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Pineapple-Banana Cake

31 Aug

It’s rare that we like cake to begin with, but this one we all loved!

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but no one in our house really loves cake, as in a birthday cake type of cake, with the exception of Lemon Cake and Boston Cream Pie which we adults choose for our birthdays, but we recently had a cake that we loved so I thought I’d share it with you today.

My parents had come for dinner and my mom had volunteered to bring dessert, saying she had a new recipe for a Pineapple-Banana Cake she thought we’d like. The recipe is not her own, she credits Roberta Grundy for passing it along to her. (Thanks Roberta!)

Well we gave it a try, and we all loved it! It wasn’t too sweet and the flavors of the pineapple mixed with banana was delicious and perfect for the upcoming fall season. I encourage you to give it a try!

PINEAPPLE-BANANA CAKE
BY ROBERTA GRUNDY
INGREDIENTS

*Grease and flour two layer cake pans
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 package Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
1 eight ounce can of crushed pineapple NOT drained
2 medium bananas, mashed (approximately one cup)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Combine ingredients and mix together on low for one minute.
Scrape sides of the bowl and continue to mix for two more minutes on medium until well blended.
Pour into greased and floured pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-33 minutes until cake springs back.

See that little layer of frosting in the middle….yummy!

FROSTING

Roberta uses Betty Crocker frosting mix, beaten by hand and adding in 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 ts. vanilla, but you can also choose to make your own vanilla frosting, adding in the cinnamon and vanilla as well.

Optional: sprinkle with nuts

Serves 10-12 approximately

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My Last Post Before The Trip: Blueberry Crumble

17 Aug

Caroline makes a killer Crumble!

On Sunday Caroline and are are getting up in the very wee hours of the morning and boarding a plane for our whirlwind trip to Washington DC.

This will be my last post until after we return from that trip.

Given the upcoming trip, I thought I’d feature Caroline in the kitchen for today’s post. When she was being interviewed earlier this week, the reporter asked her what else she likes to make in the kitchen. She talked about making scrambled eggs for her sisters, and then she said, “I make Crumble.”

I started a list in the inside of this book called “So Far So Good” since the cookbook has so many recipes and I wanted to keep track of the ones I’ve tried out that were “keepers.”

And she does. She makes a really good Crumble topping which we’ve used to make both Blueberry Crumble and Peach Crumble this summer. The Crumble topping requires patience and attention to detail and I work too quickly to make mine come out as well as hers does.

The recipe for Blueberry Crumble came out of The Maine Wild Blueberry Cookbook, and so far in that cookbook everything I have tried has been delicious, but we’ve found the recipe for Blueberry Crumble to be fast, easy, delicious and adaptable to more than just blueberries.

Here’s the recipe for you. Enjoy it, and be thinking of us this weekend as we take our trip of a lifetime!

BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE

Anything with this crumble topping is so delicious!

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup sugar

some extra sugar for sprinkling

5 Tablespoons Butter

Juice of one lemon (I sprinkled lemon juice from a bottle)

2/3 cup of flour

2 pints of blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Put washed berries in small shallow baking dish.

Sprinkle with lemon juice and sugar

In a separate bowl blend in butter, flour and 1/3 cup sugar

Sprinkle topping over berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream or both!

Hot out of the oven!

Yum!

An alternative use for the crumble topping: Peach crumble. I had less peaches so I used a smaller dish but the same amount of topping.

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A Chocolate Lover’s Dream Day

13 Aug

We hadn’t even parked the car yet and I was already salivating.

Last week, you may remember that in my post about Boston Cream Pie, I mentioned that Saturday was my birthday. This year for my birthday, I got an extra-special treat: we spent the day before my birthday in Hershey, PA.

That’s right. I was in the Chocolate Capital of the World this past Friday.

I know, I’m a lucky, lucky girl.

I must give all the credit for this amazing treat to my mother-in-law, Marylou, who treated both my family and my sister-in-law’s family to a long weekend vacation in Pennsylvania with all the activities and everything that went with them, this past weekend. It was such a fun weekend and I loved being able to spend my birthday with this side of my family, something I don’t always get to do. We hated to see it end.

All of my favorite things, all in one delicious place!

I had been to Hershey a long time ago, back when we lived in New Jersey, but it was so long ago that I had almost no memory of the trip. It was like being there for the first time, all over again.

The streets smell of chocolate as you drive through the town. It’s heavenly.

The street lamps are shaped like Hershey Kisses.

