More Valentine Love
Chicken Noodle Soup. Jewish Penicillin. Actual medicine.
Researchers have actually confirmed what Grandma already knew - Chicken soup helps when we have a cold.
They found that chicken soup and many of its ingredients helped stop the movement of neutrophils -- white blood cells that eat up bacteria and cellular debris and which are released in great numbers by viral infections like colds.
Neutrophil activity can stimulate the release of mucous, which may be the cause of the coughs and stuffy nose caused by upper respiratory infections such as colds.
"All the ingredients were found to be inhibitory, including the boiled extract of chicken alone," they wrote.
Rennard said vitamins and other agents in the ingredients could, plausibly, have biological action.
So Victor made me Chicken Soup.
We had the stock made, so it was just a matter of pulling it all together... carrots, celery, onions, chicken, and noodles, noodles, noodles. Simple. basic. Nutritious and delicious.
And just because we always need it, I made a loaf of Beer Bread.
Made with Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA.
Valentine's Day Breakfast
It's funny how Valentine's Day changes the longer we've been together.
The first few years we were together we showered each other with pounds of chocolates, dozens of roses - all of the Hallmark-trappings of the day. There's a lot of pressure those first few years. The pressure recedes as the love grows. The heart above is from a pound of See's candy from one of those early years.
16 years later it's "Let me cook breakfast for you" and "I'm going to the drug store to get something for that cough of yours." That's love.
I've been fighting a cold all week, but it's been a losing battle. And you know the saying "Feed a cold, starve a fever"? Well... we're feeding the cold!
Victor cooked a really good egg pie this morning - eggs, white asparagus, fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, peppers, cheese - but the surprise part of breakfast was Trevor's Pepper Jelly!
Trevor sent us a jar at Christmas and it's been sitting right in front of the cabinet, staring at us every time we opened the cupboard door.
I can be of two different minds when it comes to special foods. One is to just go for it and eat it all up - enjoying every bite and morsel with abandon. The other is to kind of hide it away because there isn't going to be any more, sneaking a peak now and again and imagining how wonderful it would be.
I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for just the right moment to open it up.
So... what could be a better day than Valentine's Day to enjoy a gift from a good friend? You're right. There isn't one. And I'm glad we waited until today.
The Pepper Jelly is unbelievably wonderful. Repeat. Unbelievably wonderful. A rich pepper flavor with the perfect amount of sweetness. Spread on thick slices of toasted and buttered whole wheat Italian pane, it was the nectar of the gods. I had to stop myself from eating by the spoonful right from the jar.
I think I'm going to be making some really soon!
The egg pie was just what the Doctor ordered. And alternating bites of egg, potato, toast, and jelly - with sips of coffee in between - was the perfect way to start the day. Fortunately, my taste-buds are still in full operation.
We passed on dinner with Victor's family tonight. No sense spreading this around.
I see a chicken noodle soup in our future. And maybe a pepper jelly crostini...
Caribbean Chicken
I had planned to do a Chinese New Year dinner tonight in anticipation of the Lunar New Year on Sunday. Alas, a power outage, downed wires, closed freeways, 30 minutes just to get out of the parking lot at work, and another 15 minutes to travel the two miles home did not really leave me in a mood to be creative. Surly?!? MOI?!? You bet.
Fortunately, my ill-temper left quickly. We went out and removed a huge branch that had broken off from a tree in the front. Well... we got it out of the street, at least. It's going to take a bit more to "remove" it completely. Just not today.
Feeling slightly better - but still not overly creative - I went for the easy route; Caribbean Chicken.
The chicken was already in the fridge, the inspiration for the Caribbean bent was Sarah's Sea Salt. Savory Salt with Caribbean Spices. It was a gift from a friend and just sitting on the counter waiting to be used.
Opening the tin, the first thing I smelled were the scents of the Caribbean; nutmeg, allspice, pepper... I wanted to really liberally rub it on the chicken and had to remind myself that the first ingredient was S-A-L-T. It's really good. Really flavorful. And Really Salt. I used it sparingly.
I browned the chicken and then added a splash of Wegman's Caribbean sauce. (I picked it up because it's one of the only sauces I could find that wasn't loaded with high fructose corn syrup. The sauce itself is "okay". It mixed well with Sarah salt.)
I then popped the chicken in the oven to finish. Rice and broccoli finished the plate.
