Cabin Fever CURED!
By Cynthia Bowan
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Somewhere between taking down the last of the outdoor holiday lights (the ones you couldn't really get to because there wasn't enough time between recent snow storms), and the arrival of summer wear and/or garden catalogs, you realize you are going stir crazy.
You have Cabin Fever. It might take a while to accept and even understand the diagnosis, but you have it all right. How do I know? Because that is exactly where I am at today. This might be the first day of March, but I think if I see another snowflake, I am going to get in my car, drive to Punxatawny, PA, find Phil and boot his rear end for the six more weeks of winter bit he pulled on Feb. 2.
How can one determine if they have Cabin Fever? At first, it's just little things, like counting the tiny tropical fish on the wallpaper in the bathroom. You start snarling when you read magazine articles on how-to-lose-weight-so-you-will-be-ready-for-bathing-suit-season. This is especially bad for us women, because we take the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue to the dining room table, and then scare our husbands by pointing out where the editors air brushed the various
models varicose veins and stretch marks.
You become compulsive. You rearrange your spices and herbs in alphabetical order. You organize your last 12 years of Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine and Cook's Illustrated magazines in order by date. You pull out the counted cross stitch baby quilt you were working on and decide to finish it, even though the child it was intended for is a high school senior this year.
You find yourself watching Dr. Phil or other advice givers, and you talk back to them because their advice stinks and yours is better. Shopping? What good is that when the television news people are telling you the Mall is closed, or the roads not fit to drive on? Then the cable goes out, and you cannot even get on the home shopping channels. What good are credit cards to us at this point in time?
And then the straw falls on the proverbial camel's back: the nice smiling weather person has just informed you that there will be 3-5 inches more snow tonight, with high winds and 6-12 inches tomorrow, you realize you are desperate. OH SURE! Him with his smug tan-just-back-from-Tahiti-or-some-other-tropical-isle vacation. He got to be warm for at least a week...
You pull out those food magazines, forget the numerical order, and you start to read. You don't want just ANY comfort food - phooey on meatloaf, and double phooey on mashed potatoes and triple-phooey on macaroni and cheese.
You want chocolate.
You do not just want chocolate - you want ooey, gooey, sticky, chocolate. Dark chocolate, light chocolate, semisweet chocolate: chips and chunks and squares and swirled and cookies and cake and tortes and fudge, OH MY!
Let's face it, when a woman reaches this stage, there is no man on earth and maybe even no angel from heaven who can get through to her. So my advice, gentlemen, is to let her alone. Throw her a Mounds Bar or York Peppermint Patty from across the room - do not hand it to her, unless you have gloves on, lest one of your fingers disappear. If you do not have any chocolate, put on your snowshoes, four layers of clothing, grab the huskies and sled and go out and get some. Your
life could be in danger.
Well...all right...perhaps it is not quite that bad. But I think that every woman reading this knows when she has reached the Cabin Fever boiling point, and if the men reading this are attuned to the women in their lives, they also know the truth.
At this critical time, it is better to find a recipe, go into the kitchen and make it. Not only will you get the supreme satisfaction of eating the results, but actually making, mixing, stirring, baking, etc. etc. etc. will give you something to do and relieve the tension.
Until two days from now, that is, when the smiling tanned weather turkey looks at you and announces another cold front is on the way, and golly gee! X-amount more inches are coming.
Then it is back to the magazines, the cookbook collection, the newspaper food columns you clipped over the past twelve years, find another recipe, and repeat the process.
Spring WILL come, warm breezes and green grass and flowers will return, bluebirds will sing, a rainbow in the sky will complete the Walt Disney ending to Winter, or maybe I should say, Willy Wonka's Chocolate river will flow by...but until then, see if any of the following will help, and Enjoy!.
And as always, CYH - consider yourselves hugged.
Hot Fudge Sundae Dessert
12 oz. pkg. vanilla wafers, crushed
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
3/4 c. butter or margarine, melted
1/2 gal. French vanilla ice cream, softened
Chocolate Sauce
1 c. sugar
3 T. flour
1/4 c. plus 1 T. cocoa
1 c. milk
2 T. butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
To make dessert: Combine cookie crumbs, pecans and butter, mixing well. Press half of crumb mixture into a 13 x 9" pan. Spread ice cream evenly in crust. Press remaining crumb mixture over ice cream. Cover and freeze until firm. To serve, cut into squares and top each serving with chocolate sauce.
To make sauce: Combine first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Makes about 2 c.
Makes 15 servings.
Fudgy Bars
1 3/4 c. unsifted flour
3/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 c. cold butter
12 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. cold strong coffee
1 c. chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350F. In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and coca, cutting in butter until crumbly. The mixture will be dry. Press firmly on bottom only of a 13x9" baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
While crust is baking, melt 1 c. chips with condensed milk and coffee in a saucepan over medium heat (or use microwave). Pour this mixture over the baked crust.
