Coke Cake (aka Tony's Favorite Cake)

This is Tony's absolute favorite cake! His birthday is tomorrow and when I asked what kind of cake he wanted he said "A Coke Cake, of course!". It's an old fashioned chocolate cake with a light chocolate flavor. It is definitely NOT a healthy cake- anything with equal parts flour and sugar and that includes both butter AND oil is going to be sweet and sinful! I suggested trying to make a Diet Coke Cake and Tony looked at me like I had lost my mind!


Cake:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 T cocoa
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 cup Coca-Cola
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1/2 cup small marshmallows
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs

Icing:
1 box powdered sugar
3 T cocoa
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 t vanilla
1 cup pecans (optional)
6 T Coca-Cola


Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour and sugar in large mixing bowl. Set aside. In small saucepan, bring the following to a boil; butter, cocoa, oil, and Coke. Remove from heat and add to the dry ingredients; mix by hand. Add vanilla, soda, marshmallows, sour cream, and eggs. Mix well. Bake in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan for 45 minutes.


Icing: Melt butter, cocoa, and Coke in small saucepan. Place powdered sugar in large bowl. Pour hot Coke mixture over sugar and stir till well mixed. Stir in vanilla and nuts. Pour over warm cake.


TIP OF THE DAY: While this cake is baking, start the icing but do NOT finish it. The icing needs to be warm and needs to be poured on the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. I use the same saucepan for the cake and icing- it includes the same ingredients so you don't even have to rinse it out. As soon as the cake goes in the oven, I put the cocoa, butter, and Coke in the saucepan and set it on the stove- but do not turn the burner on. The butter usually melts while it sits there. I get the powder sugar ready and when there are about 3 minutes left in the baking time, I turn it on and start the icing.


Prep Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 30 minutes

Swiss Chicken

This is an easy chicken recipe that even my chicken hating husband likes. The low prep time makes it a perfect weeknight meal.






1 package chicken tenderloins
2 cans cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (I use the 98% fat free version)
1 cup Swiss cheese
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
1 package wide egg noodles

Boil noodles and set aside. Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken tenderloins with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and cook for 4 minutes on each side till done. Remove chicken from pan. To pan add soup and Swiss cheese. Cook over medium heat till bubbly. If sauce is too thick- add a bit of water to dilute. Turn heat down to low and add chicken. Simmer for 15 minutes- stirring often. Serve over wide egg noodles.

TIP OF THE DAY: When pressed for time, use wide egg noodles because the cooking time is much shorter than that of regular pasta. I buy the NO YOLK brand and just love them.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Coke Cake

Everyday Biscuits

These simple biscuits are so easy you can make them EVERYday if you wanted to!

2 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 cup buttermilk


Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved. Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined. If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Gently, gently PAT (carefully) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Use a round glass dusted with flour to cut into rounds. Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other. If you like more crusty sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together. Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.

TIP OF THE DAY: Do NOT over bake these and handle the dough as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Swiss Chicken

Debbie's Squash Casserole

This recipe is my friends Debbie's absolute favorite. In fact, she loves it so much that I kept the recipe a secret from her for years. I told her that instead of giving it to her- I would simply make it for her any and every time she wanted. When Tony and I started planning our wedding, she told me she wanted it the week we would be on our honeymoon. So, before leaving for our cruise, I made it and took it over to a friends house who delivered it to her while we were gone. I also gave her a copy of the recipe as a gift for being my maid of honor. I always think of her when I make this recipe. Even if you don't like squash, you will love this recipe!



1 pound yellow squash, sliced
1 pound green zucchini, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup butter
7 1/2 ounces herbed dry bread stuffing mix


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook squash and onions in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and stir in 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Stir in sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and cheese. Set aside. Melt remaining 1/2 cup butter and stir it into the stuffing mix. Pour the squash mixture in 9 x 13 inch greased pan. Pour stuffing on top of squash mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.



Tomorrow's Daily Special: Everyday Biscuits

SOUPer Simple Sausage and Beans

A big pot of beans is a wonderful and filling meal that my family absolutely loves. As the weather gets cooler, this meal appears more and more on the Long's dinner table along with some of Nana's Cornbread.

1 package dry pinto beans or mixed beans

1 small white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 package spicy venison (or any type) sausage

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Creole seasoning, to taste

white or brown rice, prepared

Place beans in pot of water and rinse. Remove any beans that float to top. Drain water off and put beans in deep pot with 8-9 cups water. Bring to boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let set for 2 hours. Pour out water and add 3 quarts fresh water. Chop onion and garlic. Add to beans. Add salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Cover and cook on low heat 4 hours. Stir often and add water as needed. Cut sausage in quarters. Add to beans and cook 45 minutes more. Be sure to stir beans occasionally while cooking. Serve over rice and with cornbread.

