Oreo Cake with Oreo Buttercream

This was Miller's cake request this year and it was delicious!  If you have an oreo lover in your house, this is the cake for you.

Oreo Cake

1 box white cake mix
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
1 ⅓ c. water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
2 eggs
10 oreos, crushed

Preheat oven to 325.  In a mixer, combine cake mix, flour, sugar and salt.  Add water, vegetable oil, vanilla and sour cream.  Mix well.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add crushed cookies and blend well.  Evenly distribute batter into cake pans prepared with Baker's Joy.  Bake for 16-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes then move to a wire rack to fully cool.  Top with oreo buttercream.

Oreo Buttercream

15 oreos, processed to a fine powder
1 ½ c. butter, room temperature
4 ½ c. powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
pinch of salt

Mix butter and powdered sugar until combined.  Add vanilla and heavy cream and mix well until good consistency.  Add pinch of salt and oreos and blend well.  Spread over cooled cake.

Alabama Firecrackers

This is something that I've been making for the past year and just realized I've not shared it here when I was looking for the recipe just now.  These crackers are like magic, because the oil doesn't leave the crackers soggy.  Don't know the science behind it, but these are so addictive.  Perfect little snack for any tailgate or a dressed up cracker for soups.

Alabama Firecrackers

6 sleeves saltine crackers (not off-brand)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 3/4 c. canola oil
2 tsp. dill
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Remove crackers from sleeves and line up like dominos in an air-tight container with a lid.  In a small bowl, combine oil and seasonings, stirring well.  Pour mixture evenly over crackers.  Put lid on and immediately invert container upside down.  Every half hour continue flipping right side up and upside down.  Shake ever so slightly, if necessary.  Once all the oil is absorbed, the crackers are ready to eat.  Approximately two hours.  

**I renamed these Alabama firecrackers because I saw the same recipe referred to by Southern Living as Alabama instead of Texas.  What can I say...I'm an Alabama home-r.

Favorite Graham Cracker Crust

1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/3 c. brown sugar (or 1/3 c. white sugar for less sweet)

Combine crumbs, butter and sugar.  Stir well until combined.  Spray pie plate and press crumbs into pie shell.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

*The original recipe didn't call for spraying pie plate and my crust stuck pretty bad, so I'm going to try spraying next time to keep it from sticking.

Crunchy Romaine Toss

Crunchy Romaine Toss

1 c. walnuts or pecans
1 pkg. ramen noodles, uncooked and broken into pieces (discard flavor packet)
4 Tbsp. butter
1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and cut or torn into pieces
4 green onions, chopped
1 c. Sweet & Sour Dressing (recipe below)

Brown nuts and noodles in butter; cool on paper towels.  Store in ziploc bags until ready to use.  Mix broccoli, romaine and onion in salad serving bowl.  Before serving, toss lettuce mixture and noodle mixture together with 1 c. sweet and sour dressing.  (Original recipe says start with 1 cup.  I started with ½ cup and added as needed.  I probably used about ¾ cup.)  Toss to coat well.  Serve with remaining dressing for guests to add as they prefer.

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Sweet & Sour Dressing

2/3 c. olive oil
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
salt & pepper, to taste

In a mason jar, mix all ingredients together and shake well until all ingredients are combined.  Continue to shake periodically until all (or most) of the sugar has dissolved.  Refrigerate remaining dressing.


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I recently had some friends from church over for supper and this salad was a hit.  When I first tasted the dressing by itself, I was worried that it wasn't going to be good because the dressing seemed a little too strong.  Mixed with all the other ingredients and it was delicious!  I served it alongside Sausage & Zucchini Pie and for dessert we had Nutella Pie with a graham cracker crust.

Cucumber Salad

I make a cucumber salad for my dad that has cucumber, tomato and onion.  I was looking for something a little different because it isn't my favorite.  I apparently love the vinegar a pickle offers, so this salad has hit the spot and made me enjoy eating the cucumbers from my garden.  I've only stumbled on using jalapeño pepper because that is what I had and threw it in there.  I love Famous Dave's pickles, so this accomplishes that without the trouble of canning pickles.  If you don't like heat, just use dill.

Cucumber Salad

4 cucumbers (I only used 2 because my cucumbers are a loooong variety), peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 c. vinegar
½ c. water
¾ c. sugar

In a small saucepan, bring vinegar, water and sugar to a boil until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over thinly sliced vegetables and chill.

**I've also just remembered that I do like taziki sauce, so maybe I like cucumbers more than I realize.

Quick Pickled Brussels Sprouts

Quick Pickled Brussels Sprouts

10 Brussels sprouts
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. white vinegar
1 tsp. coarse kosher salt
10 black peppercorns
1/4 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1 sliced garlic clove
pinch of crushed red pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Trim and cut in half Brussels sprouts.  Boil for about 5 minutes, until bright green.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Bring water, vinegar and salt to boil and simmer until salt is dissolved.  In a sterilized pint jar, combine peppercorns, mustard seeds, garlic and red pepper.  Place Brussels sprouts in jar; add hot vinegar mixture.  Cool completely to room temperature.  Cover with lid and chill 4 days before serving.  Store in refrigerator for up to one month.

Apple Cheese

Recently I had a crowd of grandparents to feed and I decided to try this recipe on them.  It sounded so interesting to me, but I'm not the biggest of fruity desserts so I knew they would make good guinea pigs.  All of my guests loved it.  I served it straight out of the oven and unless you plan to serve it with ice cream, I would suggest giving it time to sit and cool slightly before burning their tongues off.

Apple Cheese

1 stick butter, softened
1 c. self rising flour
1 c. sugar
1 c. grated Velveeta cheese
40 ounces apple pie filling

Preheat oven to 375.  Butter 9x13 inch baking dish.  In a large bowl, combine softened butter and flour.  Mix in sugar.  Toss the grated cheese into the dough, stirring gently.

Pour the cans of apple pie filling in bottom of baking dish.  Sprinkle the lumps of dough evenly over apple pie filling.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until dough turns golden brown.