It was Sara’s birthday. She apparently decided to channel her inner 4-year-old and requested a “dirt cake” for her birthday. I couldn’t remember ever having one, but my mother recently reminded me that we did, in fact, make one for my little brother when he was about 7 or 8.

The recipe I used was a slightly modified version from Martha Stewart. Everyone seemed to like it, so I guess it’s a success for children and adults (or maybe just adults who think they are still children).

I decided to forgo the usual flower pot presentation. I used a 8″x8″ Pyrex baking pan for my “compost cake” and a 9″x13″ pan for my garden themed dirt cake, which Allie called my “Garden of Eaten”.

Ingredients

2 – 16 oz packages Oreo cookies

12 oz cream cheese, room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

4 – 3.9 oz packages instant chocolate pudding

4 3/4 cups milk, room temperature

16 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed

In a food processor, finely chop up cookies until they resemble dirt. (The frosting in the middle will get coated with cookie crumbs and become invisible.)

In a very large bowl, combine cream cheese and butter. Stir until creamy. (If the ingredients aren’t at room temperature, you’ll have a hard time combining them.)

In another large bowl, whisk together instant-pudding mixes and the milk until well blended.

Using a rubber spatula, fold pudding mixture into the very large bowl of cream cheese mixture. Combine until well mixed and color is evenly brown.

Fold in the whipped cream until well mixed and color is evenly light brown.

In your baking pan or flower pot, alternate layers of cookie crumbs with the pudding mixture. Your first and last layer should be the cookie crumbs.

Chill for atleast 4 hours, but preferably overnight before decorating and serving.

This is the other random recipe from the “Southern Living” cookbook found at my grandmother’s house. I’ve no idea why these bars are called “hermit”, but they have a consistency of a brownie. The molasses and cloves give it a gingerbread flavor and the coffee a yummy kick. I did not add the pecans (as you know, I hate nuts in baked goods).

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup molasses
¼ cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp pepper
1 cup raisins
¾ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Coffee Glaze

Combine brown sugar, vegetable oil, molasses, coffee, vanilla, and yolks, stirring until blended. Combine flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and pepper. Gradually add to sugar mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in raisins.
Spread batter in a lightly greased and floured 15”x10”x1” jellyroll pan. Bake at 350 for 17-18 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan. Drizzle with Coffee Glaze, using a small spoon. Cut into bars. Yield 4 dozen.

Coffee Glaze

2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 ½ tbsp hot water
1 ¼ cups sifted powdered sugar

Dissolve coffee granules in hot water, stirring constantly. Add coffee to sugar, and stir until smooth. Yields ½ cup.

cinnamon chocolate chunk cookies and ginger spice cookies

This year I got a few recipes from a random book “Christmas with Southern Living 1998″, which my mom found on my grandmother’s bookcase. One recipe was for a twist on the standard chocolate chip. I didn’t add the walnuts, as I don’t like the texture of nuts in baked goods.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 (3.9 oz) package chocolate instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (11.5 oz) package semisweet chocolate chunks/mega morsels
1 (2.5 oz) package walnut pieces (toasted and chopped, 2/3 cup) – OPTIONAL

Beat butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars and pudding mix, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Combine flour, soda and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended (do not overbeat). Stir in chocolate morsels and walnuts.
Drop dough by tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets 1 minute. Remove cookies to wire racks; cool completely. Yields 5 dozen.

The ginger spice cookies were NOT from scratch. I don’t usually bake anything from a mix, but these looked really good, and the ingredients were all natural.

just break apart and bake....

I don’t actually like pie, but my former mother-in-law made an apple pie once that I just loved. She served it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious! She gave me the recipe, and I finally had a chance to make it this year for dessert at Christmas dinner.

serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

SUGAR-FROSTED APPLE PIE (from Ma Klar)

6 medium-sized apples, pared, quartered, cored, and sliced thin
1 cup sugar
2 ½ tbsp flour
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
For topping: 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp milk or cream

Prepare pastry or use ready made 2 crust pastry from Pillsbury.

Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in large bowl. Add apple slices. Toss gently to mix.

Spoon apple mixture into bottom crust. Dot with butter.

Cover with top crust. Pinch crust edges together; turn up and in. Pinch again to form stand-up edge Flute.

Brush top with milk or cream. Sprinkle with sugar. Slice top crust to vent.

Bake in a hot oven at 425 for 35 minutes or until golden brown and juices bubble through slits. Cool pie completely on a wire rack.

I’ve tried this recipe before, but couldn’t find unprocessed bran. So, I used flax meal instead. (Odd that was more readily available.) Anyway, it’s one of my dad’s favorites. So I made it for Christmas breakfast again this year.

honey raisen flax muffins

HONEY-RAISEN FLAX MUFFINS

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups ground flax seeds (flax meal)
1 ½ cups raisins
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup honey
1 cup plain yogurt
½ cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, flax, raisins, wheat germ, baking soda and powder, and salt.

