Grandma Hazel’s birthday cake

This is a cake that is a different ( slightly healthier) version of the popular watergate cake. The watergate cake usually is a white cake , with pistachio pudding , nuts ( pecans, walnuts) , club soda and sometimes pineapple or coconut. 

Ingredients - 

Angel food cake ( loaf)- 1 

Pistachio pudding mix (jello brand or others ) -1 

Milk- 2 cups

Cool whip 8 oz - 1 

Crunchy candy bar - 1 large  ( Kit Kat/ butterfinger ( we like this one!)/Heath bar  )

Pyrex dish 9X13

Instructions 

1. Take the angel food cake and rip it up into medium sized pieces and use it to line the bottom of the Pyrex dish.

2. Make the pistachio pudding per package instructions ( in a large bowl mix 1 package of the pistachio pudding mix with 2 cups of cold milk) 

3. Layer the pudding over the cake and spread evenly 

4. Now spread the cool whip over the pistachio pudding.

5. Crush the candy bar into small pieces and spread evenly over the cool whip 

6. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving. This cake is not cut into a slice , you can scoop out desired amount and serve it in a bowl.

Caramelized pear and plum grilled cheese

I had some pear and plum left over since baby ate just a few slices of it and I decided to make something out of it. I caramelized it and used it in grilled cheese. It was an extremely tasty impromptu recipe ! 

Ingredients 

Bread - 2 slices 

Butter - 2 tbsp  ( 1 tbsp extra )

Cheese ( I used white cheddar with herbs de Provence) - 5 slices ( this was a block cheese so cut into a few slices , if using sliced deli cheese would use 2 slices ) 

Pear - 1/2 cut into small cubes 

Plum - 1/2 cut into small cubes 

Brown sugar - 1 tbsp 

Cinnamon - pinch

Nutmeg - pinch 

Instructions 

1. Place a saucepan on medium heat and add two tablespoons of butter , now add the cubed pear and plum and sauté and then add the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sauté well for 5-6 minutes until it is caramelized and take off the stove and set aside 

2. Now take the pieces of bread and butter one side of each slice. 

3. Now arrange the slices of cheese on the bread and spread the caramelized fruits on top.

4. Place the bread on a sauce pan on medium heat and let it cook for a minute and then flip over and let it cook for another minute or longer until cheese is melted and the outside is golden brown 

5. Grilled cheese is now ready to serve 

Mysore pak

Mysore pak is an Indian sweet. The story goes that the king of Mysore wanted a dessert and his chef Kakasura Madappa mixed besan flour ( bengal gram flour - a type of chickpea flour), sugar and butter and came up with this sweet. It was one of the first sweets I learned how to make and enjoy making it. If you are uncomfortable with trying to figure out the string stage of the sugar syrup manually you can get a candy thermometer that has this marked on it !

Ingredients 

Gram flour ( Bengal gram / besan flour) - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 cups

Ghee - 1.75 cups 

Water - 1 cup 

Instructions 

1. Take a sieve and sieve the gram flour so that it is fine with no lumps

2. Place a heavy bottomed pot on low- medium heat and dry roast the gram flour until the raw smell is gone 

3. Place the flour in a bowl and set aside 

4. Clean the pot out so there is no flour sticking to it 

5. Now add the 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water to the pot and place on medium heat and mix well and let it boil until it reaches the one string consistency ( this is when you can put the sugar syrup between your fingers and when you pull it apart it forms a string 

I didn’t take a picture of the single string stage , so I am using  a picture from this  website 

Make sure you are careful since the sugar is hot. 

6. Now lower the heat and add the besan flour to the sugar syrup a little at a time and using a whisk mix it in smoothly.

7. Finally add the ghee into the mixture and this will make it more liquid. Keep stirring until the ghee starts coming off the side 

8. Now turn off the stove and pour the mixture in a pan greased with butter 

9. Cut into small squares when hot and let it cool for about half hour 

10. Now you can take the squares out and Mysore pak is ready to serve ! 

Goat cheese apple spinach quesadilla

This is a simple recipe I made for baby. I was trying to get her to eat more vegetables especially spinach and she seems to like it incorporated in things with seasoning rather than in a puréed baby food format ( I agree with her , I don’t like bland puréed spinach either !) so I made up this recipe to get her to eat spinach 

Ingredients 

Small flour tortilla - 1

Plain goat cheese - 2 tbsp 

Frozen spinach- thawed and throughly dried -1 tbsp

Baked apples - 3 to 4 slices 

Taco seasoning - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste 

Butter or oil - 1 tsp

Instructions 

1. Take a small tortilla and smear the goat cheese on one half 

2. Place the baked apples ( I used baked since it is softer and is not a choke hazard for little kids) on the goat cheese 

3. Add the spinach over the apples 

4. Sprinkle evenly the taco seasoning and salt 

5. Now fold over the tortilla and seal it 

6. Place a pan on the stove on medium heat 

7. Drizzle with oil or place a pat of butter and let it melt 

8. Place the folded tortilla on the pan and heat it up on one side for 30 sec ( pushing down gently with the spatula like you would a grilled cheese ) and then flip over for another 30 second or until golden brown

9. Cut into 4 wedges 

10. Quesadilla is ready to serve 

Tortilla egg roll up

I was watching Netflix’s Nadiya’s time to eat and found this recipe I decided to try it out with a few modifications of my own and came up with this version posted here 

