Mawie's Raisin Bran Refrigerator Muffins

Mawie gave me this recipe years ago and it's certainly a keeper. I mixed up a batch yesterday early morning and baked a half dozen for the two of us both yesterday and again today. An easy way to have fresh-baked muffins on any busy morning!

Mawie's Raisin Bran Refrigerator Muffins

1 1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 qt. (2 cups) buttermilk
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 1/2 c. Post Raisin Bran cereal

Mix all ingredients in large bowl; stir to mix well. Bake in greased muffin cups sprayed with non-stick spray or paper-lined cups, oven at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until brown. Dough will keep two weeks in the refrigerator or indefinitely in the freezer.

Mom's Bow Tie Pasta Salad

This is a new recipe from my mom, one that she has really enjoyed this summer. We enjoyed it, too, at her surprise birthday party when we saw her in July. She didn't know the get-together was going to be a birthday party, so she truly was surprised.

If you’ve never tried a fruity, nutty pasta salad, you might be surprised, too, by the great flavor of this very simple, very tasty recipe.

Mom's Bow Tie Pasta Salad

16 ounce package bow tie pasta
3 cups green grapes
8 ounce package dried cranberries
1 small package sliced almonds (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
1 small bottle Ken's Vidalia Onion salad dressing, such as this one

Cook pasta as directed. Add all other ingredients, mix well, cool and serve. Recipe may be halved.

That's it. Very simple, very tasty. Our store didn't have the Ken's dressing, but they did have Creamy Vidalia Onion Vinegarette Dressing from Golding Farms. I halved the recipe above and used half of a 16-ounce bottle of the dressing and it was wonderful!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I had a birthday earlier this week (I know, I know. I don't look a day older than I did last week.) and I've been trying to get around to baking myself a cake. Our weather has been hot, in the low 100s, all week so I didn't want to do any baking in the afternoons and I've been busy each morning. Finally today, before the heat of the day, I got my cake baked.

Although I absolutely love chocolate and a German chocolate cake is often my birthday cake of choice, this year I decided on something different. I hadn't had pineapple upside down cake for a long time, and that sounded good.

My mom, of course, makes the best pineapple upside down cake, baking it in an iron skillet. There's just something about the iron skillet method that amplifies the goodness of the cake. However, woe is me, I don't even own an iron skillet. So, I resorted to the 9 x 13 pan and, I must say, this cake looks pretty good and I'm sure it's going to taste great. It's cooling as I write this, but I'll try a piece shortly.

I used the recipe on the back of the Duncan Hines Pineapple Supreme cake mix, but it's certainly a simple recipe. Just melt a stick of butter in the pan (I did that as I was heating the oven), then carefully sprinkle a cup of brown sugar over the butter. Place pineapple slices over top; the can had 10 slices and it worked out very well. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box then pour the batter carefully over the pineapple. (Oops, I left out the maraschino cherries. If you have them, drain and halve them and place them in the centers of the pineapple and in between the slices if you want. They make the result even prettier and I would have used them, but I didn't have any. I thought I did, but I didn't.) Bake the cake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes or so then invert onto the serving platter. (I just covered a cookie sheet with foil.) Cool a bit longer, then serve.

I finished baking and turning it upside down before the temperature reached 85 degrees this morning, but I haven't completed that last instruction - serve. It's time for that now, belated birthday pineapple upside down cake for breakfast.

Enjoy yours!

P.S. I just looked on amazon.com and found this skillet that I think would be perfect for baking a pineapple upside down cake or for anything else you can do with an iron skillet. I like the square shape - perfect for french toast. I really like the extra handle; that would make it extra easy to invert the pan and turn your perfectly-baked pineapple cake upside down!

WD's Asian Shrimp Salad

Here's a new one from my all-time favorite magazine, Woman's Day.

Asian Shrimp Salad

24 peeled raw jumbo shrimp (about 1 lb)
2 medium summer squash, cut in 32 bite-size chunks
1 bag Asian Supreme Complete Salad with Sesame Orange Dressing

Serves 4
Active: 20 min. Total: 25 min.

Heat outdoor grill. Thread shrimp and squash on eight 12-in. skewers, soaked in water first if wooden. Mix 1 Tbsp Sesame Orange Dressing with 1 Tbsp. oil. Brush on skewers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill 5 minutes, turning once, until shrimp are cooked through and squash are crisp-tender.

Slide shrimp and squash off skewers into a large bowl. Add salad and remaining dressing; toss to mix and coat.

Per serving: 344 cal, 27 g pro, 23 g car, 3 g fiber, 16 g fat (2 g sat fat), 172 mg chol, 840 mg sod

I fixed this last night and it was outstanding, even better than we had expected it to be. I used zucchini (next time I may use both yellow summer squash and zucchini) and I had to improvise the salad because our store didn't have the Asian salad mix. Premium Romaine salad and Sesame Soy Ginger salad dressing worked perfectly, although the Sesame Orange dressing sounds wonderful and I'd really like to try that. I also used frozen large shrimp (partially thawed), which weren't even terribly expensive. Yes, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

Susan's Super-Simple Farfalle & Tomatoes

I love tomatoes; they're my favorite. From fresh sliced tomatoes with cottage cheese to spaghetti sauce and chunky salsa, if it's made from tomatoes, I'll take it. I don't have a lot of time to garden, but this year I did plant two tomato plants. This is a picture of the first of our Better Boy crop. Umm. It was good!

Besides tomatoes, I also love simple recipes. Here's one that I prepared this week, not with fresh tomatoes but with one of the wonderful canned varieties that are available now.

Super-Simple Farfalle Pasta & Tomatoes

8 ounces farfalle (bowtie) pasta (I like Barilla brand pasta)
1 to 2 cloves garlic, diced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano

Cook pasta as directed on the package. When it's almost ready, spritz a 10 or 12-inch skillet with olive oil. Saute the garlic for a minute or two, just enough to bring out the flavor and aroma. Add the can of tomatoes (undrained); gently heat until pasta is done. Drain the pasta then add to the skillet with the tomatoes. Stir together briefly then serve. Top with grated parmesan or romano cheese if desired.

This recipe is fast and easy to prepare and tastes great. I added the extra garlic because we like plenty, but I found that the canned tomatoes were seasoned very nicely and the end result would have been fine without the extra. This, along with a nice green salad, made a perfect summer evening meal, light but filling.

(Try this for spritzing the olive oil: Misto Gourmet Brushed Aluminum Olive Oil Sprayer)