What's Cookin' - February

COLUMN: We so enjoy this short little month of February. It seems to be a breath of cool fresh air and a restful time while waiting on windy March. It is a romantic Month with cupid pointing his arrow straight to Valentine’s Day.

Will you do something special with your sweetheart? I have been thinking about that myself and may have come up with just the thing.

On special days, I enjoy putting together a sweet little lunch for hubby with a pretty table and fresh, good food; perhaps candlelight casting a glow over a small bunch of flowers in a glass bowl on a table covered with a red & white checked cloth.

The food for this special day? 

Try something warm and delicious and pull out all the stops for dessert - after all it is Valentine’s Day. Make the beverages something special too.

Try a fruity ice tea - you can call it love potion #9 - with a slice of fresh, sweet orange inside the glass and freeze lemonade or cranberry juice in ice trays as ice cubes. For later, a hot cup of fresh coffee is perfect with a chocolate dessert.

The Main Dish

Cupid's Casserole is a warm, healthy, easy casserole with short ribs of beef, spicy Ro-Tel tomatoes, and a bit of brown sugar. It is good served over a bed of hot buttered rice or noodles. Yummy!

This is a crock pot recipe that is easy but takes a bit of time. So, start early or, like me, get some of it ready the day before.

Brown three pounds of short ribs of beef on a baking pan in the oven for one hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next, in a slow cooker, stir together a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, two tablespoons of brown sugar, one medium onion cut into rings, and one medium can of tomato sauce. DO NOT add salt or pepper because the tomatoes & tomato sauce have both already.

Add the oven browned short ribs of beef to the crock pot, cover and cook until the ribs are fork tender. If you plan to cook them over night, cook on low setting. 

The ready-made and delicious Sister Schubert / Parker House Style rolls go great with this meal; more than a dozen small rolls in their own baking pan. Get them frozen at your market. After removing the rolls from the bag, spread soft butter all over the top, cover with a loose sheet of foil, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Dessert

What could be better then a rich deep chocolate, heart-of-my-heart Coca Cola cake

This is just about the best and richest cake you can bake.

Preheated the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit while preparing the batter. Pour one cup Coca-Cola in a sauce pan with a half-cup of vegetable oil and one stick butter. Add three tablespoons of coco powder and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat set aside.

In a large bowl mix two cups of plain flour and one-half teaspoon of salt. Add the cooled cola/coco mixture to the flour mixture and beat by hand with a whisk.

Add two fresh, beaten eggs and one-half cup buttermilk, a teaspoon of baking soda, and one teaspoon of vanilla. Whisk again.

Pour into an oiled and floured 9 x 13 sheet cake pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes till done.

Frosting

In a sauce pan combine a half stick of butter with two to three tablespoons of Coca Cola, three tablespoons cocoa, and one teaspoon of vanilla. Heat this just a little then add a cup of chopped pecans.

Mix in a pound of confectioners’ sugar and mix well. Spread or pour onto the cooled cake.

Our son, Richard, will be here to visit a while next week so I have been scrambling to make ready meeting my dead lines and doing some shopping. No matter how old they are, a Mom just likes to spoil her children a bit when they visit by having favorite foods and fun plans.

I have enjoyed our mild winter - no snow so far. In fact we have had a real snow only once in all the winters we have been here. I think that snow last about 24 hours.

We had a visitor at the time from India and he delighted in the snow. It was a first for him and he was child-like in his delight, sitting down in the snow and rolling up snow balls.

He was broken hearted the next day when he went out to check on his snow balls and they had melted. He was so happy he had snap shots to prove he has seen snow in South Carolina.

But, after living in Indiana's deep cold many years with tons of snow drifts and white-outs, I hope I do not have to see snow ever again. The thought of snow balls and snow banks give me the shivers. I love warm and my wish for you is a warm rest of February. irishsc1@aol.com