Let Them Eat Cake - Cupcakes

Everyone, royalty and commoners, is eating cake, especially cupcakes  now. Cupcakes have been dessert treats since the early 19th century but have regained popularity in the last few years.

Last Saturday we had a reception in our home for our daughter and her new husband. They were married the same weekend as the other royal couple, the ones in England. Cupcakes seemed like the perfect dessert to serve and several friends had asked to help with the event, so I asked them to bring cupcakes. We had a wonderful variety and the individual sized treats were perfect with the casual barbecue beef and baked beans we served.

One flavor that was a hit was Pink Champagne Cupcakes. This was new to me, but after searching the web for the recipe, I realized that the royal couple, the ones in England, had served Champagne Cupcakes at their wedding reception. I guess I was so busy with our own wedding arrangements, I missed that detail! There are several recipes available, but the easiest one uses a white cake mix, I've posted it below for you.

But I also found out other interesting information about cupcakes. They may have came about as a way of measuring the ingredients - by tea cups which were common measurement tools before standardized measuring cups and spoons were available. Cupcakes were also originally baked in cups. Because cupcakes bake much quicker than a cake, they turned out better and were less likely to burn in a hearth oven.

Today we like cupcakes because they are so convenient. They are one serving size, ready to eat. They are easy to carry and pack. You can be creative with packaging, decorating and shapes; there are many selections of cupcake papers and pan shapes to choose. Commercial companies have realized the convenience of cupcakes for marketing snack foods for years. The Hostess cupcake first appeared (without the squiggle on top) in 1919.

So whether you are royalty or just want to live like royalty, it's not flippant to say "Let them eat cake".

Pink Champagne Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix
1 1/4 cups champagne
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
4 to 5 drops red food coloring

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cups in each of 24 regular size muffin cups. In a large bowl, combine dry cake mix and champagne. Add oil, eggs and food color. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup champagne
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 to 5 drops red food coloring

In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle with pink decorator sugar crystals and edible pink pearls.

Soup-er Friends

          

My country friends and I like excuses to go the city for things that are limited here in Greenwood County – shopping, cultural events, eating out. Last week a couple of friends and I went to the nearby city for a home tour of a house redecorated as a benefit for the symphony. It was beautiful.

And of course, we had lunch before we did the tour. We ate at T’s Soup Kitchen, a re-opened popular lunch restaurant. This restaurant had been closed for 7 years while the well-known chef did catering and classes. Her new restaurant is every bit as good as previously and very cleverly decorated, easier to find, and overall yummy.

Soup seemed like an unlikely choice on a May spring day, but the weather was cool and windy so it was a welcome taste. But with the many soup recipes for cold soups, lighter soups, and fruits soups, you could serve soup all year long.

I had a flight of soups – a new way of sampling 4 soups in 2-3 ounce servings. Just right with a salad. The selection I had was Tomato Bisque, Sweet Potato Chili, Velvet Corn, and Clam Chowder. I’d had T’s Tomato Basil before and knew it would be delicious. The others also rated well.

It happens that I have T’s recipe for Tomato Bisque, from a State 4-H Foundation event several years ago. I’ve adapted it to a lower calorie version with evaporated milk and I think it still tastes rich and is just as good.  Use cream instead of evaporated milk if you want the calories.  I like to serve it with a wrap sandwich.

T’s Tomato Bisque

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes, with juices

1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 cup water

2 cups non-fat evaporated milk

2 teaspoons dried dill

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons (or more) sugar

Put all ingredients in a pot and whisk together. (If you have an emersion blender, this is a good place to use it!) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. (Makes about 6 servings)

May is Beef Month

In Greenwood County, every month is Beef Month. My friends in the County Cattlewomen and Cattlemen's Associations put an extra emphasis on promoting beef in May. We've had sign ups for winning roast beef dinners for Mother's Day, placemats decorated with local cattle brands in the restaurants, and ads in the news papers and radio station. We're proud to be part of the 31,000 family farms in Kansas with cows and calves.

Besides being a nutritious part of your regular diet, providing zinc, protein and B-vitamins, beef can be part of the local food movement as well. As I look out my dining room window today, I see the beef that will be in my freezer next month. That's pretty local. Beef production is also part of the sustainability movement. Cattlemen here in the Flint Hills use beef cattle as the ideal mechanism to utilize grasses and plants not suitable for crop production. A good source for more information about Kansas beef is www.kansasbeef.org.

When I plan meals I think about the main course first - which beef cut will it be? Roast, ground beef, minute steak or steak. There's a wide variety of recipes and preparations that are our favorites. I've found that minute steak can be used in many recipes that call for chicken strips, just cut the raw steak into thin slices and quickly fry in a small amount of oil. Add to stir fry dishes, salads, or casseroles. Here's a yummy recipe that can use ground beef or minute steak.

Pepper Beef with Cashews
1 1/2 pounds ground beef or minute steak cut into strips
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tablespoons beef broth, divided
1 each large sweet red, yellow, and green pepper,  cut into strips
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cashew halves

In a skillet, cook beef and black pepper over medium heat until no longer pink. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Add onion and garlic to skillet; sauté for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons broth; mix well. Stir in the peppers. Cover and steam for 1 minute.
Return beef to pan. Stir in soy sauce. Combine cornstarch with remaining broth until smooth; gradually add to skillet. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cashews.
We like this served with rice.

Food and Friends = Salad Luncheon

In a small community like ours, a gathering of women friends who may invite another group of women friends often includes a salad luncheon. Everyone brings their favorite salad whether it's a chicken salad in a pineapple, potato (at least 3 varieties), or some combination of Cool Whip with marshmallows and fruit.

Today was our church's annual Spring Salad Luncheon, many salads and many friends. It's a good time to visit with friends from other churches, taste new and old favorite recipes and even hear a good program. Today's program celebrated Kansas history with a talk about flour sacks - those cloth bags that flour was sold in before we only bought it in paper sacks of 5 pounds at a time. The speaker's collection of flour sacks from Kansas mills was a tribute to Kansas' heritage as the wheat state and to the thriftiness of our earlier homemakers. Not only did these women frequently buy flour in quantities that would take most of us months to use now, they reused the cloth sacks to sew clothing for their family. Imagine wearing underwear made of scratchy woven cotton or a dress with XXX Mill across the back!

Today is also Cinco de Mayo, so it seemed appropriate that the salad I took was a Mexican flavored Cornbread Salad. It's one of my favorite salad recipes, but one I save for salad luncheons because it makes a very large salad. As you layer the ingredients, if you find you have more salad than bowl, just use part of the second half of the ingredients on the second round of layers. You can always save the extra for tacos or other preparations. I sprinkled more grated cheese on top for garnish.

Cornbread Salad

1 package (8 ½-oz) cornbread muffin mix

1 envelope (1-oz) ranch salad dressing mix

1 carton (8-oz) sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

3 large tomatoes, chopped

½ cup red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup green bell pepper, chopped

½ cup green onions, chopped

2 cans (16-oz) pinto beans, drained

2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 cans (15 ¼-oz) corn, drained

1.     Prepare and bake cornbread muffins or pan of cornbread according to package directions; cool.

2.     Stir together salad dressing mix, sour cream, and mayonnaise until blended; set aside.

3.     Combine chopped tomatoes, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and green onions; gently toss.

4.     Crumble half of cornbread into a 3-quart trifle bowl or large salad bowl. Top with half each of beans, tomato mixture, cheese, bacon, corn, and dressing mixture; repeat layers.

5.     Cover and chill 3 hours.