I mean no disrespect to my great grandmother

I'm going to share with you my great grandmother's and nana's German chocolate cake frosting recipe. It's kind of a family secret.

Here's what you'll need for the frosting:

• 1 cup evaporated milk

• 1 cup sugar (I like the organic I can get either at Costco or Trader Joes. It tastes and smells better)

• 3 egg yolks (Use the whites for an omelet. They can be frozen too for later use.)

• 1/4 lbs sweet cream butter

• 1 tsp vanilla

Combine in a medium sized pan on medium to low heat and cook for 12 minutes or until thickened. Use a whisk stirring constantly. It's ok if you have little flecks of yellow cooked yolk but you don't want clumps.

With a spoon add:

• 1 1/3 cup grated coconut. My great grandma used Baker's but there are more options now

• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Stir until smooth. You can spread on chocolate sheet cake or two layer cake. It will taste delicious either way.

Tip: Find a chocolate cake recipe online or in a cookbook and make the cake from scratch. It's a lot easier than you think and tastes so much better without the extra sodium and preservatives that are in store bought cake mixes. I grew up with store bought cake mixes but my friend, Martha, in London told me how easy they are from scratch. And they really are - and cheaper to make.

Bon appetite and dessert is great with lunch!

Melt in your mouth tuna melt

Here's what you'll need:

• 2-3 Radicchio leaves

• 1 Tablespoon drained capers

• 2 slices sour dough bread or sandwich bread of your choice

• 2 Tablespoons good Mayonaise

• 1 garlic clove, cleaned and pressed or finely diced

•  3 slices Provolone, Monterey Jack, Cheddar or Havarti cheese

• 2-3 teaspoons Sierra Nevada stout mustard or other mustard including French's ;-)

• I can Albacore tuna

• Lemon Cecchetti olive oil or good extra virgin olive oil

In a medium sized glass bowl, combine tuna, mustard, mayo, capers and garlic using a fork to blend everything together until it has a creamy texture.

In a cast iron skillet, drizzle 3-4 teaspoons olive oil in skillet. Place both slices of bread in pan with one side touching skillet. Place cheese on one slice of bread. Put Radicchio and approx. 1/2 - 1/3 cup tuna on the other slice of bread. Cover and cook on medium low heat for 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted and bread side touching the skillet is golden brown. Put sandwich halves together, slice and serve. 

Bon appetite

Roasted spicy pumpkin, white bean spread

Pumpkins are starting to be harvested. You want to age them at least 2-3 weeks before you roast because they age and sweeten after they've been cut from the vine. I use an ice cream scooper to remove seeds as well as once the pumpkin is roasted, to remove the pumpkin 'meat' from the skin. Roast pumpkin cut in big chunks on a cookie sheet at 350 for an hour. I scoop and freeze in glass jars for future delight.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 14 oz. can garbanzo or white beans, drained and rinsed (I purchase organic beans at Trader Joe's or soak and cook good dried heirloom beans)

• 1-2 cloves garlic, cleaned

• 1 cup roasted pumpkin. You can also use canned plain pumpkin if you don't have fresh, but it won't be as good. Butternut squash can also be used.

• 1 teaspoon cayenne or other dried, ground chili pepper. (I purchase a variety of dried chili peppers at my local grocer by organic spice company Spicely. Use as much or as little based on your tolerance for heat.)

•1-2 teaspoons cumin

• 1-2 teaspoons coriander

• 2 Tablespoons Cecchetti olive oil or other good, extra virgin olive oil

• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• Salt and pepper based on taste. And add more lemon juice and dried chiles based on taste.

• sesame, carmelized onion and current crackers or other hearty cracker. Rye, wheat, multi grain will go well with this spread

Place garlic cloves in bowl of food processor and run until minced. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Bon Appetite!

I love grilled cheese!

The other night I needed to figure out dinner with left overs for me to munch at lunch the next day. Here's what I came up with:

• Sourdough bread

• Good mustard - I like Sierra Nevada porter

• Cecchetti garlic olive oil or good virgin olive oil

• cast iron skillet if you have one

• washed cilantro, stems removed about 1/3 cup leaves

• 2/3 cup baby kale, washed

• 2-3 Tablespoons of Wholemilk Riccotta

• 2 slices Provolone or Havarti cheese

• Dash of Simply Organic Ancho chili powder

• 3-4 slices baked bacon (bake raw bacon for 50-60 minutes in the oven at 350. Drain off fat every 20 minutes. Cool bacon on a plate covered with a couple of paper towels to drain additional fat. Tip: I used bacon I had cooked on the weekend for bacon and eggs breakfast)

Add a little olive oil in skillet. Place two slices of bread in skillet so each has one side touching pan - you're going to cook open faced. Spread a thin layer of mustard on one slice. Layer bacon, then cilantro and baby greens on one slice. On the other slice of bread, smear your Riccotta and then layer sliced cheese on top. Sprinkle with your favorite dried, ground chili. Cook covered on medium heat for 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted and greens wilted.

Put halves together to make a whole sandwich. For dinner, I had a glass of Zinfidel with my half sandwich. Bon appetite!