Whoopies

Dish: Whoopies (mocha with chocolate butter cream and oatmeal with honey cream)
Book: Whoopie Pies
Pajamas:blue jean shorts and a Fuentes t-shirt
Meal: afternoon snack
Eaters: Mom, Mam and Me


Mam, Mom and I decided to cook on Sunday instead of our normal million dollar shopping spree. When we were on this shopping trip a few weeks ago, we were at this awesome cooking store in the Domain and bought a cookbook and pan for making whoopies. They are little cream filled cakes from Pennsylvania and the northeast. Back to the present, we started at Ulta. Yes, I said Ulta. We had so spend a little money on Sunday. Then we went to Target to get our supplies. The cart ended up full and we were on our way to Mom's kitchen. Once there. we got out all the ingredients to make 2 types of whoopies (24+ cakes) for 3 people. We started with the Mocha cakes and chocolate butter cream. The mocha cake went well. I spooned the batter into the flat cupcake pan. I was so proud of myself because I filled all 24 holes exactly even with no extra batter. I put both pans in the ovens. Mom, aka Martha, then made me take them out and spread the batter flat. Batter is liquid and when it gets hot, it spreads... hmmmm Anyway, next we made the oatmeal cakes. They were quite easy as well. We were a bit worried because they made about 1/2 as much batter as the other. I put a teeny scoop in each hole. It ends up that the mocha ones were gigantic and the oatmeal were just right. As we let them cool, we started on the icings/fillings. Note that during this cooking all three of us never stopped talking. Mom decided to use the small mixing bowl for the fillings- thanks Martha. We put all the ingredients in the small bowl. Mom started the mixer and nothing happened. We then decided to do it the old fashioned way- with a spoon. I spread the filling in between two cakes and tadah there were our first whoopies. They were a bit large and ugly, but they tasted pretty good. We then started making the honey filling. Mom again put all the ingredients in the small mixer and turned the knob. ALL of the contents flew ALL over the kitchen. We stirred what was left of it with a spoon. I put the oatmeal whoopies together. I have to say that they were quite a masterpiece. They looked super cute and tasted amazing. I learned on this one that you win some and you lose some :)

Mam/Mom-o-meter: Mocha whoopies- 6.0 a bit cakey
Oatmeal whoopies- 8.9 yum yum

Scallops

Yes, you read right. SCALLOPS. A more intense sea creature than the previous post.

Dish: Cajun scallops, conchigliette, and buttery corn sauce
Book: Bowl Food
Pajamas: My homeless stretchy PJ shirt (that's what Trevor calls it) and boxers
Meal: Dinner
Eaters: Trevor and me

I ventured into the fresh seafood section again. This time, there were no scaly fish and a few with heads. I took a deep breath and told the same fish guy that I needed some scallops. He told me to come and look at them. I said, "no I trust you" and gave him a big smile. I then gagged. By the way, if you haven't read my previous post "shrimp" you must stop now and read it first to fully understand what is going on. Back to scallops. He handed my the taped white paper package. I threw it in the cart and headed for the produce bags for the double sacking process. I finished my shopping with one eye on the scallops and went home to start the big adventure. I patted them dry, dipped them in Cajun spices and poured some olive oil on top. I skewered them and started on the pasta. The only bad and/scary part of scallops is the smell. I never touched them, so that could have been bad. I put the scallops on my Mr. Weber, my hot lover (the grill-haha). The scallops only cook about 4 minutes total. I still don't know how to flip animals of the ocean. I spooned these little guys, they are much more delicate than shrimp- no forking, only spooning. The book said they shouldn't be translucent. That word gives me the willies and I don't even know what it means so I just took them off the grill. The pasta was turning out incredible. It was cooked corn, butter, Cajun seasoning, garlic, key lime juice, chives, and mini shell noodles. I put the pasta on the plate, then sprinkled some cheese and then placed the scallops on top. The plate looked beautiful. Trevor sat down to eat and was so excited. He loved it! The scallops were a bit too spicy but that is fixable. I'm so proud of myself! Let's get honest though, this will be the farthest I go with seafood. Don't be expecting any fish dishes at all!! Trev-o-meter: 8.9 with a little less cayenne

Shrimp Skewers

Dish: Shrimp Skewers and rice
Book: My brain
Pajamas: pink polka dot flannels (yes it was 104 degrees outside)
Meal: Dinner
Eaters: Trevor and me

I went to HEB Plus to buy shrimp. I went to the frozen seafood section first and got a bag of shrimp. Then I pulled my cart up to the raw seafood window. My heart started pounding at the sight of all the scales laying on ice. If you don't know me well, I have a severe phobia of all things fish and sea. When you read the title of this post "Shrimp Skewers," you should have fallen over because this is a HUGE step for me. Anyway, I'm standing between the lobster tank(poor babies) and the humongous fully intact fish. My heart was pounding, my palms were sweating, and my mind was telling me to RUN! The fish man came over (how does he sleep at night) and I squeaked, "shrimp please, enough for 2." He looked at me with a really strange eyebrow raised look and started digging around behind the glass. I couldn't look. He started to hand me the taped paper. I grabbed it. All of the sudden I had the biggest fear that I got the wrong package so I ran to the veggies and double bagged it so that it wouldn't get scales or fins on the rest of my groceries. Somehow I ended up with 2 types of shrimp. I think the stress was overwhelming and I just bought both. After making sure the bagger bagged the ocean creatures separately, I drove home praying I wouldn't have a wreck and get all mixed up with the seafood bag.
Once I got home, It was time to face my fears. Shrimp aren't like fish- I thought, this will be no problem at all. So I decided on the frozen shrimp because I still had some flashes that inside that taped paper was a whole fish. I rinsed the shrimp (I thought that would be a good idea, I do it to fruits and veggies.) I then pulled out my new shiny skewers. I picked up the first shrimp and pushed the skewer through its little body. "This isn't too bad," I thought. I got to the third one and the little tail flipped off and landed on my foot. I jumped and danced and squirmed and gagged for about 3 minutes. Then I rescued Millini from eating it. I had to go into the living room to take a break. I finally built some courage and started again. This time I lost a few tails and had some short flashes of shrimp swimming around me but I did it. I conquered the skewering part. I then poured some sesame sauce, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil on the little fellas. Throughout all of my ocean creature drama, I cooked some incredible Thai seasoned rice. I put the skewers on the grill. Have I told you how much I love my grill? Trevor is getting a little jealous of the grill and my relationship. The little guys got about 2 minutes of cooking on each side. I'm not quite sure what to flip skewers with. I tried the tong chopstick thingies. That didn't work. I tried the metal spatula, that didn't work. I ended up just forking them. (Oh my, that sounds worse than it should haha) I placed the skewers on a large plateful of the Thai rice. I have to say that despite the bad dreams that came later, dinner was incredible. Trevor LOVED the shrimp and said that we should have it once a week. I may have to get an anxiety med for those days, but I'll try.
Trev-o-meter: 10 !!!!! :)