Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joes

Anyone remember that song by Adam Sandler on SNL- Lunch Lady Land? If you don't know what I'm talking about go HERE - it's totally hilarious! Go ahead, go watch it, I'll wait...

Okay, funny right? I'm not one to watch much SNL (then or now) but I loved Adam Sandler on that show. He's such a classic. And everytime I make sloppy joes I can't help but think of that song. It's like "Lunch Lady Land" is a theme song for standing over the stove, browning ground beef and sandwiching it between a bun. My apologies if you find yourself singing that song the rest of the day :-)

When I was a kid my mom used to make Manwich. You know that canned red sauce you mix with ground beef? As a kid, I didn't love it. I don't know what about it I didn't like, I just didn't. But I find myself as an adult wanting to eat those things that remind me of my childhood. Except I don't make it from a can. I have no problem with the can and if that's what you like, that's fine, but I find my version just as simple and much tastier and I happen to like that I know the ingredients going into it.

This recipe came about by chance one day. I just added some ketchup and salsa together and it tasted familiar...like sloppy joes.Then I added spices and came up with a version I liked. I recommend toasting your bun so the bread doesn't soak up all the sauce leaving you with a soggy bun. Otherwise just enjoy it and sing along with with Adam Sandler and you chomp down on your sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe.

Sloppy Joes by Monica H

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• 1 pound ground beef
• 3-4 Tablespoons chopped onion, optional
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt (if you use table salt- use 1/4-1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 cup jarred salsa
• 1/4 cup ketchup

In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown your ground beef and onions, breaking up into tiny bits. Cook til meat is cooked through and onions are tender. Drain off any excess fat.

Add garlic, salt, and cumin and stir around pan til fragrant. Be careful not to burn your garlic!

Stir in your salsa and ketchup until thick and saucy. Lower the temp to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. If it gets too thick, and a bit of water to thin it out. If too thin, then let it simmer a bit longer, uncovered.

Check for seasoning, add more salt if necessary and sandwich between a toasted bun or white bread.

Serves 4

400th Post!

Today is my 400th post and I have a special cake for you today! I made this for the boys I nanny. They both have birthdays one week apart so for the last couple years they've shared a birthday party and cake. The oldest turned 4 years old and the youngest turned 2. Last year I made them a Wonder Pets Cake and this year they wanted to go with a dinosaur theme. raaar!

When I'm trying to design a cake, I google what I'm looking for then gather ideas I like or I sketch it out and let my imagination run wild. I was more concerned with the cake and how it tasted than the actual dinosaurs so I used toy dinosaurs the boys already had for decoration. The client requested vanilla buttermilk cake with instant fudge icing (from Sky High Cakes) for one tier and I chose chocolate cake with vanilla cream cheese icing for the other. The vanilla cake had a nice tight crumb and was firm but tender and the chocolate is my favorite go-to recipe. These are both of my favorite frostings too.

I didn't slice the cake so it's a little sloppy, but I wanted you to see the insides.

I made the palm trees by trial and error. I hope I never have to make them again. ha! I made the leaves out of fondant and for the trunks I used pretzel rods. Royal icing held it all together. I made enough leaves for 5 palm trees, many broke so I only had enough to make 4. Then as they dried overnight, I had 2 catastrophes and only 2 survived. I was hoping for 3, but I think it turned out fine. The border around the cake was done with chocolate rocks. They're chocolate chunks that are textured and colored to look like rocks. Fun stuff and the kids loved them!

The bottom tier is fudge frosting and the top tier was tinted with green coloring. It's also the same icing I used to pipe the "grass" border and the lettering on the bottom layer. And lastly the cake board was wrapped in white cake board paper, then I painted it with white royal icing and dusted it with a mixture of graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar to create the appearance of sandy soil. I wanted to wrap the edge of the cake board with ribbon but I didn't have enough to wrap all the sides and I ran out of time to go out and get some. Oh well, I'm pretty sure it would have wound up in the trash anyway :-) Hope you enjoy it and thank you for being here through all 400 posts!

Front of cake

I'm too lazy to type out the recipes, so here are the links:

• Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
• Instant Fudge Frosting
• One Bowl Chocolate Cake
• Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Icing

Back of cake

S'mores In Cake Form

It's Cake Slice time again! Today I have a graham cracker-chocolate chip snacking cake with marshmallow buttercream frosting. Whew! That's a mouthful! I was really excited to try this cake because I'm a huge fan of s'mores and cake, but it wasn't everything I hoped it would be. It was by no means bad, but it certainly was not like a traditional s'more. Recently I made s'more bars and now this and neither have wowed me and it's leaving me questioning my love for s'mores. Or maybe I'm just a s'more purist and like them the old fashioned way.

This cake was really simple to make and contains graham cracker crumbs in place of most of the flour in the cake. It then has chocolate chips folded into the batter (which was really yummy!) and baked. I opted to use mini chocolate chips instead of the regular morsels since all the pictures I saw had the chips sink to the bottom- I didn't want that. Once cooled it's topped with a silky marshmallow buttercream. I thought the frosting was better the second day, but it didn't really taste like marshmallow. The cake did taste like graham crackers but it had a bit of a spongy texture and was slightly dry, despite under baking it. All in all, this cake was fair, but I wouldn't make it again. Mr. H liked it though so it didn't go to waste, and that's always a good thing.

Graham Cracker-Chocolate Chip Snacking Cake adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes

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For the cake:

• 8 whole graham crackers, finely ground (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Marshmallow Fluff

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, stirring until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk, ending with the flour. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes (Mine was done in 27 minutes). Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting: Place the butter in a medium mixing bowl and beat until creamy. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stir in the vanilla and the Marshmallow Fluff and beat until smooth.

Cut the cake into squares and serve each one with a dollop of frosting on top.

Make Ahead Tips: Store uneaten squares in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. The frosting can be kept in the refrigerator in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.