Week in Review: I wedged a plastic heart into the squirrel's paws this week so Valentine's Day must be just around the corner. Ah, the magic of Valentine's Day. Remember how you used to scrutinize your valentines and how you told yourself that you were quite sure that the cutest boy in your class had selected the best valentine in his collection just for you? When probably, his mother had actually addressed his valentines, and just grabbed them randomly from the package.

Last year for Valentine's Day, Bob gave me a box of DeBrand's Truffles. They were all caramel, every one. I ate one, and the next day, when I opened the box, that truffle had been replaced with another caramel truffle. This pattern continued. It was the perpetual, eternal, never-ending box of caramel truffles! I ended up making Rob and his friends eat them. "For the love of God, boys. Let's put an end to this monster!" I said to them. It was memorable.

I also gave valentines to the squirrels on our kitchen tree. I taped them onto their little nuts....they're holding little nuts, the squrrels are...

Of course, I was too distraught to blog last week, what with Brett not getting to go to the Super Bowl and all. I'm bouncing back, but it hasn't been easy.

The Biggest Loser Contest Continues:

To date, I've lost 8.2 pounds. I'm in second place and I can't tell you who's in first place because the contestants must remain anonymous. I will just say that the person in first place is VERY COMPETITIVE and will be hard to beat. Buying that scale was one of the best things I've done in the last, um......ten years. I've been hopping on and off that thing like a woman, possessed.

We invited some guests to eat with us Sunday, but they couldn't come, so I just made a big pot of vegetable beef soup. We also had leftover lasagna from Friday night. Bob is going to be in California this week, so I'll be eating that soup while he's away.

The recipe of the week is one that Stormy got from Bon Appetit magazine. These cupcakes are worth the effort. I took some to Sally for her birthday. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Scented Devil's Food Cupcakes

2 & 2/3 cups flour

1 & 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 & 1/2 cups sugar

1 & 1/4 cups brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

1 & 1/4 cups buttermilk

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 & 1/4 cups miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray insides of cupcake papers with nonstick spray. Sift flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. Combine sugar, coffee, buttermilk, oil, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in another large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until blended. Add dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed until blended, scraping the bowl occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each paper. Bake cupcakes until puffed and center is just firm to touch. about 24 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool completely.

Frosting

3 sticks unsalted butter

10 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons whipping cream

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Week in Review: A pretty quiet week - it was my sister, Lori's birthday on the 7th. Here's a picture of her, taken this summer when she received her second masters degree. Bob went up to the Quinnesec mill in the U.P., and I subbed two days. Oh, I'm sure you'll be relieved to find out that the Brad Miller snowman still stands, unmolested, at this writing. It's comforting to know that this blog is not being monitored by riff-raff and scalawags.







The Biggest Loser Competition begins: Wednesday was the first weigh-in day for the five Biggest Loser contestants. I am pleased to report that I was the big loser this first week, dropping five pounds. (Remember though, that I was retaining cabbage from New Year's Day)


The Bread Snowman: For you who wondered about the bread snowman with the spinach dip tummy (scroll down for photo), the snowman is made from two loaves of frozen, white bread dough. Just thaw it and knead in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon dill weed. Press into a greased snowman (or other) pan. The snowman is a Wilton pan. You can buy it online, I would think, or you could borrow mine if you want. It would be a welcome treat at any Super Bowl party - and it would be especially enjoyable if you just happened to be watching Brett Favre on your television screen, playing in that Super Bowl.


Saturday Night Dinner: Nick and Stormy came over for supper and I served up some German food - wiener schnitzel, rotkohl (red cabbage), and German potato pancakes. This was a little intense because you're frying the veal and the potato pancakes at the same time. I had never made any of these dishes before, and I ended up overcooking the broccoli because I was so engrossed in the frying, but I think everything turned out well. The dessert was not German, just cherry pie. Nick and Stormy brought two bottles of wine - a sauvignon blanc and a riesling - and then we had one more bottle - the house wine, a Beaujolais by Monsieur Louis Jadot. (nothing German about him, either)

I didn't take any pictures but, of course, you remember Nick and Stormy from earlier posts. If you'd like, you can scroll down until you find them. Just look at them and imagine them wearing different clothes and eating different food!

