~ post thanksgiving treat...

...freshly baked cupcake topped with homemade buttercream icing and a cup of cinnamon coffee :-)



I cannot share the cupcake/icing recipe with you -- Sofia asked me to keep her Christmas recipes secret while she is testing them.

I can tell you that the cupcake and icing are delicious!  Oh, and that cinnamon coffee is perfect!

best apple crumb cake...

...ever!

A longtime family friend shared this recipe with us over the holidays {thank you, Jeannette!}.  The ingredients are simple -- and it is a crowd pleaser.

Cinnamon-Apple Coffee Cake

 cake ingredients:

  1/4 cup butter or margarine (I melted the butter and then let

    it cool to room temperature. The original recipe does not

    state this.)

  3/4 cup sugar

  1 egg (room temperature)

  2 cups Aunt Jemima Self-Rising Flour

  1 cup milk (room temperature)

  2 medium apples, peeled, thinly sliced

cinnamon topping ingredients**:

  1/2 cup sugar

  1/2 cup Aunt Jemima Self-Rising Flour

  2 teaspoons cinnamon

  1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

For cake ~ beat together butter (cooled to room temperature*)

  and sugar until creamy; blend in egg. Add flour alternately with

  milk, mixing well after each addition. Spread half of batter

  into greased 9 inch square pan. Top with half of apple slices and

  with half of cinnamon topping. Repeat with remaining batter,

  apples and topping. Bake in pre-heated moderate oven

  (375F degrees) 45 to 50 minutes. Cool slightly; serve warm.

*Note(s): Do not add the egg to hot melted butter -- the heat

    will cook the egg!

     I have a convection oven -- and after 30 minutes, the crumb

    topping was well done, so it was necessary for me to cover

    the cake with a loose piece of foil and then bake 12 minutes

    longer (42 minutes).

For cinnamon topping ~ combine dry ingredients. Add butter,

    mixing until crumbly.

**Note: I mixed the topping ingredients first and set the bowl

    aside while mixing the cake ingredients. The mixture

    hardened slightly and I broke it apart with a fork into

    the "crumbs". 

bread baking tutorial...

I just got to thinking that it was mighty selfish of me to write about making bread and then just leave.  Here is the bread baking tutorial that I was talking about.  I came across this while reading Anne's blog.  I have made this type of bread before -- but with many mistakes and questions that are answered in this tutorial.  Let me know how your bread turns out!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2009/12/01/the-crunchiest-crackliest-chewiest-lightest-easiest-bread-youll-ever-bake/

this is monkey bread...

Why is it called monkey bread?  If someone out there knows, please leave a comment and enlighten me.  All I know is that my local supermarket has not had our favorite Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls since before Christmas.  During my last food shopping trip, I noticed a recipe for "monkey bread" on the back of the Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits package.  The ingredients look similar to cinnamon rolls, so, I figured I would give it a try.

1 can Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits 7.5 ounce (10 in package)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (I used "I can't believe it's not butter)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1. Grease or spray cake pan.

2. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon in 1-gallon plastic bag.  Cut each biscuit into quarters.  Put quarters in bag and shake to coat.  Remove pieces from bag and place in pan.  Mix butter/margarine and brown sugar.  Pour over biscuit pieces.

3.  Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 18 minutes or until golden brown.  I baked mine in a convection oven, you may have to adjust the baking time slightly if you have a regular oven.  Cool 5 minutes.  Turn upside down.

Serve warm and watch them smile!

summer days drifting away...

I can't believe today is almost over! I don't even know what I did today. My only comfort is that it is Sunday -- so I allow myself to not feel guilty if things don't get done. Hope you're all enjoying your day too. It is overcast here, so we are in the house keeping busy. Thought you might enjoy an easy peasy recipe card for a quick summer meal. Does this even qualify as a recipe -- maybe not -- maybe it will just inspire you to make a quick meal for your troops -- or -- yourself!

Here is the not-so-artsy recipe for you to copy:

Summer Sunday Tuna Noodle Salad

Cook 1 lb. of your favorite pasta.

Set aside to cool.

Open 1 can of your favorite tuna.

Add mayonnaise to taste.

Mix with cooled pasta.

Throw on some sliced cucumbers.

Compliment with your favorite chips.

Enjoy!

no fuss barbeque ribs...

