Baklava

Sorry, I forgot to take step by step photos but here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

16 oz package of Phyllo dough
1 cup butter melted in the microwave
1 lb nuts crushed (walnuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios or any combination thereof)
1 tbsp cinnamon

Sauce:

1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the crushed nuts with the cinnamon.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 13 X 9 baking pan. Take phyllo dough out of container and roll it out onto a flat clean surface. Check to see if you need to cut it down in size to match the pan. Put 2 sheets of phyllo dough onto the bottom of the pan and butter them well. Repeat till the bottom is 8 sheets thick.

Sprinkle 3 tbsp of the nut mixture on top of the buttered dough. Layer with 2 sheets of dough, butter the dough and sprinkle nuts. Continue till the nuts are finished. The top layer should be 6 sheets deep.

Cut the whole thing into diamonds or squares with a sharp knife. Bake for 50 minutes.

While the baklava is baking, heat the water and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Add vanilla and honey and simmer for 20 minutes.

When the baklava is done, take it out and pour the syrup mixture over it. Let it cool and serve :-)

Vanilla cookies

As easy as easy gets

Recipe:

Vanilla cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix and drop marble sized balls onto greased baking dish.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

You can use any of the following combinations to replace the cake mix and extract:

- lemon cake mix with lemon juice
- chocolate cake mix with kahlua chocolate sauce
- Spice cake mix and cinnamon

Peanut Butter Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter - the recipe called for creamy, I used crunchy
1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

Butter recipe cake mix

Step 1:

Cream the peanut butter and butter together till it's creamy.

Step 2:

Add the eggs, one at a tiume, mixing them it thoroughly with the butter mix.

Step 3:

Add flour and water alternatingly and mix till it's nice and creamy.

Step 4:

Pour into a 9 inch round springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Check after 45 minutes to see if the cake is cooked through in the middle. If not, leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Step 5:

Let the cake cool on a wire rack.

Preparing the frosting:

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

4 cups confectioner's sugar

Heavy whipping cream

Cream the peanut butter and butter together till frothy. Add the sugar one cup at a time and mix it in well. Add a bit of whipping cream, just enough to make the frosting easy to spread.

Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. I added a bit of kahlua chocolate sauce and swirled it into the frosting.

Rum Cake

After making this cake for over a dozen times, I decided to record the recipe, more for my own records than anything else.

What you need:

1. Yellow cake mix
2. Vanilla pudding mix
3. 4 eggs
4. 1/4 cup oil
5. 1/2 cup milk
6. 1/2 cup rum
7. Bundt cake pan

Sift the cake mix and pudding mix well together. Mix the eggs, oil, milk and rum into it and mix at a medium speed for 5 minutes at least.

Oil and flour the cake pan and shake it upseid down to remove any excess flour. Pour the cake mix into the pan. Bake it at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. The cake should be a nice light golden color.

What you need for the glaze:

1. 1 cup sugar
2. 1/2 cup rum
3. 1/2 cup butter
4. 1/4 cup water

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat it over low heat, stirring constantly. It should be just a little syrupy when done.

Poke holes in the cake, as many as you can without breaking the cake :-) Pour the glaze all over the cake. Don't worry if there's too much, the cake will soak it up. Let it sit for a while to soak up all the glaze, then invert it onto a cake dish and serve.