The Open Pantry: For chocolate lovers!

The Dinner Table

By:Emily
I am thankful for the times where our dinner table is surrounded by familiar faces, where extra chairs are brought in and the place settings vary due to the great number gathered. I am grateful for the stories reminisced and the examples set for posterity. I marvel at the spread before us and smile knowing that it was made with love from recipes shared and passed around for generations. It is moments like this where the sound of laughter bouncing off the walls and excited voices ringing throughout the room make me most thankful for what I have and who I am.

Fun Food Facts

Each American eats approximately 22 pounds of tomatoes yearly. Over ½ of the tomato consumption is in the form of catsup and tomato sauce.
We are eating 900% more broccoli than we did 20 years ago . . .In 1970, consumption of broccoli was only a half a pound per person. Today, the average person in the United States eats four and one half pounds a year.
Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables and were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites! Also In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
Pasta made its way to the New World through the English who found it while traveling through Italy. The English made pasta by cooking it for about a half an hour and then smothering it with cream sauce and cheese. This was the beginning of Macaroni and Cheese!
Frankfurter sausages were first created in China
In total there have been 37 different kinds of animals in animal crackers since 1902. The current crackers are tiger, cougar, camel, rhinoceros, kangaroo, hippopotamus, bison, lion, hyena, zebra, elephant, sheep, bear, gorilla, monkey, seal and giraffe.
Bananas are about 99.5% fat free and the inside of a banana is a berry.
The first strawberries were discovered in Virginia.
Apples are a member of the rose family and there are 7,500 apple varieties grown in the world.
There are about 600 kernels on each ear of corn and a cob of corn ALWAYS has an even number of rows on it. Each tassel on a corn plant releases as many as 5 million grains of pollen.
The average person in the United States eats 140 pounds of potatoes every year. Bet you didn't realize that the potato was the first vegetable to be grown in space!
The Average Person Eats Almost 1500 Pounds Of Food A Year!
It has been traditional to serve fish with a slice of lemon since the Middle Ages, when people believed that the fruit's juice would dissolve any bones accidentally swallowed
Bakers used to be fined if their loaves were under weight, so they used to add an extra loaf to every dozen, just in case -- hence, the expression "baker's dozen"
A portion of the water you drink has already been drunk by someone else, maybe several times over
There are about 100,000 bacteria in one litre of drinking water
Peanuts are used in the manufacture of dynamite
In France, people eat approximately 500,000,000 snails each year
Did you know that cream is lighter than milk and that it takes about 10 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of cheese. Also straight from the cow, the temperature of cow's milk is about 97 degrees Fahrenheit.
Your more likely to be hungry if you are cold.

Food memories that make me smile . . .