*This recipe is also fabulous with a ham bone included while cooking and diced ham instead of sausage.

TIP OF THE DAY: When putting beans on the stove to cook, also put a saucepan of water on low heat. When you need to add water to your beans, add the heated water. If you add cold water, your beans will break down and turn to mush!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Debbie's Squash Casserole

Orange Slice Oatmeal Cookies

I made these cookies for the first time this weekend and they were a big hit! The combination of orange slice candies, oatmeal, and coconut are a fabulous one! When I make these again (and I will make these again), I plan to add some walnuts and make them in a 9 x 13 pan as a bar. YUMMY!

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped orange slices candy (I will increase this to 2 cups the next time I make these)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets with cooking spray. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the oats, coconut and candy orange slices. Drop by spoonfuls (or cookie scoop) onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Do not skip this step or the cookies will stick!

TIP OF THE DAY: The hardest part of this recipe is cutting up the orange slices because they are so sticky. To make it easier, sprinkle a little flour on your cutting board and knife so they won't stick together. Once you have cut them all up- mix them up with a bit of flour so that they do not stick together in the dough.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 8-10 minutes per batch

Tomorrow's Daily Special: SOUPer Simple Sausage and Beans

Apple Puffs

This is a super easy one bowl recipe that is light and yummy!








2 cups biscuit mix (I use the low fat kind)
1/4 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 cup applesauce (I use cinnamon)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 T cooking oil
1 t vanilla


2 T butter or margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine biscuit mix, sugar and cinnamon. Add applesauce, milk, egg, and oil. Beat vigorously for 1 minute. Fill greased muffin pan 2/3 full. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool slightly. Remove to cooling rack. Melt butter. Mix together sugar and cinnamon. Brush tops of puff with butter. Dip in cinnamon sugar.


TIP OF THE DAY: If you don't have a pastry brush in your kitchen, you really should invest in one. They can be used for so many things and only cost a few dollars. If you don't have one- just dip the tops of the puffs into the bowl of butter.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Orange Slice Oatmeal Cookies

Questions and Answers

I've received a few questions over the past few months I've been posting recipes here and decided today was the day to try and answer them.

Could you add prep and cooking times to the recipes?
I absolutely can and will- when I remember to. Sometimes it's hard for me to determine how long prep takes because I often do prep work for two things while cooking something else and the time tends to run together. I am working on paying closer attention and noting both on each recipe. If it's not there- I'm trying to go back and add it after I have made the recipe again.

Do you actually make all of these recipes?
I have made all of the things I have posted on this blog- I won't post a recipe I haven't personally tried and liked. Most recipes each week are things I am currently making. All of the sweet things- which is what I most love to make- are things I make for school events, teacher treats, dance snacks, church events, parties, potlucks, or if we are having guests for dinner. So typically if you see a recipe for something sweet, I'm making it to take somewhere. This way- we get a taste but don't have it sitting here at home calling our names to eat it. Probably once a week I post a recipe that is something that I am not currently making but that is a tried and true recipe that I love.

And if you do, how come you don't weight a million pounds?
This question cracked me up! Sometimes I feel like I weight a million pounds but basically I don't eat much of what I bake- although I do try everything (or have one of my testers try it) to make sure it turned out okay. That's something I would suggest to everyone- never serve something to guests that you haven't tried yourself. I love to cook but mostly for other people so the joy I get is not in eating the things I bake- but in seeing others enjoy those things.

What happened to the pictures?
I have been struggling with some stomach issues for the past 5+ weeks and as a result have not had my usual amount of energy. I've still been cooking and posting recipes, but had basically gotten lazy and not added pictures (although I have taken a few- which I will go back and add now). I know I personally love seeing pictures of items I am making (my favorite cookbooks have pictures) and promise to start posting them!

Where do you get all of your recipes?
Many are my grandmothers and mothers and many are from cookbooks. My mother was a cookbook junkie and I inherited her addiction- as well as all of her cookbooks. I usually make the recipe once as written in a cookbook and then adapt it the second time. Some recipes I simply make up- usually as a combination of two recipes.


Okay, so now I have a few requests for you!


A few of you leave comments and I often get emails from friends who read and tell me they tried something I posted here. What I would love to ask you to do is to post a comment on a recipe after you try it to let me know how it worked and if you liked it. You won't love every recipe you read here and that's okay. I'd like to hear about your successes and failures. If the recipe doesn't work for you- maybe we can figure out why together.

Secondly, if you have a cooking question or something that you would like me to post a recipe for- leave me a comment (or email me) and let me know. I literally have millions of recipes and probably have the recipe you are looking for!

