Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

I wanted something special for breakfast today, and I noticed I had this recipe in my collection. I also wanted to use up the froze raspberries we had in our freezer because I was sure they would taste like the freezer. Yuck.

It comes from an article called 'The Almond Advantage' in a Successful Farming magazine.You can also find it online.


Oven: 350 degrees F.
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
Powdered sugar (optional)
Step 1: Grease an 8 1/2-inch round baking pan; set aside. In a small bowl, combine berries and brown sugar; set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, stir together yogurt, melted margarine or butter, egg, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
Step 3: Spoon about two thirds of the batter (about 1 cup) into prepared pan. Top with the raspberry mixture. Drop remaining batter in small spoonfuls over raspberry mixture. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
Step 4: Bake in a 350 degrees F. oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake portion comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Makes 8 servings.
Nutrition facts per serving: 165 calories, 4 g fat, 28 mg cholesterol, 155 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.

It was good but nothing too special. I was skeptical that it would turn out okay because it seemed like quite the small amount of batter, but it rose up nicely in the oven and made just the right amount for us (definitely not 8 servings worth).

Tasty Pork Ribs

On occasions when we have something like a small pot roast or meat loaf for a Sunday dinner, it's special. This falls into that category of a special meaty meal. It's from the February/March 2008 Taste of Home.

Tasty Pork Ribs

8 bone-in, country style pork ribs, 8 ounces each

1 cup ketchup

1 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon molasses

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons dried minced onion

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Place ribs in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over ribs.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until meat is tender. Yield: 8 servings.

Easy Peasy. I'm not usually comfortable cooking large hunks of meat, but it's always easy in the slow cooker. Brian really liked this, and I understand why: he's a meat and potatoes lover, and we aren't a big meat and potatoes family. I liked it just fine.

I specifically looked for 8 oz each, bone-in ribs to get for this. Are ribs really half a pound each? I ended up getting a little package of about 5 ribs that weighed 1.8 pounds. When we were eating them, I noticed that my bone-in ribs didn't have any bones. I doubled checked the package. Yep, they were boneless ribs packaged as bone-in. Brian prefers boneless meat, so he was happy.

Carrot-Bran Muffins

I was in the mood for something special for breakfast, so I dug through my recipes and chose this one. What I really wanted was a really good coffee cake, but I felt like I needed something healthier (and faster), so I whipped up these. It's an old recipe written by Mom on an index card and taped onto a sheet of notebook paper.

Carrot-Bran Muffins

1 1/2 c whole bran cereal
1 c buttermilk
1 c flour
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 beaten egg
1 medium carrots, finely shredded (3/4 c)
3 T cooking oil

Combine bran and buttermilk; let stand about 3 minutes. In mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Combine milk-bran, egg, carrot, and oil; add to flour all at once, stirring just til moistened. Fill greased muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 12-14 muffins.

They were very...healthy. There was just a slight hint of sweetness (Read: Add more sugar). They would also probably do well with raisins. I'm trying to increase C's fiber intake, so hopefully these help. Note: They were done in 16 minutes. 25 would have been way too long.

Peeps Sunflower Cake

Here's a Pinterest-worthy Easter recipe. I guess sunflowers are more a late summer thing, but the Peeps are definitely an Easter thing.

Peeps sunflower Cake

Ingredients
1 package yellow cake mix (regular size)
2 cans (16 ounces each) chocolate frosting
19 to 20 yellow chick Peeps candies
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions, using two parchment paper-lined and greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely.
If cake layers have rounded tops, trim with a long serrated knife to make level. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.
For petals, arrange Peeps around edge of cake, curving slightly and being careful not to separate chicks. For sunflower seeds, arrange chocolate chips in center of cake. Yield: 12 servings.

From Taste of Home February/March 2008

We actually haven't eaten it yet, but it's more the decorating idea than the recipe that is being showcased. I imagine it will taste like yellow cake with chocolate frosting, It was kind of hard to make the Peeps into a circle, as evidenced in the picture. I only used 18 Peeps and one can of frosting. I think it's pretty cute.

Mrs. Field's Cookies

A very delicious alternative to regular chocolate chip cookies. This recipe is in the Allred cookbook, but my copy is on a tiny slip of paper in Mom's handwriting and shorthand as I have noted below.

Mrs. Field's Cookies

2 c. butter
2 c. w/sugar
" "    b    "    (2 c. brown sugar)
2 t. vanilla
4 c. flour
5 c. rolled oats, ground blender
1 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
" t.     "     soda    (2 t. baking soda)
2 12 oz. choc     (2 12 oz. bags of choco chips)
8 oz. Hershey bar
3 c. nuts

ungreased      roll balls    6 min  375 degrees


Here is what you do if the above directions don't make any sense.

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey Bar, and nuts. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 for 6 minutes.

Yummers! These cookies are delicious, and I knew they would be. They are one of Grandma Allred's recipes. I seem to recall that they are the cookies she had on hand (probably in the freezer) last year when we were there for her surprise 80th birthday party that the Big Chubb fed to Baby Chubbs for breakfast. Grandma couldn't get over the fact that he being fed cookies for breakfast.  As with the baked apple donuts, these are a must make recipe from this blog. Awesome cookies!

I did cook them a little longer that 6 minutes. I think our air bake cookie sheets don't get as hot as a conventional cookie sheet so it took longer. I also ground the nuts because I am not a lover of nuts in my baked goods, but ground they are delicious.

And, they are healthy because they have oatmeal in them! So don't hold back at just one....dozen. The full recipe makes a ton of them for you to enjoy continuously for the next few days.

Traditional Scones

Traditional Scones

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

Jam of your choice, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk egg and buttermilk until blended; add to crumb mixture just until moistened.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 10 times. Divide dough in half; pat each portion into a 5-in. circle. Cut each circle into six wedges.

Separate wedges and place 1 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with jam if desired. Yield: 1 dozen.

I forgot how much I like scones. These were light and not overly dry. I made my buttermilk with lemon juice. I know this made them not traditional, but I added some dried blueberries I wanted to use. They were very good. The scones were also rather small, so if you make them, don't be sad when they are little. I ate like five of them, and I might have another now that C is asleep and I can eat in peace.

Tuna Tetrazzini--Favorite!

This was another recipe favorite we had for dinner last night.  I love that it uses tuna, because I like tuna, it's cheap, and it's healthy.

Tuna Tetrazzini

8 ounces spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
salt
1 t nutmeg
2 c canned chicken broth
1 c light cream
1/4 c Marsala wine (optional) (I just left out)
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cans tuna, drained and flaked
1/4 c green pepper, chopped
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, chopped (I used canned)
1 egg yolk
1/2 c parsley, chopped

Cook spaghetti according to directions, drain and put into buttered bowl.  Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat, blend in flour, salt, nutmeg, and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbling.  Remove from heat, stir in broth and cream, put back on heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened.  Stir in wine and cheese.  Add sauce to spaghetti.  Add tuna, pepper, mushrooms, and egg yolk to spaghetti mixture and blend thoroughly.  Pour into buttered baking dish and bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes.  Sprinkle parsley over top before serving.

We really liked this.  The sauce king didn't even want to add anything (ranch, ketchup, etc.) to it.