Southern Hospitality » Recipes and Cooking

A Spring Girl’s Night in Party

Rhoda — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:30:53 +0000

I recently got the opportunity to host a Girls’ Night In party, so I asked my friend Tracey if she would like to help me out by having the party at her house. She has a beautiful dining room, and she was more than ready to get it spruced up for spring

The party was just the ticket to inspire her to bring out her spring accessories. She happened to be hosting her women’s group that night, too, so we made a party of it.

I went to the grocery and picked up some really good cheeses, crackers, and assorted other party foods. Girls generally love to nibble on cheese and crackers, dips and chips, and with a little sweet thrown in for good measure, it’s a perfect meal.

My kind of nibbling. I love girlie food, don’t you?

Tracey has a beautiful dining room and when I told her I wanted to throw a party, she was more than ready to set a pretty spring table. She has some gorgeous silver pieces and by adding some birds, nests, and eggs, as well as a few fresh flowers from the yard, the table was picture perfect. That glass float was picked up on our shopping trip to Asheville earlier this year and came from Screen Door. I love it!

White dogwoods and hot pink azaleas are hard to beat for a centerpiece. Simple and elegant.

Tracey added these cute birds’ nests with eggs on top of glasses, along with beautiful thrifty plates she picked up at Scott Antiques.

A large glass bottle holds more dogwood branches. This time of year is perfect for clipping outdoors and bringing them inside to enjoy.

As part of this Girls’ Night In party, we were asked to try out a brand new product, Simply Cranberry Cocktail, made with not-from-concentrate cranberry juice.

I filled a pretty glass pitcher with plenty of crushed ice and filled it with Simply Cranberry Cocktail. The girls all loved it and remarked on how delicious it tasted. It was a refreshing accompaniment to our girlie food fare.

I brought along some pink dogwoods to add to another vase on the kitchen island, and that’s where we set up all the food.

Strawberries and cheesecake, a winning combo every time.

Happy flowers make a girl party special.

Plenty of hummus and delish dips along with chips and crackers, and we were all smacking our lips.

Cheese and crackers are definitely on my short list of snack foods to enjoy.

That’s the hostess, Tracey, at the sink and her friends enjoyed all the food, too.

We all went through and filled our plates with plenty of yummy food.

A perfect girls’ night in.

Can’t get enough of those flowers, as there is nothing prettier than a pink dogwood. It was a fun evening with the girls, talking and chatting about life issues, and the food and drinks brought us all together for the night and a fun time was had by all.

Simply Cranberry Cocktail is refreshing and delicious, and I would definitely try it again. It’s gently pasteurized with no added preservatives to bring you a taste unlike other cranberry cocktails you may have tried. You can find both the 59oz and 13.5oz single serve carafes in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, as the beverage is kept chilled from the time it’s blended.

What is your favorite way to make a party or get-together in your home more festive? Tell me about it in the comments for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2012 – 6/6/2012

Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Tart Baking with Lauren

Rhoda — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:10 +0000

My beautiful and sweet niece, Lauren, was home a few weeks ago and she was in the baking mood. I’m so proud of her for cultivating her domestic skills so well and she has gotten into making these beautiful tarts. She was going to a book club meeting while she was home and so she whipped up a batch of these magazine worthy tarts. They were equally delicious too. We all got to sample them.

She enjoys making them so much she bought a Williams Sonoma tart baking set, which consists of the tart pan, crust shaper and cookie cutter.

Here’s the little gadgets that come with the tart pan.

Rolling out the dough

Cutting out with the cutter for the tart shape

Add into the tart pan and then she smooshes the dough with that handy little gadget.

She pricks it with a fork to make sure it doesn’t puff up while baking.

And there they are out of the oven.

She’s got all the ingredients ready to go.

Including some yummy raspberries.

Lemon tart filling.

Lemon zest

Lemon and lime zest

Filling the tarts with raspberry jam

Adding more filling on top and these are ready to bake.

They come out like this and she added almonds to the top, as well as 3 fresh raspberries.

Filling the lemon tarts

Adding the lemon-lime zest with a baggie

Then adding whipped cream on top, they are ready to eat.

Don’t they look delicious? They were so good! I think the presentation on these is really wonderful.

She took the Almond Raspberry tart recipe from The Galley Gourmet and modified it for her tart pan.

