Dyed Deviled Eggs

I have been trying for years to find decent ways to dye eggs naturally. If you are dying the shells, the flavor doesn't matter. But I like to dye the part you eat and make funky looking deviled eggs. This year, I tried for yellow on the egg white part. I read in a magazine to use carrot tops, which I cut up and brought to a boil in some water, then let cool and added vinegar before adding the eggs. I let them sit in the fridge for several hours. The result? Slightly off-white eggs. So I pulled out the old stand-by, and so far the only way I've found to dye eggs naturally: a chopped beet in hot water with a little vinegar. The longer you let the whites soak, the darker the color.
The photo here, taken this morning after the carrot failure, shows eggs that soaked in beet water for about 30 minutes. They are very hot pink and really don't look like anything natural at all, which is why they are fun to take to parties! I would have mixed some avocado in with the yellow mash, but my avocado went bad.

The Recipe Box

I have this recipe box. I've been adding to it over the past decade. Sometimes I'll come up with a new recipe, or alter one I find in a cookbook, but mostly it's filled with recipe cards that others have given me. Mostly from family members. Several from the oldest generation of family members. There's something about moving in with a guy, getting married, buying a house, traveling along life's path- that inspires the elders to bless you with their treasured creations of edible love, in the form of hand-written ingredients and instructions on a small piece of cardstock.

I've never removed any recipes from the recipe box. I also haven't made very many of them. The ones I invented went into the box and sort of fell into oblivion. Some of the ones given by the elders just seem outright disgusting to me. And the ones I remember and look for are usually impossible to find. I think of myself as a pretty organized person, but my organizational skills stop at the box. For example, if I'm looking for the recipe for "Bill's Potato Soup", it could be under "B", "P", "S", or any letter next to those. It's laughable, really, if you happen to be in a good mood while searching.

So, in one of those laughable moments, my husband gave me the dangerous idea of making everything in the recipe box and blogging about it. I thought about that, and decided this might actually be a good way to toss out the recipes I will never make, despite the thoughtfulness of loved ones gifting their treasured recipes to us; and I might re-discover those recipes I created and then forgot about immediately after creating them.

This also might work well with "The Meal Plan". I'm sure you've heard of this idea, maybe you've even tried- and failed- at it! The idea is to write down all the recipes you want to make in the week, then make a grocery list of what you need to make these recipes, then buy them all in one successful trip to the store, and spend every night with a home cooked meal! It sounds like a fabulous idea, and I admit- if I know what we are planning to have for dinner, we are a lot more likely to actually make the effort to cook it (especially if it doesn't involve a quick run to the grocery store between 5-6 pm when everyone else is doing the same thing!) BUT- realistically, The Meal Plan works for about a week, usually more like 2-3 days and then it tends to fail for various reasons. At least, in my experience. But- now I have a new idea! This week for dinner- things from the S section of the recipe box! What do you want for dinner? Salmon, squash, scallops, salad or a recipe from my friend Shay? (remember? organizational skills+recipe box=zero)

Some rules:
I do not have a deadline for this. That would be ridiculous.
I am not going in order. For example, I am starting with "S" because we are in winter squash season. And I will post each letter as a separate blog (maybe some in two parts, there are an awful lot of things in the "C" category).
I am allowed to alter the recipes as I make them. I thought about this for awhile, and I decided that normally I would totally change recipes to make them more likely to be used again. Also, I don't even know how to find stuff like oleo in the store.
And finally, I will only keep it in the box if there is a remote chance that I will make it again. This will allow me more space for future creations!

