet up with the last of Clif's surprises for brunch in Hollywood. Patty, Garett, Mia and Cameron were unable to make the trip to the Griddle Cafe, so the 5 of us (Clif, Chris, Malika Tanya and I) ate enough to cover any loss food that was not ordered due to the shortened guest list.

We arrived home that afternoon EXHAUSTED but very fulfilled.

Here is a album of photos to enjoy of this past weekend. Enjoy.

Clif's Big 3-0 Weekend

The End of a Decade

2008-04-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Clif turning the big 3-0, I made a "Last Day in Your Twenties" cake for him and our neigbors. Since my group has been BIG on Dorie lately, I selected to make the cake that graces the cover of her book, From My Home to Yours (page 247).

This cake was a HUGE success and it was a great way for Clif to end his 20s on a high note. What he didn't know was that the upcoming weekend was going to be filled with parties, special guests and lots of surprises.

I now give you Devil Food's White-Out Cake

As you can see I have the book opened to the page in the book that shows the inside of the cake. This cake lasted all of 5 minutes, and so there were no "cut slice" pieces for me to photograph.

I'll definitely be making this again.

Bacon to DIE for

2008-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have to get all caught up on my posting, but I wanted to be sure and get this one out of the way. This past weekend was filled with partying (Clif turned the big 3-0) so coming up next is a full re-cap. Before I do that, I have 2 things that I must post about.

Thing 1:

BROWN SUGAR & PEPPER BACON
While watching Emeril Live (I so love the way that man cooks) he did an entire segment on "breakfast for dinner." Aside from his killer omeletts and fruit waffles, he made the most wonderful looking bacon I've ever seen. The next day (Friday) I couldn't help but make this wonderful creation to see if it tasted as good as it looked.

I'll never eat bacon the regular way again.

Recipe:
1/2 cup brown sugar (fresh, not hard and stale)
2 tsp of black pepper
bacon (however many slices you can drown in the sugar will (just about) do

Mix sugar and pepper in a bowl. Dip bacon in mixture. Place bacon on a wire rack, ontop of a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 6-8 minutes. Enjoy.

Runner's, start your training!

2008-04-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

So a couple of friends and I decided to enter into the Nike Women's Marathon that is coming up this October, in San Francisco, CA. It sucks because I wouldn't have any known to sign up if it wasn't for my SFAMily members who are always on the ball. Their group didn't make the lottery cut (there were so many people that signed up last year, Nike decided to select runners via a lottery). I'll be walking/running/sweating with them in mind.

Let's see how all of my baking will come into play with me training for a full on marathon.

How to line a cake pan w/ parchment

2008-04-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was watching a YouTube video of how to line a cake pan. This task is what keeps me from actually lining the bottom of a cake pan in lieu of just oil/flouring it.

So, here goes:
1 Take a piece of parchment paper (wider the the size of the pan that you're using.
2 Fold in half.
3 Fold into a triangle (using the bottom as an edge).
4 Fold into another triangle (again, using the bottom). You will have something that looks like this:

5 Take the (almost paper airplane looking thing) over to the back side of the pan.
Place the point in the middle of the pan, and allow the rest of the paper to rest on the pan. (here's a visual)

6 cut the paper where it meets with the edge of the pan.

7 Unfold and YOU HAVE LINED THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN.
(looky-looky)

Perfect Cake (for a little party)

2008-04-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a few days late (3 to be exact) with my Daring Bakers challenge post this month. My apologies. I finished my cakes yesterday and was able to surprise a couple of gals in the snackbar of my daughter's softball league, with these cute treats. They loved them... and so did I later on last night after I returned from the gym.

*Warning: never bake a cake and leave the house to run an errand. I went over to the field to prep the snack bar for last night's game. I took my cooking timer and everything. When I returned the cake was in the over about 5 minutes too long. Which resulted in me making "mini" cakes (the sides were over done).

