Cherry Dump Cake

I was asked today for my Dump Cake recipe. I’ve seen all kinds of variations, from blackberry to blueberry and even peach, I even have an old friend Maxine’s on the blog, only because she loves rhubarb. Me, I actually prefer the plain old cobbler that every woman from church makes. I’ve eaten it for as long as I can remember; it’s just to easy to make. So here it is, hope you all enjoy it.

INGREDIENTS:
1 (20 ounces) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 (21 ounces) can prepared more fruit cherry pie filling
1 (18.25 ounces) box yellow or white cake mix
2 sticks (1 cup or 16 Tablespoons) of butter or margarine, each cut into 12 slices
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans or walnuts, but you can use your favorite)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 for glass baking dish).
Dump undrained pineapple into a 9x13x2 baking dish and spread it out evenly.
Using a spoon, dump globs of cherry pie filling evenly on top of the pineapple.
Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the cherry and pineapple layers.
Cut butter into slices with a butter knife and place slices evenly over cake mix.
Sprinkle nuts on top if you’re using them.
Bake for one hour.
To serve, scoop cake out with a large spoon like a cobbler and add a  scoop of vanilla ice cream. Serve warm or cold.

Yield: about 10 to 12 servings

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Many people miss their share of happiness not because they never found it but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.

 

Buttermilk Cornbread

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
3/4 teaspoons soda
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted shortening

DIRECTIONS
Lift the cornmeal by spoonfuls into the measuring cup, then level off. Sift cornmeal and salt together. Beat egg yolks thoroughly, add soda and buttermilk and beat until completely mixed. Add to cornmeal mixture and stir until ingredients are blended. *Add hot melted shortening, beat again (work quickly so it doesn’t fry) and fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Turn immediately into a piping hot greased 10 inch heavy skillet and bake in a hot oven (450 degrees F.) for 30 minutes. Serve at once with melted butter.

Yield: 5 servings.

* Preheat the oven to temperature with the skillet in the oven. Pull out right just before time to bake. Add 3 tbsp tablespoons of shortening and swirl around until it covers the bottom and sides of the skillet. Dump 2 tbsp of the melted shortening into the batter.

That’s the way my mom always coated her skillet. My oldest sister Shirley only uses white cornmeal and adds 2 tbsp of sugar to the mix. She makes everything sweet.

I hope that everyone has a huge assortment of iron skillets, I know I do. Just make sure as soon as you wash them, to place them on top of the burner or back in the oven to dry out. When pan is completely dry, season the skillet (wipe inside & out with a cooking oil on a paper towel).

My dad’s favorite food was always cornbread and buttermilk. Sometimes he’d use crackers instead of the cornbread in his buttermilk. My kids would have staged a protest if I had served them, buttermilk with anything. I still use it in the occasional biscuit or cake. They don’t know the difference. sh

I remember as a kid being cold a lot, and hungry sometimes. We’d go to bed with just cornbread and milk, and I remember wearing shoes with holes in the bottom. I remember having twine for shoestrings. ~ Buck Owens

 

Irish Stew

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds lamb shoulder cut in pieces for stew
Flour
3 tablespoons butter of shortening
Water
2 teaspoons salt
Dash pepper
5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
5 carrots, scraped
1 small onion
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions

Wipe meat with a damp cloth; dredge thoroughly with flour and brown on all sides in a skillet or Dutch oven in which the butter or shortening has been melted. Add 1 cup of water, cover and simmer 45 minutes; then add salt, pepper, diced potatoes, carrots cut crosswise in inch lengths and onion, with 1 ½ cups more boiling water and continue simmering until all are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve piping hot. If desired, a little chopped parsley may be added just before serving. 5 Servings

 

Sausage Dumplings

1 pound sausage
Your or My favorite Surefire pie crust recipe
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
½ to 1 cup or more of milk or water

Make sausage into 12 balls and brown; cook thoroughly. Wrap balls in dough made from pie crust.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
While baking, saute onions until brown in sausage grease. Add flour and water to make gravy. Pour gravy over dumplings and serve.

Laughter springs from the lawless part of nature. ~ Agnes Repplier

 

My Chocolate Pie

Filling ingredients:

1 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 cups of milk
3 egg yolks, beaten slightly
2 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
4 tablespoons of cocoa or 2 (1 oz) squares of baking chocolate

Meringue ingredients: (I hate meringue – I scrape it off – ew)
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of sugar

Pie Crust
1 ¼ cups crumb’s (grahams)
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter (Parkay)

Method:
Graham Cracker Crust:
Melt butter; add to crumbs and sugar. Stir. Press into pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Or Mine:

Surefire Pie Dough (makes 1 double crust)
4 oz (1 stick) Parkay margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons ice cold water
NO SALT

Cut butter into flour until like course cornmeal. Add water then lightly mix into a ball. Do not overwork the dough. Roll ball out onto floured cutting board until 1/4 inch thick. Fold into 1/4’s and lay into pie pan, crimp edges and cut off excess.

Preheat oven to 450F. Pierce bottom and side of pie crust lightly with fork. Bake 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool slightly.

Filling:
In a saucepan, combine your sugar, cornstarch, salt. Gradually add milk, cocoa/chocolate with a whisk. Cook while stirring over medium heat until it boils; cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. In the measuring cup that you beat your eggs, stir in about ½ cup hot batter as quickly as possible as not to cook the eggs. Then beat that mixture in to pot along with vanilla and butter.

Pour the chocolate custard into the pre-baked pie shell and top with the meringue (beaten egg whites).

Meringue:
Add 2 T of sugar for every egg white. Make sure the bowl is cold and whisk is very clean. Any grease will cause the whites to go flat. Spread over custard and with the back of your spoon; pull up on the meringue to form little tips/peaks. Bake it until it the peaks on the meringue are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

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Enjoy! I know that’s a lot of work just to scrap it off, but my mom loved meringue, as do others, so I add it… it can’t all be about me. LOL

True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. ~ GEORGE WASHINGTON

 

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

MEATBALLS:
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork or turkey
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

SOUP:
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped or 1 small box of frozen
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
8 ounces soup pasta, (acini de pepe or orzo pasta are good choices)

Directions

MEATBALLS:

Add all the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together using your hands until evenly distributed.
Form meat into small meatballs by rolling in your hands.
Place the meatballs on a lightly greased shallow baking pan. Place in an oven preheated to 350°F and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned.
Note: The meatballs can also be browned on the stove top if desired.

SOUP:

Cook soup pasta as directed on the package. Do not overcook. The pasta should be firm when added to the soup.
Drain the pasta after cooking.
While the pasta is cooking add the chicken broth to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
If using fresh spinach, add to the boiling broth and cook for 5 minutes or until spinach is tender. If using frozen spinach, drain well before adding to the broth.
Add the meatballs and pasta. Bring the soup back to a simmer.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese and serve.