It was truly a dream-come-true for a chocolate lover.

There are several parts to the Hershey experience, and I can share a little bit with you about the parts that we got to see on Friday. There’s so many family-friendly things to do there, you definitely have to pick and choose what you’d like to do on your visit. We were lucky too, it was a rainy day and at first I thought we would not be able to go. However, there were tons of indoor activities so we were able to keep to our plan for the day.

On our first ride we learned all about how chocolate is made, how all our favorite candies come to be.

We first chose to take a moving ride tour through the chocolate-making experience. It was about 10-15 minutes long and you learn all about how chocolate is made and it was a fun ride while being very informative at the same time. It was during this tour that I realized just how many different kinds of chocolate candies are actually made by Hershey’s.

After that, since it was lunchtime, we ate in the food court, which I thought seemed very affordable. There were ten of us total: five kids and five adults, so eating out is not an easy thing to do, especially when you’re trying to stick to a budget.

Caroline got a great shot of the trolley after we finished our ride.

Following the food court, we took an hour-long trolley ride which led us all through the town of Hershey. Here we not only saw the entire area, but also heard an animated history of the town and of Mr. Hershey himself. There was lots of laughing and singing (yes, we sang) on this ride and it was just as fun to watch our kids reacting to the antics of the tour guides while they were learning about the town and seeing all the local landmarks.

The kids got such a kick out of the antics on the trolley and we got such a kick out of watching the kids.

After the trolley ride ended, we went on to what was the most highly anticipated event of the day: The Gift Shop. The kids had all saved their money for the entire summer to take on this trip and they were anxiously awaiting the first time to spend some of it. I was proud though, both couples are on tight budgets and it’s rubbed off on our kids in what I think is a good way. They all took great care in buying their items and they really seemed to weigh the pros and cons of what to get and why. No one over-spent, as we still had other places with gift shops that we’d be visiting. All of my kids came home with extra money ultimately, and I believe my nieces did as well.

Ready to leave the hotel, wearing our Hershey’s t-shirts, purchased here in RI especially for this trip.

One tip I will pass along: this summer I found brown Hershey’s t-shirts at our local Walmart store. Total cost for three shirts: $22.50. I called my sister-in-law and she went to her store and found two for her daughters. Our five girls wore their matching Hershey’s shirts to Hershey Park on Friday and they looked so awesome. None of them had to spend their money on a $21.50 Hershey shirt from the gift shop. I thought that was a great treat for them and a great lesson as well.

There were some things that we didn’t do at Hershey Park that you might enjoy if you visit as well. They included a 3D show, a tour of the production facilities and an outdoor water park. If we took another trip there, those are things we might consider doing.

Overall, this was a fabulous way to spend the day before my birthday, or any day, and I’m so thankful I got the chance to visit Hershey Park again.  Here are a few last photos from the 200 or so that the girls and I took that day.

Enjoy!

The kids got a kick out of the singing cows.

Lamp posts on the streets of Hershey.

Trolley ride antics

So Much Candy

The biggest and for $29.95 it could be yours.

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Grandma Willis’ Peach Cobbler

3 Aug

Peaches are one of our favorite summer fruits.

I love baking in the summertime because there are so many fruits to bake with. One of my favorite summer recipes is from Don’s Grandma Willis and I try to make it every summer at least once.

We visited Don’s grandparents in August of 1994 and had her Peach Cobbler there for the first time. I’ve made it ever since, and every time I do, we think of Grandma Willis.

I serve this with ice cream and/or whipped cream, whatever your preference is.

GRANDMA WILLIS’ PEACH COBBLER
INGREDIENTS

FILLING

6-8 large peaches, peeled and sliced

2 and 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

CRUST

1 cup all purpose flour

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
DIRECTIONS

Combine peaches, cornstarch and sugar.

Pour into a greased 13×9 baking dish.

Combine all ingredients for crust EXCEPT egg whites in mixing bowl.

Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Spread over peaches.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and peaches are bubbly.

Yield: 12 servings

Thanks to Liz in NJ for sharing her photo with us of Grandma Willis’ Peach Cobbler!

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The Almost Sleepover Birthday Cake

27 Jul

Elizabeth turned 10 earlier this month, which meant she got to host a couple of friends for an “Almost Sleepover” last weekend. The Almost Sleepover is also sometimes known as a Mock Sleepover or a Half Sleepover. It’s when the guests come with pj’s on, sleeping bags and pillows in hand, and do all the typical sleepover type stuff (pizza, cake, movies, games, presents) but then right before bedtime, *poof!!* they go home!! The Almost Sleepover means that everyone gets to actually sleep! It’s one of my favorite birthday parties of all.

