Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Laura always has certain fondness for cake and a few years back I made a Pumpkin Spice Cake with a buttery Amarula cream cheese frosting that became her new favorite!

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This is one of those recipes that you need three bowls… one for the dry, one for the wet ingredients and one for the frosting.

Wet ingredients bowl:
1/2 cup Amarula Liquor
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 can 15 ounce solid pumpkin
4 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend

( my blend is 6 parts, cinnamon; 2 parts each of nutmeg, allspice and cloves; 1 part each of mace, cardamon and ginger)

Dry ingredients bowl:
2 – 2 1/4 cups bread flour ( start with 2 then check)
2 cups fine sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Basic process:
gradually blend the dry into the larger bowl with the wet ingredients
Baking:
350 degrees for around an hour
Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 cups powdered sugar. (Or as needed to be firm bu pourable)
ADD enough Amarula Liquor to make the frosting thick but pourable ( around 1/4 cup)

top off with sliced Almonds

RESULTS:
I made this for my wife’s 62nd birthday and all 130 pounds of her had three huge servings… And it’s gone!when she thought she’d just have a ‘taste.’

Tomato Soup and Egg Salad sandwich

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One of my favorite lunches begin with tomato soup! Some foods transform us to another place and time :

Foods are like that with me, they remind me of different places and times. From my childhood, I look fondly on my favorite lunch whether home or a friends … egg salad sandwich and tomato soup!

Ingredients:

2 cans diced or cut tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
2 cans tomato sauce
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon mixture of salt, pepper and garlic powder
1 cup dried and chopped sweet basil
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Process

1) use a blender to chop tomatoes… but not to the point of a puree

2) add tomatoes, tomato sauce and chicken stock into a large pan or pot under low to medium heat and stir and reduce to slightly thicken

3) add cream, butter, seasonings, a squirt or two of lemon juice and Basil … continue stirring until completely blended and bubbling

Serve with egg salad sandwich!

Bon appetite!

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Bear Hunting in New Bruswick #safariclubintl #nra #hunting

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I am up here in New Bruswick at Lawrence Dwyer & Sons outfitters on a bear hunt. Got my bear and bring home the meat… Thinking about a bear stew fixed in a bread bowl… Spiced right it could be wonderful!

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These nice folks have been doing this for over 60 years and they do it right! The food was spectacular… And we were hungry.

Special thanks to my buds at Sunrise Safaris to know just where to go!