Cherry Crunch Cake

Looking for a good, quick and easy dessert? Why not try this cherry crunch cake tonight???? All you need are just a few simple ingredients that you probably have on hand.

One can crushed pineapple, with juice; one can cherry pie filling, one yellow cake mix, chopped pecans and butter. How simple is that?????









Pour pineapple with juice into a 9" X 13" baking dish, spreading evenly over bottom of the dish. Spoon pie filling evenly over pineapple.




Sprinkle dry cake mix over pie filling. Even it all out with your fingers or a fork if you have to.



If you haven't already done so, chop your pecans up.

And go ahead and start melting your butter.

Wait a minute, did you notice that handy dandy cutting tool I was using on the pecans? That's called a ulu (pronounce OO-loo) knife. Jennifer brought that back for me on one of her trips to Alaska. I have to be extremely careful when I'm using this thing, because it is sooooo sharp!! You can read all about these here. Okay, back to cooking.



Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the dry cake mix.



Now, drizzle the melted butter over the pecans and cake mix.



Put in oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

Ummm, doesn't that look good? Can you smell it? Here, go ahead and sit down while I dish you up a bowl.



How about some ice cream with that? Now, catch me up on all your latest news. Here, have another bowl. I promise there's not too many calories in this dish!




Cherry Crunch Cake

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°. Pour pineapple with the juice into a 9" X 13" baking dish, spreading evenly over the bottom of dish. Spoon pie filling evenly over pineapple. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pie filling; level with a fork. Sprinkle pecans evenly over cake mix; drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Old Fashioned Meatloaf

There's nothing like a good old fashioned meatloaf to make you appreciate good home cooking! I have several different ways I make meatloaf, but this is just a simple, basic recipe. I didn't take any pictures making it, so you'll just have to view the finished product. I made some fresh green beans and new potatoes (yes, in my electric pressure cooker) and sliced tomatoes. You can't get any simpler than that.






Old Fashioned Meatloaf

1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
8 oz. canned diced tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Preheat oven to 375°

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and shape into a loaf. Place in baking dish. Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Farmer's Market

I went to our local farmer's market hoping to get some of these:




Unfortunately, they didn't have any. There was a woman selling them, but she sold our before I got there. But I did get some of these:




So, I made some zucchini bread. Here's all you need:

Mix 3 eggs, 3 cups grated zucchini, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla in a bowl and mix well.



Mix 3 cups flour, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon baking soda in a medium bowl. Stir this into the the zucchini mixture.



Stir in 1/2 cup chopped pecans.




Spoon into 2 greased and floured loaf pans.




Okay, take a good look at this loaf pan.



This was a wedding present. Can you tell what decade we got married?

Yes...... the 70's!

Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until the loaves test done.




Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
3 cups grated zucchini
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 chopped pecans

Combine the eggs, zucchini, sugar, oil and vanilla in a bowl and mix well. Stir in a mixture of the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the nuts and mix well. Spoon into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 1
hour or until the loaves test done.

Dinner in Twenty Minutes

I had a hair appointment after work, so I got home later than usual. And of course, it's hot and I'm tired and really didn't feel like fixing supper, but knew we had to eat. So, once again, I am so glad I've got my handy dandy electric pressure cooker. I was able to fix this meal in under twenty minutes. Not bad if I do say so myself.


I browned the boneless pork chops in the pressure cooker, then threw in some soy sauce, terriyaki, pineapple juice and brown sugar. Set the pressure cooker for low for 11 minutes. So, while these were cooking:


I put some rice on to cook and made this spinach salad:



My sister-in-law, Connie, gave me this recipe and it quickly became one of my family's favorite salads. It's so good and easy. So, in less than twenty minutes, we ended up eating a pretty good meal.


Here's the recipe for that great spinach salad.

1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar (you can use less)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Put sugar in container, add vinegar, and shake. All of the sugar won't dissolve, but that's okay. Then add seeds and oil. Shake some more. You can make this ahead of time then just shake very well before pouring over salad.

1/2 pound baby spinach
1 pint strawberries (or mandarin oranges)
2 ounces toasted almonds

Put the above ingredients in a bowl and pour dressing over it. Enjoy!

Leftover Bread????

What do you do with leftover bread? When the kids were little and there was a lake behind our house, we used to go feed the ducks with our left over bread. (Hmmm, I wonder if that is why Jennifer has such an aversion to birds?) Anyway, back to leftovers. Sometimes when I have leftovers, I like to make bread pudding.
So tonight, I took these leftover french loaves and made chocolate bread pudding. I tried measuring as I went along, so hopefully, it will turn out.




Grate 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and put in a medium size bowl.



Cube the bread (about 6 cups) and put in an 8 X 8 buttered casserole.




