I have always loved fresh pineapple, but have never tried cutting one up on my own. I got reacquainted with fresh pineapple over Easter this year at a neighbors house – and boy, was it good. A few days later I decided it was time for me to tackle cutting up a fresh pineapple.

Pineapple Upside Cake
– preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1-1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3-1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
• 2-2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups cane sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 cup whole milk + 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions
1 – Place the butter in a 9×13 glass baking pan – place the pan in the oven to melt the butter.
2 – Once melted sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter – followed by an even layer of pineapple chunks. Set the pan aside.
In a medium size mixing bowl, combine: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt – mix by hand with a whisk.
Add: oil, milk and vinegar mixture, eggs and vanilla. Using a hand mixer mix on low for 30 seconds just to combine ingredients.
Then turn the mixer to high and beat for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. Pour the batter into the cake pane over the pineapple.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs on it.
Once the cake is done remove it from the oven and and gentle loosen the sides with a butter knife.
Place a clean pan or rectangular platter over the cake and carefully flip cake over while still in the pan. Allow the cake pan to rest over the cake for 5 or 10 minutes before removing to allow the caramelized brown sugar to soak into the cake. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold with sweetened whipped cream.

Preparing a Pineapple
You can find several different method for preparing a pineapple on YouTube. I settled on this simple method. Using a shape knife cut the top and bottom off the pineapple. Then, with the pineapple standing upright use a knife, and follow the curve of the pineapple to cut the spiky shell off. Now lay the pineapple on it’s side and make 1/2 inch slices. Use a small pair knife to cut the core out of each slice.

The juices in pineapple slices will get sweeter when the pineapple is grilled or pan fried with a little butter. Pan seared pineapple made a great addition to a blackened salmon and rice dish.

Incredibly cheesy, ultra creamy and topped with a crunchy Panko-Parmesan topping, this mac and cheese recipe is a keeper. I made this recipe to take to St Marys when I went down to help Robin and Andrea get their house ready to sell. I made it in 2 – 8×8 pans instead of a 9×13 so they would fit in my portable electric refrigerator.

Ingredients
– 16 ounces of small elbow macaroni cooked
– 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
– 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
-1/3 cup all purpose flour
– cups whole milk
– 1 cup heavy whipping cream
– 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
– 4 cups sharp cheddar cheese graded
– 2 cups Gruyere cheese shredded
– 4 ounces goat cheese
– salt and pepper to taste
Topping
– 1-1/2 cups panko crumbs
– 4 tablespoons butter melted
– 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
– 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
1 – Cook pasta one minute shy of al dente according to the package instructions. Remove from heat, drain and place in a large bowl.
2 – Drizzle pasta with olive oil and stir to coat pasta. Set aside to cool.
3 – Melt butter in a large deep Dutch oven or stock pot.
4 – whisk in flour over medium heat and continue to whisk for about 2 minutes until bubbly and golden.
5 – Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream until nice and smooth. Continue whisking until you see bubbles on the surface and then continue cooking and whisking for another 2 minutes. Whisk in the salt and pepper.
6 – Add the goat cheese, and two cups of the shredded cheese and whisk until smooth. Add another two cups of shredded cheese and continue whisking until smooth and creamy. Sauce should be nice and thick.
7 – Stir in the cooled pasta until combined and pasta is fully coated with the cheese sauce.
8 – Spoon 1/2 of the cheese coated pasta into either an 9×13 glass baking dish, 2- 8×8 pans or 5 small aluminum pans. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, then spoon remaining pasta into pans.
9 – in a small bowl, combine the panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese, melted butter and paprika. Sprinkle over the top.

I bought a pack of 55 disposable aluminum loaf pans with lids from Amazon. The size of the pans are 7.8″ x 4.3″ x 2″, 650ML (2.747 cups). I sprayed 5 pans with olive oil and filled them with the mac and cheese. I labeled the lids, put 2 pans each into one gallon freezer bags and then put them into the freezer.
The night before you want to bake one, take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.
To bake – pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F, remove the lid and bake for about 30-40 minutes until the bread crumbs are nice and brown and pasta is bubbling.

The Almost Healthy Muffins – I had some bananas that had gotten to too ripe to freeze for smoothies so I decided to make some healthy banana muffins. Typically, I look at several recipes and often blend ingredients to fit my own tastes. In this case I blended a recipe I found for whole wheat banana muffins with a recipe from the back of Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran package. I wanted a healthy muffin and was doing well until I decided to fold in three quarters of a cup of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Chips at the end. The Damerara sugar sprinkled on the top is not necessary but does add a nice crunch to these muffins. I think end results turned out good and these muffins freeze well – enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 ripe bananas ( about 1-1/2 cups)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips
Demerara Cane sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees – with the rack in the center.
Grease 12 piece muffin tin.
Whisk all of the dry ingredients in a medium/small bowl.
With a hand mixer on low setting beat the bananas, eggs, vegetable oil, maple syrup, milk and vanilla.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Fold in the walnuts and the chocolate chips if using.
Fill the muffin tins all the way up.
Sprinkle the muffin tops with the Demerara Cane sugar
Bake for 15 minutes / check to make sure toothpick comes out clean.

Adding the Demerara Cane Sugar is not necessary, but it gives the muffin tops a nice crunch, that I like.

I individually wrap these muffins and put in a 1 gallon freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Not exactly sure how long they will last frozen because they’re usually gone in a month or two.