Its Sunday....We celebrated my good friend Veronica Castillo's birthday last night.  Great food, great music and dancing, and most of all, great friends!  On that note, birthdays make me think of cake, so today I am baking!  Its Sunday, which in my house, means family dinner.  Of course, being Italian, my family's favorite is sauce and meatballs.  And yes, it is SAUCE, not GRAVY!!!  Gravy is brown and goes on a roast.  (although my Mother in law will argue with me on this subject.)

I thought that I would make my carrot cake for dessert.  Carrot cake is not complete unless it has cream cheese frosting.  My cake is light and delicious!  Heres a trick if you don't have buttermilk.  Measure 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice and put it into a 1 cup measuring cup.  Add milk to the cup to the top.  Let sit 5 minutes and use whatever you need from the cup.  Easy, and much cheaper than buying buttermilk!  Some people use applesauce instead of oil.  I use 1/2 and 1/2 and it really works.  This is an easy cake to make and I guarantee you will get compliments from all!  Happy Sunday, enjoy!

Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 2 round cake pans with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple.
5. Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared pans, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 12 ounces softened cream cheese
• 6 tbs. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

   2.  After the cakes are cool, invert 1 cake onto a cake plate.  Frost completely.  Invert second cake onto the 

        first and frost.  You can decorate with chopped walnuts if desired.

The boys and I spent a great day on the beach in Wells Maine yesterday with the Piscatelli and Scanlon families.  We were lucky to be invited up, and loved spending time with great friends.  Of course, with great friends, sun, waves and the beach, comes great food!  Donnie manned the grill and did a great job on the filets  (which, by the way, melted in your mouth :-)) and chicken, Fran made a great quinoa with spinach and edamame beans, rice and salad  (she is a fabulous cook) and Lori and I chatted and entertained the troupes.  Loved watching the boys play with Alexa, Lori's gorgeous and sweet daughter.  We ended the night with a great Ice Cream from The Scoop Deck in Wells.  If you are in the area, check it out!  They have about 3,000 flavors (o.k., I am exaggerating a bit!)

Which brings me to dessert!  I had some extra blueberries today, and made my  Blueberry Cornmeal Cake.  This is blueberry season, and this is a delicious cake that everyone will love.  Have a great weekend.  Make sure to enjoy your family and friends, and Happy Cooking!



Jesse and Alexa showing off Lori's great sand sculpture of a flower with a bumblebee on top.

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup cornmeal

2 tsp  baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

6 tbs vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tbs vanilla

1 tsp honey

10 tbs (1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter/room temperature) make sure it is unsalted!

3/4 cup plus 3 tbs sugar (reserve 1 tbs to sprinkle on top of cake)

1 tsp salt

1 cup ricotta cheese

12 cup plain yogurt

3 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a 10 inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda and salt.  Mix all remaining ingredients except for blueberries in mixer until well blended.  Add flour mixture to wet mixture and blend well.  

Pour 1/2 mixture into pan and spread evenly.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the blueberries on top.  Spoon remaining batter on top and spread out.  Top with remaining blueberries.  Sprinkle with 1 tbs sugar.  Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Enjoy!!!

Summer is still here!

My Mother has a habit of saying "when the fourth of July is here, summer is over!"  This has always bothered me.  Summer is still here, and I intend to enjoy it to the end!  This is my go to recipe for a marinade, but I also use it as a dressing.  Let's talk about olive oil.  Is there a difference between regular and extra virgin?  Absolutely!  Don't waste your extra virgin on cooking.  Extra virgin has a smoother, fruitier taste.  It is used for dressings, dipping and to drizzle over a pasta etc.  It is really imperative in your marinades and dressing to use extra virgin.  Have this on hand in your pantry.  I have used this to marinate chicken, pork and steak, as well as shrimp.  It goes well on any salad, but I love it on arugula with cherry tomatoes and toasted pine nuts, yummy!!!  Happy August and enjoy this one!

My best dressing/marinade

Ingredients

1.  1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon

2.  1 tbs. dijon mustard

3.  1 garlic clove, minced finely

4.  1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar

5.  2  tbs. honey

7.  1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

8.  pinch of salt and pepper

9.  2 tbs. fresh parsley chopped fine

combine all but the oil in the bowl of a food processor or a bowl.  With the motor running or while whisking, slowly add the oil to incorporate.  For a marinade, pour over meat in a plastic bag and seal tightly.  Marinade at least 4 hours, but even better over night.  For a dressing, spoon lightly over salad.