Do you ever ponder the why of modern conveniences? Last night I noticed that my oven was disgustingly dirty, as in huge drips and run overs from lots of cooking caked on the bottom plate. So, after working hard all day on the yards, planting a couple of new flowers and vege items (cucumbers & parsley) cleaning the floors and picking up the house, dusting, cooking, painting the beautiful wooden plant tutors Roy made (future post will have photos), etc. I decided I would do the self-clean option on the oven and let it run in the cooler temps of the night. Then in the morning I could get up, wipe out the ashes, and bake a batch of Banana Chocolate Cupcakes before going to work so they would be ready to frost when I got home.
So I went into the kitchen, hit the “clean” button, set it for start, turned on the exhaust fan to help with fumes, and went into the bedroom and crawled in. Roy was reading so I told him not to get alarmed if he smelled something cooking/burning, that I was cleaning the oven. I joked that if it was too dirty the smoke alarms might go off, and settled my tired aching body back on my pillows.
Okay, so suddenly my joke became reality. The smoke alarm in the living room went off putting everyone into action mode, Guayo included. Turned on the lights and the entire house was filled with smoke. What a mess! Once I canceled the clean option from the stove and got it to stop, we had to open all the doors and windows, turn on fans, exhaust fan in the front bathroom, and Roy had to disable the smoke alarm (he doesn’t need a ladder/step stool to reach it…I do!). What started out as a good thing, a modern convenience for the tedium of stinky oven cleaner, tons of scrubbing, and the ruination of finger nails and hand skin, has become a complete pain. I was going to say disaster, but after having 2 kitchen fires in two different homes, I realized that was too strong a word for just a little smoke. But so much for the “clean it while you sleep” thought.
So this morning at 5:00 a.m. I woke up and decided to get busy before going to work. I got up and dismantled the stove. Unscrewed the bottom plate and put it and the racks into the bathtub with laundry detergent (grease cutting) and Borax and lots of HOT water. Then went out and scrubbed the bottom of the oven underneath the main bottom plate which was soaking, scrubbed the inside of the door, and scrubbed the top and all the burner racks and flame disbursement plates. Now realize all of this was done at 5:00 a.m. as I have to work today! Therefore, the soaking racks and bottom plate of the oven are Roy’s chore for this morning.
After all the oven/stove scrubbing, I got ready for work and we had to be at Bountiful Baskets pickup at 7:00 a.m. So we picked up (yum….pineapple, bananas, plums, apricots, mushrooms, romaine, potatoes, spaghetti squash and lots of other items, plus my bonus box of blueberries!), then went to Starbucks as still too early to go to work. Drank our drinks, talked about a book Roy and I are reading, Shantaram (thanks nephew Gregory for recommending it to us…it’s great!), and about items for the day and what’s up for the rest of the weekend, and then he took me to work. He will return home, dispatch the veges/fruits, finish scrubbing the stove parts and reassemble all, and I will go home to an oven ready for baking those yummy Banana Chocolate Cupcakes. They are SO moist and yummy and with Chocolate Ganache frosting a hit with everyone whom I’ve ever shared them. Check out the recipe below.
So at 11:30 I will leave work and go home and bake the cupcakes and let them cool. I have the potato salad made, pre-baked the bbq chicken and ribs so they’re ready to throw on the grill, made the Dilly Bread Rolls, so with dessert made, I’m ready to go. Oh except for cleaning the grill. Thank goodness it is not a modern self-cleaning device….just some scrubbing and it will be ready to go!
Banana Chocolate Cupcakes
CUPCAKES:
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch processed makes them richer but regular works too)
¾ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
1 large egg
½ c. mashed ripe bananas (about 1 medium sized banana)
½ c. warm water
¼ c. milk
¼ c. canola, coconut oil (melted), or rice bran oil
¾ t. vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, mashed banana, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. (The batter is quite thin.)
Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Remove ganache from refrigerator at this time. Once cupcakes are completely cooled, dip tops into ganache letting excess drip back into pan. Sit on rack set inside of a cookie sheet to catch the drips. Put all in refrigerator to set up.
GANACHE FOR FROSTING
13 oz heavy cream
12 oz bittersweet chocolate (I use a bag of chocolate chips)
DIRECTIONS:
Bring the cream to a light boil in a heavy saucepan taking care not to scorch it. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the chocolate chips. Continue to stir until all are melted and you have a smooth consistency. Set aside until cool…do not try to taste and it cannot be touched until it sets. Once set, but into the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.
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