Apple Praline Bread - Double Yum!

 Monday, Monday.....you know what the song says. (Bet you are singing it right now.)   I looked up the top 10 songs about Monday and not one of them has a positive title.  The closest one is Manic Monday.  The rest are pretty much downers.  On top of that, it is the last day of September.  Where did that month go?  Wow. Welcome October!

We are tired today.  We spent Sunday helping our best friends from our home town move into their new place right down the street from us.  (Yay!)  Thankfully, it did not pour down rain all day as predicted.  There were a couple of light showers off and on and that was it!  There was plenty of good help and things went fast and smooth.  Awesome.

In order to make their day easier, I fixed brunch for everyone.  We had Chinese Eggs, fruit salad, sausage gravy and biscuits, hash brown potatoes fried with onions, Amish cinnamon bread and this wonderful apple praline bread.  (You can find several of these recipes on my blog.)  I had never made this recipe before, but had pinned it to my Pinterest board for a future "must try." Apples are starting to come in now and I had some fresh from the Farmer's Market so I gave the recipe a try.  Yes, it is a keeper.

It is soooooooo good.  The only thing I would add to the recipe is some cinnamon - mainly because I like the taste of cinnamon and it goes quite nicely with apples, but it is not necessary.  Here is what you need to make this super yummy bread:

1 cup sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups peeled apples, finely chopped
1 cup nuts - walnuts or pecans, chopped
*Optional, 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Praline Sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.  Set aside.

Use an electric mixer to mix sour cream and brown sugar until well blended.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix.  Add flour and baking powder.  Add apples* and nuts.  Pour into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour until brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  (My oven bakes right to temp and it took 1.5 hours for this bread to bake.  Just a little FYI so you don't panic if it's not done at 1 hour.)

After the bread cools, remove from pan and make the praline sauce by putting the butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until it bubbles for about 1 minute.  Remove from stove and add nuts.  Pour over cooled loaf of apple bread.  Try not to eat it all at once.

* Be sure and drain any liquid from the chopped apples before adding to the bread.

Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!  So good.  This recipe was from a site called Ziplist.com.  You really might want to give this recipe a try, especially while apples are so good and plentiful.  Dan loves apples but doesn't like cooked apples.  He did like this bread a lot.  (He called it cake.)   Whatever you want to call it, I call it delicious!  This is one more recipe that will go in the fall/winter rotation of breads that are delicious for breakfast, brunch, or anytime - especially with a good cup of coffee.  Come on October!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

I can't tell you enough about cinnamon.  Cinnamon is an awesome spice to use and it goes great with something like apples in the morning, or in a mixture of fruit, or in your oatmeal, or even in your cereal.  Emeril Lagasse  

- or in your apple praline bread!  It would kick it up a notch for sure.  donna

Spiced Pecan Cake

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Has it seemed like Monday all day to you?  It sure has to me!  Those Monday holidays mess up my week, especially since I don't go to work everyday.  Sometimes I have to look at my phone to see what day it actually is.

Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend.  We celebrated with family and friends with a cookout enjoying the first of the summer bounty from the Farmer's Market.  Fresh strawberries, corn, green beans, and peaches are in.  Yum.  One of the most enjoyable things about summer is the bounteous fare of fresh fruits and vegetables we get to enjoy.  And, then, there is the beautiful sunshine, warm weather, and summer evenings to top it all off.

Fresh local strawberries are the absolute best don't you think?  It's nice to have access to strawberries all year round, but they just don't taste like the smaller, juicier, sweeter, local berries.  They are just a little taste of heaven as far as I am concerned.

I made this beautiful pecan cake with some of the fabulous pecans my new friend Dianna sent me from Texas.  They pick them up off the ground by the pounds.  There are pecan trees everywhere in the Dallas area.  Yes, I said pounds. Wouldn't that be wonderful?  My daughter told me there is a company you can take them to and they shell them for you.  Amazing!  Who knew?  It's sure better than cracking hundreds of shells and trying to get the nuts to come out in something other than little tiny pieces.  Look at these beauties!

