In My Copious Free Time

J-e-l-l-o

My mother used to make these all the time when I was growing up.

Jello Popsicles

1 pkg Jello (3 oz)
1 pkg Kool-Aid
1 c sugar
2 c boiling water
2 c cold water

Dissolve Jello, Kool-Aid and sugar in boiling water. Stir in cold water. Pour into molds. Place filled molds in freezer and wait 2-3 hours until set.

My favorite flavor then and now is black cherry, though strawberry-banana is pretty good.

Strawberry cake

This is one of my favorite recipes, and I thought I'd put it here as a back up. I currently have two of these in the (NEW!) oven, one to take to the office today and one to take to Joe's grandmother's house at the beach.

From MSLiving, June 2005.

6 T     unsalted butter, plus more for pie plate
1.5 c   all-purpose flour
1.5 t   baking powder
0.5 t   salt
1 c     sugar, plus 2 T
1 large egg
0.5 c  milk
1 t     pure vanilla extract
1 lb   strawberries, hulled and halved

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

2. Put butter and 1 c sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 T of sugar over berries.

4. Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325F. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on wire rack. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

I don't know if this cake really will keep for 2 days. I've never had it stick around that long.

Good Eats

A coworker casually mentioned a class she's taking and it turned into a total BI. (See, I can be BIed myself.) So, Thursday I'm taking a cooking class at the local Arts Center. (Local as in 2 doors down from the office.) The theme is "South of the Border". From the description:

"Create shrimp roulade with chili corn cakes, avocado and chili-lime vinaigrette, grilled asparagus with charred tomatoes and queso fresco, crunchy pan-fried snapper with chili-lime butter and chocolate-dipped strawberries."

So, nothing terribly complicated, but it's always good to get new ideas. If this goes well, I'm seriously thinking about taking the Asian and Mediterranean Tapas classes.

Currently playing: "New Sensation", INXS