Drying Herbs

I love drying my own herbs. Every summer, I get a cute little smile in my heart as I look at the hanging greenery. This year, I am also drying Lavender and Yarrow. It looks and smells great. There are many bunches of Thyme, our personal family favorite. We look forward to the great soups, stews and roast beef dishes. These pictures don't show how neat it is. the herbs that are hanging around right now: Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Basil, Stevia and Lavender. Of course there are different varieties of each.

Fruit Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

I found this recipe in  a library book many years ago. I remembered it and sadly couldn't find my original hand written copy, but gotta love the internet...I googled the official name of the recipe and found it! It's really named Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, but I have tried different jams...it works great!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2 ¼ c. flour

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. cold butter

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ c. sour cream

1 egg beaten

1 ½. tsp. almond extract

FILLING

1 8 oz cream cheese

½ c. sugar

1 egg

½ c. raspberry jam Here I have tried Strawberry and Peach
cherry. They were gobbled up the same as Raspberry jam.

½ c. almonds

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Remove 1 cup and set aside. To the remaining crumbs, add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the sour cream, egg and almond extract; mix well. Spread in the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. spring form pan. For the filling, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg in a small bowl until blended. Pour over batter; spoon raspberry jam on top. Sprinkle with almonds and reserved crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen; remove sides from pan.

Recently served at Grandma's Brunch