Starting With Fresh Ingredients

BLT Pasta Salad is on the menu tonight.

Started with onions, celery, and tomatoes. 

Of course, there's pasta and...a pound of crispy fried bacon.

I'll share the recipe tomorrow if we like it. :)

Happy Friday!!

Don't You Just Adore...

...the way ooky-smooshy-forgotten-black bananas can be transformed

into the most wonderful banana muffins?

Ooky-smooshy is an adjective I just made up. :)

Let's Have Cake

Someone in our house had a birthday this past weekend (me).  You know how that goes...way too much eating. :)  The men in the house made me this Hummingbird Cake and it was to die for!  You have to try it. Of course, this recipe is from our trusty Southern Living Cookbook.

Hummingbird Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 cup chopped pecans

2 cups chopped bananas

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.  Do not beat.  Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup pecans, and bananas. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake; then sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top.  Yield: 1 three layer cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 ounce) packaged cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Hummingbird Cake is a southern favorite.  Definitely one of my favorites! 

Happy Monday!

Pie on Saturday

Hi Bloggy Friends! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. It's hot here. We just finished a wonderful meal with ingredients from the farmer's market and this homemade by hubby pie.

Lemon Cream Pie

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 can Eagle Brand milk

Mix all ingredients well.  Pour into graham cracker crust and top with Cool Whip. Chill.

So easy and so delicious!!

Delicious

A busy day + snow = a pot of slow cooked stew.

Delicious!

Snickerdoodle?

Would you like a hot Snickerdoodle, right out of the oven?

I saved some just for you!

This recipe is from Just a Matter of Thyme-Among Friends:

Snickerdoodles

1 cup margarine (I use butter)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon, mixed together in a bowl or plate.

Cream together sugar and margarine. Add eggs and belnd well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape dough in 1" balls and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350.

Playing with Pretzels

Pretzel rods, chocolate chips melted, almond bark melted, and sprinkles. Yummy!

Foodie Friday

Hi girls! Today I'm joining Michael at Designs by Gollum. I haven't done this in awhile. :)

You know when you are just minding your own business shopping at Target or the grocery store...and that wonderful smell comes to you? The smell of roasted chicken. Yes, I knew you would understand. This supper was inspired by Target's Southwest Roasted Chicken. Easy breezy and so delicious. :)

Ingredients: Crispy tostada, shredded chicken, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and guacamole.

Happy Foodie Friday!

Sometimes

We eat them right out of the bag! Do you?

I'm Lucky!

Hi all! Sorry I've been missing in action for the last week. Just too much to do here. I did post briefly yesterday...in a gripey mode...so I deleted it when I realized people were worrying. Not to worry! Just too much going on here.

I wanted to show you what I won a couple of weeks ago!

Sweet Barb of Bella Vista hosted a Ho Ho Ho Giveaway and I was the lucky recipient! Look at the darling little snowman. :) She also included a Gooseberry Patch Christmas cookbook. Both items are adorable! I've kept them on my kitchen counter and I just go by and smile. The cookbook is full of great recipes and tidbits of wisdom. Thank you so much Barb for sharing with me.

Yesterday I had a hankerin' for pumpkin pie. I bought a Mrs. Smiths and I just have to say Yummy. It's not as wonderful as homemade but it made me smile. I think pumpkin pie just tastes like fall. Don't you?

Another reason I'm feeling lucky is that tomorrow youngest son and I are heading for St. Louis to visit Webster University. He really wants to attend a music conservatory program so we are off to visit! Wish us luck on our 8 hour drive.

Be back on Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and have much to smile about.

How to Spend a Rainy Day

It has been pouring down rain here since we woke this morning. Sometimes it bothers me when the weather is like that. Today I have...

Worked in my laundry room.

Cooked a pot of 15 bean soup and...

I made The Pioneer Woman's Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet.

Oh my goodness you have to try this cake. It's easy and so delicious. My son said, "How much butter is in here?" Well there's alot, of course!!

Temptation

Just ran into the grocery store for a pound of ground beef.

The candy corns were there....you understand. Then I remembered the candy corn and peanut combination discovered last year.

Why, oh why, did I buy them?

Sunday Supper

Spinach quiche, salad, and a biscuit.

Spinach Quiche

1 pie crust
2 eggs beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups grated cheddar
1 lb bacon, cooked and chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 box spinach cooked and squeezed dry

Mix all ingredients. Pour into pie crust and bake about 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

I love simple and delicious foods. I'm especially proud though because we had planned to go out to eat and decided to save the money and eat at home!

Good to Eat

A cool September day calls for...

Taco Soup! I know it's not very original but nothing makes my guys happier. You do have the recipe, right? If not, here's my easy peasy version:

Taco Soup

2 lbs. ground beef

1 large chopped onion

small can of green chilies

Taco Seasoning to taste - 1 or 2 packets

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing packet

Rotel tomatoes-2 cans

hominy - 1 can

Ranch Style Beans - 1 or 2 cans

Cook the ground beef and onions. Add all the other ingredients and simmer for an hour or two.

*This is a very forgiving recipe...you really can't goof it up. If you look at other recipes on line you may find something else that sounds yummy. This is just the simple version I've resorted to over the years. Some recipes call for corn but I don't care for the sweetness of it.

Friday Night Chocolate Cake

Guess who got the piece right out of the middle?

I'm bad.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Harvest

Don't you just love it when friends share their harvest? Our friends Dan and Sharon shared a big box of home grown tomatoes and peppers with us this week. I've already sliced and diced the tomatoes into quart size bags. They will be delicious in soups and stews this winter. I'm not real sure about all the peppers...any good ideas?


I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend. We are visiting family. :) When we get back I plan to kick into serious fall fluffing. You girls who are already putting out your pumpkins are very inspiring.

Speaking of....it has been unseasonably cool here in Edmond, OK. The 80ish degree weather fools us into thinking that it should be this way. To keep it in perspective, they reminded us on the news last night that in 2000 it was 108 degrees on September 3rd. Now that was a record of another kind! Did I mention that the 80s are heavenly?!