Who Has Seen the Wind?

The poet who wrote "Who has seen the wind?" didn't live in Kansas! Last week we saw the wind. We saw it in the dust that rolled across the yard. We saw it as the weak and dead limbs fell from trees. We saw it as the dry grasses bent over in the landscape. And we saw it as the fire from a careless cigarette tossed out on the highway one mile away roared toward us.
Prairie fires are one of the dangers of living here. A controlled burn in the spring makes the grass grow green and lush to feed the cattle we raise on our ranch, but when the wind blows and the land is dry we fear the fire.
Last week the section south of us burned on a windy day when the wind howled from the south. Fourteen fire trucks from three towns and their volunteers were our heroes. Neighbors and family on four wheelers and pickups worked at the edges. The biggest truck, unable to maneuver the pastures, sit in our driveway, making us feel safer for our house.

When things like this happen, "thank you" is never enough. But sometimes little things can add to the "thank you". We took cake to the firemen sitting in our driveway and got a tour of the big red fire truck.

A firetruck in Nana's driveway is pretty exciting! 

Wearing o’ Green Cake

(flavors of pudding and gelatin could be varied for different colors/holidays)

Ingredients:

1 package white cake mix (regular size)

1 package lime gelatin

¾ cup boiling water

¼  cup cold water

Topping:

1 cup cold milk

1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla (or pistachio) pudding mix

½ - 1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

green sprinkles

Directions:

1.     prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using a greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Cook on a wire rack 1 hour. In a small bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water; stir in cold water and set aside.

2.     With a meat fork or wooden skewer, poke holes about 2 inches apart into cooled cake. Slowly pour gelatin over cake. Cover and refrigerate.

3.     In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix 2 minutes (mixture will be thick). Fold in whipped topping. Spread over cake. Decorate with sprinkles. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Yield: 12-15 servings.

The baked cake with holes and lime gelatin poured in.
Not too attractive looking at this stage! 

The whipped topping frosting adds to the appearance
and the taste! 

tunnels of green gelatin

Gingerbread Pudding Cake

Run, run as fast as you can!
You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Ever wonder why we had nursery rhymes of runaway food? Food was (and still is) a main topic of families through the ages. In olden times most of the family's time and effort was spent hunting, gathering, preserving, and preparing food. No McDonalds down the street to pick up a Happy Meal from for that family.
Gingerbread became a popular flavor in early days. From it's humble history to today's overpriced latte, it is associated with holiday foods.
Gingerbread was a favorite treat at festivals and fairs in medieval Europe—often shaped and decorated to look like flowers, birds, animals or even armor—and several cities in France and England hosted regular "gingerbread fairs" for centuries. Ladies often gave their favorite knights a piece of gingerbread for good luck in a tournament, or superstitiously ate a "gingerbread husband" to improve their chances of landing the real thing. 
The sweet flavored cake-like treat is usually sweetened with molasses or honey rather than sugar. It is also characterized with flavors of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamon and anise. It can be soft like a cake or harder like a biscuit and sturdy enough for making gingerbread houses. 

We tried a new gingerbread recipe for a ranch meeting last week. I was hoping for a similar dessert to the molten chocolate cake we enjoy for Valentines Day (blog of Feb. 15, 2012) and it didn't disappoint. Spicy and moist, this will be a favorite. Its even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream served over the top. Thanks to King Arthur Flour for the recipe.

Delicious warm with a scoop of ice cream!

Gingerbread Pudding Cake 

Cake:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup molasses

½ cup milk

1 large egg

¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

Pudding:

1 cup light brown sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 ¼ cup unsalted butter

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8” square pan, or eight 8-oz ramekins.

2.     For the cake: Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3.     In a small bowl mix the molasses, milk, and egg. Set aside.

4.     In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the flour and molasses mixtures by turns, beating on low speed, just until blended. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

5.     Pour the batter into the prepared pan. If using ramekins, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and portion a heaping ¼-cup of batter into each one.

Cake batter in ramekins and pudding mixture on the left.
As you can see, I didn't have enough ramekins for all, so
we have some ramekins and a small baking dish. 

6.     For the pudding: Mix the brown sugar and cornstarch together. Heat the water and butter together just until the butter melts; gradually stir this into the brown sugar mixture.

7.     Pour the pudding mixture slowly over the batter in the 8” pan. If using ramekins, scoop a scant ¼  cup of the pudding  mixture over each of the filled ramekins. Place the ramekins on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Ready to bake

8.     Bake for 25-28 minutes for either size, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake on top comes out clean. Remove from the oven and serve warm.

Baked - best served warm