German Pancakes

When I was young, one of my favorite breakfast items was something we called German pancakes. For the whole family, we used two glass pans full. In college, I mangled the recipe into something about equal parts eggs, milk, and flour, mixed in a blender until slightly thick. Then, after marrying a vegetarian and living for a few years without eggs in the house, I forgot about them.

A cookbook recently given to one of our children has a recipe for something it calls a Dutch baby pancake with buttery apples. I'm in charge of breakfast, and generally make some kind of pancakes or waffles every Saturday, so I decided one day that it sounded like fun. As the batter came together, I suddenly recognized what I was doing, and got very excited.

Sadly, the rest of my family fails to properly appreciate sautéed fruit, it's quite a bit of work, so I've left it out since that first time. Jams or jellies work just as well as a topping. I also enjoy honey or agave nectar.

• 1-2 Tbsp. butter
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. cinnamon

Drop butter into a 13"×9" glass pan and place into oven. Preheat at 375°F.

In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, oil, and milk. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.

When the oven is hot, remove pan, swish the butter around to coat the bottom, and pour the batter in. Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then at 350°F for ≈8 more minutes, until golden brown and puffy.

Slice into 6-8 pieces. Serve hot.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

 

PineappleUpside-Down Cake

It is said that thepineapple originated in the Caribbean Islands from a shipwreck. Thepineapple carried by an ill-fated Spanish ship was washed ashore. Itwas carried onboard, because the Spanish explorers ate it to preventscurvy – a disease that causes Vitamin C deficiency.

The pineapple upsidedown cake was first recognized in 1924, in a fund-raising cookbookand again in 1925 in a Gold Medal Flour ad. In 1936, Sears Roebuckadded it to its catalog; making is a familiar staple of Americanculture. 

 

Apineapple upside down cake begins with a layer of sweet pineapplethat is syrupy and glazed in butter at the bottom of a heavy skillet.This is topped with a cake batter and baked. After baking, thecreation is flipped over, producing a beautiful upside down pineapplecake.

I'm not sure how accurate the above information is but I thought it was an interesting story.  I made my first pineapple upside-down cake when I found the recipe in a magazine and decided to try it.  I seem to remember that we were living in Yakima, Washington.  Alongside the recipe, the magazine had an offer from the Dole company for a special cake pan so I sent for one and both Dad and I have used it for pineapple upside-down cake ever since.  Later on, I don't remember when, we picked up another pan in a thrift shop.  We must have done that twice over the years because when Dad got the pans out to make cakes for a party this year he found that we had three!  Since we never make more than two at a time, we sent the extra one home with Dena and promised to post our recipe on the family food blog.

This cake can be made in any kind of pan that you happen to have.  You can cut the pineapple slices to fit your pan and create your own design.  Should you, however, want the kind of pan that we have you can purchase one on Amazon.com   http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Pineapple-Upside-Down/dp/B000237FSK   or search for a better price somewhere else.

Now – for ourrecipe! Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

¼ cup butter

½ cup brownsugar

5 to 7 slicesDole Pineapple

Maraschinocherries (optional)

1 package whiteor yellow cake mix for a one layer cake (such as Jiffy Cake) orone-half of a regular size package.

Melt butter,brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of pineapple syrup in an 8 or 9-inchskillet or cake pan or in special upside-down cake pan. Remove fromheat and arrange pineapple and cherries in mixture.

Prepare batteras directed on cake package. Pour over mixture in the pan. Bake ina preheated 350 degree oven 40 to 50 minutes, until cake tests done. Let stand 5 minutes. Invert on serving plate. Allow 2 to 3 moreminutes before removing the pan. Serve warm or at room temperaturewith whipped cream. Makes 5 or 6 servings.

Walley Family Sugar Cookies - Dena's Initiation

Dena has officially participated in the all-important Walley Family Sugar Cookie Initiation Rite and has passed with flying colors. Not only did she intuitively grasp the subtleties of cutting out Sesame Street cookies, as well as excel at the difficult-to-master "sugar flop," but she thoroughly understands the importance of not overbaking these delicate masterpieces.

In the course of bringing Dena into the circle of sugar cookie mastery, we did have a close call. Thinking to include Mom and Dad in the cookie fun, we made one batch using Splenda instead of sugar. This was the first batch out of the oven and since I was rolling out dough for the next batch, I had Dena try one of them. She took a bite and then simply handed me the cookie and watched carefully as I took a bite. Mind you, I have been bragging about the family sugar cookies for a long time and she knew the pressure was on to, even if I didn't. Well, that bite was initially good, as the sugar on top dominated the flavor. But as I chewed, I realized that not only had the Splenda made the dough dry and crumbly (even with milk worked in), and the cookies drier at baking, but the substitute sweetener had basically ruined the cookie. I didn't hear it, but I believe Dena let out a sigh of relief when I declared that the cookie was bad and not at all what it should be. The next batch, made with regular sugar, were much better and under interrogation, Dena agreed that they are among the best sugar cookies ever made (leaving herself wiggle room in case she ever tastes better ones, which we all know is impossible and she will learn in time). All is well.

Oh, and here's the recipe for posterity's sake.