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Applesauce Puffs

Nana's Cornbread

I have to admit it- I am a cornbread SNOB! I will only eat my mother's cornbread recipe. I truly don't like any other. It's what I was raised on and all others pale in comparison. The biggest difference is that you use white cornmeal- not yellow- and that seems to make a huge difference.

1 cup white cornmeal
1 t salt
1 T baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
3/4 t baking soda
1 T sugar
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a tablespoon of cooking oil in a cast iron skillet and heat in oven. Mix all dry ingredients together. Stir in egg and buttermilk. Pour into hot skillet. Bake for 20-30 minutes until nicely brown.

TIP OF THE DAY: Cornbread in a cast iron skillet is the BEST way to make it because the cast iron skillet creates a crunchy edge that is soooo yummy! But if you don't have a cast iron skillet it can be made in a 9 x 9 pan or if you double the recipe- a 9 x 13 pan.

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Questions and Answers

Nutty Orange Coffee Cake

This is a Paula Deen recipe and it is GREAT! Of course I think all Paula Deen recipes are great, but this one really is a yummy breakfast dish! Tony and his dad are going to my dad's to go hunting this weekend and it's one of the breakfast treats going along with them!

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 t orange zest
2 (12 ounce) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 T fresh orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . In a small bowl, combine the sugar, pecans, and zest; set aside. Score and cut the cream cheese into 20 equal pieces, approximately 3/4 teaspoons each. Separate the biscuits. Place about 3/4 teaspoon cream cheese in the center of each biscuit. Fold each biscuit in half over the cheese, pressing the edges to seal. Dip the biscuits in melted butter, then in the granulated sugar mixture. Place the biscuits, curved-side down, in a single layer in the hollows of a lightly greased 12-cup bundt pan, spacing them evenly (do not stack). Place any remaining biscuits around the tube, filling any gaps. Drizzle any remaining butter over the biscuits, and sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter. Combine the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle the glaze over the warm cake. Serve warm.


TIP OF THE DAY: This can also be made in a 9 x 13 inch pan. I just used three cans of biscuits and a little less cream cheese in each biscuit and it worked perfectly! Another option is to omit the orange zest and orange juice. In it's place you can add maple flavoring.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Nana's Cornbread

Cinnamon Roll French Toast

This is a great breakfast dish to make for guests. Tony loves it almost as much as he does Monkey Bread- which is saying A LOT!

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cans Pillsbury Refrigerated Cinnamon Rolls with Icing
6 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup maple syrup
Icing from cinnamon rolls
Powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour melted butter into ungreased 13x9-inch glass or metal baking dish. Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into 8 pieces; place pieces over butter in dish. In medium bowl, beat eggs. Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended; gently pour over roll pieces. Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1 cup syrup. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove covers from icing; microwave on medium for 10 to 15 seconds or until drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over top; sprinkle with powdered sugar. If desired, spoon syrup from dish over individual servings. Serve with the additional 1/2 cup maple syrup.

TIP OF THE DAY: Do not try to use regular syrup with this recipe. It's really important for this recipe to have the real maple syrup flavor. Spend the extra dollar to buy real maple syrup and I promise you will NOT be disappointed!

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Nutty Orange Coffee Cake

SUPER EASY Dump Cake

This recipe is so easy that the first time I read it I thought- that will NOT be that good. I was also hesitant because I like pineapple but just wasn't sure it would be good in a dessert. But I made it and boy was I wrong. It's SUPER EASY and so yummy out of the oven with ice cream or cool whip. You do not taste the pineapple at all because it's so mixed in. The best part about it is that with only a few ingredients it's easy to have all these things on hand in your pantry when you need to make a last minute dessert.


1 yellow cake mix (I usually use the butter recipe yellow)
1 can crushed pineapple with juice
1 can any flavor pie filling
1 and 1/2 sticks of butter
Chopped nuts (optional)
Coconut (optional)
Vanilla ice cream or Cool Whip


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray. Dump can of pineapple (juice and all) in pan. Next dump pie filling over pineapple. DO NOT MIX. (That's why it's called a DUMP cake :) Sprinkle cake mix over pineapple and pie filling. Slice butter into pats and place over cake mix or melt butter and pour over top. Sprinkle nuts and coconut on top. Bake for 50-60 minutes until browned and bubbly. Best served warm!


TIP OF THE DAY: To totally change this cake, you cake use different kinds of cake mix and pie filling. Chocolate cake mix and cherry pie filling is yummy as is spice cake mix and apple pie filling. Don't be afraid to experiment.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Cinnamon Roll French Toast