The Olympics are starting soon. I think a baked brie wedge with caramalized figs is going to be just the thing for the Opening Ceremonies.
Oh. And maybe another 8" of snow on Monday!
Life is good!
Cannoli Cake
I've died and gone to heaven.
Such a simple cake and such a huge flavor. I think this could be an every-night dessert!
Cannoli Cake
The Cake:
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup flour
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10" x 15" jelly roll pan and line with parchment.
Beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks, vanilla, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until thick - about 5 minutes.
Mix in flour just until blended.
Gently fold 1 cup of whites into egg yolk mixture to lighten, then fold remaining whites into yolks.
Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
Bake for about 12 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.
Sift powdered sugar over cake and place a clean kitchen towel on top. Flip cake onto towel and roll up jelly-roll style from short end.
Cool completely.
Ricotta Filling:
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
In food processor, blend the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth. Transfer filling to bowl and stir in the chocolate pieces. Cover and refrigerate filling while cake cools.
To Assemble:
Unroll cake and drizzle with a simple syrup and Cointreau or Grand Marinier. (Victor used Blood Orange Syrup.)
Spread filling over cake and roll up with seam on bottom.
Dust with powdered sugar and cocoa mixture.
This really was a rock 'em sock 'em dessert. Cake and creamy and not too sweet.
I had two pieces.
Clam Chowder
This has been just one of the most wonderful of days. The non-stop (and still falling) snow has really brought me back to those 5 years I lived at Lake Tahoe. Definitely those thrilling days of yesteryear. Three, four, and five-day snowstorms were not uncommon with storms dropping 10+ feet of snow equally normal. Granted, living in the mountains is a bit different than living in the Philadelphia suburbs, but the lessons are the same. Keep enough food in the house for a few days, shovel when you can, and sit back and enjoy it. Light a fire if you have a fireplace, cook some great meals, slow down and enjoy life.
It's what winter is all about. That in-your-face reminder that it is winter. Slow down and enjoy life.
Slowing down and enjoying life have been at the top of our list the past few days. Today we had steel-cut oats for breakfast, last night's pot pie for lunch, and clam chowder in home made bread boules for dinner. Victor made a Cannoli Cake that we'll have in an hour or so. (And I'll post that later.) We're eating well.
About noon I went out and shoveled a foot of snow from the driveway. By the time I finished, there was already an inch of snow behind me covering the drive. There should easily be another foot out there by the time we wake up tomorrow. I love it!
Cybil is having the time of her life. She's Parnelli Snow Dog running and rolling and having the time of her life. I love her enthusiasm.
Back to food...
The Clam Chowder we had tonight was pretty basic. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a good, honest chowder.
New England Clam Chowder
- 2 6-1/2-ounce cans minced clams
- 4 bottles clam juice
- 1/4 cup sherry
- 5 slices bacon, cut up
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- splash Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
In a large saucepan cook bacon until desired crispness. Add onion and cook about 5 minutes. Add sherry and reduce a bit. Add clam juice, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Stir together heavy cream and flour; add to potato mixture. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in clams and parsley. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more or until heated through.
The bread was excellent! A really tender crumb and soft but chewy crust. It would make a great sandwich bread. The possibilities are endless and definitely one to keep in the rotation.
And now... Cannoli Cake is calling me.....
Buttermilk Bulgur Bread
In case you've just crawled out from under a rock, somewhere, it's snowing. A lot. It's wonderful. I'm loving every foot of it - and yes, it's being measured in feet!
We've been eating well since this all began and have a few more fun meals coming up.
We had leftover Chicken Pot Pie for lunch today. It was the perfect winter lunch. And tonight, I'm making New England Clam Chowder - in Bread Bowls.
I was hunting through different bread books when I found this in the Bob's Red Mill Cook Book.
I've never made it before but it seemed like it would compliment clam chowder well.
Buttermilk Bulgur Bread
- 1 Tb Yeast, Active Dry
- 3 Tb Honey
- 1/2 cup Bulgur (ALA) from Hard Red Wheat
- 1/3 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 Tb Cornmeal, Coarse Grind
- 1/4 cup Warm Water (110 degrees)
- 2 tsp Tomato Paste
- 1-1/2 cups Buttermilk, warmed
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 cups White Flour, Unbleached
Place yeast in a large bowl. Cover with warm water; let stand until yeast begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add honey and tomato paste, and whisk until smooth. Stir in bulgur and buttermilk; let stand 20 minutes.
