Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Happy New Year

Hello to all my foodie friends and I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Our New Year show was filmed with two of the best Pit Master Grille Chefs In the South Carolina area.  Mark Busbee and JT Handy one judges BBQ events and the other teaches the art of wood smokin' meats.  They both co-host a radio show called BBQ Shop Talk out of Columbia which is a live show and they talk BBQ the whole time.  If you want to know BBQ then these are the two Chefs to learn from.  When they were on the show they had on the menu some Grille Stuffed pork Chops, smoked with some Apple Wood.  Then we had some Hash Brown Cheese Casserole and some smoked Meat Loaf made with some Cole's Smothin' BBQ Sauce.  Then on the menu for me was some Cole Slaw with Cranberry's and toasted Walnuts and some Roasted Rosemary Sweet Potato's.  Then I made some Pineapple Upside-Down Cake which was made with some Greek vanilla yogurt.  Did you know that the pineapple upside-down cake was invented because Dole made the hole punch machine to cut the pineapple with.  There are a few tasty dishes invented because of the machines.  Any who are you ready for some great Pineapple Upside-Down Cake?

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

1 Box Pineapple Cake Mix
3 Eggs beaten
1/3 Cup Oil
1/3 cup Pineapple Juice, from the can of Pineapple Rings
3/4 cup Water

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.  Set aside.

Butter, 1 stick
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Coconut
1 can of Pineapple rings
1 jar Maraschino Cherries
1 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup Brown Sugar



Heat butter and sugar together in a skillet until the sugar is melted.  Arrange the pineapple rings and cherries on top of the sugar and butter.   Then sprinkle the coconut on top of the rings.  Mix the yogurt and brown sugar together and pour on top of the coconut and hen add the cake mixture over the top of the yogurt mix.  Bake in a pre-heated oven on 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until done and tooth pick clean.

I hope that you try this recipe and go yum.  I also want to say have a very Happy New Year.  Eat your greens and Black Eyed Peas, we all need the wealth, health and luck that it can bring.  Please visit my fan page and like, "Cooking With MadJon and Friends".  Watch it on ASTV 95, www.aikenstandard.com.  Happy trails to you until we meet again.  Eileen Hutson, MadJon.  Oh and check out my e-cookbook on ITunes, MadJon Holidays for your new Ipads out there in web land.

What Does Christmas Mean To You? Christmas Raspberry Coconut Ice Box Cake

 

 

 

Hello to all my foodies friends out there in web land just want to say Merry Christmas  to you all and send you out a wonderful Christmas Raspberry Coconut Cake recipe to try that my sister and I made for our Christmas Show this year.

Today am writing about Christmas.  It’s the time of year where we are celebrating as Christians, the birth of Christ, my Lord and Savior.  I know that it’s hard to celebrate Christmas when we have so much sadness around this year with the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and the loss of so much innocence with the victims.  The loss of 26 victims total and 20 of them children and we ask why? I don’t have the answer for that.  Any who I just want to say that my prayers are with each and every family member including the shooters, they are all victims in one way or another.  All I know is God’s angels are crying along with our nation and the world.  I also want to remember the other shooting victims from this year and I pray also for their families and the loss of their loved ones during this holiday season.  That being said What Does Christmas Mean To You?  For me am very thankful for my family and friends.  Am thankful for the love they hold for me as well.  Am thankful my sister Imogene Clark was able to come and join me on my Christmas Shoot this year.  If you saw the show she was the Red Head.  We had some fun with the show and made a Christmas Brunch which I hope you try some of the recipes like: Brown Sugar Thick sliced Bacon and some Southern Fried Cheese Christmas Grits Ball’s, which were very tasty indeed. Did you know that grits came from dried ground Hominy and they were introduced to the colony’s by the American Indian. Not a lot of Northerners have ever tried grits.  They don’t know what they are missing.  Grits were a staple at our house when I was a kid. Then we tried our hand at some Pumpkin Pancakes with toasted walnuts, with some nutmeg thrown in.   We also rustled up some Fruit Salad, Fried Chicken Tenders with Milk Gravy, Ham and Spinach Quiche, and managed to make some Bloody Mary’s to take the edge off.   All was to our liking for our Christmas Brunch and I hope that your Christmas brunch is just as tasty.  I remember one Christmas when the three older children were called upon to pass on our Christmas gifts to the little ones at our house, which we did but not with great joy I have to say being that I was at the age of about 8 then and I still believed in Santa but not after that.  However we got over it and at least helped the little ones with their gifts.  Yea our dad was that way he said, one of life’s lessons is it’s time to let you know who the real Santa is and that it’s a tough world out there and its time you learned a lesson.  So I remember that lesson very well however it did show me how to share.  I also managed to do a shoot with a friend of mine named Mark Busbee, which I will write about later, however I asked him what dish he had to serve up for Christmas and he said that it was his Pecan Cake that has been passed down in their family for years.  He painstakingly grains down the pecans for the cake and I asked him if he had ever toasted the Pecans first to bring out the oil in the nuts for a more nutty taste before he grains them and he said no but he will have to try that.  Any who, I hope for Christmas that all your wishes come true but if they don’t I wish you luck in putting everything back together so it works out for you.  I wish you peace and joy in your lives.  I wish you to feel the love of God in your lives as well.  Blessing to you all and I hope you enjoy these recipes and don’t forget to make that favorite family recipe for your menu and keep watching the Cooking With MadJon and Friends show on ASTV 95. Visit me on facebook at http://www.cookingwithmadjon.blogspot.com/.  If you own an Ipad please go buy my e-cookbook on ITunes called MadJon Holiday and Merry Christmas.  Happy Trail to you and yours until we meet again.

