Easy Large Quantity Recipes: Feed an Army, Help a Neighbor

So many people around my state are hurting after the tornadoes that demolished homes and whole communities last week. Those who were more fortunate have really stepped up and are pitching in to help anywhere they can. They are clearing trees and debris, collecting donations, and cooking for shelters and neighbors. I've been asked if I had large quantity recipes to share for those cooking for a big crowd. Here are a couple that are easy and comforting:

TRACI'S MAC N CHEESE FOR 20

(recipe from our Louisville friend Traci Badenhausen)

This recipe can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

1 quart milk
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound macaroni
1 pound of grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (depending on your taste preference)

Directions:
In a saucepan, heat milk over medium heat. Stir until milk is scalded — just coming to a boil and forming small bubbles around the edges. Remove from heat, and set aside. In separate pan, melt margarine. Add the flour. Stir until blended, then turn off. Mixture should be pourable, yet thick enough to spoon out of pan.

In separate pot, cook macaroni in salted boiling water. Cook until tender, but not mushy. Drain, and set aside.

Combine flour and margarine mixture with scalded milk. Keep on low heat, and whisk until blended. Add 1 pound of grated cheddar cheese. Stir until blended, adding cayenne pepper to taste. Remove from heat, and fold into macaroni.

Place cheese and macaroni mixture in lightly greased dish/pan. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. May need to place under broiler for about 5 minutes to get it nicely browned on top.

MAUREEN'S EASY CHEESY SPAGHETTI BAKE FOR 50 

(from our Facebook friend Maureen Santos-Lussier)

Ingredients:

Ten boxes angel hair pasta

8 pounds ground beef

12 jars spaghetti sauce

12 packages shredded cheese.(we like the cheddar)

Brown the hamburger. (You can omit it for the vegetarians) In a seperate pot, boil the pasta. It does not take long. You'll want it to be al dente (slightly firm). Mix EVERYTHING together and put in 13x9 pans. Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes at 350. Take cover off and bake another 15 minutes or so, until the pasta is browned on the top. You can always add some grated Parmesan cheese to the top if you like. To serve, slice it into squares or spoon it out. It tastes just as good if you use the less expensive pasta and sauce. It is filling and a little goes a VERY long way.For 100, this recipe doubles easily.

MISSISSIPPI MUD CAKE FOR 200 

5 pounds margarine

10 cups sugar

1/2 cup vanilla

40 eggs

15 cups flour

2 1/2 cups cocoa

10 cups chopped nuts (I like toasted pecans)

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the sugar and margarine until fluffy. Add the eggs, one cup at a time. Add vanilla. Mix well. Gradually add the flour, one cup at a time. Add nuts. Pour into greased and floured sheet pans. Bake at 350 for one hour. Add the marshmallows for the frosting immediately after removing the cake from the oven so they melt on top.

Frosting:

10 sticks margarine

5  boxes Confectioners sugar

2 1/2 cups cocoa

1/4 cup milk

4 bags miniature marshmallows

Cream the margarine and the sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add vanilla and milk. While the cake is still hot, sprinkle the marshmallows on top and let them melt. Then spread the frosting over the marshmallows.

More large quantity recipes to come!

FOLLOW MARTIE ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE RECIPES, COCKTAILS, IDEAS, AND FUN!

Martie Knows Parties: My Mom's Pound Cake Recipe

I love a story with a happy ending! My mom was one of those classic Southern "pinch of this" cooks... and she was one of the best cooks ever. She started cooking when she was very young, having to help in the kitchen at the Alabama Children's Home where she lived from the age of four until eighteen. Well, being really dumb and away from home much of my life, I never got her to write down her best recipes and I cannot tell you how much I regret that. (note to everyone- get your precious family recipes down in writing) 

Me with my sweet Mom on Easter Sunday; check out the doughnut on my head!About 15 years back, my friend, Janet asked me for my mom's pound cake recipe. I called home and got it from my mom... scribbling it down on a piece of legal paper at the office. Well, I lost touch with Janet for a long time-- I was traveling all over and she moved to Kansas from Chicago. Through Facebook, Janet and I reconnected a while back and she reminded me that she had my mom's pound cake recipe and still makes it every Easter!!!! I was so thrilled to find that out! Well, this past Sunday, my mom's pound cake graced Janet's table for Easter once again and she shared the photos with me. I am so delighted to share both the recipe and Janet's photo with you!

I don't think this recipe varies much from the cream cheese pound cake recipe we've all shared and passed around... the key difference is the almond extract.

