Apple Harvest Cake Heaven!

Went overboard with my apple purchase this week- I'm talking 5 types! I always mix up the apples in recipes, never using just one variety. I gave ~him~ the choice of apple cake or crisp to cook first- cake won. Decided to kick it old school & find a recipe in a cookbook- one of those community types. Oddly the ingredients don't specify apples, but it says to add them. I went with 3 medium sized apples of different varieties (Braeburn, Golden Delicious & Granny Smith), chopped tiny. Needless to say the result was Apple Harvest Cake heaven & I see the need for a crisp in the near future!

Birthday Month!

Birthday month!  Four of us (including myself, my daughter and stepdaughter) are celebrating with a family party today...grilled roast beast, pulled BBQ chicken (a crock pot fave that is super simple!), roasted veggies, fresh fruit, and hot dogs (and of course mac and cheese for veggie boy)...and for dessert, (teenager approved)  Chocolate Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream Frosting (1T. instant coffee dissolved in 1/4 c. hot water, 1/2 c. softened butter, 3/4 t. vanilla, 2 T. cocoa and about 4 c. powdered sugar...add more or less to taste/consisteny...and just Devil's Food Cupcakes)... and a Pig Pickin Cake! 

Pig pickin cake is a delightful dump of mandarin oranges, yellow cake mix, Cool Whip, crushed pineapple and vanilla pudding mix.  Gonna be a question of what to eat first!  (last time I served this cake at a family party it was the first time not one crumb was left of a cake. so maybe I should start there?)

Orange you glad it is a rainy Sunday?

Hokey joke (in our family we call those John and Linda jokes...)...but seriously, was one of those days where I had the luxury of taking a shower and putting on clean pajamas, and that doesn't happen too often!  Watched "Sarah's Key" (good movie!), getting ready to drink some wine and steam some shrimp with some Old Bay and homemade cocktail sauce, roast some veggies, and hang out with my love.  But then there is dessert, thus the reference to "orange..."- a heavenly and light orange pound cake- you can see the flecks of orange zest in the cake, and the ricotta makes it super moist.  Just one of those things that makes me smile!  Try it yourself!
Giada's Orange Ricotta Pound Cake Recipe from Food Network