Saying Karma is a very trendy thing to do. I probably hear it almost every day coming out of someone’s mouth. I find it most amusing that most of my friends who say it often are Christians. And well the concept of karma is a religious one coming to us from the Buddhist and the Hindus. And last I checked Christians only get to follow one God’s teaching? I’m not here to get into religion; I’ll leave that for Rick Perry. But I will say that I don’t really believe in Karma.

I don’t really believe in the concept for the fact that #1 I am not a Buddhist or a Hindu and #2 far too many people I know that are good people have many a bad thing happen to them, and yet the people who I think in my life who could really get a good swift kick in the pants seem to continue to skate through life with things just kind of falling into place for them. Or just finding new people to take advantage of.

Instead of doing things to gain good Karma for the day, why not just do something because it’s the right thing to do?

In case you haven’t guessed I’m dealing with someone who if I believed in Karma could use a good dose of it right back at them. And because I am stuck dealing with them a little comfort food is often necessary. I had a few apples left over from my Harry and David Fruit of the Month club and decided to make an apple cobbler. I make a very unusual blackberry cobbler from years ago but had never tried to make any other fruit cobbler out of it. So I thought I would give it a go. It’s messy no doubt when putting it together but seriously yummy! I ate it as my dinner last night and breakfast today!

Maple Apple Cobbler

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cut into bits and chilled
1 cup water
1 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar, divided
1/3 cup plus 2 TBSP maple syrup, divided
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 ¾ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large Honey Crisp apples (mine are from Harry and David), peeled, cored, sliced, and slices cut in half

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a 10-inch glass pie plate or baking dish melt 1/2 stick uncut butter in oven.

In a small saucepan combine water, 1 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup maple syrup and heat over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved.

In a food processor pulse together flour and remaining 1/2 stick cut-up butter until mixture resembles fine meal. Add milk and pulse just until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and with a floured rolling pin roll into an 11- by 9-inch rectangle.

Sprinkle dough with cinnamon and scatter apples evenly over top. Beginning with a long side roll up dough jelly-roll fashion and cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices. (Slices will come apart and be messy).

Arrange slices, cut sides up, on melted butter in pie plate or baking dish. Pour the remaining maple syrup over the dough. Pour sugar syrup over slices, soaking dough. *This will seem weird and the dough may rise up and float, just go with it, it works out in the end. Bake in middle of rack for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over cobbler and bake 15 minutes more, or until golden.

Best served warm…I served mine with maple whipped cream as we were out of ice cream.
Serves 6.
Adapted from Gourmet June 1996

At this point I am waiting for people to hire photographers for first date photos. Seriously wedding photographers, this could be your new thing. I think people would fall for it. Hire a photographer to go out with you on every first date because you never know, this could be the one. And wouldn’t it be nice if you could look back on your first date and know that it was all captured by a professional photographer.

I bring this up because I am in awe of how many things nowadays people hire professional photographers for. Don’t get me wrong if you have the money and you want it done, go for it, I certainly have enough friends who take pictures for a living and would appreciate the work. But let’s look for example of a girl I know who her boyfriend arranged for them to have photos of him proposing done. The girl thought they were just getting their pictures taken for a Christmas card. But he popped the question. That wasn’t their engagement photos. It made sense to me that these would be engagement photos since they got engaged and all but nope. The now newlywed had decided that if she had known she was getting engaged that day she would have worn something different. So they got engagement photos. They got photos professionally done for their co-shower. Her bachelorette party (joy…drunk pictures). Photos done of the rehearsal dinner. And of course the wedding. Oh and the brunch the day after where they opened gifts. Ummm. Now I know you want to capture the day and all, but after a couple of years the 9,000 wedding photos you have won’t be displayed in your home. You will have about three. Three is good. This also means you will torture people with your 9,000 photos. Don’t. That is cruel and unusual punishment.

Perhaps the strangest photography moment came at my book club a few months back. I am fairly new to this group. My old one fell apart, it was bound to when we were starting to read books from our childhood since no one had time to read long books. Though who doesn’t love a little Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret? (No we really read that, good news was this was the book every person actually read in the club ). Anyway, I am sitting there and I am watching this woman take pictures and I just assume that she likes taking pictures and is a member of our club and she just wasn’t at the last meeting. I found it awkward that she was taking photos of me eating coffee cake and me trying to be polite and eat grapes with a fork (just pick them up, they move around and you look like a moron). I also noticed she was taking a lot of pictures of the hostess seven year old daughter who was there as well. So we started to discuss the book and the woman was still taking pictures. So finally I just said “I’m sorry, I don’t know you, are you new to the group?” to the woman taking pictures. She told me “oh, no. K hired me to take photos of H’s first book club meeting”. Really? Really? No, really? Thank goodness that moment was caught on film…for $200 not including prints, which I am told I am fortunate enough to buy if I so choose. No, thanks, I have plenty of photos of me eating coffee cake.

