Grandma Landon's Strawberry Cake

May is strawberry season in Los Angeles!

It holds the great Strawberry festival up in Oxnard, which is a blast! We try and go each year and eat everything strawberry in site.  I usually come home with a flat of strawberries and a stomach ache! They have everything from strawberry margaritas to strawberry nachos, even strawberry pizzas!

You can ride strawberry rides, listen to the Young Dubliners, or bungy jump to your hearts content.  Plus there are vendor's booths selling all sorts of hand made crafts.  But the main draw for me are the juicy, plump, ripe strawberries! Just thinking about them now is making my mouth water!

So what do you do with a big flat of strawberries?  Well I have lots of recipes that will use them up but first off I wanted to make my Grandma Landon's Strawberry Cake. Now this cake is famous among my family. When they heard I was going to break out my 9x13 pan and make Grandma's cake I immediately got all sorts or stories bringing back fond memories of this cake....and requests for the recipe.

My mom handed down this recipe and even she was in love with it. She said the flavors are just outstanding and that the fresh strawberries in the icing are a must to make this cake the bomb!  She told me stories of Grandma serving this cake a family gatherings as it was such a crowd-pleaser and served a lot of people. Mom was smiling ear to ear as she recalled the fond memories of this cake.

I must say it is easy to put together as it uses a box cake mix to start.  I was blown away at the end result. This is one of the most moist cakes I've tasted and full of strawberry flavor. I did change up the icing just a bit from the original recipe. The icing calls for mashed strawberries to be incorporated in the icing.  I chose to chop my strawberries and fold them in leaving them chunky so that you get bits of strawberries throughout.  I must say it came out fantastic!  Everyone just loved the cake and there wasn't a bite left.

Guess I'll have to make another one!

Enjoy!

Grandma Landon's Strawberry Cake

serves 15

FOR THE CAKE:
1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) White Cake Mix
1 box (4-serving 3 Oz. Box) Strawberry Jello
¾ cup Oil
½ cup Water
¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
4 whole Eggs
½ cup Fresh or Frozen Strawberries
3 Tablespoons Flour

FOR THE FROSTING:
½ stick Butter
3 ounces, Cream Cheese, softened
1 dash Salt
1 pound Powdered Sugar
⅓ cup Strawberries, Fresh or Frozen, Thawed And Mashed (I cut mine into chunks)

For the cake:
Mix cake mix and box of Jello until blended. Add oil, water and baking soda and then beat 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs and beat 2 to 3 minutes. Toss strawberries with 3 Tablespoons of flour. Fold the strawberries and any juice that may have accumulated into the batter mixture. Pour into a greased and floured 9″x13″ pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until done.

For the frosting:
Beat butter and cream cheese with salt until smooth. Gradually beat in half of the powdered sugar, then the strawberries, then the remaining powdered sugar until smooth. (Note: if you leave the strawberries chunky then fold them in after the frosting comes together, adding all the powdered sugar.)  Frost the cooled cake and enjoy.

It’s carrot season! Ginger Glazed Roasted Carrots & Green Beans

It’s carrot season!

Although carrots grow all year round they are their sweetest during the springtime.  I love a good carrot. I tend to look for larger carrots that may have a woody core, but the flavor is so much sweeter.  

I usually snack on raw carrots (daily) which is my first choice and favorite way to eat them.  Besides using them in stews, pot roasts, soups, and such, I also love to roast carrots.

Roasted carrots are easy and they are the perfect complement to a springtime meal.  They go with most meat dishes and bring a little freshness to your plate.

Today I wanted to share with you my recipe for Ginger Glazed Roasted Carrots and Green Beans.  I served this alongside a wonderful pork tenderloin to a light spring dinner we had recently.  Both the carrots and green beans came out perfectly as the roasting brought out the sweetness and the glaze just boosted the flavor.  I use a wonderful ginger from Gourmet Garden that is paste that comes in a tube.  Super handy!  I got mine from my local grocery store and I’m sure you will find it as well.  But if not, substitute ground ginger and use just a little less.

Try some wonderful spring vegetables this weekend.  Carrots are a great one to start with and they pair so well with the green beans.  This recipe is easy to put together and you will love the results.

Enjoy!


Ginger Glazed Roasted Carrots & Green Beans

serves 4

1/2 lb carrots, trimmed, peeled and sliced lengthwise
1/4 lb green beans, trimmed
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ c honey
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp ginger (Gourmet Garden)
¼ salt
¼ pepper

Preheat over to 400 degrees.  Place carrots and green beans on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to coat.  Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, stirring once half way through the cooking time.

Meanwhile combine honey, butter, and ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Heat until it starts to bubble and then reduce and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Remove vegetables from the oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Drizzle glaze over the carrots and green beans and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.

It’s French Bread Pizza time!

It’s French Bread Pizza time!

We did a lot of running around last weekend doing so many fun things.  I just love when we have a 3 day weekend and are able to make the weekend fun and relaxing.  It just makes the weekend more special when we don’t do the usual…you know chores, errands, laundry and such!
So in between running around I found myself hungry…go figure.  With not that much time on my hands to cook I had to make and eat something fast so I could get on with the partying!

Looking around the kitchen I spotted a loaf of fresh French Bread and that sparked an idea.  I’ll make French Bread Pizza.  I don’t usually eat pizza this way but I remember that I used to love it when I was younger…huhhmmm…and French Bread Pizza was in style; the big thing at that time!

I pretty much always have the makings of pizza on hand.  So out came some pizza sauce, some pepperoni that I keep in the freezer, (Turkey pepperoni is really, really good.) and some shredded mozzarella cheese.  Honestly, any cheese is the bomb on a pizza.  Hello, melted cheese? Yes please!

This is so easy to make.  Just cut the French bread in half and you have your crust or base to put on the toppings.  Heat up your oven and pop it in to bake for about 10 mins until everything is hot and melty and the bread starts browning.  That’s it!  Lunch is served!

Kitchen Tip:  Enjoy some extra zing by sprinkling on some Pizza Seasonings on top of the sauce.  You can pick up some here.

Enjoy a quick meal of old school French Bread Pizza when you can.


French Bread Pizza

Serves 2

½ loaf of French bread – sliced in half lengthwise
Pizza sauce
Pizza Seasoning – a sprinkle
Shredded mozzarella
Pepperoni – turkey or the real stuff
Optional: any topping that you like

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Place bread sliced side up and spread on pizza sauce.  Sprinkle pizza seasoning over the sauce.  Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Top with pepperoni or your favorite toppings.  

Place on a cookie sheet and place in the oven.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the bread has slightly browned on the edges.  Serve immediately.