When several family members began to ask me what I wanted for my birthday cake, and after thinking about how long it had been since I had made my favorite cake, I told them that I wanted to make a Tuxedo cake. The recipe is in one of my fav recipe books called The Pastry Queen, given to me by a dear friend years ago. So finally today I made it! Because it is a 3 layer cake, it would last Randy and I probably until we go into a nursing home before we could eat it all! It is one of those cakes that needs to be made when you have a lot of friends/family around to help you eat it. And trust me, when they have a slice, it will not last long. It is made with two layers of chocolate cake and one layer of vanilla cake wedged between the chocolate layers! Chocolate frosting adorns (doesn’t that make it sound so fancy when you use that word?) between the 3 layers and then, frost the entire cake with buttercream frosting….but wait….your still not through! A layer of chocolate ganache, made from heavy whipping cream and semi sweet chocolate chips is poured over the top! And there you have it! A beautiful Tuxedo cake! Today I just used Duncan Hines chocolate fudge cake mix and a DH white cake mix! Used my fav chocolate buttercream for the inside and a white frosting for the outside. The ganache is 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 heavy whipping cream, 1 teas vanilla!

Ganache: heat the creme until it bubbles around the sides in a heavy saucepan. Pour over the chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. When ganache is no longer warm pour over the top of frosted cake!

Recipes for frosting are in blog in search bar, type in Tuxedo cake on Chocolatecastles.com.

Today is my birthday! Seventy Two years of life, each year a little different from the last. Actually this year had me think of something I had never truly thought of before. Because of Roe vs Wade, things that have never entered my mind became so clear that I felt the need to share. As most of you know, I have shared before that my mom was a lady who had trouble being happy! She spent so much of her later life with depression and ultimately dementia! Not really knowing what all went on with her early years, I can only speculate on what she felt or what her real thoughts were. I do know she did love the Lord and tried to live for others, as she did so much for friends/family! But it was at home that she struggled. Behind closed doors as they say, she seemed to allow the “real” her to be seen that the outside world, for the most part, never saw. I spent many years truly never honoring her because of this. But as I have aged into these “golden years” , so many memories have come to mind! As i stated above, Roe vs Wade caused me to think of my mom! She became pregnant with me in 1949. The father, Gene Gipson, was in the Navy and stationed in San Diego, CA, where my mom had gone to live after working in San Francisco. Before my mom, Hope, could tell him she was PG with me, she found out he also was being named by a lady as the father of her unborn child. Mother moved back to Ardmore, OK and choose to keep me! Thinking back of what it must have been like for her, a single mom back in 1949-50, one can only im again! Back then, no one was walking around proud to be carrying a child out of wedlock, or bragging about it! I’m sure people looked at her, with contempt and scorn! The easy way out for her would have been abortion! She never talked about what her friends or family said or how they treated her, but I’m sure it was not an easy road to walk. When I was 8 months old, she married a man who loved me as his own! Several times they tried to have another child but was unable to do so! She lost two other babies so I was an only child! What a unselfish gift she gave to me…life! It is because she made the hard choice to keep me that I am here today! So Mother, for the many times, I did not honor you or rebelled against you, forgive me! I pray that I will live for however many years the Lord gives me, with a grateful heart for your unselfish and sacrificial love that you had for me! May I celebrate you today and give thanks for a mom who choose Life for her unborn child! Thanks be to God Almighty!

This morning we happened to look out front to see a neighbor we had not seen before. Especially in this heat when everyone is staying indoors, I got excited to see a lady sitting outside on her porch reading what looked like her Bible. I told Randy that I had to go take her a cake and introduce myself! Immediately I got up to see what I had in the pantry! And there it was…a Duncan Hines Pineapple Cake Mix. Not having sliced pineapple or maraschino cherries, I remembered what Brenda Gantt is always saying “use what you have”! So I did. I got the can of crushed pineapple out and the candied cherries that I still had from making a different cake and began to tweak it to make individual cakes. This recipe made 5. It is always so great to be able to use the paper baking pans so it makes it easy to give away and look pretty all at the same time. Adapting the recipe to allow it to use what I had this is what I did:

1 box of Duncan Hines Pineapple cake mix

4 eggs at room temperature

1 cup of water (I drained the 20 Oz can of crushed pineapple and was able to get a cup of liquid so I used that in place of water)

1/3 cup oil

1 small package of French vanilla instant pudding

1 stick butter, melted

20 oz can of crushed pineapple

1 cup light brown sugar

15 candied cherries, cut in half

Combine cake mix. 4 eggs, oil, dry pudding mix and water (or juice) Beat with mixer 2 min and no lumps remain!

Melt the 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick). Pour about 2-3 tablespoons in bottom of each baking pan. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar over butter. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of crushed pineapple over the sugar and place about 4-6 cherry half’s over that. Using an ice cream scoop (Pioneer Woman makes a great one for $9.00). Place about 2 scoops of batter over the pineapple mixture and bake about 15-17 min or until cake tests done! Cool and top with pineapple glaze if desired.