When Caroline had her Almost Sleepover two years ago, I coincidentally received an email earlier that month, from Kraft Foods, showing a slumber party cake, which I adapted here at home for her party. Here’s what her cake looked like back in 2010.

Caroline’s Almost Sleepover Cake from 2010. So cute, right?

I decided after making the cake once, that I’d do it slightly differently the next time around, which was now for Elizabeth’s party last weekend. Here’s what I did differently:

I used brownie as the base, rather than cake.

I used one quarter of a graham cracker for their sleeping bag instead of whatever I’d used here. That allowed me to make smaller people and fit more of them on the cake than just six. I like everyone to get a person to eat and there’s already three girls here before any guests or adults arrive.

I couldn’t find the rainbow candy for the hair this time around, I think it was from Halloween that year since Caroline’s birthday was in October. But, Elizabeth found some gummy worm type of candy in the checkout lane at Walmart when we were buying our supplies, so we used those, which worked out fine.

So here is what Elizabeth’s Almost Sleepover Cake looked like:

The Almost Sleepover cakes are so fun to make and the guests always love seeing it, almost more than eating it!

There was plenty of space for candles too:

Make a wish!

And in case you’re wondering what we did for a craft at the party, it was decorate-your-own pillow cases:

Everyone had different colored pillow cases to choose from. Elizabeth had everyone sign hers so she’ll always remember her 10th birthday party.

The party was fun and easy and the cake was delicious! Best of all was seeing Elizabeth enjoying her special day:

Happy Tenth Birthday Elizabeth!

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Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies by Karen

20 Jul

There is nothing like a summer’s night on the beach!

Last week we attended the annual summer concert on the beach that I’ve been attending since I was young. I’ve missed one or two, but in the 37 total years it’s been in existence, I have been to almost all of them.

It’s a huge affair and it is one of my all-time favorite summer traditions. I love sharing it with my kids. Everyone goes down to the beach first thing in the evening and sets up their space. We bring blankets, chairs, tables.

And then comes the food and the wine, and the dessert. Oh…the dessert.

This year I was looking for something unique to bring. Something that we hadn’t already done this summer at another night on the beach or parade or cookout. I like to keep things interesting so that no one gets bored. Namely, me.

I looked through a cookbook or two, and then I remembered Karen’s Cookbook, and the fact that last time I’d gone through it I’d seen an old favorite of mine: Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies.

I knew I’d found my dessert.

Melting butter and chocolate chips…what a beautiful sight!

As I was cooking them, melting the chocolate over the stove, I could literally see myself making them all those years ago, my college roommate Karen and I living in our house we rented during our college years. This is what I love about recipes: the traditions and memories that go with them. I always say recipes are the ties that bind people together, and I do truly believe that. I thought of Karen and all the fun we had, as I was cooking.

So today, I share with you Karen’s Peanut Butter Swirl Brownie recipe. I love that it’s a “from scratch” brownie recipe, and I love the step where you turn the batter into one part peanut butter batter and one part chocolate batter and then swirl them together. You’ll see, it’s so cool.

When you make them and eat them, I hope you make some special memories too!

KAREN’S PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS

1 six ounce bag chocolate chips (I used one cup)

3 Tablespoons butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tablespoon sour cream

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup peanut butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 9×13 pan.

Melt chocolate chips and butter until fudge-like.

In mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and sour cream.

Add flour and baking powder to the egg mixture.

Pour 3/4 of the batter into the melted chocolate and stir well.

Add peanut butter to remaining batter.

Pour chocolate batter into the pan.

Spoon peanut butter batter over and swirl with a knife until proportionate.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Ready to eat!

Someone got hold of my camera, apparently.

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The perfect summer birthday cake recipe: Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

13 Jul

Turning on the oven is the last thing you want to do in the summer!

It’s mid-July and already we’ve had two heat waves this summer. A heat wave is defined as three or more days of excessively high heat. Our first one happened just after school got out in June, and as luck would have it, my youngest daughter was invited to an outdoor sprinkler party on Day Two of that heat wave.

It was 100 degrees that day and 103 the next.

I was sitting out there that afternoon, watching her NOT going in the sprinkler AT ALL, but running around with all her friends nevertheless, and having a great time when another mom, Melissa, brought out the dessert she brought with her that day.

