1 Box of GFS Yellow Cake Mix

2 Boxes of Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix

1 Box of Duncan Hines Marble Cake Mix

1 Jar of Apricot Jam

1 Jar of Strawberry Jam

4 to 5 Jars of Vanilla Cream Cheese or Whipped Icing

A Set of Baking Rings
Ingredients for Glossy Fondant

Directions:

Start with the cake. You want to ensure you follow the instructions on the box. We used GFS yellow cake mix. You can use whatever you want. But this particular cake mix was in a huge box so it saved us a bundle of time. Mix the yellow cake mix up in a large bowl, add the half of the cake mix in a greased pan and bake. In a separate bowl mix the chocolate cake mix. Add the remaining yellow cake mix to a pan, shake it slightly to release any air bubbles. Then pour the chocolate cake mix on top take a knife or cake tester and begin to swirling the 2 cake mixes together to give it the marbled effect. Place it in the oven and bake it according to the instructions on the box. The remove it and let it to cool completely before adding any filling.
However if you don't have the restaurant size pan like I did you can scale it bake and use a smaller pan or find online them online at Amazon or Dean's Supply.

Once the cake is completely cooled you will need to start building the cake. We used 2 types of filling: strawberry jam and apricot jam. Warm the jam slightly in the microwave and spread each on side of the cake. Basically the left side of the cake should have apricot jam and the right should have strawberry. Place the other cake on top and begin shaping the cake. Using a serrated knife shape the cake into the shape of the minion. Its gonna take some time before you get the shape of the Minion down but its all about trial and error.


See it's all about trial and error. So once you get shaped to your liking get your fondant together. You have to work fast with fondant it dries and cracks quickly so time is of the essence. If you are coloring your fondant like we did you need to get your fondant coloring and add it to the fondant. A little of the food coloring goes a long way. Color each piece as you need them to keep the fondant from drying out. Roll out your yellow fondant first. You need to lay down some confectioners sugar similar to the way you roll out dough. Roll it out so that it's large enough to cover your entire cake. Then you need to press the fondant gently on to the cake. Shape the fondant on to the cake and cut off the excess.

Cut out the eyes, the goggles, the overalls pockets, and the number 3. To glue down the fondant pieces use icing or water to wet the icing slightly. You have to be creative. This cake wasn't easy to make but we improvised and we made it work!

The end result is this beautiful Minion Cake! Shoutout to Tash for pushing me to make this beautiful cake!

So here it goes!

Garlic French bread Recipe:

1 Loaf of French bread or Italian Bread

1/2 cup of Butter or Margarine

Generous Sprinkling of Garlic Powder (There is no set amount to use as much or as little as you want.)

2 tbsps. Of Fresh or Dried Parsley

Instructions
With a serrated knife cut the French bread or Italian bread in half once lengthwise and cut in half again. This will leave you with 4 pieces.

Mix your butter. If you use real butter please make sure its softened. Let it sit on the counter for 10 min. If you use margarine you can start adding the other ingredients right away.

In a bowl add your butter, garlic and parsley. You can use a hand mixer, mix by hand or you can use a food processor. Mix well until your compound butter is completely incorporated.

On a cookie sheet place all four pieces of bread evenly on the sheet. Cook in the oven on 400. Allow it to bake for 10 min. Take it out of the oven spread each piece with the compound butter and place back in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then remove. Bake for longer if you want a crispier bread. I had to make mine softer for my father.




Baked Ziti Recipe:


3 10oz Bags of Penne Pasta
4 Jars of Classic Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 Onions
1 1/2 Bell Peppers
3 tbsp. Italian Seasonings
2 tbsps Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsps Hot Sauce
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 Bay Leaf
2 tbsp Basil
2 tbsp Parsley
1 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper
3 Hot Italian Sausage Links
1 4lb Pk of 73/27 Ground Beef
4 cups Mozzarella/Provolone Blend Cheese
All seasonings can and should be adjusted to your tastes!

