This is a cake from Jim's mom-often requested-never any leftovers:

oven 350-50 minutes

1 stick of butter
brown sugar
1 can of pineapple rings (save juice)
maraschino cherries

3 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c pineapple juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt


I've only ever made this using a cast iron skillet (just noticed it says no. 5. 10 5/8 in on the bottom)

Melt the butter in the skillet- add brown sugar -I probably use about a cup maybe a little more- caramelize the brown sugar. Place the pineapple rings all around with one in the middle. Put a maraschino cherry in the center of each ring. You will probably have a few pineapple rings left over. I cut them up and fill in any extra space :) Let it bubble away for a while.

The cake- mix remaining ingredients and carefully pour into the skillet. Put the skillet in a 350 oven for 50 minutes. When done- remove from oven let cool for no more than 5 minutes.

The trickey part (for me at least). Place the platter you are going to serve the cake on over the skillet and (while holding the platter on the top with one hand and the skillet with the other hand-careful-the handle will be hot) in one graceful, fluid motion, flip the skillet over thus transferring the cake with pineapple now on top onto the platter.

I almost don't consider this a recipe, but it was a killer pancake and therefore I want to record it.

3/4 cups pancake mix
1/2 cup water
1 4in diameter chocolate cookie with Chocolate chips
1 Tbsp butter
Syrup

I mixed the pancake mix and water together until it just came together (maybe 10 turns of the fork). On a cast iron skillet, I dropped and melted a pad of butter over medium heat. When that was melted and had good coverage (don't skimp on the butter), I crumbled in my hands the cookie and briefly stirred it into the mix. I poured it onto the skillet, and let it just form bubbles before flipping and cooking on the other side. I covered it in syrup and ate it up.

Recently making pancakes, I have really like to use an ample amount of butter to sort of pan fry the pancake in. It makes the outside edges perfectly crispy while the insides stay fluffy and moist as they absorb some of the butter.

2 lbs asparagus
2 large zucchini
4 cloves garlic
4 oz block Parmesan
6 oz greek yogurt
1 box penne pasta
2 chicken breast
fresh dill, thyme, and sage
salt and pepper

There were very few ingredients in this. It came out tasting similar to my mom's beef stroganoff. I think it was just the combination of the greek yogurt and dill with the saltier meat and veggies.

I started a large pot to boil the penne with some salt water. I cubed and seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and cooked in some vegetable oil until it was brown. I then added the asparagus which I diced up into 1 inch long strips. (Warning, 2 lbs of asparagus plus the chicken and zucchini are a lot of food; use a very large pan). Then I added the garlic, and the zucchini which I also cut into 1 inch long wedges. Except for the chicken all the other items ended up having the same basic size and shape.

Once the pasta was done, and the veggies steamed, I drained and combined them in the big pot. From the residual heat of it all, I grated and added the Parmesan, yogurt and the finely chopped dill, thyme, and sage. I added salt and pepper to taste.

Three things here. All very easy to make.

Sausage:
Package of Chipotle Chicken Sausage
1 bunch Arugula
1/2 cup chopped parsley
4oz crumbled feta
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 package hoagies

I fried up the sausages. Cleaned and chopped the greens, put in a tupperware container, added the rest, and shook to mix. Topped on a whole wheat hoagie

Mashed Potatoes:
2-3 pounds red potatoes
4 cloves sauteed garlic
6 oz, sour cream
1 bunch green onions, chopped
salt and pepper

I chopped and boiled the potatoes while sauteing the garlic. Once cooked and drained, I mixed in the other ingredients and stirred until creamy.

Broccoli:
1 pound broccoli, chopped
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4Tbsn soy sauce
1 Tbsp sweet and hot chilli paste (or siracha)
oil

I sauteed the onions in a little oil, until soft, added the garlic, then the broccoli. I then added the soy sauce and chili. Once the liquid cooked off, they were about done.

Long title, eh? The theme of this dinner was "on a bed."

The biggest thing I learned in this meal was that mustard greens are very mustardy and go well with BBQ sauce.

2 chicken breast
typical BBQ seasonings

1 pound rice
1 pound lentils
typical BBQ seasonings (especially sage, cumin, and thyme)

This recipe for the rest:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/07/balsamic-glazed-chickpeas-and-mustard.html

I followed that recipe pretty close. Very good stuff.

For the rice, lentils and chicken this is what I did.
I figured out the ratio I had of water to rice and lentils, a little less than 2:1. After a little rinse, I put in the lentils with all the water. I started that to boil. As soon as it did, I tossed in the rice. This gives the lentils a little more time to cook and they come up by the end just right. I then put the top on, reduced the heat, and let it sit. About 5 minutes before everything else was done, I added all the spices to the rice and lentils, mixed it up. and let it sit a tiny bit. I didn't want to add them earlier as the heat would destroy a lot of flavor, but just enough time for it to release the good stuff.

With the chicken, I heavily seasoned it to a point of a rub. Then pan fried them on my great cast iron skillet. I pulled them off, let them sit for 5 minutes, sliced it up and topped it off with the BBQ sauce. The sauce went well with the chicken, and the rice and lentils. The mustardy goodness of the greens also went will with the BBQ profile. That's good shit.

Man, I should really post these closer to when I cooked them. I don't remember all that I put in this.

Rough Ingredients;
1 onion, sliced
1 package cherry tomatoes, halved
1 orange, peeled and sliced
2 chicken breast
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 1/2 pound whole quinoa
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp Panang curry paste
salt and pepper


This was pretty tasty though not a great fit. The tomatoes and orange didn't go as well with the Thai curry as other things might have
I started off cubing the chicken, sauteing them in 1 Tbsp panang curry paste. I removed them and sauteed the onions and green beans, then added the orange and tomatoes. In the last minuted I added the coconut milk and put the chicken back in.

In another pot I cooked up the quinoa just like rice. I think that was it.

I tried to make a pesto the other night. This is my effort

1 package pasta
3/4 pound fresh asparagus
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 cup, packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper

For the Salad
1 large bundle rainbow chard
2 baby bok choy
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar


To make the pesto, I blended the basil, walnuts, olive oil, and garlic until it was smooth. Or as smooth as I could get it. I cooked the pasta in salty water. When the pasta had about 6 minutes left to cook, I tossed the mushrooms into the water. When it had about 4 minutes left, I tossed in the asparagus to cook all in the same pot. I then strained this, put it back in the pot and mixed in the yeast. I added the pesto and some salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad, I sauteed the garlic in the olive oil. Then I tossed in the chard and bok choy after giving it a rough chop. As this began to cook down and wilt, I added the vinegar and put a top on the large frying pan it was cooking in to help it steam down.

I also made corn with some butter and salt on the gas stove. This whole meal was excellent. No Parmesan needed.