Happy Rosh Hashanah

To celebrate Rosh Hashanah today, I plan to bake challah bread this weekend. Makes sense? In my mind it does...

Chipmunk Cheeks

Ryan and I are a collective mess. In addition to my own problems, which I've already complained about extensively, Ryan was elbowed on the side of the head during an intense soccer game on Sunday and his whole temple and left cheek is ridiculously swollen. He looks like a mutant chipmunk. It would be quite cute if it wasn't so sad watching him struggle to chew.

News from the cake bakery is that they can do the first design, hooray! I think we'll copy it exactly but have dark green stripes and use fresh orange flowers. Perhaps ranunculus? I think I'll stop by that wholesale flower shop on Friday and check out the goods. If possible, I'd rather buy locally to avoid the headache of having flowers shipped from out of town. I feel like too many things could go wrong in the second scenario.

For dinner tonight, I concocted a teriyaki sauce out of some soy sauce, water, honey, sugar, ginger powder, garlic powder, and cornstarch. I baked salmon and stir fried some bok choy, garlic, red onion, and mushrooms as a side. So easy and so tasty.



So I've secretly been watching The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo. It's such a guilty pleasure. The personalities are obnoxiously endearing and the fashions leave me drooling for more. Yes, I force poor Ryan to sit through an hour of frivolous consumerism but I figure it's the least he can do for making me watch hours of soccer. Speaking of frivolity, I felt so sorry for myself after my allergic attacks that I bought a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag that I've been eyeing. Ridiculous right? It's as if I haven't notice my stock portfolio tanking these last few days. Damn you AAPL!!! I promise this is my last shopping purchase before the wedding...



Ok I know I'm jumping topics a lot but on to the debates...I thought Obama came out the winner on this one. He was clear and detailed in his answers and countered his opponent's attacks in a direct and effective manner. McCain however, almost never addressed Obama's attacks, preferring instead to launch into irrelevant stories from the past (possibly to emphasize his experience) and to market himself by using tired buzz words like "maverick". I found McCain's indirectness very aggravating and his tendency to begin responses with "what Senator Obama doesn't understand is..." to be very patronizing and passive aggressive. Since this debate was considered to be Obama's achilles heel, I can only hope Obama will pull out ahead by a landslide in the next two debates. I can't wait until the VP debates this Thurs where I anticipate Palin to tank like my stocks. Hopefully, Biden will know when to zip it and won't ruin his huge advantage - that advantage being he's not a vapid shell of a politician like Palin.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get back into running. Must build up my base mileage before I can start training!

Happenings

In addition to burning myself on Mon, I broke out in a strange allergic reaction on both Thurs and Fri night. There I was, merrily eating my Pizza Hut dinner on Thurs night, when my top lip started painfully itching and swelling. After an hour or so my top lip and left cheek had ballooned to epic proportions, making me look like I was either recovering from severe reconstructive surgery or like I had been beaten repeatedly in the mouth with a bat. Absolutely puzzled by the cause, all I could do was take two Benadryl and go to bed feeling quite sorry for myself. The next morning, my mouth was still pretty swollen so I worked from home in the morning. As the day wore on, I started looking more normal so I went to work in the afternoon and by the time I got home at 5:30pm, I was happily back to normal. Unfortunately, after eating dinner and watching the presidential debate (more to come on that) on Friday night, I noticed an itching sensation on my bottom lip this time. Uh oh. The whole thing happened again on my bottom lip!! Again, I took two Benadryl and moped to bed.

After some research online and a lot of speculation, I think I had angioedema. Sadly, I suspect it was from kissing the cats. In the past, I have broken out in mild hives around my mouth after some affectionate cat kissing so it's possible my reaction is getting worse? I vaguely remember kissing Henry on Thurs and then kissing Fred on Fri. I'm determined not to kiss any cats tonight to see if that was the cause. More to come on this experiment later.

