Do you cook?

Nice idea Ian, I never cooked Indian food. I just might try something. Do you have any propositions, but something simple for beginners? I use curry with chicken or rise, an find it very tasteful.
bbfeet you got me very interested on that recipe for eclair cake. When you have time, please post it here.

This recipe for the eclair cake is pretty much geared toward the warmer months, tho i have made it in the winter. I just seems to taste better on a hot day. It is a quick version of an eclair.
You will need: 9 by 13 inch dish and your fridge.
1 box of instant chocolate pudding
1 box of instant banana pudding
(i choose chocolate and banana myself, you can pick your 2 fav flavors)
1 tub of coolwhip
1 box of graham crackers
Can of Hersheys coco powder (not the whole can of course)
1 lb. bag confectioners sugar
1 stick butter
vanilla
milk

For the cake:
Make the puddings in two seperate bowls. Instead of 2 cups of cold milk for each box, use only 1, use your beater and the mixture will be thicker and darker than what your used to.

Add half the tub of coolwhip to each bowl of your pudding, split the tub between the two bowls. Don't mix this with your beater as you will break the creme. Fold in with a spatula until all creme is incorporated. Set the two bowls in the fridge for now. (licking is allowed :-D :-D )

For the topping:
In another bowl, use the 1 pound bag of confectioners sugar.
In your microwave, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.
Add the melted butter to your bowl of sugar.
Whisk this mixture together (a wire whisk is best for this)
Add 4 Tablespoons of the coco powder and whisk again, avoid clumps.
Warm a half cup of milk in the microwave
Slowly add the milk to the sugar and choc. mixture a little at a time.
Once you get the desired consistency, which is that of a pancake batter, your there. Make sure you warm the milk as not to cause the butter to clump.
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla at the end and blend together.

To assemble the cake:
Line the bottom of your 9 by 13 dish with the graham crackers. This size dish allows the crackers to fit perectly. It's okay to over lap the crackers if you have to.
Choose your first pudding, i usually use the chocolate first as to break up the color combinations.
Spoon ALL the first pudding down over your crackers and smooth with a spatula. Bring the pudding tight to the edges of your dish making sure all your crackers are covered. The pudding mixture should look sort of like a mousse.
Layer your first pudding with another covering of graham crackers. Press them down just a tad.
Cover your second layer of crackers with the second bowl of pudding, use it all. Smooth out the pudding covering all the crackers.
Whisk your chocolate topping one more time and pour this chocolate over your last layer of crackers.
If it's a bit loose, it's okay as the fridge will set the chocolate. Use all the topping and spread it entirely over your cake.

Put your cake in the fridge UNCOVERED until the chocolate starts to set up. If you try to cover your cake with siran or clear wrap, the chocolate will stick really bad to the wrap and pull it all off your cake.

After about an hour, you can cover your cake with foil or wrap, if you have the cover to the dish your using, that's good too.

FYI..This cake is the best if you make it in the morning and serve it after supper. The least amount of set up time would be about 6 hours.
The cake will cut easily with a butter knife and lifted out with a spatula.
I serve it with a big blob of whipped creme and a strawberry on top.

AS you can see by this recipe, i am not a calorie counter. When i eat this i can actually feel my jeans tighten up around my a**!!!!
But...what a way to go o.O

I would love your feedback, tho this sweet indulgence is not for everyone, it is delicious and great for a gathering or to be eaten alone (which i do :$

ENJOY

Well i am very glad that you have put the recipe here. I will try to make it for the weekend (I'm a little busy next few days), and will give my feed back to you. I sound very tasty and to be honest I cant wait to try it. I'll invite some friends and they can be the judges of my work :-) Just kidding.
Hope I don't mess it up.

You won't mess it up, it's an easy do. Take a walk on the wildside and do 3 or 4 layers!!! I do when i am having company for supper, it seems to go farther. You would have to use a deeper dish and try and keep to just 2 pudding flavors. Meshing to many flavors together just doesn't seem right and it's harder to differentiate what exact flavor your eating. A few good combos are lemon and vanilla, pistaccio and vanilla, butterscotch and vanilla, strawberry creme and chocolate, use your imagination. Make a little extra topping and dip your big fat strawberries in it.

Well considering that this is my first time to make any cake, I will you your original recipe and use chocolate and banana pudding. I like this combination, but also if I succeed this time, I will definitely try pistachio and vanilla. Like you said it sound simple, and I think I will be able to make it just right. It sounds like just a treat for summer time.
Do you have more of these recipes?

And yes, almost forget, today I am making spaghetti Bologna.

Yes dark_red, i have the "lazy man's" version of a real quick and refreshing summer cheese cake. All you need are 6 ingredients and 10 minutes to spare.

