Just to let everyone know, I am trying to update the blog and catagorize my recipes so you are able to find them easier and not have to go through pages and pages of past recipes. Will let you know when I am through updating!!
Month: August 2010
Raspberry-Limeade Cake
If you are like me, you are just melting away in this heat. All I want is either cold desserts, salads or ice cream for each of my meals. Every day, I think, “hum…..today, I am going to eat a little more healthy” but as the heat rises outside, I grab the first thing I see when I get hungry, which is usually a pie in the fridge, or ice cream or head to Maggianos for their chopped salad and then stop by the Yogurt store for frozen yogurt (with of couse, all the cookies and candy added in). I was sitting down, with a 2007 Paula Deen magazine (you will be so glad I save these old magazines when you make this cake) and the front page recipe featured that time was this cake. Now…in this recipe she makes her own homemade cake, but to simplify the cake because it is too hot to stand in the kitchen too long, I am starting with a Duncan Hines cake mix. It is really a great cake even without the homemade cake part. So get in there and make this cake for the weekend. You will be glad you did. It is so pretty and also so refreshing to eat.
Follow the directions on a Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake mix, but instead of the water, use limeade drink (not carbonated, but actual juice, made from concentrate) for the liquid and 1 tables lime zest. Bake in 3 9″ layers until done and set aside to cool on waxed paper or wire racks.
Raspberry Filling
1 10 oz package frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tables cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1 tables fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
In the work bowl of a food processor or blender, pulse raspberries until smooth. Strain mixture, discarding solids. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add raspberry puree, egg yolks and lemon juice, whisking constantly, for 7 to 8 min or until very thick. Remove from heat; gradually whisk in butter until melted. Cool mixture slightly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Cream Cheese-Limeade Frosting
1 (8 0z) package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter
3 tables frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1 tables lime zest
5 cups powdered sugar
In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Add limeade concentrate and lime zest, beating at low speed until combined. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
Place one cake layer on cake platter. Using 1/2 of the raspberry filling, cover cake layer. Repeat with another cake layer, using the remainder of the filling. Top with the 3rd cake layer. Frost sides and top with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate with fresh raspberries and slices of lime. Keep covered in refrigerator.
1st Low Fat Recipe
I took this off the Jenny Craig web site to make for friends who are trying to loose weight. Try it, it really is very good and…….it is low fat!
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
- 1/3cup reduced-calorie margarine
- 3/4cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/3cup chopped pecans
- 1(15.25oz) can sliced pineapple in juice
- 1/2(18.25oz) package reduced-fat yellow cake mix
- 1/4cup plus 2 tablespoons egg substitute
- 1/3cup water
- 7maraschino cherries with stems
Directions
- Melt margarine in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat. Set aside 1 tablespoon margarine.
- Add sugar and pecans to margarine in skillet, stirring well. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/3 cup juice. Discard remaining juice. Arrange pineapple over sugar mixture.
- Combine reserved 1 tablespoon margarine, 1/3 cup juice, cake mix, egg substitute, and water. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Pour batter over pineapple in skillet.
- Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately invert cake onto a serving platter.
- Place cherries in centers of pineapple rings
Sadie
We did it! We got our new car and her name is Sadie. She is white exterior and black interior and even hands you your seat belt. A very smooth ride, even with me driving. When I called Randy and told him that I had found a car that I liked, and it was white, he couldn’t believe his ears. I had always said that I would never drive a white car. But…..this one just “touched my heart” and I didn’t even consider the black exterior, which I have always loved. OK, does this mean that I am getting old and preparing for my next car, you know the one: The Crown Victoria or Lincoln, beige exterior with beige interior, the one that is always parked outside “Cracker Barrel” that has the handicap sticker on the license plate. Oh my goodness, I hope not. I like to think that I am just “broadening my likes” and not getting older. Just because I hit the big 60 last month, I do not want to find out that that beige car is going to begin to look good to me a few years down the road. So is the new love of “white” just an inch closer to beige? Absolutely not! It is just a complete opposite of what I have had the past few years, and it seems to be a little cooler than the black cars we have always driven, and I won’t have to wash it as often. See……there are logical reasons why the color white tugged at my heart. So get out of my way, I’m hitting the tollway with my foot on the pedal, seeing just how fast I can go through the toll booth in my cute little white sports car…after all, I do have to make it back home in time for “Wheel of Fortune” at 6:30.
Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
This is a wonderful moist breakfast-brunch cake which will serve beautifully on a pretty cake platter. YUH-UH-UM 🙂
1 Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup melted butter
5 large eggs
3 tables light brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Shortening
1 Tables granulated sugar
Buttermilk-Vanilla Glaze
Preheat oven to 350. Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer for about a minute and a half. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.
Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Grease a 12 cup bundt pan with shortening and then sprinkle with the granulated sugar to cover pan. Pour 1/3 of batter into prepared pan; sprinkle brown sugar mixture evenly over batter. Top with remaining batter.