In addition to my immune system running amok, my teeth have been rebelling as well - although that is to be expected given my track record. I had two cavities filled on Wed, one of which was very deep and close to the nerve. The dentist, who is accustomed to my squeals of pain, gave me a lot of anesthetic and I thankfully didn't feel a thing. However, he warned that if I feel pain afterwards, I might need a root canal. Like hell! I refuse to have two root canals in one year. I will just chew on the other side.

On the wedding front, I had my second dress fitting on Thurs. The tailor took in the waist and created a bustle. I brought in the shoes I plan to wear so we could finalize the hem length, but other than that everything fit perfectly. The lady at the bridal salon even directed me to the Orlane counter where they signed me up for a free facial. Whoo hoo!

Earlier this afternon, Ryan and I went to Cake, a little bakery in Mission Hills, for our cake tasting. We tried four different cakes - an almond cake with berries, a macademia cake with berries, a chocolate mousse cake and a banana truffle cake. After tasting all the different components, we came up with our own combo - dark chocolate cake with a bittersweet chocolate mousse and dark chocolate truffle layer and a raspberry fruit layer, frosted with vanilla buttercream. Mmmm can't wait! Now we need to look at some design ideas. Here are a few I like.

Burn Victim

In a freak accident, primarily caused by my absent-mindedness, I suffered a very painful second degree burn last night. How do I know it's a second degree burn? Well, googling has revealed that first degree burns do not blister while second degrees burns do. And boy is my hand blistered. So, the story I'm telling people is that I burned myself on the top rack of my oven. The real story is that I overheated some at-home wax and it spilled all over my hand when I stirred it too vigorously. Stupid. Why I'm posting this, I'm not sure. It's like I'm trying to share my own fascination with the grotesqueness of this injury. Luckily the pain has subsided quite a bit so I was able to do yoga today. I've also drained the fluid so it looks less freaky now.

Chocolate Chip Scones

The new mixer has inspired Ryan and I to go hog wild with baking! This is a recipe that has been on heavy rotation ever since I found it on Food Network. It was actually a blueberry scone (with lemon glaze) but I just substituted chooclate chips for a more dessert-like treat.

Chocolate Chip Scones
Courtesy of Tyler Florence

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones
1 cup chocolate chips (or substitute 1 cup blueberries)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool.

Yield: 8 scones

Pizza Pizza

As promised, I made homemade pizza this afternoon. I used a whole wheat pizza dough recipe from Cooking Light and a pizza sauce recipe from AllRecipes.com. With the help of my mixer, it was a simple affair. I'll admit I should have splurged at Whole Foods and gotten fresh mozzarella, but alas I opted for shredded skim mozzarella. Not as delicious as it could have been, but still mighty tasty.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (100° to 110°)
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, wheat flour, oil, and salt; stir until well blended. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Divide in half; roll each dough half into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface.

Note: To freeze, follow directions for kneading dough and shape into 2 balls. Coat with cooking spray and place in freezer in a zip-top plastic bag. To use them, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85º), free from drafts, 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Shape as instructed.

Pizza Sauce
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground paprika

In a medium bowl, Mix together tomato sauce and tomato paste until smooth. Stir in oregano, garlic and paprika.

Wedding Update

I mailed out the invitations today! I even got some cute sunflower stamps from the post office and some cute fern seals from Michael's. Slowly but surely, we're checking things off our to-do list...

Next week:
- Dress fitting #2
- Cake tasting

Ok that's not much of an update, but I guess if you're not privy to my numerous spreadsheets, then I don't care to go into more detail. A couple random thoughts: I am thinking of making my own edible wedding favors. Truffles immediately came to mind but were quickly replaced by fudge as the top contender for delicious and easy to make treats. I'll probably test out a recipe in the next couple of weeks.