We have bags of them to enjoy.  Lucky us!  So, I decided to make this fabulous pecan cake I found on Food Network.com.  The recipe was posted by Pat and Gina Neeley and is really, really good.  Makes a super "shortcake" for fresh fruit.  Here is what you need:

Filling

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir everything together in a bowl until all the nuts are coated.  Set aside.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp milk

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cake

1 package golden yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease and flour a 9x13 pan

Beat all cake ingredients together for 4 minutes.  Pour half the batter into the prepared cake pan.  Spread the pecan filling on top of the batter.  Pour remaining batter over pecans, spreading batter to cover the filling.

Bake about 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool 30 minutes.  Drizzle with glaze.

This cake is as good by itself as it is with some beautiful strawberries!  Makes a perfect "coffee type cake" that could be served for brunch.   Or, it's absolutely delicious eaten just as it is.  Give it a try.  It's delicious.

 Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

 A special thank you to my dad and his two brothers who all served in World War II.  As a mother, I can't imagine seeing three of your sons go off to war.  What a sacrifice.  Fortunately, they all returned.  Others were not so fortunate.   Thank you will never be enough for their service and sacrifice for our freedom.

Chile and Cheese Rice - Delicious!

Mmmmm, cheese, rice, green chile's, fresh corn, sour cream, I mean what's not to like?  This is chile and cheese rice which is so delicious I can't even begin to tell you.  My family also loved it so that is confirmation that this is one good recipe.

Rice is one of the most adaptable and creative ingredients you can put on  your table.  I can't even begin to imagine how many hundreds or even thousands of recipes there are that use rice.  You can eat rice for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  It makes great desserts and can be a tasty snack.  Most kids love rice too which is a BIG bonus.  Therefore, rice is surely one of the most universally accepted grains on the face of the planet.

I just had to know, so I looked up how much rice is grown world wide.  Care to take a guess?  In 2009 there were 678 million tons of rice grown in the world.  Now that's a lot of rice.

You know I'm a big fan of the Food Network.  Watching chefs and cooks on the network have given me so much confidence in my cooking ability and has allowed be to branch out and be creative in the things I make.  This recipe inspiration came from a show on Food Network called Mexican Made Easy.  When I watch Marcella Valladolid whip up her amazing recipes, I want to rush to the kitchen and try every one of them.  Why?  Because Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine are my favorite and her recipes are fantastic.  I like other ethnic foods, but if I had to choose it would always be Mexican.

Don't you get tired of making the same old tacos and rice over and over?  Well, here's a new recipe for you to try and I can say with much confidence that you will really, really love it.  Here is what you need.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 large white onion, minced
1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups water
2 ears fresh corn kernels removed from the cob (or 2 cups frozen corn)
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup sour cream or crema
1/2 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
2 poblano peppers charred, peeled and chopped*
*I used one can chopped green chiles, works just great if you don't want to go to all the trouble of charring peppers.

Heat oil in medium sized skillet.  Add onion and saute until translucent - about 5 minutes.  Add rice and cook until opaque (stir so it doesn't burn) - about 10 minutes.  Stir in water and corn.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Cover.  Simmer until rice is tender - about 15 minutes.

Preheat broiler.  Fluff rice with fork, stir in chiles.  Transfer to 7x10 baking dish.  Drizzle with sour cream (or crema), sprinkle cheese on top.  Broil until brown in spots and cheese has melted - about 5-8 minutes.

Serve.  Yum.  All I have to say.

Next time you are looking for a different way to serve rice with taco or enchilada night, give this recipe a try.  It is absolutely outstanding.  Makes me want to whip up a batch right now.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

“Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook”

Chinese Proverbs quotes

Pancetta, Peas, Orecchiette Pasta and Cream Sauce! Perfect For A Busy Monday

Oh look, it's Monday - again.  Monday, Monday, can't trust that day --  why oh why is Monday such a chore?  Somehow, it just can be and I have been a busy bee today.  I do hope you all had a fantastic weekend, we sure did.  The weather is amazing right now, more like summer than spring.  It was 80 today here in Nashville.  The blooming trees are stunning and the grass is growing like crazy.  Dan had to mow our yard for the second time already.  And, today was grocery shopping day which is lots of fun when I get to go to Trader Joe's even though we have to drive to the other side of town!  You may not think of grocery shopping as fun, but I rather enjoy finding new products that I want to try, especially when I have a specific recipe in mind and today I did.