Did someone say dessert?

Melissa did! Melissa had just finished telling me how much she loved The Whole Bag of Chips a little while before she brought out her cake, and now…her recipe is being featured in it.

Yay Melissa!

What did Melissa bring on that incredibly hot, hot day?

Ooey, gooey and COLD, this cake is absolutely perfect for a summer dessert!

She brought an Ice Cream Sandwich Cake! Bless you Melissa! That cake was pure heaven that afternoon and as I sat enjoying it, I said to her, “My kids would love this cake! In fact, my daughter has a summer birthday, this would be PERFECT for her party!”

And so it was.

This past weekend was Elizabeth’s 10th Birthday (gasp!) and I did indeed make Melissa’s Ice Cream Sandwich Cake.

It was a hit. Almost everyone had seconds.

I was nervous making it without a recipe to read as I went along, but I’d gotten the instructions from Melissa and even heard her son telling all of the other kids how it’s made, “You take a box of 12 ice cream sandwiches…”

I’d definitely make this cake again, and according to Melissa you can use any topping you want. There are also many different flavors of ice cream sandwiches including vanilla, chocolate and mint chocolate chip, just to name a few. I opted to go with just vanilla the first time because I didn’t know who would like what. Additionally, you could also throw some treats in between the layers like crushed Oreos, or M&M’s or whatever you want. I just kept it simple for my first time.

Here’s the recipe. In Melissa’s words, “If I can make it, anyone can!”

Thanks again Melissa!

I actually used TWO of each ingredient shown here for our cake: two boxes, two tubs, two jars.

MELISSA’S ICE CREAM SANDWICH CAKE

INGREDIENTS

(For a 9×13 glass baking dish)

2 boxes of 12 ice cream sandwiches, any flavor

2 tubs whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed

2 12 oz. jars of hot fudge or any sundae topping you’d like. You could even mix and match, one hot fudge, one caramel, for example.
DIRECTIONS

I felt like I was racing against time, unwrapping all those ice cream sandwiches. I did not want them to melt!

1) Unwrap the first box of 12 ice cream sandwiches and place them in your baking dish so that the bottom of the dish is filled. (For some reason I only could fit 11 sandwiches on my bottom layer, but on my top I did fit 12. They were easier to move around on the second layer and push them close together).

2) Slightly heat your first jar of hot fudge so that it’s spreadable. I did about 25-30 seconds but it depends on your microwave. You don’t want it to be actually hot or it’ll melt the ice cream but you don’t want it to be solid or you won’t be able to spread it.

The view from the side.

3) Spread it so that all the ice cream sandwiches on the bottom layer are covered.

4) Spread the first tub of whipped topping across the layer of hot fudge.

Ready to freeze!

5) Repeat steps again with a second layer of sandwiches, hot fudge and cool whip.

6) Freeze until ready to serve.

I decorated mine just before serving as I wasn’t sure how the sprinkles and writing would freeze.

Thanks to Melissa for such a delicious recipe!

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A dessert lover’s dream: The Eat Dessert First party

9 Jul

Eat Dessert First!

A while back my mother in law gave me a decorative pillow that said, “Life is short, eat dessert first.”

Excellent advice, don’t you think?

So when my mom called me one day and said that her friend was having an “Eat Dessert First” party on a Sunday afternoon, and did I want to join her, I didn’t have to think twice. Of course I wanted to join her! I couldn’t wait.

Lynn is known amongst her friends for her fun party themes, so I couldn’t wait for the date of the party to arrive.

I wasn’t disappointed.

It was a dessert-lover’s dream party from the moment you walked through the door and saw the first (of three) dessert tables, til the moment you left, taking leftovers and fun dessert-themed party favors home with you.

The chocolate fountain: I hung out here- a lot. Good food, good conversation.

Everyone brought a dish to share (my mom brought her cherry squares on our behalf) and Lynn just had tons and tons of additional dessert options available, from a chocolate fountain to a make-your-own sundae table.

In addition to the edible treats, Lynn had taken so much care to put cute little touches all around the house to go with her theme, from the cute table decor, to the little dessert themed quotes that were on place cards throughout. It was so much fun to walk around, finding all the cute things she’d done.

This table held the “fixins” for the ice cream sundaes, from toppings to sprinkles. There were several flavors of ice cream to choose from, even a flavored whipped cream!

