Portillo’s Chocolate Eclair Cake

Today I’m bringing you something so simple a child could do it. Literally guys, if you have kids get them in the kitchen to do this with you. Its very straight forward, no bake, no huge mess, nothing to worry about. Keep on reading to get the scoop (or shall I say slice)!

Pamper the chef

When you begin to cook seriously you truly understand the importance of washing your hands thoroughly and constantly. Particularly if you’re going to do something like make your own root beer. I did that once as a project in my AP Chemistry class. Never again. That horrible experience taught me a hugely important lesson. Wash your hands. Use anti-bacterial/anti-microbial soap, lather up real well, get up to your wrists and under your nails, and sing “Happy Birthday” twice while you’re doing it. (That last part I learned from my aunt, an RN). I’ve learned to take many precautions while cooking. Not only can the bacteria on your hands make someone (or yourself) very sick, it can dramatically change the outcome of your dish. Today I’d like to go over some basic cooking sanitation precautions, and how to undo the damage all that soap and hot water can do to your hands.

Bacon wrapped, stuffed dates

With the passing of my Grandmother came the gifts. Most of them were flowers, some of them were dried fruit. I was grateful for all of them, however you can only put so many lilies in a house before the air becomes so dense you can barely breathe. Naturally I was especially pleased by the gift of dried fruit and nuts. I love food gifts. Something so necessary and useful, occasionally beautiful, really does make the perfect gift. Particularly when someone is grieving and less inclined to shop or cook for themselves. Make note here, one of the kindest things you can do for someone who is grieving is offer to come over and cook dinner or ask if they need some help with minor housework. It makes all the difference in the world. My mother in law knew this, and sent me more dried fruit and nuts than I knew what to do with. It sustained me when I couldn’t bring myself to do anything other than take care of the baby, and now its influencing my day to day cooking and baking. Enter, bacon wrapped dates stuffed with asiago cheese.