Oatmeal Cake

This is a surpisingly yummy cake...it came from "The Gathering of Friends" cookbook. I've made a few minor modifications to perfect the recipe. Enjoy!

The Cake:

1/2 C. Butter, melted

1 1/2 C. Oatmeal

1 1/2 C. Boiling water

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 3/4 C. Flour

1 C. Brown sugar

1 C. Granulated sugar

2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Salt

In a large bowl combine butter, oatmeal, and water.  Let sit for 20 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well until completely combined.  Spray bundt pan with Pam spray{with flour}*.  Pour batter into pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 33-38 minutes.

For Topping:

3/4 C. Brown sugar

1/2 C. Heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 C. Coconut

1/3 C. Butter

1 C. Pecans

Heat the butter, sugar, and heavy cream until the mixture begins to bubble on the sides, make sure the butter is completely melted {not boiling}.  Fold in pecans and coconut and spoon over hot cake.  Broil in oven for 2-3 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

*It is essential to use spray Pam with flour. I've tried this recipe all other ways and the cake will not come out of the pan.

A pescitarian meal

This weekend we had some of our wonderful neighbors over for dinner.  The wife is a pescitarian and so this presented an interesting challenge. I never cook fish or vegetarian meals.  So here's my first attempt. It was relatively easy and turned out well. I only have this picture of the shrimp and the vegetables but here's the menu:

Grilled Garlic Herb Shrimp Skewers

Grilled Vegetable Skewers

Grilled Pineapple Skewers

Cilantro-Lime Rice {recipe from last May, substituted Vegetable broth for Chicken}

Butter Lettuce Salad with French Vinaigrette

The Recipe:

• 2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled, deveined, & tails on
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, small-diced
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced

Directions

Combine all the ingredients and allow them to marinate for 24-48 hours.  I added a little more olive oil and lemon juice to be sure all was thoroughly covered.

Skewer the shrimp, 4 or 5 shrimp on a 12-inch skewer. Heat a grill with coals and brush the grill with oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking. Grill the shrimp for only 1 1/2 minutes on each side.