Top with remaining chips and nuts. press down firmly. Return pan to oven and bake 20 minutes, or until set. Cool before cutting into bars. Store tightly covered.
Variation: use 1 tsp. vanilla instead of coffee, and a pkg. of Hershey's Chocolate Raspberry chips. Or, you can use white chocolate chips or mint chocolate chips or...
Makes 2-3 dozen bars, depending on how you cut them!
Mississippi Mocha Mud
2 cups finely chopped pecans
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
4 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup strong coffee
1 cup sugar
1 quart coffee ice cream. softened
Combine first 5 ingredients, stir well. Firmly press pecan mixture into bottom of an ungreased 10 x 6 x 2-inch baking dish. Bake at 350F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in dish on a wire rack.
Combine chocolate and strong coffee in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in 1-cup sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Let cool completely. Cover and chill.
Spread ice cream evenly in prepared dish; cover and freeze until firm. Pour chocolate mixture over ice cream; cover and freeze at least 8 hours. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 8 servings.
Junior League cookbook from Memphis, TN
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 c. crunchy peanut butter
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. shortening
12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 c. chopped walnuts
Heat oven to 350F. Grease 14x10" pan with margarine. Blend dry cake mix, peanut butter and brown sugar in large bowl, with mixer on low speed, to blend. Reserve 2/3 c. mixture for topping. Blend remaining crumb mixture, eggs, water and shortening on low speed. Stir in chips and nuts. Spread batter in pan. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top. Bake about 25 minutes. Cool until firm. Cut into bars.
Chocolate Truffle Cake
1 lb. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
10 T. unsalted butter
2 T. sugar
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. whipping cream
grated chocolate for garnish
Melt chocolate and butter in microwave or top of double boiler over gently simmering water. Stir until smooth. Pour into large bowl and cool slightly. Preheat oven to 357F. Generously grease 9" springform pan. Beat egg yolks to blend; stir into chocolate mixture to loosen. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold in 1/4 of whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen. Fold in remaining whites.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Do NOT overbake; cake will be loose. Cool completely in pan. Just before serving, beat whipping cream, sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. Spoon over cake in pan, smoothing top. Remove pan sides. Garnish with grated chocolate.
Serves 8-10.
Frozen Lovers Pie
1 3/4 c. toasted almonds
6 T. melted unsalted butter, divided
2 T. corn syrup
10 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 c. evaporated milk
3 T. creme de cacao
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 3/4 c. whipping cream
2 egg whites, room temperature
2 T. sugar
1 1/4 c. fresh raspberries
Grease a 9" pie pan well with butter. Coarsely chop almonds in food processor; place in a bowl. Stir in 3 T. butter and corn syrup. Spoon into prepared pipe pan. Press onto bottom and up sides of plate. Freeze.
Melt chocolate and remaining 3 T. butter with milk in double boiler or in microwave, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set in bowl filled with ice and water. Let cool until thick and paste-like, stirring occasionally. Blend in liqueur, vanilla and almond extract. Beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in chocolate mixture.
Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar, a T. at a time. Beat until stiff but not dry. Fold gently into creamed mixture. Pour into pie crust and smooth top. Freeze until frozen but not hard, about 5 hr.
To serve, mound cleaned, dry berries in center of pie. Decorate with chocolate curls around the border if desired.
Serves 6-8.
Barb's Chocolate Ecstasy
(from Barb, a charter member of our Ladies Who Lunch group)
Four 1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate
1/4 c. butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. finely chopped pecans
Fudge Filling
Chocolate Cream Fudge Frosting
Combine chocolate and butter in top of double boiler, cook till melted. Remove from heat. Gradually stir 1/4 of hot mixture into eggs. Add to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly. Add sugar, milk, and vanilla, beat till well blended. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to mixture, beat one minutes. Stir in pecans. Grease 2 - 9" round cake pans, line with waxed paper, and grease paper. Pour batter into pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or
till toothpick tests clean. Cook in pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, peel of paper, cool completely. Spread Fudge Filling between layers, frost with Chocolate Cream Fudge Filling
Fudge Filling:
Four 1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sifted confectioners' sugar
1/3 c. milk
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler. Remove from heat. Add sugar, stir till smooth. Stir in milk. Cover and chill 1 1/2 hr. or till of spreading consistency.
Chocolate Cream Fudge Filling:
2 c. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sifted confectioners' sugar
2/3 c. cocoa, sifted
Combine all ingredients. Chill 30 minutes. Beat till stiff peaks form.
By Cynthia Bowan
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Hot Fudge Sundae Dessert |
Fudgy Bars |
Mississippi Mocha Mud |
Frozen Lovers Pie
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars |
Chocolate Truffle Cake |
Barb's Chocolate Ecstasy