In a large mixing bowl mix together 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/8 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Slowly whisk in three eggs, one at a time.




In a saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups milk and 1/4 cup cream. Bring to a boil. Whisk it into the grated chocolate and stir until melted. Then slowly add to the egg mixture.




Pour over the bread and press the cubes into the mixture. Refrigerate for an hour and then bake at 325° for 30 -45 minutes. Enjoy!



Chocolate Bread Pudding

6 cups cubed bread
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, grated
1/2 cup granulated
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4cup cream

Place bread cubes in a buttered 8 X 8 dish. Grate chocolate and put in medium size bowl. In a large bowl mix sugars, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Add eggs separately, whisking after each one. In a small sauce pan, bring milk and cream to a boil. Whisk into chocolate mixture until chocolate is melted. Slowly, add to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the chocolate mixture over the bread cubes. Refrigerate for an hour. Bake at 325° for 30 to 45 minutes, or until just set and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm or cold with shipped cream.

Cooking with Pressure

Growing up, my mother always cooked with a pressure cooker. I realize everyone thinks their mother is the best cook, but my mother really is the best! My family loves her carrots (and they really don't even like carrots!). I think it must be because she cooked them in a pressure cooker. Everything just tastes better. I bought an electric pressure cooker this year and it is my favorite cooking utensil! Everything I have made in it comes out tender and tasty. Here's what it looks like:



Tonight I fixed pork chops and in 20 minutes, we had delicious, fall off the bone, pork chops. I changed one of our favorite recipes for the cooker. Here's the original:

Glazed Pork Chops

2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together and spread on pork chops. Bake uncovered at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn chops over, spoon dripping over. Cook for 15 minutes. Increase oven to 350 degrees and cook 15 more minutes.

For the Pressure cooker, I just placed the pork chops in it, sprinkled the mixture over it, added 6 ounces of pineapple juice and cooked on high for 20 minutes. Very good. In fact, once again, I failed to take pictures, we were too busy eating!
Super easy!

Breakfast for Dinner

It's not unusual for us to have breakfast for dinner. I'm not one to eat when I first wake up. In fact, I have a hard time eating a big breakfast in the morning. But, I do like having breakfast in the evening. Here's a good recipe for Buttermilk Syrup. Now, you may have to get past the name. When I tell people about buttermilk syrup, they nearly always turn up their nose. Here's all you'll need:



In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda.


Bring to a boil and cook for 7 minutes. Now, hopefully, you started out in a good size saucepan. See how it expands???? That's because of the baking soda. It will turn from this white foam :

to a pretty golden amber like this:


Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.



I like to serve this over french toast, waffles, or even homemade fluffy biscuits. It's a good, but very rich tasting syrup. Hope you enjoy it




Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups withe sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup and baking soda. Bring to a boil and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

Good Luck Tradition

The Christmas decorations are finally put away and now I'm getting ready for the new year! I'm already starting my list of New Year's resolutions. Now, how do you think that tradition got started? My list is probably no different from the majority of people. The typical: eat better, live better, exercise more, be more considerate and be a better person.

Another tradition is that of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's day. The traditional meal may also feature collard or mustard greens. This is supposed to bring good luck and financial enrichment. The peas stand for coins, the greens symbolize paper money. Corn bread also often accompanies this meal.

These "good luck" traditions date back to the U.S. Civil War. Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, would typically strip the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock and destroy whatever they couldn't carry away. At that time, Northerners considered "field peas" and corn suitable only for animal fodder, and as a result didn't steal or destroy these humble foods. Many Southerners survived as a result of this mistake.

Here is a great recipe using black-eyed peas. Now, before you turn your nose up on black-eyed peas, consider this. I don't even like black-eyed peas, and I like this dish. It's simple with only these ingredients:



There's also bell pepper in the recipe, but I had already started cutting it when I decided to take pictures.

Brown one pound of ground beef, one pound of sausage with one onion, chopped and one bell pepper, chopped.



Add four cans of black-eyed peas. Now, before you get to thinking, boy that looks like a lot of food. It is! I'm making this to take to work, so I've tripled the recipe. What you're seeing in the picture is 6 pounds of meat and 12 cans of black-eyed peas. This recipe is that good! My sister-in-law is making a triple batch, too. We'll be having it at work, feeding about 40 people. Believe me, there won't be anything left.



Now add two cans of Ro-tel tomatoes. Let it simmer several hours and you've got one good meal.


Be sure and serve it with some good cornbread, and you've got a traditional New Year's meal guaranteed to bring you good luck!

Black-Eyed Pea Gumbo

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 cans black-eyed peas
2 cans Rotel tomatoes

Brown ground beef, sausage, onion and bell pepper. Drain grease. Add black-eyed peas and Rotel and simmer for 2-3 hours.