Pineapple Upside Down Cake . . . only it's not!

When I make a quick Pineapple Upside Down cake for dessert, I will take the easy route and use a yellow cake mix if time is pressing. Suddenly, cranberries seem to be the rage this year and I'm thinking about how a Cranberry Upside Down Cake would go over at Thanksgiving. Seems to me that it would go together like the pineapple one just using fresh or frozen cranberries instead. Another planned culinary adventure for the near future!

Cranberry Upside Down Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
Freshly grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Vegetable oil spray two round, 8-inche cake pans. Slice the butter into thin slices and divide between the two baking pans in one layer around the bottom of the pans. Spread out 1/2 cup of brown sugar in each pan on top of the butter. Layer 1 cup of cranberries in each pan over the sugar. Sprinkle the fresh orange zest on top of each pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to directions. Divide between the two pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the top is golden and springs back when lightly touched. Let the cakes cool for ten minutes and then carefully invert them onto serving plates. If a few berries stick, just press them back into any missing places on the cake.

Oh, oh!

The computer allows you to make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of handguns and tequila.

- Mitch Ratcliffe

Interesting movie . . .

Watched a black and white movie last night which would tip you off that it dates back to 1961 or further! It is called The Children's Hour but don't be fooled by the 'sweet' title! Not for young children but there isn't any sex or violence. It is more psychological. After watching it, however, you may find yourself wondering how they would have dealt with this particular subject in our current society's view of morality.

Orange Pecan Cookies

Ran across this recipe in an ancient cookbook from my mother's collection. It dates around the 1950's. I haven't tried it but plan to do so for Christmas. In fact, I may actually make a batch in the near future to determine it's 'worthiness'! :-) Thought I'd share it and give everyone a shot at either using it, as is, or tweaking it to suit their own purposes.

Orange Pecan Cookies
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine the shortening and sugars and beat until fluffy. Mix in the remaining ingredients until it forms a well-combined dough.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Drop rounded spoons of dough (about a tablespoon or less - a cookie scoop works great here.) onto a vegetable oil sprayed baking sheet or line baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes depending on size of your cookies.

Ideas . . .
-An orange icing drizzle would bring these up a notch.
-Dipping half of each cookie in melted chocolate would make them wonderful.
-Same deal if you use melted white chocolate.
-You can sprinkle colorful decorations/colored sugar on the chocolate-dipped cookies.
-Place a chocolate chip on each cookie before they cool and spread the melted chocolate to form an icing.

Smallpox is the next Solyndra Scandal

http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/54-state-of-affairs/1213-siga-smallpox-contract-is-the-next-solyndra-scandal

I don't know why this stuff continues to shock me but just when you think the governments and it's buddies can't get any worse . . . they outdo themselves. Very interesting link.

Variety Salad . . .

I like salads with lots of fresh, crisp ingredients. Making your own dressing is easy and you know what went into it and you can control the sugar. And what goes better with a cold bite of salad than the unexpected spicy/sweet nut? The ingredients for the salad are changeable to whatever sounds good to you. I like a variety but you can add or subtract as it suits your meal.

Salad Dressing
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Combine the ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

Topping
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup pecan pieces (You can go with walnuts instead!)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Melt the butter in a small skillet, add pecans, and cook until fragrant. Add sugar and cayenne and continue until nuts are coated with melted sugar. Remove to a sheet of parchment or foil to cool.

Salad
2 pears, thinly sliced
2 cups Romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
½ cup broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces

My version of quick homemade chicken soup . . .

I enjoy having a pot of chicken and onions simmering on the stove most of an afternoon but there are times when the soup needs to be on the table a lot sooner than four hours down the road. Although this might not be the most superb chicken soup, it works for those times when you don't have time!

Relatively Fast and Easy Chicken Soup
Several chicken legs, thighs, necks, etc.
1 chopped onion
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cans of canned chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cup frozen, mixed vegetables
Your choice of pasta

In a bit of olive oil, really brown the chicken pieces until they have a nice, dark brown skin. Add the onion and garlic and stir to get them cooking. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and simmer about an hour or until the chicken is tender. Drain the broth into another pot. Shred the chicken from the bones and add back to the broth. Taste the broth for salt and add more, if necessary. Bring to a simmer and add 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables and a teaspoon of poultry seasoning. Bring back to a boil and add your pasta of choice. Cook until the pasta is just tender and serve.

We just about beat the rain home . . .

We just about reached the home stretch when the rain started this afternoon! Better to be driving on familiar freeways that contending with traffic on less-known ones. My daughter was ready and waiting to hop in the car and even with a stop for lunch, we got home early enough for me to put chicken and vegetables on to simmer for dinner this evening. Uh, my daughter and son said they were stuffed from lunch and had to bring home the leftovers . . . yet, even as I type, they are making peppermint milkshakes with whipped cream on top.

I don't mind long drives as long as I'm the passenger. I got a lot of crocheting done on another shawl during the drive. Every time I come up with an idea for a Christmas gift, it seems to entail work! Hey, that's the reason for the season, right?

The rain is really pouring down now and increased just as we unpacked the car and closed the garage door. We are blessed!

Shows what a small part of the world are we mere mortals . . .

Time has no divisions to mark its passage.. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.

- Thomas Mann

All with some truth . . .

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
-- Isaac Asimov

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse."
-- Thomas Szasz

"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."
-- Alfred Hitchcock

Wonderful reflection for a Sunday morning . . .

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

- Martin Luther King