Thai Spice

1210 S. Gilbert St.
Iowa City

I went to this place for my 30th birthday and it's been a couple of years since I've been back. I now realize I made a mistake. The food is great, the service is great, and the prices are reasonable.
I got #7, under the "stir fry" section of the menu, but I didn't try to remember the title of it. It came w/ rice noodles, broccoli, fresh basil, onions and you can choose chicken, pork, or (probably) beef. I asked if I could get tofu, and they said yes. That was an excellent request, the tofu was fabulous! And the spiciness was just right. I had a small amount of leftovers, which were just as good reheated.
Hubby got something under the "curry" section of the menu that came in a clay pot. Translation: it's going to come scalding hot and not be cool enough to eat until your partner is almost done with her meal. Translation: you will probably eat half of your partner's meal while you wait for yours to cool causing her to only have a small amount of leftovers. His meal came with rice, lots of veggies and chicken, plus 3 shrimp. I think it was those 3 shrimp that made it more expensive. $12.75 for him, $9.75 for me. His was good, but we both agreed mine was much better.
We also got a-cho for an appetizer. No, it didn't make me sneeze. It was an egg roll stuffed with veggies, and it was scalding hot. If we get it again, we will tear each in half and let the steam evaporate from them before beginning to eat them. Which is not an easy thing to do when you are sitting there starving.
Hubby got tea which we were not charged for, bonus!
The women's bathroom is nice & neat, no complaints. The restaurant has a great atmosphere, and a room where you can sit on pillows (you have to reserve it). The tables are like the ones at Masala, colorful table cloths with glass on top.
Environmentally: cloth napkins, reusable plates, but styrofoam to go containers.

El Banditos

327 East Market Street
Iowa City's Northside District

Last night we finally gave this new Mexican restaurant a try. Being big fans of La Reyna, it was hard to go elsewhere for Mexican food. I heard the nachos are good at El Banditos, but when you get free chips & salsa, it's hard to order nachos. The chips were not very good. One was so chewy I had to spit it out. The salsa was also not nearly as good as La Reyna's homemade salsa.
I ordered the "Green Gigantic" which was definitely green, but hardly gigantic. Filled with veggies in a spinach tortilla, it was pretty tasty, and cost $9. Hubby got the "Street Burrito" which comes with meat for $8, without meat for $7 and with a cream sauce for an extra $2. He got the chicken with the cream sauce, and I'm here to tell you, splurging on that extra $2 is worth it. That sauce is tasty! His burrito was much bigger than my "gigantic" and it was very good. We requested some hot sauce, and the waiter brought out a very good homemade habenero sauce that was a little sweet and reminded me of Scotch Bonnet sauce.
They have some decent beers on tap, John's White, Fat Tire, XX, all for $4.
The bathrooms are interesting. After walking down a long, desolate hallway, you'll find the women's bathroom with so much room they have a chair (in case you bring a guest with you?) However, the toilet wobbles when you sit on it. The men's bathroom apparently starts off level, then the floor angles down, so that the toilet is tilted. Maybe you should avoid these restrooms if you've been drinking a lot.
Environmentally: paper napkins, reusable plates. Not enough food for leftovers, so I don't know what they use.

Cake #13: ATF Gingerbread

I was more excited about this one than the last one, because:
1. It calls for crystallized ginger, and Molly got me started with crystallized ginger, which I love.
2. It calls for cream cheese frosting w/ ginger, which sounded interesting!
Similar to cake #12, this one should be re-named molasses cake, it calls for 1 cup of molasses. It also calls for 1 cup of dark beer, so be careful measuring if you have homebrewed munich dunkel which happens to be over-carbonated.

In the book, Melissa mentions that crystallized ginger can be quite spendy. I found some at Hy-Vee in the produce aisle next to the bagged nuts for a pretty good price. And, liking ginger, I measured the 1/2 cup of chopped ginger pretty liberally.
She also says to add the egg, molasses & beer all at once. That just seemed like too much work, so I added them separately, letting the molasses slowly pour in while the kitchen aid was spinning away.
The cake baked for 50 minutes and after letting it cool in the pan for 15, it came out of my well-buttered cake pan pretty well. It helps to let it cool for 15 minutes first, because I put a plate on top, flip it over, then flip it onto the cooling rack. Doing this involves touching it with my bare hands, and getting burned fingers could potentially cause a not-so-perfect looking cake.
This was a pretty easy cake to make, I'm getting the idea that most gingerbread cakes are pretty easy. And tasty!
Next, I made the gingery cream cheese frosting, which the author pulled from a community cookbook by the Gideon Sunday School Class of Providence Baptist Church in Gloucester, Virginia. Gotta love the variety of resources! It's pretty simple: cream cheese (I used neufchatel because I always do), butter, vanilla, powdered sugar & ground ginger. Which means this "ginger" bread cake has a teeny little bit of ginger powder in the frosting and some crystallized ginger chunks in the cake. When licking the knife after spreading the frosting, one doesn't really taste too much ginger. I think you could use more if you're a ginger fan.
I would rename this cake: Molasses Beer Cake with Ginger Chunks. I think that would go faster at a potluck. Plus, ATF stands for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms- something to do w/ beer and ginger. But there's no tobacco in the cake, so a re-name is necessary.
Next time I will try 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat flour. I do 1/2 & 1/2 with the flours in most things I make. But with the cake book, I'm trying to follow the exact recipe before I experiment. And on this recipe, Melissa notes that she made a double batch using white & wheat flour, and Ari Shapiro called it "rustic in a good way". I would listen to Ari Shapiro if I were you.

