Hi friends!  Welcome back after the Thanksgiving holiday! My heart is so full from blessings that came from time with family!  I pray your weekend was a reminder of God’s goodness.

There are new things to do and learn, and things for which we must be ready, so let’s get to the post today!

When I learn something that makes my life easier, I figure it might help someone else, so I’m going to post a quick video today to share it with you!

Storage Tip: Do you have several trays and platters that need to be stored? I’ve found that all those ceramic platters and Pampered Chef pieces can be hard to stash away in the cabinet without getting chipped or cracked. I came up with a little idea of how I could keep that from happening, but still store them on top of one another. Here’s the short video to share my tip.

And now, to help make your Taco Tuesday easier…

Taco Trick: This week while at my parent’s, my mom fixed tacos for lunch. To heat the shells in the oven, she used her cast iron corn muffin pan! The shells stood up like little soldiers.

Then when it was time to fill the shells with the taco meat, there was no wrangling with the shells! It was so simple to fill them up and then put them on the plates.

Now, if you don’t have these muffin stick pans, it made me think of using a cupcake pan upside down. I think I saw that somewhere on Pinterest…oh yes, here it is! This is brilliant, too!

Before we go, let me share a Recipe Update: Years ago I shared a Buttermilk Apple Coffee Cake, but when I made it recently, it was so delicious that I wanted to share it again and update my previous picture with a better view of this lovely cake.

I love a recipe that can be used for different meals, and that’s the case for this coffee cake. I had made it for breakfast, and on its own, it is lightly sweet and delicious. However, my guests ate the oatmeal I’d prepared, but no one touched the coffee cake in the morning. Then when I needed a dessert later that day, I pulled it out and poured warm caramel sauce over top. It then looked like the most special dessert, made specifically for that meal! Here it is in all its glory!

Buttermilk-Apple Coffee Cake

Cake:
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced & peeled Granny Smith apple
3 tbl brown sugar
1 tbl lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbl butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
Cooking spray
2 tbl sliced almonds

Glaze:
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp low-fat buttermilk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  To prepare the cake, combine the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Cook for 5 minutes or until syrupy, stirring frequently, and cool.
3.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Combine granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract and almond extracts, beating well.  Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk,  beginning and ending with flour; beat well after each addition.
4.  Spoon the batter into a 8-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray.  Arrange apple mixture over cake; top with almonds. (I found that the batter was very thin and the apples sunk into the batter when I placed them on) Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Quickly invert cake onto wire rack.  Then invert onto a serving plate.
5.  To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, 1 tsp buttermilk and 1/4 tsp vanilla in a small bowl,stir with a whisk.  Drizzle glaze over cake.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield:  8 servings.  185 Calories, 5 g Fat

Make this – then you’ll have something for breakfast or dessert! It freezes well, too!

Do you have a special tip or trick to share? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

With love from my country kitchen,