Cake waiting in freezer for a rainy day

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smcclanahan

Whenever my children are cooking in school I just have to share it with you.

Our Ross is now in second grade, and Mrs. Skinner has been reading the story about Grandma's Thunder Cake. It is a cute story, from what Ross has shared with me. The cake recipe that follows goes along with the book. The children did not make the cake; a mom was drafted to make it for the class.

Yes, I made the cake, and it is in the freezer waiting for the perfect rainy day with lots of thunder to serve it to the class. It should be fun.

Grandma's Thunder Cake

1 cup shortening

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs, separated

1 cup cold water

1/3 cup pureed tomatoes

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup dry cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Cream together the shortening, sugar and vanilla. Separate eggs. Add egg yolks into creamed mixture. Add in water and tomatoes until well combined.

Sift together cake flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Beat egg whites until stiff, and then fold into cake batter mixture. Lightly grease and flour two 8 1/2-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack to cool. Frost with your favorite chocolate buttercream frosting and garnish with strawberries.

Lexie's class celebrated the SEMO District Fair in grand style, and one of the days they cooked. The children made the easy-to-prepare bars and were judged by a very non-biased judge and they all received a blue ribbon on their bars. Miss Sue did a great job working in as many cooking terms as she could, teaching presentation as the bars were cut and placed in small trays and sealed in plastic bags. She is getting them ready for years down the road when they will have their own entries in the fair.

First Place Peanut Butter Bars

1 package graham crackers

2 sticks margarine, melted

1 cup peanut butter

1 pound powdered sugar

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk

Mix the first four ingredients together. Work until smooth. Press mixture in to a lightly buttered 9x13-inch pan. Melt chocolate chips and add milk.

Spread on top of peanut butter bar layer. Cut into squares to serve.

Last week we had a request from Ann of Cape Girardeau, who is looking for blueberry muffin recipes. She and I had a chance to meet at the fair and I hope these next two recipes will help her. Both recipes were sent in anonymously from a Cape Girardeau cook who makes them on occasion and serves them with soups in the fall and winter. I would be interested to know what types of soups she serves with the muffins.

Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

1 egg, beaten

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. Add blueberries and fruit peel. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg; beat well. Add to flour mixture all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will still be lumpy with some dry particles. Divide batter evenly into greased muffin cups. Top with streusel mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute; remove from pan.Streusel Mixture

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon margarine, softened

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or coconut

In a small bowl, combine streusel ingredients and stir with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups before baking.

Blueberry Orange Muffins

2 1/2 cups buttermilk baking mix

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine baking mix, sugar and orange peel in a bowl. Beat egg, milk and orange juice together with a fork. Add to bowl; stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in berries carefully so as not to overmix the batter. Spoon batter into 12 greased medium-size muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

My sister is on a short road trip to Iowa and made this snack mix to take along. She thinks it is very good and wanted to share it with you.

Snack-A-Tizer

3 cups Golden Grahams cereal

2 cups Corn Chex cereal

1/3 cup margarine, melted

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 cups popped popcorn

1 1/2 cups M&M chocolate candy, plain or peanut

1 cup raisins

Combine cereals in large bowl. Melt margarine and add orange and cinnamon.

Mix until well blended. Pour margarine mixture over cereal until well blended. Put on jellyroll pan and bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove and add remaining ingredients. Store in tightly sealed container.

Some time ago we had a request for a French toast breakfast casserole. I use a couple of different recipes so will share one of those with you today.

French Bread Casserole

1 loaf French bread, day old, cut into 3/4-inch slices

8 eggs

2 cups half-and-half

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of salt

Topping:

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped pecans

Spray a 9x13-inch glass-baking pan. Stand bread up in pan in 2 rows, 9 slices per row. Mix rest of ingredients together. Pour over bread. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 8 to 24 hours. When ready to bake, mix topping ingredients and spread over bread using a rubber spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with maple syrup.

In light of the events that have occurred with our nation this past week, I encourage you to pray for our country's leaders, military personnel and rescue teams. Here in Cape Girardeau I feel so helpless as to what to do to help, but I think praying is the most powerful action we can take.