Cabin Fever is in Full Swing

April. Can you believe it?

This was a rough winter for just about everyone. Never in my life have I wanted to move south more than this past winter, even though I'm sure some people in the south have complained that their winter was colder than usual. To them I say: "Aww, poor things. Your 60-some degree temperature was so much worse than waking up to our -10 degree temperature and having our car encased in ice with the high of the day being 8."

Fortunately, or at least somewhat fortunately, our weather has finally broken out of the 30's. For the next ten days, our weather shouldn't dip below 40 as the high. For some of you people in warmer climates, I don't want to hear about how your high is 70 for the day. I'm grateful for what I have.

Anyway, since the last blog post, I have been doing pretty well physically. I've upped my water intake which has helped me HUGELY but has not been easy for me. I was never much of a water drinker, rationalizing it by eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and getting my water from there. I hate having to use the bathroom 20 times a day but if it helps I'm going to do it. Now, no matter what "doctors" say, drinking 8 glasses of water a day is nearly impossible. Unless you're an athlete, I think if you drink at least a whole glass at meals and maybe another glass in-between, I think you're good.

So what's this about cabin fever? Well, for those of you who have never truly experienced cabin fever, let me explain. Imagine you're in your home. Now imagine that you have no neighbors, just trees. Now pretend that your nearest grocery store is at least 20 minutes away. Oh, and you don't have a whole lot of money for gas or to spend on frivolous things. Then picture there is at least two or more feet of snow on the ground and there is no place to walk to or go to to walk within at least an hour's driving distance. Got a good picture? Okay, the final piece: you haven't been able to go much of anywhere for the last two and a half months. That's cabin fever. I don't get out much because I literally can't. Did I mention that I only regularly see maybe three or four people, and not on a daily basis? Yeah, it can drive you a little nuts.

This is bad for a few reasons, one of course is because your mental state can be affected by all the solitude. It's also bad because when you do something, like clean the house (which I do weekly), there's only so much cleaning you can do. You can go nuts with it, washing walls and things like that but there's a limit. Also, for whatever reason (and I know there is some medical reason) doing nothing can actually make you tired. This doesn't help all the other issues cabin fever causes. For me though, the major issue is being active.

It is hard to stay active during the wintertime, unless you're in a warmer climate, a skier, or something of the like. But when you're pregnant, what do you do? No one is going to let me ski or hang glide, or go ice-fishing (something I would never do anyway... no matter how thick the ice is!)... in fact, my fiance will hardly let me walk to my car on my own for fear of me falling on ice. I have to admit I appreciate that because I really do not want to fall but it also makes me realize how little I can do to stay active. Aside from cleaning the house weekly and daily tidying up, what can I do? I can't walk anywhere, I'm at the point where I'm too pregnant to do anything crazy like I normally would (i.e. walk places no matter how icy or snowy it is), so I'm left with baking and cooking. Of course, when the baby comes I'll have plenty to do, and believe me, I'm looking forward to not being so bored and alone. I know many mothers out there are saying to themselves: "Ha! Wait until that screaming, crying baby gets there!" But I don't care. I've been working with kids since I was a kid myself. What most people don't realize is I know what I'm in for, which is probably one of the reasons I'm not one of those new moms who are just giddy with excitement. I'm realistic. I'm having a baby. It's going to hurt, I'm not going to get tons of sleep, my body will be sore, I'm going to be cranky... but there will be fun aspects of it as well. I do look forward to those. (That's another blog post!)

In the meantime, I'm happy the weather is finally coming around because I will be able to do more soon. My baby shower is in 25 days and I leave for New York in a mere 17 days. An activity for me to look forward to. I am 26 weeks pregnant today, with the baby being as long as a scallion. The baby is capable of blinking now and is developing some fat. He is also viable which means if, for any reason, I suddenly go into labor prematurely, he will survive. I only have one more week of my second trimester left... which is both exciting and scary. I definitely look pregnant now.

Something I've been very seriously thinking about is starting a separate blog or website devoted to organic and simple baking and cooking. Stay tuned for more information on that, but in the meantime, I do have new recipes to share with you. A few actually. I'm very excited to share them with you!

First off, I made my extra special chocolate dessert: molten chocolate lava cakes. I looked at two recipes for it and I didn't like either in its entirety, so I made my own by combining aspects of both and including some of my own personal touches. So here is my personal recipe for:

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Serves 6

(Adapted from Paula Deen and Laura Vitale)

Ingredients:

8 Ounces Semi-Sweet or Bittersweet Chocolate (see note)

1 Stick of Butter (1/2 Cup)

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 Cup Flour

3 Whole Eggs

3 Egg Yolks

3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

(Note: The chocolate I used is pictured below with a description.)