Walley Family Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup (plain old white granulated) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. lemon extract OR 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I'm thinking about almond extract)
• 2 cups flour (regular old general purpose white flour; sifted)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tablespoons milk
• Food coloring if desired

Directions
Blend shortening, sugar, egg, and flavoring in the mixing bowl. If you are going to make colored cookies, add the food coloring at this point. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. (I often add the baking powder and salt directly to the wet mixture, then add the flour separately as follows.) Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in about 3 phases, adding a portion of dry then a tablespoon of milk and repeating until all is mixed together in a good dough. (Do not try to finish mixing with your electric mixer unless you have a super-powerful stand mixer, or you might burn out the motor. Mix a reasonable amount and then finish by hand.) Chill the dough for at least an hour.

This dough is slightly too thick, which is why
the edge of the boat didn't cut cleanly.

After chilling, take roll the dough out on a floured board/counter or a pastry canvas (never seen one in my life, but it sounds intriguing). You'll usually want to roll the dough to a thickness of about 1 cm.; however, the thickness can vary according to which cookie cutters you are using. If the dough flakes too much, dip your fingers in milk and work the dough until it sticks together better. If it's too wet and sticky, work in some more flour. Make sure to flour your cookie cutters before cutting out the shapes; this is especially important when using ones with "faces." Flip each cookie face-down onto a plate of sugar and pat gently, then place face-up on an ungreased cookie sheet. (You might want to cover the cookie sheet in foil if it is old or non-nonstick.)

Bake cookies at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Technically! In reality, you only bake them until the cookies set and the edges are just barely thinking of turning the slightest bit brown. This often turns out to be at 6 minutes. If you take them out and they are still too soft to move from cookie sheet to cooling surface, leave them on the cookie sheet for another minute or two, then carefully move with spatula.

Reese says "Eat with milk!"

These cookies can be preserved by freezing; the important thing in all storage methods is to not let them dry out. Even so, dry cookies can be revived by dunking them in milk. Milk cures everything.

Minnie's Mom's Dog Biscuits

Dog Biscuits 

Luna and Dad have lots of friends at the local dog park.  Not long ago, "Minnies's mom" was handing out small bags of home baked dog biscuits.  She had made them to sell at a fundraiser and was giving samples to friends at the dog park.  Luna didn't care for the spinach one but loved the pumpkin and peanut butter flavors.  Since some of you have dogs or, just in case you need something to sell at a fundraiser or give to friends that own dogs, Luna is sharing the recipes with you.  With Christmas on its way, it might be a hint for Dena to bake her some.  With dogs, one never quite knows their motive!  By the way, humans at the dog park seem to like these, too (They claimed to just be sampling to see what they were giving their dogs - yeah - right!).

* To buy a dog bone cookie cutter try:
http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Bone-Cookie-Cutter/dp/B00011HGVO
There seem to be quite a few different ones available online.
 
PEAMUTT BUTTER

This one won't stick to the "woof" of your dog's mouth!

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup water

2  1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl combine peanut butter, oil, and water.  Gradually add flour, then oatmeal.  Form a dough.  Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Makes 5 dozen depending on the size of your cookie cutter.
 

        

         TRICK &  TREAT

Your dog will learn new tricks to get this treat!

               

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine pumpkin, water, oil, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.  Stir well.  Gradually add oatmeal and flour.  Form a dough.  Roll dough to 1/4 -inch thickness and cut with cookie cutter.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  Makes 4 dozen depending on the size of your cookie cutter.

Spicy Grape and Raisin Cake

SPICYGRAPE & RAISIN CAKE

Carolynwon a Welch’s Grape trophy in the Central WA State Fair with thisrecipe.

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup Welch’s Grape Juice

½ cup Welch’s Grape Jelly

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 cup dark raisins

½ cup sliced walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour a Bundt pan. (I spray with PAM)
2. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar and eggs. Beat until very light and fluffy (about 3 minutes altogether).
4. Mix grape juice, grape jelly and vanilla together.
5. Alternately beat grape mixture and flour mixture into the creamed butter and sugar.
6. Add raisins and nuts, mixing well.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pan before turning out. (If cake is left in pan too long it may stick.) Finish cooling on wire rack. Pour grape satin glaze over cake when it’s completely cool.
    

GrapeSatin Glaze

1 cupsifted confectioner’s sugar

1 TBSlight corn syrup

1TBS Welch’s Grape Juice

In asmall bowl, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. Pourglaze on top of cooled cake and it will slowly run down the sides.

Apricot Bundt Cake

APRICOTBUNDT CAKE – recipe from Grandma Edith Munroe

2cups sugar (try 1 white and 1 brown for a change)

1-cupvegetable oil

3eggs

1tsp. Vanilla

14oz. Pureed apricots

2cups flour

2tsp. Baking soda

1tsp. Cinnamon

Optional:½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mixthe ingredients in the order given. Pour into a greased andfloured Bundt cake pan. (You can spray with Baker’s Joy if youhave it.)

Bakeat 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester (bambooskewers work well to test) comes out clean.

Coolfor 10 minutes andthen turn out of the pan onto a cake plate.

Sometimes,I sprinkle powdered sugar over the top before serving. Other times,I have made a powdered sugar glaze to drizzle over it. Either isgood.

EATand ENJOY!

Thisis a recipe that I’ve used many times over the years and it hasalways been well liked. Originally (30 years ago!), it called for 2jars of Gerber Junior Food Pureed Apricots but those are no longeravailable. Through the years, I have pureed home canned apricots andstore bought ones as well. All seem to work as long as you drainmost of the juice from the canned apricots before pureeing them. Thebaby food used to come in 7 oz. Jars, so it was easy to use. Afterpureeing canned apricots, measure out 14 ounces for the cake andenjoy eating the rest! Sometimes, I have substituted applesauce forthe apricots; so don’t be afraid to experiment.