Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Servings: 12
The butter rum glaze makes it special. An easy way to glaze your cake is to pour half of the glaze into Bundt pan, reinsert cake, then pour the rest of glaze over the bottom of the cake. Let absorb well then invert back onto platter.”

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, 1/2 cup water, oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well. Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto serving plate. Brush glaze over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze and repeat until all glaze is used.
4. To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

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Rum cake may sound alcoholic-ky but don’t kid yourself.  This is one of the moistest cakes that you’ll ever taste.  The rum gives it flavor but the alcohol is baked away so this is perfectly safe for any age to enjoy.  Here’s the recipe.Prep Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:

* —Cake—
* 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
* 1 18-1/2 ounce yellow cake mix
* 1 1-3/4 ounce (4-serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix
* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup cold milk*
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum
* —Glaze—
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum

Preparation:
Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on high with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with fork. Drizzle glaze over top of cake. Use brush or spoon to put extra dripping back on cake.

Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Note: The rum will cause steam. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Notes in the Margin: I have made this cake many, many times. It not only is the perfect dessert, but I’ve had house guests who wanted it for breakfast. My husband keeps threatening to use it for French toast. I personally think that it’ll never get dry enough as it stays moist a long time. The longer this cakes sits, the better the taste. This cake freezes beautifully. Also, many of these cakes have been shipped to soldiers overseas. They got there just fine.

*I use milk for added nutritional value. Water may be used instead.

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Hey, if you’re heading to Vegas you might want to save money this time.  Save up to 77% off of  Vegas hotels prices, and that is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how much money you have!  Just on the I4Vegas site over 1,000 rooms are booked on any given day.  They can get you a room at any hotel or motel plus help you set up an itinerary so that you can see and do as much as possible there.  It’s fun to go and even more fun when you win at the slots!

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My husband loves carrot cake and this is one of his favorites.  I remember being given a recipe for carrot cake when I was a teenager.  I made the cake and it was very good, but my baby sister ate so much of it that she threw up. To this day she refuses to eat carrot cake.

Active Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes 16 servings

INGREDIENTS
For the Cake:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (see Ingredient note)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved
2 cups grated carrots (4-6 medium)
1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
For the Frosting:
2 tablespoons coconut chips or flaked coconut
12 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ingredient Note:
Whole-wheat pastry flour is milled from soft wheat. It contains less gluten than regular whole-wheat flour and helps ensure a tender result in delicate baked goods while providing the nutritional benefits of whole grains. Available in large supermarkets and in natural-foods stores. Store in the freezer.

DIRECTIONS
To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Toast walnuts in a small baking pan in the oven until fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and 1/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice in a large bowl until blended. Stir in pineapple, carrots and coconut. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until blended. Stir in the nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake the cake until the top springs back when touched lightly and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting & finish cake: Place coconut in a small baking pan and toast in the oven at 300 degrees F, stirring several times, until light golden, 5 to 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with the coconut.

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I have been griping about the dog rescues for some time now for the simple reason that they want hundreds of dollars as adoption fees for their animals.  These are usually breed specific dog rescues, and their response to a complaint about their charges is that the vet costs money and if the potential adopter can’t afford that much, then maybe they can’t really afford to adopt a pet anyway.  Bull.  They just saw a way to make money off of the misfortunes of others and their ex-pets.  Now a rescue center in Pennsylvania has been raided and charges made against a dog rescue shelter.  The owner’s home was filled with dog cages and many of the dogs needed serious vet care.  These people are no worse than those who run the puppy mills.

P.S.  Another dog rescue group in Canada was also raided with the result that hundreds of dogs were rescued and being assessed and treated by their local humane society.  These people ought to have to be responsible for the costs of having these dogs treated.  And they also should be held responsible for the costs of spaying and neutering these animals.  All humane socities seem to require spaying and neutering; although the reasoning behind this is sound.  Bad thing is, if your dog escapes your home or back yard and is picked up by a shelter, they will cost you to retrieve them and still be required to be “fixed”.

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One diet supplement that you might like to consider is Liporexall.  This supplement includes the most effective ingredients on the market and instead of your having to buy two or three in order to get these ingredients, this product has them all.  Here are the ingredients.