We had book club again last week, which we tried for a week night this time around (I prefer weekend). They tried to get me to make chocolate molten cake. No one was catching on that this is not really a portable dessert and needs to be eaten warm. But it did get me thinking about chocolate molten cake. It used to be everywhere and now has fallen out of favor. I still like it. Friends of mine are in Germany right now at Oktoberfest and so that made me think of Black Forest Cake…and that’s where the idea for this all came from.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend…hopefully you hired someone to photograph it for you.

Black Forest Molten Cake

4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 tsp. Kirsch liquor
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 TBSP all-purpose flour
12 cherries, pitted (two for each cake)
Whipped Cream to garnish
Cherries to garnish

Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter 6 (6-ounce) custard cups or soufflé dishes. Place on baking sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 1 minute or until butter is melted.

Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in vanilla and Kirsch.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and yolk. Stir in flour. Pour batter into prepared custard cups.

Place two cherries in middle of custard cup.

Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute.

Carefully loosen edges with small knife. Invert cakes onto serving plates. Serve immediately with whipped cream and extra cherries.

Adapted from McCormick.com

Several people keep asking me what I have bought with the prize money and are sad to hear the answer of nothing. “Nothing? That’s no fun”. I explain to them that I didn’t have the check yet and therefore there was no reason to go buy anything yet, if at all. “Oh but you are going to get the money so just put it on credit card?” Because again, until a check is in my hand and cleared through the bank I don’t even have it.

I won a food photography contest way back at the end of July. They contacted me and told me I won. And had me fill out paperwork, get it notarized and back to them. Had me give a picture and write a little paragraph. Told me great, you should get your prize in 7-10 days. It’s going on mid-September now without my prize in site. Now that is not to say this will be the case with BHG/Triscuit as they have been nothing but a dream to work with. I’m just saying I don’t have it yet.

My former friend C applied for a job (she is former because of this story). She told everyone she had aced the interview and that they all loved her. Her friend worked for the company and told her the same thing as well, though this friend was not even in the interview with her. She was told she would hear back from them in a week. Before she heard back she went and bought herself a new wardrobe for the job and traded in her car for a newer car and a new payment to match her soon to be better salary. She didn’t get the job. She freaked out. The clothing all got returned, but the car and the payment she was now stuck with. Luckily her boyfriend had talked her out of giving notice at her then current job or else she would have been out of a job as well. We are former friends because of the fact that she just would go on and on about poor me. How they told her she did so well and she was a shoo-in and how crazy it was that she didn’t get the job and she now couldn’t afford her car. She didn’t like my answer back, which of course was that it was crazy for her to go buy stuff on money she didn’t have yet. Needless to say she was less than nice to me ever again. Oh well.

When the money comes I am doing the very boring putting it away for a rainy day. I see a few up ahead possibly and it’s nice to have a little in the bank. I know most people were hoping I would buy from the Sur la Table catalog…ah, that would have been nice. But nope, I’m going the conservative route. Though I’m sure I will spend a little of it on a celebrator drink or two.

While my celebrator drink will probably be a beer (if you are a fan of my Facebook page you know about the girl how donated money to the site with specific instructions…pretty funny) but I wasn’t in the mood for beer this week. Well, not the type of beer I drink. This week has been hot and that is more of a Corona kind of week…and I don’t do beer like that. So instead I went the pina colada route. Which would have been fine other than the fact that to this day I still have the song stuck in my head…and you will too now.

This is a take on Tiramisu…though the pick me up isn’t coffee, it’s rum. Feel free to omit the rum if you are going family friendly. Also feel free to add more rum if you would like. The best thing about this dessert is that it is no bake. It may be September but there is a heat wave over here…well heat wave for us.

Pina Colada Tiramisu

Coconut Rum Filling:

3 cups heavy whipping cream
8 ounces Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
3 TBSP Malibu Rum (it’s got coconut flavor to it)
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3 4.40-ounce packages Champagne biscuits (or lady fingers)
5 TBSP pineapple juice
2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped to whatever size you want
Extra coconut for garnish

Use an 8-x-8-inch pan.

Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

In a mixing bowl, fold 2/3′s of the whipped cream into the Mascarpone cheese, along with the powdered sugar, and rum. Blend until cream is fully incorporated. Fold in coconut.

Lay the lady fingers at the bottom of dish. Brush lady fingers with pineapple juice. Spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the lady fingers. Scatter 1/3 cup fresh pineapple and coconut (if using) on top of the cheese mixture. Repeat the procedure until all of the lady fingers and cheese mixture are used. Spread the reserved whip cream over the top of the tiramisu. Allow the cake to set, about an hour. Garnish with fresh pineapple. Makes 10 servings.

To make Parfait style: Break up 4-5 lady fingers. Put about 5 pieces at the bottom of a clear glass of your choice. Brush with juice. Add pineapple and coconut. Pipe in Mascarpone filling. Repeat layering till you hit the top of your glass.

