In the Soup Kitchen and a Flourless Chocolate Cake

As some of you know, my life was hijacked recently.  While I still do a lot of cooking and not much writing, I found myself "volunteering" at my son's new deli/ice creamery.  I guess I should be careful what I wish for!  I always thought it would be fun and cool to work in an ice cream shop.  Enter my son, who now has his own store front by way of acquiring a full fledged sandwich/deli shop.  My volunteering consists of helping out (and I use that term loosely) with the day to day operations.  I make cookies, do dishes, make soup from scratch, do more dishes, help with customers at the counter, do many more dishes!  Yes, at this ripe old age I'm exhausted, but on the up side, I've met some extremely wonderful people.  Better yet, even though we may bump heads, at times, I'm getting to engage in meaningful conversations with my son and share stories of our memories together.  He's slowly finding out that a simple hug from him is all it takes to melt my heart!

I'm extremely proud of him for taking this double business on.  Setting up business is not an easy task, especially when it encompasses Government involvement (inefficiency).   At the end of the day, it can be very rewarding, especially when my son can look in the mirror every morning and say hello to the BOSS!  That's the best part by far!

If you're reading this and you are local, come to try out his delicious sandwiches (the bread rocks) and amazing unique ice cream flavors.  I am self designated "quality control" person for product tasting!  Not great for the waistline, but good for the soul.  Ice cream makes everyone happy, I've had the pleasure to notice.   The other day I had to laugh as I scooped some vanilla into a sugar cone for a little girl.   She could barely see into the display case and as I scooped, she started to sing!   Her dad said she always sings for ice cream...it works for me!

After such a long absence from this blog (almost a month) it's not as if I haven't been cooking or baking.  I managed to make a flour less chocolate cake for my mom's birthday.   It was divine!   As you can tell by the not so appetizing photo above, it was a success, especially topped off with Icecycle Creamery ice cream!   The only change will be to reduce the size of the round pan as it turned out a bit on the flat side!   A flour less chocolate cake is so very decadent.  A small slice will send you to heaven, I promise!

Flourless Chocolate Cake 

4 ounces of good quality bittersweet chocolate

1 stick or 1/2 cup butter (preferably unsalted)

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened) and additional for garnish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter an 8 inch round cake pan (no larger or the cake will be flat like mine!)  Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper, then butter that, too.  

Break chocolate into small pieces.  Place chocolate and butter into double boiler over simmering water and stir until melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, whisking as you go.  Add the eggs and keep whisking until smooth.  Sprinkle the cocoa powder on top and mix in.  Pour the mixture into the pan and bake until the cake forms a thin crust, for about 25 minutes.  Cool the cake for 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.  Enjoy.
This was on my "bucket list" also.  I will make it again using a smaller cake pan....definitely squelches your chocolate craving!

Faux Pumpkin Cheesecake

I don't know what it is about pumpkin.  Do we naturally crave this orange veggie because of some vitamin our bodies are lacking with the absence of the sun's warm rays?  Not sure, but, once again, I find myself making an assortment of pumpkin dishes from gnocchi to soup and beyond.  While this pie is never meant to replace a true, made by grandma pumpkin pie, it's for those of us who want to cut back on sugar and calories once in a while.

Don't let the word "tofu" scare you away.  You'll hardly notice and your belly will thank you.

Faux Pumpkin Cheesecake

1/4 cup oat bran

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 pkg firm tofu

1 cup egg whites

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup almond (or regular) flour

1 Tbsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

pinch of allspice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  For the "crust" I sprayed an 8 x 8 glass pan with butter spray, then sprinkled the oat bran evenly over that.

Mix all the remaining ingredients in your food processor until well blended.  Pour cheesecake mixture into a glass pan.  It will be rather thick, so smooth to the edges.  Set the cake pan into a larger pan and pour hot water to within 2 inches of the top of the cake pan.  Bake for about 45 minutes.  Cool and refrigerate a few hours before serving.   Yummy!  Even better the next day.

Spiced Pear Coffee Cake

My spiced pear cake screams Fall.   Right now you can find pears and peaches everywhere.  Eat them raw, toss them on top of a salad,  poach them in wine or bake a cake.  If you don't have pears handy, substitute peaches or apples!  

I rarely make a cake with frosting, (must cut back somewhere). It's as though, if there is no frosting,  there is not as much guilt!   This cake is filled with juicy pears and so moist.  Who needs that gooey frosting?

