beachlily Sorry to hear DH is not well. Prayers going out for guidance for the doctors and that the treatment whatever it may be is successful. dgkritch I usually make all the recipes below when the melons are plentiful as it uses just about all of it. The red part makes the ripe melon pickles, the extra juice from them goes into Watermelon Sherbet, the white rind for rind pickles and the poor chickens have to settle for the green part and seeds. LOL Watermelon Rind Pickles. 4 qts. cubed watermelon rind 1 c. canning salt 1 gallon cold water 7 c. sugar 2 Tbsp lemon juice 1 Tbsp whole cloves 1 Tbsp whole Allspice ¼ tsp. mustard seed (opt) (I omit this myself) 3 sticks cinnamon 2 c. vinegar Peel watermelon rind removing the green and red parts. Discard the green skin and set the ripe melon aside for another use. (Ripe Watermelon Pickles below) Cut into 1" pieces. Dissolve salt in water; add rind and let stand 6 hours or overnight. ( I usually fix it at night and then finish them the next day) Drain; rinse. Cook in fresh water until tender, about 20 min. Drain again and set aside. Tie spices in a spice bag. Combine sugar, lemon juice, spice bag and vinegar in a large stock pot. Bring mixture to a boil and cook 10 min. Add rind and simmer until completely transparent. Depends on the rinds and weather as to how long. You have to go by sight on this one. ) Remove spice bag. Pack hot rinds and liquid in hot jars leaving ¼" headspace. Remove air bubbles, Adjust two piece caps. Process in water bath for 10 min. Great on the Thanksgiving Relish Tray! (About 6 pints) dgkritch - If you try the cukes with this one let me know how they turn out. Sometimes I plant watermelons and sometimes I dont but I always have cukes in the garden for pickles. Maybe seed them first??? Hadnt thought of trying this recipe with them. Ripe Watermelon Pickles 4 qts. diced red watermelon, seeded (leave chunks fairly large) 5 c. sugar ¼ tsp. salt ½ c. cider vinegar 1 tsp. lemon juice 1 Tbsp cracked cinnamon sticks 1 tsp. whole cloves Place diced melon in a colander and with your hands squeeze out as much juice as possible. Collect all the juice and set aside for another recipe. (Watermelon Sherbet below) Let drain for 1 hour. Put melon, sugar, salt, vinegar and lemon juice in large heavy kettle. Add spices tied in a bag. Cook slowly for 50-60 min. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove spice bag. Pack at once into hot sterilized jars and seal. Approx. 2 pints. Also great and pretty on the TG Relish Tray (This taste like watermelon candy in the middle of winter to me.) Watermelon Sherbet 3 c. watermelon juice (left from recipe above) ½ c. sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 1 envelope unflavored gelatin Juice of 1 lemon Mix first 3 ingredients. Remove about ¼ c. to a small saucepan. Soften gelatin in juice in saucepan. Dissolve over hot water or very low heat. Add with lemon juice to first mixture. Freeze in crank type freezer. Ive made the sherbet this way for years. It needs to set out for a little while as it freezes very hard. Ive thought about adding some milk or stiff egg whites to it to see if that would make a softer mounding sherbet but have not done that as yet. Its very good in the middle of summer the way it is but I also like creamy textured sherbets. Its more like an Italian ice to me I think. Mike

I would like anything from a good bakery. My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving and mostly just before or after. I have had my share of supermarket turkey shaped cakes and cakes with pilgrims. I used to ask for ice cream cakes as a kid because they at least had ice cream and usually weren't awful.....The worst was when I was 16. I wanted something grown up and beautiful. My sister talked my boyfriend and my parents into going to a amusement/arcade park for a surprise. The place was a castle themed park called Camelot. All the kids at my school called it "scam-a-lot" I was horrified. When the girl brought out the cake badly frosted and with day glow icing clowns and balloons I asked them to get it boxed and we went home to have ice cream instead. At least none of my friends saw it all. No I am not stealing this from the show Golden Girls. This actually happened to me! I had another cake disaster for my graduation. My sis and I got the freshest ingredients and made a cake from a cake bible cookbook from the library. I had spent a week prior making frosting roses for this masterpiece had saving them in the freezer. We made the cake and tasted the trimmed off parts it was fantastic! The next day we frosted it and that evening when the family tried it it was so dry no one wanted to eat it. After that I always ordered a cake from the European bakery I love in Pasadena. The other cake fail I was involved in was my cousin's wedding. She knew I could do