Since it was so warm today, I didn't want anything heavy for dinner.  I wanted something light and refreshing and summer like.  There is a Jamie Oliver recipe I have been wanting to try that I had pinned on Pinterest.  There is another very similar one from Huffington post that I had also pinned.  So, I kind of combined the two and let me tell you, it is so delicious.  We will definitely be having this again and again.  And, the most important point thing, it is really quick and easy to put together which makes it a natural for Monday (or any day really).

The Jamie Oliver recipe uses mini shell pasta and bacon and the Huffington post recipe used orecchiette pasta which is kind of cup or bell shaped.  When I was at Trader Joe's today, they had orecchiette so I went with it and I am so glad I did.  It is a really nice chewy pasta that held the sauce beautifully.

Trader Joe's also had cubed pancetta in 4 ounce packages which was just perfect for this recipe.  Otherwise, you have to cut bacon into lardons for the Jamie Oliver recipe and the pancetta had just the right flavor for this creamy sauce, not too smoky like bacon can be.  It's just a matter of which you have on hand.  And, it has green peas which is one of our favorite veggies.  Yum.  So, you have pasta, pancetta, green peas and one of the tastiest cream sauces I have ever eaten.

This recipe only took about 20 minutes to put together which makes it a fantastic Monday recipe.  It also makes a large pan full and that means leftovers for lunches or another dinner for us.  Yay!  It says it serves 4, but those would be huge servings.  You may not have as much left as we had.  We enjoyed the pasta with a simple green salad and crusty bread and it was just right as Goldilocks would say.  Here is what you need to make this recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pound shaped pasta - mini shells or orecchiette
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Butter
1 4 ounce package cubed pancetta or 10 slices bacon cut into lardons
2 cups frozen green peas
2 heaping TBSP sour cream
1 small bunch fresh mint, stems removed and minced (I don't care for mint, so I used fresh thyme)
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh cracked black pepper

Cook the pasta according to directions.  I made the sauce while the pasta cooked.  This is how you make it.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saute pan.  Add the pancetta (or bacon) and cook until crispy and brown, about 5 minutes.  I added a lot of fresh cracked black pepper while the pancetta cooked.  Add the frozen peas to the pan and cook just a bit until they start to thaw, then add the sour cream and herbs.  Stir until everything is coated.  (I added 2 ladles of starchy pasta water to the sauce before I drained the pasta).  Drain the pasta and return it to the pan.  Add the sauce to the pasta, squeeze the lemon juice over the pasta and stir to coat all the pasta.  Add the parmesan cheese and stir again to coat all the pasta, stirring until all the cheese is melted and creamy.  That's it - done!  Ready to serve.  Look at how this fabulous creamy sauce coats the pasta.  Yummm.

When you have had a really busy or tough day and need something quick and easy to put on the table, this is your dish!  It is inexpensive and super D-licious.  This is also a meal that kids would love - pasta, peas, bacon, creamy sauce!!!  Jamie Oliver said he makes this for his children all the time.    Give this recipe a try.  It is perfect for warm weather!  I am already looking forward to left overs tomorrow.  That makes Tuesday an easy day for me.  Wahoo!

Everyday Donna

Things to remember:

 A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower.
Kin Hubbard

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Oh what a week it's been.  Valentines Day was last Tuesday, and Wednesday was Vander Griffin Williams literal birth day, born at 10:34 am to our second daughter, Annie,  and her husband (our son in love), Todd.  He is a beautiful little boy weighing in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 19.5 inches long.  Grandma and Pawpaw are very excited to welcome him into our family.  He is also welcomed by his big brother August (Gus), who will be two this Thursday.  Whew, what a whirlwind the past few days have been.

We have been doing all we could to help out with Gus while Annie was in the hospital.  She came home on Friday and we spent the weekend helping with meals and Gus and errands and coffee runs and anything that needed to be done.

Big brother Gus LOVES "muff-eens" as he calls muffins in his sweet little two year old way.  Sunday was a rainy, snowy, gloomy day in Nashville, so Grandma decided to make beef stew - something easy that could be eaten whenever anyone had time to grab a bowl between all the feedings and diaper changing going on.   To go with the beef stew,  I baked some lemon poppyseed muffins especially for Gus.

This recipe is from a cookbook called The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread and is so, so good.  The batter is very dense and the muffins have just the right amount of lemon flavor with the crunch of the poppy seeds.  It's one of my  most favorite flavor combinations.  The sour cream included in the batter makes for a really moist muffin.  They are so good that little two year old Gus ate two whole "muff-eens" for dinner.  Now, that's a testimony is it not?


