Coca-Cola Cake

(printable recipe)
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsps. cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift sugar and flour.  Add marshmallows.  In a saucepan, mix butter, oil, cocoa and Coca-Cola.  Bring to a boil,

then pour over dry ingredients; blend well.

Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well.

Pour into a well-greased 13x9-inch pan (or two 8 inch pans) and bake 35 to 45 minutes.

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons Coca-Cola

1 16 oz. box confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Combine butter, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well.  Add vanilla extract and pecans. 

Remove cake from oven and frost immediately.

A favorite aunt of ours (kudos to Aunt Cathy) is famous in the family for making Coca-Cola Cake.  She shared the recipe with us many years ago but can't remember what I did with it.  Elise was in the store the other day and found the Coca-Cola cookbook.  Sure enough it had the recipe for the Coca-Cola Cake.  We don't know if it's the same one as Aunt Cathy's, but if it is, we sure know why it was a popular recipe.  This cake was full of chocolatey goodness, very moist and the frosting reminded me of old fashioned butter chocolate frosting.  Definitely a treat for us and can't wait until we have it again. *hint, hint* Elise!!! ;)

Sharing this recipe with:
Joy of Desserts, Vintage Recipe Thursday Linky Party

Ricotta Vanilla Bread Pudding

by Andrew Schloss, Art of the Slow Cooker
(printable recipe)

2 tbsps. unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 raisin bread, challah, or other egg bread
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup whole milk
1 15 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups of water

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.

Coat 1 1/2  quart souffle' dish with half the butter.

Take the bread

and cut 4 thick slices

then cut into 1/2" cubes (ooopsey, I cut them into 1" cubes.....oh well).  Toss the bread and raisins (I omitted the raisins) together in the prepared dish.

The cup of milk is ready

to be poured into the bread.  Toss lightly until the bread is completely moistened, set aside for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, mix the ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl.  Those dark, black spots are the vanilla, see below for explanation.

I used a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract.  Click here to see how I used a vanilla bean in another recipe.  If there's any reason to use a vanilla bean, it's when the word "vanilla" is in the title of the recipe, that's my reasoning.

Mix thoroughly.  See those specks??  It's the vanilla :)  At this point, this mixture smells heavenly!

Pour over the bread

and mix lightly.

 I put the dish into the oven on a pan when I realized that I almost forgot to add the rest of the butter.  So drizzle the remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with the cinnamon (I skipped the cinnamon because I wasn't in the mood for it).  Pour two cups of water into pan (keeps it moist while it's baking).  Cover the top with heavy duty aluminum foil and crimp the edges securely.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few specks clinging to it.

Remove the pudding from the oven and cool for at least 20 minutes or to room temperature.  Meanwhile preheat the broiler.  Place the pudding under the broiler about 6 inches from the heat and broil until the top browns lightly, 4 to 5 minutes.

 Serve warm or at room temperature or better yet, the following day when it's chilled.

The author of this book and recipe considered this to be a "pillow soft cross between cheesecake and bread pudding, delicately scented with floral vanilla and as light as it is rich, it overwhelms the senses with each bite."  With a touch of lemon, I may consider this my cheesecake go to from now on.  Simple to bake too.

Hubby loves, LOVES bread pudding.   I found this recipe in Adam Schloss' cookbook, "The Art of the Slow Cooker".  As you can see I didn't use a slow cooker as I wanted to make hubby something that wouldn't take hours to cook.  I guessed on what temperature to bake this recipe and it turned out just right although hubby says, it could of been baked a little bit more because he likes it a little more drier.   I personally thought I had overcooked it but hubby still enjoyed it very much and loved it even more on the second day.  I made this dish over the weekend but since my computer was "ill" I wasn't able to do any blogging.  But now that it's back to health, I'm now able to post this lovely, delicious recipe.

Cajun Chicken Revisted

(printable recipe)

I'm tired....

It's late.....

My PC is kapoot.....

I've been working with my daughter's iMac all.....ALL day, just to be able to get this post and pics up.

I'm frustrated......

So I took a break to make this dish so that I can feed my family plus have some leftovers to take to work this week.  This is one of those recipes that just gets better and better day to day, so I'm looking forward to having it for a couple of days :)

I miss my PC but it should be up and working pretty soon.  I've got so much to blog about.

Have a great week!!

P.S.  I forgot to mention earlier that the reason I am re-posting this recipe is because it's become a favorite to many a co-worker, their families as well as some of the football student-athletes here at my office.  Maybe it'll become a favorite of yours too.  Thanks again to Pioneer Woman who shared this on her blog.

No Mary Ellen This Weekend

I did not cook any recipes from Mary Ellen's Cookbook this past weekend and I have a VERY good reason.  We hosted our grandson's 1st birthday party

He's helping us put the crabs into the ice chest

Happy Birthday big boy!!  Grandma and Grandpa love you!!

Spicy Shrimp Garlic Pasta

(printable recipe)

1 box Farfalle or Bowtie Pasta, cooked according to package directions
1 package frozen shrimp - 35-50 pieces, thawed
2 tbsps. butter
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1-2 tbsps. crushed red pepper flakes
Juice from one lemon

Melt butter in medium low heat and add garlic.  Stir and cook for two minutes.

Turn heat to low.  Add shrimp and stir for another two minutes.  Do not overcook otherwise shrimp will become rubbery.

Once pasta is done, add all of it to pan with garlic and shrimp.  Add some olive oil

With two wood spoons, combine completely

Add crushed red pepper flakes

Add parsley and lemon juice, combine completely

Serve hot or cold

Years ago I went to a conference for my job at a hotel chain.  They served lunch and one of the choices was a pasta bar with a cook standing behind the bar ready to prepare your pasta any way you wanted.  This was new to me so I had no idea what to expect.  What caught my attention was that he added the cooked pasta to a hot wok, added olive oil and then some chopped garlic, warmed it up in split second and served it in a dish. I don't remember much of anything else.  I tried to copy it at home and just kept adding other ingredients until I found one that I was happy with, hence my Spicy Shrimp Garlic Pasta.  I made it today for tomorrow as we're having a big birthday bash for my grandson's 1st birthday.

 I went ahead and made myself a small serving because I couldn't resist.  I love the combination of the garlic, spiciness and the lemon.  Sooooo good!!!

I'm linking this recipe up with:

On the Menu Monday

Fresh Food Friday

I took leftovers to work.  I'm down to my last shrimp and I am very, very sad

These leftovers were amazing.  The flavors were 10x as savory.  Yummy!!!

Yellow Summer Squash Parmesan

3 yellow summer squash
2 tbsps. butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 - 2 tbsps. fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan, grated

Yellow summer squash fresh from the market

Basil leaves fresh from my garden

Melt butter in pan.  Slice the squash into thick slices

Add to melted butter in pan and brown on both sides.  About 7-10 minutes each side.

 This is my favorite part.  Add the minced garlic and saute for about 2 minutes.  I just love, love, love the aroma of fresh garlic sauteing away in the butter.

Remove from heat, sprinkling on the chopped basil and combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Grate parmesan cheese into hot squash and stir.

Add more grated parmesan cheese to top and that's it!  Enjoy!

I had no idea how I was going to cook this squash.  I was tired of eating the same old way, sauteed in butter.  So as I stood there in the kitchen by my counter, staring at the squash, fresh Basil and Parmesan and then garlic popped into my head.  So this is what I came up with.  My MIL (Mother-in-law) loved it.  To me it tasted a lot like pesto which I'm not too crazy about BUT, I did eat it and I did like, although next time, I think  I might leave the Basil out.  But it is pretty, isn't it?? ;)