The thing that struck me the most that day, besides the obvious fact that it was a dessert paradise, was that it was just such a nice way to spend an afternoon. Other than my mom, I didn’t know a soul there, but I spent a lot of time speaking with people, and Lynn even had entertainment: two gentlemen she does some local acting with, who came in and read aloud some of their monologues, which were really good.

Ice cream to go…bubbles were a fun party favor idea!

Overall, it was relaxing, it was fun, and it left a lasting impression on me even now, a month later. Lynn clearly enjoys hosting her themed parties and her enthusiasm is catchy. She made the day unforgettable and enjoyable for us all.

Thanks Lynn!

It was the little touches that made a big impression at Lynn’s party, like the giant handmade candy decorations and the real candy that you could eat on the spot!

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No Bake Blueberry Pie

29 Jun

Everyone in our house loves blueberries!

I love summertime fruit. It’s so fresh and sweet, it’s very affordable and there’s so many choices. One of our favorites is blueberries and besides being just overall delicious, they’re super good for you too. Good thing, because we eat tons and tons of them.

A few years back my mom passed along an easy no-bake blueberry pie recipe to me that she found in our local newspaper. Aunt Molly is no relation to us!

I’ve used the recipe several times and even posted it on Facebook a couple of years ago, so some of you may have seen it already.

It’s fast, it’s easy, there’s no need to turn on the oven, and it’s yummy. Serve it with whipped cream or ice cream if you’d like.

Enjoy!

This pie is easy, tasty and pretty!

AUNT MOLLY’S UNBAKED BLUEBERRY PIE

INGREDIENTS

1 quart blueberries, divided use

3/4 cup water

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

9-inch baked pie shell or prepared graham cracker crust

Whipped cream for topping, optional

Cooking on the stove, not in, makes this a cool recipe for a hot summer day.

DIRECTIONS

Put 1 cup of the blueberries in a saucepan. Mix water and flour together and add to the pan. Add sugar and salt. Start cooking on high until first bubbles appear, then lower to medium heat, stirring frequently until thickened and the berries are a deep color, 7-10 minutes. Some berries will pop. Remove from heat and let sit a few minutes.

Add remainder of uncooked berries to the pan using a spatula to scrape juices into mixture. Mix well and again let it sit a few minutes, then pour into pie shell. Gently level off. Allow to set and cool completely before slicing. It may take several hours for it to reach room temperature, or even overnight. Refrigerate after cutting.

Note: If using your own pie crust, bake it for 10-15 minutes until cooked and cool before filling.

Whipped cream makes a nice topping but so, too, does ice cream.

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Product review: Wilton Holiday Air Insulated Cookie Sheets

5 Jun

These cookie sheets were wonderful when I made my cookies last weekend!

For Christmas this past year I received a set of two Wilton Air Insulated cookie sheets from my sister in-law, Jessica. I couldn’t wait to try them out, but then we traveled back home, I put them away, and forgot all about them! I haven’t made a ton of cookies since Christmas either, but whenever I did, I forgot I had these new cookie sheets to try out.

Then, last weekend when I was making the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies for our friends’ Memorial Day Weekend cookout, I went to pull out a cookie sheet and there they were. Still wrapped in their original plastic.

I was so excited! Something new to try! It was like Christmas all over again as I unwrapped the plastic and took them out. They were soooo smooth and shiny.

Yes, I do get pleasure out of the small things, like shiny cookie sheets.

On the Wilton site, these cookie sheets are advertised as “Two quality aluminum layers sandwich an insulating layers of air for perfect browning without burning,” and can I tell you, that’s exactly right?

I can’t wait to use these cookie sheets again, and to get a few more of them!

These baking sheets did a fabulous job with our cookies! I wish I had about four more of them (they came in a set of two.) They were different from my old ones because they were heavier, being that they had the air insulation component to them. They were also flat all around except on one end, which is the end you grab onto when you pull them out of the oven.

But, my favorite thing of all had to do with my very first impression of them when I took off the plastic: they were smooth and shiny, and that allowed the cookies to literally slide right off the pan.

Of all the dozens of cookies we made that day, not one single cookie stuck to the baking sheets. There were no cookie remnants left on the sheet after you scooped the cookies off, no mess to clean, really.

Nothing burned, nothing stuck, the cookies cooked evenly all around and got that lightly browned edge that I love so much. They were perfect.

I am in*love* with these cookie sheets and I absolutely recommend them to anyone who is a cookie baker. I can’t wait to use them at Christmas time when I bake all those cookies for my trays!

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