If you are not familiar with Amy's Bread, here is some information about them from their web site.  


Amy’s Bread is a NYC bakery that features hand-made breads, morning pastries, decadent cookies, old-fashioned layer cakes, unique sandwiches, healthy salads, and more. :: Our hearth-baked breads are crusty, chewy, with a moist crumb and lots of flavor.  We use traditional European methods, and shape every loaf by hand. :: Visit any of our three cozy bakery/cafés in NYC, and linger for breakfast, lunch or dessert! :: Amy’s Bread supplies bread wholesale to many notable New York restaurants and specialty food stores.


I have eaten baked goods from Amy's because our oldest daughter worked there when she lived in New York City.  They have really wonderful breads and pastries.  If you are ever in New York or live there now, be sure and visit Amy's and give their products a try.  You will be glad you did.

Here is what you need for this recipe.

2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar  + 1 TBSP sugar
5 large eggs
2 TBSP + 1/2 tsp lemon zest (1 large lemon was all I needed for the zest and juice)
1 TBSP + 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 TBSP poppyseeds
1 TBSP vanilla
3 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 TBSP sour cream

Glaze:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Put paper liners in 16 muffin cups.

Using a mixer, beat softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs 1 at a time and mix.  Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, poppy seeds and vanilla to butter/sugar mixture.
Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and just barely mix.  Add sour cream and mix in.  Add rest of dry ingredients mixing thoroughly.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full of batter.  Batter is very stiff.  I  used a heaping 1/4 cup measure and that filled each muffin cup just right.

Bake muffins for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  If you choose to use the glaze, brush it on while the muffins are still warm.  We left the glaze off because it makes them more dessert like.

You will have 16 delicious, moist lemony muffins that will be excellent for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack time.  If you don't eat them all at one time, cover them with plastic wrap to keep them moist.  That is IF you have any left.

Here is a little money saving tip for you.  Poppy seeds go a long, long way.  I bought mine at the Dollar Tree in the spice section instead of spending a fortune for them at the grocery.  I try to save money in sensible places when it comes to ingredients.  Some things I will not compromise on, but this one didn't make a difference.

We now have 6 grandsons under the age of 8 and life just got a little more joyful.  We are truly blessed.  I bake or cook for the family whenever I can because it makes me happy.  I hope you will enjoy these muff-eens as much as Gus did!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.
Author Unknown

7 UP Biscuits - You Read That Right! BEST BISCUITS EVER! AND EASY!!

That, my friends, is a cast iron skillet full of the best biscuits we have ever eaten, hands down, bar none.  I have eaten lots of home made biscuits in my day and so has Dan.  We both had grandmothers who took great pride in their biscuits.  Dan's mother made biscuits just like she was taught and so have I for many, many years.  But let me tell you, there is a new biscuit on the horizon and it is EASY to make which is even better.  I would not lead you astray on this matter.  It has the same wonderful texture of those biscuits I have worked so hard to blend and is so delicious and flakey that there are no words to describe.  Have biscuits always make you a little tense?  Scared?  Never fear again, the best biscuit in town has arrived and they are a snap to make.

This biscuit will change your life as it has mine.  This will be my new biscuit of choice.  You can make these with ease and you won't have to resort to "whomp" or tube biscuits any more.  No more worry about over working the dough and making your biscuits tough.  This is the second time I have made these in the last few days and they are easy, easy, easy.  And, you will not believe the ingredients.

If you are not a Pinterest addict, you may not have seen these posted and reposted again and again.  They are called 7 Up biscuits.  That's right - 7 Up like the soda.  Being the skeptic that I am, I thought that it must be a joke of some kind, therefore they must be made immediately.  Well, the author of the blog Plain Chicken could not have been more correct.  BEST BISCUITS EVER!

Here is what you need.:

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7 UP

1/4 cup butter

Yep, that's the entire list of ingredients.  Wowza, who would have thought you could made anything so dang delicious from those three ingredients?

