Poor Person's Trifle

Fact: I had no idea what trifle was before making this dessert. Ergo, I had to look it up and found out that trifle is "a dessert made from custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice, and cream." I am indeed a poor person, so this Poor Person's Trifle was a deliciously similar treat.

I'm pretty sure I've been using the same frozen hot dog bun bread through all of these bread puddings. But guys, it's really good! I promise! This variation has crushed pineapple, cherries, and in my case: brown sugar. I decided to use brown sugar because it reminds me of one of my favorite desserts from childhood: pineapple upside down cake!

I think I'll heat this up and try it with a little spoonful of coconut butter. YUM!

This is the last in the series of bread puddings from the New Moosewood Cookbook. All four of these variations are ridiculously simple: no more than ten minutes of prep time and the desserts bake in about 30 minutes. Crazy!

Here's the roundup of other Moosewood bread puddings:
Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
Banana Bread Pudding
Bread and Chocolate Pudding

Pineapple Salsa

I used to say that I hated Mexican food, which was mostly a lie. I probably just said that for attention, which makes sense, because a lot of what I said from the ages of oh, 2 to 24 was just to get a rise. The truth is, I love Mexican food passionately. I just took me a while to get here. My mom introduced me to mango salsa as a teenager and I scoffed at the idea of perfumed fruit and spice together. But the combination was heavenly, and pumped up my otherwise bland cheese quesadilla.

So, a few days ago, I made Pineapple Salsa. I started with one groovy pineapple. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, my first job ever was working at a local natural foods market where I juiced fresh organic fruits and vegetables for crazy customers. It was there that I learned the secret to finding a ripe, sure to please pineapple: tugging on the centermost leaves of the top. If they pull out easily, almost eagerly, the pineapple is ready. This trick has always worked for me ... pretty cool, huh?

 

The pineapple was diced very small. The recipe called for minced pineapple, but this was as close as I got.

To this I added fresh cilantro, minced garlic, fresh lime juice, cumin, and salt. I didn't have the mint the recipe called for, so I used cilantro instead. Charlie, an avid cilantro eater, was pleased with this substitution.

Everything got mixed up in a bowl and served with tortilla chips. Kelly introduced me to tortilla chips with soy sauce and lime when I visited her in Newport Beach last week called Have'a Corn Chips. They are quite savory and tasted great with the sweet, spicy salsa!

Solyanka and Odessa Beets

You win some and you lose some, right? I went into this project knowing that I may sometimes fail. Not all of these recipes are going to knock the socks off my tastebuds. Solyanka is a prime example of one such fail. Solyanka first, we'll get to you in a minute, Odessa Beets.

Solyanka is a Ukranian style casserole. According to my computerized best friend, non-vegetarian versions of Solyanka are made with meat or fish, pickled cucumbers, and cabbage. It's supposed to resemble a thick, spicy, soup. Not exactly the most enticing dish, but I thought I'd give it a go.Solyanka is rich and tangy with varied texture, somewhat smooth because of the mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, and yogurt, and a little crunchy because of the cabbage, carrot, and sunflower seeds. My initial comparison was to Cooler Ranch Doritos... maybe because of the fresh dill. Charlie and my mom doctored the dish up with a little cheddar cheese on top, confirming for the dinner crowd that cheese truly does make anything better.Initially, I had hoped to serve Solyanka with Odessa Beets as a side. Unfortunately, the beets required an extra hour to tenderize in the oven, so it didn't sync up. Odessa Beets are also a Ukranian dish, made with grated beets, sliced dried plums, freshly minced garlic, pineapple, walnuts, and lemon juice. Beets are a food I could eat all day long. I love them roasted with a little olive oil in the oven. I love them in salads. I love them in juice! Beets are amazing. This salad was delicious, a little tangy because of the fresh garlic and lemon juice and a skosh sweet because of the dried plums and pineapple. I was pleased with how the beets turned out but am not sure I will make them again because they took so long in the oven!

All in all, this was a worthy attempt at trying something totally unique from the New Moosewood Cookbook. I'm glad I tried it, even though the food was a little disappointing and the dishes weren't done at the same time, as originally planned. Above all, it was worth it to share laughs over the dinner table with my family over such a unprecedented concoction!