Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Baking has always been something that interest me, but like many people it also filled me with panic. That is until I took the plunge and decided to just go for it.



When I was a child my grandmother was a wonderful baker, she made us great cakes and cookies growing up and each year all of us were presented with a birthday cake that fit our personality perfectly.



One of my favorite childhood photos is from my 3rd birthday. On my knees, looking in amazement at my Choo-Choo train cake, each car lovingly decorated with vibrant colors as they stood ready to roll down the tracks.



Whenever we visited, my grandmother always had cakes or cookies for us to enjoy. One of her best was a Cream Cheese Pound Cake.



Box cakes are great and have taken much of the mystery out of baking, but to me there is nothing better than baking a cake from scratch, it gives me a tremendous sense of accomplishment.



Yesterday was my neighbor's birthday, my gift to her was my grandmother's cake, with my own twist of a vanilla glaze. Now this cake isn't for the faint of heart and if you are on a diet not something you could eat every day, but for special visits with family or a memorable birthday celebration there is nothing like it!



Cream Cheese Pound Cake with a Vanilla Glaze, Home Made Easy!



Ingredients:

2 1/2 sticks of butter

3 cups sugar

3 cups sifted cake flour (I use self-rising flour instead, because I am lazy and don't like to sift. You can't tell the difference.)

8oz. package of cream cheese

6 large eggs

dash of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

In a large bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together.





Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each.

Add vanilla and a dash of salt.

Add flour, mixing well and pour into a bundt pan.

Once you have filled the bundt pan, put it into a COLD oven. Bake at 325 for 1 hour, 25 minutes. The cake comes out a beautiful golden brown.


While the cake is cooling, I made a simple glaze for topping. Combine 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg, spoonful of butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Whisk and put on the stove top stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is liquid. (DO NOT BOIL!)

After the glaze is complete drizzle it over the cake.

This cake has an amazing taste, it is a substantial dessert and great with berries, ice cream or by itself.

Childhood memories, celebrating a friend's birthday and a delicious cake made from scratch. Cream Cheese Pound Cake with a Vanilla Glaze is a wonderful Home Made Easy dessert!

Button Up Your Picture Frame

When I am crafting, one of the things I like to do most is "update" a project.

Recently I have found that using old buttons is a great way to make something old, new again, giving a great unique look to a traditional item.

Using buttons I recently made a plain wooden picture frame into something worthy of a cherished family photo.

Check it out, this is Home Made Easy....

What's Needed....

A plain picture frame

Variety of buttons

Hot glue gun

Clippers


Using large buttons as a backdrop and for interest, these usually need to have the loops clipped off the back. Clipping the first button allows you to create a solid base that you can then build on. Using the glue gun, I start in the corner of my frame and then add to the creation.


As you add buttons the dimension of the design will become evident. Be creative with the buttons, I try to keep an overall color scheme but use a variety of styles to create interest.

As you finish up with one side, accent the design with smaller beads, interesting colors and theme buttons.

After completing one side of the frame, move on. If you are doing all sides just continue the process around.

For this frame I chose to only do two sides, I thought it made the frame more interesting and highlighted the beauty of the original wood. I don't try to match the sides; however, I do try to balance them, but never match.

I think these frames are fun and makes the photo chosen for display even more special. Placed next to an oversize decor piece the frame provides a one of a kind point of interest.


A beautiful picture frame, buttoned up.... Home Made Easy.

Turkey Meatloaf

I love comfort foods and meatloaf is one of my favorites. I recently found a recipe in Every Day with Rachael Ray that put a new twist on the typical meatloaf.

One of my favorite things to do is take recipes and rework them and that is exactly what I did with this dish.

In the Every Day with Rachael Ray version the featured meat is beef. The dish also included salsa and whole cheese. I have been trying to eat healthy whenever possible, so I decided to make the dish with turkey. I also substituted some other ingredients to make this meatloaf something that I will enjoy eating over and over again!

(I think it would be good with lamb, venison or a combination of meats as well.)

The dish takes about 20 minutes to prepare and bakes for 45 minutes. In just over an hour you will have a delicious comfort food dinner, that is just as good on day two as day one.

All that for under $15.00!

Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 lb Lean Ground Turkey

(1) 14.5 Oz. can Diced Tomatoes (you may used flavored if you like, I buy the seasoned with Basil, Garlic and Oregano)

(2) 12 oz. jars of Flame Roasted Peppers

2% Milk Shredded 4 Cheese Mexican Blend

Bread Crumbs

(1) Medium Onion Chopped

(2) Eggs

Salt

Pepper


Pre-heat oven to 375

In a skillet, brown the ground turkey over medium heat. When turkey is browned drain fat through colander.

While turkey is browning, chop onion

Cover bottom of baking dish with roasted red pepper strips and a small handful of grated cheese

In large bowl combine turkey, onion, bread crumbs, diced tomatoes, eggs, salt and pepper

Mix ingredients with your hands and add to the baking dish

Bake for 10 minutes and then cover with cheese

Cook another 35 minutes until done

And that is Turkey Meatloaf, Home Made Easy

Welcome

Welcome to Home Made Easy!

Before we begin let me say I do not profess to be a home expert. I am not a Martha Stewart, Vern Yip or even Doug Wilson. But I am pretty good around the house.

I live in a 1925 Spanish style home that I am renovating and have learned through trial and error how to get things done efficiently.

This blog is simply for fun and to pass along some of the ideas that I have. I try to do things cheaply but with a good outcome. I hope you will find the ideas in this blog to be easy to follow, fun and helpful.

If you have ideas, recipes, crafts or anything else that you think would be fun for me to include please let me know, I am always looking for ideas to make Home Made Easy.