Pina Colada Pie

If you can't join your friends who are vacationing in Hawaii, how about enjoying the flavours of Hawaii at home? This creamy pineapple coconut macadamia pie is a tropical delight.

• pastry for a 9-inch pie (homemade or store-bought)
• 3 cups fresh pineapple, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup whole milk (or light cream) 
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted 
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Line a 9" pie plate with pastry.  Trim and crimp edges.
2. Place pineapple pieces evenly over pastry-lined pie plate.
3. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of coconut.
4. Put remaining ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth and creamy. 
5. Pour the mixture carefully over the pineapple and coconut in pie plate. 
6. Sprinkle macadamia nuts and 1/4 cup coconut on top.
7. Bake in a 350°F degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until firm in centre and golden.
8. Cool.  Refrigerate.
9. Serve with whipped cream.

Serves 8

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Delicious!

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1/3 cup chopped dates

1. Cream together sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and salt.
2. Add dry ingredients and mix to incorporate.
3. Add vanilla and grated carrots. Mix well.
4. Finely chop dates into a small microwave bowl and add the water. Heat for 45 seconds. Remove and mash with a fork. You may need to heat just a few more seconds if they are not soft. 
5. Add softened dates to the carrot mixture. 
6. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake in 300ºF oven for 1 hour. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Beat all ingredients together very well until you have a whipped smooth frosting. 
2. Frost completely cooled cake. 

This cake keeps well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, and freezes very well. A great dessert to have on hand in the freezer. 

Yogurt Pancakes

These were a nice change from regular pancakes made with yogurt instead of milk. We enjoyed them with a dollop of plain yogurt and pure maple syrup. Since childhood our family has enjoyed pancakes with sour cream and syrup. If you've never tried it you should. With these yogurt pancakes we used yogurt instead of sour cream and we enjoyed them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In separate bowl whisk together the yogurt, eggs, oil or butter and vanilla.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients combining well.
4. Heat pan to medium high to cook the pancakes with a combo of vegetable oil and butter.
5. Use 1/3 cup measure to proportion the batter and end up with 8 uniform pancakes. 
6. Cook to a golden brown on one side and flip and cook the other side.
7. Serve with your favorite toppings.

Yield: 8 pancakes

Double the recipe to serve more people.

Nine Bean Soup

This hearty soup can be made in a large slow cooker or on top of the stove.  It is so handy to have a pot of soup to warm up during the week.  Adding the bok choy at the end provides extra nutrition to the mix of beans. 

• 1 smoked ham hock 
• 1/2 pound chorizo,  diced
• 9 cups water
• 2 cups of nine bean soup mix, or a variety of beans and lentils (without seasoning)
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 10 peppercorns
• 6 whole allspice
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried summer savoury
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 28 ounce / 796 ml can diced tomatoes
• dash of natural hickory liquid smoke 
• 3 baby bok choy, chopped (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Put the ham hock or ham bone and chorizo in a slow cooker set to low and add water along with beans, onion, celery.
2. Add peppercorns, allspice, and bay leaves(tied into a square of cheesecloth or in a spice ball).
3. Sprinkle with summer savoury and parsley. 
4. Cook on high 6 - 8 hours. 
5. Remove ham and break it apart into bite-sized pieces. Discard ham bone. 
6. Add carrots, tomatoes, reserved ham and a dash of natural hickory liquid smoke.
7. Continue to cook on low until carrots are tender. Add chopped baby bok choy in the last 15 minutes of cooking.  
8. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Bread For The Journey

Friendship:

The ten of us women have had a very special friendship for the past 10 years. We have shared tears, laughter, encouragement, and prayer together. We love each other and are friends/family for life. I call them 'sisters of my heart'.
I also have other friendships that I've treasured for over 50 years. These are friendships I don't take lightly. They are precious and close to my heart, an unbreakable bond between us. It takes time and effort to build these relationships but are truly worth it in the end.

Friends don't necessarily agree with each other all the time but true friendship allows you to separate the 'wheat from the chaff'. You keep the valuable and let the rest blow away.

Friends enrich our very existence. In the Bible we read that David and Jonathan had such a friendship.
1 Samuel 18: 1 - 4 ESV tells us how close these two were, in verse 1 it tells us that 'Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul..'  That is true friendship.
I want to be that kind of a friend.

Sour Cream Orange Buns

I have to admit that when I first posted this recipe almost 10 years ago I hesitated sharing it because I wanted to keep it a secret. I still had no idea what I'd signed up for and felt a little bit like maybe some recipes were too sacred or something like that. After all these years,  I'm just happy if I can find a recipe to share.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, very soft or melted
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups hot water
• 7 cups flour (approx)
• 2 tablespoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt

filling:

• 1/4 cup melted butter (approx) for brushing
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup coconut
• grated rind of two oranges

glaze:

• 3/4 cup sugar,
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup sour cream,
• orange rind and juice of 1/2 orange

Method:

