I tried this recipe yesterday using a can of lemon pie filling. First I tried to make cupcakes, but the cake stuck to the paper liners. So I went ahead and put the remainder in a cake pan. The cake rose beautifully and browned nicely around the edges but the center remained flat. The center never rose, and when it was done, I removed it from the oven and the exterior part that had risen collapsed fairly quickly. I was taking this to a party and was prepared to take it as is, but it was not even particularly good tasting. And it was chewy/sticky. While the batter tasted great, the consistency of mousse and lots of lemon flavor, the cake was "eh." I tossed it in the garbage. Afterwards, it occurred to me there is a reason angel food cake is cooked in a pan with a hole in the middle. But I suspect that even with a different pan, the heavy lemon filling would weigh down the angel food cake batter.

I just tried this one a few weeks ago. Very easy to make. (Taken from Southern Plate website). Tiger Butter Print Ingredients 1 package ( 24 ounces) white almond bark ½ cup crunchy peanut butter 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (Milk chocolate will work fine too) Instructions Line a rimmed baking sheet with waxed paper. Set aside In large mixing bowl, break up almond bark as best you can (or you can just toss the whole thing in). Place bowl in microwave for about one minute. Stir well. Microwave at 30-45 second intervals, stirring after each, until bark is melted and smooth. Stir in peanut butter until melted and well blended. Spread out onto waxed paper lined baking pan. Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave at 30-45 second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth and melted. Drop dollops of chocolate onto peanut butter mixture in pan. Swirl with a knife. Place baking sheet in refrigerator until hardened or allow to harden completely at room temp. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

I have a tried and true method for establishing a butterfly garden. Choose the area you want to develop. Mow it short in fall. Cover it with a very thick layer of fallen leaves. (I collect bags from the side of the road) Over winter, plant as many types of native nectar and host plant seeds as you can get your hands on, using the wintersowing method. By late April, the seeds should have sprouted, and the leaves should have suffocated most of the weeds. Those left should be much easier to dig out. Plant the wintersown sprouts and keep them watered deeply at least every other week for the first summer. Voila! Blooms will usually take another season, so you could intersperse with annuals such as zinnias, cosmos, salvias, petunias, etc. for the first year. Visit the Xerces Society for suggestions of appropriate plants for your region. I am actually in the midst of this very process. I'll post my mid-way pictures of the bed that I just raked leaves off of in preparation for planting. I'm way behind schedule due to a shoulder injury that kept me down in May and June. And here are my seedlings waiting to be planted: Good luck with your project. I might post my project in other threads, so I apologize if people get tired of my pictures. Martha

Thanks! i get slammed recently for not sharing pictures, so I let my soup cool a bit just to take one. :) Glad to know it paid off. i do have some mini leaf cutters which I used for pies...and I think the bluecheese shortbread, which I think is from you. They're not where I thought they should be, though, and I've yet to figure out where else they could be. Maybe they escaped the back of the drawer? Anyway, I rarely make croutons, but leaves in pumpkin soup sounds wonderful! And one could use paprika, turmeric, etc, to Fall them up! And add a little zing. If I end up cooking for T'Day, I might try that! Arizona Dreaming is one of those blends that one doesn't need that gets used all the time. If I'm just whipping up dinner, rather than thoughtful planning, and I want a mild chili/smoky flavor that isn't too distinctly this or that, I use it. When I opened the spice rack while making the soup, I was planning to get Ancho powder, smoked paprika and a few other things, saw the Arizona, thought, okay, let's try this, and after a couple shakes it was so good, I just gave it another shake and called it done. Not even S&P!