My Girl Paula! Hummingbird Cake

This week's selection for My Girl Paula! was her Hummingbird Cake. Wow, what a great choice!! I made this cake for my Mother-in-law's birthday cake and everyone loved it!! Of course, our three-year-old thought it was HIS birthday! LOL!! He thinks every birthday is HIS birthday! :)

Anyway, I made the cake on Saturday. It came together very easily and didn't even need the mixer!! You do use mashed bananas in the cake, so here's a tip if bought your bananas and they haven't ripened just yet: Put them in a brown paper bag with an apple for 24 hours. The gases from the apple will ripen the bananas. Pretty cool, huh? The only small addition I made was to add 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia with the vanilla. After my cake cooled I wraped it in plastic wrap and refrigerated it until the next day. Sunday I made up the icing, which is a basic (but very good!!) cream cheese/powered sugar icing. The last time I made a three tier cake I decided I would only ice the insides and top, since it was hard to ice all three tiers and seemed like a lot of icing. I'm glad I did it this way, because the cake is so moist and flavorful, you really only need a little icing. I set the cake in the refrigerator for the day until the birthday party began. Everyone loved this cake. The recipe says it feeds 18, but I don't think so!! We ate over half of it and the rest went to my husband's office the next day. We offered it to my MIL, but part of her gift was a strawberry-rhubarb pie, so she thought she had enough sweets. Our verdict is this cake is a keeper and we really like it - even better than carrot cake!! If you'd like to see the recipe, click here.

***Tomorrow's Post (hopefully!!): Baking Gals Cookies for my Soldier***

My Girl Paula! - Gorilla Bread

Well, if you're watching your weight, this recipe isn't for you!! Cream cheese, sugar, brown sugar and butter - oh my! It is very rich and ends up making quite a bit.

Basically, this was pretty easy to put together. You just press out the biscuits, add a piece of cream cheese and some cinnamon sugar, fold up and place in a greased Bundt pan. When finished, mine looked like this:

After baking for 30 minutes I removed it from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top of the Bundt pan and flip. To my surprise (and relief!) it popped right out! I was afraid the brown sugar and butter mixture would have made it stick. It formed a pretty "wreath" shape that I just put in the middle of the table and let every take what they wanted.

I was a little worried at first that the "undersides" of the biscuits didn't bake all the way. They sort of looked "doughy". But after trying one, we realized the cream cheese just kept them soft and they were completely baked.

My one son, who is ADHD and craves sugar, couldn't get enough of these. We finally had to cut him off and make sure he ate some bacon and eggs! Everyone else had 1-2 pieces and seemed very satisfied. The problem is there is a lot left over, which I ended up throwing away since it just won't keep and I'm getting a little tired of feeding all my neighbors!! ;) If you'd like a copy of the recipe, then click here.

So, my verdict: This is a good recipe if you are feeding a lot of people. Perhaps in a potluck or a school/church brunch. I have a mini Bundt cake pan, and I'd like to convert it over to that to try to keep the portions under control. While I liked it a lot, I'd have to say I'll probably stick to my original Monkey Bread recipe for my waist (and thighs!) sake!!

***Note: I'll be taking the next several days off due to my son's swim team championships - see you Thursday!!**

My Girl, Paula! - Taco Soup

Awesome Mom! Yep, that's what my kids said last night when I made them Paula Deen's Taco Soup from My Girl, Paula's weekly cooking group. This was a very easy soup to put together in my crock pot. Hamburger was on sale last week, so that was another big plus. I began the soup early in the day, and let is cook on low all day long. The aroma was wonderful - mouthwatering!!

This does make ALOT of soup. Paula's cookbook says 12-16 servings, and I'd say every bit of 16 servings if not more. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but really it isn't that much - mostly canned beans and tomatoes. You don't add any chicken broth, water or individual spices. The soup gets all of it's flavor from the taco season pack and the Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix. By accident, I bought the Hidden Valley dip mix, and it still tasted great (I'm not sure there is that much difference!!). I did skip the green olives, since they were fairly expensive at our grocery and in a large jar - I don't know any other need I'd have for them. Overall, the soup is similar to chili, but more "soup" like - not as thick and not "hot" like chili - just very flavorful. It is a great soup any time of year, but extra nice since it can be made in the crock pot during the hot summer months.

I plan on freezing the leftovers in quart size freezing containers for quick lunches and fast dinners. That's a BIG plus with me!! Here is a link to the recipe should you want to try it (I highly recommend it!!). I put a few Frito Corn Chips in the bottom of the bowl, and some shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream on top and served it with cornbread on the side. It was a hearty meal for the little cavemen!!

My Girl Paula - Fruit Bowl

Wow, has it been (almost) a whole week since I've posted??? Yikes! All I can say is that the holiday weekend and our swim team schedule really played a number on me!

Ok, I was all set on making this recipe for My Girl Paula's entry this week for the 4th of July, but I was vetoed. The "boys" wanted watermelon. I decided to make it tonight with our dinner. I fixed it up early in the day so it could sit in the refrigerator. So what did I think.....hmm..interesting. I think it's really, really sweet - Tang, lemon pudding, pineapple juice. That's a really sweet combination. The color is a little too "nuclear" for me too. I'm not sure you can really see it in the photo, but the "syrup" it makes is very orange and thick. My three year old loved it, though!! Fruit cocktail that is as sweet as candy!! My older sons and husband had a couple of bites and said it was "alright". That's not too bad, considering if they really don't like something they'll tell me!

