APPLE CRUNCH COFFEE CAKE

Made this a few days ago .... was still moist this morning when we finished it off!

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
2 teas. baking powder
1/2 teas. baking soda
1/4 teas. salt
1 teas. cinnamon
1-3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar)
2 to 3 apples, cored, peeled and sliced

Beat together butter, shortening and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, beat well and set aside.
Stir together flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon; add to butter mixture alternating with buttermilk.
Spread about half the batter in a greased 13x9-inch pan; top with apple slices.
Spread remaining batter over apples, sprinkle with topping.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until knife tests clean.


Topping:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
6 Tablespoon butter

Stir together everything except butter. Cut butter in 3with a pastry blender or a pair of knives until crumbly.

CRANBERRY SWIRL COFFEECAKE

It rained most of today ... tried out some new recipes .... this is a KEEPER! Nice and most and easy to put together.

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teas. baking powder
1 teas. baking soda
1/2 teas. salt
8-oz container sour cream
1 teas. almond extract
1/2 teas. vanilla extract
16-oz can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 chopped nuts (opt)

Cream sugar and margarine together, add eggs and set aside. Mix together flour, baking soda & powder and salt in a large bowl. Add flour mixture to margarine mixture alternating with sour cream. Add extracts - mix well. Pour half of batter into greased tube pan, add half of cranberry sauce and swirl with knife (like making marble cake). Top with the rest of the batter and top with other half of the cranberry sauce and squirl the top layer of cranberry sauce into the top layer of batter. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, cool for 5 minutes, remove to rack and drizzle with topping.

Topping:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teas. almond extract
1 to 3 tablespoons warm water

Combine sugar and extract; add water 1 tablespoon at a time until drizzling consistancy.

CARMELA'S TURTLES ARE OUT!

Carmela, our landlady, has moved her turtles out into the flowerbox. During the winter or when it is cold, the turtles live inside Carmela and Giovanni's home. Giovanni was putting together a wood frame for the flowerbed since the turtles can climb on the curved terracotta roof tile (roof, walls for the turtle house) and escape.

STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, CASSIBLE, SYRACUSA

Don and I went down to Cassible to see the Strawberry Festival held at the horse track just outside of town .... it wasn't what we expected .... only a couple of farmers selling strawberries ... mostly it was food vendors and services (solar panels, wood burning ovens, and the like). We were there around noon-time, there was a puppet show that evening that could have been interesting ... but it was too long to wait.


Strawberry beer tent .....
... fresh coconut for the kids (kids around here love to eat wedges of coconut ... most events will have at least one vendor selling coconut -- as you see here, it is kept damp in a water fountain) ......... a sign I liked for a small cheese farmer ... happy cows, sheep and goats ...

... the two cases of strawberries we bought ... one for us and one for our landlords ...

APPLE GINGERBREAD COBBLER

Tried a new recipe tonight - Heavenly! Definitely will be added to the holiday menu.

14-oz pkg gingerbread cake mix, divided
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
2 21-oz cans apple pie filling
Garnish: vanilla ice cream

Mix together 2 cups of the gingerbread mix and water until smooth - set bowl aside.
Mix together the rest of the gingerbread mix with the brown sugar; cut in 1/4 cup butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add nuts and set this bowl aside. Combine pie filling and other 1/4 cup of butter in saucepan and heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the filling is heated. Pour filling into a lightly greased 13x9 pan (original recipe called for a 11x7 - but I don't have one of those - cobbler was thinner than it would have been otherwise, but still tasted good); spread filling out evenly. Top with the first gingerbread mixture over the filling; top with the nut mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until set.

Serve with ice cream.

Next time I'll probably put it in a casserole dish so it isn't spread out so much.