Dolmas, Cherry Bakewell Cake, and Carrot Ginger Soup

 Quick food post tonight because I'm tired. I'm not sure why, but I am ready to curl up in a blanket and sleep. I'll probably still be up until 3 a.m. though. 

I feel like I haven't been cooking much lately...but heres the stuff I made in the past few weeks.

Dolmas- I made these once- years and years ago. So long ago I can't even remember how they turned out. These were pretty easy. And less time consuming. I used canned grape leaves. These didn't have as much flavor as I expected...they were alright. They remind me of Turkey though. When we lived there my sister had a Turkish nanny and she used to eat them. I always wondered what they were and didn't find out til I was much older. I love Dolmas though, I usually pick up a can of the pre-made version. I used this recipe.

Cherry Bakewell Cake- This came from the Harry Potter cookbook. I had to google Cherry Bakewells. I lived in the UK for almost three years and don't remember ever having one. But this cake is Cherry Bakewell inspired. I thought it was OK. I think I prefer chocolate cake overall. It was a dense, sweet cake, reminiscent of pound cake. I did my own thing on the icing. I hate sweet icing so I used way less powdered sugar than it called for. I tried to make it cute...I took most the icing off the side- for a Naked Cake look. Piped some icing on- my piping skills need help. And then topped with maraschino cherries. Oh almost forgot, I scaled the recipe down for a six inch size. I just love a tiny cute little cake.It was two layers with cherry jam in the middle.

Carrot Ginger Soup- Last thing I made was carrot ginger soup. Really it should be called Butternut squash soup. It has a lot of Butternut in it. I also finally learned how to peel and dice the squash (takes forever). Maybe I'll cook it more now that I know how to cut it. The soup was really good though. I pureed it in the Vitamix because the texture always comes out amazing that way.  Very easy and healthy. I had mine with some black beans and a burger. Nice Sunday Meal. Recipe Here...

Until next time....