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Guinness cake and Celtic tunes…

I had some tentative plans to do something today, but the weather was absolutely shitty.  It’s been dark and cloudy all day and the fine folks at Weather.com were calling for snow.  At the very least, we were assured of cold, damp, misty weather.  So, although we certainly could have ventured out to a restaurant, my husband Bill and I decided to stay in, listen to Celtic music, drink beer, and bake.

I didn’t get Bill to put on his new County Donegal kilt… but I did get a photo of our family crests…  or mine, anyway.

I am a fan of the Dublin Airport.  I’ll be back in July.

Okay… so in fairness, Bill did the baking.  But he made a cake that I made first and, I must say, he did a good job of it.  We haven’t cut into it yet, but we’ve had enough of the crumbs to know it won’t disappoint after tonight’s dinner of lobster tails and champagne.  Yes, my husband knows how to take care of his lady… or as Lyle Lovett would put it, “She’s no lady, she’s my wife…”

I really wanted to play this at my wedding.  Maybe if we make it to twenty years?

Those of you who are curious about the recipe for Guinness cake can find the recipe linked to the New York Times’ Web site.  For everyone else, here are a few pictures.

Bill readies the supplies…

For the cake and for me…

Bill models the German apron I got him for Christmas.

If our kitchen weren’t so pathetically tiny, I’d think we were on a cooking show.

Sugar… two cups worth… and other necessities for the cake.

Next, Bill heats up a cup of Guinness.

 

And blends the sugar…

Adds the cocoa powder we purchased at a chocolatier in Ribeauville, France.

The batter is about ready to blend with the chocolate and beer.

All set…

The chocolate batter is ready for the oven, where it will bake for about 45 minutes…

The finished cake, ready for cooling.  It’s rich, chocolatey, and smells heavenly.

And… the finished product.  Some people like to add a little Bailey’s to the frosting.  I did when I made it, but Bill elected not to.  I once brought this cake to a picnic and a lot of people didn’t want their kids to eat it because it had beer in it.  But it’s one cup of rather weak beer…  It’s not going to get you or your kids drunk, I promise.  On the other hand, if you don’t want to eat it, that’s okay.  More for me!

 

This is a pretty easy recipe and it can be fun to bake it, especially since it only calls for about half a beer.  The rest is for you!  I am not posting the recipe here because I don’t want any goons to come after me for copyright infringement.  But if you want the recipe and don’t want to visit the New York Times Web site, just let me know.

http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/e/b2997e6cb

No one will listen to this, but since I’ve been drinking…

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all!

 

 

  

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Goodbye, Hello Fresh…

In January 2015, I caused a little stir in the Stuttgart community when I subscribed to Hello Fresh, a service that provides fresh food and recipes on a weekly basis.  You can order a three or five meal box, vegetarian or “classic” (including meat).  Initially, Bill and I liked Hello Fresh, even though we had a major billing SNAFU.  The recipes were different, could be prepared quickly, and the food was basically high quality.  It spared us having to go to the store to buy it.  We got the three meal classic box fairly regularly for awhile.

Over the last couple of years, Hello Fresh has made some improvements.  For one thing, their Web site is a lot better than it was when I first started using the service.  It’s a lot easier to pause shipments.  For awhile, I was having to email customer service every week I didn’t want a box.  That got old.  They also made it possible to switch out recipes.  When I first started using Hello Fresh, you couldn’t make any substitutions to the planned meals.  So if you didn’t eat pork or, in my case, mushrooms, you couldn’t substitute a different meal from the five day box.  They have since changed that, which I think is a good thing.

But after awhile, the novelty of Hello Fresh simply wore off.  I realized I didn’t like the recipes that much and I was tired of having to decide each week if I wanted to order boxes.  The last straw came last week, when we decided to order Hello Fresh again.  For some reason, the payment for my classic meal box didn’t go through, though I did manage to successfully pay for the fruit box.  I sent them an email last week and they still haven’t responded, though I have gotten at least two auto-generated emails letting me know I “haven’t been forgotten”.  I finally decided this week that I am done with Hello Fresh.  Their customer service simply sucks too much to bother with it anymore.

That being said, it was an adventure to use the service for awhile.  We did get to try some new stuff and learn a few new recipes.  Bill’s German improved by following the recipes in German.  Some of the meals we had were beautiful to look at, even if I didn’t always think they were that tasty.  So I’m glad we did it for awhile.

Quitting Hello Fresh was interesting, though.  They really do try to get you to reconsider.  With every step before I cancelled online, I had to affirm that I really wanted to stop the service.  I guess in that regard, they’re taking cues from Americans.  Given that Hello Fresh is available in the United States, I guess it makes sense.

