How to Make Chocolate Mousse Dirt Cake

I'm going through my Instagram feed to see which recipes I can add here. I used to have lots of recipes with no photo, and now I have the opposite problem!

I got the idea a longgg time ago to do a bug theme for my son's birthday party in July. Maybe it was a pregnancy thing, but I was really craving "dirt cake." It's that dessert where you have chocolate pudding with the top disguised to look like garden dirt.

Chocolate Mousse Dirt Cake

Since my family has a favorite chocolate mousse recipe, I decided to use that for the base. No boxed pudding mixes for us, and a benefit of this dessert is that some mousse could be kept "plain" for people who avoid gluten.

Get the recipe:

How to Create an Autumn Scent in Your Home

I think I've always had a sensitive nose, but particularly since my pregnancy 3 years ago I have a really hard time with strong odors...think migraines. :/

Our apartment doesn't have the best ventilation even with windows on 3 sides, and the kitchen is the worst! Even when I've aired out all the other rooms, I walk back in the kitchen and smell whatever it is we had for dinner. Garlic and onions are nice when you're hungry, but not several hours later when you're trying to relax.

This evening I was starting to feel yucky after a long day and I finally decided to implement an idea I'd heard of but never tried...

Stovetop "Apple Pie" Aroma

-Apple parts (could be a core or a soft one you weren't going to eat)
-Vanilla
-Cinnamon (a whole stick is better)
-Cloves
-Etc.

Stick them in a pot or pan with a few inches of water and put on to simmer for a few minutes or as long as you like.

It might not be as appealing as an apple pie, but it smells as good and only takes a few minutes to put together.

My only problem was that the dirty dishes didn't go away...so I had to start up the apple pie simmer again! :)

I wonder what other spice combinations would be fun to try? Maybe an orange peel one? Cranberries?

Challah 2 Ways

This is too late for Rosh Hashanah, but I was frustrated to find that my blog's "search" feature refused to yield results when I went back to look for my Challah recipe from a few years ago. The labels are much more reliable, but they require ME to be very thorough...I wish the tools would work as promised. :/

No worries though; the recipe turned up. The original post and photo are here! 4 years ago...how life has changed.

And my second recipe variation is my mom's delicious Challah recipe that she fine-tuned herself, YUM!


Sweet Challah Comfort Bread

Ingredients:

8 C Hot water
1 C Sugar
2 Tbsp Salt
¼ C Oil
3 C Flour
3 T Yeast
8 Eggs
Flour
Poppy seeds


Directions

1. Combine water, sugar, salt, oil, and flour
2. Add yeast and beat together with fork
3. Add eggs
4. Gradually mix in flour until dough is ready to knead, then knead
5. Let dough rise
6. Cut into 6-8 pieces, form into rectangles
7. Cut into thirds and braid
8. Brush with water and sprinkle with poppy seeds
9. Place on greased cookie sheets to let rise
10. Bake at 350° (ack, for how long??). Beware of burning.

Yield
6-8 Loaves

How to Make Folares for Easter

Another recipe from our family cookbook is this famous folares recipe from my childhood. This is the first time I had made it myself! Not bad, though I think I could have pulled them out of the oven a TINY bit sooner.

A reminder of the cross and the RISEN Savior!

The idea here is that you take a boiled Easter egg (they really should be dyed to get the visual effect, but you could use onion skins or another natural source of color if you're nervous about chemicals), place it in the middle of the dough, and form a dough cross on top. As they bake, they rise.

Folares-going into the oven

To make for breakfast, you can have them rising in the fridge the night before. To serve, you can have butter out and either eat them as a sweet treat with jam or make a little sandwich out of them with the peeled eggs as filling, whatever you'd like.

Recipe is after the jump:

Food Art: Tomato "Ladybugs"

This is a little treat we had for a holiday, I think it must have been New Year's Eve. The smoked salmon with the tomato probably wasn't the best combination, but the visual presentation was great. I wonder what other fillings would work?

Tomato ladybug tea sandwiches

Ingredients:

-sliced baguette or bread of your choice cut into appetizer size

-sandwich spread of your choice

-cheese or meat as a base (maybe a softer cheese would work because it would help the ladybug stay on at the same time?)

-tomatoes 

-black olives (some chopped, some left whole or halved)

-greens for decorating

Directions:

-prepare the bread and assemble sandwiches, not yet adding the tomato

-close to serving time, cut tomatoes in half, then slice 3/4 of the way up to create ladybug wings

-use olives to add heads and spots to the ladybugs

-assemble festively on a plate, using greens for decoration

-serve promptly as tomatoes may saturate the bread, though it depends on your sandwich filling

A Food Decor Flashback

This is what I was talking about in this post. I posted a summer photo in the fall, so it's only appropriate that I post a New Year's photo in April, right? :)

I love creative presentations like this, but as a new mother, I often have to rein in the creativity.

So here's a contribution from my mother-in-law: a penguin-shaped salad for New Year's Eve. She used a seafood salad here, but you could use a chicken or potato salad or any kind of cheese/veggie spread that is somewhat sculpt-able.

-black olives for the wings/eyes
-red bell pepper for the feet/beak
-grated boiled egg white for the belly and egg yolk for the chest

I wonder what summer scenes would be cute, using a similar concept?

How to Make Honey-Gingerbread Cookies

What would December goodies be without our gingerbread buddies? But alas, molasses is not to be found anywhere in stores here. I finally tried substituting honey, and it has now become a favorite alternate recipe.

The first time I made them in Russia, I couldn't even find the ground spices, so I ended up infusing the dough with hunks of fresh ginger and whole cloves as it chilled. I think I ended up crushing some of the cloves and sprinkling them in, too.