Here is all you have to do.  Place your Bisquick, sour cream and 7 Up in a bowl and blend with a fork.  If it's a little gooey, sprinkle in a little more Bisquick.  Lay out some wax paper on your counter top and sprinkle some Bisquick on the wax paper.  Place your dough in a mound on the wax paper, work it by folding it over a few times until smooth, and gently press it out with your hands to about an inch thick.  Use a round cutter  (I use my ever faithful Tom and Jerry glass) and cut out your biscuits.  Remove the ones you have cut out, rework the dough and cut out more biscuits.  DON'T WASTE ANY OF THIS DOUGH!

This is my ever faithful Tom and Jerry glass that I have had forever.  It is actually a Welch's jelly jar.  Anybody out there old enough to remember when you got decorative jelly jars that you could use as drinking glasses?  I used to have a lot of them, but this is the only one left that hasn't been broken and it has always been my biscuit cutter.  It is about 2.5 inches in diameter which makes biscuits just the right size!  You can use a round cookie cutter or any glass you have available that is not too big.  Remember:  the bigger the glass, the bigger the biscuit.

Next, you want to melt your 1/4 cup butter in a pan.  You can use a cake pan, but I always use a 10 inch cast iron skillet.  Put the butter in the pan and place the pan in a preheated 450 degree oven watching closely until the butter melts.  IMPORTANT:  THE PAN WILL BE HOT, USE A POT HOLDER TO REMOVE THE PAN!!!!  DON'T LET THE BUTTER BURN!!   When you remove the pan from the oven, place it on something heat proof and this is what you are going to do with your biscuits.  Take each biscuit and place it in the butter, then turn it over so the buttered side is up.  Do this to each biscuit.  ‎

You will have to squeeze them in the pan, but that's okay.  They won't be perfectly round like the kind that come in a tube, but imperfection totally works here!  They may even be a little lumpy like the ones in the picture from squeezing them in, but they taste just the same as the round ones!  As you can see, I got 10 biscuits from the recipe with not one scrap of dough wasted!

‎Bake them in the 450 degree oven for 15 minutes.  When tops are golden, remove biscuits from the oven.  REMEMBER - USE A POT HOLDER TO REMOVE THE PAN, IT IS SCREAMING HOT!

I served them right from the skillet because it kept them warm and crispy.  YUMMMMMMMM!

Dan, who is a connoisseur of all things biscuit related has declared these the best biscuits ever and I have to agree with him!  We had them with butter and sorghum and they were better than dessert!  Wow!  Here, I have spent all these years working to get everything just right, when it could have been this easy!  This makes me a very happy camper indeed.

Give this recipe a try.  You will impress guests with these!  Your family will love you for it, and you will be pleased with your new biscuit making skills.  There will be a request for these over and over and over.   Simple.  Easy.  Divine.  Enjoy!

Everyday Donna

Things to remember:

 Whole worlds have been tamed by men who ate biscuits.   Bad Blake, Crazy Heart

Heavenly Hash Brown Potato Casserole

It was a cool, rainy day in middle Tennessee which made me want to cook - comfort food.  "Southern style" comfort food.  Ask grandpa what was for dinner.  What's for dinner Grandpa?  We had fried ham, great northern beans, corn bread and hash brown casserole.   I might add, the hash brown casserole is heavenly.  Desert was coconut cake which is equally as heavenly.  (I will share the recipe tomorrow)  This meal may not be good for your cholesterol, but sometimes there is nothing like good country cooking.

I have been making this recipe for 20 years, long before I ever had it at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.  The Loveless Cafe here in Nashville also serves hash brown casserole.  I do believe our youngest son could eat his weight in this casserole.  As for me, I never met a potato I didn't like, so yes, I LOVE this dish.

This recipe comes from a Woman's Circle  recipe book I bought at a book outlet 20 years ago while shopping with some friends on a girl's day out.  I bought 3 of these books and have used so many recipes from them through the years.  They cost a whopping 97 cents each and were more than worth every penny I spent! (haha)   They are paperback books somewhat like a magazine instead of your standard cookbook and each book has over 600 recipes  submitted by individuals.  To me, these are usually the best recipes because whoever submits the recipe has actually made and eaten it.  Anytime  I find one I like, it goes in the "keeper" file and gets used over and over.

