Lemon Jell-O Cake

We had this cake growing up, and I remember always wanting to help poke the holes and pour the liquid in the cake. Not to say that I still don’t enjoy doing it. You could never have too much of it with its lemony flavor. This is fun, easy, and light dessert that seems special and that you took a lot of time, when in fact you didn’t.


Cake
1 lemon cake mix
4 eggs, beaten
⅓ - ½ c oil (look at the box and go with what it says)
1 – 3 oz package of lemon Jell-O
¾ c boiling water

Glaze
¾ c lemon juice
1 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 °. Grease a 9”x13” pan very well. Boil water and then add the lemon Jell-O. Stir constantly until the jell-o has dissolved. Pour Jell-O into mixing bowl with the cake mix, eggs, and oil. Mix for 4 minutes. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes. While still hot, poke all over (every ¼ “ or so) with several chopsticks (you can use a fork, but the cake rises quite a bit and you would just thrash the top of the cake). When done, combine the glaze ingredients and pour all over the cake, making sure to get everywhere. Let it sit for a bit so that the glaze has time to be absorbed.

Greek Salad

When I was really little, we lived in Athens, Greece. What I can remember of it was a lot of fun because there is so much that happened there. Another great thing is the food. I remember this one restaurant that we would go to a lot and this was the salad that they had there. It is now a staple at our house, regardless of whether we are having other Greek foods or not. It’s really easy and simple but looks great. And you can play around with the amounts so if you don’t like as much oregano on it, sprinkle a little less on.


5 inch section of cucumber
1 large tomato
1- ¼” slice of onion
½ of 6 oz can of olives, sliced (I use regular olives because I don’t have easy access to real Greek olives, but you could use them if you find them)
2 oz feta cheese*
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp red wine vinegar
1 – 1 ½ tsp oregano

Slice the cucumber into ¼” wide rounds and layer in the bottom of a pie plate, casserole dish, etc. Core the tomato, slice into 8 wedges, and then each wedge in half. Slice the olives (if they aren’t already sliced) and sprinkle over top. Take the ¼” slice of onion and cut that round into 6ths and break apart and spread over the salad. Cut the feta into small pieces or lightly crumble in your hand, then sprinkle over the salad. Evenly pour the olive oil and red wine vinegar all over the salad. Sprinkle the oregano over the entire salad.


*If I can persuade you of anything, it is to get good feta cheese. Good feta comes in a block that is vacuum sealed, not in a canister already crumbled. Yuck. It looks like a lot of feta (and it is), but it will last a long time afterward if stored properly. Get a container that can fit all the feta as well as really salty brine (water and salt solution) that is enough to cover the remaining feta. And that’s it!

Tomato Soup with Dumplings and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

In asking my husband about foods or meals from his childhood, the only one that he could remember (in the few moments that I gave him to respond) was this recipe. As he says, “it reminds me of simpler times…” (and then he laughs). But it really does remind him of his childhood summers with his family being together. He likes to do Miracle Whip and pickles because his mom did it and he thought that he’d give it a try.


Soup
1-46 oz can of tomato juice (you could also probably do V8 juice, but my husband isn’t too keen on the taste)
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
¼ ISH c water

Sandwich
4 slices of bread
Soft butter, spreading
6 - ¼ “ slices of Velveeta cheese
Miracle Whip, spreading (optional)
dill pickles


Combine the tomato juice and sugar in large pot and turn on to medium heat. Combine the flour, salt, and water. It’s “¼ ISH” because you just need enough water to form a relatively sticky dough. Using your fingers (this is messy), drop small portions of dough into the warm soup, making sure to stir occasionally so soup or dumplings don’t stick to the bottom. When it starts to lightly boil, then the dumplings are done (if they aren’t huge). For the sandwiches, preheat a skillet on medium heat, spread butter onto one side of two of the pieces of bread and lay the butter side down in the skillet. Then add three slices of cheese to each piece of bread that have been placed so they are as flat as possible (makes the melting go faster). Butter one side of each slice of bread and place on top of the cheese with the butter facing up. When the bottom is as crispy as you like it, flip it over carefully or it might fly apart. When the second side is done, you can spread miracle whip on the outside of the sandwich and then place dill pickle slices on top of the Miracle Whip. (You would eat it like an open faced sandwich or tostada.)

Wild Raspberry Muffins

This is a staple in my family for picnics or outdoor meals. I remember Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. with chicken salad and spending the day playing games, walking around, and playing games with the family while staking out our awesome spot for fireworks that night.

1 tsp baking powder
2 c flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 c berries (fresh or frozen)
1 c sour cream
½ c butter
1 ¼ c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare muffin tins with paper muffin liners. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together. Then add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla to butter/sugar mixture and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients until combined. Fold in berries. Spoon mixture into muffin liners and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or 18-20 minutes at high altitude, or until golden brown.


