Nom. I Nom.

My parents enjoy buying fruit... assuming the fruit is on sale. I have nothing against fruit: I love fruit! But two weeks in a row they decided to buy five green apples (each week), and apparently none of us wanted to eat any apples. So, my mom gave me a challenge: use the apples, please, before they go bad!
So, I said ok.

Apple pie came to mind, but I don't have any pie crust and really didn't want to be bothered making any, and I don't have a pie pan.
So, I was like: "Hrmmm..... streusel? strudel?" And I figured, hell... might as well just make a cake.

So, I dug up a recipe that was given to me over the years, but I don't remember who gave it to me, or when. I honestly didn't even remember what type of cake it was, it was just a recipe I decided "Hey! I have never used you! Let me use you!" So I did.

Apple Cake
The What:

1. 2 green apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2. 5 large eggs
3. 1 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1 1/2 cup flour
5. 1 tsp cream of tartar
6. (Optional) 2 tsp vanilla extract

The How:

1. Preheat over to 325F
2. Mix all the ingredients together, except the apples.
3. Pour into a baking dish
4. Add apples
5. Place into oven
6. Cook until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

The cake is actually a bit custardy, and I highly recommend waiting for the cake to cool completely before eating it... the apple bits are like napalm in your mouth.
It's not a perfect recipe, but it's a moist cake. I remember why I don't make this cake, and it's because I'm not too fond of it: it's a bit plain. The apples are my own addition, and I did nothing to them. If I make this again, I intend to make it so that the apples are much more incorporated throughout the whole cake, though the 'rents seemed to like the little bits of apple as a surprise. Maybe instead of vanilla extract, an apple extract would be better, and more of it, since, as I said, this cake didn't really have much of a taste.

If I hadn't planned a frosting, I would have put them in a cinnamon/brown sugar mixture, as it was I saw a beautiful thing in our cabinet:

So I decided to make:

Peanut Butter Frosting

The What:

1. 1 cup creamy peanut butter (eff that, I used the whole jar)
2. 1/2 cup butter (room temperature or melty)
3. 3 tblsp milk
4. 2 cups confectioners' sugar*

The How:

1. Beat the Butter and Peanut Butter together
2. Gradually mix in sugar
3. When it's thick, begin to add in milk, 1 tblsp at a time, until all the sugar is incorporated (you may not need all the milk, or you may need more)
4. Beat until it's a consistency you like.

Why did I do this? Because Peanut Butter and Apple is a magical mixture, and I've always preferred it with green apples - the sour and the sweet are perfect compliments.

*Don't have confectioners' sugar? Here's a trick.

You Need:

1. 1 cup of granulated sugar (for every cup of confectioners' sugar the recipe calls for)
2. 1 - 2 tblsp corn starch (optional, but useful)

What to Do:

1. Blend until fine and powdery.

Voila!
~Jillers

I took stock, recently, of the fridge and cabinets to see what we had available for the eating (note: this usually means that there's not a lot going on food-wise in the house).

So... here are the contents of my food storing places:



Yeah, it seems like my options are wiiiiide open, but I guarantee you, they are not.

I chose to work with my mangoes, as they were ripe and if I didn't use them they would soon get too ripe.

I just ended up eating the banana. It was yummy!

So, I made Mango Fried Rice.

It's not a very hard recipe, so I highly recommend it for a quick dinner.

Mango Friend Rice

The What:

1. 2 Mangoes, peels, seeded, diced
2. 2 cups cooked rice (your favorite, unflavored type... why would you fry jasmine rice anyway? It's already delicious! But if you're me, use the rice that's in your cupboard because you don't have a choice)
3. Vegetable Oil (I recommend sesame oil, it has a great smell, and is often used in Asian dishes... at least the recipes I find)
   
4. 2 eggs

The How:

1. Peel and seed and dice your mango
2. Cook your rice, and let it cool
3. Beat eggs
4. Heat up a pan
5. Add oil to pan
6. Once it gets aromatic (not evaporated), add the rice
7. Let it fry for about 5 minutes, stirring to make sure that the rice is cooked evenly
8. Make a hole in the center of the rice, and add the egg to it
9. Scramble the eggs
10. Stir the scrambled eggs into the rice
11. Add the diced mango pieces to the rice, and stir for about 2 to 3 minutes.

1. Serve!

Alternatives:

1. Don't make a hole, instead just add the egg to the rice and stir and cook. Instead of having pieces of scrambled egg in the fried rice (which is yummy, I'm not knocking on that), it changes the texture to something custardy.

This little bowl is from Rice to Riches, a place that serves the most delicious Rice Puddings ever. It's average prices for NYCm plus you get a neat bowl and stick thing!

Seriously, eat at Rice to Riches if you like rice pudding at all. Th best rice pudding ever (except for homemade, because you can never beat homemade)






I enjoy rice dishes: Rice is easy to make and not eff up, and it's very versatile. Extra rice that you didn't fry up? Easy breakfast dish!

Jillers' Grandma's Comfort Food Breakfast

The What:

1. 3/4 cup cooked white rice
2. Milk (as much as you want)
3. About 1 tblsp of sugar

The How:

1. Put Rice in a bowl
2. Add Milk
3. Add Sugar
4. Serve cold

I think it's probably common, since I'm pretty sure my friend Ari made this for some of us back in college, or else it was with elbow macaroni (same thing, just replace rice w/ elbow macaroni, and yes: it has to be elbow macaroni. It's just not right with other types).

Anyway, sorry for the month-ish long absence. I'm back baby! Well, back-ish.

Sorry for the short break. Right now my camera's MIA so I don't have delicious Mango Fried Rice for you, instead I offer a post about dessert.

As you probably noticed, I like baking. I like it because its success is all because of me - I mixed the ingredients together properly, I baked it at the right temperature for the right amount of time; because I'm me and I like to experiment, any variation in the recipe, and the success or failure thereof, is because of me and me alone; and when people are enjoying it, it feels good knowing that they're enjoying something I made for them, from scratch.

That all aside, making things from a package, while far less personal is so damn easy.
I mean, I want brownies, I have brownie mix, 30 minutes later, BAM! Warm, gooey Duncan Hines brownies. None of this measuring dry ingredients crap, no sifting, no need to introduce ingredients slowly together, just 2 eggs, some water and some vegetable oil, and stir, put in oven, and wait.

They may not have the zazz of homemade, but sometimes it's 1am, and your mom wants brownies, and there's mix ready to go.