Cottage Bakery

Corner of E. Benton & Gilbert St., Iowa City
March 14, 2011

This is the place that moved from Linn St. just east of downtown to Gilbert St. a couple of years ago. On Linn St., there were plenty of seats, and it was in a much larger space. So, when I walked there for lunch (never having been there before) I expected to be able to sit and eat there. There are 2 benches next to a coffee table, but it felt odd eating there. Plus, there was no bathroom or place to wash my hands before I ate.
The menu consists of sandwiches for $6, wraps for $6.50, paninis and soup (I'm not sure how much those are). I chose the Mexi-wrap in a spinach tortilla, which included black bean hummus, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, black olives, lettuce, sour cream and salsa. It tasted pretty good, with an impressive spiciness! It came in a bag and I asked if I could eat it there. They then offered me a plate. I opened the wrap, which was wrapped in wax paper, then cut in half, so I had to pull some pieces of wax paper out of the food. It was also wrapped a little on the loose side, so it ended up being kind of sloppy. I would have liked to wash my hands again when I was done eating, but I made do w/ some napkins. When I ordered, I asked if I could have some water. The refrigerated items were pointed out to me which included cans of pop and bottled water. Having just seen the documentary Tapped, I didn't want to buy a bottle of water, so I asked if they had anything else. She said they have tap water, so I said fine. Then I saw the price go up. I asked if there was a charge for tap water, and I was told yes, $.50. I cannot remember the last time someone charged me for tap water! Not even filtered! Negative points there.
Environmentally: Not good. The water came in a disposable cup with a plastic lid, the wrap came in wax paper in a paper bag, they sell bottled water and tap water seems to be a special order. Paper napkins, disposable coffee cups (but- they are paper and not styrofoam, which is a plus).
All in all, the food was good and I might go there again, if I want something to go and I'm bringing my own reusable bottle of water.

Cake #12: Ginger Bread Cake

On March 7, I made the next cake in the All Cakes Considered cookbook. I didn't know what to expect with a ginger bread cake, since I haven't had much ginger bread in my life. But, the recipe was fairly easy and it ended up being mostly molasses. It should probably be called Molasses Cake with Ginger. I was going to a potluck, so I made 2 cakes- doubling the recipe and pouring the batter into 2 round cake pans, which worked fine. But I have learned that when you go to potlucks, desserts are among the most popular foods to bring, so your healthy looking plain brown cake is competing with things like brownies and pie and stuff with chocolate frosting and nuts! Not much got eaten, and having a whole cake at home, we took some to work. My co-workers only had positive things to say about the cake, and really, it is pretty good!

When doubled, the recipe calls for a cup of boiling water (I'm not sure why). It might not sound like much, but when you add it to the kitchen aid with all the other ingredients in there, you'll want to start the machine of really slowly to avoid a big mess!

Each cake calls for a stick of butter, and I think substituting applesauce would change the texture. The cake is best eaten about 1/2 hour out of the oven, the middle is warm and the "crust" is cripsy. It would be great with whip cream or ice cream. After it's room temp, you kind of lose the crispy crust, but it is still good, I don't know if a frosting would help it or not.