Stir the butter and salt into the bulgur mixture. Then stir in the whole wheat flour and about 1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 15 minutes, adding more flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about 1-1/2 hours).
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; punch down and divide in half. Roll and pull each half until it resembles a loaf of French or Italian bread.
Sprinkle a baking sheet with coarse cornmeal and place the loaves on the sheet. Brush loaves lightly with water; cover loosely with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to an hour.
Preheat oven to 400F.
With a sharp knife, slash the surface of the loaves four or five times; brush again with water. Bake until crisp and hollow sounding when tapped with your finger, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
I made two individual bowl-sized boules and one large loaf. I really should have used two ovens for this, but I didn't. The loaves were a bit cramped on the stone. Oh well. They may look a bit weird, but they look and smell great!
They should eb perfect foir the clam chowder and Victor made a Cannoli Cake for dessert.
I'm loving this weather!
Chicken Pot Pie
Knowing for the past couple of days that the next storm of the century is imminent, I decided to plan. A little.
Disaster Planning is something I've been doing for years. And years. Fireman's son, for one, but then there was Uncle Sam's Yacht Club... how to feed 5000 sailors at General Quarters. Or all those hotels where we had to deal with fires, evacuations, storms, and power loss... How to feed a thousand hotel guests with no electricity. Or all the years in health care. Feeding patients and staff - and the general public - in case of earthquake or other disaster - natural or man-made.
Fortunately, there were only a few times in my career where we actually had to implement a disaster plan - and never for long. I was lucky. But like the Boy Scout I once was, I was always prepared.
The common thread in every plan was having supplies immediately accessible. I couldn't rely on getting a food delivery 24 hours after an earthquake. I needed to have food and supplies on-premise, menus and recipes available, and an action plan to prepare it all based on a hundred different variables; no electricity, no running water, gas but no electricity, water but no gas... you get the picture.
And that's something that's always in the back of my mind. In order for disaster planning to work, it really needs to be second nature. You just do it. We have a propane cooktop, so we can cook even if the electricity goes out. And if the electricity does go out? Uh... It's snowing outside. It's cold. Snow and a couple of ice chests will keep the perishables safe. We're set.
One thing we always have in the house is food. Real food. Ingredients. Flour, sugar, yeast, powdered milk. Coffee. Canned goods. A well-stocked freezer with vacuum-packed everything. (I love our FoodSaver!) Not to mention our legendary Spice Cabinet. For us, the foundation is there. We don't have to run to the grocery store and panic-buy our French Toast fixin's (milk, bread, and eggs). We already have them.
I had a hankerin' for a chicken pot pie tonight but knew it would take too long to make it from scratch after getting home from work today, so I cooked the chicken last night after dinner. Today, all I had to do was make the crust and filling and bake.
I don't really have a recipe for the Pot Pie. It's just something I make. But our friend Ann sent her recipe off to us and it's a pretty close approximation to what I did tonight. I added unpeeled, cubed potatoes and some celery and omitted the bell pepper. The broth was from the chicken I cooked last night, but canned or from a carton would work, too.
The crust is pure simplicity in a food processor.
Pie Dough
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup cold butter
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup cold water
Add flour and salt to bowl of processor. Cut butter into chunks and pulse until crumbly. Add water and pulse about a dozen times.
At this point, the dough is pretty much all crumbs. Gather it up and press it into two disks - one larger for the bottom crust and one smaller for the top.
Roll out on floured board.
And here is Ann's recipe. It's pretty classic.
Nursie’s Pot Pie
Nursie said she originally got this from a pie crust box.
- 1/3 c butter
- 1/3 c flour
- 1 very small chopped onion (or to taste)
- 1/2 c chopped green pepper, leave this out if you want to
- 1 1/2 c broth, chicken for chicken pie, beef for beef pie, and I use veggie broth for pork pie
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 c frozen mixed veggies
Cook the onion and green pepper in the butter for a bit, whisk in the flour and add the liquids, cook until thickened. I season with salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, but you can use what ever sounds good. A little celery seed isn’t a bad addition, and with beef I use garlic and mushrooms instead of the green pepper. Add 2-3 cups chopped leftover roast whatever and the vegetables. Mix well and dump into the pie crust.
Bake in a two crust pie at 425 for 30-40 minutes and enjoy.