Spiced Pear Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use a 9 inch round cake pan greased with coconut oil and dusted with flour.

2 pears, peeled and thinly sliced

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 trial bottle (airplane size) spiced rum (optional)

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup flour

1 Tbsp cinnamon

For the topping:

a handful of chopped pecans

1 Tbsp sugar and a dash of cinnamon

In a large bowl mix eggs, sugar, milk and spiced rum, if using.  Add half of the pears to the batter and blend well.  Save the nicer looking pears for the top.  Add the salt,  flour and cinnamon stirring well.  Pour into the greased pan and place remaining pears on top in a "wheel" pattern.  Sprinkle the nuts, sugar and cinnamon on top.

Bake for about 55 minutes.  This cake tastes great warm but even better cold.

German Chocolate Snack Cake

Once again, I've been away too long!  In that case I owe you a dessert recipe!  I broke a tradition this year and experimented with this cake instead of making my son's triple chocolate cake.  He made his own and created an ice cream around it.  I didn't get to taste it, so, I guess we're even, huh?  I'm sure it was great as is all his flavors of ice cream!

Please forgive me for not making this from scratch.  German chocolate cake with that gooey buttery coconut frosting was one of my favorites while growing up!  If I had chosen to frost this snack cake, I could have been in serious trouble; It's too good to have around my house....danger!  I liked the results (and hubby did, too) even without the frosting.

German Chocolate Snack Cake

15.24 oz German chocolate cake mix

1 pkg (3.4 oz) coconut cream instant pudding

3 eggs

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 1/4 c water

1/2 c chopped pecans

1/2 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (for a glass pan, 13 x 9 inch)  Grease the bottom only. 

Add the cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil and water into a large bowl.  Mix well.  Then add the nuts and chocolate chips, pour into the glass pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Test with a toothpick in the center.  If it comes out clean, it's done.  Cool.  May be frosted but it's good the way it is.  It doesn't hurt to dollop some ice cream on top,though!  Cover and refrigerate.

Sugarless Oatmeal Bars

Breakfast "on the run" used to be a given for me years ago.  Yes, I punched a time clock for most of the jobs I had..sad, but true!  Thinking back, the only job I had where I didn't, was at a government agency.  Here, at 3 minutes before "closing time" we all gathered around the back door to the parking lot, like we were caged animals and couldn't leave one second before the clock hit 5:00 pm.    Now, employees have freedoms I could only dream about...childcare in house, gyms, restaurants, flexible hours, and the list goes on!  Don't get me started!

Anyway, most mornings I would make a mad dash to the car, sometimes with a piece of toast or a hastily prepared chalky tasting protein shake in hand.  These oatmeal bars would have been a welcome change to my routine.  They are ridiculously easy to make, too!  

Makes 16-20 bars

Sugarless Oatmeal Bars

3 very ripe mashed bananas

1/3 cup apple sauce, unsweetened

2 cups regular oats

1/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix ALL the ingredients in a bowl and pour into a 8x8 glass pan which has been greased or sprayed with pan spray.  Spread evenly.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Cool thoroughly and cut into squares.  Delicious and nice to know you're eating something relatively healthy.

Next time, I may add pecans and/or mini chocolate chips.  Less healthy, more decadent!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

If you have an over abundance of zucchini from your garden, and most people do right now, here's a way to put a dent in it and enjoy your harvest.  As for me, my harvest has been slow and sporadic.  For some reason I've gotten shriveled or tapered ends on my zucchini.   Although unsightly, it doesn't stop me from using these.  Who's going to know if they're shredded up!

Not so pretty but perfect for breads and cakes!

When I run across recipes, I check over the ingredients to see if I can cut off some of the fat or sugar. I guess this behavior comes from a lifetime of dieting and trying to eat right.  But, I was in one of my moods that made me declare "Who gives a rip!"   The only adapting I did was using vegan cane sugar (because that's what I had) instead of regular sugar.  Besides, there is healthy zucchini in the recipe making it moist and satisfying.  I rarely put frosting on top unless it's a special occasion so I figure I'm cutting back, right?  Sure....

Chocolate Zucchini Cake - Adapted from The Italian Dish Blog

2 - 2 1/2 cups of medium grated zucchini.  I used my handy box grater.

