Sunday S'mores: S'mores Whoopie Pies

It's almost time for the August session of Camp NaNoWriMo! In case you've forgotten, I started Sunday S'mores as a way to celebrate Camp NaNo in June. And then real life turned into a total suckfest. To tell you the truth, I only got about 2000 words written in June (out of the 50,000 I was supposed to write).

It's tough, because I'm not as excited as I usually am for anything NaNoWriMo. You haven't really known me during a session of NaNo. I love it. There's nothing like it. Camp's a little more laid back than the regular session (which is probably why I've never won a Camp session), but you can still find me chanting, "Write or Die!" or spouting Baty-isms (my favorite goes something like, "For every word you delete, a NaNoWriMo angel plummets, screaming, to the ground where they will most likely require medical attention." We're a special breed).

But as August gets closer, I find myself feeling an unusual trepidation. Because I can't help thinking "if." If I hadn't fallen behind in my wordcount... If I had written 1,667 words on day 1 instead of procrastinating... If I'd plotted out the story beforehand... Logically, I know that it wouldn't have made any difference, but it still haunts me.

So, since it's the last weekend before Camp, I made whoopie pies, because whoopie pies make everything better, right? Whoopie pies are going to fix everything.

I made up the recipe for the cakes, and to my surprise, they really do taste like graham crackers, except fluffy and moist. Then I whipped up some of my no-fail marshmallow filling, and used the fudge sauce I had left over from last week.

I don't know why some people use whoopie pie pans and a pastry bag for the filling. I always thought that half of the charm of a whoopie pie is it's rustic look. But of course, that could be because the first time I had a whoopie pie was at an Amish farmer's market. There's a lot of beauty in imperfection.

S'mores Whoopie Pies {Printable Version}
Yield: 17 whoopie pies (34 individual cakes)
 
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup solid white vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. milk
1 recipe Marshmallow Whoopie Pie Filling
Approx ½ cup fudge sauce

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, shortening, and sugars at medium speed until
fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Add about half of the flour mixture to
the butter mixture and beat on low until just combined. Mix together the milk and honey and add to the
batter. Add in the rest of the flour mixture and beat on low until smooth.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Drop the batter by the tablespoonful on the
cookie sheet, leaving at least one inch between each. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the cakes spring
back when lightly pressed. Cool completely on wire racks.

Sandwich the fudge sauce and filling between two cakes and serve.

Recipe by Kim

This recipe is linked to Rate the Plate Utah's Food Holiday Linky Party

Fiesta Pasta Salad

Today I'm revealing my not-so secret ingredient. I put this stuff on nearly everything savory. I use it to jazz up my tuna salad, add it to every dry rub I make, use it in soups and stews. For a while I considered keeping a bottle of it in my purse so I could even use it in restaurants.

It's Mrs. Dash.

Completely dumbfounding, right? I hate things that are salty (except for things that are supposed to be salty, like pretzels and feta), so if something's bland, I'm not going to reach for the salt shaker. I'd generally take bland over salty any day. But with Mrs. Dash, I don't have to make that choice. (That sounded like a good tag line for a commercial, right? Hey, Mrs. D, have your people call my people. We'll do lunch.)

It was a product that my nutrition-savvy aunt found years ago, and our family has been using it since before it really entered the public sphere. We used to have to hunt for it in stores; now you can find it in every grocery store in a mind-boggling array of flavors. I recently decided to try out the Fiesta Lime flavor. Hoo boy, was that a good idea.

 I feel like I've crossed some line into official foodie bloggerdom: I photographed my dinner plate

This pasta salad was originally up food. My brother was grilling something, and nobody knew what to make with it, and nobody much felt like going to the store. And I was all, "why not just make pasta salad?" Of course, that meant that I had to make the pasta salad, and it was kind of a found-object dish. I grabbed a box of tri-color pasta, a can of tomatoes, a can of corn, and onion, and a bunch of spices (including Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime). And, don't laugh, I chopped up a couple sticks of string cheese, because I wanted to add cheese. My mother fell in love with it and declared that I had to make it for the annual family barbecue.

Knowing what to do now, I added some bell pepper and a little bit of salad dressing to keep it from drying out. And I used a pre-packaged block of mozzarella.

I know what you're thinking. Trust me, I know. I'm Italian. But the pre-packaged kind is firmer, and the cheese is going to soak up the flavors of the pasta salad anyway. This is the only time you will ever hear me recommend using it over fresh, but you are better off in this one instance. (Note: you can also make it with feta; I did both and preferred the mozz, but the feta is still pretty tasty.)

Oh, and that 28 oz. can is not a typo. Italian households tend to have very large cans of tomatoes around the house. You can always sub two smaller cans if you prefer. Or one smaller can if you want less tomatoes. I don't care. Really.

Fiesta Pasta Salad {Printable Version}

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients
1 box (16 oz.) tri-color pasta
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 15.25 oz. can corn, drained
1 large bell pepper, julienned
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz. mozzarella, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tbsp. Italian flavored dressing (I used sun-dried tomato and basil flavored)
1 tbsp. Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning blend
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste


Directions

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and rinse with cold water. Place in a large serving bowl. Mix well with remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate minimum 2 hours. Serve chilled.

Tip: Salt the boiling water for more flavorful pasta. I usually cook the pasta 1-2 minutes less than the shortest cook time on the box because I prefer it more firm.

Recipe by Kim