How to be Dignified when Transporting a Meal (aka, without profanity)
Have ya ever had a Dump Cake DUMP itself onto the carpet of your car? First of all, if you don't know what a Dump Cake is, you are truly missing out on a Southern delicacy that will make you cry with joy. Second, I agree--that name "Dump Cake" has GOT to go. It's a terrible, terrible name, that I really hope is not meant to be onomatopoetic.
Now, although Dump Cake in the carpet of a minivan smells heavenly for about an hour, it is a real pain to clean up. I probably should have let my dog jump into the van and lick it all up...because it took a whole roll of paper towels, and about 3 minutes of deep-breathing (and a couple of "dumb bumps in the road" and "stupid cake pan that slides around" muttered under my breath) before gaining the emotional fortitude to start the clean-up. For you Dump Cake novices, let me just tell you its ingredients, so you can imagine the crime scene of that mess: yellow cake mix, an entire cup of butter, and a can of pie filling.
Today's post is dedicated to that Dump Cake...and to any of you who have found yourselves breathing deeply and muttering to the terrible food that has thrown itself onto the floor of your car. Hopefully, these 3 suggestions will help your food behave...as you deliver it to your friend with the cutie pie baby...the dear family who is feeling their way through a devastating funeral week...or just as you race 10 minutes late to your girls' night out party...
1. Transporting Baked Goods - One of the reasons my Dump Cake, you know--dumped--itself all over my car, was because it was sliding all around the back of my van. To fix this, I purchased a roll of non-slip shelf liner (the non-adhesive kind) from Wal-Mart. I cut a generous square of this, and every time I need to transport a baked good, I place the liner onto the carpet of my car, and place the pan on top of it. Voila! Non-slipping, non-dumping baked good! I keep the squares of shelf liner in my cabinet along with my baking dishes--so that when I am ready to transport, I am prepared.
2. Transporting Liquids- A couple of years ago, I was in charge of making a gallon of sweet tea for a party at a friend's, and I kid you not--I stressed over how I was going to transport it for at least a week! Luckily, I did what all stressed women do...we shop! I was browsing the kitchen aisles at Wal-Mart (exotic stress-relief shopping, I know!) when I came across the gallon pitcher with a screw-on lid. I purchased that sweet little item, and my life has never been the same (for the most part). I especially LOVE this pitcher when I need to transport soup. I use my canning funnel (has a wider mouth than a typical funnel) to pour in the soup, and I am good to go! You will see in the picture below that since I am a little bit OCD, I always place a piece of folded-over plastic wrap over the mouth of the pitcher before screwing on the lid. That way, any unfortunate bumps on the road of life will not spill taco soup onto the floor of my car.
3. Loading up and carrying it all??? - If you are anything like me (and I hope for your sake you are not!!!), you are trying to get all of the prepared food loaded up 5 15 minutes later than you had promised to deliver it. How do you load up a pitcher of soup, a pan of rolls (roll of pans?), and a dessert? With the Magical Basket, that's how! I purchased my 6" deep basket with handles at Wal-Mart...but I'm sure you could find them lots of places. I bought one for my mom that was only 3" deep, but had a much larger area for food. I always transport my liquid-filled pitcher in this basket--so that the pitcher doesn't tip over in the car. If the pitcher is the only thing in the basket, I roll towels around it to give it stability. Also, since I do have those slight OCD issues, I always place a towel or two in the bottom of the basket, before loading up with food. I figure just in case some liquid spills, the towels are there to soak it up.