No shit, this is delicious. You can use whatever veggies you have around including leftovers. It is a great end of the week and I don’t want to cook sorta dish. But it is good enough for company! Anyone want to come to dinner?
I made enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.
I think tomorrow night's snowbound dinner is going to be Clam Chowder in Bread Bowls. Depends on whether I can make a small enough bread bowl.
Bring on the snow.
I'm prepared.
Gnocchi à la Victor
It's another night of Victor in the kitchen. See the smile on my face!
I picked up a pack of gnocchi a while back and it's been staring at us both whenever we open the cupboard. Today, Victor decided the time was right to end the staring.
There are times when you want a gazillion complex flavors assaulting your taste buds simultaneously. There are times when you want a couple of simple ingredients to speak for themselves. Victor chose the latter tonight.
Chopped red and green bell peppers and a couple cloves of garlic fried in olive oil, a bit of tomato paste, Greek oregano, fresh basil, a few red pepper flakes, and fresh parmesan cheese. That was the sauce. Into it, he stirred the cooked gnocchi, with a bit more cheese on top.
A few slices of fresh-baked bread (from the grocery store, today!) and dinner was served.
Simplicity.
###
Rumor has it we're getting another snow storm tomorrow. Another big snow storm. I love it!
We had more than 2 feet of snow Friday and Saturday. The weather service is calling for 18" or more to fall starting tomorrow afternoon. I'm psyched! I loathe and despise these 2" annoyance snowfalls. All they do is make life miserable for a few hours. When snow starts getting measured in feet, the world has to stop for a while. It's a good thing to stop and regroup. Spend some time in the kitchen with the family. Maybe cook a nice stew or something.
Which is exactly what I plan to do.
There's a chicken in a pot on the stove right now that is going to become Chicken Pot Pie tomorrow. There will be leftovers for a hot lunch on Wednesday and we have enough stuff in the house that we won't have to venture out until it all melts!
Victor had a business trip out to California Wednesday morning. American Airlines just called and canceled his flight. It seems they are planning on a big storm, too.
All the more reason to turn on the oven and start baking!
I'm enjoying this.
A lot.
Cassoulet and Apple Fig Coffee Cake
The Super Bowl is on TV. I hate to admit it but I'm really not all that interested this year. I'm not home for the first time in forever. We used to fly home for my father's birthday - which just happened to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday. A big party at my sister Eileen's house, lots of fun, food, laughter - and football pools. No matter what, it was the one time of the year we knew we would all be together. Pop's no longer with us and because we're flying home in a couple of months for my nieces wedding, we stayed east this year. Right off the bat, I'm feeling the blah's.
And there are two teams playing that I really could not care less about. Okay. Not totally true. I don't particularly want New Orleans to win, but I do want Indianapolis to lose. I opened a hotel in Indianapolis circa 1988. I pretty much dislike Indianapolis. A lot.
So while others are having their football parties, I'm catching it peripherally. It's on in the corner of the computer and it's on in the living room.
I decided to cook for the weather, not football tonight. I soaked a pound of black beans last night thinking I might make chili. The chili morphed into a cassoulet of sorts. Not a classic cassoulet by any means. More just a homey slow-baked bean stew.
Kinda Cassoulet
- 4 bacon slices, coarsely chopped
- 1 lb beef, cubed
- 1 lb pork, cubed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp herbs d'Provence
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1 lb black beans, soaked over night and cooked
- 1 can diced tomatoes in juice
- 1 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Preheat oven to 275°F.
Cook bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot until wilted. Add onions and garlic. Add meats and brown.
Add brandy and simmer until almost evaporated. Add tomato paste and heat through. Stir in beans with about 2 cups cooking liquid, tomatoes with juices, and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil.
Cover pot and transfer to preheated oven and bake 2 hours.
I was going to make some beer bread but got sidetracked with a project I'm working on for a friend... so we had the last of the Pugliese I made last week. It worked.
And every dinner needs dessert, right?!? Well... we think so!
Victor made an Apple and Fig Coffee Cake. Not a coffee cake in the traditional sense of the word, but a cake with a cup of coffee in it!
Apple Fig Coffee Cake
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 1/2 cups chopped figs
- 2 medium apples
- 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 3/4 c packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
Dissolve coffee in boiling water. Cool. Peel, core, and shred the apples.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
Combine egg, apples, melted butter, and coffee. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just till moistened.
