Garlic Cubes, Onion Flavored Gin & Tonic and a Right-Side-Up Cake

By the way, this is what happens to all of the

great food at the Lazy Daze, Quartzsite Campout.

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Garlic & Onions

Here is a really great way to buy and use minced garlic. 

I got this at Trader Joe's in California but the Dorot brand is probably available in other locations. A check of the Dorot website store locater shows an error so I don't have specific location information.  I have also gotten jars of whole peeled garlic cloves in different markets including Costco and they can be frozen.  The whole peeled cloves also make great roasted garlic as well.  I put a handful of garlic cloves and about a tablespoon of olive oil in a small covered oven dish and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350F.  Great on Wheat Thins, with Brie, etc. 

While we are on the subject of freezing garlic, you can do the same with onions.  You can freeze any quanity that suits you and your freezer size.  When I had a large freezer, I used to buy the Costco bag and peel and shred them all at once.  I know that this is controversial, but if you cover your eyes and nose , with a swim mask and keep your mouth shut, you can usually get through a whole bag without eye irritation.  Pretty comical if you get caught with this outfit but it works for me.  My son is carrying on this tradition much to the amusement of his friends.  I freeze them in doubled ziplock bags and they won't "flavor" your freezer, and BTW, your ice cubes.  Nothing like onion flavored Gin & Tonic.

If you have a lot of onions that you don't want to freeze them, or have them go bad, slice and saute' them in olive oil until they just start to brown and are really done.  Every time I do this at a pot luck they just evaporate.  Great with hot dogs and hamburgers.

Lynda's Pineapple Cherry Right Side Up Cake

Here is a great one-pot dessert (I looked up the spelling) that is usually received well at pot-lucks or family gatherings:


1 Yellow Cake Mix  with ingedients called for on the box.  ( I use Betty Crocker)
1 20oz can Pineapple Chunks
1 20oz can Cherry Pie Filling.  (Peach also works well)

Thouroughly drain the pineapple and save the juice.  If you don't really drain the pineapple your cake will usually be too soft in the middle.  Add enough water to the juice to bring it up to the one cup called for in the mix.  Put all of the cake mix ingredients in a 9 X 12 disposable pan. Mix and beat as called for on the cake mix box.  BTW, I use 3/4 cup egg substitute instead of the three eggs.  Sprinkle the pineapple evenly over the smoothed out batter and push the chunks down so they are on the bottom.  Evenly distribute spoonfuls of the pie filling in "pockets" over the top.  Bake at 350F. I found out that you need a total of 55 minutes to get this to bake through because of the extra ingredients.  YMMV*.  It should start to brown on top and the center should spring back when touched.  A great dessert  and all you ususally have to wash, is a measuring cup and bowl scraper. 

*Your Mileage May Vary