In my case, it was not a lemon but a can of guava nectar.  My daughter likes peach juice. When I was in the supermarket I grabbed a few cans but as it turns out one was guava nectar which no one wanted to try.  The can was hanging around for a while and so I finally  decided to do something with it.  

Now there were lots of yummy looking recipes on Pinterest for cocktails using guava nectar but I decided to steer  away from those.  I did find a lot of recipes for guava cake which apparently is traditional in Hawaii but they all looked very complicated and most required more guava nectar than my one little can.  I did learn that guava nectar pairs well with strawberries so I figured I would go from there.  This is what I came up with.

So here is how I made it:

For the cake:

• Box of white cake mix - your favorite or if you are like me what's on sale
• 3/4 cup of guava nectar - I used a  9.6 oz can of Goya Nectar so what was left over was used for the sauce 
• box of strawberry Jello
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil - I used canola oil
• 4 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Grease or use cooking spray on a 9 x 13 cake pan.
3. Combine all ingredients and mix until well blended. I use a hand mixer which works fine.  Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake 29 - 35 minutes.  Check the times listed on the cake mix box. Cake is done when tooth pick comes out clean. 

For the topping:

• 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
• 8 oz container of Cool Whip defrosted
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy,
2. Add  sugar and vanilla and beat again.
3. Mix in Cool Whip.
4. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

For the sauce:

• Guava nectar leftover from cake
• Strawberries, sliced - about a cup (I didn't measure but a cup seems right) 
• About a 1/4 cup granular sugar - again I didn't measure.

Directions:

1. Put sliced strawberries, guava nectar and sugar in a small sauce pan.
2. Cook until strawberries are very soft.
3. I used an immersion blender to puree the sauce. You could use a regular blender or leave it chunky.
4. Allow to cool before serving.

To serve the cake cut a slice and put a generous helping of the topping on.  Then pour some sauce over and enjoy.

Have a fun day!
​Cynthia

First let me say Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Last year on this day, I shared my non-traditional way of making corned beef, which you can find here if you are interested.  This year I thought I would share my non-traditional way of making the cabbage part of the dinner.

Now, I love cabbage. Not something most people want to admit, but it's true.  You can eat cabbage raw, cooked or pickled, have it as a side dish or as part of a main dish. It goes  with potatoes or pasta and you can put it in soup. Plus as we all know, it is good for you.

One of the ways I like it is as coleslaw and this is the cabbage part of my non-traditional Saint Patrick's Day dinner.

Now making coleslaw requires making a salad dressing. For many years I used a traditional recipe which involved mixing lots of things together like mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, etc.  There was a lot of measuring involved, something I don't like to have to do to much of while cooking. I prefer to kind of just eye it.  This is probably why I am not overly fond of baking. Anyway, it dawned on me that for the most part these were the ingredients used in making Thousand Island Dressing.  So, you guessed it -  I started using Thousand Island Dressing for my coleslaw.

So, here is a super simple way to make coleslaw.  First shred up some cabbage. You can use a mandolin (very sharp - be careful) or cut it up in strips with a knife.  Grate some carrots.  I use the big holes of a box grater but if you are making a lot you could use a food processor.  Chop up some scallions. Put it all in a bowl and add your favorite Thousand Island Dressing.  Mix it all up and let it sit for a little while.

Now you can also add some chopped up peppers if you like. If you don't have scallions, you can use chives or onions, which I have done in a pinch. 

That's it, enjoy!

Have a fun day!
​Cynthia

Well you guessed it, today I am going to share a recipe for a pie. Although technically not a pie but a quiche,  my kids always called it Spinach Pie, We often have it during Lent since it is a meatless dish.

Ingredients:

• 1  9'"pie crust - I make my own but you can use store bought if you like
• 1 10 oz bag of frozen chopped spinach defrosted and as much liquid squeezed out as possible
• 1 6 oz container of feta cheese - one of the brands of the cheese I use contains "Mediterranean" herbs but you can use plain also
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk - I use whole milk or sometimes half milk half cream
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• fresh grated pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs and milk together.  Add  spinach, feta cheese, lemon juice and some pepper to taste.  Pour mixture into the pie crust.  Dust the top with Parmesan cheese. Place on bottom rack of oven (as low as possible)  and bake for 45 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes before serving. 

Have a fun day!
​Cynthia

One of the great things about summer is all of the great fresh fruit available.  If it's July in New Jersey, you know there are blueberries!  Now a days you can get blueberries all year round but somehow they don't taste the same as the ones you get in summer.  I usually buy extra when they are plentiful and freeze them.  It's great to have a blueberry pie in the middle of winter.

