FLAMBELICIOUS

I  bought bananas when I was out shopping and that evening  my husband came home with some also.  Well suffice to say that we had lots of bananas.  After having them for breakfast in cereals, eating them after dinner we still had a lot left.  Last night's desert was (you guessed it)  bananas. We enjoyed so much that  I made another batch and brought it over to my next door neighbor who's son is about to be deployed to Afghanistan. It was passed from hand to hand and was gone in a minute.  Here's the "recipe":

 1 tablespoon butter 

 3 tablespoons of brown sugar

 2-3 bananas diagonally sliced (only for decorative purposes) 

 2 tablespoon light rum (or more to your taste)

 5-6 strawberries hulled and sliced.

Melt butter in a medium pan. Add brown sugar and bananas stir to coat. Pour 1 tablespoon of rum over the bananas .Gently stir in the strawberries. Add remaining rum. Remove pan away from the heat source and carefully ignite the  rum with a long match or grill lighter.  After the flames are gone place it in a platter.  Enjoy... 

 

CHEWY CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

I have not baked cookies or cakes since Easter. The last thing I baked was bread. Taking advantage of some spare time I had last night,  I decided to give it a try again. Although baking is not my forte I still like to try. I was going to make the old stand by oatmeal and raisin cookies but I realized I had no raisins (somebody ate them...) and it was too late to go to the store. I looked around and I found a box of dried cranberries in my cupboard I decided to use them instead of raisins. Due to the tart nature of this fruit it is not a snack for some people in my house ..... thus I always have it handy (ha... ha). I really like the tartness of it especially in cookies  or salads.  Using the traditional recipe I had saved over the years I made this truly delicious oatmeal cookies.  They turned out to be slightly tart, yet sweet, chewy and crunchy little delights. They disappeared very fast.  Give it a try.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup (1 stick) + 6 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1/2 Cup granulated sugar

2 Eggs                                                                                              
1 Tsp vanilla
1-1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 Tsp salt (optional)
3 Cups regular or quick oats, uncooked
1 Cup dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon, mix well. Add oats and cranberries and mix until everything is well incorporated.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls unto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and enjoy.  Store tightly covered.

UPSIDE DOWN CRANBERRY CAKE

TOPPING

1 cup grape juice or orange juice

1 1/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup honey

Bring juice to a boil turn off heat and add berries. Soak for 30 minutes and discard juice. Heat butter in a pot and add honey and berries and cook for about 5 minutes. Pour into a 8 inch round pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 and start making the cake.

CAKE

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately until completely combined. Pour over the prepared berries in pan and bake 40-45 minutes. Cool and invert on a platter. It is superb..Enjoy with a delicious cup of coffee.

EASY BREEZY DESERT

I have an easy recipe for a light summer dessert with strawberries and blueberries. At this time of the year they are bursting with flavor. After hulling and halving the strawberries, place them in a bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoon powdered sugar and 1/3 cup of your favorite liquor ( cognac, brandy etc.) let it stand for an hour. This application draws out the juices from the strawberries and produces thick and tasty syrup. Add blueberries to this mixture. Place a slice of pound cake or angel food cake on a plate and put the berry mixture over the cake with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream and pour the syrup over everything. Peaches can be substituted for strawberries. It is soo DELICIOUS... .