You know the movie "27 Dresses" . . . they could make one about me called "27 Aprons." My sweet mom spoils me with her finds . . . and I swear everywhere I go I love to get them! Everytime I put one on I rememeber where I got it and usually have a good laugh! I love the aprons that my mom had growing up! I remember them so well and we always felt so special putting them on and helping her out! Love it!
On another boring night before I could drive one of my little sisters and I downed every flavor of otter pop popsicle there is and then toilet papered our house! My older sister thought that some boys did it and it started a little war that lasted for a while . . . I don't know if my older sister knows it was us! Guess she does now!
I can't remember how old I was, not yet married but definately a high school grad, anywho we were "bored" (meaning apparently that we removed our brains) one night, so my little sister volunteered to be blind folded and to try things from the kitchen to see if she could guess what they were . . . baby food, tabasco, maple syrup, cooking oil, pickle juice, etc. we were ruthless and came up with some pretty nasty concoctions. Poor blondie! But it was fun!
My mom would make Raisin Cream Pie for my Grandpa when he came to visit every now and then, she would make this fancy top with squares of dough taken out of the top of the pie and it always looked so pretty. Well some of us didn't like raisins, but loved the cream filling, so we would poke our fingers thru the top and eat the cream, when mom went to cut the pie . . most of the cream would mysteriously be missing!
When my only brother got married we wanted to do something to celebrate the big event, so being inspired by the armadillo cake on Steel Magnolias we made him one! Our cake was one of a kind and kept getting more unique as the night went on! With so many people in the room the icing was melting and one of my sister put two green lifesavers on it for eyes! Oh, the love of sisters!
Somehow years ago we started this crazy Thanksgiving tradition . . . every year my mom makes the pies for Thanksgiving, no matter who is hosting, so all of the girls get together the day before and we watch the movie Son-In-Law over and over while we make tons of different types of pie! It is a blast!
My husband is very creative in his cooking and loves to ask me what I think is in it when we sit down to eat. One day I came home and he had made chicken for dinner . . . the chicken was very seasoned and I thought that he had put paprika on it . . . I took one bite and felt like a hole was burning in my chest (!!!) . . . low and behold the red seasoning was cayenne pepper! He just likes REALLY spicy things! (I have been a little wary of his cooking ever since!)
We love homemade apricot pineapple jam in my family . . . my little sister had made a batch and my mom had labeled the jars with AP (Apricot Pineapple), AP also happened to be my little sisters initials . . . we had a ton of apricots left over so I made a batch too . . . clueless me labeled my batch with EP, my initials. My mom laughed and laughed when she saw what I had done!
One year my little sister wanted pumpkin pie for breakfast for her birthday . . . so my mom made it for her and served her breakfast in bed! (I want to be that type of mom!)
My Grandma makes fruit cake and carrot cake every Christmas, one year my sister was cutting the fruit cake and it broke the knife! (We never told Grandma!)
I was an exchange student to Austria my Junior year of High School and lived in Linz . . . I was so excited to make a Linzer Torte when I got home, never having made one before, my sweet loving Grandpa broke his teeth on it and was missing his two front teeth until new ones could be made! (Poor guy!!!) Amazingly he still never turned down my food after that!

Chocolate

by:Emily
It’s that time of day to hit the hay,
But so says my head don’t go to bed,
You may be tired but I am wired
For a piece or two, you know it’s true,
Of something sweet you love to eat
That is not vile and makes you smile
The kids are fine, now let us dine
Go down the hall, I hear it call
So smooth and rich it makes me twitch
Now search it out there is no doubt
That it is here I feel it near
Move crackers, cans and jars of jams
Mounds of flour create a tower
As I search and scan then drop a pan
My tummy growls, while tossing towels
Out of my way no time to play
I’ve waited long it can’t be gone
It’s finally found, I come unwound
I rip the foil and spill some oil
There’s quite a mess I do confess
But I’ll ignore my floured floor
And enjoy my bliss, straight from the Swiss
My tongue ignites I see white lights
Joy feels my soul and I am full
It’s time for bed, so says my head,
I stretch and yawn and then I’m gone.
Hop into bed, smooth out the spread
And curl up tight and say goodnight!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

For chocolate lovers!

For my sweet husbands birthday I knew that I had to do something special for him so I went all the way with cake making this year and went for a rich moist and velvety cake that is to die for! It turned out as good as it sounds and not a crumb was left afterwards!

Velvet Almond Fudge Cake
Recipe by: Grandma C
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
1 12 oz package chocolate chips
1 chocolate cake mix
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs 1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water 1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp vanillla
(you may also leave the almonds out if you wish)

Sprinkle 1/2 cups almonds on the bottom of a well greased 10 inch tube pan (I use a bundt cake pan) Dump all of the other ingredients together, except the nuts and chocolate chips, and beat with a mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips and almonds. Pour into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes. (I usually check it 5-10 minutes early if baking in a bundt pan). Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes and remove once finished cooling. Garnish with whipped cream or I like to glaze it with chocolate ganash. This cake is super rich, moist and delicious!

Chocolate Ganash
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips or semi sweet chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

Heat the heavy cream until almost boiling in a sauce pan or a microwave. Pour hot cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 3 minutes. Stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth. Let cool for another 15 minutes until it thickens. Pour or spoon over cooled cake. Let cake sit for another 15 minutes before serving.