Recipe(tried): Tilapia Stuffed with Crabmeat, Rosemary-Garlic Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts, Spinach Blueberry Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese in a Raspberry Hazelnut Vinaigrette, Mrs. Teddy Donohue's Lemon Cake

Hello Everyone!

I've had quite a busy day, fortunately my DH came home early to help me go to the City Dump to get rid of some items that the trashman could not take. While riding back home, a heavy downpour of rain came down and the wind was blowing like mad. You could tell it was a nasty rainstorm by the way twigs and branches came down in our neighborhood. I feel so bad for the people of Texas because Rita looks like she will be a nasty one. Right now, the news is saying that it looks like it is headed for the Galveston-Houston area.

I baked another cake today since I gave away most of the Lemon Pound Cake to friends and neighbors. I think it's nice to have some sort of cake or sweet to go with milk or coffee in the house, don't you?

I am almost finished reading a wonderful book by Michael Lee West, author of She Flew The Coop and American Pie. This one is called, Consuming Passions (A food Obsessed Life). Here's a little excerpt from the inside cover:

"Every Sunday, the whole family gathered at Mama Hughe's house in Amite County, Mississippi. They were ferocious eaters and talkers, devouring rumors and innuendo with gusto. Food was their common language, and everyone understood the dialects" ---Aunt Tempe, reminiscing about family dinners.

The inside cover goes on:

"From Michael Lee West, author of the acclaimed American Pie, She Flew The Coop and Crazy Ladies comes a delightfully quirky memoir of an adventurous food-obsessed life, laced with delicious secret recipes passed from generation to generation. Wonderfully presented and thoroughly entertaining, this warm and witty work unites West's evocative voice and humor with the uniquely American form of kitchen tales in the tradition of Laurie Colwin.

West lends her distinctive humor and often hilarious insights to stories about her trials and tribulations as a Southern woman who became an "accidental gourmet". In this irresistible memoir, mothers swing from chandeliers, elderly aunts brew love potions, a South American nymphomaniac stirs up trouble at a Louisiana BBQ joint, and Margaret Mitchell's bed is discovered during a routine antique hunt, all in pursuit of good food."

There are over 15 family recipes in the book. I love this book and so will every cook out there!! You can get it at the local library...

Tonight for dinner we are going to enjoy:
Tilapia Stuffed with Crabmeat
Diced Redskin Potatoes with Rosemary & Roasted Garlic
Brussels Sprouts
Spinach Blueberry Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese in a Raspberry Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Mama's Sweet Iced Tea
Mrs. Teddy Donohue's Lemon Cake

Enjoy! Gina

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TILAPIA STUFFED WITH CRABMEAT

These fillets are already prepared by Publix and come on a bed of spinach. All you do is pop them in a 350 oven for 35 minutes.

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DICED REDSKIN POTATOES WITH ROSEMARY
AND ROASTED GARLIC MADE BY RESER'S

These are found in the produce department where they have all the containers of pre-cut veggies. All I do is drizzle them with olive oil in a teflon pan and crisp them up. They are already pre-cooked. They area delicious!

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SPINACH BLUEBERRY SALAD WITH GORGONZOLA
CHEESE IN A RASPBERRY HAZELNUT VINAIGRETTE
Servings: 2

Divide spinach leaves into two salad bowls.

Top each salad with:
shaved carrot
fresh blueberries
chopped red bell pepper
Gorgonzola cheese crumbs
flavored croutons
cashews

Drizzle with Wishbone Raspberry & Hazelnut Vinaigrette.

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MRS. TEDDY DONAHUE'S LEMON CAKE
Source: Lemons: A Country Garden Cookbook by Christopher Idone
Servings: 10

There is a reason for packaged cake mix and this is it!

FOR THE CAKE:
1 box Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake mix
1 (3 1/2 oz.) box jello instant lemon pudding
1/4 cup lemon juice
cold water
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
2/3 cup canola oil
FOR THE GLAZE:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
TO SERVE:
fresh berries

Preheat oven to 350.

PREPARE CAKE:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cake mix and instant pudding and set aside.

In a measuring cup, add the lemon juice and enough cold water to make 2/3 cup. Add the eggs, lemon water, and lemon extract to the dry ingredients and combine. Pour in the oil and beat at medium speed for 6 minutes or until smooth.

Lightly oil a Bundt pan and pour in the mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and the cake is springy to the touch.

WHILE THE CAKE IS BAKING, PREPARE THE GLAZE:
In a small bowl, whisk the confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, zest, extract and until smooth. Set aside.

When the cake is done, cool down for 5 minutes, invert, and unmold. Using a fork, poke holes on top of the cake. Spoon the glaze over the cake and let cool.

Serve with fresh berries.