1 Tablespoon of coconut oil or butter can be used to grease the pan

1 cube  (8 Tbsp)unsalted butter, room temp and cut into pieces

2- 3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1- 1/2 cup sugar.  I used vegan sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk  (if you don't have any, put 1/2 Tbsp of white vinegar in milk  and let it sit for 15 minutes before using.)

Grate your zucchini and make sure it is squeezed and well drained.  Grease a 9 inch round baking pan with the coconut oil or butter and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.  In another larger bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy,  Add the oil while beating, then the eggs one at a time, add vanilla and start to incorporate the flour and buttermilk in batches using a low speed on your mixer.  Stir in the zucchini and pour into the pan.  Bake until done, for about an hour.  Check with a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake.  When it comes out clean, it's done.  Remove from the oven and cool for approximately 15 minutes.  Invert and carefully remove it from the pan.  Dust with powdered sugar or frost with your favorite frosting.

Peach Dumpling Cake

Sometimes I get carried away at the Farmer's Market.  It's as if I morph into a starving person in the buffet line!   All the pretty fruits are displayed beautifully and as you walk by, if the vendor is smart, you'll be offered a sample.  That usually clinches the deal.  Last week, I walked away with peaches, nectarines, strawberries, butter lettuce, yellow squash, lemon cucumber, large tomatoes,  concord grapes and plums.   This week as they quickly ripen, I'm looking for ways to "finish" them off!  We can't seem to eat them quickly enough!

Even though Summer is hanging on, I feel the crisp Fall air in the mornings and realize I'll soon be making the cobblers, soups and stews of harvest time.  But nothing is written in stone in the cooking world, so I baked a peach dumpling cake which was devoured in record time!  It's a variation of my pear dumpling cake and if you ask me, the peach cake wins!  Try them both and you be the judge.

Ingredients

1/2 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter can be used)

dusting of flour

2-3 peaches, peeled cored and sliced  NOTE:  Leave 1/3 of the peaches in slices and chop the remainder.

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups flour

1  Tbsp cinnamon

a sprinkle of sugar for the top

1 Tbsp chopped nuts (I like pecans) for the topping

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 inch round pan by greasing with coconut oil and dusting with a bit of flour., shaking out the excess.  In a bowl blend the eggs, sugar, milk and salt.   Add flour and most of the cinnamon into the sugar mixture, blend and then add the chopped peaches.   Pour into the pan.  Arrange the sliced peaches into a spoked wheel pattern.  Sprinkle with sugar, pecans and a bit of cinnamon.  Bake for about 55 minutes.  Cool and serve.  If your grandma ever made peach dumplings as mine did, this is the best and easiest substitute I've found.

Blueberry Raspberry Cinnamon Cake

A few years ago I wanted to try my hand at berry growing.  I went to the local home/gardening store and picked up a small black raspberry bush and half jokingly planted it in a sunny corner of my yard.  The first year the yield was not too good.  Then, it became "established" and started to thrive.  After learning the ins and outs of proper pruning, I can depend on a nice crop of berries. 

Last year they all seemed to ripen at the same time, right around the time my kitchen was being remodeled.  I quickly packaged and froze a few batches to put into recipes later on.  That "later on" arrived this last week when I made this berry cake laced with cinnamon. 

The only thing I would change on this would be to remove the annoying seeds by mashing and pressing the berries through a sieve first.  Can't wait to try that with this year's crop!  If you can't handle the seeds, just use all blueberries!

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup flour (I used cake flour)

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 cup black or red raspberries, fresh or frozen

a sprinkle of baker's sugar (for topping)

1 Tbsp chopped pecans, optional for topping

a few "dots" of butter

Butter and flour a 9 inch round pan.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl blend the eggs, sugar, milk and salt.  Add the flour, cinnamon and fold in most of the berries.  Save some for topping.  Pour into the pan, add the extra berries, dot with butter and sprinkle with sugar and a little more cinnamon if you want.  Bake for about 55 minutes, until done.  Cool and serve.  Great snacking or brunch cake!

Test Kitchen Needed for Limoncello Cake

The search is on for a test kitchen  person who would like to "try" the limoncello cake recipe that did not work very well for me.  I live in some altitude and would like someone at sea level to bake this cake.  The cake had great flavor but the texture was ALL wrong!  Or maybe, I expected too much?!

