sapphires, I don't even like bananas, I don't even eat banana bread, but I eat this cake. Ashley says it's her favorite, the best she's ever had and it is darned good. It was posted on the Cooking Forum by a former poster, J. Garner, who worked as a pastry chef. Banana Cake (Rose Levy BerenbaumÂs Cordon Rose Cake) Jgarner-Cooking Forum (good as layer cake, elegant, delicate texture) mix together: sifted cake flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 c + 2 Tbs baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp puree together: 2 large ripe bananas 1 c sour cream 2 Tbs or up to 1/2 c 2 large eggs 2 grated lemon zest 2 tsp (I left this out since I don't like the flavor of lemon with banana) vanilla 1-1/2 tsp soften: Butter 10 Tbs (5 oz) Add butter and half of pureed mixture to dry ingredients in stand mixer and mix at medium with paddle for 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape bowl and add rest of banana mixture in two batches, mixing 20 seconds after each addition. Pour into 9"x2" round pan (I just lined the bottom with parchment, no spray or butter) and bake at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto rack to cool completely. Hint: Use smallest amount of sour cream and 3 bananas for more pronounced banana flavor Cream Cheese Icing Cream cheese, softened 8 oz. Butter, softened 5 TBS (2.5 oz) Sour cream 1 Tbs Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. Rum 1 Tbs Powdered sugar 1 1/4 C (5 oz) Process (yeah, the food processor) or beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and pulse until smooth. Makes enough to frost the top of a 9x13 sheet cake. I used regular flour, because I never have cake flour, and it always comes out great. Annie

I eyeball this. 1 tablespoon of yeast in 1 cup of warm water until it foams. 3 to 4 cups of all purpose flour. I swear that King Arthur is better, but it is up to you. 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of sugar 1/4 cup of olive oil. Put the dry ingredients into a food process with the dough blade. Give it all a whirl to mix it all up. Then, add the yeast, the oil and 1 cup more of very warm water. Let it all come together pulsing until it sticks into a ball. Dump the ball out on a very lightly floured board, cover with a warm damp all cotton tea towel and walk away for about an hour. Start the stretching and you can make a hand stretched pizza dough. You can take the easy way out and just hand press it into an olive oil greased jelly roll pan and stretch it to fit with a lip of crust. Top as you like. If you're hand stretching and putting on a pizza stone, it will bake at 500 degrees in a short 10 minutes or so. If you're doing the jelly roll pressed in crust, it will take about 20 minutes at 450.

My Mom wasn't a great cook either - she didn't enjoy cooking. But she made perfect mashed potatoes and I loved it when she made french toast. When I got older she made pretty good white bean soup and veggie soup. My favorite meal was smoked pork chops, fried potatoes, and great northern beans all with ketchup. Mom's Mom is a great cook. She worked in restaurants and delis. She has lots of best recipes. Spaghetti and meatballs are my favorite. She served Thanksgiving Dinner with dressing in a casserole dish (we fought over the crusty edges), giblet gravy and rolled dumplings. She is known for her potato salad and cheese ball. Every Christmas she makes carrot cake, peanut butter balls and butter cookies rolled in pecans with a candied cherry in the center. For my birthday she always made my favorite German Chocolate cake. Dad's Mom's best recipe was Meatloaf and egg noodles in tomato gravy. She made very good cole slaw. She always had sweet tea and cream pies. I am lucky to have another grandmother to learn from. My husbands Mamaw taught me how to make cornbread in an iron skillet and peach cobbler. She also gave me the confidence to try cooking chuck roast, potatos and carrots. Her best recipe is her biscuits. Mom used to make popcorn for us before we owned a microwave and covered it in butter and salt. That was a best!

I immediately think of devilled eggs, hard boiled eggs for egg salad and a favorite of my DH, remove the yolks from the hard boiled eggs and stuff the indentations with salsa. Now, I can't eat salsa for breakfast but he can. I don't make the salsa in the recipe, I use my own home canned salsa. Store bought would do if you don't can your own. He also likes high protein pancakes (which also freeze well). High protein pancakes 6 EGGS 1 cup ricotta cheese 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2 Tbsp. melted butter or vegetable oil 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. vanilla Beat eggs, cheese, flour, oil, baking powder, salt and vanilla in large bowl until blended. Heat lightly greased large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot. Spoon 1/4 cup portion of batter (1 Tbsp. for silver dollar size) into skilletand cook until golden brown, turning once. Serve with your favorite syrup or preserves, berries or fruit, or sliced bananas and chopped pecans. Huevos Ranchero (From Simply Recipes) Olive oil 1/2 medium onion, chopped (about a half cup) 1 15-ounce can whole tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted, if you can get it (or 1 -2 large fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, when in season) 1/2 6-ounce can diced green Anaheim chiles Chipotle chili powder, adobo sauce, or ground cumin to taste (optional) 4 corn tortillas Butter 4 fresh eggs 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional) Make the sauce first by softening the onions in a little olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Once translucent, add the tomatoes and the juice the tomatoes are packed in. Break up the tomatoes with your fingers as you put them in the pan. If you are using fresh tomatoes, chop them first, then add. Note that fresh tomatoes will take longer to cook as canned tomatoes are already cooked to begin with. Add chopped green chilies. Add additional chili to taste, either chipotle chili powder, adobo sauce, regular chili powder, or even ground cumin. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and let simmer while you do the rest of the cooking, stirring occasionally. Reduce to warm after it has been simmering for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste if needed. Prepare the tortillas. Heat the oven to a warm 150°F, place serving plates in the oven to keep warm. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large non-stick skillet on medium high, coating the pan with the oil. One by one (or more if your pan is big enough) heat the tortillas in the pan, a minute or two on each side, until they are heated through, softened, and pockets of air bubble up inside of them. Then remove them and stack them on one of the warming plates in the oven to keep warm while you continue cooking the rest of the tortillas and the eggs. Fry the eggs. Using the same skillet as was used for the tortillas, add a little butter to the pan, about two teaspoons for 4 eggs. Heat the pan on medium high heat. Crack 4 eggs into the skillet and cook for 3 to 4 minutes for runny yolks, more for firmer eggs. To serve, spoon a little of the sauce onto a warmed plate. Top with a tortilla, then a fried egg. Top with more sauce, sprinkle with cilantro if desired. Serve either one or two eggs/tortillas per plate, depending on how much you want to eat. Yield: Makes 2-4 servings, depending on your appetite. Annie I also freeze eggs, both raw and cooked. Breakfast burritos are nice to have in the freezer, you can take one out and pop it in the microwave for hurried mornings or even a quick supper. Mine are made with what I have on hand, scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon/sausage/ham/whatever. Sometimes I add onions or mushrooms if I have those. Roll up in flour tortillas like a regular burrito and freeze. DH eats those with salsa too, but I take mine straight! Annie