I think that I should actually change the name of this blog to the above title. I almost made it this week with zero waste. I had fireworks and possibly a speech prepared. I pulled-out all the stops and: used carmelized beets and onions up in meatloaf, 1/2 a squash in risotto,
soured milk in muffins (thanks Frugal Girl for the idea-Heart), was a mercilous pusher of leftovers for lunches and unsuspecting friends and have my sprouted potatoes saved for planting as soon as the garden is once again navigatable(uh yeah, I wanted them to sprout. That is my story) …BUT there was still one thing.
Bean sprouts. But wait I have an excuse. I had the bean sprouts for garnish in my thai chicken soup and seriously wanted to use the remainder as a quick stirfry/side dish another night. THEN I watched the news. Big mistake at the best of times. There was a clip on the amount of feces that have been found on a variety of sprouts. Now, I have a lot of faith in where my sprouts are from and I know they are fine but…I just couldn’t serve these. I couldn’t get the phrase “laced with feces and carriers of ecoli” out of my head. So they became a squishy, smelly rotting bag of shame. The end.
Perhaps a random photo of my cute kid in her swing yesterday will help?
Surprisingly it does.
I also made some yummy baked apples (Core apple. fill apple with; brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake until soft) and custard (totally cheat and use the Bird’s custard mix with an extra dash of really good vanilla) last night for a treat.
Life goes on now, I’ll store the fireworks and file the speech. Immediate concerns are for Friday’s dessert and snacks during the weekend.
This is another Grandma Gibson recipes which she would make as a last minute snack in this great cast iron 9×9 baking pan. This pan had been around the Gibson house since way before Edna (yeah, that was her name-she hated it too) came there as a bride. This pan was obviously handmade by someone and perfectly seasoned. You didn’t even need to butter and flour it before adding in cake batter and everything that came out of it seemed to have the best combination of crunch and moistness to it. It was magic.
I will ask my aunt about this pan next time I’m at the farm and there might be a bit of unabashed begging. Even with the special pan it won’t be the same coming out of my electric oven instead of the wood burning one but it would make me smile each time I used it.
Gingerbread Cake with lemon glaze
This cake is still delicious without the glaze (Grandma didn’t always have lemons or lemon juice on the farm) but it needs something a little tart to go with it. You might try crabapple jelly or simply serve it with really old cheddar and chunks of tart apples. Likely apple sauce would also be quite tasty too but I wouldn’t know from experience.
1/3 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup hot water (like from the kettle sort of hot)
1 cup dark molasses (unsulfered-there is a brand called Grandma’s that ironically is quite good)
1 large egg
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
pinch ground cloves
Butter your 9×9 cake pan (if you happen to have one like Grandma’s you can skip this step).
Combine butter and hot water in large bowl, and stir with a whisk until butter melts. Add molasses (lightly butter your measuring cup to get all the mollases out) and egg.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Having said this-you know by now that I won’t use a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture and stir just until JUST combined. The cake will be like a flip flop if you go any farther and you have to be super hungry before you will eat a flip flop. Like “I’ve been on the Atkin’s diet for three weeks and would kill for a potato” kind of hungry.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Meanwhile (back in the bat cave) as the cake cools, combine 1 1/2 cup icing sugar and 6 T. lemon juice until mixture is well blended. Poke the cake with a fork repeatedly and pour the glaze over.
{Adventuresindinner} 
"I had fireworks and possibly a speech prepared."AND"So they became a squishy, smelly rotting bag of shame. The end."If I never read another blog again, I'll still die happy having read this entry. I don't know if maybe it's the lack of Starbucks, or the feces-sprouts, but you're on a seriously funny role. Stop it. My stomach hurts.
You're totally inspiring me-how could I not rise to the challenge. Plus. I teach grade eight and sarcasm is a job requirement.
Lemon glaze?? I am sooo in!! Love your music choices!If you get a sec, pop on over to Foodie Friday and link up! Oh, and I found you on The Shabby Nest!