*You can use any kind of berry that you may want to use

Creme Brulee

My family likes to make crème bruleé. My mom would go to camp and my dad would always come up on the last night to help pack up, but he always brought my mom crème bruleé. People seem to think that this is a hard dessert to make, but we make it quite frequently because it really isn’t difficult. The hard part is the waiting

4 c heavy cream
9 egg yolks
¾ c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp sugar, for sprinkling afterwards

Preheat oven to 325 °. Begin heating 2 qts of water on the stove. Heat the cream and vanilla until simmering. Meanwhile, cream sugar and eggs together. Temper egg mixture and strain through a sieve. (Tempering is when you are bringing the temperature of the eggs up without actually cooking them and having them solidify. Add ½ c of heated cream mixture to the egg mixture. Do this two more times. Straining the mixture will take out anything that might have solidified.) Add the rest of the cream mixture to the egg mixture. Pour this final mixture into ramekins (My ramekins are big enough to divide into 8 dishes) so that it is between ½ to ⅔ full. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Then put the preheated water in a pitcher and very carefully and slowly pour the water into the cookie sheet so that it ends up coming up ½ way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until it is almost set when gently shaken. Chill for at least 3 hours. When you’re ready to eat, sprinkle with the 2 tsp. sugar and use a propane or butane torch to carmelize the sugar.

Curry Dip

Whenever we decide to have a vegetable tray, like when we are watching the Super Bowl or playing games together, we love to have this dip. It is so fast and easy to prepare that you can whip it up quick without losing a step.

1 c miracle whip
½ t salt
1 t curry powder
1 t grated onion
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 t horseradish (optional)
2 dashes Tabasco (optional) (but recommended by my husband)

Mix all the ingredients together. Refrigerate to chill. Serve with vegetables like celery, carrots, cucumber, cherry/grape tomatoes, peapods, broccoli, cauliflower, or peppers on a platter/tray.

Pink Ice Cream Cake

This is a refreshing dessert that we would make growing up for the hot summer nights of Virginia. A combination of the cold ice cream and the lemonade is what made it so refreshing to us. It was one of those desserts where my mom could let us do it, and when our little arms got tired, it was usually done anyways.


Crust
1⅓ c graham cracker crumbs
¼ c sugar
¼ butter, melted.

Ice Cream
½ gallon of vanilla ice cream, softened
1-12 oz can pink lemonade, room temperature
3-4 drops red food coloring (optional)

Empty ice cream into a mixing bowl (If it still is mostly frozen give it a few minutes extra minutes in the bowl.) Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar together and then add butter and evenly distribute throughout the mixture. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9”x9” pan. Mix together the thawed pink lemonade and food coloring into the ice cream and stir to thoroughly combine. Spoon ice cream mixture on to the graham cracker crust and freeze for at least 4 hours to overnight.

Key Lime Pie

I hate to admit it, but I honestly don’t remember having any key lime pie more than a few years ago. Then I tried a good key lime pie, and was determined to make an authentic and delicious pie. Me and my husband love this pie during the summer, but you can also have this during the winter too 

Crust
1 1/3 c graham cracker crumbs
¼ c sugar
¼ c butter, melted


Filling
1-14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
½ c key lime juice (you can also use fresh lime juice if you can’t find key lime juice)

Mix the sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Add butter to graham cracker/sugar mixture and mix to evenly distribute the butter. Press into the bottom and sides of a 10” pie plate. In a large bowl, beat the yolks with the sweetened condensed milk. Then slowly add the key lime juice until fully combined. Spoon the filling into the pie shell and chill for at least 1 hour.

Fruit Fluff

We have had curry dip in my family for as long as I can remember, but Fruit Fluff is new. It too is really easy and fast to make. As its name implies, it is made to go with bite sized pieces of fruit. We now love to have a tray of fruit with the Fruit Fluff (sweet) and vegetables with the Curry Dip (savory).

7 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
7 ounces marshmallow crème
1 tbsp orange juice concentrate (optional)

Combine all the ingredients together. Serve with fruit such as fresh pineapple, strawberries, grapes, apples, or bananas on a platter/tray.

Cranberry Muffins with Butter Sauce

This was a delicious way to use up cranberries in the fall or empty out the freezer of the ones still in there. We would always want to lick the spoon. My family loves things like butter, and these muffins go really well with the sweet butter sauce to because it complements the cranberries in the muffin.


Muffins

3 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 c sugar
½ c water
½ c evaporated milk*
2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2+ c whole cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Combine the butter, sugar, water, and evaporated milk. Mix the dry mixture in with the wet until combined. Pour batter into liners until approximately ¾ full and bake for 25 minutes.


Butter Sauce

1 c butter
1 c evaporated milk
2 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together and bring to a boil stirring often. While the muffins are still warm pour the warm sauce over broken up muffins.

*The 12 ounce can of evaporated milk is equal to 1 ½ c. For each batch that you make you need one can.