Here’s the recipe for the Lemon Lime Cream Tarts:

Lemon Lime Cream Tarts

For the crust, you can buy a Pillsbury pie crust or make one from scratch. Lauren used Julia Child’s sugar crust recipe:

1 1/3 cups flour

3 to 7 TBLS. sugar (she used 5)

1/3 TSP baking powder

5 TBLS chilled butter and 2 TBS chilled vegetable shortening

1 egg beaten with 1 TSP water

1/2 TSP vanilla extract

Place the flour, sugar, butter, vegetable shortening, and baking powder in the mixing bowl. Rub the fat and dry ingredients together rapidly with the tips of your fingers until the butter and shortening are broken into bits the size of small oatmeal flakes. Blend in the egg and vanilla, and knead the dough rapidly into a ball. Place on a pastry board and with the heel of your hand, not the palm, rapidly press the pastry by two spoonful bits down on the board and away from you in a firm, quick smear of about 6 inches. The dough will be pretty sticky. Form again into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and chill for several hours until firm. After chilled, press the dough into your tart pan or mini tart pan. If you’re using a big tart pan, line it with parchment paper and put dry beans in it to hold the dough in place. Bake the crust in the middle level of your oven at 375 for 5 to 6 minutes until the dough is set. Then remove the beans and parchment paper, prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork in several places, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes more. The shell is done when it has shrunk slightly from the mold and begins to brown very lightly. Immediately remove the mold from the shell and slip the shell onto a rack. It will become crusty as it cools.

Filling: (she doubled the filling)

1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

2 TBLS powdered sugar

2 TBLS whipped cream

1 TSP grated lime peel

1/4 cup lemon curd

Garnish:

Whipped cream

Strips of lime peel

If you use Pillsbury crust; heat oven to 450. Cut four 4-inch rounds from crust. Press each crust into 4 inch tart pan. Prick bottom with fork. Bake at 450 for 5 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and shipping cream. Beat until smooth. Divide evenly into cooled tart shells.
In small bowl, stir grated lime peel into lemon curd until smooth. Spoon evenly on top of cream cheese mixture in shells to within 1/4 inch of edges. Garnish with whipped cream and lime peel strips.

We all got a little snuggle time in with this little girl while she was home too. Stickers is part of the family now and we love her. She is the cuddliest little thing you’ve ever seen. She loves to cuddle in a lap and snooze.

The winner of the Initials Inc. giveaway has been posted here and the winner emailed!

Homemade Strawberry Pie just like Shoney’s

Rhoda — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:00:22 +0000

Our family grew up going to Shoney’s. A lot! That was one of our favorite places to go after church on Sunday nights and we spent many evenings hanging out with the young people and older folks from our church. Big Boys and french fries were my faves back then. And there were many times that we splurged on dessert. Remember those strawberry pies and hot fudge cakes?!

Oh my, were those fantastic! We loved them.

My mom learned how to make those pies many years ago and we had them at home so many times over the years. Recently she found strawberries straight from her hometown area of Plant City, FL in the local stores for 79 cents a package and we have been eating tons of strawberries this year. Out came the strawberry pie recipe from old and guess how many we’ve already had around here.

Four! I know, it’s ridiculous.

Strawberry pies. Man, they are hard to pass up. In fact, I just can’t do it. I’ll walk another lap around the block just to have some pie.

Does that get your taste buds going?

I could die over these, they are so good.

And, of course, I’ll share my mom’s recipe with you.

Homemade Strawberry Pie

1 store bought crust (she doesn’t make crusts much anymore, since you can get such good ones at the store)

Place in pie pan or get one in a pie pan. Bake until golden brown. Let cool.

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

3 TBL. cornstarch

Cook until slightly thickened. Add three TBL. strawberry Jello (dry from the box). Let cool. Red food coloring (drops) optional.

Place 2 cups strawberries in cooled crust. Pour the strawberry mixture over the berries. Place in fridge to set up.

Add a dollop of whipped cream

Eat and smile really big!

I hope you’ll try this one for your family. I promise, you will smack your lips on this one.

And maybe even have fond memories of Shoney’s!

Philly Style Mac and Cheese

Rhoda — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:51 +0000

Time for one more recipe with Knorr, using Knorr’s Beef Homestyle stock. This one is a cheesy pasta bake, Philly Style Mac and Cheese that I found in the February/March Taste of Home magazine. They have a lot of down-home style recipes that are crowd pleasers and this is one of them. If you love green, peppers, onions, mushrooms and beef, this one is a keeper.

Oh, and cheese. One pound of cheese.

Let’s gather the ingredients, shall we?

