Rock Springs Cafe Jack Daniels Pecan Pie for birthday

No traditional birthday cake for this lady. Earlene Alauria had delicious Jack Daniels Pecan Pie from Rock Springs Café to help celebrate her big day. So many pies to choose from at Rock Springs, but the Pecan Pie is one of the best. The Historical League is pleased to have Rock Springs Café featured in the new cookbook, Tastes and Treasures II, debuting in fall 2017.

Unique Birthday Cake

Time to celebrate a birthday but no cake available? Ruth Ann Hogan got creative when her daughter came to visit their cabin in the mountains. Sometimes the simplest of recipes become family memories.
Ruth Ann writes, "I wanted to do something fun and didn't want to have cake leftover so I bought the Nestles Chocolate Chip slice and bake cookie roll.  Sliced about 6 cookies into an iron skillet and baked it until it was browned!  The candles wouldn't stand up in the cookie so I put a hard scoop of ice cream in the middle so she could blow out some candles!  It was funny!  We added lots more ice cream and divided it by 3!"  

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

Good friends getting together over lunch at Chelsea's Kitchen with Red Velvet Cake - It was so rich we shared it. But Zona Lorig and Joan Robinson and myself agreed it was worth it until I found out it may have 1700 calories!!!! must be the tons of frosting they used.
Celebrating Birthdays can be so decadent!

Red Velvet Cake
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

    * 1/2 cup shortening
    * 1 1/2 cups sugar
    * 2 eggs
    * 2 tablespoons cocoa
    * 1 1/2 oz red food coloring
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 2 1/2 cups flour
    * 1 teaspoon vanilla
    * 1 cup buttermilk
    * 1 teaspoon soda
    * 1 tablespoons vinegar

Preparation:
Cream shortening; beat in sugar gradually. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each addition. Make paste of cocoa and food coloring; add to creamed mixture. Add salt, flour and vanilla alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Sprinkle soda over vinegar; pour vinegar over batter. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Bake in 3 8-inch pans or 2 9-inch pans for 30 minutes at 350°.

History:
Although the details are sketchy at best, red velvet cake is not as Southern as many like to think. The story, which began circulating some time in the 1940s, claimed that Manhattan's elegant Waldorf-Astoria granted a diner's request for the recipe, then a short time later sent her a bill in the amount of $100. The angry woman, apparently with revenge in mind, then began circulating the recipe along with the story. Another "baked" legend with the same storyline is the $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie, also known as the Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.

White Chocolate Mousse

Celebrating a 22nd birthday should be special. Nothing like San Francisco, lunch at McCormick & Kuletos and White Chocolate Mousse for my niece, Jamie. (She had help eating it).





My sister, Judy, and Jamie came for a non-stop 3 day visit. Our tour guide, my daughter Candice, arranged a bicycle ride, Bogle Vineyard picnic, visits to the Cable Car Museum, an Irish Pub, Chinatown, Little Italy, Alcatraz at night, Haight Ashbury and lots of shopping.

The Historical League served Historymaker Polly Rosenbaum chocolate cake for her 100th birthday. Recipe on page 136 of Tastes & Treasures. I think she would have approved of White Chocolate Mousse for another birthday.

White Chocolate Mousse
It's such a simple dish to make, and it's melt-in-your-mouth light. You could use regular chocolate if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Heat water in saucepan, with sugar, until sugar is dissolved. Add chocolate chips and melt until smooth. Set saucepan in cold water to cool mixture. Place in the fridge until thoroughly chilled. Whisk smooth. Beat cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Fold into cold chocolate mixture. Pour into pre-made dark chocolate serving cups or individual serving dishes and enjoy.
Note: Add fresh fruit and a drizzle of juice for added presentation.