Lemon Zest

Lemon + sugar = lemon sugar :)

Cakes (after cut into little circles)

Strawberry preserves

Buttercream filling/frosting

Little sammiches

Viola!... all decorated with coconut and topped with more preserves!

Here's the recipe... and thanks to Morven for the challenge.

PERFECT PARTY CAKE
From Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (pages 250-252)

Words from Dorie
Stick a bright-coloured Post-it to this page, so you’ll always know where to turn for a just-right cake for any celebration. The original recipe was given to me by my great dear friend Nick Malgieri, of baking fame, and since getting it, I’ve found endless opportunities to make it – you will too. The cake is snow white, with an elegant tight crumb and an easygoing nature: it always bakes up perfectly; it is delicate on the tongue but sturdy in the kitchen – no fussing when it comes to slicing the layers in half or cutting tall, beautiful wedges for serving; and, it tastes just as you’d want a party cake to taste – special. The base recipe is for a cake flavoured with lemon, layered with a little raspberry jam and filled and frosted with a classic (and so simple) pure white lemony hot-meringue buttercream but, because the elements are so fundamental, they lend themselves to variation (see Playing Around), making the cake not just perfect, but also versatile.

For the Cake
2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Whisk together the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in more lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Party Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

DB challenge to come!

2008-03-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

Hey... I'm still working on it!

Give me a break already :)

My (most humble) apology!

2008-03-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've been gone for far too long. This past month and a half have taken a toll on me. There's been illness, death, robberies, etc. that has kept me away from my blog for some time now. All I can say is that I've miss you all and that I hope to gain your interest back. Due to my home being robbed, I no longer have a digital camera. I'm limited to what all I can show you, so just bare with me. Mr. J did say that it was ok to get another one.... so we'll see.

I received a phone call today from Ms. K.H. (I'm not going to insert her name, but she knows who she is). She told me that she was looking at my site and commented that I purchased my HOMEMADE pies at Marie Calender's. I'll kick her butt later for this comment, but it made me think about how long it's been since I blogged. Way too long, so I'm back... I hope you missed me.

-----
(about my phone call)
To know KH is to love her. This is Ms. "1RUFRYD"/ "RUFRYDR"/ 'You Remind Me of My Jeep' in the flesh (she owned a Jeep Wrangler when it was COOL). This crazy ass woman that introduced me to 3 things that I'll never forget: The Mirage (a strip club in LA/Inglewood, circa 1992), frozen peach cobbler (only sold at the Ralph's by our house) and how eating always made everything better (she also showed me how to truly piss off my uncle by painting his toe nails while he slept). I can't tell you how fun my first year of working out at LAX was because of my mom, my uncle and KH. Late nights and early mornings would have never been the same if it wasn't for all the ignorant stuff we use to do.

I acknowledge my learning to wear high heels, hoochie mama shorts and low-cut, revealing shirts to both KH and Be-Be, her sister (may she rest in peace). We would get up early on Sunday, attend church (at Mt Zion, off Broadway and Manchester), go back to Be-Be's house, eat, eat some more, sleep, make peach cobbler, get dressed and head out to the Mirage (all in one day). These women had all of the men in this place drooling all over them, and they never minded having a "young buck" hanging out with them. I was learning the ropes from the best...and I learned A LOT! (I spare you the details of how a friend of ours obtained the nickname of "screamer")

KH's favorite words back then were "E-e-e-a-s-s-y Tiger!"... a saying that I still use today.

Thanks KH for the call, I needed the boost.
P.s. Give the recipe for that damn gumbo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T15:15:00.001-08:00

From me to you!

Do I look 1 years old?

2008-02-05T18:40:00.001-08:00

..and now the Cake!

2008-02-05T18:24:00.000-08:00

So, Chris' birthday party was wonderful. Inspite of the rain, we had a packed house filled with friends and family. Thank you to everyone who made the trip in the rain, and waited patiently for me to finish the cake (that damn cake). Grandma, Jerome, Sindhu and Prasidini came ALL THE WAY from S.D.; Grandpa drove in from Temecula; G-Mama came in from Lawndale; Shawna, Jim and Maya came from Lakewood; Carla and Jayla came all the way from Hawhtorne (;>)and Aimee, Mariah and Chynna came from next door! Uncle Tom mailed in a beautiful blanket (he lives in Palm Springs but the blanket came from Alaska.

