Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - Upside-Down Pineapple Blueberry Cheesecake Muffin Cake
(Now that title is a mouthful)
Last night I was trying a new recipe for Sesame Chicken that called for about a cup of crushed pineapple. I only had a 14-ounce can on hand so that left me with about half a can of pineapple leftover. So I thought I’d make a small upside down pineapple cake using a Jiffy yellow cake mix. I began to melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the oven and went to mix the cake batter. When I opened the cake mix I found that critters (moths) had moved in so I had to throw it away. I had the same problem with another box. By this time the butter was melted and I was frustrated because I didn’t want to waste the butter or have to clean a pan I really hadn’t used. So I went to the pantry and looked at the other mixes I had on hand. I saw that I had 2-7 ounce packages of Martha White Blueberry Cheesecake Muffin mix and thought, "Why not?" The following is what I came up with.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2-7 oz packages Martha White Blueberry Cheesecake Muffin mix
@ 1 cup crushed pineapple, juice drained into a measuring cup
Enough milk added to pineapple juice to make 1 cup
Heat oven to 425°. In the oven, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in an 8” by 8” square pan. After butter is melted, add the brown sugar. Spread the butter and brown sugar mixture evenly to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon the crushed pineapple on top of the brown sugar, spreading evenly.
After adding enough milk to the reserved pineapple juice to make 1 cup, in a separate bowl combine with the muffin mix and stir until blended.
Pour batter evenly over pineapple layer. Bake at 425° for about 25 to 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto a plate.
Makes about 8 servings.
Needless to say, it came out delicious. It was very moist and sweet. I wish I had the foresight to have taken a picture last night, but I really wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. I have been know to throw things together that could be construed as unfit for human consumption. I did get a picture this morning of the last piece that was left, but it will be gone as soon as one of the kids gets up.
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - Easy Fried Dough
Who can resist the sweet taste of fried dough that can be bought at carnivals and boardwalks across the country? I know that the aroma itself draws me in. So wanting to recreate that summertime treat at home, I pulled out my cookbooks and tried to create my own, with little success. Making my own dough is too time consuming and the frozen stuff you buy in the store has to thaw and rise, again time consuming. When the mood strikes I’d rather not have to plan it out hours even days in advance. This desire to have it whenever I wanted it led me to stumble across the easiest way to have fried dough and eat it too.
Easy Fried Dough
Refrigerator biscuit dough (the kind that comes in a can)
Deep fryer filled according to manufacturer’s directions
Heat oil. (My fryer doesn’t have a temperature gauge so I’m not sure how hot it gets, but it starts to bubble a little)
Separate the biscuits and flatten slightly.
Drop 2 or three carefully into the oil.
Cook about 1 to 1 ½ minutes then turn dough over.
Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. You may have to experiment with the time depending on oil temperature. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towel covered plate.
Sprinkle with granulated or powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar, or any other of your favorite toppings.
Enjoy.
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Thursday, April 3, 2008 - Ginny's Banana Bread
My family is pretty picky about bananas. If they start to turn even a little brown, they will not eat them. So years ago I came up with a recipe to use those ripened bananas. (Note: Sometimes there’s only one banana left so what I do is mash it up and put it in the freezer until I have what I need to make this. Also, our grocery stores sell the ripened bananas at deep discounts.)
Ginny’s Banana Bread
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cups brown sugar
1/3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups mashed banana (@ 5 bananas)
1/3 cups shortening
1/3 cups butter, softened
2/3 cups milk
2 eggs
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
¾ cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. With an electric mixer combine all the ingredients one by one. Mix until completely blended. Divide the batter between the two pans filling to about 3/4 full. Bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Makes 2 loaves.
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Monday, February 25, 2008 - Apple Crisp
This weekend’s Girl Scout Thinking Day went on without a hitch. Only 8 of the 23 girls showed up, which was too bad for the other girls but wonderful for me. The Daisy leader was there to help me and that was wonderful. The displays were fun and interesting and I think the girls that were there had a good time. The major drawback was that my daughter did not get to see all the displays and that upset her. She spent a large potion of the time manning their troop’s display and when it was her turn to go around some of the troops where taking down there displays early. I didn’t learn of this until it after the fact and was a bit disturbed that she lost out. This was her 5th or 6th Thinking Day but the first one for the States as a theme. Her love of geography drives her passion for these events. I will speak up at the Leader’s Meeting next month and voice my concerns.
I thought I’d share my recipe for the Apple Crisp I made for the event. I used Red Delicious apples because they were on sale. Most of the recipes call for tart apples, but you can use any kind you have on hand.
4 cups peeled apples cut into bite size chunks
½ cup oatmeal
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ flour
½ tsp cinnamon
6 TBS butter
Preheat the oven to 375°. Layer the apples in baking dish. In a food processor (or by hand) mix oatmeal, sugar, flour and cinnamon until well blended. Cut butter into TBS’s and add to dry mixture. Blend until the mixture begins to hold together. Crumble mixture over the top of the apples. Bake about 30 minutes until apples are soft and crumble is brown.