I'm also sad to report that I've been having wedding nightmares of late. The nightmares typically follow the same plot line. It's my wedding day. I'm in my dress ready to walk down the aisle, but wait where's the photographer? Oh yes, I never told her what time to show up. What about the vows? Oh right, I forgot to write them. It slowly dawns on me that I've forgotten key components of my wedding. With sad sinking disappointment, I walk down the aisle hoping to wing it once I'm up at the top. Then I wake up. This scene typically varies but that's the general gist. What's wrong with me?

In less stressful news, Ann got us a Kitchen Aid mixer! Yaaaaaaaay. I've wanted one for forever. Can't wait to use it. I think I'll break it in by baking some bread this weekend. Mmmmm carbs...

Fred Likes to Sleep

Chicken with Green Olives

Dinner tonight was a lazy man's chicken stew served over couscous. This is one of my favorite go-to recipes because it's quick, simple, and requires few fresh ingredients. Plus, I love couscous.

Chicken with Green Olives
Courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), skinned
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
Dash of ground red pepper
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup pitted green olives
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups hot cooked couscous

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add chicken to pan; cook 10 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan; reduce heat to medium.

Add 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, onion, and the next 8 ingredients (onion through bay leaf); cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth; bring to a boil. Return chicken to pan, and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Discard cinnamon and bay leaf.

While chicken cooks, place olives in a small saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; drain. Repeat procedure. Add olives and juice to chicken mixture; sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over couscous.

Yields 4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs, 1/2 cup sauce, and 3/4 cup couscous)

Coconut Ice Cream

Motivated by Monkey's domesticality, I decided to tackle some recipes that have been waiting in the wings for far too long. First up - homemade coconut ice cream!

Armed with my Cuisinart (originally received as a 21st birthday present from Ann and Parisa), I set about making the custard and toasting the coconuts flakes. There are some who maybe be dismayed by the amount of cream that goes into this recipe, but not I. I persisted as only a true lover of sweets would persist.



I refrigerated the custard overnight and dashed home after work to freeze the mix. The ice cream was still pretty soft after processing but after a few hours in the freezer, it's perfect. So rich and creamy, and the toasted flakes add such a nice chewy texture. I can't wait to try a sorbet next (much friendlier on the waistline).



Coconut Ice Cream
Courtesy of The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup half-and-half
1.5 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread coconut on baking sheet lined with foil. Place in hot oven 5 to 7 min, or until light brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

Combine the half-and-half with the coconut milk in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over med heat. Remove from heat and slowly beat hot liquid into eggs and sugar. Pour mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with whisk or wooden spoon until custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from heat and pour hot custard into strainer into large clean bowl. Allow custard to cool slightly, then stir in toasted coconut, cream, and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Freeze according to ice cream machine instructions. When finished, ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to container and freeze at least 2 hours.

Nighttime Cooking

It's two in the morning and my sister is busy making beef stew...I guess that's what happens when you take monster naps in the afternoon...

City of Brotherly Mug

At the moment, I'm parked on Monkey's couch basking in the A/C after returning from an indugent sushi dinner. Philly has proved to be as muggy as I expected for early fall. We've been trying to limit our trips to must-do errands and must-eat meals, and boy has there been plenty of both.

I arrived after midnight on Thurs and was thankfully picked up in style via Philly Ride Share, chauffered by Ferret and navigated (maybe) by Monkey. As promised, Monkey had some Indian food from Minar Palace waiting at home so I gorged myself on lamb vindaloo and some paneer dish before going to bed.

On Friday, we were on a mission to find Monkey a bridesmaid dress! Unfortunately, our online research revealed the sad truth that inner city Philly is home to little respectable shopping. The only department store was Macy's and we knew of few boutiques to try. Laughably, Monkey suggested Daffy's, saying she'd heard it was similar to Century 21 and might be worth checking out. Well, it wasn't. I've never seen such a ghetto department store. Within minutes, I knew we would be walking away empty handed. We escaped quickly to jcrew and banana republic to see if they had any long dresses, but the stops yielded nothing. Our last hope rested with Nicole Miller which thankfully had a store in the city. JACKPOT. We found a beautiful long chiffon dress with spaghetti straps in a pleasing fern color that looked perfect on Monkey. I'm confident it'll match my wedding dress well.