1. In bowl of stand mixer or large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs well, then beat in butter and sour cream. 
2. Add water and a few cups flour, then the yeast and salt. Continue adding four to make a soft dough that holds together. The amount varies with the humidity of the day. (If you are using a mixer, use a dough hook attachment. Transfer dough to a large bowl when the flour is well incorporated.) Knead dough to hold a soft shape that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It’s okay if it’s still a little bit sticky.
3. Sprinkle lightly with flour and shape into a ball by pushing down and under along sides while rotating bowl with left hand, until dough is smooth. Cover and let rise 1 hour.  (top right photo is of risen dough)
4. Pinch risen dough in half and roll each out (using a light dusting of flour under and on top) to about 10”x 20”. Do not press or work dough too hard. 
5. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling. (1/3 for each half and save 1/3 for topping). 
6. Roll up jelly roll style and slice into about 1 inch slices.
7. Place on greased or parchment paper lined pans, leaving a bit of room to spread. (as in bottom left photo)
8. Cover with tea towel and plastic. Let rise 1 hour. They can be touching when they are ready, for pull apart buns. You can place them further apart for more individual buns.
9. Sprinkle with some more of the coconut filling and bake at 350° F about 20 min. 
10. Meanwhile, bring glaze ingredients to boil and cook, stirring, for 1 1/2 minutes. the glaze can thicken a bit while it cools. Spoon over buns while they are still hot. This topping is yummy. You may want to make extra to drizzle just before serving Yield: 3 dozen

Two Bite Brownies

Chocolate lovers little indulgence. So quick and easy, and the wonderful smell of chocolate baking will draw the family into the kitchen. Great alone or put one or two into a bowl with ice cream. 

(yields 48 Two Bite Brownies)

• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, optional

***if you want a little espresso flavour remove 1 teaspoon of cocoa from the 1/2 cup and add 1 teaspoon of espresso powder to the mix***

1. Melt butter.
2. In a separate bowl whisk eggs and vanilla together.
3. Stir in dry ingredients and then add the melted butter. Stir until all ingredients are mixed together well. 
4. Divide batter between greased mini muffin tins. ( I just give the whole tin a quick spay with oil. The mini pans are so tiny and finicky to rub each one individually.)
5. Bake in 350ºF oven for 8-10 minutes. They will puff up and be set but not completely firm. You don't want to over bake them. Check them earlier than later if your oven bakes on the hot side.
6. Allow to sit in pans for about 30 seconds and then using a sharp paring knife gently lift brownies out of tin. These freeze well. 

Cottage Cheese Waffles

The other day I looked through my stash of handwritten recipes and came across this one from long ago. I decided to make these waffles on a Saturday night when I didn't know what to make for supper. They were so delicious, airy, and light. I will be making them again. Next time I will make the sweet white sauce that's usually served with waffles in our household. Our granddaughter asked 'Grandma you didn't make white sauce'? The unthinkable in her books.
Add fresh fruit and bacon and you have a delicious breakfast, lunch, or supper.

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons oil 
• 1/2 cup creamed cottage cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Beat eggs, buttermilk, oil, cottage cheese, and vanilla until well blended. 
2. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined, the mixture will be somewhat on the thin side.
3. Cook in waffle iron until done, they will be golden in color.
4. Serve with maple syrup or white sauce. 
5. Yield: 4 waffles

Bread for the Journey

In the midst of uncertainty, confusion and loss

this picture depicts a simple beauty that still remains.

The only explanation I can find is that

she has made deposits into her spiritual well being.

She has filled her mind with hymns and spiritual songs

from the time she was a youth,

from before I was born,

and they remain as a final blessing to her now.

As I sat beside her last Sunday, singing the following hymn,

I asked her if she was enjoying this.

Her responses to other things may not always make sense,

but her response now was,

"Who wouldn't like that song?"

So ... for that reason I have to share it.

1. I come to the garden alone,
   While the dew is still on the roses,
   And the voice I hear falling on my ear
   The Son of God discloses.
   • Refrain:
     And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
     And He tells me I am His own;
     And the joy we share as we tarry there,
     None other has ever known.
2. He speaks, and the sound of His voice
   Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
   And the melody that He gave to me
   Within my heart is ringing.
3. I’d stay in the garden with Him,
   Though the night around me be falling,
   But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
   His voice to me is calling.
4. Charles A. Miles, 1913

This leaves me with one question:

What kind of deposit am I making 

in the memory bank of my mind?

"How blessed is the person who does not take the advice of the wicked ...

but he delights in the Lord's instruction."

Psalm 1:1-2

Flashback Friday ~ Baron of Beef

This year we are in the middle of renovations in our kitchen.  So I quickly made this baron of beef dish, before my appliances were removed, knowing that I would have the perfect leftovers for the following week. All I needed to do was to warm up the dish in my microwave.   Little did I know that we would be off skiing and it became the perfect supper to serve to the family when we all arrived home to my daughter's house.  If you check back you can see that this has always been a favorite over the past years.

Baron of Beef

• Sirloin Tip Roast
• 3-5 pounds
• dry mustard
• 1 package dry onion soup mix

1. Rub with dry mustard/onion soup mix
2. Put it in the oven to roast and add some water
3. Roast approximately 2 1/2 hours. (depending on the size)
4. When the meat has cooled, slice it very thin and layer it in the same roasting pan.

Sauce

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced onions
• 2 tablespoons soya sauce  

1. Blend these items together in a small bowl.
2. Layer this sauce over the meat.
3. Cook for 1 hour in the oven at 350° F

Tip:  When the roast is finished cooking, I leave it in the roasting pan to cool.  Then I take it out to slice thin and put it right back into the roasting pan so that all the juices can be mixed together which gives that added flavor.