Pound Cake

 It was our turn to host our family gathering.  What should I make for dessert?  I thought strawberries over pound cake would be seasonal and delicious.  But when I tried to find pound cake to buy, it was very expensive. "I can make it cheaper than that."  So I went searching on the Internet and found this delicious and easy recipe.  

Pound Cake

4 eggs

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tablespoons vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a loaf pan or you can use parchment paper, which is what I did.

In a mixer with a whisk attachment, cream the butter.  Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Scrape and beat some more.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between.  Scrape and beat.  '

Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat well.  Add in the dry ingredients and beat until moistened.  Don't overmix.  Transfer batter to the loaf pan.  Smooth the top.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until skewer comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes then put out on the cooling rack to finish cooling.  Cut into 12 slices.

It was delicious with macerated cut up strawberries with sugar added and fresh whipped cream on top.

Perfect Popcorn

 Oh no!  I went to put in a bag of microwave popcorn to pop and eat while we watched a movie and found it was gone!  I guess I will have to pop corn the old-fashioned way.  And I was glad.  It was so much better than the microwave easy version.  And it wasn't that hard.  I googled a recipe and found a very good one!

Perfect Popcorn

3 Tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil

1/3 cup popcorn

1 Tablespoon or more butter

Heat the oil in a heavy pan with a lid.  Put 3 or 4 kernels in the oil.  When the kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn.  Cover the pot and remove from the heat.  Count to 30.  Then put the pan back on the heat.  The popcorn will start popping soon and all at once because you heated the kernels evenly.  Leave the lid slightly ajar to release steam while it pops and move the pan back and forth over the heat.  When you can count to 5 between pops, remove the pan from the stove and pour the popcorn into a bowl.  Put the butter in the pan and heat until melted.  Pour over the popcorn and salt to taste.  

There you have it.  Perfect popcorn!

Frito Pie

I have heard of Frito Pie for a long time and finally decided to find a recipe and try it.  It was really delicious.  It is very similar to a recipe I've made for many years called Enchilada Casserole.  Ken liked this better, but I'm loyal to my old standby.  Both are delicious.

Frito Pie

1 lb. ground beef

 1 onion, chopped

1 packet taco seasoning

1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilis)

1 can ranch style beans or pinto beans

1 can corn, drained

1 package fritos

Grated cheese

Brown the ground beef and onion together.  Mix in the taco seasoning and mix well.  Put in the Rotel, beans, and corn.  Combine and heat in the skillet. 

In a casserole dish, put in about 3/4 of the bag of fritos.  Add the meat mixture, then top with plenty of grated cheese. 

 Serve with any or all of the following toppings:

The rest of the Fritos

Sour cream

Lettuce

Olives

Avocado, diced or made into guacamole

diced fresh tomatoes

We used all of the optional toppings.  It was delicious.