Lazy Days…in the Kitchen

It’s Ann here today; Andy is over in OurLittleCorner wondering if our next pet should be a tiny -and I mean tiny – animal with superpowers .

It’s SPRING! There are garden beds to prepare; vegetables to plant; perennials to fertilize; amendments to add to the soil. There are weak plants to take out and healthier, happier plants to put in; AND spring cleaning to get done. Plus, we need a little time each day to just sit and bask in the warm sun. How is there time to cook?

We’ve written about loving greens that last a long time in the fridge. We’re equally delighted with home-grown cuttings that last a long time in a vase. These blossoms from geum and bergenia and leaves from “Angyo Star” fatshedera have been in that little vase for more than a week and are still looking good!

So, no, this is not a time for lazy days…except perhaps in the kitchen.

As much as I enjoy being in our kitchen and cooking, both for us and for others, there are times when I need a break. And spring is one of them (and maybe summer and fall! 🙂 ). The best way I have figured out to get that break and still have good food on our table is by cooking two for one. That is, if your recipe feeds 4 and you’re cooking for 4, make enough for 8, so you can freeze half of it for another day. My ideal world would be cooking dinner 3 days a week, ordering in or dining out once a week, and using frozen dinners another 3 days a week.

My perfect frozen dinner would have beans or rice or pasta or noodles, a vegetable, and sometimes a meat. In other words, I want something that is enough to be a complete light supper. Here are some of our BigLittleMeals favorites (and a little hint: you can throw in some fresh or frozen spinach leaves at the last minute to many of these dishes, upping the ante nutrient-wise):

And if you need a dessert that can also be frozen and pulled from the freezer when a little something sweet is needed, try this vintage recipe for a Lazy Daisy (or, as we call it, Lazy Days-y) cake.

I used Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut – to try to stay close to my mother’s original cake recipe

Next time I make the cake I’ll try an unsweetened shredded coconut, like this.

Lazy Days-y Cake

Servings: 8-12?
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This is a riff on my mother’s Lazy Daisy Cake recipe and Melissa Clark’s NYTimes similar recipe. The recipe may easily be doubled and then baked in a 9″x13″ pan. Freeze leftovers so you’ll have a ready dessert for those “lazy days!”

Cake

2 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Diamond kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c hot milk
2 T butter (plus more to butter the pan)

Topping

5 T butter
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c cream
3/4 c shredded coconut, either unsweetened or sweetened, though sweetened would be true to the original recipe

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 8″ or 9″ square (or 9″ round) baking pan.

Beat the eggs and the sugar until fluffy. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and then stir that mix into the eggs, along with the vanilla. Add the 2 T butter to the hot milk and stir until butter melts. Add that hot milk mixture to the egg mixture and beat very briefly (my mother would say “12 strokes”).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the center springs back when lightly pressed with your finger.

While the cake bakes, prepare the topping. Melt the 5 T butter, then add the brown sugar and cream and stir until the mixture simmers. Turn off the heat and stir in the coconut.

When the cake is done and just briefly cooled (5 minutes or so), spread the coconut mixture evenly over the top of the warm cake and place it on the middle shelf under the broiler until the topping is slightly browned and bubbly – about 2-3 minutes. Watch it carefully because it will burn easily. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool.

The Lazy Days-y Cake will keep for several days, stored at room temperature. And it will freeze well too. You might even cut it into pieces before freezing so that you can remove just the right amount when needed.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.