Coconut Cake

Ingredients 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans 2 cups sugar 5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup milk 4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut For the frosting: 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted 6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, then line them parchment paper. Grease them again and dust lightly with flour. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling. For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!). To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

Lentil soup 2 large cans of diced tomatoes 4 cups green lentils Beef bullion powder hytop Stew meat

Stevenson’s Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 pound of butter 2 c. brown sugar 1 ½ c. sugar 1 ½ t baking soda 1 ½ t salt if butter is salted only us ¾ t. 2 t. of vanilla 4 eggs 6 c flour 24 oz of chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl. Add eggs and vanilla to butter mixture, mix Combine flour mix to butter mix 1 cup at a time. Stir in chocolate. Use ice cream scoop to dip batter for cookies. I can only get 6 scoops for large cookies on large cookie sheet. Bake 12 and ½ min, Check at 12 min to make sure they are not browning. Let cool for about 1 min on tray. Then transfer to cooling rack. Cookies will still be a little soft so be careful. If making regular size cookies bake 10 min. Recipe makes about 40 (4 inch) or 80 regular. We want the BIG ones. . Thank you! I

Sabbatarian Cinnamon Rolls 1 packet of yeast (2 1/4 tsp.) 1 1/2 c. warm water (I normally use half milk, half water.) 1/3 c. sugar 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp. table salt) 1 egg 1/3 c. unsalted butter, softened (Crisco works in a pinch.) 1/2 tsp. vanilla (real, if you have it) 3 1/2-4 c. white bread flour (All purpose flour works fine) In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast, sugar and salt in water. Wait about five minutes until foamy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Knead in flour when stirring becomes too difficult. (I use the flat beater on my KitchenAid for everything and skip the kneading hook altogether.) This dough will be nice and squashy, not stiff. Resist the temptation to add more than 4 cups of flour to the dough. Let rise until double in a greased bowl covered with oiled plastic wrap. At this point you can punch it down and refrigerate it until Saturday night. (I find the dough easier to work with when cold.) Otherwise, dump the dough out on to a very generously floured board. Roll (or pat with well-floured hands) into a rectangle about 16" x 20". Filling: 1 stick (1/2 c.) butter (Absolutely no substitutions!) 1 c. brown sugar (or up to half white sugar) 2 T. (yes, tablespoons) cinnamon Melt the butter and spread evenly over the rectangle of dough. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and spread evenly over the butter. Roll it all up, pulling the dough toward you to stretch it a bit as you roll. (This results in lots of nice, thin layers to unroll as you eat and keeps the butter and sugar from melting out and forming a caramelly ooze on the bottom of your pan. If you like the caramelly ooze, then, by all means, roll these more loosely.) Slice into 20 even slices. (Again, this is easier to do if the dough is chilled.) Arrange rolls in a 4 x 5 pattern in a well buttered 9 x 13 pan. (I have always had best results with glass.) Let rise until almost doubled, and bake at 375° for 25 minutes. (Longer if the dough is cold to start with, a bit less if it's been a hot day in the kitchen. See note below.) Cool. Icing: This recipe is up to you. Some people like cream cheese or buttercream frosting, and I can't argue. But my normal recipe is simply: 1-2 c. powdered sugar 1 tsp real vanilla Enough heavy cream to reach desired consistency—spreadable or drizzlable, depending on what you like. Mix sugar, cream and vanilla thoroughly. Frost cinnamon rolls. (If you baked them the night before, save this step for after you have rewarmed them in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Otherwise the icing may scorch or melt away into sticky nothingness.) Additional Notes: Sometimes these have a tendency to rise skyward into little cinnamon roll mountain peaks. Check them half way through baking, and if they are forming something of a topographic map of the Rockies, then take a flat spatula and gently press them back down into a surface more reminiscent of the Iowa landscape. You can double the dough recipe and, after letting it rise the first time, freeze half of the dough in an oiled gallon sized Ziploc bag for next week's cinnamon rolls. If there are too many rolls for your family, share the joy, or else bake the rolls in two 9" round cake pans. Carefully wrap (foil inside a plastic bag) one of the two pans after they are baked and cooled, and freeze until next week. They keep surprisingly well. Then just thaw overnight, and warm in the oven before frosting. Bonus: If you leave the vanilla out of the dough recipe and omit the cinnamon and sugar from the filling, this recipe makes fabulous crescent rolls suitable for Thanksgiving dinner. Just roll the dough into two dinner plate-sized circles instead of one big rectangle, and butter each circle with half a stick. Slice each circle like a pizza into 12 or 16 equal wedges and roll up starting with the wider end, firmly adhering the pointed end to keep from unrolling. Let rise on two greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets, and bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes, until golden.

