Online Grocery Shopping -- Comparison

I’ve shared with y’all before that I like to do my grocery shopping online with Harris Teeter, because:

Tour of Fifty States: Maryland's meal

Well, for Maryland’s meal I made the Coleslaw and the Smith Island Cake Thursday night before we had our state meal – I like to prep at least part of the dishes ahead of time when I can, so that there is less to do after work on Friday evening when the kids are there.  Since Bill’s birthday is coming soon, I told him to choose what he’d like to have for his birthday meal that we will have on Sunday while we have the kids with us … he chose tuna steaks, scallops in cream sauce and marinated vegetables with a carrot cake for dessert. 

What does this have to do with the meal prep? 

I had a bag of carrots in the fridge, so I shredded half of them to go in the coleslaw and used my handy dandy mandolin (thank you, Mom!) to slice up the rest of the carrots, with some zucchini and cucumbers and green onions (yep, all on the mandolin.)  I chopped up a few bell peppers and packed them all in a gallon Mason jar and filled it up with a dijon-vinaigrette marinade.  All I needed to do was to give it a few shakes before Sunday.  I ran the cabbage through the food processor, dressed the slaw, and baked the Smith Island Cake.  (More about that later.) 

It hit me Friday morning as I was driving to work… I used up all of the stupid carrots! How could I make Bill a Carrot Cake?  I’ll head back to the grocery store Saturday after dropping off the recycling and trash at the dump.   Sigh…

Anyway about the cake – the recipe calls for a box of yellow cake mix, which I prepared according to directions.  However, when I measured out 2/3 cup of batter per pan and baked for 10 minutes, I only had enough for 2 repeats, meaning I had just enough batter for 6 of the thin cakes.  I think it’s because the manufacturers decreased the package size (like they do with coffee and cereal.  Grrr)  The fudgy frosting is very decadent – it’s like the inside of a truffle.  I let it warm up just a little and it spread very nicely over the cake layers.  With hindsight being 20/20, I should have flipped each layer over alternately as I added and frosted them, because when all was said and done, the cake was pretty domed up in the center and downward sloping at the edges.  I couldn’t deconstruct it, so I used all of the remaining frosting and hopefully kind of made it look less odd. 

About the unusual name for the cake:  “Smith Island, Maryland, is a 400-year-old fishing village of only 250 residents and is located 10 miles offshore in the Chesapeake Bay and accessible only by ferry.  Beginning in the 1800s, Smith Islanders would send these cakes with the watermen on the autumn oyster harvest. The bakers began using fudge instead of buttercream frostings, as cakes frosted with fudge lasted much longer than cakes with other frostings.

Known simply as the Smith Island Cake, the dessert is baked for any occasion and not reserved only for holidays.  Great attention is paid to the perfection of the pencil-thin layers that form the distinctive cake.”

On April 24, 2008, Smith Island cake was designated as the official dessert of the state of Maryland.

Menu:  Crab Cakes, French Fries, Coleslaw, Smith Island Cake

Outcome:  The Crab Cakes were super fast and easy... Um, no one needs to know that Harris Teeter sells pre-made Crab Cakes, do they?  LOL I sure hope not!   YES I took a short cut this time, but I am including the recipe that I was going to use.   What’s funny is that everyone took so well to the coleslaw!  I admit, it was pretty tasty.  It was a "fly by the seat of your pants" recipe -- meaning that after I shredded the cabbage and carrots, I just started adding stuff to the bowl and mixing it.  There was mayo, vinegar(s), spices, etc. but unfortunately, I did not write it down! Gotta see if I can duplicate it.  :)   

The next day, I served some thick slices of tomato and Bill piled his coleslaw on top of the tomatoes, and ate it together.  After a few giggles and raised eyebrows from the rest of us, one by one we all tried it.  You would never think that a bite of tomato and coleslaw would be so good! We were pleasantly surprised. 

The cake came out nicely, as well.  We all enjoyed the fudgy frosting and the picture doesn’t do it justice.    

Next up:  Ben’s turn!  He chose Vermont!  We are closing in on the last few states! He will be in NYC for a school field trip the next visitation weekend, so we will push that meal back to the last weekend in May.

Maryland's meal