Aunt Di's Bittersweet-Chocolate Frosted Layered Cake

The recipe calls for cake flour to create the batter. I have not had good luck with the use of this ingredient in the past. This time I slowly mixed in the flour so as not to add any air. Regardless of my efforts to make a beautiful looking cake, it did not rise much in the oven. Oh well, I frosted it up and served it anyway. You can fill the center of a cake with allot of frosting and still make it presentable in my opinion. Thank goodness for chocolate ice cream and this small visual touch will improve the look of any dessert!

The vanilla flavored batter was basic, but everyone in the office raved about the frosting. I really liked the texture and flavor of it and it went on so smoothly. I would use the frosting recipe time and time again on any dessert!

Carrot Salad

This salad left a long lasting taste of onions in my mouth and what I wanted was the carrots and rasins to taste. I did not care for it. I added peas to the recipe to see if it got any better flavor, didn't work for my tastes either. I will not be reapeating this one.

For the recipe click here!

Tour de COOP

Recently, I took a tour of urban chicken coops organized by the Wasatch Community Gardens group. I was fascinated by the idea of incorporating chickens, vegetable gardens and cultivated landscape areas in one setting. One site offered free home-made pickled eggs to anyone taking the tour. It was delightful!

The tour consisted of 17 coops and residences of which I have highlighted a few in photographs. The mission of the group is to empower people of all ages and incomes to grow and eat healthy, organic, local food. The tour was designed to gather energy, raise awareness and share ideas about urban chicken tending.





For more information click here!

Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The cake is simple to prepare and tastes very good. It was almost like modified peach cobbler. I found nothing about the recipe that wasn't favorable. The original recipe recommends canned peaches and rinsing them before placing in the batter.

The frosting is amazing! This was the office persons favorite part of the cake. It seems now I have found a cream cheese frosting that will go well on anything. This one includes 1/2 tsp. of ginger, but with other cakes or cookies I'll just substitute it with another flavor that compliments the baked item. It truly is a winner!

Aspargus and Shrimp Stew

This delicious combination of fresh asparagus and shrimp will become a seasonal favorite. Optional frozen ingredients can save time, but will still deliver a satisfying flavor. Serve with a piece of artisan bread topped with Parmesan cheese, broiled and toasted in the oven. You won't be able to stop yourself from eating this one!

Ingredients:
6 small red potatoes, cubed
1 red pepper, diced
2 cans (14 ounces) vegetable broth
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons water
2 cups corn, cut crisp from the cob or frozen from the freezer
1 pound asparagus, fresh and cut (1-inch pieces)
1 pound shrimp, fresh or frozen uncooked medium size, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
•In a large soup kettle, combine, potatoes, red pepper and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

•In a small bowl, combine flour and water until smooth. Set aside.

•Stir in lemon juice and zest into vegetable mixture. Add corn and asparagus; cover and simmer for 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add flour and water paste. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 3 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; add shrimp, cook 4-5 minutes until pink in color. Heat through but do not boil. Add salt and pepper. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Fresh Apple Cake

This recipe was delicious and seemed more like a bread than a cake. I doubled the recipe and ended up with almost triple the amount of cake. Perhaps I went a little overboard on the diced apples, but I was not disappointed in the texture. The flavor is quite bland, so I drizzled a lemon flavored glaze over the top and served it with a drop of whipped cream and a few dried cranberries for a bit more interest and flavor in the presentation.

In the end it tasted much like a bread pudding to me, but without the heavy sauce. I would imagine served heated fresh from oven or warmed up in the microwave that the flavor would be more intense.

Araby Spice Cake

The recipe calls for "cake flour" and beating the batter on high speed for 1 minutes a the end of the mixing process. My experience has taught me that this heavy beating only adds too much air to the batter and the cake generally falls in the oven. However, I followed the mixing instructions, baked the cake and cross my fingers for good luck!

To my disappointment, the cake did fall in the last 5 minutes of baking. I let it cool, dumped it onto a rack and then with a soup bowl cut out the center of the cake. It appeared acceptable, so I lined the inside edge with a decorative chocolate frosting finish, on top sprinkled a litte powdered sugar and served it anyway. I wanted to let the office experience the taste, not the cake as a whole.

Curried Chicken Salad

I simply could not put this one back in the refrigerator and wanted to finish the bowl of chicken mixture. It has a pleasant and strong flavor, however I only put in one tbsp. of curry powder, the two recommended in the recipe seemed like too much in my opinion. Those to whom I shared the prepared salad seemed to agree. It does taste wonderful on a plate of lettuce salad.

I served it with a side of fresh cantaloupe and home-made bread broiled in the oven with cheddar and Parmesan cheese.

For the recipe click here!

Layered Lemon Pies

This lemon flavored pie is one of those that after the first bite, people stop, pucker their lips and say "Hmmmmmm," then quickly move in towards the pie for a second bite. The sounds continue until the last bite.

I found the pie easy to prepare with 30 minute intervals between the layers. As it sat in the refrigerator the layers had a tendency to separate. I kept it frozen for a couple of hours before serving. The whip and cream cheese topping was a great idea. I'll be serving this one again for sure!

