Coca-Cola Cake

One of those odd old recipes that pops up once in a while, right up there with Hot Dr Pepper with Lemon. Coca-Cola is one both sweet and has a bite to it, so it should make a good cake. Coca-Cola cake has definite Southern sound to it, had to be someone in Atlanta that came up with Coca-Cola Cake.

I have never tried this particular bit of Southern food, but it sounds like my sort of a foodie kind of food. Coca-Cola cake looks easy enough to make. So why not add a Coca-Cola Cake to the Thanksgiving table this year? Don't tell anyone what it is, let them have a bite or two and guess.

Coca-Cola Cake

Cake:
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola®
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, sift sugar and flour. Add marsh- mallows. In saucepan, mix butter, oil, cocoa, and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil and pour over dry ingredients; blend well. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well. Pour into a well-greased 9-by-13-inch pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.

To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.

*The cake recipe was contributed by Lee Avery Catts to "Atlanta Cooknotes"
published by The Junior League of Atlanta.

Caesar Salad

There are times when a good salad is as good as it gets. And one of my favorite salads is the Cesar Salad. I grew up with those silly commercials for salad dressing that asked-Who Made The Salad? Well, Caesar made the salad of course.

I am not a real foodie, and as a sort of foodie I don't often coddle eggs, but Caesar, well, I can make an exception. Mo Rocca made the pilgrimage to Tijuana to get the real Caesar Salad, and he seemed to be pretty impressed with it on the CBS Sunday Morning Show. I tend to buy a bag at the grocery store with all the ingredients ready to opened and mixed.

So it is possible that I have never tasted a real Caesar Salad, so I might have to follow this recipe and see what I have been missing. I have tried, over the years, to improve my foodie ways. Making a good Caesar Salad would be a definite step in the right direction.

Caesar Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1 egg
• 1 lemon, juiced
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups garlic croutons
• 1 (2 ounce) can anchovy filets

DIRECTIONS

1. Clean lettuce thoroughly and wrap in paper towels to absorb moisture. Refrigerate until crisp, at least 1 hour or more.
2. In a bowl or jar combine oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, mustard, garlic and lemon juice. Whisk until well blended.
3. Coddle egg by heating 3 cups of water to boiling. Drop in egg (still in shell) and let stand for 1 minute. Remove egg from water and let cool. Once cooled crack open and whisk egg into dressing. Whisk until thoroughly blended.
4. Mash desired amount of anchovies and whisk them into the dressing. If desired set aside a few for garnish.
5. To assemble, place torn lettuce leaves in a large bowl. Pour dressing over the top and toss lightly. Add the grated cheese, garlic croutons and freshly ground pepper, toss. Serve immediately!

Of course, if that still sounds like too much work, you can always order a bottle of dressing and some croutons.

Free Continental Breakfast

A typical Continental breakfast consists of coffee and milk (often mixed as Cappuccino or latte) or hot chocolate with a variety of sweet cakes such as brioche and pastries such as croissant, often with a sweet jam, cream, or chocolate filling. It is often served with juice.-wikipedia

The life of a traveling portrait photographer is not all bad. You get to stay in a lot of motels and eat a lot of Free Continental Breakfasts. Now I know that a lot of people hate staying at motels and hate the cold cereal and toast that make up most free continental breakfasts. A sort of foodie like myself, however, likes just about any food that has free added to it.

I am currently staying at a Ramada Limited in Witicha Falls, TX. This free continental breakfast is one of the better ones, as far as these things go. It has sausage and eggs, cereal, milk, coffee, bagels, and juice. Ok, its still a free continental breakfast at a motel. But it is better than a lot of places that have nothing but milk and cereal and coffee.

The best free continental breakfast I ever had was at The Marriott Hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Oh, that was good. This was a room filled with fresh fruit, fresh juices, fresh coffee, and had a couple of cooks standing there to make us a nice fresh omelette. Ok, I don't stay at the Marriott very often, so it possible that they have really nice free continental breakfasts. I remember it being a free breakfast, but that was a while ago. I got the room for free by donating a car load of books to a local charity. Ah, those were the good old days.

Free continental breakfast-its a good thing, well, usually.