In another bowl, by hand, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and honey until fluffy. Beat in the yogurt, then the buttermilk and vanilla, until well blended.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the creamed mixture and the eggs. Mix just until evenly moistened. The batter will be thick and slightly lumpy. Do not over mix.

Fill muffin papers or greased muffin pan cups with batter. Bake until springy to the touch, about 18-22 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin should come out clean.

I was flipping the channels one night and saw this recipe on a PBS cooking show. I modified the seasonings, as I thought their version of the sauce was a bit bland.

easy peasy and cheesey...in a good way

LASAGNA (PBS show)

28oz can of pureed tomatos
13 oz can of diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp chopped basil
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp marjoram
salt
pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 packaged precooked lasagna noodles
1 ½ cups part skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
½ lb fresh mozzarella
3 tablespoons piccarino

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic. After about 30 seconds, when garlic is sizzling, add tomatoes. Stir and add the basil, oregano, marjoram, and a little salt and pepper. Stir and keep over heat for about 12 minutes to allow sauce to thicken.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the ricotta with the beaten egg. Add some salt and pepper.

Pour ¾ cup of sauce into a 9 x 13 backing dish to coat the bottom. Cover sauce with a layer of noodles. Cover with a thin layer of ricotta. Cover with 1 ½ cups of sauce. Cover with a layer of noodles. Cover with a layer of ricotta. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover with a layer of noodles and the remaining sauce. Top with fresh mozeralla torn into pieces. Sprinkle with piccarino.

Bake for 35 minutes in 400 oven.

Christina is a vegetarian and requested a vegan cake. I found this recipe online. Shockingly moist and delicious. I couldn’t find a vegan frosting recipe that didn’t sound disgusting, so I just used powdered sugar.

chocolate chip vegan cake

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
½ package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one 9×5 inch loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar, and water. Mix together until smooth. Stir in half a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan completely.

Generously sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Serve.

It was the annual Thanksgiving pot-luck lunch at work. My contribution this year was a yummy stuffing. I’ve also included for the first time a recipe not tested by me. Jolanda made a cranberry salad that everyone loved. I’ve included her recipe and the pics.

apple rye stuffing

RYE AND APPLE STUFFING (recipe from Real Simple magazine)

4 tbsp unsalted butter (plus extra butter for dish)
½ loaf rye bread, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ loaf or white bread, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
2 Granny Smith apples, cut into ½ inch pieces
3 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
¼ cup fresh sage, chopped
2 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400. Butter a deep 3 qt casserole dish. Place the bread on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, and ½ tsp each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in apples and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil.

Add the vegetable mixture, parsley, and sage to the bread and toss to combine. Mix in the eggs. Transfer to the prepared dish and cover loosely with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden, about 12-15 minutes.

JOLANDA’S CRANBERRY SALAD

cranberry salad

1 bag fresh cranberries, finely chopped
2 tbsp cranberry sauce
1 can crushed pineapple (in its own juice)
1 package of strawberry, lemon OR raspberry gelatin (pick one)
1 cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup boiling water
½ cup granulated white sugar

Combine the cranberries, celery and walnuts.
Combine sugar, water and gelatin.
Combine cranberry and gelatin mixes.
Add pineapple, and stir all ingredients together.
Pour in dish and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.

This time I was faced with two birthdays at once. Rich wanted Coconut Cream Pie, while Joanna requested Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding in pie form.

coconut cream pie

I got the coconut cream pie recipe from Betty Crocker.

I found the Magnolia banana pudding recipe on line. The result was delicious but a bit too mushy for a pie.

BANANA PUDDING PIE (from Magnolia Banana Pudding recipe)

1 pre-made graham cracker crust
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups ice cold water
3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding
3 cups heavy cream
12 oz box Nabisco Nilla Wafers
4 cups sliced ripe bananas

In the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium speed, beat together the condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, on medium speed, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.

Layer the bottom of the pie crust with a ¼ of the sliced bananas. Cover with a thick layer of the pudding. Arrange a layer of whole wafers or wafer crumbs over the pudding. Cover with another layer of sliced bananas.

banana pudding pie

With the left over ingredients, layer as follows in a large bowl or several small containers:
Layer of wafers
Layer of bananas
Layer of pudding
Layer of wafers
Layer of bananas
Layer of pudding
Top with wafer crumbs

Refrigerate pie and pudding for 4-8 hours before serving

Allison requested her childhood favorite for her birthday – cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. I brought canned vanilla butter cream frosting so everyone could decorate their own.

Allie and her lemon ice cream cone cupcake

3 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 sticks (8oz) unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange a dozen ice cream cones in a glass casserole dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Stir 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Add in ½ of the buttermilk. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and add remaining half of the buttermilk mixture. Finish with remaining dry ingredients. Stir in lemon juice and zest.

Pour the batter evenly into each cone. Bake about 25 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched in the center.

Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.