frosting flowers well so she asked me to come over and decorate her wedding cake. She wanted me to use this lavender icing she made. I decorated the whole thing and we set it by the window. After an hour into the reception, the purple icing in the sunlight faded to blue and was melting a little. My part of the family was out drinking and laughing on the grass. My cousin's husband's family was inside being shocked at the drinking going on outside. The cake suddenly started to lean and lucky her husband's brother was sitting close by and grabbed for it. The top 2 tiers were saved but the lower ones crashed. She didn't put in any supports inside. But, great sport that she is, she just laughed and served her husband's family the upper layers and our family the toppled ones. We didn't mind a bit. She's a great gal and can laugh through anything. One of the weddings I can say I really enjoyed. Sliding color changing cake and all. Please no one get a bright colored cake for a birthday. At my granddad's 90th, my aunt ordered a NASA themed cake with dark blue icing. My Grandad worked in the space program after being in the air force during WWII. Everybody had a dark blue tongue and blue teeth. All these old people with blue lips and teeth! I love a simple cake with almond extract and some fresh ripe strawberries or peaches and whipped cream. I had a fantastic cake once made with 4 different pastel fruit flavored layers and also a very good Black Forest cake by a Belgian pastry chef who used to have a bakery in my city but has now retired. I'm too wary to try a special cake again but I love to make pies and decorate cupcakes with fresh flowers.

Here is the part of the thread I saved: # 1 HUMMINGBIRD CAKE Serves: 16 Time: about an hour for the cake + bake time Source: Southern Living Magazine 3 cups or 7dl all-purpose flour  2 cups or 4,75dl sugar  1 teaspoon baking soda  1/2 teaspoon salt  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  3 large eggs, lightly beaten  3/4 cup or 1,75dl vegetable or sunflower oil  1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla/vanilla sugar  1 8oz or 225g can crushed pineapple, undrained  1 cup chopped pecans  1 3/4 cups or 4,25dl mashed/pureed ripe bananas  cream cheese frosting (recipe below)  dried pineapple flowers (directions below) 1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grease and flour 2 or 3 9-inch/23cm cake pans. Mash ripe bananas in a bowl with a fork and chop pecans into small, but not fine, pieces. Set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add eggs and oil until dry ingredients are just moistened. Add vanilla, pineapple, pecans and bananas, stirring until combined. 3. Pour batter evenly into 2 or 3 round cake pans. 4. Bake at 350F/175C for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack lined with baking paper. 5. Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Decorate with dried pineapple flowers. Store in refrigerator. CREAM CHEESE FROSTING Makes: 3 1/4 cups or 7.5dl  1/2 cup or 113g butter, room temperature  8oz or 225g cream cheese, room temperature  16oz or 455g powdered sugar  1 teaspoon vanilla  1/2 cup or 1,2dl chopped pecans (sprinkle between cake layers) Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at high speed until smooth; stir in vanilla. DRIED PINEAPPLE FLOWERS Makes: about 2 dozen Time: about 3 hours - prepare 1-3 days in advance  2 large pineapples (about 1kg) (the recipe works best if the pineapples are not quite ripe). Heat oven to 225F/110C. Line a couple baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Peel pineapples with a serrated knife (Remove "eyes" using a very tiny melonballer, or paring knife if you don't plan to use a flower cookie cutter for shaping them.) Cut crosswise into very thin slices and place in a single layer on prepared baking sheets. Bake until tops look dry, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Using tongs, flip slices over and continue to cook until reasonably dry, about an hour or so. Arrange on a wire rack and leave to cool and dry a bit more for a few hours. (note: A convection oven is an advantage for faster drying so use it if you have it.) When slices are cool and dry, take a small metal flower-shaped cookie cutter and press into dried pineapple. Use a rolling pin on top of the cookie cutter to press firmly. Set cut flowers aside on the wire rack. When the flowers are dry, but still a bit pliable, hold the center of the flower between your thumb and forefinger in one hand and pull the petals of the flower upwards with your other hand to give them a more realistic look. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. #2 Hummingbird Cake Ingredients 3 cup All purpose flour 3 large Egg well beaten 2 cup Sugar 3 medium Bananas chopped 1 teaspoon Cinnamon ground 1 cup Walnuts or pecans, finely chopped 1 teaspoon Baking soda 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla 1/2 teaspoon Salt GLAZE 1 can (8 oz) Pineapple crushed, with juice 1 tablespoon Butter or margarine, melted 1 cup Oil 1 cup Powdered sugar sifted Instructions for Hummingbird Cake Preheat oven to 325F / 160C / Gas Mark3. Generously grease a 10" tube or a fluted tube pan. To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Next remove 2 Tablespoons of juice from the can of pinapple. Set this juice aside for the glaze To the flour mixture, add the can of pinapple, the oil, eggs, banana, nuts, and vanilla. Stir until just blended. Do not beat. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the 325 degree oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the pan from the cake. Cool completely. To make the glaze: In a small bowl combine the melted butter or margarine with the powdered sugar. Add enough of the reserved pinapple juice to make a glaze of drizzling consistancy. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. For a glaze with a whole new dimension, try substituting rum for the pinapple juice. #3 Ruby Throated Hummingbird Cake Ingredients 1 1/2 c Flour 3 tb Baking powder 1 pn Salt 1/3 c Sugar 1/2 c Vegetable oil 6 x Egg yolks 1 cn (8oz) crushed pineapple 2 tb Lemon juice 6 x Egg whites 1 pn Cream of tartar 1/2 c Sugar Filling: 1/2 c Water 1 1/2 tb Cornstarch 1/3 c Sugar 2 tb White rum 1 c Chopped strawberries Icing: 1/2 c Butter 1 pk (8oz) cream cheese 1 ts Vanilla Milk 1 md Sweet red grapefruit Fresh flowers (rose petals Instructions: Cake: In a mixer or food processor sift together the flour, baking powder, salt & sugar. Blend in oil, egg yolk, pineapple & lemon juice & mix well. In a separate bowl beat egg whites, cream of tartar & sugar until very stiff. Fold the cake mix into the egg white mixture & stir until well blended. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 10" tube pan & bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven & cool upside down on rack. When cooled remove to serving plate. Filling: Stir cornstarch into the cold water & heat gently in saucepan until it starts to thicken. Stir in the sugar & rum. Beat until smooth & shiny. Stir in the chopped strawberries. Icing: In a food processor combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla & confectioners sugar. Process to a smooth spreadable paste. Adjust the texture with a little milk if necessary. To assemble: Spoon strawberry filling into the hollow center of the cake. Spread the icing over the cake including the sides. Decorate the top with grapefruit sections & flowers. #4 Mrs. Wiggins' recipe [1978] "Hummingbird cake 3 cups all-pupose flour 2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups salad oil 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained 2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided 2 cups chopped bananas Cream cheese frosting (recipe follows) Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; add eggs and salad oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup chopped pecans, and bananas. Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch cakepans. Bake at 350 degrees F. For 25 to 30 minutes; remove from pans, and cool immediately. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans. Yield: one 9-inch layer cake. Cream Cheese Frosting 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup butter or margarine, softened 2 (16 ounce) packages powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Yield: enough for a 3 layer cake.--Mrs. L.H. Wiggins, Greesnboro, North Carolina" Notes disneyginger (My Page) on Sun, Apr 13, 08 at 13:19 I found a recipe that was excellent on the Nestle website that gave me the best hummingbird cake I have ever had. It is a recipe that someone submitted to their site, not a Nestle recipe. Mostly, I have had it in layers with a cream cheese frosting or a frosting like red velvet cake frosting. When I've made it for Bake Sales, I make them in the little tea cake tins and frost them with cream cheese frosting. I haven't done a bake sale in about a year or more, but would make this again. They are a BIG seller item, and were sold at two dollars for each little rectangle brick. The recipe gave me 8 tins and I make it three times for a grand total of 24 little tins. You can cut a bundt cake into layers too, and frost it. But, I think the cake is so rich, tasty and moist, that just a bundt and powdered sugar would be perfect too. Best made with really ripe bananas.

till it's done.... Seriously....maybe 25 minutes....then test it with a tooth pick in the center to be sure it's not gummy. The thing is....with a carrot cake in a big flat pan...the edges can get too done while the center is still gummy. I think I would bake it in 8 by 8 pans and put them together to look like a sheet cake. Linda C