Part of the cast: Elbow macaroni, onions, roast beef, mushroom, 2 kinds of cheese, Provolone and mozzarella

Don’t forget the Knorr Homestyle beef stock. You’ll need a cup of this.

Sautee in butter mushrooms, green peppers, and onions.

Instead of the Steak-ums that were in the magazine ingredients, I opted to buy Boars Head roast beef. Less expensive and better, I think! I used 1/2 pound of roast beef.

Once the veggies are sauteed, add the flour and stir well. I’m not even sure that you need to add this flour for thickening. Once that cheese goes in, it really thickens up, so next time I might leave this out.

After it cooks down, add milk and beef broth.

The pound of cheese gets added and melts together.

Add in the cooked macaroni. Stir together.

The roast beef comes in last with some other spices.

Mix it all together and pour in a baking dish.

Add a can of French fried onion rings on top and bake at 350° for about 30 mins.

Philly Style Mac & Cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup beef broth
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 package (10-1/2 ounces) frozen Steak-umm sliced steaks, browned ( I used Boars Head roast beef slices)
1/2 cup French-fried onions

Directions

Cook macaroni according to package directions.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the mushrooms, onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended; gradually add milk and broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Stir in the cheeses, garlic powder, steak seasoning and onion powder.
Drain macaroni; add to sauce mixture. Stir in steak. Transfer to an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; sprinkle fried onions over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Yield: 6 servings.

It’s a delish mac and cheesy baked dish, somewhat like a Philly cheesesteak flavor. If you love all of that, you will really enjoy this one. Hope you’ll give it a whirl in your kitchen too.

It’s been a privilege to be part of the Knorr 4 for the last few months and I have so enjoyed my collaboration with them. This post is sponsored by Knorr and I’ve been compensated for my time in preparing these dishes.

Don’t forget the last of our Spring Fling parties is today, at Sarah’s place. I’m lame and do not have another paint project to share, so I can’t play, but please go over and take a look at all the links. You’ll love checking out the party! Not sure what time Sarah is posting, but it will be up today sometime. Happy Spring!

Asparagus Risotto

Rhoda — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:00:35 +0000

It’s been fun to see what sort of recipes I could come up with using Knorr Chicken Concentrate Stock and this one is definitely a keeper. I love Risotto, no two ways about it. It’s fancy Italian rice and has a creamy, yummy texture and flavor. Asparagus is at peak this time of year and you’ll find it plentiful and nicely priced this month as well. So, stock up on some asparagus and give this one a whirl. I haven’t cooked risotto all that many times at home, but it’s not hard. You just have to add that stock a little at a time to get the creamy texture of risotto right.

You’ll need Arborio rice, fresh asparagus, shredded Parmesan cheese, shallots or onions, and white wine. I used white cooking wine for this one, but whatever you have around will work.

And don’t forget the Knorr Chicken Concentrate Stock. This recipe calls for exactly 3 1/2 cups, which is exactly what one of these cute little packets will make. Someone pointed out that the stock needs to be hot and that is correct. I use the Knorr stock and heat it up in a separate pot, adding 1/2 cup at a time of hot stock.

We are so fancy around here and use pie pans for all sorts of stuff, like these chopped up onions. The recipe calls for shallots, but I really couldn’t see paying $4.99 a pound for those, when a sweet onion will do.

Snap the ends and chop up a bundle of asparagus.

Add to a slow boil for just 2 minutes, remove from heat.

Sautee onions in a bit of butter. That’s always good, right?!

Add one cup of rice and sautee that for a few minutes, adding the wine to cook down first. Then you start adding the chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time. The risotto will cook down and absorb all that yummy flavor and get really creamy. Mix in the Parmesan cheese at the end, as well as the cooked asparagus.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy the creamy, rich, delish flavor of Asparagus Risotto.

I loved it and this is a really easy recipe that I found on Simply Recipes, you can click here for the printable version. I’m keeping this one handy.

Asparagus Risotto

1 lb. asparagus

3 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. butter

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice and 1/4 cup water)

About 3 1/2 cups Knorr chicken concentrate stock, can substitute some of the asparagus cooking water for stock. (heated and simmering to add to the risotto)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Method:

Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces (tips longer, base shorter). If your asparagus are especially large, cut into even smaller bite size pieces. Bring a saucepan with a part of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. As the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock asparagus into a vibrant green color to stop the cooking. Drain from ice water bath and set aside.
In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp. butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.
While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.
Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 tsp. butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Serves 4

This is totally delicious and we all enjoyed the flavor of this risotto. I hope you’ll give it a try!

