Pistachio Cake & New England Style Corned Beef Meal

Just wanted to share what a fun evening we had on St. Patrick's Day. I hope you were able to enjoy it with your loved ones. We had my parents over for a traditional New England Style boiled Corned Beef including cabbage, potatoes and carrot with rolls and Pistachio Cake for dessert. I got a recipe from a friend for the Cake and it was soooo good and a BIG hit! We'll start with the cake I made and go from there since I mentioned the cake in a previous posting.

First of all, you have to understand that I don't do cakes. Well, that's not entirely true. I make cakes but they stay in the pan they were baked in. I have never been successful at turning the cakes over and putting them onto a pretty platter all frosted and decorated, etc. In the past, whenever I've made the attempt, the cake breaks, crumbles, etc. I've never made a cake in a bundt pan either. So this was an adventure for me that turned out to be fun and successful! Their was a big squeel of excitement and relief when I got the cake out of the bundt pan all pretty and in one piece!

Pistachio Cake

1 package white cake mix
2 packages pistachio pudding
1/2 cup of oil
1 cup club soda
4 eggs
1 jar of cherries without stems - cut up in pieces
1 tsp. almond extract

Gather all your ingredients and measuring cups so you're ready to get started. I put on my country apron to keep my clothes from getting messy too. Mix all the ingredients together well and add cherries while you listen to your favorite tunes. I wore gloves to save my hands and chopped the cherries into quarters while I listened to my blog music. My oldest was home sick so she kept peeking in on me to see what I was up to and what that wonderful smell was...almond & cherries!

Isn't the color pretty for St. Pat's Day! Grease and flour the Bundt pan or you can use Pam like I did. I sprayed the entire pan really good because I was scared it was going to stick like my cakes in the past have.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove the cake from the oven and let it completely cool on a wire rack before removing it from the pan.

My house was smelling oh so delicious when that cake came out of the oven! I patiently waited while the cake cooled. Then, I used a small spatula to loosen up the edges of the cake and turned over the cake onto the platter. Nothing! I was starting to panick but you know how it turns out. After two more attempts at loosening and turning over the cake, I gave it a good whack and presto!

I decided to make a green glaze for the cake to garnish it. Well, I've never made a glaze before and it didn't turn out quite how I wanted nor how I had pictured it. You could barely see the glaze on the cake and it was not adhering. In the end, we drizzled the glaze onto the cut up pieces of cake and it was delicious and perfect for St. Pat's Day! This would also be perfect for Christmas with the cherries.

My dad hobbled around in my kitchen with his crutches while preparing the corned beef and veggies. He has several bones of his foot fused the week after I had my neck surgery and cannot put any weight on his foot for at least 6 weeks. We all pitched in though and prepared a wonderful meal together!

I'm so thankful that my parents live close to us and we can create wonderful memories along the way. Times spent with family are some of the most precious moments and memories you will hang onto forever. Finding ways to spend quality time with your family is not only important, but vital to the stability and unity of your family. Even though I'm still tired from my surgery and my dad is barely getting around, it was a perfect night and I'm so glad we were able to work together and pull it off.