The best Carrot Cake

I work with a lady that is a very person.  She was talking on day about making a carrot cake from a box.  I decided to make her one from scratch.  I gave it to her on June 15th.  She was very excited that I had done that for her.
So in looking for the best 8 X 8" carrot cake recipe this is the one this is the one I picked.

The Best Carrot Cake

Ingredients

 

Carrot Cake:

¾ c. sugar

 

1 ½ c. all purpose flour

 

1 tsp. baking powder

 

1 tsp. baking soda

 

½ tsp salt

 

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

 

 ⅔ c. vegetable oil

 

2 large eggs

 

2 c. carrots, shredded

 

½ c. pineapple with syrup, crushed

 

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

 

1 cup raisins (I added this) 

 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

 

2 c. confectioner's sugar

 

1 tbsp. butter, softened

 

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. milk 

 

 Directions

 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients: sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In seperate mixer bowl, combine vegetable oil, eggs, carrots, crushed pineapple with syrup and vanilla and the raisins if you wish to add them.
Mix with a hand mixer at medium speed until all ingredients are combined (about 2 minutes).
Gradually add dry mixture to wet ingredients; mix well after each addition.
 Grease a 9x9-inch or 11x7.5- inch pan (anything larger will come out too thin) and pour batter into the pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

To make cream cheese frosting: combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.
Let cake cool and top with frosting.

 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

Found this recipe on this blog.  It made up pretty quick easy to follow. It tasted great I will make this again.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

Ingredients

 4 slices bacon, diced

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon Ranch Seasoning and Salad Dressing Mix, or more, to taste 

8 ounces rotini

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

For the alfredo sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup heavy cream, or more, to taste 

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

 

Directions

 1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×9 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray. 

 

2.  To make the alfredo sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in heavy cream. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more heavy cream as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

 

3.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain excess fat; reserving 1 tablespoon in the skillet. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.

 

4.  In a gallon size Ziploc bag, add chicken, 1 tablespoon olive oil and Ranch Seasoning, shaking to coat thoroughly. Add chicken to the skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 2-3 minutes on each side; set aside.

5.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.

 

6.  Add pasta to the prepared baking dish and layer with chicken and alfredo sauce; sprinkle with cheeses and bacon. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and heated through, about 15-20 minutes. 

 

7.  Serve immediately.  Make a salad or a side veggie dish,

 

 

 

 

 

New things I have made

Over the last few weeks I have been doing some sewing for my friends grandchildren.

 This bear is Charity bear super easy to make love the pattern

The Pattern can be found here: Charity Bear

 This pattern is a Joe Carter.  The pattern is not to bad to make. I think I will make it 20% larger the next time.

The Pattern can be found in:  Simply Sewing issue 38

 This is a great pattern to make.  I have made two from this pattern now.

The pattern can be found here: Short set pattern

 This is the same pattern as above just longer shorts.  These were made February 2018.

This Dog is so cool.  I have not made another one but I need to. The pattern is called puppy love.

It is in the Pretty Patches November 2016: Puppy Love

 This is the Charity bear pattern again. Love this pattern

Same link as above.

This is made with cardboard.  It was pretty easy to make will make another one or two for sure.  The bedding I just measured and made no pattern. 

The pattern for the bed: cardboard bed

Rhubarb Custard Pie

This recipe came from Aunt Margaret.  So it is about 50 years old.

Rhubarb Custard Pie 

Preheat oven 375F

2 cups rhubarb in an unbaked pie shell;  mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon minute tapioca.  Sprinkle this mixture over the rhubarb that is in the pie shell.  In a mixing bowl mix 3/4 cups sugar, 1  tablespoon flour and 2 eggs, beat until fluffy.  Pour this over pie and bake for 1 hour.

Pie Crust
 

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cups unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Directions 

1.  In a food processor, briefly pulse flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Do not over mix.

2. Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic over dough; press to shape into a 1-inch-thick disk. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days)

 3. On a floured piece of parchment paper, roll dough to a 14-inch round with a floured rolling pin. Wrap dough around rolling pin, discarding paper; unroll over a 9-inch pie plate (opposite). Gently fit into bottom and up sides of plate (do not stretch dough)

  4.  Using kitchen shears, trim dough to a 1-inch overhang. Fold under itself to form a rim, and press to seal. Using thumb and forefinger, crimp rim of crust. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 day.