Carrot cake - recipe from a friend

Preheat oven, oil and flour pans 

Dry ingredients, except sugar in the bowl.

I added vanilla into the oil, then added the eggs to the liquid measuring cup.

Preparing more ingredients.

These thin layers only needed 15 minutes to cook.

I let the cakes cool for 15 mins then flipped them upside down.  They stayed like this overnight.  They fell our of the pan and being covered by the pan kept them from drying out.  The plastic cake plate liners are from IKEA (they are OLD).

Cream cheese and butter at room temperature. I sifted the icing sugar.

It took extra icing sugar to get a thick icing.

Flip the cake UPSIDE DOWN, so the rounded top flattens out. for 2 layers I would have trimmed off any high points, then flipped the cake over.

A thin layer of icing between the layers. To avoid pulling crumbs, put a blob of icing on the cake and spread it without lifting the spatula.

Do not lift the spatula unless there is icing under the blade. This is an off set spatula.

If your cake layers are uneven, look at the layers and alternate the thickness to get an even cake

the cake plate was a wedding gift 34 years ago!

Cracked cake? Don't worry, you are covering it with icing. If you think it will shake apart, put bamboo skewers (4) through all layers to stabilize it, remove before serving.  I place strips of parchment paper to catch crumbs.

Put blobs of icing on the top, then connect them, less crumbs will be pulled.

Connect the icing blobs and run your hand over the sides of the cake to knock off crumbs.

Most directions have you ice the side, then the top. I find it easier to push extra icing over the edge of the top, then decorate the sides.

If you pull crumbs wipe them off before continuing to ice.

If there only a few crumbs you can knock them off. Notice I did secure the cake with the skewers.we call the sides a crumb coat. I put the cake in the fridge to chill before I finished the sides.

Camillias from my garden.

Top view.

Wonderful recipe from a fellow baker.

Moist without the greasy flavour.

Roast lamb

Lots of good recipes on line

I decided to use these herbs for a dry rub, no lemon juice or oil. I used dried garlic even

A friend told me to use Costco lamb only, it is very mild in flavour.

I baked it according to weight. This roast took about 2 hours, cooked medium rare.

Chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto

I stuffed the chicken breasts (after butterfly cut) with figs and goat cheese. I wrapped them in prosciutto and baked at 350 for 25 mins. Check to make sure there is no pink, and juices run clear.

Grilled vegetables from Costco, I put them on a barbecue grill pan but could have put them directly on the jelly roll pan.

Ingredients to make roasted potatoes. Olive oil, garlic seasoning. toss the potatoes in the bowl, then put on a jelly roll pan.

some would call the pan a cookie sheet. Cookie sheets have no sides (see cake mix cookie pic)

Coated potatoes ready to bake at 350 for 25 mins.

Strawberry rhubarb crisp - gluten free. I used cornstarch to thicken the strawberry rhubarb fruit.

Found the oat crunch in an old recipe book. I take pictures of the recipes I use, print them, then donate the cookbook.

oats. sugar and pecans mixed

I chose to melt the butter and use only the top layer of clarified butter. Some gluten sensitive/celiacs avoid the casein in butter.

Baked and ready to be served.

Flowers from my garden as a center piece.

Wedge salad - mentioned on Modern Family ( Claire does not understand why Phil raves about this salad)

Take the core out of a head of lettuce, remove the outside leaves, rinse, flip to allow water to run out. Cut a big wedge out of the lettuce.

Place the wedge on a plate and top with your favourite dressing.

Cake mix cookies! new to meI

I bought too many chocolate cake mixes!  Easy to find a recipe on line!

All of my ingredients are gathered and oven preheating

I sifted the cake mix, it looked lumpy to me. yes, I added chocolate chips

Mix the oil and eggs together. I break the eggs onto a plate first to make certain there is no broken shell.

I added about 180 mL of chocolate chips. I used a larger spatula in the beginning. Make certain all of the mix is wet.

2 trays so I could cook them at the same time.

I used a 15 mL measure and pushed the dough onto a round shape.

12 -15 minutes later!  I prefer a crisp cookie but my husband likes these!

Gift giving!

Best Peach Balsamic chicken - www.delish.com

I used canned peaches and white balsamic...I did not have fresh basil.

I sliced the chicken breasts for faster cooking.  I used a cutting board that has a channel to catch juices from raw meat; no cross contamination of my counter top. Rinse the board, then use hot, soapy water to clean. I do not use my dish cloth, ( I use paper towel, and throw it out in the compost)

My ingredients, very simple recipe.  Chicken work well with pineapple or mango and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.

Stir fry the chicken pieces or whole breast.

I push the smaller pieces to the outside of the pan and let the thicker pieces cook in the center of the pan.

I used 5mL of chicken concentrate and the reserved peach juice.

I used the white balsamic so the finished colour would be light.

Safeway brand wild rice (left over from dinner last night), reheated in the microwave.

Really needed the green vegetable to add colour