Oatmeal Spice Cake

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I must confess, I am not a huge fan of cake unless it is homemade.  And by homemade, I mean from scratch and not from a box.  Bakery cakes (especially those from grocery stores) are way too sweet and box cakes taste artificial.  When I do bake a cake I tend to make bundt cakes.  However, once in a while I do really like a frosted cake and one that can be baked in a 9-x13-inch pan is even better.  The best reason is that you don’t have to worry about removing it from the pan in one piece.  Just cool, frost, cut in pieces and serve.  Easy peasy and oh so delicious.  Although, if you are feeling ambitious you can bake this cake in two 9-inch round cake pans for 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out the cake rounds to cool until room temperature.  You will also need to double the amount of frosting.

This cake is lightly spiced and has a wonderful nubby texture from the oats.  Don’t wait for a special occasion to enjoy this cake.

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Pineapple-Coconut Pie

Our friend John from Louisville, Kentucky was visiting last weekend and he only has a few requests while here, lots of shrimp, a good home cooked German dinner and pie.  I’ve known John and his wife Karen for almost 20 years and way back when we lived in the same town, we often had dinner parties at their place or mine.  Pie was always on the dessert menu. Always.  I wanted to make something a little different this time and have been drooling over this recipe lately.  Our other dinner party guests that night, Jeff and Norma, adore coconut so I figured I couldn’t really go wrong with this pie.  The overwhelming consensus on that wine and beer soaked Saturday night was to declare this pie as simply amazing.

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