Mojito bars

2 c flour
1 c powdered sugar
2 sticks butter softened
1 T fresh chopped mint
4 eggs
2 c sugar
6 T flour
6 T fresh squeezed lime juice
1.5T white rum
1 T grated lime zest

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 pan.

Combine the first 4 ingredients with a pastry blender or fork and knife until pea sized crumbles form. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling by mixing together the remaining ingredients. Pour over the baked crust and bake an additional 25 minutes.

Once bars are set and cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into squares. Sprinkle with fresh mint on top if desired.

Strawberry Crumble

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground almonds (I used a coffee bean grinder to crush/grind whole almonds.)
5 Tbsp. sugar
5 Tbsp. butter (room temp/softened)
1 pound strawberries (stems removed and halved or quartered)
1-2 Tbsp. kirsch, *optional (I made w/o it, b/c what the heck is it?)
1 tsp. lemon juice
Vanilla ice cream

CRUMBS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, and 3 Tbsp. sugar. With fingertips, rub 3 Tbsp. softened butter into the mixture until coarse crumbs form. Works fine to use a fork to mix; then cut into it with the fork and a butter knife as it thickens.
   
3. Spread evenly into a shallow baking pan. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. You may want to shake/stir the crumbs around about half way through.
   

SAUCE:

1. While the crumbs cook, melt remaining 2 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. sugar over medium heat. Continue to cook for 4-5 minutes, or until light caramel color, stirring occasionally.
2. Carefully stir in berries, kirsch, and lemon juice; cook for 30 seconds--just until the first bubbles break the surface--and remove from heat.
3. If caramel mixture solidifies when berries are added, cool and stir a minute of two longer, just until it melts.
   

FINAL PRODUCT:

1. Spoon hot strawberries into dessert dishes (makes 4-6 servings), and sprinkle with crumbled almond topping.
2. Serve warm, and top with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

Made this last night for a late dessert on the porch. Very yummy, and the crumbs would be good topped over any ice cream dish--and other things, I'm sure--as well. Try it, but make little beings under 3 wear BIBS! :)

Mom's Rum Cake

CAKE:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light rum (I think I used Bacardi)
4 eggs

1. Mix all of the ingredients together THOROUGHLY (approx. 4 min.).
2. Grease ENTIRE pan (melt butter and use pastry brush), and then flour it (toss some flour in the bottom, and tip/turn the pan until flour coats it entirely).
3. Place cherries in the pan's base (symmetrically around the inner core); lightly pour/spoon the mix over the cherries to keep them in place. Then pour in the rest of the mix.
4. Bake @ 325 degrees for 1 hour.
5. Cool in pan, and prepare the sauce.

SAUCE:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter

1. Boil 1 minute and then take off heat and stir in 1/4 c. rum.
2. While the cooled cake is still in the pan, spoon mixture over the cake (through the edges and the core); set aside a little of the sauce to top over the final product. It seemed like I had TONS of this sauce, but I just kept going around the edges and dumping more in;once it soaked in, I just kept repeating that around the cake...trust me: you aren't adding too much--the more, the BETTER!
   
3. Cool for 10 more minutes, and tip onto serving plate; top off the cake by pouring the remaining sauce over the top of the cake.

My cake broke a little when I tipped it, however I just placed the broken part back on, and used some sauce to patch the area and meld it back together! :)

Grandma Doug's spaghetti sauce

This Classic makes it debut on the blog.

Cover the bottom of a large stock pot with oil and put on medium low.

Brown
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 lb ground beef
1 clove chopped garlic

Do not drain.

Once browned, add the following:
1 t cinnamon
1 t allspice
1 t salt & 1/2 t pepper
1 t nutmeg
4 or 5 bay leaves
Pinch of rosemary leaves

When all mixed together, add 12 oz tomato paste. Add water to the pot using the tomato paste can 2 or 3 times.

Then, add 2 qt tomato juice. Bring to a boil and add 1/3-1/2 c sugar, plus a generous sprinkling of parsley. Let boil 15-20 minutes and drop in meatballs.

Meatball recipe:

1 1/2 # ground beef
5 crushed saltine crackers
1 egg
2 T heaped parmesan cheese
parsley leaves
salt and pepper
1/4 c water
1/2 clove garlic chopped

Mix together with hands, form meatballs and put in sauce to cook. Simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours and test to make sure done before serving.