Cherries & Cream Dump Cake

The past couple of days, I've been trying to recover from my cooking marathon on the weekend, since we had great friends come over to spend Easter with us.  I overdid things, but it was worth it.  But during my downtime, I browsed Pinterest quite a bit. 

I saw a pin for a peaches and cream dump cake in a slow cooker.  The concept sounded great, but I didn't have peach pie filling on hand, and I didn't want to dig out my slow cooker and lose what little counter space I have available for the afternoon.  So I went back to my old faithful dump cake recipe that I've used for years and modified it to come up with this addictive dish.

It comes together quickly, takes less than an hour to bake, and is simply irresistible.  I took two bites out of the corner, you know, for quality control, and to make sure it was fit for my family and friends (and because it smelled so GOOD)!  I ended up having to cover it up with the lid and forcing myself to walk away.

Make this, and your family will thank you, even if your waist and thighs do not.  It's just THAT good. 

Cherries & Cream Dump Cake

1 box white cake mix
1 21oz can cherry pie filling
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350, and spray a 9"x13" baking dish.  Pour pie filling in the bottom, and top with undrained pineapple and spread out evenly.  Cut cream cheese into cubes and place evenly over the top of the fruit.  Mix butter into cake mix in a food processor until you have crumbs, and spread that over the cream cheese.  Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Chicken Piccata Pasta a la Anita's style

Chicken Piccata Pasta

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb chicken tenders, pounded thin & cut into 2" pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c butter, divided
1 c dry white wine
1/3 c chicken broth
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers
6 oz marinated artichoke hearts, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 cup roasted peppers, cut into strips
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 8 oz box tricolor rotini

Directions:

Whisk together flour, pepper, paprika & salt in a bowl.  Dredge chicken in mixture, coating evenly, remove to a plate & set aside.  Heat olive oil in large pan over medium-high heat, and cook garlic for a minute or so, until lightly browned, then remove to a bowl.
 
Dredge chicken in the flour mixture one more time.  Place 2 Tbsp b

Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Poppers

It's been a while since I've posted, almost six years.  I plan to change that.  I keep getting asked for my recipes, and figured I may as well start posting them here, since I've already got a blog set up.  It'll be my own personal recipe book that I can share.  I can't promise I'll post EVERY recipe, but I'll update as often as I can.

Today, I had a brainstorm....  We love jalapeno poppers, and we both love Buffalo chicken dip, so why not combine the two?  Sooo, I went to work.  I poached my chicken and shredded it last night and put it in the fridge to chill so it wouldn't melt the cheese.  Today, I mixed everything else with the chicken and stuffed it in the peppers.  Score!!

This recipe makes a big batch of filling, so I saved back 1 1/2 jalapenos, finely diced them and added them to the filling.  I'll put that in a baking dish, top with a bit more extra sharp cheddar and blue cheeses and bake it until it's browned on top and bubbling and serve it with crackers for a late night snack.

Filling:

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 8oz packaged cream cheese, softened
3oz blue cheese crumbles
1 1/2c shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
3/4c Frank's RedHot sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix everything together and set aside.  Halve your jalapenos lengthwise and take out the seeds and veins to reduce the heat.  WEAR GLOVES!  Yeah, that's SUPER important.  If not, you'll hate yourself later.  Trust me, but don't ask how I know!

Fill your jalapeno halves with the filling.  I find that it's easiest to use a spoon, and I cup the jalapeno in my palm and flip the spoon of filling upside down and sort of smoosh it down so it's packed in there.  You want it mounded, but not so full that it runs everywhere when the cheese starts melting.  Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until the tops start to brown slightly and the cheese is bubbling. 

Allow to cool and devour.

I hope you try this, because it's awesome, even the non-hot-stuff eating people in our house loved these.