due to overwhelming demand

okay only Jenni was looking for it but here is the famous rum cake recipe-as with most stuff on this blog it is incredibly easy!!!

1 box yellow cake mix
1box vanilla pudding I prefer french vanilla
1/3 cup rum and more
3 eggs
1/2 milk
1/4 cup oil
grease bundt pan preheat oven to 325
mix everything(handheld mixer maybe a minute or two) I usually add a splash or two more of rum just because the mix will be fairly dense Put in pan and bake for about 50 minutes
let cool in pan about hour then move to a rack. Once completely cool poke some holes into the cake and pour a bit of rum over the top of the cake then just let it sit we prefer overnight. Then we add the icing which is
1/4 cup butter
1/8 cup of water
1/2 cup of white sugar
boil then add 1/4 cup rum
pour this over the cake
and voila rum cake easy and you can use generic mixes even cheapo rum so it is not an expensive treat.

rum cake time

nope no recipe here sorry family secret!

Several years ago David decided he wanted to re-create his mother's rum cake which I suppose she made when they were younger it's not one of those things that had become her dish to make or bring in fact in the 13 years I have been around she has never made one. Anyhoo he got the recipe and re-create he did but come on seriously how can you screw up something with that much rum. Although I believe the addition of more rum is David's doing. The rum cakes have become semi-famous in our own heads anyway and they are made for work functions and friends around the holidays. The garbage men also get one too so be careful on Thursday if you see a garbage truck driving erratically. At this point the cakes have become a joint effort with me doing the baking and David doing the rumming after it has cooled. It is a good system and it works well, I occasionally get to do the rumming like this morning because I am up so frickin' early and will leave for work probably before David gets out of bed.

The cakes are smelling pretty yummy this morning even if I do say so myself

beef & beans

sort of a chili but not it is very tasty stuff

1lb dry pinto beans
2 lbs stew meat
chunk of salt pork
1 cup of water
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper
salt to taste

-prepare the beans everyone has there own method, soak them over night, quick soak whatever you heart desires
-when ready to cook throw everything in the crock pot
-stir cook on high for 5-8 hours
I must admit I probably did add more liquid I usually add a can of beer, cheapest you can find however it was a morning that I put this together so I can not remember if I did this or not

endorsement

my new favorite snack

Creamy Dijon Chicken

really delish, I got the basic recipe off of allrecipes.com but it has been tweaked to suit our tastes
1/4 cup butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup all purpose flour with a dash or 2 of pepper
1 can beef consume
1 cup sour cream
dijon mustard about 1/4 cup more or less to taste-I might have used more I didn't measure
grated Parmesan cheese

-melt butter in skillet over medium heat.
-coat chicken breasts in flour and fry on both sides till browned
-pour in beef consume, reduce heat to low, cover & simmer for about 45 minutes
-preheat oven to 300 degrees.
-mix sour cream & dijon mustard stir into skillet and simmer another 10 minutes
-remove chicken to a shallow casserole dish, stir sauce till smooth then pour over chicken
-top with cheese and bake about 10 minutes

zesty Italian roast

3 potatoes unpeeled and cubed nothing fancy just in chunks
1 bag fresh baby carrots
(1 celery rib cut into 1" pieces I skipped this as we did not have celery on hand this morning)
1 boneless beef chuck roast around 3 lbs
pepper
1 can chicken broth
1 can progress tomato soup(might have been basil tomato?)

-put roast in slow cooker, crock pot whatever you choose to call the appliance
-dump in carrots & potatoes
-season with pepper to taste
-pour in soup & broth
-cover slow cook for 10 hours

can you do that to a cupcakes?

well not just for cookies any longer I was introduced to the black & white cupcake while visiting my folks

in a word yum