Coming Soon: I'm Playing with Kitchen PLAY

No, that's not my creation. Photo courtesy of OREO.

Just a quick heads-up!

This Friday, November 16, I'm going to have a fun opportunity for you to win some awesome prizes from OREO and Kitchen PLAY. I think you'll like it.

And hey, there's nothing wrong with having an excuse to pick up a package of OREOs, right?

There will be two OREO Thanksgiving prize packs filled with goodies like a Crate & Barrel serving platter and pie server, an exclusive OREO cookbook and other fabulous treats, valued at $70. Woah! That's pretty good, right?

And WAIT until you see the recipe I've come up with! You'll either think I'm a genius or I'm crazy. But that's pretty usual.

To enter, all you have to do is recreate any OREO dessert from this week's Kitchen PLAY event or come up with your own. (But I think you'll want to make MINE!!!) Post about it on your site and provide a link to that post in the comments on this Kitchen PLAY page. NOT here on my blog - you've got to go to Kitchen PLAY to win.

Multiple entries are allowed, as long as a separate OREO dessert post is created for each entry. Deadline is midnight PT on November 28. This sweepstakes will also take place again at the holidays, so the earlier you enter, the more chances to win! Full sweepstakes guidelines are at Kitchen PLAY.

Don't forget. Friday. Crazy OREO recipe. You could win stuff.

Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake for a Virtual Baby Shower

My friend Rachel from Rachel Cooks is having a baby soon, and what could be better than a virtual baby shower?

Well, how about a virtual baby shower with actual food?

I spent quite a bit of time trying to thing of something to "bring" to a virtual baby shower. Appetizers? Snacks? Fruity drinks? 

I almost posted a cocktail, but that's not exactly fair to the mom-to-be.

Then, a new cookbook arrived. It usually takes me quite a while to decide what recipe to make first when I get a new cookbook, but this time, it was easy. A coffee cake recipe looked absolutely perfect. Okay, a lot of things looked really good, but I had all the ingredients for the coffee cake, and I thought it would be a great thing to bring to the hospital for the nurses.

I have my priorities.

The book is Kosher by Design Cooking Coach by Susie Fishbein, and it's one of eight books in the Kosher by Design series. This one isn't just a cookbook, it talks about kitchen equipment, technique, and even how to plan for leftovers for the recipes. So, for example, you can make stuffed cabbage one day and use the leftovers for soup the next day.

There are lots of recipes. Lots and lots of them, from bulgogi to brioche and from Cajun quinoa to Yemenite beef soup. I'm looking forward to trying more of them, but first I had to make the coffee cake.

This coffee cake has a layer of graham cracker walnut streusel running through the middle, and it's got a crumb topping. The recipe calls for baking in a tube pan ... but of all the things I have, that's not one of them. I considered making the cake in a bundt pan, since it's the same shape. But then the crumb topping would be on the bottom, and that just seemed wrong.

So I decided to bake the cake in a 9x13 pan instead. It worked perfectly. I also made a little goof on the topping - you're supposed to mix the sugar with the warm butter first, then add the flour. I mixed the sugar and flour, then added butter. Oops! But it still worked okay - probably better if I did it right.

The recipe calls for using dairy products (butter and milk) or option for non-dairy (margarine or nondairy whipped topping). I opted for the dairy products.

If I was going to an actual baby shower, I'd be happy to see this coffee cake among the offerings. I hope Rachel (virtually) likes it as much as I did when I had it with my (actual) coffee this morning.

Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake

Adapted from Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein

Walnut Graham Streusel:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons melted butter

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup finely ground walnuts

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup melted butter (kept hot)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup canola oil

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the streusel topping. Stir well and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, ground walnuts, cinnamon, ginger, and salt for the crumb topping. Pour the hot butter in and stir to melt the sugar into the butter. Add the flour and mix well. It's suppose to form a firm ball (I messed this up, but it still worked.)

For the cake, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and oil until it's creamy. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Lower the speed and add the flour mixture. Raise the speed and beat until you have a smooth batter, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Lower the speed and beat in the milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Spread half of the cake batter in the prepared pan and smooth out the surface. Add the walnut streusel evenly over the batter. Add the rest of the batter, and smooth the top.

Break the crumb topping into large chunks - 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces - and sprinkle these chunky bits over the batter. 

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or with moist crumbs.

Cool the cake completely before cutting.

Note: I baked this in a 9x13 pan and it took about the same time to bake.

Want some more baby shower goodies? 
Check out these wonderful blogs for more great recipes.

Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny is bringing S'mores Popcorn
Barb from Creative Culinary is bringing White Chocolate "Quilted" Cupcakes
Sarah from Sarah's Cucina Bella is bringing us a Apple Asiago Prosciutto Bites
Milisa from Miss in the Kitchen is bringing White Chocolate Biscoff Muddy Buddies
Amanda from Fake Ginger is bringing Snickerdoodle Scones
I made Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake
Cassie from Bake You Day is bringing Salted Caramel Cashew Popcorn
Jessie from Bread & Butter is bringing Primal Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Sommer from A Spicy Perspective is bringing Turtle Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake
Susan from 30A EATS is bringing Southern Cheese Straws
Deborah from Taste and Tell is bringing Blue-Layered Jello
Carrian from Oh Sweet Basil is bringing Mini Blackberry Pies
Carrie from Bakeaholic Mama is bringing Salted Caramel Popcorn Bars
Stephanie from Steph's Bite by Bite is bringing Baby Blueberry Pies
Mackenzie from Suzie Freaking Homemaker is bringing Cucumber Sandwiches
Shelby from Diabetic Foodie is bringing Cranberry Citrus Meatballs (Slow Cooker)
Tara from Chip Chip Hooray is bringing Itty Bitty Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Liz from The Lemon Bowl is bringing Hermit Bars - Chewy Molasses Cookie Bars
Krista from Budget Gourmet Mom is bringing Baby Blue Cheese Burgers
Jennifer from Mother Thyme is bringing Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Kita from Pass the Sushi is bringing Sweet Potato Soup with Maple Cream
Shelia from Eat 2 Gather is bringing us a Chicken Salad
Brandi from Bran Appetit is bringing Bourbon Toffee Popcorn
Jamie from Thrifty Veggie Mama is bringing Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Pesto Crostini
Marnely from Cooking with Books is bringing Curried Salmon Phyllo Cups
Erin from The Spiffy Cookie is bringing Sweet Potato Pie Dip with Pie Crust Dippers
Heather from Farmgirl Gourmet is bringing Dark Chocolate Cashew Brittle Cookies
Kathryn from London Bakes is bringing Mini Onion and Feta Pizzas

    

Lifesize - the un-diet

Some time ago, I got the Lifesize Weight Loss Kit for review ... and then life got more complicated.

Back then, my husband had just gone into the hospital, and I expected that he would be out soon. Instead of using the kit for weight loss, I was thinking it would be a good tool for figuring out how much food I needed to stuff into him so he could gain back some of the weight he lost.

Many weeks later, he's still in the hospital, and it's going to be a long time before I'll be able to stuff him. And there sits the kit... waiting for me to review it.

The idea behind the kit is that you don't need to count calories obsessively - you eat reasonable portions of food based on some broad categories. It's all about portion control and eating the right proportions of foods and still having the option for some treats.

Some years ago, I lost quite a bit of weight by paying attention to portions. I ate what I wanted. If I wanted ice cream, I ate it. If I wanted salad, I ate it. If I wanted to splurge now and then, I did. But I kept the portions reasonable. I had a scoop of ice cream, and not a pint.

It was sort of a hodge-podge system, but it worked for me.

The Lifesize system is similar, but with a little more organization and a little more measuring. You see, there are measuring cups provided, so you know exactly how much rice is a reasonable serving. A handy chart explains how to use the system. If you're eating pasta as a meal, you're allowed more than if it's a side dish.

There are also DVDs for more in-depth information.

It all makes perfect sense. And I suspect that after using the system for a while, it becomes easier to judge if that restaurant portion is too much or just enough.

What I think is pretty cool is that the system isn't restrictive. You want ice cream, you can have it. You just need to cut back on something else. Want an extra helping of snacks or meat? You can, if you adjust elsewhere. You're supposed to eat a certain number of servings per day, and of course it's best if you eat a balanced diet, but you can mix and match to fit how you eat.

I like that. I don't think most people eat perfectly balanced meals every day. I know I don't. I might grab some leftover chicken for a quick lunch, which makes a pretty unbalanced meal. But if you look at the day, there might be a whole lot of vegetables later. It might be better, healthwise, if every bite was balanced, but that's not particularly realistic.

And it's not much fun, either.

I'd rather have a diet plan that adjusts to the way I eat instead of a plan that makes me wrap my lifestyle around its rules. I'm more likely to follow it, and I'm more likely to be happy with it. And that means I'm more likely to stick with it.

I'll admit that with my husband in the hospital, my eating habits have gotten a little less healthy. Salad and I are not the good friends we used to be. Snacks and I have cuddled up on the couch a few too many times. It happens. I will repent soon.

And as soon as I can feed my husband again, I'm gonna see if I can Lifesize him UP. And at the same time, I'll fine-tune my eating to be a little more healthy. Because I'll admit that I need some fine-tuning and maybe a little trimming as well. Might as well get us both in shape at the same time, right?

The only thing that I object to (slightly) with the Lifesize kit is the stand that the measuring cups fit into. I get it. You're supposed to keep it on your counter where it's handy for you to use. Seeing it every day will make you more likely to use it. It make sense.

But my counter space is limited. Very, very limited. No big deal though. The stand isn't necessary for using the kit. It's easy enough to hide the stand and stash the cups.