We dined on pigs in a blanket, sliders, spinach/artichoke dip, vegetables, etc.

It was truly a blessing to have you all in our home. We hope to see you all real soon.

So ON TO THE CAKE.
What started off as being a simple 2-layer chocolate cake in the shape of a football, turned into a 4-layer, 2-flavor cake, in the shape of a football.
Anyway, Chris didn't seem to mind, he loved it:

Here's the cake assembled...

crumb coated...

cutting into the cake...

fondant applied... (look at the swirl effect -that I wasn't trying to achieve)

The recipes came out of this book, which I recieved as a Christmas gift. I truly love this book.

Happy Birthday "Christian"

2008-02-03T07:17:00.001-08:00

We made it!
Today we will be celebrating Chris turning 1 years old. It's truly a blessing for us to make it to this milestone. He's such a wonderful baby and more handsome than we could have hoped for. 1 year ago today (at 7:..am) I was eagerly waiting for the doctor to tell me to "push." It had been a long night with no progress in labor (I stayed at 3 cm for about 13+ hours). After 8:38 nothing else mattered as we were able to hold our little guy for the first time.

Here was chris' first diaper change (by his mommy):

...and here is the famous picture of our cable remote kicking Chris' butt (look how big that remote looks compared to the baby):

Well, I'll be back later. It's raining outside but I still have to prepare for Chris' 1st birthday party. It's a Super Bowl themed one (duh) complete with a football cake (that I'm making myself). Wish me luck.

T minus 2 (days) and counting!

2008-02-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? Chris will be turning 1 years old on Sunday (02.03.08).
This year has certainly gone by way too quickly. Watching him walk around, kicking
balls and trying to play with his big brother and sister is truly amazing.

Now begins the hectic "Pre-Party Shopping" to get ready for Sunday.

Wish me luck, I'm planning some cool treats and food for the day, Super Bowl style.
(Yooo Hooo TRISH!... we will be partaking on the dip, so I'll tell you how it turned out)

Challenge #3: Done and done!

2008-01-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

The DBs strike again, this time it's a charm for me (get it, my third challenge?)

Hello?! Is this mic on?

Anyhoot, if I thought baking was fun before, this challenged sure did cement this belief into my mind, forever. This month's challenge was Lemon Meringue Pie. I've always loved this pie. It ranks right up there with apple, sweet potato, banana and SCRAWberry (from Marie Calendar's). So I was happy as heck to find out I'd finally learn how to make it.

First the crust:
(I truly prefer buying ready-made crust, but the DB Police would fine me big time, if I tried that crap!)

Next is the filling:
(It would truly help to purchase more than enough lemons, to squeeze for this recipe. I purchased 3 and was about to [fill-in the curse word here] bricks when it seemed like I didn't have enough.

Here's the meringue:
(don't you just love saying this word? Spelling it,... not so much!)

There was some discussion on our boards about the proper way to fill the crust to prevent "soggy-ness". I solved this problem, but trying to make everything all at the same time, which ended up me pouring the filling and the meringue (at the same time). No time to get soggy here!

All in all, it was great experience.

Look at the hills on this bad boy! :)

Even if I did start baking this challenge at 9:00am THIS MORNING <--- true insanity!

Recipe:
Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Truly, truly, truly outrageous!

2008-01-26T15:41:00.001-08:00

Ooooh, Jem!
Shizzam, do you remember this cartoon? She had some BAD ASS pink hair, didn't she!
Aw man, I loved Jem (not so much the Missfits thought - but oh well). I was watching Family Guy last night (we have all of seasons 1-3) and Peter was laying on the bed watching an episode. I almost spit out my Diet Dr Pepper when he started singing the theme song. Wow... cartoon is just not the same.

