Apricot Coconut Ring Cake

This recipe came from an old 1967 edition of 

Jiffy Cooking by Better Homes and Gardens.

From the first time I saw a picture of this cake, I wanted to make it!  So, really,...why did it take me 46 years to get around to making it!? Simple!!!!-- It's because I have more time these days to 'experiment' with baking things on my list of want-to-bakes!!

Once this cake was done, I liked everything about this cake EXCEPT for the fact that the halves of Apricots end up looking like the 'orangish' EGG YOLKS from our free-range chickens!   Because of that, when I make this cake again, I will be slicing the Apricot halves before adding them. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 of 15 oz. cans Apricot halves (well drained, but SAVE the juice!)
.....
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons saved/reserved Apricot juice/syrup
.....
2/3 cup flaked coconut
....
1 box of white cake mix (prepared with the usual egg whites, water and oil)
....
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoon brown sugar
Remainder of saved/reserved Apricot juice/syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Drain Apricots, reserving (setting aside) syrup.
2. Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons saved/reserved Apricot juice/syrup, and 1/3 cup brown sugar; heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
3. Pour into a greased/sprayed tube pan (I used a one-piece non-stick kind of angel food pan).
4. Sprinkle coconut evenly over that.
5. Prepare cake mix according to package directions; spoon cake batter over coconut.   Bake on middle shelf in a 350-degree oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until done.  (I checked for 'doneness' with a very thin/pointed wooden skewer).
6. Cool for about 3 minutes; invert on plate.  Remove pan.
7. Place well-drained apricots on top of the coconut layer.  Because I used an angel-food cake pan to bake this, I just piled the EXTRA Apricot halves into the center hole of the cake.
8. Prepare glaze:  For glaze, mix 1 Tbsp.cornstarch and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in saucepan.  Add remaining apricot juice/syrup.  Bring to boil.  Cook until mixture is thickened (about five minutes?).  Spoon thickened hot/warm glaze over the top of cake and fruit, letting some run down the sides.
9. Some may prefer to enjoy this cake while it's warm-- I liked mine best after it cooled for a few hours because the very tender cake part then firmed up a bit.  Suit yourself.

This cake reminds me a little of the 

Pineapple Upside Down cakes-- 

yes, but ...with an APRICOT flavor! 

My Ruffled Crib Quilt (quilts)

Yeah, yeah, I KNOW--  this posting has 
NOTHING to do with FOOD!!!!! 

HOW I make CRIB QUILTS...

I originally posted this information 
(some of it quite OLD, some newer) 
on my 'other blog' back in February of 2012, 
but,... since Megan/Cheryl were  
making one of these quilts this week 
(pictures at the bottom), and 
since I made one for granddaughter 
Heather and Kyle in October, I'm 
including the 'recipe' (LOL!!) 
here on my recipe blog, also!

X O X O X O X O

Lately, I had been 'missing' my old hobby of making 
generously-sized crib quilts-- not the kind of quilts 
where I'd have to buy fabric, cut it into little 
pieces and sew them back together, again!  
My kind of crib quilts are basically 
three pieces: Top, bottom, ruffle, 
and then batting/yarn.   The instructions 
for how I make them are at the bottom of this blog posting.

The John Deere quilt below was made for Grandson Samuel.

Ever since way back in the mid-70's, 
when I started making pleated-edged 
crib quilts like these, I have made over 
60 of them and gave almost all of 
them away. Back then, I started out 
buying fabric that was printed with 
juvenile designs and in soft pastels. 
THEN, when I found out how many 
YEARS  they were lasting (even 
with being loved, washed, hugged, washed, carried, 
washed, and "drag'd" around a WHOLE LOT!!!), 
I switched to buying fabric 
that was less 'age specific'.

Example:  The one on the left is MORE 'juvenile'; 

the one on the right, not as much.

Do I wish I had taken pictures of all 

the quilts I made?  Yes, I do!!!  

The one below was more or less a kind 
of 'classic' (timeless).  

It doesn't show up too well 
in the photo, but 

there is a most petite little print 

happening in the dark backing. 

 

This quilt, below, was given to 

Stela (our first great-granddaughter)...

I remember the one below was for Granddaughter 
Jennifer in 1990.  (It is still 'alive and well'!)  
On this one, I did an experiment that 
I never repeated, I put three ruffles 
around this one-- two of coordinating 
fabric and one of store-bought eyelet ruffle.

The quilt below was made in August of 1985 and given 

for the baby of Doug,  one of our farm's DVM's.

This next quilt was made pretty much like the 
pink one for granddaughter Jennifer-- except that
it has a DOUBLE ruffle and I

made it for my first grandson Mike 

in September of 1985...

