Individual Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

I recently was given this beautiful hutch. I reorganized some of my plates and serving pieces and consequently found some things that I had forgotten I had. One of those things was my set of 10 individual ramekins...what a great find! Of course, I had to find something right away to use them.

Individual Pineapple Upside Down Cakes!

I am not a huge lover of this dessert, but I happened to come across a recipe and decided to make it individual sized.

The canned pineapple slices fit perfectly in the bottom of each ramekin, with half of a maraschino cherry in the middle. The cake recipe came together perfectly for 10 ramekins. I used 100% home ground whole wheat flour, so the cake had a nutty, very healthy taste, but was dense and very good. It did not taste anything like the pineapple cake I have had before, so to me it was actually much better.

Once baked and cooled, I turned them upside down on plates to serve. They came out very easily. Other than adjusting the flour, I used the recipe exactly as written below.

Topping:
4 T. butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 20-oz. can sliced pineapple, drained

maraschino cherries, halved

Cake:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup milk

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. lemon juice

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. Pour melted butter into 9x9 baking pan (or distribute evenly between ramekins). Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple and fill spaces with cherry halves.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add oil and milk and beat a lowest speed just to blend. Beat for an additional 2 minutes at medium speed. Add vanilla, lemon juice and egg. Beat 2 minutes longer, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter evenly over fruit.

Bake 40-50 minutes (or 20-30 for individual size) or until cake is golden brown and pulls away from sides of pan. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

Birthday Brunch

Our family often celebrates birthdays in big style. Usually it's a fancy homemade dinner and dessert of the celebrant's choosing. This year, Granni decided to opt for something a little different: Birthday Brunch. It turned out to be a big hit. I only write about it because it was something of a culinary logistical feat for us to pull it all off. And it was a blast and I'd like to share it with you!

Grannis and the kids after it's all done-happy faces all around

It started off with my brother and me planning the menu. It quickly grew into something elaborate and we were up for the challenge and only 2 days to pull it off! (the Friday before and brunch morning). At the end of this post is the menu of what we served. Needless to say we never would have made it on Iron Chef for the time deadline (we planned on eating at 10:30 and didn't sit down till 11:30), but it was all warm and delicious :)

Crepes with raspberry tart in the background

Eric making place cards for the table

Everything spread out buffet style

The table set...Eric folded the napkins

The Chesapeake Eggs Benedict

Everyone was helping...even Dennis and Gramps, though they tried to wiggle their way out of the kitchen, Andy and I kept them busy!

Scones, cheese danish and creme brule oatmeal in the background

Menu:
(click the recipes tab above for recipes from the brunch)

Chesapeake Eggs Benedict (lump crabmeat, sauteed spinach, poached egg, english muffin, hollandaise sauce)

Mexi Hashbrowns (mini diced potatoes, crispy fried with onions, andouille sausage and green chilies)

Bacon (cooked the ole' fashioned way)

Artichoke Egg Souffle (individual ramekins souffle with croissant crust, egg, artichokes and a blend of asaigo and parmesan cheese)

French Toast Sticks (finger sized french toasts, sauteed in butter with a crunchy frosted flake crust. syrup for dipping)

Creme Brule Oatmeal (creamy oats and fresh berries in individual ramekins, topped with a crunchy, sugary crust)

Cranberry Orange scones

Cheese Danish

Fill Your Own Crepes (crepes with an assortment of fillings: vanilla pastry cream, blueberry sauce, cherry sauce)

Raspberry Tart (combo of red and white raspberries set atop raspberry preserves in a flaky tart shell)

***The absolute favorites were the french toast sticks (kids voted this #1) and the creme brule oatmeal (I'll never enjoy my oatmeal as much any other way!)***

Snowy Day Baking

I don't think I am alone when I say that being snowed in makes me want to cook and bake. The kitchen has been colorful since the color white has invaded the outdoors. I baked two absolutely delicious desserts over the past 2 weeks and since I haven't posted on this blog in quite awhile, I thought I would share them with you today.

The first is a raspberry tart from one of my favorite Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I look at this recipe almost every time I open the cookbook and dream about the day when I will make this tart. All summer long, with our abundance of fresh raspberries, I imagined making it, but just couldn't bring myself to do it without the white raspberries. They seem to add such a beautiful contrast. So I put it off. Then just last week, in between blizzards, Leah and I saw white raspberries at the grocery store. I have never actually seen them, so the very first place my mind went to was this tart! We picked up a package of them plus a package of red ones too. I did end up using raspberries from the garden as well, though just in the form of raspberry preserves...so I felt better about not neglecting God's provision this summer!

Needless to say it turned out beautifully and EVERYONE gobbled it up. Since this recipe was not altered at all from the original, I won't take any rights away from Ina Garten on this one. If you think this looks delicious, then you should go out and buy her book anyways, because every single recipe in it is just as delicious.