If you're up to the task, bake it and come back to comment with your results.    Here it is:

Butter and flour a pan (I used a bundt pan)

3 cups flour

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp lemon zest

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup milk

3 Tbsp limoncello

1/2 tsp confectioner's sugar (powdered)

1 Tbsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Have your greased and floured pan ready.  Beat the eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer.  Add the flour, lemon zest, oil, milk and limoncello and stir with a spoon until combined.  Add the baking powder and confectioner's sugar and stir again until blended well.  Spoon the batter into the pan and bake about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cook completely, and place on a serving plate.  Dust with additional powdered sugar or make a glaze of lemon zest, confectioner's sugar, a bit of limoncello and milk or water.  Pour over the cake and serve.

Let me know how yours turns out.

Lavender Citrus Brunch Cake

Let us eat cake!  This one caught my eye a while back.  It's perfect for that Springtime, Easter or Mother's Day celebration.  I can't say who inspired me to make this.  It's more like where I received my inspiration and this time the idea came from my travels.  The ingredients are Mediterranean thru and thru.  Not only does it have lemon and tangerine zest, lavender and Greek yogurt but it has olive oil!  Can't get much better than that!

One of my dreams is to travel to Italy or the South of France  during Spring or Summer when I can be surrounded by fields of lavender, bright red poppies and Monet-like sunflowers.  That probably won't be anytime soon so I'm content (not really) to bake this Mediterranean dream cake instead!

I will warn you that after my hummingbird cake fiasco,  I have made the proper altitude (and attitude)  adjustments for this cake.  I live above 5500 feet so if you are at sea level or close,  follow along.  My adjustments for high altitude are in parenthesis.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour, all purpose is okay

1 cup sugar  (reduce by 2 Tbsp)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder  ( reduce by 1/4)

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

6 oz. Greek honey flavored yogurt

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp culinary lavender

zest of small tangerine and 1 lemon

(add 1 Tbsp water)

Preheat oven to 350 High altitude should be around 365-370.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Mix the remaining ingredients in another bowl.  Then  add to the dry ingredients but do not overmix.  Butter and flour a 9 inch pan.  Pour the batter into it and bake for 25 mins (30 minutes) until knife inserted comes out clean.  The outside will be a golden crust while the inside will look dense and speckled with zest and lavender.  You can frost it but I found the flavors are simple and wonderful without!

The next time I try this I may add some Limoncello...yum!

Happy Birthday and Hummingbird Shortcake

It was not my plan to have hummingbird shortcake.  I had envisioned a beautiful 2 layer cake with a traditional cream cheese butter type frosting..oozing with goodness!  A funny thing happened in my "test" kitchen.  Again, I am a creative cook, not a baker.  There are reasons for this.  I love sweets, but in my altitude I haven't had much luck in baking or the fortitude to keep on trying.  After all, I can't eat all these "mistakes".

I live at approximately 6000 ft. so it is a real challenge to get it right.  I either forget to add extra flour, reduce the sugar, increase the liquid and/or increase the oven temperature!  Whew, too much.  Sometimes there is an occasional success, mostly with crumbles, crisps, pies, etc.  But I can't let a good challenge rest. 

The recipe I tried came from a fellow blogger.  After I had made it, I stumbled upon another gal's blog at www.bakingbites.com   I recommend her recipe for hummingbird cake.  Hers looks great!  Hummingbird cake supposedly originated in the South.  It has tropical ingredients plus pecans!  Yum..

Maybe it was just divine intervention for my "birthday" cake to end up the way it did.  One layer turned out beautifully, while the other was a flop, but salvageable.  I made lemonade shortcake out of the scraps!  This just happens to be my dad's (birthday boy) favorite dessert.  Funny how things work out!  In my kitchen I improvise and revise.  This cake is worth the effort...I will try again!



Bad cake



Great "save" shortcake

Good cake

Better Birthday Cake

Happy 82th birthday dad.  Your cake is on the way!  Here's more pictures to celebrate his big day!

Somewhere in Austria

Eating his way through Europe

Another birthday circa 1977

Change and the Hummingbird

Change is not always good or comfortable.  But, I've learned over the years to embrace it.  It may take you to places and situations  that will cause you to grow, if you're a willing participant.  