Because these quilts need 1 and 1/2 yards for their 
top,  1 and 1/2 yard for the back, and 

1 and 1/2 yard for the ruffle, 

the actual cost, even back then, was close to 

$25 when adding the cost of the batting 

and yarn. These days, the 'quality' of 

fabric sold by a lot of stores (including Wal-Mart) 

may look really pretty when it's new but it 

no longer holds up like these did-- 

this means it's now probably BEST to 

shop for fabric where better fabric is sold 

(quilting stores?) because they sell a 

higher grade of fabric-- that would run the 

price up considerably, but, at least they 

would LAST like the oldies did.  Hopefully!

Some say these end up being a rather 'expensive' 

baby gift.  But, if you consider how long they last, 

they are NOT!  

The quilt below stayed here because 
I needed one for the crib that's here.  
This one shows the kind of 'ruffley/ruffle' 
made with the 'ruffler attachment' on my 
sewing machine.  While it's a quicker method, 
and also sort of pretty, the 'favorite' of all 
recipients, I learned, is still the pleated-edged version of 'ruffle'. 

There is quite a bit of 'work' involved in making these-

 but, ...I think it's a fun kind of work! 

Below:  Here is a little quilt in the theme that our first daughter 
really likes--  CUPCAKES!!  Three coordinating fabrics get it done...

HERE ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW I MAKE THESE:

See the footnotes at the bottom of these directions 
for steps #2 AND for #14-15, below...

Besides the following additional notes for Steps 2 and 14/15,  see 

some illustrations  below these footnotes...

Footnote for #2, above:  Cutting the strips the 

LONG way of the fabric, you will need 11 (ELEVEN) 

long  flat strips in order to make it all around 

the quilt after it's 'pleated'.  This means that 

with the usual 44/45" wide cloth, and taking into 

consideration that you will probably have to trim a

little salvage edging off of each side, you 

will need to cut each long strip in just 3 and 7/8" widths.  

IF YOU DON'T do this, you will have the 

'last strip' end up being too narrow.

Footnote for #14-15 above:  Since writing the above 

directions, my most FAVORITE way to add the batting is   

like this:  With pleated ruffle completely 

fastened around edge of the top piece, 

I lay both top and bottom together (perfectly matched), 

rights sides together.  SEW around all.  

Remember to LEAVE OPEN about 8" as 

a 'birthing hole'-- as a reminder, I usually put a 

pin in where I want to start and stop for that.

With the ruffled top piece and bottom piece now 

sewn together (except for the 8" I left open), and still 

inside out, lay on a table with the 'bottom 

side up'.  Get batting and spread it out evenly 

and straight over this piece (I almost always 

use TWO thicknesses of the 'bonded kind of 

polyester batting').  After I have the two thicknesses 

on the material laid out, I trim them to fit UP 

TO the edges where I sewed everything together.  

Taking strips of the narrow stitch witchery, lay them 

under the very outside edges of the batting-- 

one under the bottom layer, another strip 

between the two layers of batting.  Now, with 

a steam iron and press cloth, gently press 

just a very narrow strip around the edge of 

the blanket-- the batting will now be glued 

into place.  You don't want to steam more 

of the edge than absolutely necessary 

because it takes the FLUFF out of any batting 

you use the steam iron on!!!!   Once this step 

is done, the batting will stay in place and 

you will be able to carefully/slowly 

pull/turn everything 'back through what 

some quilters call the BIRTHING HOLE'!

Below:  ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTOS FOR SOME OF THE STEPS....

Step No. 1

Step No. 2 (The long way, cut into 3 and 7/8"wide strips)

 Steps No. 3 AND 4...

Step No. 5...

Step No. 7...

Step No. 9... 

Step No. 10...

Also part of Step No. 10...

Step No. 11...

More pictures below...

Below:  The three identically coordinated prints 

for the next two quilts were chosen by 

granddaughters Heather and Jennifer with 

their mother Paula in October of 2012.  

During Paula's visit here, I started making 

Heather's quilt.  Photo taken October 25, 2012...

Granddaughter Heather and her husband Kyle 

are expecting a SON in April of 2013!  His name
is................. KAVEN!!!!

P.S.  Below:  This quilt might look EXACTLY like the one above, and it is...

ALMOST!!   This quilt is tied with a pale yellow yarn on each 

monkey's tail-- that, instead of light brown colored yarn as above.  

This would make it look just a little bit....more "girly"?  Jenn and Isaac's 

little girl will be arriving before the end of this month (February 2015)

.........................

Below:  Two generations after me, this kind of crib 

quilt is still being made around here!  

These pictures taken on Jan. 5, 2013 are of Granddaughter

Megan making her crib quilt which, itself, from start to finish, 

'involved' THREE generations!--daughter, mother, grandmother (me).  

(Other than the different colors/print, it is 

like the other quilts shown in this post.)

After Megan and Steve chose/bought the fabric, 

Megan first cut the ELEVEN strips of fabric for the ruffle.  

Thanks, Cheryl, for doing so much of the 'assembling/sewing' 

(you did an expert job!) which allowed Megan to 

closely watch/learn how to do each step.   

'Attaching the batting' and the actual tying of 

the quilt was done here in our living room today.  

