Author Archives: Jennifer

One of my co-workers and his wife are expecting a baby girl in mid-May, so last week we threw them a baby shower at lunch. It was a potluck Mexican-food themed lunch with everyone pitching in some money for a gift basket that I put together. As this is their third child, the gift basket contained primarily consumables such items as diapers, baby shampoo and Boudreaux’s Butt Paste^®, which I’ve been told is really good stuff. Everyone seemed to have a really good time.

White Cake with Creamy Vanilla Frosting

I baked the White Cake and Creamy Vanilla Frosting from Betty Crocker’s New Cake Decorating. Overall, the cake was good and the icing was tasty, but I had to add additional milk to make it more spreadable. I also need to practice my cake decorating skills.

For the lunch, I made a Chile Relleno Bake, a recipe my mother sent me.

Chile Relleno Bake

Chile Relleno Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 1 pound ground sausage
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup salsa
• 5 4-oz. cans whole chilies, drained (I only used 3 cans)
  
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• ⅓ cup yellow cornmeal
• 4 large eggs
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
• sour cream, optional
• chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13×9-inch baking dish.

In a large skillet, combine ground chuck, ground sausage, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned and crumbly. Drain well. Stir in salsa.

Cut chilies in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place half of chilies evenly over bottom of baking dish. Spoon half of meat mixture over chilies. Sprinkle evenly with half of cheese. Place remaining chilies in an even layer over cheese. Spoon remaining meat mixture over chilies. Top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over cheese.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and flour until smooth. Whisk in milk, salt, and hot sauce. Pour over cornmeal. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until set. Let cool 10 minutes. Cut into squares to serve. Garnish with sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro, if desired.

Servings: 8-10