Cranberry Cheesecake Bars

I haven't taken a treat in to work in a long time. I brought home an empty plate, so I think these went over pretty well.

CRANBERRY CHEESECAKE BARS

1-1/2 cups oatmeal (quick cooking or old-fashioned)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar, divided
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 16 oz. can whole berry cranberry sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 baking pan (I lined it with foil to make it easier to remove after baking).

To make crust:
In a bowl, combine flour, uncooked oats, 3/4 cup brown sugar and butter. Mix until crumbly. Reserve 1-1/2 cup crumbs for topping. Press remaining crumbs into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool completely.

To make filling:
In a bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in condensed milk, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. Pour over crust.

To make topping:
In a bowl, combine remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and cranberry sauce. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool at room temperature. Refrigerate before cutting into squares.

Jello Poke Cake

This is an easy cake to make on a hot summer day. No matter how many times I make this cake, it never tastes as good as a friend of mine (who will know who she is when she reads this). Guess something always tastes better when someone else makes it.

JELLO POKE CAKE

1 box yellow or white cake mix
1 small box strawberry Jello (can use any flavor you like)
1 small tub Cool Whip
1 small box vanilla instant pudding mix

Bake cake according to package directions in a 9 x 13 pan. Poke holes in the cake with a fork or with the end of a wooden spoon to make holes. Boil 2 cups of water and dissolve Jello. Pour over cake. Refrigerate 30 minutes or so. Mix dry pudding mix with Cool Whip to make frosting. Frost cake. Refrigerate. You can make the frosting with a large Cool Whip and it will be a bit fluffier -- the smaller one makes more of a dense frosting.

Family Reunion Cakes

We recently had a family reunion and I took a couple of bundt cakes as I had to travel a ways and these would hold up well. This picture is of a coconut pound cake and I also made a hummingbird cake (not pictured).

BUTTERMILK COCONUT BUNDT CAKE

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla (or can use coconut flavoring)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans (toasted)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt or tube pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs at medium speed until well blended. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla (or coconut flavoring), beating well until well combined. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Gently stir in the coconut and pecans and blend well.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake 60-65 minutes or until tested done.

You can glaze this cake with a glaze made of 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla or coconut flavoring. To make the glaze bring the ingredients to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute. Pour glaze over cake while it is still warm and in the pan until the syrup has been absorbed before removing from pan.


HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups chopped bananas

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 a 10-cup bundt pan that has been greased and floured. (Can use 3 layer pans or 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes (25 to 30 minutes for 9 x 13 or layer pans). Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

This can be frosted with a basic cream cheese frosting if you like.

Cooking Magazines

Carla at Chocolate Moosey wrote about receiving a copy of Taste of Home Magazine from me. It seems the only magazines I subscribe to lately are cooking magazines. I think all of Reiman Publications are exceptional - no advertising. I also subscribe to Paula Deen's magazine which I think is one of the most beautiful cooking magazines around and the recipes are very good. I also subscribe to Rachael Ray's magazine which is pretty good and Bon Appetit (which was a free subscription and nice to look at, although I doubt I'd make too many of the recipes. )

Recently I got a postcard for a trial issue of Taste of the South. I'm definitely going to subscribe to this one. I think I'm starting to look at magazines more than cookbooks because of the pictures.

Layered Mocha Brownie Dessert

LAYERED MOCHA BROWNIE DESSERT

1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix (or recipe of home made brownies)
1 3/4 cups cold milk
2 (3.3 ounce) packages instant white chocolate pudding mix (I only had chocolate on hand)
4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons warm water
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee bars, chopped

Either make a pan of home made brownies or prepare brownies according to package directions. Bake and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch cubes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and pudding mix until mixture begins to thicken. Dissolve coffee granules in water and stir into pudding mixture. Fold in whipped topping.
(This mixture is thick since you don't use all the milk called for -- kind of like a mousse).

In a glass serving bowl, layer one-third of brownie cubes, one-third of pudding mixture and one-third of candy. Repeat layering until all ingredients are used. Chill 30 minutes in refrigerator before serving.

Georgia On My Mind

I don't have a recipe to post, but wanted to give a trip report of my recent trip to the 'Land of Paula Deen' - Savannah, Georgia.

I first saw an ad in the back of Paula Deen's magazine for a Paula Deen tour. If you haven't checked out her magazine, you really should -- it's a beautful magazine with gorgeous pictures and excellent recipes. Rather than do a package deal I found lodging through VBRO-Vacation Rentals By Owner and found a condo in the historic district of Savannah very comparable to a hotel rate. The condo was originally a home built for an officer in the Confederate Army in 1852. It had all the modern amenities and was in a great location. It was across the street from Lafayette Square.