So, what's up for this week? It's another busy week. Hubby is getting ready to leave on a big fishing trip to Canada at the end of the week. My one son has a swim meet again on Wednesday evening, and I've got to get my cookies baked to send out for Operation Baking Gals and my pie for You Want Pies With That? I'm tired just thinking about it all!! I'll post more this week as I get things baked! Enjoy!!

My Girl Paula's Baked Spaghetti

I admit it, I goofed! I didn't look at My Girl Paula's blog and see that we weren't suppose to make this for two more weeks!! Yikes! Last week was a blur and when I got to my menu/grocery list I just "assumed" this was the next recipe. Don't ask me why - no logical answer!! Anyway, I was going to hold off on posting it until the "correct" week, but I realized there are a couple of twists in this recipe that might deserve a "heads up" before making.

First, don't be like me and not read/comprehend the recipe. I go to make this at 5:00 pm last night, after fighting rush hour traffic and a screaming three-year-old coming home from the dentist (another stressor all to itself!!). So I'm feeling rushed and a little "snippy" (ya all know what I mean?), and I grab the ingredients and start reading. YIKES! It takes the sauce a full hour to simmer, then another 20 minutes after you add the browned ground beef, then 30 minutes to bake. Based on all this, I'm guessing my family won't be eating until 7:30 pm!! The cavemen will revolt! My husband, who was home early (figures, right?), said it would be fine to "order pizza". NO! (yep, I'm shouting now!!), I won't be defeated!! So I begin........

This is actually a very simple recipe. I really didn't know what to expect. I was thinking something like a lasagna, only with angel hair pasta. No, not really. More like "Cincinnati Style Chilli" - if you've ever had that. The sauce is really more chilli than "lasagna sauce". Got all that?

Now, here's a pet peeve I've got with a lot of recipes. If a recipe calles for canned, diced tomatoes, then it's a MUST they tell me whether or not to drain. I mean, don't make me assume anything. I can't tell you the recipes I've bombed because that was so obvious to the author. No offense, Paula, just my own ignorance. Luckily, this recipe is also on Paula's site - and based on the comments, I'm not the only one confused. While this recipe gets 5 stars, some said too watery, while others thought it was fine. After speed reading through the comments (I'm on a time crunch here!!), I decided not to drain the tomatoes, and I only added 1/4 cup water (not one cup). Just thought I'd let you all know that. You also add 2 bay leaves to the sauce. The recipe never tells you to remove them - but I think it's a good idea to remove them just before you add the hamburger (after the first hour). It's too hard to find them after you add the hamburger. Finally, I think you might want to add just a little more cheese - make sure you cover the entire top of the casserole or you will get some "crunchy" pasta! No one seemed to mind, though!

So, how'd we like it.........A big 5 stars with the cavemen going back for seconds and thirds (and I think one got a 4th!!). Really, it's rare that I make a 9 x 13 casserole and the whole thing is eaten up (with one son running his fingers around the pan!).

I served it with some homemade artisian bread and a tossed salad. I will make this again (and again, and again) for sure. But I do think I'll make the sauce up early so the dinner prep time is kept shorter.

No, that's not really my salad - but that's about how I felt by the time I got dinner on the table!! So don't stress yourself out, read the recipe, and give yourself plenty of time - just a tip from me!! :)

My Girl Paula Apple Crisp

Well, things are really busy around here. It's the end of the school year, and with it comes all kinds of activities. One of my sons has a Scholastic Bookfair going on at his school, and I've been "asked" to help. I honestly don't know how to say "no" to those things, but I've got to figure it out!!

I'm a little late on this post, but I got the apple crisp made from My Girl Paula. I followed the instructions from Mommy's Kitchen and made it in a cast iron skillet. It took about 80 minutes to get good and bubbly, and the oatmeal topping to set, but Oh My Gosh - it was good!! Everyone loved it. I made mine with five Granny Smith apples. The apples with the lemon were tart, and the topping was sweet and crunchy - but not burned or dried out. Very, very good. I think we all had seconds.

I noticed the recipe for Paula's apple crisp on the Food Network site is a little different than the one in her book. On Food Network it's a recipe for a campfire, and the proportions are a little different. The one in the book says to make it in an 8 x 8 pan, and I just can't figure out how you'd get all the filling and topping into such a small pan. I used a 10 inch cast iron skillet and it was full. If anyone reads this and wants the recipe, leave a comment and I'll get it to you. Since I haven't seen this recipe posted yet from Paula Deen, I'm going to hold off.

My garden is growing - even with all the rain and cool temperatures we've had around here lately. I've got to get out there today and start digging around. I'm excited to get some green beans, beets and carrots that I planted from seed. I'm going to plant some lettuce in a new, clean cat litter box and place it in some dappled sun to see how it does. From what I've read I should be able to get it to grow over the summer. My herbs and container flowers are doing great too - the flowers are really blooming. I've got three strawberry planters and I'm getting some red strawberries on them. I doubt if I'll get enough for my own strawberry shortcake, but maybe a few for our cereal!

This weekend is my father-in-laws birthday/father's day party. We're celebrating them all together since my older sons will be at camp over Father's Day. I'm preparing to make a cherry pie for him tomorrow. He said he can't seem to get a good cherry pie when he goes out to eat. I did a little research, and discovered you need to use a tart cherry. I ordered some from King Orchard in Michigan, and they just came yesterday. I'm excited to make it - and to make a lattice top!! I'll post when I get it made.