Holiday Rum Cake

by Ronica Skarphol Brownson

This cake was made famous by the Bacardi company, and has become a popular one for the holidays. My husband's Grandma Mitzi made it every year, and it wouldn't be Christmas in our house without it! It stays moist and delicious for a long time due to the preservative qualities of the rum and butter glaze, and stays nice in the refrigerator or the freezer. It is one you can mail or give as a gift, and it's always a popular dessert. You can cook the glaze longer to make sure to rid it of the alcohol if you like, but it won't be as tasty or stay quite as moist if you do. I say leave it in. 

• ---Cake---
• 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
• 1 18-1/2 ounce yellow cake mix
• one 3.4 ounce package (4-serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix  

If your cake mix has pudding in it, you can skip the added pudding and reduce the number of eggs to 3 and the amount of oil to 1/3 cup.

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup Bacardi dark or gold rum

• ---Glaze---
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bacardi dark or gold rum

Preparation:

Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt or tube pan. (Or use Wilton Cake Release. I love that stuff! Works on my most intricate pans.) Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on high with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with fork or knife. Drizzle glaze (recipe follows) over top of the cake. Use brush or spoon to put extra dripping back on cake. Easiest to slice with a serrated knife.

Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Note: The rum will cause steam. Be careful not to burn yourself. 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

by Kathy Brasier Sikorski

Mmmm! Perfect for fall! These would be delicious as an alternative to pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner. Or with it. We don't judge.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars
1 pkg yellow cake mix
2 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
5 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon water

Filling:
1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
¼ cup cream cheese
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and oats; set aside ½ cup for topping. Add butter, honey and water to
remaining cake mixture. Press onto the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking pan.

For filling, in a large bowl, beat pumpkin, cream cheese, milk, brown sugar, maple syrup and spices until
blended. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour over crust.

In a small bowl, combine walnuts, butter and reserved cake mixtures; sprinkle over filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely
before cutting into bars. Yield: 2 dozen

7 Layer Bars (One Pan!)

By Ronica Skarphol Brownson

These were taken from my Mom's KMOT TV Minot ND cookbook from the 70's. There were 3 versions of this recipe in there, and probably a million like it on the web. I figured that must mean they are good. I was right! Some people call these Dolly Madison bars, or 7 Story Bars. I love how easy they are, how great the house smells when they are done, how quick they go together, and of course, how delicious they come out!

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 small (7 oz.) bag sweetened coconut
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1 can Eagle brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the stick of butter in a 9x13 pan and put it in the oven to melt. When melted, swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides. Sprinkle the rest of the ingredients, in the order given, as evenly as possible in the pan. Do not stir. Drizzle the milk evenly over the whole works. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool well before cutting. Store in the fridge.

Some tips I read:

If the coconut goes on last (or you save some for the top) it will get all toasty.
You can put half the milk over the crumbs, then the rest over the toppings to make it hold together better. I didn't have any trouble with mine, but it's a variation.
Line the pan with parchment paper or non-stick foil for ease of release.
You can mix the butter and crumbs in a bowl, then pat in for a more firm crust. Again, I had no trouble with mine, so I would skip this step.
Change the chips, nuts, etc. for your own variations. This week mine used peanut butter, milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips with pecans. Mainly this is because someone stuck the wrong kind of chips in the butterscotch spot on the shelf at Wegman's and I grabbed the wrong bag. But they were delicious so that was fine with me!