Wisconsin Eating

As of tomorrow morning, I'll be vacationing in Wisconsin with my best friend and her family. This trip has been a tradition in her family for years, spanning multiple generations, and since sometime in middle school I've been lucky enough to join them when my schedule fit.

Not wanting to be a rude guest (and being a guest who likes to cook), I've always contributed to making lunches and treats, and I always cook one family dinner during the week. The only one I can remember making (it's been a while since I've gone) is my mom's spaghetti, but I don't do repeats. Not with people I only see a few times a year.

My meal this week will be Italian Chicken Sticks, Paula Deen's herb-y baked take on kid-friendly chicken fingers (did I mention there will be four children aged seven and under in Wisconsin?). I made them for New Years Eve and they were a hit, so I figure repeating them with whatever veggies look delightful and some sort of potatoes will keep everyone happy on my night for dinner. That is, if they haven't all filled up on the wonderful local cheeses during afternoon snacks.

I'll be back August 10 with another post and, hopefully, photos. In the meantime, if you've got a hankering for some tasty chicken, try these out. I'm sure you'll enjoy.

Italian Chicken Sticks
from Paula Deen

1 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch ground red pepper
8 boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1/2 cup melted butter
marinara sauce or honey mustard, for dipping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Dip the chicken strips in the melted butter with one hand, then dredge them in the crumb mixture using your dry hand to cover. Place the chicken strips on a lightly greased baking sheet, taking care not to overlap them. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve with the sauce of your choice.

If You Use More Sprinkles Than Spices

This post may seem like a total backward step in baking after all that hullabaloo about cake decorating. I mean, two posts about the fancifulness and effort that is baking the cake, making the icing, filling and icing the cake, making the decorating icing, tinting the decorating icing, filling pastry bags with the appropriate decorating tips with the appropriate tinted icing, decorating the cake...

...only to be followed up with a post on sprinkles?!? I know, I know, any five-year-old can decorate a cake with sprinkles, right? Maybe so. But if you're like I was before I started cooking for myself in college (i.e. if you bake more than you cook), sprinkles are good. They're cheery. They're fast. They make any baked good look homemade and yummy.

And boy are they handy and impressive-looking when you've got a sprinkle rack.

Presenting... the Sprinkle Rack!

It's so simple, yet so ingenious. It's just a spice rack, spice containers emptied, washed, and then filled with all your favorite sprinkles. I got mine as a birthday gift several summers ago, and I've been storing all of my necessary sprinkles there since. Right now the contents include four colors of sugar, several varieties of rainbow sprinkles, two different chocolate sprinkles, toffee bits, and your average assortment of holiday sprinkles (hearts, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, stars). They're always right there, whenever I need them.

Like I told you, it's ingenious. Plus it looks pretty sitting on the kitchen counter. Doesn't it just make you want to bake and be happy?

Just think of the wonderful creations you can bake with sixteen varieties of sprinkles!

Cake Decorating: The Birthday Cake

Here you go, folks: my birthday cake, my first real try at cake decorating.

The cake: Spice Cake
The icing: Browned Butter Icing
The decorating icing: Wilton Buttercream in a floral theme

Looks good, right? I'm pretty sure it'll taste fantastic, too.

The cakes cooling. Look how perfectly symmetrical!

Spice Cake
from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

1/4 c. butter
2 eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c. buttermilk

Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour (or use a parchment paper base) two 9-inch round cake pans and set them aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger; set aside.
In a mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for ten minutes, then remove them from the pan to cool completely. Once cool, frost as desired.

For being an icing novice, not too bad!

Browned Butter Frosting
from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

3/4 c. butter
6 c. sifted powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In a small saucepan heat butter over low heat until melted. Continue heating until butter turns a delicate brown. Remove from heat. In a large bowl combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add browned butter. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium to high speed, adding additional milk if necessary. Makes enough to fill and frost a two-layer cake.
Note: For those of you who don't know (ahem, that was me), browning butter takes a long time. And you need to clarify the butter, too, which means skimming off the creamy solids after the butter has completely melted. If you neglect to do this (ahem, that was me again), just make sure not to let the solids burn. Then pour the whole thing through a coffee filter and you'll end up with the browned butter.

Pretty, right? At least I think so. And it's my cake, after all...

Wilton Buttercream (for decorating)
from The Wilton Way of Cake Decorating

1/6 c. butter
1/6 c. shortening
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1/2 lb. sifted powdered sugar
2 1/2 tbsp cool milk

Cream butter and shortening together with an electric mixer. Beat in sugar, 1 cup at a time, blending well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula frequently. Add milk and beat at high speed until it becomes light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with lid or damp cloth and store in refrigerator if not using immediately. Bring to room temperature and rebeat to use again. Tint the icing the colors you need and decorate to your heart's content.