Basking in the euphoria of a successful find (ok I was doing the basking, not Monkey), we stopped by a Dick Blick store that recently opened and brainstormed some ideas for making menus and place cards. It's a bit early to actually make anything but it was fun to look around. By that time, we were pretty hungry so we ate at one of Monkey's favorite restaurants, a Malaysian restaurant called Banana Leaf. We ordered a peanut satay appetizer, a seafood fried noodle, and a beef curry with rice. Delicious. The rest of the day was spent chatting, eating leftovers, and wedding planning. We managed to address all the invitations and Monkey made a burnt sugar cake.

Today, we woke up late and trekked over to Trader Joe's for some groceries. Having been so productive yesterday, we took it easy today, putzing around the house. In the late afternoon, I did a bit of yoga while Monkey took a nap. And finally for dinner we went to a local sushi joint to celebrate Monkey's 28th birthday. That pretty much puts us at present with my sister enthusiastically kneading bread dough (where does she get the energy?), Tony the Cat wandering aimlessly, and myself blogging while watching Pretty Woman on TBS. I hear the plan later is to go over to Ferret's place and play Settlers of Catan.

I love doing nothing with my sister. I wish she lived next door to me, or at least in the same city, or I'll even take the same state at this point. Hopefully she'll find a good post-doc in CA when she graduates.

Quote of the weekend:
"If someone's gonna give me a hogie, I'll eat it." -Monkey

In other news, the wedding planning has been progressing well. I had a design meeting with Sophie where we gathered a bunch of different flowers and hashed out bouquet and centerpiece ideas. I'm confident we can come up with beautiful floral arrangements and decorations. The question is, can we do it within budget? I did find a wholesale flower place in San Diego and will try to visit them next weekend to scope out the quality. Here's a sample bouquet Sophie made that I think is beautiful. I'm trying to convince her to eventually become a florist.



Aside from decor planning, Ryan and I did some cake research last weekend by stopping by Extraordinary Desserts and sampling the Viking and some other white chocolate cake. The Viking was ridiculously rich and to die for. However, the consultation is $100 bucks so I think we're going to try one other place first before we give ED a try. The catering manager at Estancia recommended a bakery in Mission Hills called Cake, which apparently has free tasting! We're scheduled to sample some tasty treats on the 27th. I'm also scheduled for my second dress fitting on the 25th. I guess with everything moving like clockwork, it's time Ryan and I sit down and actually plan the different components of the ceremony, i.e. readings, vows, etc. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff but that's the latest and greatest I can think of.

Stuff

So much to blog about...so little time. The past week has been filled with wedding planning. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to post more details when I'm in Philly this weekend visiting Alice for her bday. Stay tuned!

Rather Disgusted

Ryan and I just watched Sarah Palin's acceptance speech, and I must say, I found it all rather disgusting. I've never heard the woman speak before so I was willing to give her a chance (even though I'm a staunch Obama supporter) and within a few minutes I was wildly irritated by her persona and attitude.

Palin started off by introducing her family and herself, going into all sorts of unnecessary and irrelevant personal details - all of which left me wondering, why is she telling us this? Why is she exploiting her poor down syndrome son and her other enlisted son? How does any of this make you qualified to be Vice President??

Next, she launched into wild vague statements about bringing the people's interest to the White House and putting the country first. Ok...a little more information? How are you planning on doing this? Hoping for more, I listened to her discuss her political background, beginning with her role in the PTA and as a "hockey mum" (uh) and rising up to be Governor. I applaud her success in the political arena of Alaska, but I couldn't help thinking, dear God I do not want this woman as President if something happens to McCain.