Instructions
Cook your penne pasta for 10 minutes. It will not be done but it will finish cooking in the oven so under cooking is fine. Add plenty of salt and oil to your water. This will keep the pasta from sticking and give it plenty of flavor. Cook off and then drain.

Cooking the Meat
Take your Italian sausage and remove it from the casing. Drop into a big bowl. Add your ground beef and thoroughly mix together.

Add to a cast iron pan and cook. There will be an abundance of oil coming from the meat. Drain it out. You don't want your meat swimming in oil. Season your meat liberally with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Add your onions and bell pepper right into the meat.

 

Stir and cook. You'll see the onions and bell pepper soften. When the meat is browned turn off the heat.


Cooking the Sauce
Unless you want to make your own sauce buy classic tomato sauce. Its pretty bland so you can doctor it up to your tastes.

Add salt, sugar, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, Italian seasoning, the bay leaf, parsley, hot sauce, and crushed red pepper to the sauce. Let it simmer and boil for 5 minutes. Taste your sauce. If your sauce is bland, acidic and has a strong tomato flavor add more salt and sugar.




Add a little at a time. If you add too much you'll end up with a sweet sauce for your ziti and that’s not good. You can also add more of your other seasonings. Make it so that it fits your tastes. Play around with it experiment!

Mixing
Now you can start to create your Baked Ziti. This can be done in 2 Methods:

1st Method is Layering:
Mix your penne, meat, and sauce in the pot. Let it rest for a couple minutes. You want the pasta to soak up the sauce. Get your casserole dish or roasting pan and create the first layer of ziti. Add your cheese to the top. Then add another layer of ziti, top the layer off with cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minute. Once the ziti is bubbling and the cheese is completely melted remove from the oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes then serve.

2nd Method is Fill the Pan and Top with Cheese:
Mix your penne and sauce up in a large roasting pan or casserole dish. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. This will let the flavors marry and the pasta cook. Add the cheese to the top of the ziti. Sprinkle it liberally place back in the oven until cheese is melted. Remove let it rest for 5 minutes and then serve. (I opted for the 2nd Method)




Serve with a light salad: Romaine lettuce & cherry tomatoes, lemon vinaigrette or Caesar dressing, and homemade garlic bread. And a big pitcher of Sweet Tea!

For Christmas this year my mother didn't want Macaroni and Cheese and we needed another dish to compliment our eclectic menu. So my mom suggested we make an all cheese lasagna. I was skeptical at first but I went ahead and made the lasagna anyway and it turned out GREAT! Especially when I added a great marinara sauce. It was absolutely awesome!

Ingredients

2 Boxes Lasagna Noodles

4 c Colby Jack Cheese

4 c Mozzarella Cheese

2 c Jack Cheese

Cheese Sauce

3 c Milk

3 tsp Black Pepper

3 tsp Parsley

3 tsp Salt

2 1/2 c Flour

1 Stick of Butter

Follow the instructions on the box for the noodles. Create the cheese sauce.
Cheese Sauce: Create a rue in a large pot (use whatever fat you like bacon, olive oil, butter, etc.) Cook your fat in the pan for 5 minutes. Then add the flour. Once the flour has cooked a little bit, slowly add the buttermilk. You need to do this with a whisk. It is very difficult to incorporate the flour without it. The sauce will be thick and slightly chunky just continue to stir. You should end up with a nice béchamel sauce; add the cream cheese and butter to the mixture. Constantly stir this mixture until everything is fully combined. Then add the Mozzarella and Colby jack cheese. Whisk the cheese into the sauce 1 cup at a time. This will allow the cheese to fully blend with the béchamel until it begins to bubble. Add your seasonings and let simmer, constantly stirring to keep the cheese mixture smooth. This is very tiring so be prepared to do some work. The work is hard but the payoff is creamy cheesy goodness!

Then begin a layering process. Alternate between a layer of cheese sauce, noodles, and cheese. Or cheese sauce, cheese, noodles. Which ever way works for you. Once you've reached the top of the pan place a full layer of cheese on top and put in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Or until the cheese on top is bubbling brown.  Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then Serve!