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend. I can't believe it is August...already! July was packed with so many summer things for us -- it just flew by. This weekend we travelled along the slow path -- just hanging back and taking in the sights. No, we did not go anywhere -- we are saving our real travelling shoes for next weekend. As I sat on the front porch, the scent of grilled barbeque ribs wafted by -- but I felt too lazy to stand out back and grill some myself. So, instead I made them in the oven. You can tweak this recipe if you would rather be outside and cook them on the barbeque.



Here is my not so artsy recipe for you to copy:
*Remember to use caution when handling raw and partially cooked meat. I use 2 separate basting brushes -- one for when the meat is raw, and, the second for when the meat is partially cooked.

------------------------------------------------------------------
No Fuss Pork Babyback Ribs

Ingredients:
1 rack of pork babyback ribs (I used Smithfield brand)
Barbeque sauce (use your favorite flavor)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Fill bottom of broiler pan with water.

Using a very sharp knife, divide ribs.
Place ribs in a shallow dish and baste with barbeque sauce.
Place basted ribs on vented broiler pan top.
Lay a piece of aluminum foil over ribs.
Place entire broiler pan in oven.
Cook ribs for 25 minutes.
Remove ribs from oven.
Turn ribs over.
If necessary, baste ribs with additional barbeque sauce.
Replace foil on top of ribs.
Return ribs to oven and cook an additional 25 minutes.
Remove ribs from oven.
Check temperature of ribs with meat thermometer.
Temperature should be at least 190 degrees.

Place ribs on table and watch them disappear!

cool...cucumber...

...salad!



I had so much fun yesterday while creating the banana muffin recipe card -- I decided to make another easy recipe card for you today! :-) This cucumber salad recipe is a variation on a recipe given to me by a family member. The original recipe has onion and tomatoes -- so you can throw those in too if the tastebuds in your house like that sort of thing!

I know -- it's hard to read (but I thought the picture would inspire you guys to make the recipe).

Here is the not-so-artsy recipe for you to copy:

1 Large cucumber
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons water
3 Tablespoons white vinegar

-Peel cucumber and cut into thin slices.
-Place slices in glass pie dish.
-Combine sugar/water/vinegar in small bowl and mix until sugar is dissolved.
-Pour sugar/water/vinegar mixture over cucumber slices.
-Tilt glass pie dish so that sugar mixture puddles to one side. Spoon mixture
over cucumber slices until all have been covered with mixture.
-Cover pie dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cucumber slices are cold.

Enjoy!

oh....banana...

...muffins!

Here is my artsy recipe card for banana muffins. I know...I know -- it's hard to read (but very cute). Sooo...here is the not-so-artsy recipe for you to copy:


2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
1 cup sugar

4 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon


-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-In a large bowl, cream together eggs and sugar.
-In a medium bowl, mash bananas, vanilla, oil and cinnamon.
-In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
-Stir banana mixture into egg/sugar mixture.
-1/3 at a time, stir flour mixture into egg/sugar/banana mixture.

For oversize muffins: In a convection oven, bake 25 minutes. Adjust baking time according to your oven. Yield: 6-8 oversize muffins.

For regular size muffins: In a convection oven, bake 17 minutes. Adjust baking time according to your oven. Yield: 12-16 regular muffins.

Enjoy!

Pot luck dinner - day 2

Yesterday was food shopping day, so dinner needed to be a little less time consuming than usual. Here is what made it's way to the table.
-----------------------------------------

Broccoli and cheese casserole



1 pound of broccoli heads
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp yellow cheese or sharp cheddar
1 small handful of shredded mozzarella cheese

Bisquick topping
1 cup bisquick
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse and chop broccoli. Steam to the texture that you like. We like it almost soft here. While it is steaming prepare cheese mixture. Melt butter. Heat milk. I do this in the microwave, but you can do it on the stove. Combine butter and milk in small pot. Whisk in flour until you cannot see it anymore. Heat on stove until very hot (but do not boil). Add shredded yellow cheese and stir with fork while it is melting. Don't leave it without stirring it or it will get clumpy. Once yellow cheese is melted, add mozzarella cheese. This cheese melts more quickly than the yellow cheese, so I add it right before taking the mixture off the stove.

Lay out broccoli in a baking dish. Pour cheese mixture over broccoli and set aside while you are making the bisquick mixture. Combine bisquick and milk. Pour over top of broccoli and cheese. Transfer dish to oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until top of biquick begins to brown.

We ate this with an already cooked rotissierie chicken that I picked up at our local food warehouse.

Sofia has a half day today, so I need to hurry up. When she gets home we are working on a mummy project (front porch decoration for halloween).