Fried chinese chicken rice

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil 2 tablespoons butter 2 chicken breast (no fat or skin) 6 eggs mixed for scrambling 1 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables 1 cup sauce 1/2 cup General Tsao sauce 3/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 3 tablespoons cornstarch salt and pepper to taste In a large frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and butter add vegetables. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and garlic powder. Stir til vegetable are soft. Put vegetables in a bowl for later. In same frying pan over medium heat, (DON”T CLEAN AFTER VEGETABLES) Add chicken with some more oil. Sprinkle with more of the onion and garlic powder. As chicken cooks chop into mall cubes. Continue cooking till lightly brown. Transfer the chicken to same plate as vegetables. In SAME frying pan (scrape out any chicken bits , but DON”T CLEAN). Add remaining oil and butter add eggs and scramble. Keep egg pieces small. TURN heat low add vegetables and chicken to eggs. Mix together. Put chicken vegetable egg mix in a large bowl. In medium size bowl add cornstarch with 1 cup cool water mix so there are no lumps Add to the same frying pan. Cook stirring, this sauce will thicken. Add 1/2 soy sauce and 1/2 General Tsao sauce. Continue stirring taste hummmmm. Add more of each sauce if you like. Mix the chicken vegetable egg mix in with the thickened sauce. If more sauce is needed go back to the cornstarch and make 1/2 more. Don’t forget the rice. ENJOY!

Cheddar Breakfast Strata

8 ounces cheddar cheese chopped 8 slices bread (stale) 3 cups milk 8 eggs 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese Trim crust off bread, crumble and combine with cheeses. Place in lightly buttered casserole dish. Beat eggs milk salt, pepper and mustard. Pour over cheese and bread. Refrigerate over night. Next morning bake at 350° 1 hour or until lightly browned.

Lamb Gyros

Ingredients: 1 lb. lean ground lamb 1 large tomato, cut in half, then thinly sliced 1 small onion, thinly sliced 4 whole pita breads, cut in half, warmed Seasonings for Lamb: 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 1/2 tsps. dried oregano leaves, crushed 1 tsp. onion powder 1 tsp. salt 3/4 tsp. pepper Cucumber Yogurt Sauce: 1 8-oz. carton plain low-fat yogurt 1/3 cup seeded, chopped cucumber 2 Tbsps. finely chopped onion 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 tsp. granulated sugar mix ingredients in a medium bowl Directions: Prepare Cucumber Yogurt Sauce; cover and refrigerate. In large bowl, combine lamb seasoning ingredients; mix 2 minutes or until very well-blended. Shape into two oval 1/2 inch thick patties. Place patties on rack in broiler pan so meat is 3-4 inches from heat. Broil 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink and juices run clear, turning once.Carve patties into thin slices. Place equal amounts of lamb, tomato and onion in each pita half; serve with cucumber Yogurt Sauce. Makes 4 servings (2 filled pita halves and 1/4 cup sauce) each with 472 calories, 19 g fat and 86 mg cholesterol.

Potato Crab Salad

Potato Crab Salad 5 lg idaho potatoes 1/2 - 1 lb crab meat 4-5 fresh garlic cloves 1/2 onion mayonaise salt pepper Peel and dice potatoes into 1/2 in cubes Add 1 teaspoon salt to 1/2 pot of water, boil do not over cook Steam crab meat for 5 - 10 minutes, cut into small pieces Let potatoes and crab stand for about 15 minutes, cool Mix potatoes crab and mayonaise together, Do not drown Add fresh crushed garlic and onion to mix. Finish with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate or serve at room temperature. Add parsley to decorate. Thanks to Sandy’s mom Mary

Quaker Oats Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 lb margarine 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt (optional) 3 cups Quaker Oats and 1 cup raisins Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl. Mix till all blended. Drop by teaspoon or tablespoon. Bake 5-7 minutes. Less if you like a softer chewy cookie, more if you like a crisp cookie.