{I’m part of the Knorr4, sharing recipes using Knorr products and I’m compensated for my time to do so.}

Linking up to Jen’s Tasty Tuesday today.

Beef Soup with Root Vegetables featuring Knorr

Rhoda — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:00:37 +0000

Recently, I got together with my friend, Judy, for a little girl’s night in. We cooked up a big pot of soup, she invited another friend over, and we had a wonderful comfort meal of soup around her harvest table. This wintry weather we have had lately is the perfect time to cook up a pot of soup and this soup is delish! If you like root veggies and beef, you will enjoy this one. The flavors meld together, it’s hearty and filling, and just plain good tasting.

Judy is one of my long time good friends. We’ve known each other over 20 years and I’m so fortunate to have some great women friends in my life. Judy found this recipe in the Publix Greenwise market flyer and I promise you, it’s a keeper. Loved it!

I brought over turnips and sweet potatoes from my dad’s garden, along with the Knorr Homestyle Concentrate Beef Stock, which really adds some good flavor too. We used 2 packets for this recipe.

Judy’s hubby, Paul, was kind and helped chop up the onions and celery for us. I peeled and chopped the turnips and sweet potatoes in cubes.

Sautee the stew beef along with the carrots and onions to help soften them up.

After those cooked down, we added the beef broth and the sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and turnips. With all those ingredients, this has to be good for you!

After cooking the soup for a little over an hour, we were ready to sit and dine. Judy’s Valentines tulips were still so pretty and reminds me that spring is right around the corner. I can’t wait, can you?

A generous serving of soup and cornbread was consumed and we all 3 enjoyed it so much.

Soup and cornbread, no better combo.

Judy whipped up a peach cobbler for dessert and I was overly stuffed when I left. Good food, good friends, it doesn’t get any better.

So, if you’re looking for yet another good soup recipe, I think you will enjoy this one.

Beef Soup with Root Vegetables

1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef round steak, nonstick cooking spray

3 14-oz. cans reduced-sodium beef broth (we used 2 Knorr beef concentrate stock packs, with 7 cups water & used all but about 1/4 cup of it)

1 cup water

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 medium carrot, sliced

2 TBL snipped fresh thyme or 2 TSP dried thyme, crushed

2 TSP Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 TSP salt

1/4 TSP black pepper

1 bay leaf

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 medium turnips, peeled and cubed

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

Salt and black pepper

One: Trim fat from steak. Cut steak into 3/4 inch cubes. Coat an unheated 4-quart Dutch oven with cooking spray. Preheat over medium-high heat. Cook meat, half at a time, in hot pan until brown.

Two: Add beef broth, the water, celery, onion, carrot, dried thyme, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.

Three: Bring to boiling; reduce heat, Cover and simmer about 1 1/4 hours or until meat is nearly tender. Discard bay leaf. Stir in potatoes, turnips, and sweet potato. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender. Stir in fresh thyme (if using) and season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.

{Note: I am an ambassador for and part of the Knorr 4 bloggers and we are compensated for our time to share and spread the word about Knorr’s Chicken and Beef concentrate stock. It’s a wonderful product and I’m happy to be collaborating with this fine company.}

I’m joining Jen at Tasty Tuesday today.

Bacon and Butternut Pasta with Knorr

Rhoda — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:00:17 +0000

Happy Valentines Day!

Are you dining in or eating out for the heart holiday? In case you’d like to get cozy with a home cooked meal, here’s a great one for you to try, whether it is today or later on. However you celebrate Valentines Day, I wish for all of you a wonderful day with your loved ones.

This year has been great so far, with more opportunities coming along for me than ever. One of them is an extended relationship with Knorr for the next couple of months. So excited to be back again with the Knorr 4 girls, Sweet Basil, Crepes of Wrath, and What We’re Eating. Check them out too for more recipe ideas. Today, I’m sharing a delish recipe featuring Knorr Chicken Concentrate Stock. When I was looking around to find a recipe that I could make at home, I realized that we had butternut squash and kale from the garden on hand.

Pasta is one of my faves, so this combo didn’t sound half bad to me. It was a gamble, all these flavors together, but I’m happy to say, we all loved it. Even my dad, who can tend to be a bit picky on any dish that resembles gourmet, gave it his stamp of approval and mom said she would make it again.

