Oatmeal Cake

Does adding oatmeal to cake make the cake healthier? I don't know, but this cake is delicious, so if it is slightly healthier because of the oatmeal, it is all the better. I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box. While I do not specifically remember this cake, I am not surprised to find this recipe. Mom always tried out new recipes and would often try out recipes that had healthier ingredients, such as oatmeal.

In this cake, by pre-cooking the oatmeal, it really softens and blends in such that the oatmeal is hardly noticeable. For the topping, I used sliced almonds. I really enjoy almond and cinnamon flavor combinations, so this worked well for the cake. The use of both brown sugar and white sugar results in a darker and moister cake. I highly recommend this cake.

Oatmeal Cake 

• 1 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

For the topping:

• 6 Tbsp. soft butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup nuts or coconut

Cook the oats in the boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cream together the butter, eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar. Blend in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Spread the batter in a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. While the cake is baking, blend together the topping ingredients. Remove cake from oven and spread the topping over the cake. Bake for 15 minutes longer. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Ginger Milk

Chicago's Chinatown has many options for eating, but a few months back MDS and I tried a most unlikely place: the basement food court of Richland Center located on Wentworth north of Cermak. This food court has a wide variety of treats available from about a dozen vendors, with many uncommon food options. We tried a few and will have to go back to try more.

One vendor that stood out was Hello Jasmine, which has creative drinks and good food. Hello Jasmine offers a variety of teas and bobas, but we tried and loved the Ginger Milk. I always love hot chocolate on a cold day, but now I have added Ginger Milk into the cold day rotation. Ginger Milk is so easy to make, but it never had occurred to me to add ginger and sugar to hot milk. It could not be easier to make.

Ginger Milk

For each serving, heat one cup of milk, one teaspoon of ginger, and one tablespoon of sugar until the milk begins to foam. Enjoy!

Lemon Nut Bread

I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box. I usually see lemon paired with poppy, but this recipe calls for lemon paired with pecan, which I thought would be an interesting combination. This recipe did not disappoint. The lemon was delicious and the pecans added a nice touch.

This recipe calls for a loaf pan, but you could just as easily make muffins and adjust the baking time. When I made this recipe, I did not have any lemon rind on hand, so I left it out. I just used some packaged lemon juice. I suppose the recipe might be better using fresh lemon juice and rind, but sometimes convenience wins over fresh fruit.

Lemon Nut Bread 

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated lemon rind
• 3/4 cup chopped pecan

Heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternating with milk to creamed butter; mixing well with each addition. Stir in lemon juice and rind; mix well. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased and floured 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Enjoy!