This is my favorite chocolate in the whole world: Newman's Own organic dark chocolate at 54%. I would probably classify this as "semi-sweet," there is no milk product in it whatsoever, it's not overly bitter or overly sweet... it's perfection. I like their other bars but not as much as this one. I used two and a half bars for the recipe.

This was such a pain to dish out. I would use a disher or something like that to divide it into ramekins, or even a measuring cup with a pour spout. It should look like this when it's done.

Directions:

1) Preheat your oven to 425. Grease six ramekins.

2) In a double boiler over medium, medium high heat, melt chocolate and butter. Once melted, add flour and vanilla, allow to cool slightly then whisk in eggs one at a time. Whisk powdered sugar in last.

3) Divide batter evenly into the ramekins and cook for about 14 minutes or until outer rim of cake is set and the middle of cake is hot to the touch. (Note: I'm fairly sure that because my ramekins are not the standard size and shape, mine took about 5 minutes longer to cook. Fourteen minutes is the standard.)

4) Allow to cook for one or two minutes before turning out onto a bowl and serving with powdered sugar, whipped cream, or vanilla sauce. (Or plain! Or whatever you want!)

The final product... I had never had a chocolate lava cake before... it is heavenly. So, so, good.

Next, I did actually get around to making my vanilla bean "milk" bundt cake. Why is milk in quotes? Well, the recipe is called that yet only calls for a half a cup of milk. The cake was considerably smaller than I imagined, which means I'll have to make four of them for my baby shower, and I topped it with a cream cheese glaze which was very lovely. What I'm not telling you is how absolutely, incredibly, amazingly delicious this cake was. I have made many, many things, baked all sorts of goodies and have even baked foods that are not American, ranging from French to Greek and more. I've been baking for years. This was the best. By far. For all of you chocoholics out there: you may convert to vanilla. It's seriously that good. It doesn't even matter how small the cake is, I will make 20 of them if it means I get to share with the world. Not to mention it's also BEAUTIFUL. I can't take any credit for the recipe at all, I followed Tartlet Sweets recipe almost exactly, although as you already know I did not dust with powdered sugar. I can only assume partial credit for the glaze, I basically halved Laura Vitale's cinnamon roll glaze and sweetened to taste. The cake was so moist, barely sweet (I don't think I used a whole cup of sugar, more like 3/4 of a cup), the glaze was a perfect addition to the cake without being overpowering... it was perfection. It will be my go-to recipe from now on. My fiance hated me for this cake, saying that if I want to ever double check the recipe and remake it, it's fine with him. Pictures are below and before any of you say anything, yes, I know it looks like a giant donut. (Small note: Do NOT use vanilla extract as a substitute. It will still taste good, but not the same. Vanilla paste is the only reasonable substitute you can use if you don't have vanilla beans.)

My plain giant donut. Isn't it beautiful? Bundt cake removal hint: butter and flour the pan first. This is in the directions on the website, but it really works. Let cook for about 5 minutes before de-panning.

Doesn't it look lovely? My fiance wasn't home when I made this so it was torture for me to have to wait for him to get home to see it and then cut it open.

Doesn't it even look moist? It was really, really good. I only had maybe three pieces. My fiance had most of it, followed by some friends of ours who really liked it.

Dinner rolls. Nothing in this world evokes emotion like dinner rolls. Why do I say that? When was the last time you went to a relatively nice restaurant that did not serve you rolls when you walked in or at least slices of bread? Dinner rolls have a unique way of being ubiquitous as well as being nostalgic. (Unrelated note: I'm an excellent Scrabble player.) Rolls have a way of bring people together, sitting around the dinner table and being with family, talking about the latest gossip and events in people's lives. Yes, dinner rolls are quite powerful. Being pregnant, I have lost some brain cells to the baby; I haven't been able to play a decent round of Scrabble in a while, I forget some things, and I've been a tad bit clumsier lately. Now, I made dinner rolls according to Laura Vitale, and I knew there was something not quite right. I didn't realize until after the rolls were made that I had actually made up my own recipe for dinner rolls because I thought her recipe was too dense. I'm quite mad at myself for forgetting this. Nonetheless, I made them and lo and behold they were too dense for me, even though the flavor wasn't bad at all. However pretty much the whole time I was making them I thought my yeast was dead. What was the problem? The dough is just too dense to rise well. It took the heat of the oven to really get them risen, which was when I finally learned that my yeast was, in fact, alive. I will mention this again below, but I will be remaking my dinner rolls Holly-style, and include that recipe later. I only have a couple of pictures for you on the rolls, but I encourage you to make rolls of some kind before having a dinner party, enjoy the togetherness of mini bread.

