A New Beginning / Sandwicher Maker Chocolate Cake

I haven’t blogged in a while, but that is obvious. I found myself each day saying “What should I write about today?” and coming up blank. How many times could I write “Today, I went to the church…Today, I walked around Madrid…Today, I felt exasperated by my boys.”

I have a new fascination with food blogs. I love seeing things people make and eat, and especially when they tell me how I can do it too. …..So, I am going to try something. I am going to blog about our food. I am by no means a cook, but I like to try. I fail a lot, but every once and while things work out.

Sometimes we eat interesting Spanish things, like last week we had “Arroz Negro”. That is rice made black by squid ink with mini octopus mixed in.

Sometimes we eat boring things, like grilled cheese and tomato soup. Only the tomato soup is really cold Spanish gazpacho, because it’s the only thing I can find that is similar.

Lots goes on at a meal. Conversation, jokes, my boys being crazy….so surely some of that will get mixed in as well.

Some pertinent information to understanding what kind of cooking I can and cannot do:

1. I live in Madrid, Spain. While there is an American, closet sized, grocery store, most typical “American” ingredients are very expensive. So I end up improvising or making things from scratch (like Italian dressing).

2. I have 2 toddler boys and a husband. I cook so they will eat it. It’s usually not very fancy.

3. This is the size of my kitchen:

it has its limitations. (Yes, that is my washing machine next to my oven.)

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I had read somewhere that sandwich makers could be used to make much more than a hot sandwich.

After making the PB&J paninni over at Weelicious, I got to thinking about my own sandwich maker. What could I do? And after some research on the internet I found out: I CAN PRETTY MUCH MAKE ANYTHING!

So, I tried cake last night.

I mixed just a plain boxed cake mix. (This one I got in a care package from home.)

I poured 2 tablespoons of the batter into each of the triangle wells. Closed the lid and waited for about 3 to 5 minutes.

And this is what came out!

They were a hit. The box mix made about 24 triangle servings, which is nice for a party but bad in the house. We ended up eating the whole plate by the end of the night.

I am sure there are tons of ways to put 'add-ins' to the cakes. But this is what happened when I tried putting marshmallows in, so I just stuck to the cake.

We’ve had omlettes and pancakes from our sandwich maker since yesterday and now I am thinking of the endless possibilities for my new kitchen friend...pigs in a blanket, pizza pockets, Spanish tortilla….

Cold Tea Cake

I should be cleaning my kitchen. I should be starting another load of laundry so I can hang it from the line before we leave in the morning. I should be eating a balanced meal for dinner.

But I'm not. I'm eating cheese on some great crusty bread I bought at the French bakery this morning. (It's the only thing open on Sundays, and I take the boys over for a treat so they don't have to be cooped up in the building all morning. Hazard of being the pastor's kid: you are at church hours before anyone else shows up, and hours after everyone leaves... But I am eating a hazelnut yogurt...and will probably have a cup of tea before I go to bed...

Here's a great recipe I encountered this week. "Cold Tea Cake" Our congregation is primarily British expatriates, so I've been attempting to find ways to "infiltrate" their culture in order to win their hearts via their stomachs.

COLD TEA CAKE

Ingredients:

3 C dried fruit (I used golden raisins (or 'sultanas' in British...))

1 1/4 C brown sugar

1 1/2 C cold tea (the idea is to use the tea that's left over from tea time...)

2 C self rising flour

(I make my own 'cause it's expensive here: 1 C reg. flour + 1 1/2 t baking powder + 1/2 t salt = 1 C self rising flour)

1 egg

Directions:

Mix the fruit and sugar in a medium bowl. Soak in cold tea overnight.

Mix the egg and flour into the fruit mixture. Pour into greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350* for about an hour and half.

(My loaf needed nearly 2 hours...but it tasted wonderful when it was done!)

Three Good Things:

1. My inlaws are coming for a visit! They arrive next Monday! (one week to make the house presentable...)

2. Bram was having trouble staying "accident free" at school, but last week he stayed "dry and clean" (in his words) all week! We celebrated with a chocolate Kinder egg (a hollow chocolate egg that has a toy inside).

3. I got the most beautiful, and delicious strawberries from the Friday fruit market...so good that the boys and I have finished the kilo (2.2 pounds) in a little under 2 days...