dave & janet horsman ::: keepin’ it real since 1998

(Hmm…I wonder if “Yumm-O” is copyrighted?)

Well, I’m no Rachael Ray, but I love to cook.  And bake.  And be inventive with food. And be artistic with food.  Living with five rather picky eaters (well…I guess Ellie isn’t picky…yet ) has squelched all of this a bit; having peace at the supper table has trumped being adventurous with food for this season of life.

However, last evening we had this delectable treat for dessert, and it was a winner…

Oh my.  Who knew how easy it was to actually make shortcakes?  It’s so easy!   You must try…

1/3 cup of shortening
2 cups flour
2 T sugar
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 450.  Cut shortening into flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl until mixture looks like fine crumbs.  Stir in milk until just blended.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.  Gently smooth into a ball.  Knead 20 – 25 times.  Roll 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with knife into 6 wedges.  Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Split shortcakes horizontally in half while hot.  Spread butter on split sides. Fill with strawberries; replace tops.  Top with strawberries and sweetened whipped cream.

(The baking and enjoying of these shortcakes was bittersweet, though, I must say.  I used my last bit of Canadian baking powder in them. Would any of my Canadian readers like to send a care package?)

All is well here in Horsmanville, in case you’re wondering.  We had a great spring break full of good times.  Some highlights were:  tuning into the world curling competition via the Internet, the attempted rescue of Bob the Gopher – he was later pronounced dead though – “shooting hoops” and …an ongoing fued over which older brother was Noah’s best friend.  Noah would flip-flop between the two, one minute declaring Elijah to be his BFF and then later Zeke.  Sounds annoying maybe, but actually, it was cute.  I’m so looking forward to summer vacation!  Noah plays so much better when his brothers are here.

Right now, though, I’m kind of in recovery mode.  I, too, kind of took a spring break and ignored housework, laundry and such while the boys were home.  In fact this morning I finally got around to folding almost a dozen loads of laundry that had been lying heaped in a pile since the day before spring break even started!  Yikes.  Now… to put them all where they belong…

Oh boy, am I glad that I can stay inside on this cold, miserable winter day!  I just refuse to venture outside on days like this.  Dave even drove the boys to the bus-stop today, so they wouldn’t have to wait in the -40 windchill.  Brrr!

Does this weather make anyone else want to bake?  Or more importantly, eat baked goods?  It must be my instincts kicking in, telling my body it needs to fatten-up, to survive!  Yesterday, I had a serious hankering for something baked, but, sadly, I was out of eggs, (don’t you hate running out of eggs?) and there was no way I was doing a grocery-run yesterday.  Then I remembered this super-easy, one-dish, eggless recipe I had!  It totally hit the spot.  I love that you mix up the ingredients right in the baking dish…

1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
powdered sugar, if desired

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt with fork in ungreased square pan  (8×8x2 inches).  Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and powdered sugar.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over batter. 

Bake 35 – 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

So easy!  It makes a nice little after dinner treat.  I like it warm right out of the oven, when the chocolate chips are all melty, but somehow, it seems to taste even better the next day.  Yum!