There is one ingredient in this recipe that you may have a hard time finding. See that cute little Alouette tub of Creme Fraiche? Yeah, I had to go to 2 different stores to find it. Finally nailed it at Publix, but it was an elusive little thing. This is my first time ever using it, but it really added some nice flavor to this dish. It resembles sour cream in texture and taste, but it doesn’t curdle when mixing it in with hot chicken stock. If you live in a small town, you may not find this easily. Have you used it before?

Once again, Knorr’s Homestyle Chicken stock was on hand and I mixed up 2 cups for this recipe.

Sautee the onions and garlic.

Cook the ziti pasta and in the last 2 minutes, add the chopped kale.

We had already roasted the butternut cubes in the oven until soft. All of this is mixed together in a big bowl and the cream sauce is added at this point. Oh, and there’s bacon in this too. The flavors were really tasty.

Pour into a sprayed 9×13 dish.

Add the Gruyere cheese on top and bake at 400* for about 25 minutes.

And it’s a cheesy on top creamy deliciousness right out of the oven.

All those flavors meld together into a really great comfort food. This is a recipe from Cooking Light magazine, which I’ve just started getting in the mail. I was a little apprehensive about all these ingredients, but since we already had the butternut squash AND kale, it was a no brainer.

And we were not disappointed. I would totally make this again. Here’s the recipe for this yummy comfort dish:

Bacon and Butternut Pasta

5 cups (1/2 inch) cubed peeled butternut squash

1 TBL olive oil

Cooking spray

12 oz. uncooked ziti, campanile, or other short pasta

4 cups chopped kale

2 bacon slices

2 cups vertically sliced onion (ok, so I chopped mine in chunks)

1 TSP salt, divided

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups Knorr chicken Concentrate stock (this is Cooking Light after all & they called for low sodium, but I used my Knorr)

2 TBL all-purpose flour

1/2 TSP crushed red pepper

1 cup creme fraiche

1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 oz) shredded Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine squash and oil in a large bowl; toss well. Arrange squash mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until squash is tender.
Cook pasta 7 minutes or until almost al dente, omitting salt and fat. Add kale to pan during last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain pasta mixture.
Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble. Add onion to drippings in pan; cook 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 tsp. salt and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
Bring 1 3/4 cups broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Combine remaining 1/4 cup broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture, remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and red pepper to broth. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat; stir in creme fraiche.
Combine squash, pasta mixture, bacon, onion mixture, and sauce in a large bowl; toss gently. Place pasta mixture in a 9×13 glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned.

Serves 8: Calories: 388; FAT: 15.4g (serving size 1 1/2 cups)

So, what do you think? Would you try this one? I really loved the mix of flavors that this recipe offers. So, if you like all the ingredients, I think you’ll like this one!

{Note: I’m very happy to be a Knorr 4 spokesperson once again for the next couple of months, so you will be seeing a few more recipes from me using Knorr products. Knorr compensates me for my time.}

Southern Living Hummingbird Bundt Cake

Rhoda — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:17 +0000

The Southern Living magazine always gets my mom’s attention when the latest issue arrives in the mailbox, especially the recipes inside. This one is in the current February issue. She succumbs to trying out desserts often and when she spied this Hummingbird Cake, an updated version done in a Bundt pan, well…you can imagine how hard it would be to turn this down.

Needless to say, I didn’t. It’s like banana bread with pineapple and cream cheese icing.

Not especially good for you, but boy, oh boy, was it good.

Do you see what I mean? Could you turn this down?

I didn’t think so.

We have always had some form of sweet stuff around our house. I get my sweet tooth honestly from my dad. His is voracious.

We ate the whole thing over the course of a few days.

And I’m sure another one will be under the silver dome before too long. I love my mama and her baking skills!

Hummingbird Bundt Cake

Cake Batter:

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large)

1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)

3/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Glaze:

4 oz. cream cheese, cubed & softened

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 to 2 TBL. milk

Prepare Cake Batter: Preheat oven to 350*. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 4 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Sprinkle 1 cup toasted pecans into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan. Spoon batter over pecans.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 2 hours).
Prepare Glaze: Process cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 TBL milk in a food processor until well blended. Add remaining 1 TBL. milk, 1 tsp. at a time, processing until smooth. Immediately pour glaze over cooled cake, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup toasted pecans.

It’s a keeper, so let me know if you try it!

I announced the giveaway winners from last week in the previous post, so check back if you missed it!

