A Burger's Best Friend Burger Buddy

 Eating a hamburger can be a messy affair.Grease drips out , lettuce or tomato can slide onto a clean short or worse pants. Not only that fingers can become grimed with everything from special sauce to juices. Luckily burgers now have a best friend in Burger Daddy. This is a big innovation in hamburger history by the innovators at Burger Buddy, namely Ismael  and Mohammed, who were hamburger affectionadoes themselves. They wanted something cleaner than a napkin that was  also environmentally friendly and reusable. How could they  make the burger experience neater? the answer was the Burger Buddy.

This is a two silicon semi circles attached by an accordion like strip that stretches depending on the width of the burger.

It makes it perfect for holding a Big Mac or Whopper, holding everything in, from the veggies to the cheese and bacon - and of course the burger. Also it''s perfect for larger sized rolls like Kaiser rolls, expanding to fit larger sizes.What happens when you get to the bottom of the sandwich? Just gently tug the ends of the holder and the sandwich pops up, ready to be finished.

I loves these,because it made devouring a Gardein Burger that much less messier and also easier. The plastic absorbs the heat so fingers stay cool. There was no drippy melted spread dripping all over me too. Burger Daddy can also be used for breakfast sandwiches and even doughnuts! Another plus is that it's very easy to clean and wash too. Burger Buddies can also be put into ovens up to 450 degrees Farenheit.They're easily stackable and packable so you can bring them to your local hamburger joint and eat your favorite burgers safely and less sloppily in the car. One is $13.59 at Amazon and makes a great present for any hamburger lover.

Burger Buddies are the neatest way , both figuratively and literally to eat a burger , doughnut or bagel. Buy a few today and save yourself and your clothes the mess. Good bye stains. Good bye greasy fingers. Hello a nice clean way to enjoy your favorite foods.

The Perfect Ice Cream Cake

It's summer and that means cool ways to end a meal. One of the best and most fun is ice cream cake. you can buy it at the store or your favorite ice cream parlor. A better idea is making it yourself. It's not only cheaper but can be made with a variety of flavors and fillings.

Before you even buy or  ice cream for it you should have some kind of mold. I have two. Below is a smaller mold perfect for two servings.

 This is a loaf mold used for baking breads but it's the perfect mold for ice cream loafs. Both were bought on Amazon.

As for the ice cream, you can use store bought or if you;re ambitious make it. Since it's summer , make it easy on yourself and just buy it. I usually go for the vegan and use either Soy Delicious coconut based ones or Stop & Shops. Last time I made a kind of Neopolitan loaf with a layer of strawberry  and vanilla coconut ice cream.  Crumbled chocolate wafers mixed with melted I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. served as the base and then middle. If you're using two flavors make sure they complement each other. Don't go for a strawberry / mint chocolate chip pairing. The strawberry will be good with another fruit filled ice cream or just chocolate and vanilla. The mint chocolate chip really only goes with chocolate.

 My  next cake will be chocolate with a caramel and wafer middle.As for the crunchy middle and base, you can also use  vanilla snaps for vanilla and fruit ice cream cakes, Do not use sandwich cookies. The fillings will make the middles and bases lumpy Go for  snaps , wafers or shortbread. For more of a crunch try the brand Jules Destrooper. It offers buttery crisps along with crunch almond crisps and ginger tiles. As for the "frosting", think chocolate sauce or a hard shell topping.  I usually finish mine with coconut milk whipped topping.Since I'm creating a chocolate and caramel cake, it will have the extra topping of grated dark chocolate.

Ice cream cakes are a fun summer dessert. They're easy to make and fun to decorate. Create one for that special warm weather barbecue.

A Birthday Treat

It being my brother's birthday today,I decided to do the sisterly thing and make him a cake. (No, not the cookie above, that,s from the splendid Dixie Lee Bakery in Keansburg New Jersey) I had no desire of firing up the oven on a hot summer's day, so I went for the alternative a homemade ice cream cake.

I first bought a small silicone cake mold from Amazon. As for the ice cream my brother is a vegan so I bought Soy Good coconut milk ice cream in chocolate and mocha almond.

Non dairy ice cream doesn't melt as fast as regular dairy base so they were left out for twenty minues.The first layer was mocha. Then was the crunchy chocolate middle.

IT was grinding up Nabisco chocolate wafers

Then add in  a tablespoon of melted margarine e or butter.I went for I Can't Believe It's N not Butter.Mix quickly and spoon over the first layer.I should have given the crumb mix time to cool down.I didn,t.

Next came the chocolate layer and another layer of the crumbs.Again I used about ten crumbled wafers and more spread.It was then placed in the fridge overnight. 

 

The next day it was unmolded.

Hershey Hard Shell was poured over it to give it a glossy icing, then a crown of whipped cream.

This is the cross section.You can see the layers.

The chocolate was harder to work with yet both together worked.

Will I do this again. Yes. This was my recipe.It has to be adjusted and tweaked.

As for the taste - amazingly good!

Getting Gizmoed Up

With Thanksgiving a scant two weeks away and Christmas and Hanukkah close on its' heels it's time to get your kitchen ready for the feasts and frenzies ahead.What helps are the little things. those kitchen gadgets and gizmos that every cook needs for creating the perfect meal. Now is the time to try out the old and get new if you have to.

Thanksgiving calls for all sorts of tricked put equipment. One necessary is a meat thermometer. This will be your best friend on Thanksgiving Day because it will tell you exactly how hot your bird is and when you should take it out of the oven. Also save it for Christmas hams and New Year's carving boards. Another necessary must have are turkey lifters. These are fork like tongs that make hauling the bird from the pan to the platter easier. If you haven't already buy yourself a good kitchen timer. You can get these at everyplace from Target and K-Mart to Williams and Sonoma to Bed Bath and Beyond. They are important in no just timing baked goods but also vegetables and sauces.

Remember that baking also requires a fair amount of helpful gizmos. Thanks to silicon, there are also sorts of cool baking bans that give evenly baked cakes in fun holiday shapes. Also have silicon spatulas too because these are easy to work with and also to clean.I also find that the small thing s like those stones used for pie baking come in handing in creating the perfect pumpkin or pecan pie. One big gadget muss is a combo cookie press and decorator. This helps in creating beautiful spritzes , wreathes and trees along with giving cakes and cookies a professionally done frosting.

With the holidays around the corner it's time to bring out the gizmos. These are handy and important despite their small size . They make the holiday kitchen a much easier and much more fun place to be.