There are things I will be changing about this recipe. We did not eat an entire 9x13 inch pan of them, in fact we still have two left from about three days ago. They really would have fit in an 8x8 pan. That hole in the roll to the left? I realized when I pulled them out the first time that they were still quite doughy.

They look nice though. The flavor was really good, but I have an idea to make them lighter and happier.

I thought for sure that the rolls were going to be the last recipe I had to share with you, and up until quarter to nine last night I would have been right. My fiance was saying that he had a craving for chocolate, of which we have none in the house and I have no suitable butter for baking at the moment otherwise I could have made brownies or something. Well, it had just so happened that I was on a website which I was enjoying yesterday, JoyofKosher.com, and came across an unusual but tasty looking quick treat not minutes before he said anything. Chocolate shots. I told him to look at it before I made it, which he did for about five seconds and wanted me to make it. Now, while I can't claim I altered the recipe that much, or really at all, there are some things I did differently so I've included the recipe below. This recipe is gluten, dairy, egg, coconut, tree nut, peanut, soy, refined sugar, and a lot of other things free, so unless you are allergic to chocolate or can't have it, this is actually a cool recipe that doesn't take long at all. (Warning: very dark chocolatey.) My suggestion is that you get some fancy looking shot glasses for this... it's worth the appearance.

Bittersweet Chocolate Shots

Serves About 6 (can be easily halved)

Here's one picture...

...and here's another. Note the scenery, this picture was taken this morning. These are quite tasty.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Raw Honey (or 3/8 cup or 6 tablespoons)

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Boiling Water (or 3/8 cup or 6 tablespoons)

Coarse Sea Salt for Topping (or a small dollop of whipped cream)

Directions:

1) Add everything to a blender, small food processor, or small container which an immersion blender can fit into and blend until smooth.

2) Pour into shot glasses or other cute little cups.

3) Two options from here: you can serve warm and top immediately with salt or whipped cream *or* the preferable choice is you wrap up your little chocolate shots in plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge until cold. The result? A healthier take on chocolate mousse. Personally, when it's hot I feel it's better served on ice cream or with cookies dipped in it. But when it's cold... mmm... Make sure you top it before you eat it. Sea salt is so good on chocolate... just a pinch though. Try it!

What can be expected for future recipes? Well, I have put the chocolate meringue German treats on hold. There are a couple reasons for this but just know I will make them at some point, but probably not for a little while. First thing on my list? Cinnamon rolls. Yes, I know, they sound so commonplace. But trust me, everyone loves a good cinnamon roll... a GOOD one. Everyone has had a dry cinnamon roll and it's never a good experience. Something I have made before, and I know there is one person who reads this blog and will want to comment on this, is fudge and I would like to make it again considering I have a decent thermometer now that I can use for sugar-cooking. I debated on making this next recipe because I think I'll be the only one to eat it but I decided I don't care: lemon curd. Sounds nasty, right? But for those of you who don't know what it really is, it's English in origin and is considered to be kind of a preserve or jam but is really more of a spreadable custard. (See this link for more information.) I hate cooked fruit desserts, banana bread and applesauce being two gray areas, but have always loved lemon in things. I think lemon curd would go great spread on my personal dinner roll recipe, which is also on my list. Something I hope to make is croissants because I found a good recipe that is simpler than the traditional French recipe (which I may try at some point...) but I will see if I have time. One other thing on my list that's a definite is a "baked" good in a different way: baked beans. My fiance is really looking forward to that one.

And that's about it! It's actually a beautiful day outside, but I can't enjoy it because I can't go anywhere... so I guess I'll just clean the house instead! Enjoy this final picture as a happy note to your day. Take care!

Not one of you can deny that you said "aww" when you saw this picture. My kitten, Vader, who is now a whopping seven months old, sleeps in the most ridiculous positions I have ever seen a cat sleep in. And look how happy he is! He's adorable, a pest, and a sweetheart all in one kitten package. I love this little guy.