Then, the bashing began. Palin started taking lots of unclassy digs at Obama, making sarcastic remarks like "oh when he finishes parting the sea", playing up to the ridiculous celebrity accusations, yadda yadda. What?? I expected these attacks but honestly the manner in which she made the attacks was undignified and trashy. It actually reminded me of Bush's attitude when he makes smug empty comments and looks around for validation like an idiot. I was gritting my teeth so hard. At least when Obama attacks McCain, it's always in a respectful and dignified manner. Palin was mocking Obama like a gossipy housewife. It really made me lose respect for her.

Looking at the substance of what she said, I was equally horrified. She wants to start digging in Alaska right away. She wants to veto everything (huh??). She wants to pick a fight with Russia. She thinks we're close to victory in Irag (huh????). Add the fact that she doesn't believe in global warming and I think its safe to say that this woman is insane. Enough said. I'll be very interested to see how she holds up in debates.

Labor Day Semi-Cookout

On Labor Day, we invited Ryan's family over for a semi cookout. It was originally intended to be a true cookout until we realized how dirty our grill was and how lazy we were feeling that day. Ryan's parents brought lots of grillers, veggie hot dogs, and tasty potato salads from Whole Foods while I made the following pasta salad from a recent issue of Bon Appetit. I ended up using a little more than half the goat cheese called for and i thought that was plenty. Easy, simple side. For dessert, we chowed down on German Chocolate Cake.

Orzo with Garbanzo Beans, Goat Cheese, and Oregano
Courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine

1 1/2 cups orzo (about 9 ounces)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 15- to 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed, drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
15-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)

Cook orzo in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally. Drain orzo.

Whisk olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and minced garlic to blend in large serving bowl. Add drained garbanzo beans, cooked orzo, and chopped fresh oregano; toss salad to coat. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in crumbled goat cheese. Serve orzo salad warm or at room temperature.



Loveable Henry:

German Chocolate Cake

The past few weeks, Ryan has been clamouring for one of his all time favorite desserts: German Chocolate Cake. Being the good fiance that he is, Ryan typically eats whatever I put in front of him - unless it's fresh tomatoes, that stubborn bum - so it was rare for him to suggest a dish with such gusto. How could I deny him? Though I wasn't particularly excited about making this cake, having not had German Chocolate Cake often and being slightly unsure about what it was suppose to taste like, a promise was a promise. After my yoga class on Sunday, I picked up the ingredients from Vons and set about baking up a storm.

The cake was a bit tedious to make, but nothing too time consuming. I just hate whipping up egg whites for some reason. When I took the cakes out of the oven, I took my customary nibble and instantly thought they were a bit dry. Oh no! Potential failed recipe?? I tried to hold judgement but it was with a glum heart that I began making the filling.



Even though the filling looked slightly porridge-y and unappetizing, it tasted heavenly. It tasted like pecan pie filling with coconuts. As many of the reviewers advised, I toasted the cocunuts and pecans to enhance the flavor. The mixture remained thin for a while but really thickened up at ~10 min. Once it was cooled, I set about assembling my cake. Sadly, the third cake pan I had was slightly smaller than the other two so the top layer was rather stunted. Over all it still looked quite nice once I drizzled some melted chocolate on top (omitted shortening).



Naturally, Ryan and I dug in soon after I took the final picture. To my surprise, the final product wasn't dry at all. Everything about it from the flavor to the texture was absolutely delicious. Perfect with a glass of milk. We ended up serving it the next day when Ryan's family came over for a cookout (post pending) and it was even better the next day! This is highly recommended for a crowd pleaser and I'd suggest making it the day before for optimal wow factor.

German Chocolate Cake
Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

1/2 cup water
4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites

1 cup white sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon shortening
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat water and 4 ounces chocolate until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.

Pour into 3 - 9 inch pans Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack.

To make the Filling: In a saucepan combine 1 cup sugar, evaporated milk, 1/2 cup butter, and 3 egg yolks. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until thick enough to spread.

Spread filling between layers and on top of cake. In a small saucepan, melt shortening and 1 ounce of chocolate. Stir until smooth and drizzle down the sides of the cake.