Savannah has 20 or squares which are like little parks within the city. One particular square is Chippewa Square. It is where the bench scene in Forrest Gump was filmed. Unfortunately the actual bench was just a movie prop, but the square itself was quite beautiful.



The condo was across the street from St. John the Baptist Cathedral. The bells were beautiful when they rang.


I went on the Paula Deen tour which was interesting. I had already read her book 'It Ain't All About the Cookin' but it was nice to see some of the places I had read about. The tour included lunch at her brother's restaurant, Uncle Bubba's. Uncle Bubba happened to be there and he was gracious enough to come in and take pictures and talk to everyone. True southern hospitality. The food was okay, not great. They served something called 'Low Country Boil' which was shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn on the cob. It reminded me of how we do crawfish down here in Texas but not quite as spicy.


A goodie bag was given for taking the tour and in it was a coupon to call ahead for reservations at Paula's Lady and Sons Restaurant. Typically people start lining up outside to get reservations and this little golden ticket helped you bypass all that. The restaurant is three floors and serves about 800 people per day so our tour guide told us. Right after you are seated, waiters come by with a hot hoe cake which is really good. That is followed by a warm garlic cheese biscuit. Oddly enough, even though Paula is the 'Queen of Butter', there is no butter on the table! The buffet consisted of Paula's famous fried chicken, pulled pork, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens, macaroni and cheese (the best I have ever tasted), sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas. There is a small salad bar also. After lunch the waitress comes with a tray of either No Yo Mama's Banana Pudding, Gooey Butter Cake, or Peach Cobbler. It was good southern cooking. There is a big store right next to the restaurant where you can shop while you are waiting. It is chock full of all things Paula. She is definitely on the marketing train!



Nearby Paula's restaurant is City Market where there are lots of little shops and restaurants.


River Street is a must see. There are cotton warehouses renovated into shops and restaurants. The street is paved with ballast stones that were used in the ships. There is a statue of a 'waving girl' who they say greeted the ships in the harbor.

Forsyth Park is a beautiful park in the middle of the historic district. It has a beautiful fountain. There are beautiful live oak trees and plenty of benches to take a rest. The houses surrounding the park are just beautiful too.

Dinner at the Pirate House was excellent. The restaurant got its name as it was the hang-out for the pirates back in the day. Supposedly some of Robert Louis Stevenson's book Treasure Island takes place in this house. There is a tunnel leading down to the river. The house is said to be haunted. One of their famous dishes is the Honey Pecan Fried Chicken. It is really good.

About 20 miles east of Savannah is Tybee Island. The Tybee Island Lighthouse has been around for over 250 years.

I was only in Savannah for 3 days. There is so much to see and do there. It was a beautiful city and the people were so friendly. True southern hospitality at its best.

Savannah Cheesecake Cookies

We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday. I made lunch and fixed these for dessert. This is a Paula Deen recipe. I'm leaving Saturday for Savannah for 4 days. I'll be taking the Paula Deen Tour. I know she is a busy lady, but I would be thrilled if I happened to see her. These are really light and the crust is really good.

SAVANNAH CHEESECAKE COOKIES

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans (toasted)
1 stick butter, melted

Filling:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla or almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, brown sugar, pecans, and butter in bowl. Press dough into an ungreased 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

For filling, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar together in a bowl until smooth, using a handheld electric mixer; add eggs and extract; beat well. Pour over crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares before serving.

Hot Sweet Garlic Pickles

We had a 'retirement' party this week at work. One of our best employees has decided to take a new job after 20 years. We were all pretty down all week because she is a big asset to our organization and will be greatly missed, although we are happy for her new opportunity. I made several goodies to take and we had a really nice spread. These pickles are a good accompaniment to just about anything and so easy to make but taste so good.

HOT SWEET GARLIC PICKLES

1 jar of sliced dill pickles
Granulated sugar
Peeled and sliced garlic
Tabasco sauce

You can use any size jar of pickles you like. Drain them well. Then start layering with pickles first, then some sliced garlic, then sprinkle 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on the size of your jar to just cover that layer. Sprinkle Tabasco sauce (about 10-12 shakes on each layer will do). Repeat until you have used up all the pickles. Turn jar over and it will start to melt the sugar and make it's own juice. Throughout the day keep turning the jar over. It takes about 3 days to get the full flavor, but you can really eat them once all the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate.

Spring Fling

We have an annual Spring Fling at work which is basically our company picnic. It's a day of volleyball, ping pong, barbecue, door prizes, visiting with our co-workers, etc. We always have a bake-off also and this year's category was chocolate cake. I realize now that I could never compete in a real bake-off as I am hypercritical and want things to be 'just right'. This is my 'go-to' recipe for chocolate cake. I started out making it a 3-layer cake. That looked atrocious and was very lop-sided. So I scrapped that and decided to make it in my heart-shaped pan which I have done before (see here). This one stuck to the pan. It was about midnight by now and I decided to heck with it, but I could not sleep so got up and made this AGAIN like the picture above. Well, all efforts paid off as I won FIRST PLACE!! Yeah! I won a gift card to a grocery store. It was a fun day for sure.

