Oatmeal Coconut Snack Cake

Last week, I wanted to make a cake my mother made for us when I was growing up.  She'd bake this cake until a toothpick came out clean and then carefully spread a mixture of butter/brown sugar/coconut on it before putting it under the broiler for just a couple of minutes.  After the frosting would start to 'bubble', she'd bring the cake out of the oven and put 1/2 large marshmallow on what will be 'a serving' of cake and broil it again just until the marshmallows turned a very light brown on top. 

Here it is and I'm going to nickname it my Memory Cake.  (For sure, you do NOT have to put the marshmallow halves on it-- I did it because.........................................my mother did it!   ♥)

My experience:  This cake was so well liked today that I quickly put 1/2 of it into the freezer so that portion wouldn't be quite so accessible.  (Freezing a 'goodie' doesn't always guarantee it a long 'life', though.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick or old-fashioned oats
• 1 and 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed (I've used either the LIGHT brown sugar OR the DARK BROWN sugar)
• 1 cup white sugar.
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 and 1/2 cup flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Soak the oatmeal in the boiling water for at least 20 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip together the butter and sugars.  
3. Add the eggs and vanilla.  
4. Then add the soaked oatmeal and mix thoroughly.  
5. Lastly, add the flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. Pour into a greased or 'sprayed' 9x13-inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick or clean sharp knife comes out clean.  (This cake will not rise as high as other cakes.)  Because I used a glass 9x13, I had the oven set at 330-degrees.)   Remove from oven and let cool for about 5-10 minutes; then spread evenly (and carefully) with coconut topping (recipe below).  
7. Place the cake under the broiler for only 2-3 minutes or just until the topping is 'bubbling' and slightly golden brown.  Remove from the oven and place 1/2 (cut) large marshmallow on what will be 'each serving'.  Return to broiler for a just a tiny bit of time until the marshmallow halves turn a very LIGHT brown.  Watch these last steps SO carefully-- you do not want the coconut topping or the marshmallows to brown too much!

COCONUT BROWN SUGAR TOPPING RECIPE:
Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk (you could substitute w/cream, half 'n half, 2% or whole milk).
• 1 cup shredded coconut, packed.

Stir (or beat together) the first four ingredients listed directly above until the sugar is dissolved (beat it until you can't feel its grains in the container) and then add the coconut and mix together.  Spread on hot cake as directed above.

Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy! 

Easy, EASY Oven Stew

Ingredients and Directions:

Mix the following ingredients together in heavy pot (enameled cast iron cookware works great for this)...

1-2 lbs. cut up stew meat (or small chunks of cubed steak)
6 medium or large potatoes (Irregular-sized chunks work fine)
6 stalks celery, sliced into 1/2" pieces
6 carrots (I like to have them in irregular shapes/sizes)
1 med. onion (sliced pole to pole)


MORE INGREDIENTS:

Thoroughly combine the following and add to the above...

1 and 1/2 cups tomato juice (I like to use one sodium-reduced 12 oz. can of V-8)
1/2 cup water
3 teaspoons Lawry's seasoned salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon flour

Do not add more liquid unless you notice it needs more after the first hour. Cover tightly and bake at 325-degrees for about 2 hours or until everything is tender.  Sometimes, I bake it at 350-degrees for 1 hour, and then reduce heat to 300-degrees for 2 hours.  Whatever works with your oven and your schedule.

Sweet Pickle Relish

Photo by me, Doris

The camera's flash makes the relish look lighter than it really is.

The description for this recipe was "Best Sweet Pickle Relish Ever".   You can check out the original source for this recipe at:

http://canningandpreserving.net/pickle-relish-best-sweet-pickle-relish-ever/html

I tried it............ to the tune of making 18 of 1/2 pint jars.  With that amount, I'm hoping it IS good!

Ingredients needed:

15-20 large over-grown cucumbers (well, not so big that they're turning yellow, though)
4 large green peppers
3 large red peppers  (I used green ones in place of these, too, making it 7 green peppers.)
5 large onions

Grind the above four together.  I used the grating blade on my Cuisinart food processor for this, but some of the seeds do slip through with that (they can be picked out later, if desired).  Heat and boil 10 minutes in 3 quarts of water.  To start out with, this requires a large, large kettle-- I used the canning kettle that I use for the hot water baths, stirring often to make sure nothing was sticking on the bottom.  (It cooks 'down' quite a lot, making us wonder why we started with such a big kettle.)

After boiling for 10 minutes, drain well.  What to drain this in?  That's what I wondered, too.  I used a sort of jersey type material that I 'clothespinned' around the edge of my large pressure canning kettle.  With no small children in the working vicinity, I carefully ladled the hot boiling mixture into that, held it up in the air until most of the liquid was out; then I took the 'load' of hot stuff and set in into my dish drain pan over the sink-- that way, it could drip away until it was dripped out.  : )    In the meanwhile,............................

In another large kettle, combine these ingredients:

5 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons salt (pickling salt, or uniodized salt works best)
4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon celery seed
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 teaspoons of mustard seed

Bring the above vinegar/sugar/spice mixture to a boil; add the drained mixture and return to boiling;  then turn heat way down, and cook all for 10 more minutes.

Fill sanitized canning jars and place hot lids/rings on them.  Process in a water bath canner or steam canner for 15 minutes (I processed these in my presssure cooker).

For the amount of ingredients I had, I ended up with 18 of 1/2 pint jars of relish (or, 9 pints).