Leandra Lowe-Evans Kwanzaa/New Years party

The tradition I am doing my best to keep alive is our Kwanzaa/New Year's party - I wasn't going to do it this year, but I plan on being out of town...now putting together something small & last minute - the recipe: Gumbo!!

Leandra has hosted the family Kwanzaa Dinner for almost a decade. She goes all out and spares no expense for her neighborhood block party in Stockton, California. She has games, prizes, art activities, food, conversation, music, and Deejays spinning music for young adults & teenagers.

This party also celebrates Nano's birthday on the 31st of December. Minnie Pearl is in her 80s and is out on the dance floor with her great-grands, having so much fun. That was two years ago when I attended. Yes, Gumbo is the main course meal. Leandra spares no expense when she puts her traditional Gumbo pot together.

Big Mama Memory Quilt, 2012 Grandmother Nine Patch, repurposed fabric.

Annual Holiday Celebration @ Switching Station

This is the season to eat, drink, and be merry. My annual Holiday Sunday Dinner Celebration will not be held this year. I moved from the Switching Station officially on December 3rd, 2009. I will miss all my friends who made the holidays in Chicago wonderful. Please carry on our tradition, post your special celebrations, or send them in an email so I can post them for you.

I will share photos I take during the holiday season here in California.

Here's to a decade in Chicago, "CHEERS."

Teenagers’ Dream Cake -OREO Cookies

Teenagers' Dream Cake starts with a package of OREO Cookies; it must be Oreos, at least in the Bruton family. I made this cake when Jazz was beginning to be a teenager.

A dense and creamy New York-style cheesecake loaded with popular chocolate sandwich cookies seems a teenager's dream come true. I got this recipe from Nicole Perzik, Saratoga California May of 1987. 

You start with a standard crumb crust, using half the package of cookies, then sandwich the rest between two layers of the creamy filling and bake. If the batter is thin (because it is made in a food processor), cookies float up to make a bumpy-looking top. A thicker batter (made with an electric mixer) holds the cookies in the middle.

Chocolate Cooky Cheesecake

1 package (1 ¼ lb.) Oreo cookies

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, cut into chunks

1-cup of sugar

1/3 cup whipping cream

6-large eggs

2-tablespoons all-purpose flour

2-teaspoons vanilla

In a food processor, whirl ½ a package of the cookies, including filling, until they form fine crumbs (or place cookies in a paper-plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin); mix in butter. Scoop crumbs into a 9-inch cheesecake pan with a removable bottom and press crumbs evenly over the bottom about ½ inches upside down. Chill crust to firm, about 20 minutes.

In a food processor or bowl of an electric mixer, whirl or beat the cream cheese, sugar, and whipping cream at medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, flour, and vanilla; whirl or beat again to blend.

Pour ½ of the cream cheese mixture over the chilled crust. Break the remaining cookies in half and scatter over the mixture, overlapping cookies, if necessary, to use all. Pour the remaining mixture over the cookies. (If you whirl the cream cheese mixture in a food processor, a filling will be thin enough to allow cookies to float to the top during baking. Filling will keep cookies in place if prepared in the electric mixer.)

Bake the cake in a 300-degree oven until the cheesecake is golden on top and jiggles only slightly in the center when gently shaken, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Take the cake from the oven and let it cook on a rack. Cover and chill until cold, at least 4 hours, or overnight. Before serving, run a knife between the cake and pan sides; remove the rim. Cut cheesecake into slender wedges to serve. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

BACARDI RUM CAKE- Made in Puerto Rico

BACARDI RUM CAKE – Family Circle April 1987

My birthday is November 4th, and on November 6th is Ben Davis Jr's Birthday, we gave a Scropian' Party on our 35, 33, 31, birthdays. The party started on a Friday and ending on a Monday. Zanta's Ragster's birthday was November 18th, when we lite candles on three cakes it was like 99 glazing all at once.

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1-18 ½ oz pkg Yellow cake mix
1-3 ¼ oz pkg Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
4-eggs
½-cup cold water
½-cup Wesson oil

If using yellow cake mix with pudding already in the; mix: omit instant pudding, use 3 eggs instead of 4, 1/3 cup oil instead of 1/2.

GLAZE:
¼ lb butter
¼-cup water
1-cup granulated sugar
½ cup Bacardi dark rum (80 proof)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour 10” tube or 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of the pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool. Invert on serving plate. Prick top. Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat till glaze is used up. Glaze: Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum. Optional: Decorate with the border of sugar frosting or whipped cream.
CAKE:

Hoping For-A- Husband Cake- Brazil (Bolo Espera Marido)

(Bolo Espera Marido)

The sweet delight of Brazil’s towering coconut torte need not be reserved (as it was traditionally) for hopeful maidens and their bashful suitors. I  had this cake cooking lesson in my clipping files since May/1978 when I ripped it out of a Sphere Magazine. Of course, it took me thirty years later to make it.

It was the centerpiece for my dinner party in December of 2008. Now it is the centerpiece for my dinner party in November 2018,

Served with hot rum, rum punch, or coffee.
1 ¼ cups grated fresh coconut
1 cup milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs, separated Frosting (recipe follows)
1 jar(12 ounces) apricot jam
1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur
½ cup sliced unblanched almonds

Heat oven to 350 degrees
1. Heat coconut and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot, about 10 minutes: cool slightly. Strain milk, pressing liquid from solids; flaked coconut in a small bowl. Reserve.

2. Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolks until smooth. Beat egg whites in small mixer bowl until stiff but not dry; beat into egg yolk mixture alternately with dry ingredients. Beat in strained milk; fold in flaked coconut.

3. pour batter into 3 buttered and floured 9-inch round baking pans; bake until wooden pick inserted into the center is withdrawn clean, about 35 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

4. Make Frosting.

5. Mix jam and liqueur. Place 1 cake layer on serving platter; spread 1/3 cup of the jam over cake layer. Place the second layer over first; spread with 1/3 cup of the jam over the cake layer. Place the second layer over first; spread with 1/3 cup of the jam. Top with remaining layer, Place the second layer over first; spread top and side of cake with Frosting. Spread remaining jam over the top of cake; press almonds onto the side of the cake.

Frosting (makes about 3 cups)
1 cup whipping cream
1 ¾ cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
½ cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cups grated fresh coconut
¼ teaspoon orange-flower water

Heat cream, 1 cup of the sugar, the egg yolks, and butter in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick, about 20 minutes; cool slightly. Beat in vanilla and coconut with a spoon until light. Beat egg whites in small mixer bowl until soft peaks form; beat in remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff and glossy. Stir in orange-flavored water; fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture. Use immediately.

BANANA BREAD – CATHY SORICH

Cathy Sorich loaned me her book, “The Wooden Spoon Bread Book,” The Secrets of Successful Baking. By Marilyn M. Moore

When your bananas start to go over the hill, try this recipe.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch baking pan. Sift together and set aside.
1-½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (Cathy adds 1 cup of sugar)
1 teaspoon baking soda (Cathy adds ½ teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt (Cathy adds ½ teaspoon)
(Cathy adds cinnamon )

In a large bowl, blend together in this order
1/3 cup oil (Cathy adds ½ cup of oil)
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 bananas) (She adds 4 bananas)
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Stir into banana mixture in this order
Sift dry ingredients
½ cup chopped walnuts

Turn into prepared pan. Bake at 350F for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn out to cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil to store. This bread is easier to cut on the second day. Makes 2 loaves.

Cathy adds 2T Oatmeal, 1T Brown Sugar, and ½ t Cinnamon on top before baking.

She swears by this recipe.

TEX-MEX POTLUCK FOR 12

We rarely use the backyard garden at the Switching Station Artist Lofts for apparent reasons. But this time, we felt like, hey, let's GO outside, in the Positive Vibrations Garden, for our "Sunday Dinner".

"Cathy Sorich is making a point. After a long day at work, she joined us, coming home to a cold Millers."

Sunday Menu:

Festive Midwestern Tex-Mex Potluck

CHICKEN TACOS

ALPHA'S MANGO SALSA

 JALAPENO BREAD

           SWEET TOMATO SALSA

       DAN'S GRILLED CHICKEN

 TOSSED SALAD WITH TORTILLA STRIPS

 BLACK BEANS

   JENNIFER'S HARD SHELL TACO SALSA/CHEESE

 DAN'S SANGRIA

FRUIT PUNCH

ALPHA'S SWEET TEA

   JOHN AND NICOLE's ICE CHEST OF BEER

Alpha's Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa: 1 medium, ripe mango, peeled and diced; 1 cup diced English hothouse cucumber, 2 green onions, sliced; 1 medium tomato, seeds removed, diced, 1 small jalapeno, seeded and finely minced; 1 clove garlic, finely minced, 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped mint, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, sea salt.

To make the mango salsa, combine everything in a medium bowl, stirring gently to combine. Add the salt to taste. Cover and set aside. If not using the salsa right away, chill in the refrigerator.

Guest: Trish, Jennifer

Jalapeno Bread- I cooked this one this summer for our August potluck in the garden.
2cups cornmeal, 1 can cream corn, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup Crisco, 2 tsp sugar, 1 cup milk, 1- 1/2 ground beef, 1 large onion chopped, jalapeno peppers (you decide), and 2-3 cups cheese. Add all together; pour in a heated, well-greased baking dish, 350 degrees, for 45-50 minutes.

Shortcut: use Jiffy and add other stuff.

Guest Deborah, Nicole, Julie, Bernard

Ashawn had so much fun at the "T-Party."

Creole Chicken

½ cup green pepper chunks

¼ cup green onion slices

1 28oz can tomatoes

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoon flour

Creole Chicken, a saucy, one-pot recipe, contains celery, onions, and tomatoes- traditional vegetables that appear often in Creole dishes. Creole cooking seems to have taken the best from its varied background and come up with distinctive dishes that are truly delicious.

Ebony February 1983

GARBANZO SALAD

1 16 ounces can garbanzo beans

2-tablespoons chopped onion

2-tablespoon diced red pepper

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 cup diced carrots, cooked

¼-cup peanut oil

2-tablespoons wine vinegar

¾-teaspoon salt

¼-teaspoon black pepper

¼-teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

8 large stuffed Spanish olives, cut in half

Drain beans; rinse under cold water. Placed beans in a salad bowl. Add next 9 ingredients; toss gently to blend. Chill thoroughly. Serve on crisp spinach or lettuce leaves. Garnish with olive halves. Makes servings