Cobb Salad

Apparently there has long been a dispute over who first created the Cobb salad.

Whoever is running around trying to claim that they were the first to throw a bunch of meat and stuff with some lettuce together might have to find something else to do.

As always, I just threw all my favourite ingredients together: blue cheese, bacon, avocado, eggs, tomatoes, ham.

Maybe no one ever thought of putting blue cheese in a Cobb salad before… which clearly means I invented Cobb Salad 2.0! Or better yet the Allie Salad. Time to invade Wikipedia and record my fantastic discovery. Betcha that’s what the original Mr. Cobb said…well maybe not that he’d wiki it, but I bet he was gosh darn excited.

Ingredients:

2 romaine hearts, roughly chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
3 eggs, hardboiled and chopped
5 slices of bacon, crumbled
¼ lb of sliced ham, chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Your choice of dressing

Tie-Dye Cupcakes

The word “groovy” isn’t really heard that much anymore. I can’t really say it’s a shame, it sounds outdated no matter how you use it. That doesn’t mean people like Patrick Monahan from Train will stop using it. Despite the fact that they’ve been around since 1994 they’re still trucking on. Anyone remember “Calling all Angels” and “Drops of Jupiter”? Well, their new annoyingly addictive single “Drive By” is all about a groovy little guy trying to get his girl back by driving around in circles and dancing like a four-year old. I dare you to listen to this song and not dance. But if it still doesn’t get you in the groovy mood, these awesome little tie-die cupcakes might just do the trick.

Tie Dye Cupcakes:

Vanilla cake mix in a box and ingredients for that

4-5 colors of food coloring

Mix up the cake mix until it’s ready. Divide your cake batter into four or five bowls. Add a couple drops of food coloring into each bowl of batter and mix. Add spoonfuls of each color to cupcake liners until the liner is ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes according to the directions on the box of cake.

For the frosting:
From http://sweetapolita.com/2012/03/super-duper-vanilla-or-funfetti-cupcakes/

375grams/13 ounces unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

3.5 cups (400g/14oz) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons (45mL) milk

1 tablespoon (15mL) pure vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for about 8 minutes on medium speed until the butter becomes very pale and creamy.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy and fluffy. It takes a little while but it’s sooo worth it!

 

Enjoy,

A