Who was the guy that like Jem?

and now back to the weather, Bob!

2008-01-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

Dude... just as I thought, no rain today. Of course there was 'suppose' to be rain today. I planned for rain today. I cancelled all of my plans because it was going to rain today. Was there rain today? Hell-to-the-nah!

Gosdarnit, it was even pretty sunny out. No 90 degrees sunny, but a perfect fly your kite-type sunny.

Will the weatherman ever get it right? I bet $5 that they never do.

Tornado watch?!?

2008-01-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, wait.. I live in Torrance, not Kansas!

I was talking to a neighbor about the wet weather situation, and they asked if I heard about the Tornado Watch that was issued to our city yesterday. "What?"

I just 'Google'd' it and found this.

Ok, now it's gone too far.

Enough is enough already, sheesh!

2008-01-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

SoCal has been hit with a pretty big storm over the past couple of days. In my neck of the woods, we're expecting to get (at least) 3 more days of the "wet stuff" so the tunnel is still looking a little dark. I know that we need it, "we" being CAH-LEE-FURN-YA, because rain is something that we don't get much 'round this here parts.

I'm always conflicted because "rain" comes with such a high price. I mean, outdoor plans get cancelled (I have lots of those); automobile accidents increase, which in turns means I don't like to drive with ya'll crazy asschumps (further cancelling my "plans"); and my clothes (mostly my pants) always get wet because I don't have the wardrobe that handles it effectively.

Take for instance driving my kids to school this morning. My ONLY pair of rain boots (wait, define rain boots? These are my Timberland-like boots that I wear in the rain) were left outside yesterday because I was cleaning up around the building. Well, I didn't put them far enough back on the porch, and they were soaked this morning when I tried to slip them on. I had to put on my "All Day I Dream About Sex (<---80's shout out!) and try and stay dry. Of course my feet ended up getting all wet because 'sneakers' aren't made for puddles.

And you know what will happen next right? I'll go out and by the REAL rain boots, and it'll be 90+ degrees for the next 5 years.

Could you use some romance?

2008-01-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

How about spicing up this coming V-Day with some heart-shaped treats for your sweet. Check out this blog to participate in the challenge, or to get some ideas. Posting date is between now and V-Day, so I'll see you then.

Proud "Mama" moment

2008-01-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of my children. Just on an average they do things that make me proud to be a mom. Now, don't get me wrong... they also do things that make me want to scream profanity out of my car window, but I could never imagine my life without them.

Ryann had her softball evaluations this past Saturday and she ROCKED! This will be her 3rd season playing for NTGSL, and she's really coming into her own. During the evals she was: thrown 3 pop flies (she caught all 3); hit 3 ground balls (she fielded all 3); given 3 balls to throw from shortstop to 1st base (perfect throws) and she hit 3 out of the 5 balls the pitching machine shot to her. The damn machine wasn't working good and had to be adjusted to speed up the pitches.

Mommy just sat in the dugout and let her baby do her "thang"... she even knew she kicked butt. That's my girl!

My first test from the THE BOOK

2008-01-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

I've decided to attempt to make delicious desserts at LEAST once a month. Of course this dessert doesn't include whatever my monthly challenge is from the DB, so make that at LEAST two treats for the house. After getting, and partially reading, the Cake Bible, I asked Clif to pick out the first recipe that I was going to attempt. He chose the "Golden Butter Cream Cake" and it turned out to be a nice cake.

This cake is a simple cake. It only bakes up to be 1 3/8 inches so it's a relatively short cake. Berambaum was right on when she described the crust of the cake, very buttery and flaky. The cake taste was a bit surprising though, it almost had a 'cracker-type' feel to it, it kind of dissolves in your mouth. At first bite it seemed dry, but if you took another bite it wasn't bad. You can definitely taste the butter which is why she says "if you love butter, you'll love this cake."

My opinion: next time I will frost the cake with a whipped cream topping, something light since the cake itself is light.