Speaking of Trader Joes. I'm a relative newbie here and have seen time and time again posts about Trader Joes. A couple of weeks ago I was in Chapel Hill NC for a week and there was a Trader Joes just across the road from my motel and I was in there soaking up the ambiance every day. I sure wish there was one close to my home. I loved it. Organic bananas,delish Calimyrna figs,samples of freshly made gluten free pancakes,freshly brewed coffee,etc,etc. I sure miss it since I got home. And now I read I could find those little flowers there too. I think I'll cry!! LOL Betty

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.

Kate, I don't have a link, but I do have the recipe, Nancy was so kind as to share her recipes with me and I use them a lot, so thanks again to her! I make these in muffin tins, although I don't use the paper lines, I just spray well with PAM and I use nonstick muffin tins, so it's a double whammy that works well for me. I do use the big Kitchen Aid for this and King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Gluten Free Brioche Brioche Bread or Rolls Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Cookbook Pg. 108 Spray PAM in a loaf pan, 9” - 10” casserole dish, or paper line muffin tins. In KA whisk together: 2½ C GFAP plus ½ t gum, ½ C sugar, 2½ t yeast, 1 t cream of tartar, ¾ t kosher salt Add and mix on low to combine: 1 t lemon zest, ½ t vinegar, 5 extra-large eggs (or 7 large) Add and stream in: ½ C warm milk (micro @15 seconds to 100F) Add 1 T at a time mixing well on Low2 until incorporated: 10 T butter Beat on Medium6 for 7 to 8 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to put into pan, smooth top, and let rise to top edge @30 to 45 minutes in a warm place. Bake 375F 20 minutes. Make a slash in top of dough ¼“ deep, tent with foil, bake 20 to 25 minutes more until internal temp is 190F to 200F. Cool 15 minutes in pan then put on rack to cool completely before slicing. Option: Serve slices warmed in micro 15 seconds then spread with butter and Orange Marmalade; use for French Toast, Bread Pudding or in Panzanella Salad. Good luck, I'll be making this for Easter dinner. I've eaten them warm and they're good, enough that the kids eat them and don't ask whether they are gluten free. They do have a little bit of the grainy texture found in many gluten free products, but very little, IMO, even though I was "looking" for it. Annie

We went to Popeye's, for the first time, last night. Finally. We've been seeing the commercials for at least 15 years and one finally opened in a nearby town. Everything was too spicy for me. I ate a couple of bites of chicken and the biscuit. Gave everything else to hubby. He liked it, but the portions are so small. After he ate both of our dinners, he came home and had a big bowl of cereal with fruit.