The weather sucks...but this cake doesn't!

Pink Lemonade Cake...an old friend submitted it to me.  She has also sent me the Frozen Lemonade Pie...me thinks she likes lemonade.  Anyhow...this thing was freaking incredible.  Of course I had to make my own adjustments, which I will describe below.  As for now enjoy this entry and hope this fat kid survives the week of earthquakes and hurricanes in Maryland...speaking of hurricanes....that's one of my favorite adult beverages.  Think I will enjoy one with a piece of this killer cake!  

The hurricane is an extremely sweet alcoholic drink made with fruit juice, syrup or grenadine and rum. It is one of many popular drinks served in New Orleans.

 The creation of this passion fruit-colored relative of a Daiquiri drink is credited to New Orleans tavern owner Pat O'Brien. In the 1940s, he needed to create a new drink to help him get rid of all of the less popular rum that local distributors forced him to buy before he could get a few cases of more popular liquors such as scotch and whiskey. He poured the concoction into hurricane-lamp-shaped glasses and gave it away to sailors. The drink caught on, and it has been a mainstay in the French Quarter ever since. It is more commonly served in a disposable plastic cup, as New Orleans laws permit drinking in public and leaving a bar with a drink, but prohibit public drinking from glass or metal containers.   ---Got some irony to it doesn't it?

Hurricane

 Ingredients:

•2 oz light rum
•2 oz dark rum
•2 oz passion fruit juice
•1 oz orange juice
•juice of a half a lime
•1 Tbsp simple syrup
•1 Tbsp grenadine
•orange slice and cherry for garnish

 Preparation:

1.Squeeze juice from half a lime into shaker over ice.
2.Pour the remaining ingredients into the cocktail shaker.
3.Shake well.
4.Strain into a hurricane glass.
5.Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.

Pink Lemonade Layer Cake

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen and Kerri

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more, for coating pans
• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder - I used unsweetened
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 5 tablespoons frozen pink lemonade concentrate - I added more for a better lemon taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or waxed paper.

Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. To the batter, stir in the lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by beating together the confectioners' sugar and remaining 1 cup butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining frosting ingredients until combined.

Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula, spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers.

I got fancey and garnished it for the photo!

Drunken Chicken Master

I haven't been cooking much lately. It has been disgustingly hot here in the Baltimore/D.C. corridor and by some miracle of fate, I have developed a social life. (I've been dating this pretty awesome woman, spending lots of time at PW's with Mama, and hanging with the BFF aka the Fabulous Melissa,) Also, I have been having roommate issues that are beyond the control of this fat kid. Despite all of this...I did manage to cook a decent meal Sunday. Another roasted bird...I love chicken and I like it a lot of ways, but baked low and slow on a Sunday morning is my favorite.

Now this particular bird was done beer can style on a well washed, Mello Yello can. In said Mello Yello can, I filled it with water, rosemary, garlic, and chipoltle seasoning. I dressed the bird in olive oil and a seasoning concoction I will share with you at the end of this entry. I baked it in the oven on 175 for 4 hours then increased it to 250 for another hour and a half. The last hour, I cranked the oven up to 350 to finish cooking and crisping of the skin.

And, just in case there are readers that aren't familiar with beer can chicken...here is a brief history of it:

Beer Can Chicken is made by standing a prepared chicken upright on a partially filled can of beer and cooking it slowly in a barbecue or oven. The can goes into the opening of the chicken so that the beer evaporates and permeates the cooking chicken. It received the name dancing chicken due to way the chicken wobbles once the beer has evaporated and due to the fact the chicken is flavored with evaporated beer. The wobbling and falling usually indicates the chicken is done.

 

 

J.J.'s Chicken Rub

Measurements are approximate as I never measure.

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• ¼ teaspoon chipolte season
• 1 teaspoon Season Salt
• ¼ teaspoon sage

Left for the roommate so she wouldn't screw
with my chicken!

Beautiful! Those drippings made a
delicious gravy!

Simple and delicious!

The One Year Birthday Entry...

Hard to believe it's been a year since I started this blog and I have managed to post at least once a month for a whole year. I hope to make this place bigger and better in the next year. If you want to give Cooking with J.J. A great birthday present...tell your friends, follow me on twitter, or like my fan page on Facebook. Thanks for reading this fat kids ramblings!

Now for the nitty gritty...Who doesn't love copy cat recipes? I know I do. This is one of my favorites. Who doesn't love those yummy little biscuits they give you baskets of at Red Lobster? Thats right folks, I present you:

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

This recipe is a variation of Red Lobsters "Cheddar Bay biscuits". Honestly, I like my way better. They are so GOOD!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bisquick
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450.
2. Combine Bisquick, milk, and cheddar cheese.
3. Stir together.
4. Spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I usually use parchment paper.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
6. In a small sauce pan combine butter, garlic powder and old bay seasoning.
7. Heat until butter is melted.
8. Spoon butter mixture over hot biscuits.
9. Eat em' up! 

And since it is still summer and the dog days as they call them...lets talk lemonade. I love lemonade...pink, plain, strawberry, or raspberry. My favorite lemonade being from Chick fil a. If you live in an area that doesn't have a Chick fil a...all I can't say is...I'm sorry.  

Pink Lemonade Lemons

As a kid, I thought lemonade came in a powder form in a pack or a canister. As I got older...I discovered real lemonade. Now when I am feeling lazy or I have kids at the house, I do fall back upon the Kool-Aid or Country Time brands. Now for myself...I need real lemons and real sugar and real water and real ice. It doesn't get much more basic than that folks. You can can control tartness Vs sweetness when you make real lemonade. Did you also know there is such a thing as pink lemonade lemons? They are really pink! I learned this a few weeks ago on Martha Stewart when I was too lazy to change the channel...I guess that annoying bitch is useful after all!

Here are a couple recipes I enjoy...

Lemonade

• 2 quarts plus 3/4 cup cold water
• 3/4 cup sugar - of course you can use as little or as much sugar as you like!
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced 

1. In a small saucepan, combine the 3/4 cup of water with the sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature.

2. In a large pitcher, combine the remaining 2 quarts of water with the lemon juice and sugar syrup. Add the lemon slices and refrigerate until chilled. Serve the lemonade over ice.

Strawberry Lemonade

• 2 large strawberries
• Ice
• 3 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 ounces water
• 1 1/2 ounces Simple Syrup
• 2 lemon wedges 

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberries. Add ice and the lemon juice, water and Simple Syrup. Shake well and strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Garnish with the lemon wedges.

J.J.'s Adult Lemonade

• 6 oz Jack Daniel's® Tennessee whiskey – I'm not a whiskey fan...I use vodka.
• 2 oz sweet and sour mix
• 20 oz Sprite or 7Up
• 4 splash grenadine syrup

Pour the Jack Daniels, Sweet and Sour over ice into a collins glass (or similar). Now pour in the Soda allowing the soda bubbles to do all the mixing. Drink and enjoy! Adding a splash of Grenadine Cherry Syrup over the top will give it a sweeter flavor, almost like "pink-lemonade."

Serves Four