So long, Hello Fresh.  It’s been real.  Guess we’ll go back to our regular cooking and use some of those new cookbooks I invested in last Christmas.

The best of the three Hello Fresh recipes we used last week.  Turkey, rice, and pickled vegetables.

Edited to add: I just yesterday got a response from an email I sent to Hello Fresh two weeks ago.  Their customer service is the height of suckitude.  Good riddance.

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Doubling up on Hello Fresh boxes…

Because of last week’s billing issues with Hello Fresh, I inadvertently ended up with several subscriptions.  I asked Hello Fresh to cancel all but the first order, but somehow I’m still ending up with twice what I intended to order.  Today, I will receive two classic boxes of three meals for two people and two fruit boxes.  I guess I’ll send one of the fruit boxes to work with Bill and maybe keep the extra box for next week, when my niece visits.

I’ve sent several emails to Hello Fresh since I last posted.  One was to make sure next week’s delivery is “paused” because next week’s meals include mushrooms, which I do not eat.  I wasn’t able to pause it myself on their Web site, so I had to email them.  The other was to make sure that in the future, I don’t get double orders.  I asked them to check my account and make sure future automatic orders are just for one box– one fruit box and one classic box.  My next email to them will probably be to ask them to cancel my account.

As much as I enjoy learning new recipes and trying new foods, this screw up with billing and repeated need to email them has left me with a bad impression.  We’ll see how much or little we enjoy this week’s recipes.  The double boxes this week may turn out to be okay, since we’re going to have company.

This weekend, Bill and I are going to Regensburg, which is a beautiful Bavarian city.  We have both been there before, but not with each other.  I look forward to seeing Regensburg again and taking lots of new pictures!  I’m ready to blog about travel rather than food.

Unbelievable…

Look what just arrived.  Looks like they didn’t cancel all the orders after all.

ETA:  Here is today’s email exchange…

Okay, now you are SURE that my next order will be just one classic box and one fruit box?  Because when I wrote last week about the inadvertent extra orders, I was told the problem was fixed.  And I just received this.

Their response

 Feb 11, 12:35:

Hello,
thank you for your message.
In future you will only recive one meal- and one fruit-box.
You wrote us on monday and on monday we couldn’t cancel your orders or change them.
This is the reason you recived two boxes each.
Best regards,

My response

Actually, the first time I wrote to you was on the evening of February 3rd when the extra orders were accidentally made.  This is what I wrote in my first email.
Hi,

I tried to order a classic box and a fruit box and use a coupon.  I kept getting messages that the payments failed, so I tried to use PayPal and a credit card.  My husband’s card worked, but now I look in my bank account and it appears that the other attempts also worked.  This is just a message to let you know that we only want one classic box and one fruit box for next week.

Thanks,
I got an email from a customer service employee on February 5th.  This is what she wrote.

Feb 5, 13:22:

Hi,
thank you for your message.
You did indeed subscribe for 3 fruit and 3 classic boxes.
I cancelled 4 boxes for you. You will get the money back automatically.
Please make sure, this won’t happen again. 🙂
Best regards,
Her response is the reason I was under the impression that this issue was fixed.

I’m pretty annoyed about this.  I’m also really disappointed.  Evidently, the guy can’t count, either.  I have three classic boxes and four fruit boxes.

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Our second Hello Fresh meal

Last night Bill and I enjoyed our second Hello Fresh meal.  When I say we “enjoyed it”, I’m being truthful.  I liked it better than the first one Bill fixed on Wednesday night.  One of the reasons it went better was because Bill took the recipe to work and had it translated before he started trying to cook it.  That made for a much less hectic cooking experience and better prepared food.  Here are some photos of the process of making last night’s meal of chicken with carrot-yogurt salad and baked sweet potato wedges.

Bill’s translated directions…

 

Chopping red onion, carrot, and lemon…

These were served as a garnish.  We don’t usually have those in our house!

Red onion “cooking” in a little lemon juice.  The citrus cooked onions were added to chopped carrots, almonds, a little yogurt, almonds, and parsley for a very nice salad.  We don’t usually have “those” in our house, either!

Sweet potato wedges baking in the oven.  These were later seasoned with a spice mix that came with the Hello Fresh kit.  The spices really added an interesting twist to the sweet potatoes.  I don’t even like sweet potatoes very much, but I enjoyed these very much.

Carrot being grated. 