For the recipe click here!

Basil, Feta & Roasted Pepper Muffins, Bacon Scones, Blueberry-Citrus Mini Loaves

I just couldn't wait to try these bread recipes, so I did all three for a variety.

The square muffins shown were made with a regular red pepper instead of roasted peppers and tasted fine in my opinion. These look so colorful on a plate and were extremely moist. I could have eaten the whole batch by myself.

The other square bread shown was actually a scone recipe incorporating onions, bacon and cheese. I topped mine with a bit of extra cheese. It makes a delicious and heahlty breakfast serving even without the suggested scrambled eggs as a side dish. One of these in the morning kicks off the day in a happy way!

The blueberry bread was a recipe similar to one I found that uses agave. This bread has a strong orange taste due to the orange juice as an ingredient. The orange flavor compliments the blueberry flavor avery well. I'm glad I came across this one in the magazine this month. If the berries have a positive effect on the aging process, eating allot of this one will keep me young!

For the recipe click here! (BFR-Pepper Muffins)

For the recipe click here!(Bacon Scones)

For the recipe click here! (Blueberry-Citrus Mini Loaves)

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake W/ Cream Cheese Filling

I first had a piece of this cake at the Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia and while attending an ASLA conference. Upon arriving home from the airport I had to find a cake recipe and modified it to be as close as could be to the cake I ate at the garden facility. Here is what I found and it is a close second.

It takes little time to mix and bake, but putting the layers together does take some time. I refer to it as QUALITY TIME, and it's worth it! I served it for "Cake bread Monday" and the office voted it one of the best. Once you have a piece of this cake, it will become a reapter to prepare and serve for many occasions to come!

Ingredients;
2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 banana
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 Tlb. unsalted butter, softened
1 C light brown sugar
2 egg
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 C favorite nuts (optional)

Filling:
24 oz. cream cheese filling (softened)
6 Tbl. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. banana extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" diameter cake pans.

1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
2. Mash banana and mix with buttermilk and vanilla and set aside.
3. In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs.
4. Add wet and dry ingredients alternatively until all mixed.
5. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts (see note above.)
6. Pour into the cake mold and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until done.
7. Let cakes cool on rack for 10 to 20 minutes.
8. Place cakes in freezer for 30 minutes and cut into 4 separate cakes for layering.
9. Prepare cream cheese filling by mixing one - 8 oz. package of cream cheese with two Tbl. powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. extract per layer and place between layers.
10. Cover with chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting.
11. Refrigerate and serve.

Zucchini 'linguine"

Amazing flavor, that's all I can say . . . simply amazing! When I make it again I would only use one-half the recommended amount of onions. I found it easier to cut the zucchini in half and scoop out the seeds with a regular dinner spoon, forget all the fancy procedures. Other than that, the recipe turns out great.

I accompanied the salad with the basil, feta & roasted pepper muffins found under the breads section of this blog.spot. This recipe will be added to summer salad favorites.

For the recipe click here!

Try this salad with the TOH SPICED PINEAPPLE COOLER punch recipe. I liked the combination!

Ingredients
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 cinnamon sticks (3 inches)
• 12 whole cloves
• 1 can (46 ounces) unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1-1/2 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 can (12 ounces) ginger ale, chilled
• Ice cubes
• Additional cinnamon sticks, optional

Directions
• In a small saucepan, bring the water, sugar, cinnamon and cloves to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain. Cool to room temperature.
• Pour into a large pitcher; stir in juices. Refrigerate until chilled. Just before serving, stir in ginger ale. Serve over ice. Garnish with additional cinnamon sticks if desired. Yield: 13 servings (3/4 cup each).

Salad Nicoise

This is a family favorite and requested often at the dinner table. Also, I've served it at many group parties because it can be prepared in advance and served immediately upon the arrival of guests to the house. It makes a big impression and leaves a smile on every ones face - even to your mother-in-law - and that's from personal experience!

By name, this salad has many versions, but this one was created and improved many times over - especially the salad dressing. It has a touch of perfection!

Recipe courtesy Rick McConnell - Salad Specialst

Dressing
Mix:
Heaping tbl. of Dijon Mustard
½ tbl. of sugar
6-8 dashes of pepper
¼ cup vinegar
Shake in bottle to mix well

Add:
¼ cup of vegetable oil
Shake in bottle and mix well
Set aside or refrigerate

Salad
Cube and Steam Red Potatoes (approx. one per person)
Slice and Steam String Beans (appox. eight per person)
Prepare before serving and refrigerate or chill in cold water after steaming

Next:
Pour lemon juice over solid tuna and mix with mayonnaise and dill seed to taste
Slice roma tomato
5 Whole black olives
Sliver dilled beets
Set aside while preparing serving plate with lettuce

Next:
Break up romaine lettuce and place on serving plate
Place tuna mix in center of serving plate
Side dress tuna with slivered beets, cubed potatoes, cut string beans, sliced tomatoes and black olives (place in a criss-cross pattern and circular pattern)

Refrigerate salad on plate until ready to serve. Pour dressing mix over salad and serve chilled. Serve with a smile to add flavor and flare to dish!