This year I decided to conquer several different classes to better myself as a person, foodie, writer, etc.   I'm from the class of "If it's going to be, it's up to me".  Therefore, I aggressively enrolled in my first class, Culinary Sanitation and Health.  Check and done!  Now I go into restaurants and find myself evaluating their sanitation practices.  Not good, because if you look close enough you'll find infractions everywhere.  I created a monster!  I have to say, though, it's probably a class that should be taught in all high schools. 


My next class was "Writing and Publishing your non-fiction book".  Great information for anyone moving in that direction.  It was the "jump start" I needed, although alot of credit goes to my dear friend, Cathie, who's been my guide and cheerleader all rolled up into one great lady.  You can visit her blog at www.supernovel.com/blog


My next endeavor or class will supply the tools to further build my website to make it more interactive and professional.   The classes are "paced" at two lessons per week (way too slow for me), so I'll probably take on another fun class like conversational French.  I have a plan! 

For this year, and perhaps the rest of my life I will be "hummingbird-like", flapping my wings at a rapid pace, but with a calm demeanor, hovering when I need to and drinking in the sweetness of life.  We can learn alot from these miniature creatures.

  On that note, I just took out my hummingbird cake of Southern origins which is loaded with banana, pineapple and pecans.  To frost or not to frost, that is the question!  We will see...I'll worry about that tomorrow....so Southern!

Butterscotch Schnapps Bundt Cake

A few weeks ago I promised to post the recipe for my Butterscotch Schnapps Bundt Cake.  This was actually part of the Valentine's day celebration.   It was a "spin off" of sorts from my Amaretto bundt cake that I've probably made 100 times.  Since I have so much butterscotch liqueur left, I figured it might be interesting to put some in this basic cake.

I learned a few things along the way.  I wanted to use my new baby bundt cake pan and make individual cakes.  I know I need to generously grease and flour the molded pan before.  However, after baking I literally needed to pry them out!  Help!  A failure?  No, just an opportunity to learn.  Remember, I don't claim to be a baker or pastry chef, although a class may be in my future.  I learned that if you immerse the bottom of the pan in hot water after slightly cooling the cake, it should slide easily out of the bundt pan when you invert it onto a serving plate.  In one piece, yet, what a concept!  This was a lesson well learned after the fact, but if you dust the cake with powdered sugar, no one will know! 

Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees

1 8 1/4 oz yellow cake mix
1 3 1/2 oz butterscotch instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 c canola or vegetable oil
1/2 c cold water
1/2 c butterscotch schnapps
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/2 c butterscotch chips (optional)  If you omit the chips, use 1/2 c more nuts

Combine all ingredients listed, folding the chips and nuts at the end.  Generously grease bundt pan, flour (shaking off the excess) and pour batter into the pan.  Hint: I would use a standard size bundt pan next time.  Bake for approximately an hour.  Cool and invert onto a plate, keeping in mind you may have to immerse in hot water to remove it!  All in all, it was very tasty, but Amaretto still rules!  Maybe it's the memories attached to it that makes it better.

Ginger Pear Cobbler Crisp

We are in the middle of a snow storm here in the Reno foothills.  I'm not complaining because we need the water to survive around here.  Part of me wants to go play in it, snap pictures of the beauty, but the other part of me wants to snuggle up by the fire or turn on the oven and bake something sweet, warm, and delicious!  I compromised this time.  After playing and snapping, I decide it's a great day to stay indoors and cook.

The last big snow storm we had I made this ginger pear cobbler crisp.  So, here's one for the snowy weekend.

Ingredients:

2 large ripe pears, peeled and sliced
1 T sugar
2/3 c oats
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T crystallized ginger pieces
3/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 c milk
dash of cinnamon on top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 9 glass baking pan.  In a bowl mix the pears, sugar, oats, cinnamon and ginger.  Pour into the pan.  Then mix the remaining ingredients and place over the pears.  Stir only slightly.  Add a few drops of butter and a dash of cinnamon.  Bake for 40 minutes or so.  This is better as it gets cold in the refrigerator, but hard to resist when it comes out of the oven.  The warmth of the ginger makes it a perfect and simple snack cake.

Remember, the giveaway contest!!   Only one more post until the drawing!  Don't miss out on a nice prize!  Just become a follower of my blog and submit a comment or email so you can be a contestant!  Looking forward to hearing from you!

Happy Valentine's Day and a Giveaway Contest!

