Emily and Brian's Wedding Cake

55 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 40 -50

2 (18 ounce) boxes white cake mix (Betty Crocker or Pillsbury)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup lemon juice

1 2/3 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons real vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 cups sour cream

6 whole eggs

1 tbsp lemon zest

Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour into greased and floured cake pans, filling each pan a little over half full.

Lightly tap cake pans on counter to bring air bubbles to top.

Bake in preheated 325° F oven until cake tests done.

Baking time varies according to the size and depth of pans being used.

I made several batches (maybe 3 - I don't remember for sure) to bake two each 6", 8", and 10" cakes.  I added poppy seeds to 1/2 the cakes and alternated the layers when everything was put together.

The cakes were split with this cake leveler. (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  For under $4 this tool will perfectly and easily split the layers.)

I displayed the cakes on this stand, purchased with a 1/2 price coupon at JoAnn's.

To see options for chocolate cake, for liqueur flavors, berry flavors, or white chocolate, see the original recipe here. 

The filling between the layers was Dickinson's Lemon Curd, and it was frosted with buttercream.

We made the cakes several weeks ahead of time and froze them, and then assembled everything the afternoon before the wedding.

Cashew Chicken Salad

75 ounces drained canned chicken

24 oz. water chestnuts, chopped

1 1/2 cups cashews, chopped

12 stalks celery, finely chopped

6 tbsp. finely chopped onion

juice of 1 fresh lemon

3-4 cups mayonnaise/Miracle Whip

6 tsp dill weed

Combine all ingredients and mix well. NOTE: Everything can be made a day or two ahead of time, but add the cashews at the last minute.

Pate au Choux Finger Sandwiches

These little breads are a staple at our church's annual Mother/Daughter Tea (and the exhausted organizers seem to have established the tradition of eating the leftovers for dinner when they get home later that evening)

1/2 c water

1/2 c flour

dash of salt

4 tbls. margarine

2 eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheese (swiss or cheddar)

In a saucepan -Melt margarine in water. Add flour and stir vigorously with a whisk until ball forms or pulls away from sides of pan. Remove from heat.

With an electric mixer, beat in eggs and add cheese.

Beat for about a minute until it looks glossy but no longer wet.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

I used a #60 food scoop, capacity- 1 tablespoon.

You can reuse the same sheet of parchment several times.

Bake at 400 º for 20 minutes.

Cool. Split in half and fill with your favorite filling (ham salad, tuna salad, etc.)

Makes approximately 20.

Notes—bake until thoroughly browned and they will not flatten when cool. They keep their nice texture and height even when made a day ahead of time. I made 7 double batches for the Mother Daughter Tea and the Cashew Chicken Salad recipe. I kept 4 baking sheets going at a time so I always had a cool one to put the next batch of batter onto. These can be made ahead of time and frozen.

To watch Alton Brown's take on a similar recipe go here and here.

Triple Ginger Cookies

Quite possibly my new favorite, adapted slightly from here.

1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon star anise, finely ground
4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup molasses
2/3 sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 large egg, well beaten
1 cup crystallized ginger, finely minced
2 limes, zest only

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees - racks in the top and bottom 1/3 of the oven. Line baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or a silicone mat, combine the 1/2 c sugar and a bit of sea salt in a small bowl, and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, anise, ground ginger, and salt.
Heat the butter in a skillet until it is just barely melted. Stir in the molasses, 2/3c. sugar, and fresh ginger. The mixture should be warm, but not hot at this point, if it is hot to touch let it cool a bit. Whisk in the egg. Now pour this over the flour mixture, add the crystallized ginger (make sure it isn't too clumpy), and lime zest. Stir until just combined.

Scoop out dough in exact, level tablespoons, then tear those pieces half before rolling each 1/2 tablespoon of dough into a ball shape. Roll each ball in sugar/salt to heavily coat the outside of each dough ball. Place dough a few inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies puff up, darken a bit, get fragrant and crack.

Makes about 4 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Bean Soup

2 c. dried beans
1 1/2 quarts water
1 ham bone or 1 1/2 lbs. ham butt
1 large onion, chopped
1 c chopped celery and leaves
15 oz. can tomato sauce*
1 tsp. salt**
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 cloves garlic

Combine beans and water in a large kettle; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 2 hours. Simmer beans without draining until tender, about 2 hours, adding more water if necessary.

In the meantime simmer ham in water to cover. Skim fat from broth and add beans. Stir in remaining ingredients; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Makes 10 servings.

* The original recipe calls for 4 cups of canned tomatoes, which I'm sure is delicious, but there are people around here who don't like any detectable tomatoes in their food.
**NEVER add any salt to a ham dish until it's almost done. Some hams are very salty and adding more just adds to the problem.

CROCK POT VERSION: Soak the beans in water the day before. Also, boil the ham bone and cut up all meat and vegetables the day before. Dump everything into the crockpot (draining the beans first) in the morning and cook on low all day. Perfect! Even Nick says this is a favorite soup.

INSTANT POT VERSION: Not surprisingly, this also worked in my instant pot.  I started with raw beans and cooked it all for 40 minutes.  The beans weren't done, so I did another 20 and it was great.  If I divided the time like this again, the last 20 minutes would be a good time to add the potatoes.  What I'll probably do though is just remember to soak the beans overnight and just pressure cook for the original 40 minutes with everything.

SOURCE: This recipe is one of my favorites from a 1959 (1972) Farm Journal's Country Cookbook.  My copy no longer has a decent binding and is in several pieces, so I'm glad to store the favorites here.  I'll probably skip the Onion Pie and Jellied Beef Mold though.

Crab Cakes

Adapted from this source
8 ounces lump crab meat
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
2 eggs
3 T mayonnaise
1 T brown or dijon mustard
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups soft bread crumbs (about 3 slices)
1 T Creole seasoning (see note)
2 T butter

Preparation:

Saute onion, celery, red pepper, and garlic until tender. Whisk egg in bowl; add mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and Creole seasoning. Combine with sauteed vegetables and bread crumbs, mixing well. Add the crab meat and form into loose patties; place on waxed paper-lined plate. Refrigerate for about 1 hour, or until firm. Heat butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Gently place crab cakes in skillet and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn and cook for 4 to 5 minutes longer, until cooked through. Serve with a remoulade sauce or tartar sauce. Makes approximately 6 large cakes.

Notes: I used two salmon fillets instead of the crab meat. I would imagine that tuna or white fish would also be good.
I approximated the Creole seasoning found here (paprika, salt, black pepper, cayenne, oregano, thyme).

Spanakopita

Adapted from this recipe.

1/2 stick butter
1 10oz package frozen spinach
1 scant cup crumbled feta
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
12 (14- by 9-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Thaw spinach by placing in a skillet over low heat, separating as it thaws. Cook for a minute or two more to remove excess water. Remove from heat and cool. Transfer to a bowl and stir in feta, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Melt butter, then cool.

Cover phyllo stack with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and then a dampened kitchen towel.

Take 1 phyllo sheet from stack and arrange on a work surface with a short side nearest you (keeping remaining sheets covered) and brush with some butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and brush with more butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack in half lengthwise.

Put a scant tablespoon of filling near 1 corner of a strip on end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip (like a flag), maintaining triangle shape. Put triangle, seam side down, on a large baking sheet and brush top with butter. Make more triangles in same manner, using all of phyllo.

Bake triangles in middle of oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Note: Pastry triangles can be formed, but not baked, 3 days ahead. Arrange in 1 layer in heavy-dty sealed plastic bags, then freeze. Bake frozen pastries(do not thaw) in same manner as above.