Cooking & Baking this week

This week I've been a busy bee in the kitchen. Saturday I made a Banana Cake for my dad.
Banana Cake
2 1/4c flour
1 1/2c sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1c mashed ripe banana (2 or 3)
3/4c buttermilk
1/2c shortening
1t. vanilla
2 eggs
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt in a large bowl. Add bananas, buttermilk, shortening, vanilla all at once. Beat. Add eggs. Beat. Divide between 2 9 inch prepared cake pans. Bake @ 350 for 25 min. Cool for 10 min. in the pan. Remove from the pan and cool on racks.
Banana Filling
2-3 ripe bananas (depending on the size)
1/2c sugar
Combine in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stir until sugar is dissolved and bubbly.
*Tip: the "fluffy" frosting works good with this.

• Monday night I made Hungry Jack Casserole

Hungry Jack Casserole
1/2 lb hamburger
1 (16 oz) pork & beans
3/4c BBQ sauce
2 T. brown sugar
1 can biscuits ( or you can make your own, but they were on sale)
1c shredded cheese
Brown beef, drain. Stir in beans, sauce, and sugar. heat until bubbly. Pour into 2 qrt. Casserole. Cut biscuits in half making half circles. Arrange on top, cut side down around the edges. Sprinkle with shredded cheese (I sprinkled it in the middle). Bake 375 for 15-20 min. until biscuits are brown, cheese is melted, and its warmed all the way through.
-My husband loved this. I'm sure it would be great without the meat and extra beans.

• Monday I also made this pound cake. I cut off a couple slices and cut them into cubes. I layered the cubes in fancy glasses, added a layer of sliced fresh strawberries, and a layer of whip cream. Repeat again. I've been eating the remainder of the pound cake with strawberry jam for breakfast all week.
• Tuesday I started the dough for these Lemon Tea Cookies. I finished them up yesterday. They were soooo cute and really good.
• Last night for dinner I made Tator Tot Casserole

Tator Tot Casserole
1/2 lb hamburger
1 pkg tator tots
1 can cheese soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
shredded cheese
Brown beef, drain. Layer half the tots in a 2 qt casserole dish. Add beef. Mix soup together and add that as a layer. Top with remaining tots. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake @ 350 for 30-40 min. until tots are brown, cheese is melted, and casserole is bubbly.
-the original recipe called for 4 cans of soup. Cream of celery, 2 cream of chicken, and cream of mushroom. We don't like celery and I thought the cheese soup would be good.