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.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Lately I've really been in the mood for anything with ginger and molasses.  These definitely fit the criteria and are super tasty.  I think i'll make these for neighbor gifts this year and package them up pretty. 

2 1/2 C. flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

3/4 C. butter, room temp

1/2 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar, plus more for coating & dusting

6 T. molasses

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpat liners.  Whisk together flour, soda, salt, ginger, allspice, and pepper.  Using kitchenaid mixer cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in molasses and egg.  Gradually add in flour mixture, mixing on low speed.  Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and freeze for 20 minutes.

Remove dough from freezer.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in sugar to coat. Place on baking pan and flatten.  Sprinkle with more sugar {it takes quite a bit to get that white coating, so make sure it's a nice little mound}.  Bake until brown 10-11 minutes. Cool on wire rack & enjoy!

Malt Shop Cupcakes

I have to say these are some of my favorite cupcakes that i've made.  They are absolutely delicious.  Unfortunately, I can't take total credit on this one... this is a modification from Paula Deen's Chocolate Malt cake.

2 1/4 c. flour


1 1/4 c. sugar


3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa


1 1/2 tsp. baking soda


1 tsp. baking powder


1/2 tsp. salt


1 c. milk


1 c. malted milk powder


1 c. vegetable oil


3 large eggs


1 c. sour cream


1 tsp. vanilla extract


 

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, combine milk and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add milk mixture, oil and eggs to flour mixture, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla, beating just until combined.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 15-17 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on racks.

Frost and garnish w/malted milk balls if desired

Malt Frosting


1 c. butter, softened


3/4 c. heavy whipping cream


1/2 c. malted milk powder


6-7 c. powdered sugar

Blue food coloring

In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

In a small bowl, combine cream and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add cream mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed to combine. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth.  You may need to add more or less powdered sugar depending on desired consistancy.  Add 6 to 8 drops of food coloring, mix well. Add more if you would like a deeper color.  Frost cupcakes and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Cake

It's that time of year where I'm calling on all things PUMPKIN!  This recipe is pretty easy and makes such a fabulous and different pumpkin dessert.

Crust:

1 yellow cake mix {set aside 1 cup for topping}

1 egg

1/2 c. melted butter

Grease the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Mix cake mix, egg, and butter together and press into pan.

Filling:

1 can pumpkin {29 oz}

3 eggs

1 can evaporated milk {12 oz}

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. ginger.

Mix all together and pour over cake mixture crust.

Topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1 c. cake mix

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. butter

Combine all ingredients until crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of pumpkin filling.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Let cool 30 minutes before cutting.  Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and enjoy.

SwEeT & SaVoRy CREPES

So, I really love crepes and hadn't made them for a super long time. I decided to go for it tonight for dinner. I was orginally just going to make the sweet crepes and then it evolved into savory as well. They were all very yummy!  The basic crepe recipe is as follows and then be creative with the rest.

Crepes:

1 c. milk

1/4 c. sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. melted butter

1 1/2 c. sifted flour

Stir all ingredients together until smooth.  In a warm buttered pan, pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter (depending on desired size). Rotate pan circularly until the batter is thin and even in the pan. Cook until it looks set up enough to turn and then turn with spatula.

For SwEeT CREPES:

I set up a combination of powdered sugar, fresh whipped cream, nutella, raspberry jam, and peach jam. Let everyone fill their crepes with their own toppings and enjoy!

For SaVoRy CREPES:

After the second turn while cooking,  add cheese & meat (I used turkey) on half of the crepe. Let slowly cook until cheese melts. Add toppings such as; tomatoes, sprouts, lettuce, etc. And finish it up with ranch dressing, honey mustard, or any other sauces you'd like.  Fold the empty half over and then fold again into quarters. Serve and savor!

"Oh Henry!"Bars

These truly are DeLiSH & addicting. If you like peanut butter/chocolate/cereal treats, these are the best.

1 c. corn syrup

1 c. sugar

1 c. peanut butter

1 c. spanish peanuts

3 c. rice krispies cereal

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. butterscotch or peanut butter chips

In medium sauce pan, bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl add peanut butter, peanuts, and cereal.  Pour syrup & sugar combination over ingredients in mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.  Pour into 9x13 pan and spread flat.  Melt chips together in microwave about 1 minute.  Stir until completely melted and pour over pan.