Bake at 350 for about 45 min or until a long wooden pick inserted in center oc cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rach 15 min. Remove from pan and put on serving platter. Cool another 20 min. Drizzle glaze over slightly warm cake.
Buttermilk-Vanilla Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 table melted butter, 1 teas vanilla, 1 to 2 tables buttermilk. Stir together first 3 ingredients and 1 tables buttermilk until smooth, adding additional 1 tables buttermilk if needed for desired pouring consistency over warm cake.
Drop In Guests
OK, I have to admit it, this is one of my most favorite nights. I love it when people call and you ask them to drop in, and they do. It reminds me of “days gone by”. When people took the time to visit, unplanned, and sit and have a piece of pie with you and just visit. This is a treat. Some friends of ours air conditioning is broken and I called them to tell them that I had made a chocolate cream pie with whipped cream that I wanted to bring over. Instead, we decided to ask them over here to eat the pie, since we do (thank you Lord) have air conditioning again (after it was broke last month for a couple of weeks). What a nice surprise to just have them come over, and we will have a great evening. It is the unplanned nights sometimes that end up the best, gotta go and slice the pie, they are driving up……we will save you a piece! Drop on over, we would love to have you.
Having a Baby at a Baby Shower?
This is just too cute not to share. We were having a gathering of relatives to celebrate our daughter, Christi, being pg and due in September. Our grandson, Sevy who is 6 was present and coming and going into the room where we were opening presents. Unbeknownst to him, one of the guest, Leslie, had just had a baby girl a couple of months ago. The baby had fallen asleep on the floor. Sevy, had not seen the baby and when he came back into the room, he looked at the baby on the floor and then at Christi and said, “oh my gosh, when did the baby come out?” We all just lost it. He thought that since this was a baby shower and when he left the room for a few minutes and came back in, Christi had had the baby. It was just the cutest thing. He quickly learned that it was not Christi’s baby and he laughed at himself when he realized the baby belonged to Leslie.
Will be puitting the shower on a Smilebox for everyone to enjoy!
Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake
1 Duncan Hines Devils food cake mix, prepared and baked according to directions on box (making 2 layers)
Glaze
4 squares Baker’s Semi-Sweet Baking chocolate
1/4 cup butter, cut up
Filling
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups thawed cool whip Whipped topping
12 Oreo Chocolate Sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed
Cool cake layers after baking.
For glaze: melt chocolate in small microwave bowl for 1 to 2 min or until chocolate is melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Blend in butter. Set aside to slighly thicken (about 5 min)
Filling:
Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Gently stir in Cool Whip and crushed cookies. Place 1 layer of the cake on a serving plate. Spread top of cake layer with the cream cheese mixture. Place remaining cake layer on top. Spoon glaze to cover the top of cake. Makes 16 servings. Store in fridge, covered, if not serving immediately.
Citrus Crunch Chicken
1 medium each: lemon, lime and orange
1 pouch Shake and Bake Original Seasoning
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Preheat oven to 500. Grate peel from half of each of the fruits. Combine with the contents of the coating mix. Cover chicken evenly with the mixture following directions on package.
Cut fruit into thin slices. Arrange with slices slightly overlapping on bottom of foil-lined 13 x 9 baking pan which you have greased. Top with chicken.
Bake for 30 min or until chicken is done. Serve with the fruit slices with rice and fresh green beans.
*You can also microwave about 1/2 orange marmelade and sprinkle contents over chicken before serving over rice.
Sizzling Sunday
It is just so hot outside, 103 degrees and just standing outside getting groceries out of the trunk made me feel like my feet were getting sunburn. So am staying indoors and cooking. We are having a little baby shower and luncheon for Christi on Tues, which gives me an opportunity to bake and cook and have people over, which is a favorite pasttime. The menu of the day will be spinach salad, chicken salad sandwiches and fruit salad, with cucumber sandwiches, dark chocolate truffles and of course the precious centerpiece of the baby shower cake. It is just so exciting to plan these little get togethers and see how the young moms react to the gifts which they receive. Christi and Tim, we are thrilled for you both to be the recipients of God’s greatest treasure and blessing to your lives. It will be exciting to see the precious little girl grow up and Iwant you both to know that your dad and I will commit to praying for this child, each and every day, as we do our other grandchildren. It will be awesome to see what God is going to do in her life. Begin today to pray for the Godly man that she will marry. Enjoy each moment, every day will be a lesson, every day will be different, but every day will be a memory, so laugh at your mistakes, laugh at her mistakes and use each opportunity to teach her about her Heavenly Father who will be directing her life. Our love goes with you when you go back to Florida next week. We cannot wait to lay our eyes on this precious new baby. We will be so honored to be called, Honey Nonnie and Pops and we will be praying that we will always be the grandparents that God intends. We love you both and cannot wait for the moment that this baby comes into the world……..it will be a moment which you will never forget.
Chocolate Castles 