Pineapple Upside Down Cake for Sister

It occurred to me this evening that I'd failed to complete my V-Day week love fest of posts/recipes. To be honest, the last couple of days have not been the best and I considered taking a break from blogging for a bit as I want this blog to remain a happy place. But after giving it some thought, I decided that I should focus on happier times to distract myself and thus, here I am, sharing the next of my Valentine's week inspired recipes.

As I was preparing to enter my fourth year of life, my parents informed me that I was going to be getting a sister. I don't really remember how I handled the news, but the life-size cookie monster that I received as a consolation prize certainly didn't hurt matters. Their words didn't really resonate with me until sister arrived and I was not amused (cut to many pictures of me with my vertical brow on and perched next to sister's carrier). As time passed, I grew accustomed to her face and as she became more mobile and coherent, I began to enjoy having a playmate. In recent years, sister and I have gotten much closer and I am continuously surprised by how wise beyond her years she has become (I'm certain no thanks to me trying to off her for so many years).

5 years ago this fall, my parents moved back to the east coast (my mother's native land) and since their return, August has become birthday month for our family. My grandmom, dad, and sister all have birthdays within two weeks of each other and it's quickly become a family tradition to merge our yearly crab feast with a triple birthday party. Even though it's not my birthday, I continue to find myself equally as excited for the event to take place. Although they're forced to partake in a triple celebration, they all still get their own cake. My dad loves pound cake more than anything, so I've always assumed the role of making his. I've made my grandmom her's a time or two, but not as a rule, and she usually does sister's cake. 

Sister loves a good pineapple upside down cake. I have never really cared for the creation, but when my grandmom announced that she was no longer into undertaking the task (to be fair, she is pushing 87), I decided to take the reins. Living up to the high cooking standards that my grandmother has set over the years is terrifying to say the least. Couple that with having to make something that I've never attempted before and I was beyond nervous about the end result. Thankfully, the cake gods decided to let me have this victory and I was able to present sister with my masterpiece (to which she was both thrilled and surprised).

Sister's 22nd Birthday

Grandmom's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

• 1/4 c of butter or margarine
• 1 c of packed brown sugar
• 1 can of sliced pineapples (drained, but save the juice)
• 1 jar of maraschino cherries (these creep me out, so I used fresh cherries and just seeded/halved them)
• 1 box of yellow cake mix (when I make this again this year I will be doing this part from scratch as well)

Preparation

1. Melt butter in 13x9 cake pan 
2. Dump the brown sugar and stir until smooth into the butter
3. Lay pineapples on top of the brown sugar mixture
4. Mix cake mix according to directions on the box, BUT use saved pineapple juice instead of water
5. Pour cake mix over pineapples
6. Bake on 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
7. Allow cake to cool (overnight is best). Flip pan over and try to lift it off the cake. The bottom part from the pan is now the top of the cake.
8. Put cherries into the pineapple holes--enjoy :)

My Maryland summers will never be complete without crabs

 Ready to get our feast on

Remains...we don't mess