Often I overestimate the quantities of blueberries we can consume on our oatmeal in a week, so what to do with them other than sticking them in the freezer  - which is already full of blueberries?

One fast and easy way to enjoy them is to make blueberry syrup.  This is super easy to do. Make a simple syrup using equal amounts of water and sugar and toss those berries in there.  I usually use 1/2 a cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, any kind you like,  to a pint more or less of blueberries. Put in a small pan and simmer until all the berries have popped.  This syrup formula works for other berries as well.

This is great on pancakes, oatmeal and would probably work for ice cream also.

Have a fun day!
Cynthia

"When the moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's amore" 
Dean Martin - That's Amore

I think just about everyone loves pizza.  It's the favorite go to dinner when your to busy to cook or for all those kid parties.  Often there is leftover. What to do with it?  You could just heat it up again, but somehow it's never as good.  We encountered this problem recently and this is what I did.  I made a Strata which is basically a bread pudding type thing.  

Now as luck would have it, I also had some leftover spinach.  The great thing about this kind of dish is that you can add whatever you like or happen to have on hand that goes together.  So here is the basic recipe which you can tweak any way you like.

You will need:

• Leftover pizza cut into cubes - about 4 cups worth
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup milk (or half milk, half cream or whatever propotions you like)
• some veggies - spinach, broccoli or whatever you like
• About a cup of cheese - mozzarella, cheddar - again whatever you want or have on hand

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 2 quart casserole dish.  Put the cut up pizza and veggies in the dish.  Beat the eggs and then add the milk to the eggs and mix a little more.  Pour the milk and egg mixture into the casserole.  It's best if you let the mixture sit for at least half an hour or longer so the pizza can soak up some of the liquid.  Sprinkle the cheese on top right before you put it in the oven.  Bake 45 to 60 minutes until the eggs are cooked though and the cheese nice and melty.

I served this with a simple salad and it made a yummy dinner!

Another great thing about a recipe like this is that you can vary it so many ways.  You can use leftover French or Italian bread instead of pizza, add leftover meats like ham or sausage, use up those little bits of leftover veggies and add you favorite cheese.

Have a fun day!
Cynthia

Here it is on the table. Yum!

Have a fun day!
Cnythia

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I'm not Irish but my husband is half Irish and so every year, like many others, I make a corned beef dinner on this day. For many years, when I was first married, I made the traditional "boiled dinner" wherein the corned beef, cabbage and potatoes were all cooked together in a pot of boiling water.  I must admit I'm not a fan.  

Thankfully, I was rescued many years ago from boiled meat, mushy cabbage and waterlogged potatoes by my friend Laura.  She gave me her recipe for corned beef braised in the oven and I have used it ever since.  Today, I would like to share it with you.

You will need:

• 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Honey Mustard (I have found you can use any kind of mustard you like)
• 5 lb Corned Beef (works with smaller ones also)

Heat oven to 325. Place meat in a roasting pan and cover with boiling water until half submerged.  Sprinkle with the pickling spices that come with the corned beef.  It's ok if you don't have any.  Cover with foil.  Bake 2 hours.  Cool in the liquid.  One hour before, drain the beef. Mix the mustard and brown sugar and spread over the meat to glaze. Cook 30 minutes to reheat.   

The beauty of this recipe, aside from how good it tastes, is that you can cook the corned beef ahead of time and just reheat before dinner. Another thing I have learned is to reuse the foil you used to cover the meat to line the pan when reheating.  Saves cleanup if glaze mix drips onto the pan.

As far as the potatoes and cabbage go I  have 2 alternative menus. One is cole slaw with  steak fries cooked in the oven or hash browned potatoes. The other, for when I'm feeling really Irish even though I'm not (and have the time) is to make a traditional Irish dish called colcannon which is mashed potatoes and cabbage mixed together.  I use the recipe in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham.

So, I hope you will try my non-traditional St. Patrick's day dinner and let me know how you like it.

Have a fun day!
Cynthia

• 1 1/2 cups unsifted flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 12 ounces chocolate chips (I use the Semi-Sweet)
• 1  14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, I have even used peanuts! or you could try mixed)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl combine flour and sugar.  Cut in butter until crumbly. Spread evenly onto the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan pressing firmly .  Bake 15 minutes.

While the bottom crust is baking, in the same bowl combine the sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla. Stir in chips and nuts.  Spread evenly over prepared crust.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.  Store covered at room temperature.

If you try this recipe, I would love to know how you like it.

Have a fun day!
Cynthia