It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.
– SGT. Dennis Edward O’Brien, USMC

This quote was printed on the cover page of the January 2011 issue of the Military Press Newspaper, which caught my daughter’s eye as we left the commissary during a grocery shopping trip at the Miramar base with their Papa. We still have it, but I thought I’d share it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

Sand and Succotash: Renee’s Blog.

All my old postings are still here, but from the future all new posts will be on the new one.

See you there!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Ganache.

What is a flourless chocolate cake? Simply a chocolate cake made with no flour. It’s structure comes from whipped egg yolks, and egg whites, that are folded together with melted chocolate and butter. It’s sort of like a grown up brownie cake, and is light in texture, yet very rich in taste. It’s best served fresh and at room temperature, so the ganache is soft and the cake texture is moist.

If you want a great recipe, here is my recipe for flourless chocolate cake. I generally top it with dark chocolate ganache for an elegant, and super simple, dessert.

While your guests at dinner will appreciate your effort, the kids won’t think it’s fancy, though, just plain old good.

1. Make the stuffing.
2. Stuff the squid bodies.
3. Seal the body cavity with a toothpick.
4. Place in oven-safe pan with the sauce. Cover and bake.
5. Serve.

Courtesy Pdphoto.org.

I posted on Pastry Sampler’s Pastry & Bakery News tips and resources for making resumes for pastry professionals, such as pastry chef, pastry cooks, bakers, and cake decorators. Helpful links for anyone wanting to brush up their resume. Also what are some specialties in the pastry field? Chocolate work, showpiece sugar work, and an artisan baker are a few.

What do insects, vegetables and flowers have in common? If you lived in the early 20th century, and anytime prior, they would be basis for food colorings used in confectionery and food production.

Check out how people made yellow food coloring (with saffron), red food coloring (with cochineal, which are insects), and green food coloring (with spinach) from my Old School Pastry blog.

• How to Make Green Food Coloring
• How to Make Yellow Food Coloring
• How to Make Red Food Coloring

Buttermilk Pie

Celebrate National Pie Day today by making a pie. Here’s one to get you started, a recipe for an easy buttermilk pie. I added a pinch of nutmeg, but omit if you’d like.

Use your favorite pie crust recipe. This makes one pie.

Buttermilk Pie

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 T flour
1 stick whole butter, melted & cooled
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch nutmeg
1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat up eggs in a mixing bowl with sugar. Add in the flour. Stir in the melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Add in a pinch of nutmeg.

Pour into prepared pie crust and bake until center tests done.

Stars & Stripes: United States Flag

Here is a fun entry to a food blog “Tiny Urban Kitchen” with the title: A Pizza Tour of my Travels. The blog itself was the 2010 Project Food Blog Winner – she won not only a feature spot on the site ‘Food Buzz’ but 10,000$ in the process. The link above shows a very clever way to serve pizza – in the shape & decoration of country flags. She did the project to reflect places she’s traveled. A crafty mom might turn this into a fun research & cooking project for the kids…