* ChromeMate – Regulates the amount of sugar in the blood

* Super Citrimax – Curbs appetite, burns fat, promotes healthy blood lipid levels, and increases serum serotonin (which benefits emotional issues such as binge eating)

* Pinnothin – Suppresses the appetite through hunger-suppressing hormones

* Advantra-Z 10% Synephrine – “Bitter Orange” extract that produces safe results similar to Ephedra

* NeOptunia – All-natural, potent, fat-binding supplement derived from the Nopal Cactus Plant

* Phase-2 – Carb blocker made from white bean extract.

* 7-Keto DHEA – Natural metabolite that supports energy production, healthy skin, lean muscle, and more

* ForsLean 95% Forshohlii – Coleus forskohlii extract used to increase lean body mass and optimize body composition

* Infinergy DiCaffeine Malate – Optimizes energy and promotes thermogenesis

* Tonalin – Muscle developer and fat dissolver focusing specifically on the abdomen

* Bioperine – Anti-Oxidant weight loss aid which helps the metabolism function at a higher efficiency

These products are patent pending as the only way for products to receive this is for them to have been proven effective in weight loss efforts.  These ingredients assist the body in becoming and staying healthy as well as helping with weight loss.

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Cooking dot com is having a sweepstakes for cookie recipes that they want to include in the Eating Well magazine later on this year.  The grand prize is a $2,000 gift certificate and the other prizes aren’t so bad either.  If you’re a cook then you should go and read up on this sweepstakes and see if you would be interested in participating.  One of the other prizes is one of those very expensive mixers.  I am going to let my friend know about this one too, as she is a cook and makes up her own recipes.

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If you aren’t using Akismet on your blog then you are likely to have the same problem that I have, hundreds of spam comments.  I had 1,878 pending comments which I am having to mark as spam 20 at a time.  I’m now down to 608.  It’s very slow going and very irritating.  Be sure that you are using this plugin or else you’ll find yourself in the same situation.

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Oh boy oh boy.  Here’s a wonderful recipe for chewy chocolate cookies.  Don’t be misled by how the batter looks either; these cookies turn out just great!

Active Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Yield: about 45 cookies

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 large egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped and melted (see Tip)

Tip:
Two foolproof ways to melt chocolate: Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a double boiler set over medium-high heat, then place chocolate in the top pan. (Alternatively, to improvise a double boiler, place chocolate in a heat-safe mixing bowl that fits snugly over a pan with 1 inch of simmering water). Stir until half the chocolate has melted. Remove the bowl and continue stirring until the chocolate has fully melted. Cool for 5 minutes at room temperature.

Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on High for 1 minute. Stir well, then continue microwaving in 30-second increments on High until two-thirds of the chocolate has melted, stirring well after each heating. Remove the bowl and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Cool for 5 minutes at room temperature.

Enhancements: Stir 2/3 cup raisins, dried cherries or dried blueberries into the Chewy Chocolate Cookies batter along with the flour mixture. Or use 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts.

DIRECTIONS
Position rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Beat in granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Scrape down the sides, then beat in brown sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate. Stir in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until just incorporated.

Drop the batter by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until flat yet springy, with slightly cracked tops, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Let the pan cool for a few minutes before baking another batch; replace parchment paper if torn or scorched.

Nutrition Facts per Serving
Yield: about 45 cookies
Calories: 68
Fat, Saturated: 1g
Fiber: 1g
Carbohydrates, Total: 14g
Sodium: 51mg
% Cal. from Fat: 13%
Fat. Total: 1g

Protein: 1g

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This is a very good way to use the leftover turkey and not let it go to waste.  You can put this salad into any jar and can even freeze it, although I personally don’t recommend that.

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

* 8 slices bread
* 2 hard-cooked, chopped eggs
* 1/2 c. mayonnaise
* 1 tbsp. lemon juice
* 1/2 c. chopped celery
* 1 1/2 c. finely chopped leftover turkey
* 1/2 c. sliced green onion
* 2 tsp. prepared mustard
* 2 tbsp. sweet pickle relish

Steps
Step One
Combine turkey, celery, green onions, lemon juice and pepper in a mixing bowl.

Step Two
Add eggs, mayonnaise, pickle relish and mustard. Stir well.

Step Three
Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour.

Step Four
Spread between slices of bread and serve.

Overall Things You’ll Need

* Plastic Wrap
* Groceries
* Chef’s Knives
* Chef’s Knives
* Mixing Bowls
* Plastic Wrap
* Mixing bowls

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