Recipe of the Week: Is the Wiener Schnitzel. I got the recipe from Ruth Reichl's book Tender at the Bone. The Book Babes read this some time back and really enjoyed it and the recipes.

Wiener Schnitzel

1 & 1/2 pounds veal cutlets
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup finely ground bread crumbs
salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter (okay, I used more)
1 lemon

Pound each cutlet thin between two pieces of waxed paper.
Place flour in a flat dish or plate large enough to hold the cutlet. Place beaten egg in another dish, bread crumbs in a third. Season each with salt and pepper.

Dredge cutlets in flour. Dip into beaten egg. Dip into bread crumbs until thinly, but thoroughly coated. Place on waxed-paper-covered platter and place in refrigerator for about an hour.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large skilled. When sizzling, brown cutlets quickly on each side until golden. Remove to platter.

Melt remaining two tablespoons butter in the same pan. Squeeze lemon juice into butter and pour over cutlets. Serves 4.

GenieBen Sie das Essen!

Week in Review: Lots of snow on New Year's Eve and Day. The kids went back to school here on Thursday and I subbed Thursday for second grade and part of Friday. Maddie, The Amazing Barking, Snow-Eating dog didn't mind the weather one bit. She has a very easy life.



The Brad Miller Snowman

Yes, my snowman (although it's missing its arms) is significant because it was, indeed, handcrafted by NBA superstar Brad Miller. He made it back when he was just a boy, a long time before he signed his 68 million dollar contract with the Sacramento Kings. I gave him fifteen bucks for it. Hey! I've got an idea. Maybe I could call his mother and the next time he's in town, visiting, he could come by and sign my snowman and then I could try to sell it on Ebay. I probably shouldn't have divulged this information on the blog. Somebody might possibly drive by and steal my Brad Miller snowman. Me and my big mouth.


Corned Beef and Cabbage

We serve it up twice a year here, New Year's Day and St. Patrick's Day. It's yummy alright, but it sure stinks up the house. As Katie, the cook (played by Marjorie Main of Ma Kettle fame) said in the 1944 movie, Meet Me in St. Louis, "Cabbage has a Cabbage smell!" We didn't see Rob for three days.





We took down all our Christmas decorations on Sunday afternoon. It was very depressing. I felt like that guy on the Verizon commercial who pulls the plug on his outdoor display and all his inflatables go limp. Now I'll have to turn my attention to our Biggest Loser contest. That's right - five people (who shall remain anonymous on the blog) - 100 dollars each - 10 weeks. WINNER......TAKES....ALL. I even went out and bought a scale, because I had not looked at my weight in ten years. Truly. At the doctor's office, I would just look away. You know, that was really stupid.


Recipe of the Week: Is my favorite salad recipe. I got this one from the internet. The dressing is delicious. One piece of cooking advice - if a recipe tells you to toast your nuts, I recommend that you do just that. For years I ignored those instructions, but honestly, toasted nuts are tasty nuts, so, again, like with the weight-denial thingy.....me, being stupid.


Apple, Dried Cherry & Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing

Maple Dressing

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or other white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Salad

1 - 5 ounce bag of mixed baby greens
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into match-stick size strips
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, TOASTED

For Dressing: Whisk mayo, syrup, sugar and vinegar in a bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil until mixture thickens. Season with salt and pepper.

For Salad: Toss greens, apples, cherries and 1/4 cup walnuts in a large bowl to combine. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Divide salad among plates and top with remaining walnuts.



And, I close this week with one more picture from Christmas. Landon Kutscher in the Rudolph hat his mommy made him.