Chili Dogs and the Saga of Cheese Whiz or Not

 

 

Who doesn't like Chili Dogs? 
Well, Tim told me they are always better when they are Chili Cheese Dogs so when I was going to make them a few years ago, I was thinking some nicely grated sharp aged Cheddar.

So, I got all of the ingredients together.   An awesome batch of chili (recipe to follow some day), chopped onions, Ambassador Wieners, sour cream and fresh wheat bakery buns.

 

 

However, to my dismay, Tim came home with a jar of Cheez Whiz.    Really? Cheez Whiz? Is that even a food?

 





 

Well, he told me to trust him.    We grilled the dogs, heated the chili and slathered the Cheez Whiz on the bun before assembling.    The heat from the dogs and chili melted the Cheez Whiz and I was sold.   I really hate to admit it, and we don't often buy processed anything but this is quite good.   O.k., an old dog can be trained with old tricks!  I am however, not convinced this is a true food but it works.

 

Shirley's Pineapple Upside down Cake

 

This is an old fashioned cake and is absolutely awesome.   It is my Moms recipe and believe me, I have tried others and they do not hold a candle.   Mom has been making this cake as long as I can remember (we won't go into detail as to what that means), and I just needed to get the recipe and make it myself.  My favorite kitchen activity is cooking, not baking, but this is easy, pretty and delicious!.

Recipe

1/4 cup butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
Canned Pineapple slices
Bottled Marashino cherries

Grease an oven safe cast iron frying pan with the butter, top with brown sugar and then arrange the pineapple slices on the bottom, inserting a cherry in every middle.  If you don't like the cherries, you can omit them, or try some toasted pecans.

Cake

3 egg yolks whisked
8 tbsp. of the pineapple juice from the can (I don't know why Mom's recipe didn't simply say 1/2 cup)
1 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

Blend with a mixer then add until blended:

1 1/8 cup white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Finally whip the 3 egg whites to a soft peaks and fold into cake batter.  
Pour into pan.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.   Until the cake bounces up when touched or a tooth pick comes out clean after inserting.

Invert onto a cooling rack immediately removing it from the pan.

When cooled, serve with fresh whipped whipping cream and enjoy!

I made this for Valentines day and served the leftovers to the 'guys' after their fishing tournament.   They liked it so much, I think they forgot that they did not catch anything!