This recipe is comparable to the one Cracker Barrel serves.  Dan seems to think it's a little better, not sure why, but he ate plenty of it for dinner.   This makes a 9 x 13 casserole full and I know that is a lot for an evening meal unless you want it to be the mainstay of the meal or you have a growing family.  You could cut this in half easily.  It does reheat nicely, so I just make the whole recipe.  After raising four children, I needed big recipes like this in hopes there might be something left over.  Usually if there was, one of our sons would raid the refrigerator before bed and eat what was left.  So much for leftovers.  Oh well, growing boys equal huge grocery bills.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

1 32 ounce package frozen hash brown potatoes 
(because this recipe is 20 years old, I find that hash browns now come in 30 ounce packages, but it works fine.  You know how they keep reducing the package size but not the price?)
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup onions, chopped fine
1 pint sour cream (2 cups)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Partially defrost hash browns.  Thoroughly mix potatoes, 1/2 cup melted butter, cheese, onions, sour cream, soup, salt and pepper.  Put into greased 9 x 13 inch casserole.  I sprinkle a little more grated cheese over the top and crack black pepper over the cheese.  Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Not only does this smell heavenly while it is baking, it tastes even better!  This can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.  It is sooooooo good.  Makes a great "pot luck" dish when you need one, or is excellent to serve during the holidays or anytime you have dinner guests.  It is worth the time it takes to make it.  Deeee-licious!

We have company coming for the weekend and we will be having left over hash brown casserole for breakfast.  They are going to love it!  Wish you were here to join us.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

‎"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time." 
Rabbinical Saying

A True Family Favorite - Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This cake holds so many wonderful memories for me -  hours spent around our table with family and friends, sharing laughs,  and conversations, competitive games,  and mostly time spent with our children.  

The first time I had this cake was approximately 1968/69 - can't really remember the exact date.  It was brought in to our office by a co-worker and it was maybe one of the best things I had ever eaten.  Ever.

She was kind enough to give me the recipe and I have been baking it ever since.  The secret ingredient is Swans Down Cake Flour.  You may never have heard of or used Swans Down Cake Flour, but it is 27 times finer than regular flour and was invented in my hometown of Evansville, Indiana, by the Igleheart Brothers in 1895 and has been marketed ever since.  Igleheart Mills were acquired by General Foods years ago who continued to produce Swans Down.  The plant was closed in 1993  and Swans Down Cake Flour is now made and distributed by Reily Foods Company of New Orleans, Louisiana.  They also make Luzianne products if you are familiar with their tea.  It is my favorite for making sweet iced tea.

Back to this delicious cake.  In order for it to turn out exactly right, you MUST use cake flour.  There are some other brands on the market, but I have always used Swans Down Cake Flour.  It comes in a red box and can be found with other flour in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.  

I really slipped up and forgot to take a picture of the cake before we started eating it.  Oops.  It is baked in a bundt pan and that is the only way I have ever baked it.  You could probably use a tube pan also, but I have never tried it that way.

This cake is fabulous for breakfast or brunch and, actually,  is downright good any time of the day or evening, especially with a cup of coffee.  Oh my.  It has always been a favorite of our four children and is requested to this day.   I will tell you, we went to my mother's for a holiday and she had a bundt cake on the table.  It was very brown and I had never known her to bake whatever it was before.  I asked her what kind of cake it was and she said your sour cream coffee cake.  I knew immediately she had not used cake flour and it did NOT even taste like this cake should.  So, here is my warning - USE CAKE FLOUR!  It is also important to add the ingredients as the recipe states so that you get the wonderful texture for this cake.  Now that I have given you my warnings, here is the recipe.  

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup commercial sour cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

Topping:

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 Tbsp sugar

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.  Fold in sour cream and sifted ingredients alternately - BEGINNING AND ENDING WITH DRY ingredients.  Add vanilla.  Spoon 1/2 mixture into a lightly greased bundt pan.  Cover with 1/2 topping and add remaining batter.  Cover with remaining topping.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool almost completely before turning out.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

It's a simple recipe and it is truly delicious.  It's sort of like eating potato chips - you can't eat just one piece.  This cake is a great gift to give, great to take to a get together, or great for friends and family.  And, of course, there are the upcoming holidays and it is spectacular to serve for Christmas morning.  

I made this for my friend Joyce when she came down for the weekend recently and promised her I would post the recipe, so here it is!  I hope you will all give it a try and let me know how much you love it.  I know the extended Kinnaird family will want one for Christmas morning when we all get together!  It will definitely be on the table.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

“Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal,”   Julia Child