For the fan from SC

Jackie informed me its been w-a-a-y too long since I posted anything. I have a ton to share but not a ton of time.....seems like its always that way these days!

Easter came and went, early this year. I made a few special things for Michael, and wanted to share the recipes with anyone looking for a yummy lemon cake or some great cheese spread for crackers.

First, the cake. Julie, one of my transcriptionists who has been working with me for years, says her mother-in-law makes this cake, and that it is getting to be the perfect time of year for it. After I made it, I realized why it seemed so familiar to me. It tastes exactly like a lemon refrigerator cake my Nana used to make. Yum! Cool, lemony and refreshing!















First you need a few of these. I risked life and limb while no one was home (to call 911) to climb up the steep slope and pick fresh lemons.















They were hand squeezed, thank you very much! And they were also scraped with a fine grater to obtain the zest for use in the topping recipe.















The cake ingredients filled my jelly roll pan perfectly.














Once baked, I pricked the hot cake all over with a fork, and poured a topping of lemon juice, lemon zest and confection sugar all over the cake.

It was a hit!

Here's the recipe. It is really, really good!

Lemon Jello Cake:
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
3 oz. pkg. lemon jello
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs

Icing:
2 cups confectioner sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Method
Combine cake mix, jello, water, oil and eggs, beat until blended. Bake in a 9x13 (I used an 11x15 jelly roll pan) prepared pan at 350 for 45 minutes. Do not over bake. Prick hot cake with fork, pour mixture of confectioner sugar and lemon juice over cake while hot. Number of servings: 8 (we got twice that many servings out of it - it's very rich!)


Next, the cheese ball recipe. Michael's mom used to make this for him. We're managed to misplace her recipe, but yay! The internets are great for finding secret recipes! I know her recipe is here in the house somewhere....but in the meantime, I found this very close cousin!

Cheese ball recipe

To make the cheese ball, combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:
1 glass jar (5 ounces) Kraft Roka cheese
1 glass jar (5 ounces) Kraft Olde English cheese
16 ounces cream cheese
2 shakes Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1 shake garlic powder
1 teaspoon vinegar

The above ingredients at room temperature were measured into a bowl and then mixed. I tried with a spoon and then gave up and attacked it with my twice-washed-with-antibacterial-soap hands.















The mixture was then put in the fridge to chill. Upon tasting, Michael said it was really good, but "missing the bite" that Mom's had.....And we think we know why. I recall her making it for us once when she visited and then mysteriously, after she went home, I found a bottle of horseradish (which I never have used) in my fridge. So we're going to try it again, and tweak the recipe with a little horseradish to see if it brings the finished product closer to what Michael remembers.

Okay. That's today's contribution to Catching Up the Blog.

Tomorrow: My latest frugal idea........

And the post after that? Meet the newest member of the herd, the zoo, no, I mean the pack, the FAMILY.

Then, this month's Saturday Sampler and an update on an uncooperative quilt.

And finally, a new business venture.

Good times! I'm sure you can hardly contain yourselves! (stop yawning!)

Night!