This recipe is a blast from the past! It is the Duncan Hines Sock It to Me Cake. What a name for a cake! If you are into music or not you probably know this line from Aretha Franklin’s song RESPECT. It was released in 1967. Then in the 70’s Laugh In used it as a catch phrase in their show. No matter how the cake got its name it’s really good. I’m not a big fan of cake mixes, but this one is worth the time. It is super easy and really good.
You may have noticed that my blog has been left unattended for a short while. Life for me now is a little ruffled around the edges. In fact I am having to just step back a bit and regroup myself. It is not anything earth shattering for that matter, but when it’s happening to you it seems that you are in it all alone. I am struggling though with several things that mean a lot to me. Along with those few things that are very personal the end of the school year has been busier than usual. My dearest friend, my go to person when everything is falling apart around me retired from teaching. I hosted along with seven other friends a celebration for her many years of dedication and love of teaching. I am going to miss her. She and I have taught together at the same schools for thirty years. I cannot imagine my school day without her there. Of course there are others that will no longer be there to share my day, too. It’s sad for me.
Filed under Desserts
Cream Puffs or Choux Pastry can be intimitating to some when it comes to baking, but yet they are really simple. It could take a couple of times baking them to get the hang of it, but on the positive side even the bad puffs are good! My high school students were amazed when I made these melt in your mouth puffs of cream. The topic of the day is leavening agents and this particular one is steam. The amount of steam could be a problem , but I will cover that later in some hints to follow when making the perfect Choux Pastry.
Filed under Desserts
Saturday I participated in one of a series of swanky soirees presented by The Broke Socialite. It was so much fun! I love doing this kind of thing. I guess that is why I do what I do!
As a Family and Consumer Science teacher (aka Home Economics teacher) I have participated in every kind of tour. This is just a short list: fabric plants, cookware plants, all kinds of restaurants including kitchen tours of Joel in Atlanta and Sensi at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, culinary schools, Julia Child’s kitchen, all kinds of homes from the Old Governor’s Mansion, Swan House and the Haye House. I have had high tea at the Ritz Carlton and at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. To get my point across I have done my share of tours and this one was about the most fun I have ever had.
We started out early at 8:30! We got our assignments to a brand spanking new Cadillac SRX driven by @Chatterbox. She was a wonderful driver entertaining us the entire morning.
Our first stop was No Mas Cantina for a wonderful breakfast buffet served with our choice of drink. I chose the Mexican Hot Chocolate which was smooth and creamy and delicious. Here are a couple of photos of what we enjoyed at No Mas Cantina.
Potatoes, Eggs over easy and Beans with Salsa
It was so good!
This is Helen writer of Sweet Tartlette. She is a pastry chef from France and she enjoyed the Sugar Coma, also. Check her blog out. Her photography is beautiful. I really enjoyed talking with her. Very sweet and ready to help anyone out.
Our second shop was Cacao Atlanta. On my! When I walked into the shop the chocolate aroma was heavenly. We got to sample their Hot Chocolate which was by far the best that I have even had topped with homemade marshmallows. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. Take a look at all the chocolate. And another thing, Kristin knows chocolate!
Just feast your eyes on this place. Joli Kobe had the most magnificent pastries and cakes waiting for us when we walked in the door. Drool a bit over these.
Look at the detail here!
Now it has started to rain but just because we are in a Sugar Coma doesn’t mean we are going to melt. We are just getting started. We have two more stops then lunch.
This is the Cookie Studio. It is a cute little bakery with the kitchen out there for everyone to see. I loved this place. It so reminded me of the bakery where I grew up and spent almost every day after school trying to decide between the cream horns or the butter cookies for a snack. One thing that happened while we were there that I thought was funny. This older gentleman came in to pick up a beautifully wrapped package of cookies and looking around at the twenty four of us and said to me ” What in the world is going on here.” And I said, ” We are participating in a Sugar Coma!” I wish I had a picture of his face. He said , “OK.” Took his cookies and left.
Here is the menu above the cash register
Our last stop was also a cute bakery called Sweet N’Sinful. The owner had prepared lots of her cupcakes in miniature form just for us to taste. Of course she knew this was the last leg of our tour and we could be in a Sugar Coma! She had to go boxes which all of us quickly filled! Here are some more droolable ( is that a word?) photos.
We then traveled to Le Fai Do Do for lunch catered by Black Tie Barbecue. It was fabulous!! Even after tasting all the wonderful sweets all morning I can say it was one of the best catered lunches I have had. For starters we had a spring salad with strawberries and candied pecans with a wonderful dressing. Black Tie grilled two main dishes chicken and salmon fillets. My favorite was the salmon. Side dishes of rice pilaf and the most wonderful bok choy that I have ever tasted. It was to die for!!!
So that was my Sugar Coma. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.
Enjoy your cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
Filed under Bar Cookies, Cake, Candy, Cookies, Cupcakes, Desserts, suger coma
The Teacher Cooks 