 

Christmas Raspberry Coconut Cake

Cake Mix Yellow  1 Box
Coconut 1 Cup

Cook the cake according to box directions. Use three layer pans like 8 or 9 inch.

Raspberry Filling

1 pint fresh or frozen Raspberry's
1 cup sugar
3 TBSP Corn Starch
1 Box Jell-o Raspberry
Butter 1 TBSP
1 cup water

Mix all the ingredients and bring to a simmer about 10 minutes.   When cake is cool add the raspberry sauce in the middle of the cakes.  Now you are read to ice the cake.

Icing

1 large cool whip
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Sour Cream

Mix all ingredients together and Ice the cooled cake and top with some extra coconut if you wish.      

Southern Fried Christmas Cheese Grits Ball's

Southern Fried Christmas Cheese Grits Ball's Northerners Gotta Try Them

Hello again to all you foodies out there in web land, its MadJon again, wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas season.  However, before I start I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of New town, Connecticut and the families of the victims.  I can't even start to say how you may feel.  All I can say is am very sorry for what has happened to you and yours.  Blessings to you during your time of need. 
Now do you know where grits came from? Well they came from the American Indian and they passed it on in the Colony days.  They come from dried Hominy and when ground they become our wonderful Southern Grits.  Which can be served with breakfast and buttered, boiled, pan fried, cheesed up and made into some wonderful South Carolina Shrimp and Grits.  I've also made a dish called Italian Shrimp and Grits. Which is one of my favorites.  When I did our Christmas show on the Cooking With MadJon and Friends set with my sister Imogene this year we made this recipe, which I liked.  However I decided they would taste better with some green onions cooked in the mix.  When I lived in Illinois we couldn't find these wonderful grits and when ever we went home to Texas we'd stock up on grits until our next visit.  My father was from Tennessee and we ate grits all my life however if you were from the North they never knew what a grits was.   My mom didn't know what grits were until she married my dad, come to think of it she hadn't eaten mush either, however she was from Connecticut.  I have heard people from up north say,"What the heck is a grits anyway"?  I hope this recipe helps introduce grits to you all. Any who I hope you give this recipe a try going down this grits road.  I also want to wish you the very best holiday season. Most of all enjoy your families you all. 

Fried Cheese Christmas Grits Ball's

Cooked 4 servings Grits, cooled
1 Egg, beaten
Onion Powder, 1 tsp
Garlic Powder, 1 tsp
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Green Onions, Chopped, 2 each
White or Yellow Cheese, 1 1/2 Cup
Jalapeno Pepper, 1 diced, no seeds, unless you want some heat
Panko Crumbs, 1 1/2 cups, to coat the balls

Cool your cooked grits.  In a bowl add your egg, spices, salt and pepper, green onions, cheeses, jalapeno, and mix until blended.  Roll into 2" balls and roll into the panko crumbs.  Heat your oil to about 325 degrees and cook balls on both sides until they are nice and brown and serve HOT.  Sever with your favorite sauce.

 This is my sister and I on the set of Cooking With MadJon and Friends Christmas shoot.  To watch the show go to www.aikenstandard.com ASTV 95 and the show is listed or go to my face book fan page https://www.facebook.com/CookingwithMadjon also I do have the Itunes MadJon Holiday e-cookbook out for your holiday menu needs.  Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  Eileen Hutson, MadJon.