Thankful Thursday ~ 2/4/2021

 

Here are some things that made me thankful/smile/excited this week:

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Kelly's 50th Birthday! ~ Last Friday, January 29th, was my sister-in-law's 50th birthday.  We celebrated with ice cream cake!  I got her 4 cases of Diet Dr. Pepper/Cream Soda as it is her favorite!  I'm sure she'll be sharing though.  Happy Birthday, Kelly!

Angel Food Cake! ~ Saturday was Kaylee's day to cook.  She made Southwestern Casserole and an Angel Food and blueberry dessert.  It was our first time to make an Angel Food cake from scratch (usually we buy it premade).  It wasn't terribly hard and turned out to be soooo delicious :)  I'm thinking of sharing "Kaylee in the Kitchen" posts if she continues to cook.  She has Enchilada Stuffed Shells planned for this Saturday :)

Blog Views!  In December I had 6232 views on my blog.  For January I had 8720 views.  That makes for a total of 2488 more views in January than December.  These numbers may not seem like a lot to you, but to me they are exciting :)

~Driving Safely!  I was so worried when Kaylee left to go to work on Monday as it was still snowing heavily.  She made it there safely and I was good until it was time for her to drive home.  Thank the Lord, she was able to leave 2 hours early and made it safely home by 10pm.  I breathed a big sigh of relief!

Laken's Birthday!  Last, but not least, was my Baby Girl's Birthday on February 2nd.  She's my little groundhog baby and I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  She turned 14 years old (14!) but at times she thinks she's 24!  I guess that is the way of teenagers.  We celebrated with cake and Chik-Fil-A.  Love You, Laken.  Happy Birthday!

What are you thankful for/smiling/exited about this week?  Tell me all the good stuff! 

Colletta

P.S. I love for you to stop by MY SHOP and give it some love!

In the Kitchen ~ Toll House Crumbcake ~ 5/7/15

This recipe came from a cookbook called "America's Favorites:  Bake Sale". 

Toll House Crumbcake

Topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups (12 oz package) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels ) divided

Cake:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13X9 baking pan.

For topping:  Combine brown sugar, flour and butter in a small bowl with a pastry blender or a fork until crumbly.  Stir in nuts and 1/2 cup morsels.

For cake:  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Beat granulated sugar, butter and vanilla extract in large bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually add flour mixture alternately with sour cream.  Fold in remaining 1 1/2 cups morsels. 

Spread into prepared baking pan; sprinkle with topping.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean

This crumbcake was so delicious.  I ate way too much of it.  Hence, the 2 pound weight gain for my weigh-in yesterday!  Was it worth it?  You'll have to try it and find out.

Please leave a comment with a link so I can return the visit!

Linking up to:  Full Plate Thursday, Inspritation2 , Creative Ways, Grace at Home, Create It Thursday, Your Turn to Shine,   Project Stash  Homemaking Linkup and Home Sweet Home, Share Your Cup.

In the Kitchen ~ Banana-Coconut Crunch Cake ~ 4/30/15

This recipe came from a cookbook called "America's Favorites:  Bake Sale". 

Banana-Coconut Crunch Cake

Cake:

1 package banana cake mix (yellow if you can't find banana)
1 package (4 oz) banana flavor instant pudding
1 can (16 oz) fruite cocktail, in juice, undrained
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Glaze:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13X9X2 inch cake pan.

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, fruit cocktail with juice, eggs and oil in a large bowl.  Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 4 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup coconut.  Pour into prepared pan.

Combine pecans and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Stir until well mixed.

Sprinkle over batter.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the glaze, combine granulated sugar, butter and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 1/3 cups coconut.  Pour over warm cake.

 Serve warm or at room temperature.

I wasn't sure I would like this recipe because I'm not a huge fan of fruit cocktail. But...I loved it!  The fruit cocktail mixed into the batter so well, I wouldn't even have known it was there.

This cake was so moist and delicious!


Please leave a comment with a link so I can return the visit!

Linking up to:  Full Plate Thursday, Inspritation2 , Creative Ways, Grace at Home, Create It Thursday, Your Turn to Shine,   Project Stash and Home Sweet Home, Share Your Cup.

In the Kitchen ~ Peanut Butter Coffee Cake ~ 4/23/15

This recipe came from a cookbook called "America's Favorites:  Bake Sale".  I was looking for something to bake, had all the ingredients on hand, so win win!  Not to mention yummy!

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup creamy Peanut Butter, divided
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup Crisco or all-vegetable shortening
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
Powdered sugar icing (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup peanut butter and melted butter until crumbly, set aside.

 

 

Cream remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter and shortening.  Slowly beat in remain 1 cup brown sugar.  Add eggs, 1 at a time until fluffy.

Combine remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; mix well.  Add flour mixture alternatively with milk to creamed mixture, beating after each addition.

Spread batter in greased 13X9X2 inch baking pan.  Top with reserved crumbly mixture.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Drizzle with icing, if desired.

This coffee cake was really good.  I think if I make it again, I will double the crumb mixture topping.  It was what really made the cake. 

Please leave a comment with a link so I can return the visit!

Linking up to:  Full Plate Thursday, Inspritation2 , Creative Ways, Grace at Home, Create It Thursday, Your Turn to Shine,   Project Stash and Home Sweet Home, Share Your Cup.

 

Cook-Booking ~ Easy Oatmeal Cake

Putting the cookbooks on my shelf to good use!

The first cookbook I'm going to be sharing recipes from is very special to me.  When I got married, my Mom made me a little notecard-sized binder of our favorite family recipes.  These are my go-to recipes for everything from cakes and cookies to potpie noodles.

To start off this feature and get myself back into baking, I made one of my family's very favorite cakes, Easy Oatmeal Cake.  It is quick and easy and the toping is hot so no waiting for the cake to cool is required.  In fact, this cake is best right out of the oven and because it has oatmeal, no guilt about eating this first thing in the morning!

Easy Oatmeal Cake

Cake:

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 egg whites (save yolks)

1 whole egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9X13 cake pan.

Pour water over oats in a bowl.  Stir.  Add shortening, eggs, sugars and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add dry ingredients.

Pour into pan and bake for approx 25 minutes.

Topping:

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup milk

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Oatmeal

Melt butter in a suacepan.  Add remaining sugar, eggs and milk.  Mix well.  Add amount of oatmeal desired.  (I like my topping thick with oatmeal.  My aunt uses a good bit less.  I actually double the topping recipe because it is so yummy!)  Spread over baked cake.

Eat while hot, warm, or cold.  It doesn't matter.  It is delicious no matter what!

Family Notes:

This is a great cake for someone who isn't really a "sweets person" like my cousin, Steph.  This is her favorite and is her birthday request every year.

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So, let me know if you give this "Family Favorite" a try and what you think!

Enjoy!

Linking to:  Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

                    Tuesdays at the Table

Snowy Mountain of Andes Mints

I decided to bake a cake for Sunday night "Coffee Break" last week.

This is a yellow layer cake with fluffy icing. I sprinkled Andes Bits on top.

It was soooo good. My icing turned out exceptionally well and little chocolatey mint pieces on top turned it into a completely different creation than it would have been otherwise.

Now I'm thinking about those bits that are still in my baking cupboard. Give me strength!