Kickin’ Baked Rigatoni

Rhoda — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:20 +0000

Pasta has always been one of my favorite comfort foods, and today I’m sharing a really great recipe with all of you that my family raved about. When the opportunity came along to try out a new recipe using PAM®, one of the staples in my kitchen for many years, I was eager to try it out. We had a few recipes to choose from and this spicy cheesy rigatoni bake sounded just perfect for a family dinner.

I assembled the ingredients and got started on prep, and it really is a fast and easy recipe to put together. PAM® generously sent us a nice new Pyrex dish, too. In my kitchen, you can’t have too many Pyrex dishes.

Spraying PAM® in the bottom of the dish ensures a no-stick dish.

I added a pound of hot Italian sausage in the skillet to brown. I ended up cutting the casings off and sauteeing the meat until it browned.

Add onions

And mushrooms to the mix, simmering until the meat is no longer pink.

And it will look like this.

Add the tomatoes, a large can of crushed tomatoes, along with 2 cans of Ro*tel. Hello, spicy! Love the kick this adds, along with the hot sausage.

Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Cooked pasta

Mix in the pound of cooked pasta. This recipe calls for rigatoni, but we already had penne, so I used that. I’m all about using what you have if it still works.

Add one cup of shredded mozzarella.

Layer it all in the greased with PAM dish.

Add the other cup or so of shredded mozzarella.

Spray aluminum foil with PAM® and place on top. Bake at 375* for about 20 minutes until heated through.

Out comes a cheesy pan of goodness, and let me tell you, this one is super flavorful. My whole family raved about it, and it’s definitely a keeper in the recipe file.

We added a kale salad with fresh blueberries.

It was so yummy, so full of flavor! This recipe is heavy on the spicy side, which we don’t mind. With spicy Italian sausage, along with Ro*tel tomatoes, this one definitely kicks it up a notch, so be forewarned about that if heat makes you gasp. We like a little spice in our family!

Also note I did not use the Habaneros Ro*tel but 2 cans of Original, and it was plenty hot. PAM® made it easy and quick to pull together this fast and timely meal, so if you want to speed up cooking time, give it a try. No-stick and quick clean up too, PAM® works for you in the kitchen.

Kickin’ Baked Rigatoni

PAM® Original no-stick cooking spray

1 pkg. (16 oz.) dry rigatoni pasta, uncooked

1 lb. Italian pork sausage links, casings removed

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pkg. (8 oz.) sliced fresh mushrooms

1 can (28 oz.) Hunt’s crushed tomatoes

2 cans (10 oz. each) Ro*tel Hot diced tomatoes, with Habaneros, undrained

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*. Spray 13×9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile, cook sausage, onion and mushrooms in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until sausage is crumbled and no longer pink, stirring frequently; drain. Add both crushed and undrained tomatoes to sausage mixture; mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Drain pasta, return to pan. Add sausage mixture and 1 cup cheese, mix lightly. Spoon into dish, top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Cover with aluminum foil sprayed lightly with cooking spray, sprayed-side down. Bake 20 minutes or until hot.

You know what I love about using PAM®? Clean-up! Yep, cleanup is a snap when you spray down your baking dish with PAM®. And the new and improved PAM® formula has been shown to be 70% better at attacking baked-on food vs. bargain cooking sprays.

That gets my attention because washing dishes is definitely not my favorite chore. You’ll have more time to enjoy those family meals instead of dealing with clean-up. And that’s a good thing! Whatever you are cooking, PAM® helps you pull it off. Even better than before!

What’s your favorite dish to make with PAM®? Now, here’s some fun news! I’m giving away a $100 Cooking.com gift card plus coupons for the new and improved PAM® Cooking Spray and Hunt’s Tomatoes. FUN, who couldn’t use that?! Here are the details:

SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY RULES

This sweepstakes runs from 2/1 – 3/31.

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d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Be sure to visit the PAM round-up page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Don’t forget to visit the PAM® Facebook page too!

Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Rhoda — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:00:19 +0000

In the September Southern Living, on the cover in fact, is a beautiful apple cake with cream cheese inside. It is delish! My mom has made it a few times already this Fall and Winter and it’s definitely a keeper. File it away in the recipes.

It’s in the September issue of Southern Living and the recipe is online (click that link to see more).

Beautiful presentation and delicious taste.

If you love apple cakes, you will love this one. Anything with cream cheese is a winner in my book!

I know I share a lot of sweets, but that seems to be what we gravitate to this time of year. Many are probably on diets, but you can bookmark this one for later!