SPRING FLING CHOCOLATE CAKE

1-3/4 cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk (I used buttermilk this time)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup toasted almond slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and dust with cocoa a 9 x 13 pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until blended. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat will until combined, about 2 minutes. While beating, heat water to boiling. Stir water into cake batter and stir well.

Pour the thin batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa powder
4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, melt together butter and cocoa. Stir until smooth. Using a mixer, alternately beat in powdered sugar and milk until frosting is smooth and creamy. Stir in vanilla. Frost cake as desired. Garnish with toasted almonds.

Stuffed Strawberries

This recipe comes from the Deen Brothers Cookbook . Paula also made this on her show recently. These were a good addition to the strawberry shortcake (see below).

STUFFED STRAWBERRIES

32 whole large strawberries, hulled
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Place berries, cut sides down, on a serving platter. Carefully, cut the berries into 4 wedges, cutting almost to, but not through, the bottoms. Fan the wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until combined but still stiff. Using a teaspoon or pastry bag with decorative tip, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the stuffed strawberries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Strawberry Shortcake

Another birthday at the office, so an opportunity to bake something. The birthday girl requested strawberry shortcake, so here is my version.

I made a yellow cake from the King Arthur recipe and split it apart and put strawberries and Cool Whip between the layers and frosted and topped with more strawberries and frosted with Cool Whip.

YELLOW CAKE

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs plus 2 yolks
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups milk, buttermilk, or yogurt (I used buttermilk)

16 ounces frozen sliced strawberries with sugar thawed
32 ounces Cool Whip defrosted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, butter, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until the batter is fluffy. This should take at least five minutes. It's a good idea to have your butter and eggs at room temperature. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time. Beat thoroughly before adding the next. Then slowly fold in a third of the flour, then half of the milk, then another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and then the last of the flour. Only stir until mixed.

Pour into a 9 x 13 pan that has been sprayed with Pam or butter. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool completely and split cake horizontally. Spoon 1/2 the strawberries and juice on bottom layer. Add Cool Whip. Place second layer on top. Place remaining strawberries and juice and then frost with remaining Cool Whip. Slice strawberries on top for decoration.

Bake Sale

Our local Chamber of Commerce had a bake sale to raise funds for their scholarship fund. I took a Lemonade Pound Cake and also this Fresh Banana Cake. I live in a small community, but I am impressed at what a great Chamber we have and what good things they do.

FRESH BANANA CAKE

1/4 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 very ripe bananas (medium), mashed
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
2-1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Dried banana chips for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 pan. (This can also be made into a bundt cake). In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, bananas and the buttermilk until well combined. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture. Stir gently to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake in pan on rack 30 minutes before turning out onto platter. Cool completely.

EASY CREAMY FROSTING

1/3 cup cold milk
1 package vanilla instant pudding (4 serving size)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup butter, softened
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix ingredients together until creamy. Spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle dried banana chips on top.

Texas-Sized Cookies

There are 100's of recipes for chocolate chip cookies. I got this recipe from one of my best friends and it has always been my 'go-to' recipe. I was thinking about making big cookies, kind of like what you would get at a deli where you buy just one cookie. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup and pressed them down and they made some big cookies. I also made some normal-sized ones to take to work for New Employee Orientation today as well. The big cookies went to a 'nice home' as well.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1-2/3 cups shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 12-oz. package chocolate chips
1-2 cups toasted chopped pecans (optional)

Beat shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. In another bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture. Add chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. (Or in this case 1/4 cup measure). Bake 11-15 minutes until light brown. Cool on baking rack.

Cranberry Orange Scones

CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1/2 dried cranberries

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons orange juice

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cranberries and zest. Measure buttermilk into small bowl. Break egg in and beat together. Pour into dry ingredients and mix with a fork. Use your hands to get mixture into a ball. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat and form the batter into a large circle, about 10 inches. Cut it into 8 triangles, leave on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-25 minutes, until golden on top. Mix powdered sugar and juice into a glaze and dribble over the scones.

Lemonade Pound Cake

I don't usually like baking with cake mixes, but I have had this recipe in my files for a while and I'm trying to work through some of them to try them out.


LEMONADE POUND CAKE

1 package plain white cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1 container (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 large eggs

GLAZE:

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Place the cake mix, sour cream, lemonade concentrate, cream cheese, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well blended. Spoon the batter into a bundt pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray, smoothing out the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon rind in a bowl. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate. Spoon the glaze over the top.