It's been since February...

Truthfully, I got discouraged. This blog has been an act of faith and I went into it never having looked at another blog. Blogs really need some kind of feedback and I was only getting feed back from my daughters. When I actually looked at other cooking blogs I realized that I am missing the visual element. I do not have a professional camera or macro lens but food photographs seems like an obvious inclusion into a cooking blog. I will try. I would appreciate it if anyone is actually looking at this site or, heaven forbid, cooking any of the recipes, that they post a quick note to: foraminifera@msn.com to let me know that there is a someone out there.

I sent a recipe for Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake to my friend Carole who loved the dessert from this summer at camp. I just made it today with a gf cake mix and it turned out so good that I would eat it even if gluten wasn't an issue in our home. I am also including a recipe we cooked this summer: Graham Cracker Bars. They are rich, brownie like cookies that my Grandmother Short made every Christmas for my entire childhood. I found the recipe in my mother's handwriting that I had tried many times, each time a failure and finally I pictured my grandma making the bars and I realized that mother had left out some critical steps and doubled the amount of sugar. After correcting the recipe I made it for the kitchen crew this summer and it was a hit.

GF Pineapple Upside Down Cake

INGREDIENTS:
Hodgson Mills GF Yellow Cake Mix or any other brand
1 cup butter (2 cubes) room temperature
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 20 oz can of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice, drained, save the juice separately
1 cup liquid = 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek Yogurt + 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice + 1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar + 2 additional tablespoons

Preheat oven to 350. If available, use a 15x10 non stick rimmed cookie sheet (like a jelly roll pan) or a similar sized pyrex baking dish but if using glass you need to grease the sides first with butter. In a mixing bowl by hand cream 1/2 cup or 1 cube butter, add the cake mix and blend throughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix. Add the liquid mixture, the remaining pineapple juice and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. The batter will be thick. In a separate bowl melt the remaining cube of butter with the 1/2 cup brown sugar. To the pan add the drained pineapple cubes, then pour the butter/sugar mixture around the pineapple on the bottom of the pan. Pour the cake batter over the pineapple and brown sugar making sure that all the pineapple is covered. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until the cake done. The top will not get too dark but the sides will get golden. This is a very moist and rich cake, not too thick made this way. If you want to make it in smaller pans you need to increase the cooking time.

GRAHAM CRACKER BARS

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs, separated, room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
32 (2 cups) finely crushed graham crackers (you can use either traditional graham crackers or S'moreables Graham Style Crackers by Kinnikinick but these are pretty much only crushable with a blender)
1 cup walnuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
Beat the 4 egg yolks with the brown sugar until the mixture is thick. In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until frothy and then gradually add the white sugar until the mixture forms soft peaks. Mix the two egg mixtures and with the graham cracker crumbs and then add the vanilla, salt and walnuts. Try not to over mix since there is no leavening except the eggs and you will get flatter bars if you mix too much. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8 inch square pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 25-30 minutes or until a pick poked into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan. Cut into 1½ inch squares and serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Everyone swears there is butter in the recipe but there really isn’t any.
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If you want the Bearskin S’Mores variation, add to the “immediately out of the oven” top of the bars:
1 cup miniature marshmallows and ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Return to the oven for just a few minutes or until the marshmallows and chips begin to melt. Remove from oven and gently stir the topping. Allow to cool and dig in. Warning: this version is super sweet.