Glaze:

Using remainder of pineapple and its juice, add any left over melted butter you had from the 1/2 melted. I added 2 cups of powdered sugar and stirring until powdered sugar is dissolved. When cake is cooled about 30 min, pour some of the glaze over the top!

Pineapple Glaze

This morning we happened to look out front to see a neighbor we had not seen before. Especially in this heat when everyone is staying indoors, I got excited to see a lady sitting outside on her porch reading what looked like her Bible. I told Randy that I had to go take her a cake and introduce myself! Immediately I got up to see what I had in the pantry! And there it was…a Duncan Hines Pineapple Cake Mix. Not having sliced pineapple or maraschino cherries, I remembered what Brenda Gantt is always saying “use what you have”! So I did. I got the can of crushed pineapple out and the candied cherries that I still had from making a different cake and began to tweak it to make individual cakes. This recipe made 5. It is always so great to be able to use the paper baking pans so it makes it easy to give away and look pretty all at the same time. Adapting the recipe to allow it to use what I had this is what I did:

1 box of Duncan Hines Pineapple cake mix

4 eggs at room temperature

1 cup of water (I drained the 20 Oz can of crushed pineapple and was able to get a cup of liquid so I used that in place of water)

1/3 cup oil

1 small package of French vanilla instant pudding

1 stick butter, melted

20 oz can of crushed pineapple

1 cup light brown sugar

15 candied cherries, cut in half

Combine cake mix. 4 eggs, oil, dry pudding mix and water (or juice) Beat with mixer 2 min and no lumps remain!

Melt the 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick). Pour about 2-3 tablespoons in bottom of each baking pan. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar over butter. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of crushed pineapple over the sugar and place about 4-6 cherry half’s over that. Using an ice cream scoop (Pioneer Woman makes a great one for $9.00). Place about 2 scoops of batter over the pineapple mixture and bake about 15-17 min or until cake tests done! Cool and top with pineapple glaze if desired.

Glaze:

Using remainder of pineapple and its juice, add any left over melted butter you had from the 1/2 melted. I added 2 cups of powdered sugar and stirring until powdered sugar is dissolved. When cake is cooled about 30 min, pour some of the glaze over the top!

Pineapple Glaze

I love serving fried chicken when we have a Southern meal to family and friends, but I don’t like standing over a hot stove frying the chicken at the last min! One evening when we were having friends over for dinner, we weren’t sure what exact time they would get here due to their grandchild’s event! So because of that I came up with frying the chicken a couple hours before we expected them and made gravy to pour over the chicken pieces. Baked it in the oven for about 20-30 min in preheated 300 degrees until gravy was bubbling! This time I added something that I hope will make it a true southern dish….1/2 stick of melted butter over the chicken before pouring the gravy over the top! Paula Deen, you would be right at home serving this! Serving this alongside a new potato casserole (a friend is bringing) a green salad (another friend is bringing), deviled eggs, green beans with bacon, Corn muffins, Sister Schubert rolls, and ending the meal with pecan pie and chocolate cream pie with whipped cream! Heart Dr is on speed dial!

4 chicken boneless chicken breasts, cup up and soak in buttermilk

1 egg, beaten

After u have soaked the chicken pieces, remove to a piece of waxed paper. Add the beaten egg to the buttermilk in the bowl

Dip each piece in the buttermilk mixture then the flour mixture. Fry in hot oil until all chicken has been fried.

Place in a greased baking dish and distribute the melted butter evenly, trying to get each piece a little bit of the butter. If u have too much chicken for that amount of butter, just melt more butter to make sure each piece has a little taste. After all, what is a southern meal without butter?

2 packages of Pioneer Gravy Mix

1/2 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter

Needed to take some cupcakes to a party tonight, I knew we were already having lemon squares, chocolate chip cookies, cream cheese brownies, so I thought maybe we needed something not chocolate. After thinking about what to take, I decided to make something I had never made before. The vanilla cupcakes have raspberry jam in the middle of the cupcake that was flavored with almond extract. The frosting was made with cream cheese, dried strawberry powder and topped with a raspberry! Such a perfect summer cupcake!

Cupcakes

Box of Duncan Hines White cake mix. Follow directions on box but use milk instead of water. I added 2 teas almond extract to batter. Pour cupcake liner almost 1/2 full. Put about 1/2 teas raspberry preserves/jam in center of batter then cover the jam with about a teaspoon of more cake batter. Bake u til cupcakes test done. Do not over bake. You don’t want a dry cupcake.

Frosting

After cupcake is completely cooled frost each one with frosting and top with sprinkles or a raspberry or a strawberry!

1 box of powdered sugar (3 1/2 cups).

1 stick of butter room temperature

1 8 oz softened cream cheese

1 oz package of freeze dried strawberries you have processed to become a fine powder

1 teas vanilla

Enough milk or cream to get frosting to a spreading consistency (about 1/4 cup, more or less)

Beat all ingredients until smooth. You will want to add milk gradually as to not get to thin!

