30 second rule

Whew! This cracker with Amaltheia Organic Dairy cheese
landed upright on the floor! I can still eat it!

If you dont know the 5-second rule, someone is bound to tell you about it at the crucial moment: when you drop food, if you pick it up within 5 seconds, its still safe to eat.

Right?

Now we have a handy flow chart -- The 30-Second Rule, A Decision Tree, created by Audrey Fukman and Andy Wright at SFoodie -- to help us figure out whether it really is safe to eat that dropped food.

Click to enlarge the following photo.

(This blog entry is a public service of Yummy Montana.)

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Niterider Chili

You might be getting tired of reading about chili, but Im not getting tired of eating it. Glendive-based Western Trails does such a good job with their mixes that I love eating those wonderful foods and then talking about them.

One thing that really appeals to me is that each label has a story on it. Its a fun read, and you get a good feel for Old West Montana. Click on the photo above for a bigger image that should be more readable.

This chili, unlike the baked beans I made in December, is hot. As I added the included spices to the beans, I noticed dozens of chili seeds. Oh, yeah, they do their job all right! If youre sensitive, you might like to take a few minutes to pick them out before throwing them in the pot. Im going to do that next time!

The package includes beans, of course, and the spices. Along with water, I added a can of tomato paste and some sauteed onions, which made a thick, satisfying chili.

To minimize gassiness, the package directions say: "Wash beans, boil for 5 minutes in 4 cups water, cover and set aside for at least an hour. Drain beans and add fresh water and spices. Cook slowly until tender." (I cooked them for about an hour.) This could be applied to any bean dish.

I am a sucker for pretty beans. This mix uses Montana-grown pinto and great northern beans. I leave you with a photo of them as they prepared for their pre-chili bath.

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Chocolate cake oh yeah!

To give me energy to dig out of the snow thats been drifting around here, I decided to try the Kings Cupboard Rich and Dreamy Molten Chocolate Cake Mix that I happened to have in my own cupboard.

Kings Cupboard products are made in Red Lodge. The mixes Ive tried are very simple ones, so if youre in a hurry or just want to pull something together quickly, they are perfect. (And by the way, they also make chocolate and caramel sauces, which you will want to eat straight out of the jar -- haha!)

Alas, not everything is foolproof, as I discovered when I eagerly pulled my molten cakes out of the oven. But lets start at the beginning . . .

The basic recipe is: pour cake mix (containing chocolate bits), along with butter, into a pan and stir until everything is melted. The box tells you to divide the batter equally among 8 ramekins. "How big??!!" I cried. Are ramekins supposed to be a standard size?

On a baking sheet I set out four 6-ounce and two 8-ounce Pyrex custard cups, figuring those ought to hold the batter one way or another. I have pretty made-in-France 4-ounce ramekins but didnt want to mess with them for this "how much batter does this make anyway" experiment.

Conclusion: I now figure the 8 ramekins could be 4-ounce or 6-ounce size, so take note of that when you try the mix yourself.

After the suggested time of about 10 minutes, the cakes werent done, so I let them bake another 5 minutes. I dont know exactly when "molten" becomes "cake," but 15 minutes was too long. The cakes were delicious, but not molten.

The directions explain exactly how to check for moltenness, and I suggest doing so every minute or so after the suggested baking time. They also fairly warn that if you do not serve them right away, they will continue cooking inside and become cakey. This is not bad -- the taste is deep, rich chocolate; sort of like a cake-like candy bar -- but you will have to buy another mix and try again to enjoy the molten version.

I leave you with a photo of how these cakes are supposed to look, according to the company Web site.

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Yum yum plum cake

It starts with wild plum trees by the side of the road. Thanks to my foraging friend, Jackie, I know where to find them now. The plums arent quite ripe, but I picked enough that were to make a nice little cake.

My inspiration: a recipe from the New York Times food section, "Crunchy-Topped Whole-Wheat Plum Cake." The name just sounds scrumptious!

As the recipe suggests, I bought some more plums to round out the taste. The wild plums are quite a bit smaller than commercial varieties.

They are also more sour. Adding sugar helps. (Mary Poppins was always right.)

I enjoy cooking with plums. They are like jewels. My photos cannot do them justice. This is something you must try at home, to see for yourself.

The best part is eating. Of course.

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Wacky cake

Kids have eclectic tastes, and we must admire them for it.

The Big Timber Grade School Cookbook (2008) is a unique collection of kid-approved recipes that you might like to try yourself even if you dont have kids. Guaranteed the kids in your life will find plenty to enjoy.

The book was compiled as a fund-raiser for the Big Timber grade school, and it is the best community cookbook I have tried. Among the classic recipes are brownies, fried bologna sandwiches, and pizza, all kid pleasers no matter how you make them.

But recipes you might not find anywhere else (or hardly anywhere else) include Vanishing Oatmeal, Sparkly Cupcakes, Dinosaur Chow, and (would you want to leave Santa out?) Magic Reindeer Food.

To give you a real taste of what this cookbook can do for you, I chose to make Wacky Cake -- or Whacky Cake, depending on which recipe you use; I combined the two recipes found in this cookbook. All you do is dump ingredients in a pan, stir a bit, and bake. If I can do it, so can you! Or at least your 5-year-old could.

W[h]acky Cake

Put in ungreased 8x8-inch pan and then stir to combine:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

Make three wells in the dry ingredients.

In one, place 1 teaspoon vanilla;

in another, place 1 tablespoon vinegar;

in another, place 5 tablespoons oil.

OK, this looks like one-eyed Pete, the spitting fool, but carry on . . .

Pour 1 cup cold water over all, and stir to mix all ingredients together. Do not beat.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 35 minutes or until center springs back at a touch.

I did a slap-dash stir, which resulted in a wackier cake than the student who submitted it probably intended. Or maybe not. Make it yourself and do it any way you please.

One thing I must warn you about is that this is not a bakery shop cake. One recipe variation said: "No need to beat (this ruins the texture)." I am not sure what "texture" they are worried about ruining. It is a pretty chewy cake and even if you beat it, I dont think that will change much. But again, you be the judge in your own kitchen.

Its a nice cake, easy to make, and could be improved with a slathering of homemade chocolate frosting. (The recipe on the can of Hersheys Cocoa has been a long-time favorite of mine.) I mean, what wouldnt be improved with chocolate frosting??

If youd like a copy of this delightful and oddly useful cookbook -- for the price of postage and a donation to the grade school (any amount) -- write a comment (I wont publish it unless you want me to), and well get the process going.

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