The second dessert I failed to get a picture of before we delved into it. Yesterday I was thinking about Dennis' mom and decided to make the Fresh Apple Cake that she used to make quite often for us. I think the recipe might have actually come from her sister, but to me, the cake is hers. I think this picture actually shows you just how moist and sticky and sweet the cake is. If only you could smell it through your computer screen! Since this is a family recipe, I will share it below with you:

Fresh Apple Cake from Christine

1 1/4 cup liquid shortening (I use a combination of butter and vegetable oil)

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

3 cups flour

3 cups peeled and chopped baking apples (like granny smith)

1 cup chopped nuts

2 t. vanilla

Grease and flour bundt cake pan. Combine flour, salt & soda in mixing bowl. Cream the sugar, shortening and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Gradually add the flour mixture. (At this point it will seem much like a soft cookie dough...not to worry, don't add more liquid, the apples will add plenty when they cook). Fold in apples and nuts. Pour batter (actually scoop it) into prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours until toothpick comes out clean.

Glaze: Combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup canned milk (or i used cream), and 1 t. vanilla. Cook over low heat till comes to a full boil. Remove, cool slightly, and pour over warm cake.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...How does your Garden Grow???

Well, it goes from this....

to this...

to this! All that weeding, watering, insect smushing, picking, shucking, boiling, cutting and finally freezing for a taste of summer in January! It is soooooo worth it!

The garden has been plentiful this year again...but not so much with the tomatoes as we had hoped. That's okay, there are other years for that. The grape tomatoes are always abundant...

As well as the green beans and peppers. The peppers are being dried. Cucumbers did not do so well, but I combined what I had with some from a Mennonite family to make a crock of Aunt Mildred's sweet pickles.


The green beans have all been canned. I think it was about 17 quarts this year, in addition to what we ate right out of the garden for dinners.

Lima beans are on their way, and the corn is just starting to come in. Raspberries are crazy everywhere. We have picked quarts and quarts daily, and most of them get frozen to be turned into jam later. Some get put in pies (12 cups at a time!) and some just get eaten. We are bursting with parsley and basil too.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the garden :) It requires so much work, but the rewards are so great. Happy summer in my kitchen!

Hooray for Freecycle!

I recently got new pots and pans for my birthday. But my current cabinet space will not hold them, so I was on the lookout for one of those hanging pot racks. Since I didn't really want to shell out any large sums of money, I took a chance and posted a want ad in our local Freecycle group. Good thing I did...I got a reply of someone who actually had just put hers in the back of her truck headed for the dump, but I could come get it. When I picked it up, it was white, very dirty and the metal needed a major cleaning, but it was functional and not too big or fancy. So I cleaned it up, painted the white metal black, and polished the stainless grid. We picked up some chain and "S" hooks at Lowes for it last night, and Dennis put it up for me. It holds all of my cookware and looks great too! I am so tickled that we got it for free!

Pancake Recipe

Today is fat Tuesday...otherwise known as Pancake Supper at your local church night. Up until recently, I never went to a church that did any kind of pancake supper, but it seems that on every corner around here there is a sign for Pancakes this week! Well, we did not go to our church's pancake supper tonight. We took advantage of a rare evening where no one had to go anywhere and had our own pancakes/egg/sausage gravy/biscuit supper at home together. And then we played games together. We are all for fellowship at the church, but sometimes fellowship with our own family is more important.

So when I talked to my friend Sarah tonight while I was making dinner, she asked me if I ever made pancakes from scratch. Of course! said I!!! How else would one make pancakes??? Well, she asked if my recipe was any good (hers always come out blah) so I thought I'd just share with everyone. Actually we have tried many pancake recipes (this is usually Dennis' forte-he's the breakfast guy) and the one I always come back to is this one...it is simple and basic.

Half of my family likes plain pancakes, and half like banana pancakes, so I will give you the ingredients for both.

Buttermilk Pancakes (buttermilk is great but not necessary)
2 cups flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly with a wisk or something like it.

2 c. buttermilk (or 2 c. milk mixed with 1 t. vinegar-any type-added to sour the milk-this makes a huge difference in the taste)
If you are making banana pancakes, instead of using 2 cups milk, mash 2-3 ripe bananas in a large measuring cup and then add milk to make 2 1/2 cups total liquid/banana volume
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla

Mix these ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Melt 1/4 cup butter and set aside.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix slightly with a rubber spatula. Before everything is incorporated, add the warm butter and mix just until ingredients are combined. Be careful not to overmix or you will have tough and rubbery pancakes.

Ladle onto a buttered hot skillet....and so on. You know how to cook them I'm sure :)

Let me know if you try these and how they turn out!

The Verdict is out

The verdict is out on the egg nog recipes:

Scones: yummy, but only Eric, myself and my mom ate them. I think the rest of the family just isn't too big on scones.

Fudge: Well, it didn't actually turn out to be fudge at all, more like caramel...which I love! I must not have cooked it for long enough, or beat it for long enough or something. Anyways, I turned out the cooled (in the refrig) "fudge" onto a cutting board, cut it into small rectangles and wrapped them individually in wax paper. They are perfect caramel consistency, but still have to be refrigerated. But I have given a bunch to many people since we couldn't possibly (or wouldn't want to possibly) eat that much caramel!

Bundt/pound cakes: Delicious. I had mine drizzled with chocolate sauce. The kids had theirs with confectioner's sugar dusted on top. They are also excellent as coffee cakes at about 10:30 in the morning when I finally got around to drinking my morning coffee and having breakfast yesterday!