Fall is Here!

Although the weather is still warm in Cleveland, Ohio, the leaves and pumpkins tell us it is Fall. It is an unusually "pink" Fall as the summer, especially the last few weeks have been very dry!

One grill is packed in the garage and the other is covered in a much too big grill ccvoer. Soon the green grill tarp will be covered with snow!

It is almost time to make pumpkin pie. I love canned pumpkin, but the very best pies are from a "pumpkin pie pumpkin." I never carve a "pumpkin pie pumpkin," but let it stay whole as a great table decoration until it is cut up and prepared as a substitute for canned pumpkin in a few pumpkin pies.

Cleveland Treats

Last night I uploaded the first draft in a new cookbook series to celebrate Cleveland, OHIO, entitled, "Cleveland Treats." It is in full color and includes treats for our eyes, unique nature photos of our area including Chagrin Falls, the monarch butterflies, as well as recipes for our taste buds.

My friend Connie's husband, Tamotsu, once said to me, "We eat with our eyes," which was also an inspiration for the series. The recipes he made for dinner were most beautiful.

The book is in memory of my Mom and I thank my sisters, Cecile and Maria, for their willingness to be taste testers, and my husband Jules who has wanted me to write down the recipes for years. I did not mention my niece Julie, the inspiration for the cookbook as she once asked me for my original recipe after making so many modifications. Original and modified recipes are included if applicable.

Pineapple, Lemon, Raspberry, Surprise Cake

I received a surprise from my beautiful niece Julie who lives in Texas. She sent me a thank you bouquet of flowers. Since it remains cold in Cleveland, Ohio, and we might have a few lingering snow flurries, the flowers are a most welcome sign of "life" after winter.

The flowers look gorgeous on the table. I doubt if Julie knew that we had our 46th wedding anniversary a week ago, but we did not have a cake. The colors of the flowers in this beautiful bouquet are the inspiration for this pineapple, lemon, raspberry, surprise angel food cake!

But the question is why did I add the word "surprise" in the name of this Pineapple, Lemon, Raspberry "Surprise" cake?

One can see the raspberries on the outside of the cake and if one cuts into the cake, there is a layer of fluffy frosting with a few raspberries as a "surprise." I had cut into, but not through the unfrosted, cooled cake and placed some frosting and a raspberry surprise in what I determined would be a generous piece of angel food cake. I did not cut completely through the cake, I went around the outside of the cake with a knife, without cutting the cake completely into two layers as this particular angel food cake is very delicate and crumbly.

The cake was made with a box of angel food cake mix, but crushed pineapple was added in lieu of the 1 1/4 cups water indicated in the directions for preparing the cake. In addition, because I love the aroma of lemon, I added 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the cake and to the frosting.

The frosting is Betty Crocker Fluffy Frosting, which contains no fat. Since I had a large can of crushed pineapple, I had pineapple left from making the cake batter, which only required the 1 1/4 cups.

The Betty Crocker Fluffy Frosting mix is to be mixed with 1/2 cup boiling water. Instead of water I used 3 tablespoons of lemon juice plus some of the remaining crushed pineapple to bring the liquid portion to 1/2 cup and heated it to boiling in the microwave.

I beat the frosting for the required 30 seconds on low and 5-7 minutes on high, and stiff peaks formed at about 6 minutes. It was amazing that the frosting turned from a bit of yellow from the pineapple to almost a pure white.

I frosted the cake quickly as want this cake to look like a fresh, homemade cake, it need not be perfect and the frosting is delicious!

My husband suggested I turn this into a pina colada angel food cake by adding coconut to the frosted cake, but I may try this another time!

Wish I could share this wonderful and very easy-to-make, tasty angel food cake with my Texas family!
I wish I could drop it off at their door!

Please note: any crushed fruit plus liquid can be added to the batter of an angel food cake in lieu of the water indicated in the directions. When my nephew said his favorite cake was "strawberry," I substituted fresh strawberry puree in the cake. I had made the strawberry puree from fresh berries in my blender and the baked cake retained a light pink color.

If my niece has room in her new garden, I can imagine planting a real lemon tree in the backyard!

Love to Julie for inspiring me to bake a cake today for my upcoming cookbook! How I wish I could send a piece over to my great-niece, Emma Louise! I will be working on creating the healthiest cupcakes for Emma, a true cupcake lover.

You can bet that Emma's cupcakes will always have a "surprise" inside!

A Birthday Party to Remember

The weather in Cleveland has not improved, but we made it to Austin, Texas, for a few days for our great-niece's 2nd birthday party. My niece Julie made some wonderful foods for the children (and adults) attending the party at the Austin Dog Alliance. Compare the photographs of Cleveland, Ohio, to Austin, Texas, on approximately the same day in February!

                                                                           

One child filled his plate with a selection of very healthy and colorful combinations of fruit, cheese, and crackers.

                                                                                     

 

For easy to handle food for children, and adults, Julie made some doggie's in a blanket (a small piece of hot dog embedded in dough,) which can be made from most any kind of pastry that can be wrapped around a small piece of meat. Per my former life in intensive care units, hot dogs can be very dangerous food for young children, so always be very cautious in this respect. Small pieces of multi-colored cheese and cut up fruit were most colorful on the buffet table.

Cupcakes on a cup-cake-tree were a wonderful addition and my niece had the most fluffy cupcakes covered in white icing with multi-colored sprinkles. Lemonade was available for the guests and the hosts were two very well-trained dogs, both named Max.

In a Blizzard? Think Hawaii with these wonderful Banana Pancakes

What can I make today for breakfast, January 25, 2014, to celebrate my great-niece's birthday and forget the view outside?

How about banana pancakes, almost as good as the ones we had in Hawaii? In any case, these remind us of a wonderful vacation so many Januaries ago and we can celebrate a bit for breakfast for a most precious birthday!

Take the ripest banana, like the dark one in the picture and mash it up before adding it to your favorite pancake recipe. You can mash it up completely or leave some chunks. If you leave a few chunks, the wonderful banana "perfume" will permeate through your kitchen, and you can dream to your heart's content, until you look outside!

In Hawaii, they slice their wonderful small apple bananas and get the heavenly aroma, however, I have found slicing does not give us the same effect in the continental US. I need to mash one banana and leave some chunks -- enjoy with maple syrup or your favorite topping, you will use less syrup as the banana adds a bit of sweetness to the wonderful banana-mash-pancakes! The restaurant in Hawaii was cooking hundreds of these wonderful pancakes, but since I only cook a few, mashing and leaving chunks in the batter creates a more aromatic mixture than slicing the banana.

Banana pancakes are a most wonderful comfort food during the coldest, snowiest blizzards. Finished eating the pancakes? Then enjoy the time to curl up with a good book like, "Walk Forward," and feel most blessed!

Happy Birthday sweetie, can not wait to see you again! I must adapt this recipe for French toast, the favorite of today's birthday girl, a most darling, beautiful redhead who lives in Austin, Texas, but is a "Cleveland Girl," when she wears her mittens!

Nothing like mittens or precious home cooking from Cleveland, but in any case, like me "keep dreaming" of warmer weather and beautiful sunshine!