Put it into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake at 350° for about an hour or until cake tests done.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
I did stop what I was doing to watch The Who. Roger can't hit those high notes anymore, but he does a pretty good job for being 66. I was bummed that Pete Townsend didn't destroy his guitar at the end. Oh well.
And as long as I'm ranting... Wasn't the Super Bowl - once upon a time - where they ran really cool, innovative commercials? These things they've shown tonight are awful.
Steaks
The snow has stopped and the driveway is shoveled. (The front walk is going to stay snow-covered until it melts. The Lord giveth, the Lord can taketh away.) If I didn't have to get the car out, eventually, I would leave the driveway, as well.
All that shoveling worked up an appetite. Almost as much as when I'm sitting on my duff in front of the computer.
So after a big bowl of oatmeal this morning, and pizza for lunch, a filet with bearnaise was just the ticket for dinner. And gorgonzola mashed potatoes. And arugula with onions and bacon.
I pan-seared the steaks and then put them into a 425° oven for about 6 minutes. The potatoes were merely regular mashed spuds with some gorgonzola crumbled in.
For the arugula, I diced up a slice of bacon and cooked it with a bit of diced onion. When it was cooked pretty well, I added the arugula and salt and pepper. Nothing else. Very simple and very flavorful.
I have made blender hollandaise for years - it's really quite easy- so I adapted it for a bearnaise. Not exactly the classic recipe, but it works.
Blender Bearnaise
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp heavy cream
- 1/2 cup hot melted butter
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp tarragon
- pinch chervil
- 1 tsp minced shallot
- pinch salt and pepper
Add egg yolks, heavy cream, shallots, and spices to blender. Mix really well. With blender running, add half the hot butter. Add the vinegar, and then finish adding the remaining butter. Blend until smooth.
That's it. And simple enough for a weeknight meal.
Later tonight we will have dessert - more cake from last night.
This has been a really fun snow-day.
Picture Perfect Pizza
I have to laugh at the pizza commercial that says their frozen pizza is as good as delivery pizza.
Uh. Right.
I made hand-spun pizza for years. I made a hellava lot of pizzas for delivery. Not one of them was half as good as having that pie delivered to your table right out of the oven. It's great marketing that can convince someone that a mediocre product is as good as a mediocre product - and get them to buy it.
I've had a few frozen pizzas in my time that were reasonably good - for a frozen pizza - but nothing compares to a fresh-made and fresh-baked pizza.
In case you hadn't heard, it's snowing back here today. A perfect excuse to turn on the oven and bake a fresh pizza.
This was a team effort. Victor made the dough and the sauce, I put it together and baked it. We work well in the kitchen together.
We have a couple of pizza dough recipes we use. Today was BH&G New Cook Book. (Well... it was new in 1981 when Victor got it...)
Pizza Dough
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- olive oil for bowl
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.
Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.
The pizza sauce was simply a can of tomato sauce, a splash of red wine, garlic, Greek oregano, salt, and pepper.
I topped it with cheese and homemade Italian sausage.
It was the exact size of the pizza stone. Luck or skill? If you voted luck, you would be right.
Pizza for lunch was just what the weatherman ordered, since it's been snowing now for about 20 hours non-stop - with more to come.
A good dinner tonight and another loaf of fresh bread tomorrow.
I love this weather!
Failing Disaster Preparedness 101
Boy, I blew it. I'm Mr Disaster Preparedness. Pop was a Fireman. He taught us how to be self-sufficient in an emergency. At any given moment we have enough food in the cupboards or freezer to sustain us for several days of whatever Mother Nature could throw at us. I'm watching people panic-buying (what was with the guy buying 4 12-roll packs of toilet paper, anyway?!?) and feeling just a tad smug that I have everything we need at home, already.
Victor had been traveling for work and got home late Thursday night. I made a huge pot of soup and we had soup and homemade bread for dinner last night. I figured with the snow coming, we should have dessert at the ready. Time to bake a cake.
I made a basic yellow cake from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. Simple, foolproof. After dinner, I went to make a basic chocolate butter cream icing.
Cube of butter into the mixer, get down the cocoa, go for the powdered sugar and - and - there's only 2 cups of powdered sugar in the house! OMG! How could I have been so careless? How could I have failed so badly? I'm so ashamed.
Of course, Disaster Training and Preparedness means making do with what you have. I had a 10lb bag of granulated sugar. And I had eggs. I made a 7-Minute icing.
Note to self: Buy powdered sugar Monday.