You will need:
1 prepared graham cracker pie crust
2 pkgs. creme cheese (large bricks)
1 small container sour creme
2/3 cup table sugar
1 tub cool whip
1 can fruit topping (i like either cherry or strawberry)

Bring the creme cheese to room temperature or you can zap it in the microwave. It should be soft enough but not loose at all.

In a mixing bowl add your 2 pkgs. of the creme cheese.
Blend it up with your hand mixer to the consistancy of mashed potatoes.
Add your 2/3rds cup of sugar.
Beat until combined
Add to this mixture half of the container of sour creme (a small tub)
Beat again
Add half the container of a large coolwhip.
Fold this together with a spatula. Don't use your hand mixer after you have added the whip creme as you will break it.

Pour all this goodness into your pie shell and cover it with the canned fruit.
This pie is better if it sets in the fridge all day, so you can throw it together in the morning.

Enjoy

Well as I can see here this summer I will be making lot of cakes. This one sounds really nice and simple. So I will try this also in a few days. Maybe I will become cooking expert :-) And I have to thank you for tutoring me.
If I find some interesting recipe I will post it here.

I am really enjoying all of these cake recipes that you're posting. It reminds me a lot of the recipes my grandmother used to make when I was younger. I wonder if you've ever heard of cuppa cuppa cuppa cake? It's a really funny Southern dish that's just a cup of flour, a cup of butter, and a cup of fruit cocktail in syrup.

Hi bbfeet, I have called some of my friends and I made your eclair cake. And I just want to say how fast did we eat it. It was so delicious, and in less then ten minutes it was gone. And to be honest we couldn't move after that. We just lay on the sofa and watch the movie. :-)
Thank you so much for this, now I know how to make cakes too. :-)
If I find any interesting recipe for cake I will post here as soon as possible.

Hi bbfeet, I'm wondering if you have any more of recipes for nice summer cakes? Eclair cake was really good. Do you have any recipe for home made Ice cream?
I have tried some an home made ice cream at my friends, and it was really good. I'm waiting for the recipe. Will posted it here when she sends me.

Hi dark_red, if you have an extra 30 bucks you can invest in an ice creme maker. I got mine at Wal-mart. Don't get the one that you have to use dry ice, that one is such a pain. Get the electric one. It takes probably 10 minutes to put a recipe together and another 30 minutes for the ice creme maker to do its job.
I made cappucino creme a few times, and it's really good. It's quick and easy and so good. All you need is:

The ice creme maker (obviously)
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy whipping creme
1 tsp. vanilla
3 heaping tablespoons powdered espresso (more if you like it stronger
1 cup granulated sugar

Heat the half and half along with the heavy creme over medium heat. Don't let it boil and don't scortch it. Milk will come to a boil quick and we all know that boiled over milk is so hard to clean up. So watch it closely.

Once the milk mixture is warmed (almost hot) add the sugar and dissolve it throughly, keeping the flame on med. low.
Once the sugar is totally dissloved, add the espresso and blend it in with the mixture. (a whisk is best)

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla, whisk to combine.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and cover with seran wrap. Place the bowl in the fridge, preferrably overnite.

Follow the manufacturers directions for using your ice creme maker. You will have to put the freezer container that comes with the machine in the freezer for at least 24 hours prior to making your ice creme. That vessal has to be totally frozen to insure good results.

This is the quick version of a gelato, as real gelato is made with eggs.
I also make the long version when i'm feeling ambitious.
I hope you like it

I haven't considered buying ice cram maker, but after this, I just might. 30 bucks isn't that much, if you have ice cream at home for the hole summer, and you don't have to go out to buy it all the time. :-)
How much Ice cream can get from this recipe? Does it last for few days?

The ice creme freezer container shouldn't hold more than a quart or a little more of wet mixture. The ice creme has to expand as it freezes. You can get a larger machine with a larger freezing vessal if you want more. So you will get roughly a quart of ice creme. I know it's not that much, but it tastes so much better than SOME store bought. I have to exclude Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey (yummmmm) but that is close to 4 bucks for a dinky pint whick i eat at one setting :$ :$ :$
IF there is any left you can store it in the freezer with 2 or 3 layers of seran and foil on top. I usually put 2 layers of seran on the top, then a layer of foil, sealed really tight. If any air gets into the vessal due to not being sealed properly, you will get ice crystals and that adds a funny taste to the ice creme.
I usually never get to store any of it, the fam wipes it out right away.

Well I think there will be no storing in the freezer. :-)
I don't think that the bigger one will be needed.
I like the vanilla and cherry combination the most. It is one of the best tastes I have tried. I not that big fan of chocolate. (don't judge me :-) )

Does anybody else has any interesting home made ice cream recipe?