All of us are quite familiar with the number of ads that come across our social media feeds. The data collection is so well-honed, the programs think they know us better than we know ourselves at times. Targeted ads are helpful, and hindering as well since we don’t often get introduced to something outside our usual comfort zones.
On my Facebook feed, surprise of surprise, I get a lot of cooking/baking ads that pop-up. Most are not worth pursuing, and I am very selective in what I click as I don’t want to line Zuckerburg’s wallet anymore than I must. One such ad I did click was for Chefclub.
Ads for Chefclub kept popping up. The videos were intriguing. Each seemed easy enough to make. Most looked like they would taste fairly good. When one of the ads showed their cookbook, I decided to order one to give it a go.
When the cookbook arrived, I began to thumb through it as I do all my new cookbooks. One recipe caught my eye and I had to keep coming back to it over and over. It was a recipe for Cannelloni Cake. I’ve not seen anything like it before, which is why I kept coming back to it.
Who knew finding the main ingredient, Cannelloni noodles, would be so hard to find! Kroger doesn’t have it. Target doesn’t have it. Fresh Thyme doesn’t have it. I finally had to find the noodles on a specialty food site on the Internet.
After several weeks of having plans to make the Cannelloni Cake for Sunday dinner, I was able to make it this past Sunday. The recipe itself is pretty easy. The making of it, not so easy.
With any new recipe there can be challenges. This recipe’s challenges were getting the noodles to just the right level of doneness, to get them to stand on end, and finally stuff them with the meat filling.
The end product didn’t look as pretty as the picture in the cookbook. Learned what works, and what doesn’t. Next time it will look better, but at least the taste was on point.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 