Wow, it's been over 37 years since I met my Valentine, my love, best friend and husband!  Each of those  years  has been a joy.  I'm sure if I took off my rose colored glasses I could find some "rough patches", but the fact is we never chose to dwell on the challenges of our relationship.  We worked on it and still do.   That's one of the keys to a happy marriage.  Realize that you are two separate people, usually with two very different upbringings,  coming together and creating a united front to the world and its problems.  Don't let those problems become yours!  Remember, you're on the same side, the same team. With that said, I'll climb down  from my soapbox and get into the kitchen.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!   For this special day we traditionally put together a menu of our favorite foods.  Most years it was either scampi or a pasta dish  followed by a luscious dessert.  Why should this year be any different?  Last night we celebrated with filet mignon, (It was actually a gift and not my first choice.) roasted fingerling potatoes, fresh garden salad with my famous wasabi ginger dressing,  followed by a butterscotch schnapps bundt cake drizzled with a caramel sauce.  Yum, yum!

Butterscotch schnapps bundt cake without caramel sauce

I'll be posting the recipe for the bundt cake on a later post, but I wanted to mention the "giveaway contest".  I'm celebrating the "success" of  my blog and decided to have a contest.  The guidelines are on the previous post.  Please join in and let me know what your favorite food might be.  Comment, if you can.  If not, just email me using the link below. (the little box with the M in it)

Pear Dumpling Cake

Patty cake, Patty cake, baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can! It's funny what stirs up memories for some of us. As a toddler, this nursery rhyme was recited for hours (it seemed) along with "this little piggy". My dad's mother, Emma, used to teach me these verses as I sat on her small antique stool at her house. She lived in a modest craftsman style home with lace doilies on all the armchairs and couches. I still have some of her crocheted doily gifts she made for me! She would always have some kind of treat waiting for us on our visits. Isn't that part of what grandmothers do? Whether it was her snicker doodle cookies, or peach dumplings, it sang "comfort" to me.

I saw this recipe years ago, possibly in Sunset or Better Home and Gardens magazine and could not wait to experiment with it and make it my own. I've made different variations of it, mostly using fresh peaches or pears. This time I used canned pears, oh no! The result is always good and it has the consistency of the peach dumplings my grandma made. So, year after year and any time of year, I bake this for my family. The only drawback is that it doesn't last very long!

Ingredients:

2 cans of peaches or pears, drained and sliced. Set aside half of the sliced and chop the remainder. If using fresh, peel, core and slice about 3 fruits.

2 eggs

1 c sugar

1/2 c milk

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 c flour

1 T cinnamon

a sprinkle of baker's sugar or regular (for topping)

1 T chopped pecans, optional (for topping)

Using a 9 inch round pan, butter and flour it. In a bowl blend sugar, eggs, milk and salt with a mixer. Add the flour, mix, and fold in half of the chopped peaches or pears. Arrange the sliced pears on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and top with nuts. Dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes. Cool and serve with powdered sugar, ice cream or just plain. Enjoy!

Amaretto Bundt Cake

My amaretto bundt cake should really be called "Ralph's cake". Years ago we visited my husband's Uncle Mike and Aunt Rosie in California. I remember she made a rum cake that was a huge hit with the family. Shortly after I saw a recipe that might work for the holidays. To make it my own though I took out the rum and replaced it with one of my favorite's, Amaretto! The recipe card is probably the "most used" in my file and has become quite the tradition when it comes to a quick, moist and delicious cake.

I guess if you're a "dunker', and you know who you are, it's perfect for that kind of quirkiness. Both my husband and son are dunkers. It must be one of those hereditary traits. I've never understood that, except when it applies to dunking oreos. After they have been split apart and the white filling is eaten, I believe, oreos should be dunked in milk. Not quirky at all.

Although this can be made from scratch I still use a boxed cake mix as a base. Why change a good thing and besides, I was a working women when I acquired this "keeper" of a cake. I still have some butterscotch schnapps in my cupboard so I may try a version of this in the future with butterscotch pudding and liqueur. Sounds good! Until then try this!

Ingredients:

1 8 1/4 oz yellow cake mix

1 3 1/2 oz vanilla instant pudding mix

4 eggs

1/2 c oil (canola or vegetable)

1/2 c cold water

1/2 c amaretto

1 c chopped nuts , I've used almonds, pecans or walnuts.

Combine all ingredients, mix and fold in the nuts. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Add the mixture, bake for 1 hour. Cool and invert onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar. Dunk if you must!