Birthday Dinner For A Friend

The menu:

COUNTRY POTATO PATTIES
p. 43 GOV

AUNTIE BONNIE'S BEAN & OLIVE SOUP
p. 84 GOV

FRENCH BAGUETTE
p. 167 GOV

AUNT BONNIE'S WACKY CAKE
p. 147 HIAV

(all prepared 2/25/2010)




The bread was disappointing, though my son loved it. I am not sure if it was the yeast or overkneading or what but I never felt like it came together. It produced a perfectly adequate loaf of bread though, and fresh out of the oven, smothered with Earth Balance, we weren't complaining.

The soup...not really that great. There are many better soups available in this and other cookbooks, so I can't recommend it very highly. The broth was weak and the flavors didn't appeal to me. I added pasta as usual for the younger set.

The potato cakes were probably the biggest success, especially when served with some salsa verde on them! I have a hard time with frying things up-- I seem to always be undercooking stuff-- but it didn't matter since this is basically mashed potatoes mixed with some yummy vegetables. In fact, the Pre-Schooler Daddy thought the 'dough' was potato salad and consumed it liberally as one would a potato salad. Not bad that way, either (I tried).

Finally, for dessert- a repeat of one of the first recipes I ever made from any of these three cookbooks: Aunt Bonnie's Wacky Cake. This is such a simple recipe that I turn to over and over. I served it both with Coconut Bliss, chocolate sauce and toasted almonds and then later remembered I had a little leftover frosting in the freezer from the Thanksgiving cupcakes I had made et voila...perfect. Lesson: it is not dumb to save your frosting.