When we lived in Pasadena, Ca 2010-2014, we would drive out to Camrillo, CA where Randy would drop me off at the huge Outlet center while he went to that office to work. Then when he got the notice that his credit card was at the limit, he would leave the office and drive to pick me up for us to go have dinner before driving back to Pasadena! That way we missed all the 5:00 traffic and we came home full as a tick!(Actually how full can a tick be). Maybe the more accurate phrase would be, we were stuffed as a pig; as we had found a great little Mexican food place that someone had told us about. It was there that I had my first Albondigas! Where had this been all my life? I feel in love with it. Because they had a chip and salsa bar and this amazing soup, I feasted on just that. Chips and soup!!! While looking through an old cookbook from 1993 last night there it was. A recipe for that great soup. So because my birthday is coming up next month, I am being extra nice, so thought I would share it! Here it is! Enjoy!

Made some strawberry cupcakes since a dear friend had requested that flavor when I had told her I wanted to bake something for her this weekend. Because it was her grandsons bday and that was his favorite flavor, strawberry cupcakes it was! When I went to look up different strawberry frostings, I found one that used freeze dried strawberries instead of strawberry jam to make the frosting! I tried it and loved it. The jam, I had used in the past always seemed to add a little too much sweetness, since you already had so much sweet from the powdered sugar! So this was exactly what it needed. Also I ended up adding about 1 healing teaspoon of dry strawberry jello before beating to add some extra flavor and color.

4 cups of powdered sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temp

1 heaping teas dry strawberry jello

1/3 cup crisco shortening

1 (1.2 oz) package of freeze dried strawberries (ground to a fine powder in food processor)

Whipping cream or half n half to get to spreading consistency

1 teas vanilla extract

Cream butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add rest of ingredients and beat until smooth! Add whipping cream or half n half gradually until frosting is easy to spread !

This morning in my quiet time with the Lord, I was reading 1 Chronicles 23-25. Granted, this is not the most easy read, with lists of names and their duties, but after learning to use Bible Recap at night before we turn in, she gives a recap of what we are suppose to have already read before listening to the recap! Today it was the above mentioned scripture! Knowing several of my friends are in a new season of service and some of us (probably mostly me), struggling with wondering if we are fulfilling the reason God keeps us here, this scripture stood out to me! Not the list of names per se, but this;

. Beginning inverse 25 “for David, said, “the Lord the God of Israel has given us peace and he will always live in Jerusalem . “

“Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and its utensils from place to place. It was according to David’s final instructions that all the Levi’s 20 years older older were registered for service.“…… They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the Lord on Sabbath days at new moon celebrations and at all the appointed festivals. The proper number of Levites served in the Lord’s presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given.

For some reason that really stood out to me! Were they comfortable with the change and how did they feel about it? Did they wonder what in the world it would be like now that their new responsibilities were going to be so different? They no longer had to carry the Tabernacle from place to place! Would they feel like they were still being used? We’re they still fulfilling Gods call in their lives? Sometimes, if you are like me, you assume that all the characters in the Bible were so holy and righteous that we could never identify with them! But God used people who were willing and obedient! If He called them to serve, He equipped them for His service and glory! And He has promised that to you and I as well! Yes, our seasons of life changes. And with that come changes in our service! At the end of chapter 23 it says. “And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levite’s watched over the Tabernacle, and the temple, and FAITHFULLY carried out THEIR duties of service at the house of the Lord! Lord, may You find me faithful to carry out my duties of service, no matter my season, no matter what my circumstance. That I will be willing to accept changes, different aspects of serving and giving You my best!

A friend of mine shared this with me a couple of weeks ago! A friend of hers had made it and brought some to her and she had saved me a piece! I fell in love with it! I didn’t have the recipe of hers but came home and found this one online and decided I had to try to make it. Since it was a rather rainy and cooler day today, it made perfect sense to be in the kitchen and try something new! It paid off! It is so buttery with a hint of rosemary that just is addicting! Why have I never made shortbread before? It was so easy and is such a great little “English” bite to get us in the mood to go see the new Downton Abby movie! Might even sneak some in my purse to go watch it Monday! Well, that and my bag of M&M’s. A movie isn’t a movie without M&Ms and popcorn and Diet Coke…..and now, shortbread! Will have to make some with toffee bits next time!

2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup granulated sugar
tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into
1-inch chunks
1 to 2 teaspoons honey

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor,
pulse together flour, sugar, rosemary and salt. Add
butter, and honey if desired, and pulse to fine
crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some
crumbs start to come together, but don’t
overprocess. Dough should not be smooth.
Step 2
Press dough into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch-
square baking pan or 9-inch pie pan. Prick dough
all over with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to
40 minutes for 9-inch pan, 45 to 50 minutes for
8-inch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into
squares, bars or wedges while still warm.