Below:  For this afternoon's almost-final step, we were able to 

use the four newly built support stands to hold 

the quilting 'sticks' in place.  (These 4 new support 

stands were made by my sister Nadine and her 

hubby Elden-- and, this is how they look.)

Above:  The vehicle parked outside the window belongs to 

Mr. Keith, a chimney cleaner.  He did a FANTASTIC 

'cleaning job' for us today!! 

OH!, and...much like granddaughter Megan, 

today's finished quilt is BEAUTIFUL! 

▼ 

P.S.  Two days after this quilt was finished and 

these pictures were taken, both Megan and Steve 

stopped in here after an appointment 

with the doctor--  she asked me to close my 

eyes and hold out my hand.  I did.  Opening 

my eyes, I saw a very beautiful little 

PINK rubber  ducky. THE BABY IS A GIRL!!!!!

(Her name is... Lucy!!!!)   

After the pink rubber ducky 'landed' in my 

hand, Megan dumped a few PINK M&M's 

into my hand.   Cute, cute, cute!!!!

Cinnamon Roll Cake

The THOUGHT and SMELL of cinnamon anything makes me feel loved-- 

why IS that!?  Probably because the thought and smell of 

things baked with cinnamon take me back to when I was growing up

 and enjoying the foods prepared by my mother.  

 I LOVE memories like that/this!!!

When I did a Google search for "Cinnamon Roll Cake", I found I could choose from only 4,890,000 websites.  Seriously!, THAT many websites containing these three words!?   I decided it was time I joined the MILLIONS and make this--but,  because of the sugar content, just every now and then?

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla (I used one)
• 1 and 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour

Cake Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, vanilla and milk.  Mix well.
2. Add dry ingredients; stir in just until well blended.
3. Pour batter into a GREASED 9x13" baking dish.  
4. Set aside and prepare topping as directed below.

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened

Topping Directions:

Below:  Stir together the topping ingredients until creamy, like this...  

Below:  Drop evenly in small dollops over top of cake batter in pan.  Swirl through the batter and dollops with the tip of a knife, like this...

Below:  BAKE AT 350-degrees for about 40 minutes (According to your own oven, check for doneness with a toothpick; you might need 41-45 minutes?)

GLAZE INGREDIENTS & Directions:

Combine...
1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla (or maple flavoring?)

2 and 1/2 tablespoons milk (just enough to make it thin enough to pour over the top of the cake).

I found that most who made this cake suggest serving it warm.  I liked it best after covering it and letting it spend the night in the refrigerator.  By the next morning, it wasn't so soft and could be cut more 

neatly--  then, if you want it warm, a quick few seconds in a microwave makes it taste as if it were just pulled from the oven.  

Company joining you for breakfast?  

Make this the day before, cover tightly

...serve warm the next morning.

I can't give 'credits' as to where I got this recipe from because after looking at so many websites and finding so many recipes the SAME, I have no idea as to WHICH one I chose. I just know THIS is the recipe I followed for the cake pictured here.

Cauliflower - Sausage Soup

M-m-m-m-m-m, GOOD!!!

What's better than 'enjoying a meal' WAY AHEAD OF TIME as it

cooks away in a slow cooker--  well, sure, the actual meal, of course!

Oh, this soup made our house smell SOOOOOO good today.

Seeing frozen hash browns (potatoes),

 in the freezer, I decided to make 

potato soup today.  EXCEPT that... 

those were, instead, bags of frozen 

Cauliflower Florets!!

Okay,... still made soup, just a DIFFERENT kind!

Since I planned to be busy cleaning and then putting Christmas decorations back into storage today, I wanted something to be ready for supper tonight-- something that would pretty much 'make itself'!  This soup fit the bill in the 'BESTEST' possible way!

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. (two of 1 lb. bags) frozen cauliflower florets
• 3 of 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth
• 1 of 10.5 oz. (close enough) cream of chicken soup, undiluted.
• 1/2 large onion, chopped (OR 1 whole medium, chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 lb. lean Polish sausage, or lean Kielbasa, or Cheddar Wurst, cut into 1/2" thick slices.  (In place of the sausage, browned hamburger might also work?)

• 8 oz. cream cheese (I guess you could use whatever kind of cheese you prefer-- that is, anything that melts/blends well.)

Directions:

Combine the chicken broth with the cream of chicken soup, blend well.  Add the chopped onions and ground black pepper.

Pour the broth/soup/onion/pepper mixture over the frozen cauliflower florets IN A CROCK POT (slow cooker).

Cover and let cook for about 4 hours (I had my crock pot turned to 'high').  Add the sliced sausage and continue for another hour.

At this point, cut the cream cheese into small cubes and add it (OR any grated cheese of your choice) to the soup.  Turning the cooker to LOW, you can let this 'simmer' for another hour (1 hour).  The cheese will soften/melt.  Very gently, stir to blend in the melted cheese just before serving.   

Hubby liked this 

a whole LOT, and 

so did 'little one' 

who lives with us!