COCOANUT ZUCHINNI CAKE

 

COCOANUT ZUCCHINI CAKE

May ushers in early summer along with Mother’s Day. Irises, peonies, and roses begin blooming while stores are overloaded with colorful flats of annuals to temp one every time they shop.  This is the month I plant corn in my veggie garden and set out my heirloom tomato plants that have been hardened off.  May is also the time when I open all the windows in my house letting the warm breezes blow away all the stale air inside while freshly washed clothes dry out on the line.

For Mother’s Day this year, I made a Cocoanut Zucchini Cake that quickly became one of my favorite desserts. My Cocoanut Zucchini Cake is perfect for heralding in summer with green specks of zucchini and its light and moist texture in two layers.  I’ve always loved cocoanut in any form, but toasting the cocoanut brings out its subtle flavor even more and adds a slight crunch to each bite. Best of all the Cocoanut Zucchini Cake is easy to make.

COCOANUT ZUCCHINI CAKE

1 yellow cake mix

2 c grated zucchini

1 (16 oz) container of cool whip

2 c shredded cocoanut

Prepare the cake mix as directed folding in the zucchini before dividing into two 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350º for thirty minutes. Cool. Frost the bottom cake layer generously with cool whip sprinkling half of the toasted cocoanut on the top and sides.   Add top layer and frost with the remaining cool whip. Garnish using the rest of the toasted cocoanut. Chill and serve.

Tip: For a quick and easy way to toast cocoanut spread ½ c in a thin layer on a plate.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir and continue microwaving for 30 seconds stirring each time until golden brown!

EGG SALAD

Did you know that the week after Easter is named “Egg Salad Week” because so many people like to make Egg Salad with their hard boiled cooked eggs?  I thought everybody knew had to make Egg Salad until we hosted evangelists and pastors in our home throughout the years.  Also while traveling around the United States with Dana in evangelism, I ran into cooks who had never heard of Egg Salad.  Can you imagine? So just in case somebody else has never tasted or made Egg Salad, I am featuring it for the month of April.

Egg Salad is good year round and simple to make, but particularly during the month of spring when fresh lettuce leaves begin to show up in the garden and the mind turns towards salads- as the weather warms up, my hens begin to lay more eggs.  Just add a heaping tablespoon of the Egg Salad to each fresh individual salad. My Egg Salad also makes a great sandwich, especially with home-made bread and lettuce.  My Egg Salad recipe may be plain to some folk.  You can add pickles, peppers, and/or olives- to jazz it up to your taste, just don’t ruin it by adding sugar (shudder). My Egg Salad recipe makes 5-6 cups and takes only 35 minutes (not counting cooling time). If this recipe makes too big a batch for your household simply cut it in half.  

EGG SALAD

1 dozen eggs

½ tsp salt

Place eggs in a medium sauce pan, add salt, and enough water to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil and boil for 30 minutes- cooking the eggs longer makes them easier to peel plus I love my eggs well done.  Let eggs cool. Peel eggs and place in a bowl.  Mash eggs. Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste.  Then add:

1 tsp mustard

3 c mayonnaise

Mix well, chill, and then serve.

St. Patrick's Day Peas

 

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PEAS

This past week I was finally able to plant some veggies in my garden. I dug up the rich black dirt to prepare the soil, made rows, and planted tiny seeds of beets, carrots, lettuce, radish, and kale. Pushing fat mini bulbs of red onions in the ground gave me all kinds of satisfaction at the thought of fresh onions to come.  But when I sprinkled the pea seeds is when I really began to drool.

Lots of people hate eating peas- even my two kids (of all people). I don’t know if it was what they considered “torture” picking peas and the time consuming shelling that transferred to their taste buds that did the trick or what. I certainly did my best to raise them to become farmers like my grandparents.  There is something altogether fascinating about peas from the fat little seeds that you plant in the earth, to the delicate vines that produce lovely blooms that turn into fat pods you pick, and then delightfully eat. Raw or cooked peas have a distinctive taste that shouts spring.  As soon as I plant peas, my taste buds go into overdrive demanding fresh green peas.

To satisfy my craving for peas, I grabbed the next best thing- peas out of my freezer.  So once again in a valiant effort (my children call it stubbornness, but I prefer to think of it as the Irish in me) to convince my kids and all you pea hating people, I’ve come up with a sure-to-please pea recipe that I call my St. Patrick’s Day Peas. The St. Patrick’s Day Peas have a smooth creamy cheesy flavor that hints of spring. My St. Patrick’s Day Peas is another quick (only 15 minutes) and easy no-fail recipe that serves four to five.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PEAS

1 lb frozen peas

½ tsp salt

Cover the bottom of a small saucepan with water, add peas, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes.  Mix together:

½ c milk

2 tb cornstarch

Add to the peas. Cube:

 1 c Velveeta cheese

Add to mixture and cook until thickened and the cheese is melted.  Serve hot.

Tip: Adding ½ tsp of margarine helps prevent veggies from boiling over when cooking and adds flavor!

Happy New Year

Cocoanut Chocolate Balls

It has been ages since I did up a cooking article for any blog or newspaper so this New Year- while going through my end-of-the-year organization and realizing my pile of recipes to try and new cooking ideas had reached an alarming all time high stack- to do up and post a new recipe once a month.  You’ll notice I didn’t go for once a week- ha!

I thought I’d start out the New Year with my Cocoanut Chocolate Ball recipe that I made for the last couple of Christmas seasons. My Cocoanut Chocolate Ball recipe is perfect during the holiday rush as there are only three ingredients and it only takes a short time. This recipe came about while I was looking at a colorful magazine drooling over all the delicious looking pictures of candy that they sold.  Anything chocolate especially catches my eye. I casually looked at the advertisement beside these Cocoanut Chocolate Balls when I did a double take reading that cocoanut and chocolate covered a marshmallow center.  I knew instantly that I could make up a batch of Cocoanut Chocolate Balls myself.  So I made some Cocoanut Chocolate Balls that Christmas and they were an instant success- not only in how good they tasted, but how easy it was to fit them into my hectic schedule of finishing wrapping gifts.  My Cocoanut Chocolate Balls are simple to make and would fit anywhere year round when you need something quick to make.  

Cocoanut Chocolate Balls

14 oz bag of shredded cocoanut

10 oz bag of regular marshmallows

2 lb of dark chocolate squares

wax paper

In one small bowl pour ¼ bag of cocoanut. In another bowl break off a couple squares of chocolate and microwave for thirty seconds to a minute stirring until melted. Place one marshmallow in the melted chocolate and with a fork roll it around until covered, lift out, and put into the cocoanut.  Turn over until coated with cocoanut and then lay on wax paper. Repeat until all the marshmallows are used up. Let the Cocoanut Chocolate Balls harden and enclose in a covered plastic container. Total time is fifteen to thirty minutes.

Tip: For an added holiday look and taste crush some peppermint candy canes into small pieces and add to the shredded cocoanut!