Ingredients 

Egg- 1.5

Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Berbere seasoning- 1/2 tsp ( optional - you can use any spice or herb you like )

Mushroom small - 2 sliced thinly 

Bell pepper - thinly sliced- 5-8 strips 

Onion - thinly sliced  -5-8 strips 

Olive - thin slices - 3 or 4 

Pick whatever vegetables you want ( 2 or 3 so as not to overwhelm the dish)

Maggi tomato ketchup ( or regular ketchup) - 2 tbsp 

1 large flour tortilla 

Oil - 4 tbsp 

Instructions:

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl

2. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, berbere to the eggs and mix really well 

3.  Place a pan on medium heat and put in 3 tbsp of oil in the pan and let it heat up for 30 sec 

4. Pour the egg mixture onto the hot oil . This will cause the egg to sizzle and effectively fry it and you will notice oil extruded to the sides ( if this doesn’t happen turn up the heat a little more )

5. Add the onion, mushroom, bell pepper onto the egg

6. Take the tortilla and add the ketchup to the tortilla and smear it evenly on it 

7. Take the tortilla and place it ketchup side down onto the egg in the pan 

8. Now use a spatula and push the tortilla down on the egg to spread the egg evenly to the tortilla. Let it cook 30 sec 

9. Flip the tortilla egg over with the tortilla side down and cook for 30 sec 

10. Place the tortilla/ egg roll on a plate , let it cool then roll it to look like a taquito

11. Cut it diagonally . The tortilla egg roll is now ready to serve!

Simple strawberry cake

My sister Sal had a lot strawberries and wanted to make a cake. She has made other kinds of strawberry cakes before with two or three layers and icing. This time she wanted to make a simple cake and found this recipe on one of her favorite websites smittenkitchen. The cake turned out really good and she shared her pictures with me. Alas she did not share the cake with me but she assured me it was very tasty! 

Ingredients 

Unsalted butter - 6 tbsp ( soft at room temp)- have 1 tbsp extra to grease the baking dish 

Large egg - 1 

All purpose flour - 1.5 cups

Baking powder - 1.5 tsp

Salt - 0.5 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup ( have 2 tbsp extra for topping ) 

Milk - 0.5 cup 

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Strawberries - large 16 oz box washed well and cut in halves ( longitudinally)

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Take a 9” round cake pan and coat the insides with butter 

3. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt together 

4. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy ( use an electric hand mixer )

5. Add  egg, vanilla , and milk and mix slightly until all of the wet ingredients are combined ( don’t over mix) 

6. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and hand mix until they form a smooth batter 

7. Pour in the batter into the cake pan 

8. Now place the cut strawberries cut side down on top of the batter in a circular pattern 

9. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar evenly on top 

10. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F

11. Then reduce the oven temperature to 325 F and bake for about 50- 60 minutes 

12 . At 50 minutes put a toothpick in the cake and if it comes out clean it’s done otherwise bake for another 10 minutes ( be careful when you do this , use oven mitts)

13. Let cake cool and then it is ready to serve . You can serve with whipped cream of ice cream!

Rich’s mac and cheese recipe

Rich has been telling me about this awesome Mac and cheese he used to make when he worked in Colorado  since I met him 6 years ago and now finally he made this for me and it was worth the wait ! 

Ingredients 

Elbow macaroni ( we used the brown rice and quinoa kind ) -1 pound 

Salt - 2 tsp or to taste 

Sauce :

Unsalted butter - 1 stick ( plus 2 tsp)

All purpose flour - 1/2 cup ( can use other thickeners if you have celiac disease)

Whole milk - 6 cups 

Cayenne pepper - 1/4 tsp 

Cheddar cheese ( grated ) - 8 oz ( 3 cups ) - we used a cup each of cheddar , gruyere , havarti and package of plain cream cheese 

Paprika - 1/2 tsp 

Garlic powder-1/2 tsp

Onion powder -1/2 tsp

Topping 

Panko bread crumbs - 1 cup 

Paprika - 1/2 tsp 

Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp 

Onion powder - 1/2 tsp 

Olive oil - ( extra virgin olive oil ) - 1/4 cup

Mix all of these together for topping 

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Coat the inside of a 3 quart casserole dish with 2 tsp of butter and set aside 

3. Place a deep pot of salted water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until tender but firm ( al dente)

4. When done drain the water out using a colander and put in the casserole dish5. While the pasta is boiling make the cheese sauce 

6. In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt the stick of butter ( on medium heat)

7. Stir in the flour and whisk it constantly until it is thickened into a blonde roux ( about 4 minutes)

8. Add the salt and 1/2 tsp cayenne to it and stir. 

9. Add the garlic powder, paprika, onion powder to the mixture and stir

10.Now gradually add the cold milk whisking constantly until the mixture thickens ( about 4 min)

11.  Bring to a simmer and now add the cheeses whisking until the cheese is melted completely 

12. Remove from the heat 

13. Carefully pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni 

14. Gently stir / fold it in so that all the macaroni pieces are coated in the cheese sauce 

15. Place the topping mixture on top of the macaroni and spread evenly

16. Bake for about 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown 

17. Mac and cheese is ready to serve