MY MOM'S POUND CAKE

Ingredients

Janet's Easter Pound Cake, my Mom's recipe3 sticks butter, room temperature
1 - 8 oz package cream cheese , softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300. Prep a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan... grease and flour or spray with Baker's Joy.

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the cream cheese and the butter at medium speed until creamy. Then add the sugar, a little at a time. Next, add the eggs, one at a time, beating until they are combined. Turn the speed on the mixer down. Combine the salt and the flour; adding a little at a time until it is blended. Add the almond and vanilla.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a wire cooling rack to allow it to cool completely.

FOLLOW MARTIE ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE RECIPES, IDEAS, AND CONTESTS!

Recipes from our Friends: LynnBo's Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Lynn and her husband GaryMy favorite photo of Lynn from back in the day-- pep rally day!I've known Lynn about as long as I've known anyone, I think. We went to elementary school all the way through high school together. Lynn had the most amazing parties back in the day... she was a big time party-thrower, even as a kid! I cannot hear Sly & the Family Stone to this day without thinking about spend the night parties at her house. And while we lost touch for a lot of years, I am soooo happy to have reconnected with her. I've met her teriffic husband Gary and one of her beautiful daughters, Kara. (who are both pretty amazing musicians and singers, I might add) I saw a Facebook post where someone was asking Lynn to make this cake for them and they were raving about it... so I asked her to share it with us. Lynn, you are so inspirational! I'm so happy we are friends!

LynnBo's FRESH STRAWBERRY CAKE with STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

1 strawberry cake mix (plus eggs and oil as required by the package)

1 1/2 cups fresh chopped strawberries plus more strawberries for garnish

1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick) softened
12 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons heavy cream or evaporated milk

1 small box strawberry Jello- add this to taste. (I used about half of the box)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 (or to package directions)

Prepare or spray your pans as directed on the package; I used Baker's Joy and sprayed mine.

First, chop up 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries and mash them so they resemble a puree.

Make the cake mix as directed except exchange the mashed strawberries for the water the package directions call for. Pour evenly into the prepared pan (s). Bake as directed or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Lynn recommends using a 9x13 pan but I used two 9" round pans for mine. Allow them to cool before frosting.

For the frosting:

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and Jello at medium speed of your mixer. Add the milk and vanilla and mix well.

Garnish with lots of strawberries. Lynn recommends adding them just before serving because there is so much moisture in the strawberries, they will slide all over the cake if you add them too soon. She also recommends to pat the strawberries dry before topping.

Hope you enjoy this one.... perfect for Spring and strawberry season!

Want more recipes for strawberry cake? Try this Strawberry Layer Cake recipe from our friends at myRecipes.com which calls for Grand Marnier in the frosting.  Yummy!

FOLLOW MARTIE ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE RECIPES, IDEAS, & CONTESTS!

Recipes from Friends: Lynn's Crusty Pound Cake Recipe (perfect for strawberry season!)

Our lovely friend Lynn WMy friend Lynn W from Birmingham is a wonderful cook and loves cooking for a crowd. Lynn is always entertaining and her brother always raves about her cooking when they have a family event. I think Lynn's cooking is his favorite part. Lynn's a wife, mom, grandmom, music lover, and also a very talented photographer... an all around amazing woman I am proud to call a friend.

Since it is almost strawberry and peach season down South, I asked Lynn to share one of her favorite classic recipes with us. This one is perfect warm right out of the oven or with fresh berries. Let me tell you, you are going to love this recipe! Her Crusty Pound Cake is very simple to make, so you can whip one up this weekend and you won't have to spend hours in the kitchen. Substitute this pound cake for those spongy cakes you usually get for Strawberry Shortcake. You can even grill it! Butter both sides and pop it on the grill to toast. Add fresh berries, some whipped cream and you've gone to heaven on a plate!

LYNN'S CRUSTY POUND CAKE RECIPE

1 ½ C butter, softened

3 C sugar

6 eggs

1 Tbls.  vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

3 C all-purpose flour

½ tsp. Salt

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl.  Add sugar gradually.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add flavors.  Combine flour and salt.  Slowly stir dry mixture into batter.  DO NOT OVERBEAT.

Pour into greased and floured 10 inch tube pan.  Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 25 minutes (toothpick will come out clean).  Cool in pan 15-20 mins.  Remove from pan, and cool on cooling rack.

Now, Lynn suggests if you want a lot of crust, to make the recipe in a 13 x 9 inch pan instead of the tube pan. Use the old-school toothpick method to check doneness if you use a different pan. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.

FOLLOW MARTIE ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE RECIPES, IDEAS, AND CONTESTS!