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008 - Eggs in a Hole
I’m sure a lot of you have made this before, but if you haven’t, this is a great quick and easy breakfast that my kids love to eat. They like the novelty of the egg in the toast and being able to eat it with their hands.
All you need is some eggs and bread. Butter both sides of the bread, then with a circular cutter or glass, cut out the center. We have used different shaped cookie cutters making it a bit more fun. Heat skillet or electric griddle (which is one of our favorite appliances). Put the bread on the heated grill then break open an egg into the hole. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes then turn. Cook another few minutes then serve. My daughter doesn’t like eggs over easy, so I scramble hers first, but it always seems to ooze under the bread. We grill the cut out circles/shapes and serve the eggs with fruit and milk.
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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - Ginny's Apple-Pear-Raisin Pie
My family loves pies. This month I thought I’d share our favorite apple pie recipe. This is one of the first recipes I created after I was married.
3-4 apples (I usually use a combination of Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and Rome)
3-4 Bartlet pears (I look for very firm pears)
½ cup raisins
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch (flour can be substituted in a pinch)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
pie crusts for 2 crust pie (I usually buy the pre-made crusts)
Preheat oven to 425º. Prepare a 9 or 10 inch pie pan by lightly spraying with cooking spray or coating with a thin layer of shortening, then dust with flour. Press 1 crust into the pan and set aside.
Pare, core and slice apples and pears. Put into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients except the butter and blend well. (I put all the ingredients into a bowl with a cover then I, or one of the kids, shake the ingredients to mix).
Mound the filling into the prepared crust, cut butter into small pieces and place on top and around the fruit. Place the 2nd crust on top of the fruit; overlapping the edges and loosely pinch the edges of the 2 crusts together. You may want to cover the edges with a bit of foil to keep them from getting too dark.
Bake at 425º for about 40 to 45 minutes until the fruit is fork tender and the crust is light brown. If you find that the crust is browning too quickly, make a foil tent to slow down the process. Cool on wire rack before serving. We love this warm a la mode or with whipped cream.
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Thursday, September 6, 2007 - Chicken Can Can
This is one of my favorite recipes that my mom used to make when I was little. I make this when we have some leftover KFC or other cooked chicken and my husband is not going to be home for dinner because he doesn’t like rice. The kids and I devour it.
Makes about 4 servings.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can of water (1 1/3 cups)
1 can of Minute rice (1 1/3 cups)
1½ cup diced cooked chicken or 12 oz canned chicken, drained
Mix all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer about 7 to 10 minutes until rice is cooked.
It doesn’t look very appetizing, kind of like a lumpy porridge, or a dull rice pudding, but we think it’s delicious.
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Monday, August 6, 2007 - Always Moist Meatloaf
My family had never been the biggest fans of meatloaf until I threw this one together one day out of the desperation for something different to make for dinner. I doubt if it is original, but it is good. Makes about 6 servings.
Always Moist Meatloaf
1 pound ground beef
1 egg, beaten
¾ to 1 cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup milk
1 cup salsa (we use chunky salsa)
Mix all ingredients together, adding more breadcrumbs if needed until the meat holds together. Pat mixture into a loaf pan. Bake in a 350° oven about 30 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.
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Monday, July 2, 2007 - Zucchini Bread
My dad is an awesome gardener. He always has a bumper crop of zucchini. My family doesn’t really like it as a vegetable but devours it when I make zucchini bread. Here is the recipe I use. (I usually have to double it and make multiple batches to use all the squash he gives us.)
3 cups shredded zucchini (I use my Salad Shooter to shred the squash)
1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3-cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups whole-wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-teaspoon salt
1-teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup chopped nuts (if desired)
½ cup raisins (if desired)
Place oven racks so the top of the bread pans are in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottoms of two 8X4 or 9X5 pans.
In large bowl mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs until well blended.
In another bowl, thoroughly combine all dry ingredients except for nuts and raisins.
Add this mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir until completely well mixed.
Stir in nuts and raisins.
Divide evenly between the two greased pans.
Bake for @ 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from pans. When completely cooled, can be stored well wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days and for 10 days in the refrigerator.
My kids love to have this heavier bread for breakfast with a bit of butter.
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Monday, June 4, 2007 - S'Mores Brownies
As per request, here is the recipe for S'Mores Brownies
1 package (21-oz) Brownie mix (or any brownie recipe for 13” x 9” pan)
@ 2 cups chocolate chips*
@ 3 cups miniature marshmallows*
@ 5-6 graham crackers, broken into quarters*
(* use as much as needed to cover brownies)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease the bottom of 13”x9” pan.
Prepare brownie recipe and bake according to directions.
Immediately after removing brownies from oven sprinkle the chocolate chips over the brownies. Then sprinkle the marshmallows on top of the chocolate chips. Return to the oven for about 2 to 5 minutes until melted.
After marshmallows are melted and still hot, lay the graham crackers on top of the marshmallows.
Allow to cool, then cut into servings around the graham crackers.
Makes about 20-24 servings.
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