Sally Blake's Pumpkin Cake

I think of Sally Blake every autumn.  That happy, nicely dressed, pleasant gal who sat at the front desk of the company I worked for.  One day she brought in some pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting which was TO DIE FOR.  She graciously shared her recipe and now, 17 years later, I make her delicious Pumpkin Cake when the weather starts to turn.  I've often thought about Sally and wondered where she is today.  She has no idea I think of her every year.  I shared the recipe with my sister and now she, too, makes Sally Blake's Pumpkin Cake every year.  We love Sally Blake.

This recipe is incredibly easy and is a GROUP FAVORITE! It does not dissapoint!  You will be making Sally Blakes Pumpkin Cake for your friends and family for years to come. 
Thank you Sally Blake, wherever you are!!

 

Sally Blake's Pumpkin Cake

 

4 eggs

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1-15oz can pumpkin

 

Beat above ingredients one at a time until blended.

 

Mix;

 2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

 

Add dry ingredients to batter.  Mix until smooth.

 

Bake at 350º in ungreased 9x13 pan 35-40 min or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

 

Frosting;

1-8oz cream cheese softened

1/4 cup butter softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

 

Wait until cake has cooled, then frost.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Bite me.

Every Friday from January through March, my girls take the ski bus up to the mountains to ski.  I never rode the ski bus when I was in school, but I've heard many stories.  Now that I'm a parent, I am turning a blind eye to the actions of the teens and send them off to the mountains with a kiss. It's mostly Junior High and High School students and my girls are 11 & 13.  I feel better knowing there are chaperones on the bus, but still... I worry.

Each week I bake a batch of cookies to send off with them.  Needless to say, they're a hit.  This week I made heart shaped sugar cookies frosted to look like conversation hearts.  I told my girls as we were frosting them that I planned on writing sayings on each of the cookies.  My oldest was mortified.  "Mom NO!  That's embarassing!!  I feel so stupid giving someone a cookie that says 'Be Mine' on it."  I offered to change it up a bit and write "Bite Me" on it, but it was still a 'No'.  We ended up sprinkling a little colored sprinkle on top and calling it done.  They ended up pretty cute and I'm sure they will be gobbled up just fine.

I can't be on the bus with them, but at least they can take a little of my love with them.

Happy Valentines Day!
(Bite me)

Blackberry Bliss!

I will be the first to admit, I am not a gardener.  I grew up with parents who loved to garden.  I remember picking corn, peas, beans, raspberries - all sorts of fruits and vegetables from our garden as a child, but for some reason, all that stayed with me about that time are fond memories.  I have no garden at my house.  What I DO love about this time of year is the abundance of blackberries all around our property.  I don't have to plant them, weed them or even pick them if I don't want to, but when I want a big bowl of blackberries - I can get as many as I want! 

Recently I saw this article in Country Living Magazine.  It included a recipe for a berry crisp with homemade vanilla ice cream. 

It looked soooo good!  I picked a big bowl of blackberries, modified the recipe a bit, and made some Blackberry Crisp and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream!

Here is MY recipe;

Topping:

1 stick cold butter

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

Cut in butter until crumbly - set aside.

Filling:

Blackberries (I used about 3-4 cups, enough to spread evenly over 9x13 pan)

Strawberries (I had about 1 cup frozen strawberries which I thawed and added to the blackberries.)

1/4 cup honey drizzled over berries

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Toss together, taste for sweetness.  Spread evenly in 9x13 pan.  Crumble topping over berries. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Ice Cream

I have one of those Donvier Ice Cream makers and keep the cold cylinder in my freezer at all times for those ice cream emergencies!  Here is a basic vanilla recipe; (best to make this while the crisp is baking)

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup milk

2 cups cream

2 tsp vanilla

Beat eggs till thick and cream colored.  Add milk, cream and vanilla.  Mix well and pour into cylinder.  Start cranking ice cream!

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Tablescape

Happy Thanksgiving!  I've been busy getting the house clean, the table set, the food prepared - now I just need the ice on the driveway to melt so my 18 guests can arrive safely!  I must say, it's been nice to be snowed-in, more gets done that way.  Schools have been cancelled, so the kids have been busy sledding, drinking cocoa and baking sugar cookies.

OK, so the frosting didn't quite turn out like I had hoped.  I was going for Autumn colors - orange, brown and green, but they turned out more of a poopy-brown and pea green.  Funny, none of the kids wanted to eat any or take any home with them.  I'm just not the baker that my sister is.

Moving on...

The tables are all set and look very festive!

The grown-ups are in the formal dining room.

I found some cute little sparkly pinecones at the dollar store and use them to hold the placecards.

The kids table in the kitchen

And the appetizer buffet.  I think we look forward to the appetizers more than the dinner!

I love the Johnson Brother's Friendly Village place settings.  My sister and I got married in the same year and both registered for them for our holiday sets.  We live just a couple of miles from each other so now at the holidays, we merge sets and have enough for our entire brood!

We have since done the same with our everyday settings.  It's so nice to not only have the same taste, but to own the same sets.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gobble Gobble...

Swedish Pancake Saturday!

Call them what you wish - Crepe's or Swedish Pancakes, either way they have been a Saturday morning tradition in our family for many years.  I tried to carry on the tradition with my girls, but it took years for them to acquire a taste for Swedish Pancakes.  Finally, when they were about 8 & 10, I tried again one Saturday morning, and much to my surprise I heard "Mom!  These are sooooo good!!  Why haven't you ever made these for us before??"  They were hooked.

It's one of those recipes I know by heart - right up there with chocolate chip cookies and banana bread.

Some people like to put lingonberries in them, others sprinkle powdered sugar over them, we like them with plain ol' butter and syrup.

They take a little time to prepare.  I usually warm the oven to 200* and keep them warm until the entire batch has been made and we can all eat together. 

The trick I have found, is to give a quick swipe of butter to the pan, pour in the batter, and be sure to let them cook long enough on one side to get slightly brown before turning them.  Otherwise they will rip and not roll up like you want them to.

Nothing beats a nice Saturday morning Swedish Pancake breakfast!

Hannah's Fruit Pie

Nana's birthday was approaching, and Hannah (my youngest) decided she wanted to make Nana a special birthday dessert.  She knew exactly what she wanted to make - one of those fruit tarts you see in the grocery store with the fresh strawberries, kiwi & blueberries.  Not knowing a recipe off hand and planning to be out of town for the weekend, when she asked if we could get the ingredients before we left I said "no - let's wait till we get home and can find a recipe".  We returned home from our mini vacation, and the night before the party I ran to the store at 10 o'clock at night and picked up the ingredients.  Not really knowing a recipe, I picked up a box of instant banana pudding and pie filling, a refrigerated crust and some fresh fruit.

Hannah go busy right away the next morning.  We pressed the pie crust into a quiche/tart pan and baked it till it was just perfect.  She whipped up the pudding, learning that runny pudding splatters quite a bit unless you cover the bowl with a paper towel.  Then she began topping the strawberries and peeling the kiwi.  She cut the kiwi into the perfect size sections and laid them carefully on the pudding.

 

Ta da!  The dessert was just as beautiful as the ones in the store, and was twice as delicious!  Great job Hannah!!  You are our little chef!