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Fresh Cranberries 

2 Cups of Frozen Cherries

1 Lemon, Zested

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

3 Tbsp Orange Juice

3 Tbsp Pineapple Juice

1 c of Sugar

Wash your berries in cool water. Gently moving them around and pick out any brown, broken or soft berries.

Add your clean berries to a pot with the one cup of sugar. Put it on medium-low heat and let the berries cook.  

The berries will begin to pop and slowly release their pectin which will cause it to thicken.

As you can see the berries have already created a thick sauce in the pot. 

*Substitutes*

Instead of citrus juices stick to the juices of the sauce. Cranberry and cherry juice will work wonders. Or better yet Pomegranate juice would add a wonderful boost in flavor. Blueberry, currant, grape, all flavors that would work very well in this sauce. Just substitute one or all of the juices for one of the subs and you'll have a new hit at your next holiday function!

Instead of using cherries use blueberries. They would add a wonderful color and beautiful flavor. 

Hope this helps! Happy Eating!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 Onions

2 Bell Pepper

1 Garlic Bulb

2 Eggs

3 tbsp Salt

3 tbsp Pepper

3 Cans of Canned Salmon

2 cups Bread Crumbs

1 cup Flour

4 tbsp Olive Oil or Canola Oil

Directions

Clean the canned salmon and place the meat in a bowl. Chop onions, bell peppers (saute the veggies until soft or translucent), garlic, mix with bread crumbs, flour and eggs. Form into patties and flour each side then pan sear in olive oil or canola oil. Fry until golden brown then drain on a paper towel. Before eating squeeze some fresh lemon juice all over it'll brighten the flavor of the croquette. 

*Pair up the salmon with a nice salad w/ a light lemon vinaigrette.*

Directions

Brown sausage in large frying pan. Scramble the eggs in pan (your going to need plenty of butter or margarine). Get a large pot add eggs, picante sauce, cheese and sausage. Simmer in a large pot until mixture is bubbling hot and cheese is fully melted. It should look like this. I know it doesnt look appetizing but I assure you its good! Many people give it the same look. But once you eat it you'll be surprised at the flavor:

2 tbsp Parsley Flakes

Preparation:

Start a pot of boiling water with a tsp. of canola oil and a generous amount of salt. Add the macaroni to the pot cook and strain (follow the cooking directions on the box). 

Cheese Sauce: Create a rue in a large pot (use whatever fat you like bacon, olive oil, butter, etc.) Cook your fat in the pan for 5 minutes. Then add the flour. Once the flour has cooked a little bit, slowly add the milk. You need to do this with a whisk. It is very difficult to incorporate the flour without it. The sauce will be thick and slightly chunky just continue to stir. You should end up with a nice béchamel sauce; add the cream cheese and butter to the mixture. Constantly stir this mixture until everything is fully combined. Then add the Mozzarella and Colby jack cheese. Whisk the cheese into the sauce 1 cup at a time. This will allow the cheese to fully blend with the béchamel until it begins to bubble.  Add your seasonings and let simmer, constantly stirring to keep the cheese mixture smooth. This is very tiring so be prepared to do some work. The work is hard but the pay off is creamy cheesy goodness!

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them together. The eggs need to be tempered to prevent scrambling. Slowly add the warm cheese sauce to the eggs to temper them. Once the eggs have been tempered, add them to the sauce. Combine the macaroni and cheese sauce together. Stir until fully incorporated. Add the rest of the cheeses to the macaroni and sauce mixture. Stir until the cheeses, sauce, and macaroni are fully incorporated. Sprinkle a generous cheese mixture on top and place in the oven at 350 degrees uncovered. Once the top of the macaroni and cheese has melted and browned, take it out and cover for at least 10 minutes. Then Serve. This recipe makes at least 2 pans of Mac so scale it down for a smaller meal.



*A good way to tell that the mac is done is to check the edges of the pan. Look to the left at the picture. See how the edges of the mac is brown and golden. That's how you know when its done!

*Add seasonings on a small scale to ensure the taste is to your liking. 

*Use the substitutions to re-create the side dish on a healthier level.