Easy Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is such an easy and yummy cake. It's perfect for a spring Sunday dessert. The recipe is from Betty Crocker, and I haven't really changed anything except to use 1/2 cup butter (1 stick). I find the extra butter keeps the cake moist. We like to serve it with vanilla ice cream, but it's great just by itself.
Bon Appetit
Jill B:)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (20 oz) pineapple slices in juice, drained, juice reserved
1 jar (6 oz) maraschino cherries without stems, drained
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
Vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). In 13x9-inch pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice, and arrange remaining cherries around slices; press gently into brown sugar.
2. Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 1/4 cups. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes (42 to 48 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

Substitution
SuperMoist® butter recipe yellow or white cake mix can also be used to make this popular cake. Make cake batter as directed on box, using reserved pineapple juice as part of the total water measurement.
Special Touch
Serve with sweetened whipped cream or an 8-oz container of frozen (thawed) whipped topping (3 cups) if desired. For 3 cups of sweetened whipped cream, in chilled medium bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.

Yummy Indian Shrimp Curry

Back in 2006, we hosted a 16-year old British teen named Simon for a month. He didn't really know what he was all about or what he wanted from life, but he could cook. He made several Indian dishes for us, and this curry is our favorite. I still make it a lot.

Bon Appetit!
Jill B


1 medium onion, diced
1 lb shrimp
1 can crushed tomato
1 cup (??) plain yogurt
Heavy cream (1 to 2 tbs)
2 jalapeno or Serrano peppers
Spices – curry, Garam masala, chile powder, coriander, salt
Rice

In a large, heavy skillet, heat olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of pan). Brown 1 medium, diced onion in the oil. Add the shrimp. Once the shrimp are pink, add the crushed tomato and curry. Bring to a simmer. Add the yogurt and continue to simmer, adding spices to taste. Once yogurt is well-blended, add heavy cream and blend well. Add peppers. Continue to add spices to taste. Let simmer on low heat for 20 minutes or so to let the flavors come together. Serve over warm basmati or white rice.

Dorie Greenspan's Cornbread Chili Casserole

This dish yummy, yummy, yummy. I made it last night for dinner, and I seriously couldn't resist it. I don't have a 7x11 casserole dish, so I used my 13x9 glass pan instead, and I doubled the cornbread mix. The one box of cornbread mix didn't cover the meat mixture. I was surprised at how light this casserole was too. It didn't taste greasy or heavy at all. I will make this recipe often. It was fairly inexpensive too.
Bon Appetit
Jill:)

Dorie Greenspan's Cornbread-Chili Casserole (with a few minor modifications)

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck
1 1/2 cups bottled salsa
One can (15 oz.) corn, drained
1/4 cup water
1 cup shredded cheddar, optional
Cumin and chili powder
Salt and pepper
Two boxes cornbread mix (7 to 8 oz.)
2/3 cup milk, for cornbread
2 large eggs, for cornbread

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet; sauté onion until soft. Add beef; cook until no longer pink. Discard fat. Stir in the salsa, corn, water, and cheese. Season to taste with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper.

2. Spoon into a 13x9 pan; smooth the top. Follow cornbread package directions. Spread a thin layer over the chili.

3. Put the casserole on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 375ºF for 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6. Per serving: 400 calories, 46g carbs, 29g protein, 85mg cholesterol, and 13g fat.

Pear and Cherry Crisp

Adapted from Bon Appetit. I had a bunch of beautiful pears on hand and thought “Crisp! I want to make a crisp!” This recipe originally called for pears and cranberries, but I substituted cherries instead because I could not find fresh or frozen cranberries this time of year. It was still amazing. Make sure the butter in the recipe is frozen just from the freezer. I used it from the fridge, and I don’t think the topping came out crispy enough. Enjoy!
Jill B
Serve this quick treat with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients:
Topping
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
7 large firm ripe pears (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, cut lengthwise into eighths
1 cup fresh or frozen cherries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
For topping:
Combine first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter and cut in using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

For filling:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 8-inch square baking dish with 2-inch-high sides. Toss all ingredients in bowl to combine well. Transfer to prepared dish.
Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Set dish on baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until topping is golden and juices bubble thickly, about 1 hour. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving.

Romy Linnell’s Lemon Berry Cake

Please forgive me Romy if I am spelling your first name wrong. She brought this cake to Book Club last month, and it is light and tasty and yummy. We're so glad to have her in the neighborhood.

Lemon Berry Cake

Ingredients:

1 pkg (18 ½ oz box) yellow cake mix

1 Tbsp grated lemon peel

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 pkg (6 oz box) lemon gelatin

1 ½ cups boiling water

Confectioners' sugar

Whipped cream, optional

Directions:

Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Stir in lemon peel. Pour into a tightly greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Sprinkle with blueberries. Whisk together gelatin and water until gelatin is dissolved. Slowly pour over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 33-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center of cake layer comes out with moist crumbs (cake will set upon cooling). Cool slightly on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm with whipped cream if desired. Store in the refrigerator.