 

Cooking the chicken.  We got a little more chicken than beef and it was very good, especially with the yogurt dressing Bill made to go with it.  It reminded me a little of tzatziki.  I don’t usually like yogurt much, either, but was pleasantly surprised.

The end result.  

Very tasty!

Much to my surprise, I liked this meal more than I did the steak and potatoes we had on Wednesday.  One of the main reasons I liked it better was because the end result turned out more like what I think the Hello Fresh people envisioned.  Our first attempt was made more difficult by Bill’s attempt to translate as he went along.  By getting the recipe pre-translated, he saved himself time and effort and was more able to concentrate on the cooking.  Yes, it should go without saying that non-German speakers should get the recipes translated before trying to cook the Hello Fresh.  I just want to emphasize that it made a world of difference in the quality of our end product.

This meal was easier to make and the chicken portions were larger.  We had plenty to eat and I attained a new appreciation for sweet potatoes, yogurt, and salad.  That’s a good thing.  We have one more meal to try before we decide if we want to subscribe to Hello Fresh or just order another single box.  I have a feeling it’s going to be a winner.  It’s pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, and mascarpone cheese, which I have a feeling I will love.  Stay tuned!

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Someday, we WILL visit a new restaurant…

The other day, I was on the Internet looking for a new place to try.  I found a French restaurant in TĂĽbingen that looks promising and is in a part of the city with which we are unfamiliar.  I gave serious thought to reserving a table there last night.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling my best this week thanks to a wicked case of PMS.  So we did go out last night, but opted to visit The Mad Scientist instead of the French place.  We went there because we knew what the food would be like.  We knew there would be plenty of free parking.  We knew it would not be any problem getting a table, nor would we feel underdressed if we didn’t dress up.  And we knew our old friend would take good care of us.

I had gyros.  Bill had souvlaki

Afterwards, we had Greek coffee and a shot of ouzo…

I spent most of yesterday baking a Blackout Cake, most of which my husband will take to work with him this week because there’s no way we’ll be able to eat the whole thing.  I was in the mood to bake because of Aunt Flow… and I apologize if you’re male and don’t know about periods or cravings, but that’s honestly what prompted me to undertake this project.  This cake also happens to be one of my husband’s favorites.  It was one of the tools I used to lure him to the altar.

Blackout Cake… it’s the perfect antidote to “PMS Blues”.

For some reason, this particular cake stays moist forever.  Seriously, they usually stay good for weeks.  But I don’t want this sitting around the house, especially when I have an even bigger passion for beer.  My ass gets enough presents as it is.

Anyway, if you’re interested in the recipe, here it is…  I have added my own notes based on years of experience making this cake.

Blackout Cake
Prep: 30 minutes Cook: 35-40 minutes Serves: 12 to 16

1 1/2 sticks softened butter
3 C sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla extract (or powder, which is what I use.  I have also been known to use flavorings.  Yesterday, I used a little rum and kirschwasser in addition to the vanilla.)
4 (1 oz.) squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 C flour
3 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 C buttermilk (note- In the past, I have also used Saco buttermilk powder mixed with water– also works very well)
1 1/3 C boiling water
3/4 to 1 C diced roasted almonds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well-blended. Add melted chocolate and beat 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to chocolate mixture in two additions, alternately with buttermilk. Beat until well-blended. With mixer on low speed, add boiling water and beat until smooth (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 to 15 minutes, then unmold onto racks and let cool completely.

5. Cover a cake layer with a little more than one third of Chocolate Ganache. Set second layer on top. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining ganache. Press almonds into sides of cake. Refrigerate cake 3 to 4 hours, or until ganache is firm.

Chocolate Ganache
Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 3 minutes Chill 1 to 1 1/2 hours

Makes enough to fill and frost a 2 layer 9 inch cake.
18 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or 3 C semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped  (12 ounces chocolate chips also works fine.)1 1/2C heavy cream (half and half works just as well– fewer calories, too)2 T butter, cut up1t vanilla extract (I’ve been known to use other flavorings, too– raspberry, coffee, or orange liqueurs work well)1. In a 2 qt. glass measure, combine chocolate chips and cream. Heat in a microwave oven on high for three minutes, or until melted or smooth when stirred. Stir in butter and vanilla.2. Cover and refrigerate (or put in freezer for 30 minutes) 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until ganache holds its shape or is thick enough to spread on cake.I got this recipe from 365 Great Chocolate Desserts (1991) by Natalie Haughton.

We will probably have lunch somewhere today.  Since today is Sunday, it’s probably going to be at The Auld Rogue… or maybe not.  We are in need of a change of scenery, even though next weekend we’ll be in Hamburg.  Stay tuned.

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