Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is a recipe that likely has its origins in the rise of canned pineapple from Hawaii about 100 years ago. With delicious pineapple available year-round throughout the country, it is no wonder it was put to use in delicious cakes like this one. It is an upside down cake because the pineapple that tops the cake is baked on the bottom of the pan.

I found three different recipe cards for Pineapple Upside Down Cake among Grandma's recipes. I am not sure if she ever used one more than the other, or any at all. But, I decided to give this cake a try. The recipe I have assembled below is somewhat a combination of the three recipes. For the pan, I used an eight-inch round pan, but a nine-inch round or square pan could work. I used brown sugar in the pan with the butter to give the cake a better caramel topping, but regular sugar would work. Next time I make this recipe, I will use more maraschino cherries.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake 

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• sliced pineapple
• maraschino cherries
• 6 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1 egg,
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp. pineapple juice
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup flour

Preheat over to 350. Prepare the batter by softening 4 tablespoons of butter in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, sugar, milk, and pineapple juice. Mix well. blend in the baking powder and flour.

Place 2 tablespoons of butter in an eight-inch round cake pan and melt the butter in the oven. Add the brown sugar to the pan and dissolve the sugar. Layer four pineapple slices in the pan and add maraschino cherries. Spoon the batter over the pineapple. Bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes on a wire rack. Carefully invert onto a plate. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Our new neighborhood farmer's market is at the Park at Wrigley Field. Thursday nights in the summer (unless the Cubs have a home game), various vendors set up along the Clark Street side of Wrigley. This summer, MDS and I tried a Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie from one of the vendors. I loved the cookie and knew I could make my own. Then, I was looking through Mom's recipe box and came across this recipe. It was meant to be.

These cookies are just delicious. The version we had at the Wrigley farmer's market were so large, they required both hands to hold. But, I decided to go with the small cookie version in Mom's recipe. I made these to bring to Noah and Jen's fifteenth anniversary party. I used strawberry jelly because that was my favorite as a kid. Chris liked the cookies, but thought they would have been better with grape jelly. Mom said that we had both grape an strawberry jelly when we were kids, but I guess we each had our preference. One change to Mom's recipe is that I added the jelly before baking the cookies, but the recipe says to add the jelly after baking. I think the jelly sets a little better by baking it with the cookie, but it does require more time to cool.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies 

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Favorite Jelly

Stir together flour, butter, peanut butter, sugar, egg, and salt until smooth. For each cookie, roll one teaspoon of dough into a ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. With your finger (dip in water if it gets too sticky), make a dent in the center. Fill hollow with jelly. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Grandma Holmes's Toffee Bars

I found this recipe among MDS's Grandma Holmes's recipes. MDS does not specifically remember it, but when he tasted the resulting bars, he said that Grandma probably loved this recipe because it is so buttery. This recipe is very similar to a Toffee Squares recipe from Mom, only that Mom's recipe had the addition of a layer of chocolate on top.Whether you make the chocolate frosted version or not, you will love these delicious buttery treats.

When I made these bars to bring to Mom's for a Saturday night and celebration of Tim's 18th Birthday, I decided to use two smaller pans so I could make one version without nuts and one version with nuts. Both versions were delicious, but the version with nuts (I used sliced almonds) got stuck in the pan. It could have been because I used a ceramic pan instead of a metal pan. The almond toffee bars were delicious, but very messy and crumbly. So, I only brought the bars without nuts to Mom's house. They were also delicious and a hit with the Birthday Boy.

Toffee Bars 

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 egg separated
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2/3 cup finely chopped nuts

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add egg yolk, vanilla, and flour. Mix well. Pat dough evenly into a 15 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch cookie sheet. Beat egg white slightly and brush onto the top of the dough. Sprinkle with nuts and press slightly into the dough. Bake at 275 degrees for 45 minutes until top is golden brown. Immediately cut into squares. Allow to cool in the pan. Enjoy!