When I was going through my divorce I could have sworn that Sirius radio was out to get me. It seemed like every time I got into the car they were playing Third Eye Blind’s song “How’s It Gonna Be”. And stupid me would always listen to it and then proceed to bawl my eyes out. Now of course if that song was on the radio a year before my divorce I would have cared less, other than to go, oh I love that song and listen to it. But because I was going through something it struck a chord and would upset me. Which is often what this blog does to people, it strikes chord. I can assure you if you are a long time reader at some point I am going to strike a chord with you…it’s inevitable.

I can’t tell you how many times friends or acquaintances email or call me to ask if my latest post was about them? It usually isn’t. But what it does show is that they are usually guilty about something. Guilty about lying and how they live their life. Guilty about spending money they don’t have. Guilty about something I pointed out. Let me be the first to say that I am not on a high horse, I am no perfect saint and I break my own rules sometimes too. But they are reminders to myself, just like writing that we should all eat more veggies.

I struck major chords with the runner post. If you read down I said I was all for people running for exercise. Seriously, more power to you! I am for any and all exercise. I was simply trying to point out that no other sport/exercise has your friends telling you how they did or what their progress is…though people like to post all the time they are at the gym. I don’t need to know that is my point. It’s not being unsupportive. It’s just like I don’t need to know on a daily basis what you kid is now eating or how regular his bowl movement is. I also don’t need to see 63 photos of them, a couple are just fine.

Because of the running post that fueled a now former reader to unsubscribe from me and then write about me in a post. Which I totally support, that’s the great thing about blogs, you get to tell your opinion (even when mine is usually over exaggerated to strike a chord )and if you don’t like what you are reading…don’t read. I wish more people would follow that. But what I did love of course were the comments people wrote about evil me. One person writing that I deserved to eat a bag of dicks. Which truthfully, send on over. Red Rover, Red Rover send a giant bag of dicks on over! Seriously, if you live in the Seattle area Dick’s is a burger place known for “burgers by the bagful”…so I am all about eating a bag of dicks. I know people think they are trying to upset me but they are not. It really does take a lot for me to get upset. We once took a personality tests when I was a teacher, you know the are you Type A or Type B personality and the woman actually said to me “if there was a way to give you Type C I would, do you even have a pulse?”. Sure I do, I just let things roll off me way more than the average bear (hey Boo-Boo) does.

Not so much striking a chord, as getting me thinking, was a girl asking what your three favorite desserts are. I replied Bread Pudding, Key Lime Pie, and Cheesecake. And then it hit me, how on earth could I combine all three to make me the worlds’ most perfect dessert. I decided that instead of a crust that the bottom portion would be a thin layer of bread pudding, which I soaked graham crackers into the cream overnight to have the cream get the graham flavor. Then on top of that goes the cheesecake layer, key lime flavored of course. They are baked at the same time, not separate. I added a black/raspberry sauce that I made for an upcoming ice cream and it was pretty much heaven.

So if I ever do strike a chord, I am sorry. Though in all seriousness maybe take that time to reflect and ask yourself why is it that this is so upsetting to me? Am I unhappy with the fact that this is actually happening in my life? If not, just send me a bag of dicks.

Peabody’s Key Lime Cheesecake-Graham Cracker Bread Pudding Extravaganza
For the pudding:
½ small brioche loaf, sliced like you would be making French toast
½ cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
8 graham crackers, crushed up
½ cup packed light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs

Let graham cracker pieces soak in cream in a small bowl covered in wrap in the fridge at least 4 hours, better yet, overnight.

Grease a 10-inch spring form pan.

In a large bowl combine the cream from the fridge with milk, eggs, brown sugar, and salt. Whisk until fully combined.

Dip brioche slices in custard making sure it gets very soaked in. Then layer the bottom of the pan, you will have to tear some of the pieces to make them fit. You only want one layer as you are making a crust so to speak. Press down to make sure the bread is in their tightly as batter will be going on top of this.

Set bread pudding aside and start to make cheesecake portion.

For the cheesecake:
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
6 TBSP key lime juice
2 eggs
2 TBSP all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325F.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down after each addition.

Add juice and flour and beat until fully combined.

Pour batter over the prepared bread pudding in the spring form pan, smoothing with a spatula to make sure it is even.

Bake for 45-55 minutes depending on your oven. You will know it is done when the middle is solid, but still has a little jiggle to it.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack to room temperature. Then place in fridge for 8 hours or overnight. Serve with raspberry sauce.

For the sauce:
2 cups raspberries
1 cup sugar
Combine the berries and sugar in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 220ºF (5 to 8 minutes). Let cool slightly, then force through a sieve to remove seeds (or leave a few seeds in there just to prove you made it). Refrigerate until cold before using.
Sauce recipe from Jenni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jenni Britton Bauer